MRALOTI

WHAT MY UNCLE TOLD ME

Who are you?

I am Gurek Hairyarms, son of Ungra Flatnose, a sister of the Green Acorns sounder whose ancestors once tamed the Pale Boar of Tig.

Who are we?

We are the Green Acorns sounder of the Pure Mraloti people.

What makes us great?

We are the best warriors there is because even when we do not win a fight at the beginning, we have the tenacity to keep on  returning and fighting until our foe is dead. We do not back down, or run and flee as weaker peoples do. We do not bind ourselves with needless rules and separate ourselves from the Earth. We do not plough the soil as the foolish do, and instead keep the old ways, preserving the purity of the Earth that all life may live on it. We do not welcome enemies or strangers into our hearths, but instead fight them and show them our strength and our courage. We do not fail. We are strong of both mind and body, and we know what is right, and that is what makes us the greatest people of the world.

Where do we live?

The Green Acorns sounder lives here in this rich forest. We can take whatever we need from the forest, if we show it the right respect. But always remember that the Earth owns us, not the other way about. This forest does not belong to us; it is where we live, and we could live as easily somewhere else if we wished to.

How do we live?

We live in the sounder, here among these huts of wood and turf. We have many strong pigs, which live here around us, and also in the forest. The pigs belong to the sounder, so when we are hungry we will always have pork to eat, and when we need clothes we will have leather to wear. But we eat other animals too, when our hunters catch them. The women of the sounder gather nuts, berries and fungi for us to eat, and know which are good and which make you ill. They also spread the seeds in the forest, in the best places for them to grow, so that the cycles of life can continue and the spirits know we keep our compact with the Earth rather than stealing from it as foreign peoples do.

What is important in my life?

You were born in the week of the fallow deer rut so you are connected with that spirit, and when you are older you will find it easier to appease when you kill that animal for food. The shaman marked you with the scent of wild boar so that everyone would know you were Mraloti and not some despicable outsider.

At the next autumnal equinox you will take the initiatory rites to become an adult. You will hunt, to show your skill at catching the animals of the woods without angering their spirits, and you must show that you can remember the right myths and that you have the determination to persevere even when you suffer pain that would make non-Mraloti shudder and flee. Once you have done this, the spirits will know you for an equal, and we will know you for a true man ready to guide his own fate.

One day, when everyone knows your worth, you may be selected by women from another sounder to marry them. Because they are women, and closer to Mother Earth than we are, they will know better than you whether you will bear them strong children. That is why it is always the women who select their mates, and not the other way about. But none the less you must impress them with your skill and your stamina in order that they will know to pick you and not some other person to share their hut.

Your wives will eventually bear children. Some foreign people claim that it is important to know which children you have fathered, but this only shows how foolish they are. Do you know which of your mother's husbands is your own father? Of course not, nor could you need to, because all of them help to raise you and provide pork and other food for you to eat. You must treat your own wives' children in the same way, for they are the bounty of Mother Earth that will ensure that life carries on for another generation.

What is the difference between men and women?

The main difference, of course, is physical. Once you are married, you will be able to take much joy in those physical differences but at the moment you are too young, so I will not speak further on that matter until you are an adult and old enough for a woman to take you as a husband.

Women are the nurterers, who carry children within the womb, and suckle babies, so that they are tied closely with the cycles of rebirth. This gives them a sacred bond with Mother Earth and her bounty, which is why they are always the leaders of the sounder. Spiritual things come instinctively to women and we must always obey them when they give advice on such matters.

But we are the hunters, who ensure that the sounder has more food than its own herds can provide. We also protect our families from their enemies, and must be skilled in the ways of fighting humans as well as animals. We can follow tracks through the forest, know what animals dwell there, where to find fresh water and how to shelter from the storm. So we have a bond with the Earth too and there are many things we know more of than women do.

There are two exceptions to these rules. First are the shamans. They may be either men or women and embody the soul of the other within themselves. They can see into the spirit world, so that even male shamans know more of that place than most women do. The male shaman maintains his ties to the Earth by sleeping with many women married to other men. Because the shaman stands outside the normal family, there is nothing wrong in this for those concerned. But you must never do such a thing, for you are no shaman, and the spirits would become angry and punish you for abusing the manly gifts they send you.

Second are the Tusk Sisters, like Urkh Broadshoulders from our own sounder. You know, of course, that she is stronger than most men, and that she can change into four-legged form almost effortlessly. These things mark her out as special, and are signs of the great protective magics of the Earth. Because of this, she has been taught how to fight and kill alongside the men, although she does not join us on the hunt. But for the same reason, she can never become chieftain and is not a leader like other women.

Who rules us?

Egiri Longtooth is our chieftain, for she is the oldest woman in the sounder, and therefore also the wisest. She has seen many summers and winters, and there is little that she does not know how to deal with. But even so, she knows to seek the advice of the other elders, for many have special skills or experience which may be able to help. You must always respect the elders, for they carry the true knowledge of our people.

What makes someone great?

A great person is one who never gives up when things get difficult. They know what is right, and they never stop fighting for it so long as they draw breath. It is better to die than it is to surrender, for then you can continue fighting in the next life. All the greatest heroes are those who have found great adversity but have continued to struggle and to fight until they won through at the end even when everyone also thought all was lost.

