Chapter 36: East Village

We are greeted warmly by the Tribu elders when we arrive at Adelita’s and Elodia’s village three days later. The other villagers all come out to see us, but they are more wary of us. Several are obviously pleased that Adelita and Elodia have returned safely. We are told that Whina and Emere are with a small group visiting another village, and they are expected back here in a couple of days.

The Tribu village stands on a small hill that raises it above the surrounding jungle. The oppressive heat of the jungle is eased by a gentle cooling breeze blowing from the west. Although is rains for a few hours each day, the stormy weather has cleared completely. We can once again see the distant mountains that separate this land from the Atenex and Thurnian territory far to the north.

There are around eighty adults and thirty children gathered to meet us. The vast majority of the Tribu are male. Seeing how few females live here makes me realise that Adelita’s and Elodia’s absence had left very few adult females in the village. All of the adult female Tribu we see are pregnant, so the prospect of having more sex while we are here will be a forlorn hope. There seems to be nothing wrong with the fertility of the Tribu, but the shortage of females will doom them to extinction.

To the east of the village is a winding depression in the ground with evidence of mining activity along the exposed sides. An assortment of buildings and winches near the access road from the village must be where the ore is processed. A smaller building looks like stables for whatever animals are used to carry the finished metals to the river. We are too far away to see more than the general layout of the mine, and in any case, I know very little about mining.

Makareta, Cassandra, Rawiri and I are provided with accommodation in one of the many wooden houses, all built to the same general design. Unlike in Thurn, all the property in the village is communally owned. The village elders allocate housing depending on need. Adelita previously told us that Tribu adults usually live in shared accommodation with three others of the same gender. While friendships are common, marriage or intimate relationships are not features of Tribu society. In that respect their society is similar to traditional Thurnian customs.

Adelita comes to babysit Rawiri while Makareta, Cassandra and I meet with five of the village elders that evening. As in Thurn and Atene, the word ‘elder’ is a relative term. Some of Thurn’s history books suggest that our