But not everything is about fighting. The great man also knows how to maintain his bonds with Mother Earth by enjoying her bounties, and does not become a bloodthirsty killer with no love of the good things in life. You must always fight for a cause, such as protecting the sounder from enemies, and not fight for the sheer joy of it. Joy should instead be taken from good food, laughter, the retelling of exciting stories and from the love of your wives.

What is evil?

Evil is anything that would seek to turn us from our ways and break our bonds with each other and with the Earth. Evil always comes from outside, even though sometimes it may not look that way. Cowardice is evil, and is brought by bad spirits or foreigners who try to persuade you that surrender or flight would be preferable to death. Tying yourself to foreign rules is evil, as when outsiders trick you into thinking that you can have a better life if you do things differently, when everyone should know that our life is already the best there is. It is because they do not know the difference between good and evil that foreigners have such miserable lives, and can never enjoy things as we can.

What is my lot in life?

One day you will be married, and with luck, your wives will have many children. Although you will have to move to a strange sounder to be with your wives, you will find it as enjoyable as the Green Acorns, for all Mraloti know how to live well. When you are not out hunting to feed your family and your new friends, there will be time to relax among your fellows in the sounder. There will be food and stories to enjoy, and many other things besides.

How do we deal with others?

Where possible, we ignore outsiders and have nothing to do with them. Their blindness and disregard for Mother Earth will be their own undoing, and their lives are miserable enough already. So long as they stay where they are, we leave them alone to suffer the consequences of their own stupidity. We know that we can never trust them, for they are all weak in some way, and often seek to corrupt us to their own ways so that we are miserable, just like them.

If foreigners come among us, it is rarely for good reasons, so we chase them off. There is no need to fight them, if this can be avoided, but always be wary, for many foreigners come among us solely to kill us or make us slaves. With these people we show no mercy, and fight them to our last breath.

A good Mraloti never starts a fight. But he always knows how to finish one.

Who are our enemies?

Although no outsiders are to be trusted, some in particular are our enemies and never wish us anything but harm. Worst among them are the warriors of the south, who enslaved many of our brethren long ago. When they come among us, it is always to kill us, or else bind us with metal and try to force us to work for them.

Who are our gods?

Mralot is the god of our people, who showed us the best way to live and who sends us good boar to hunt and eat. Mother Earth is the greatest of goddesses, for she creates all the things that adorn the land, and is the source of all the fertlity of animals and humans. But there are many great spirits who it also good to pray to, that they may teach your their special magic. Ugonro the Hunter teaches us how to approach prey, and how to appease their spirits when we have taken them for our food. Slasher teaches us how to fight our enemies, and how to make our spear-points sharper than the tusks of a boar. Gulrit the Wallower is the spirit of creeks, who brings us fresh water to drink and cool mud to clean ourselves, while Afka brings us fire to warm ourselves and to cook our food.

Trickster is a god too, but he is not to be worshipped by any sane person, for he will make you do strange things and may even lead you to harm yourself or those you care for. Trickster's animal is the fox, which we do not eat for that reason.

I have heard of other powers. What can you tell me about...

Fallen Mraloti?

These people were once like us, but betrayed their ancient heritage and abandoned the ways of Mralot and Mother Earth. Now they spend their days in back-breaking labour, despoiling the Earth and cravenly handing over what little goods they do have to their Malkioni masters. They are the clearest example of what happens to you when you begin to follow foreign ways and forget your ancestry. Yet, pitiable as they are, some can come to realise their mistakes, and because they were once Mraloti, they can be welcomed as such again if they can demonstrate true willingness.

Orlanth?

This god of wind and rain is followed by the people of the east. They cannot be trusted, and are often known to raid our lands although they usually only attack the Fallen, knowing that their warriors are no match for our own. Orlanth is a violent god, and, like those rare storms that rip up trees in the forest, cares nothing for the world in which he lives.

Ernalda?

Some foreigners claim that Ernalda is another name for Mother Earth, but this is clearly just ignorance on their part. Rather, she is a wicked daughter of the true Mother Earth, who unjustly rips at her mother's body to bring forth grasses and other plants to feed her misguided followers. Her worshippers destroy the forest to make way for their open and dreary fields, so they too, are not to be trusted.

Malkioni?

These people from the south and west have abandoned all spirits to work magic by ripping it from the world, just as they rend the soil. They are wicked, and quite without virtue, and so live miserable lives, spending their days either working their fields or brooding within stone towers. It was they who enslaved the Fallen and who seek to do the same to us.

Pralori?

These are the people of the north, and they are distant cousins of ours, for their elk god is a weaker brother of Mralot. They have respect for the Earth, but do not tend as it we do and they make their totem into slaves by riding upon their backs. None the less, they are not our enemies, and it is possible to deal with them and even to exchange goods, provided one remembers that they can never be fully trusted.

Other Hsunchen?

Beyond the Pralori lands lie those of other peoples who have managed to keep at least part of their compact with the Earth. They are inferior to us, because they lack our strength and determination and they follow only weak totems such as the raccoon or the otter. This is why they are so few in number today, and why so many have been seduced by foreigners into giving up their ways. Although we cannot trust these people to be strong or honest, most at least are not so bad that we should avoid them altogether.

Aldrya?

Aldrya is greatest of the plant spirits created by Mother Earth. Her people are not human, and do not act as we such. They keep their own compact with the Earth, which excludes us, and so we avoid their forests. If we ignore them, they will also ignore us, for they understand our common bond and our pledge to the wholeness of nature.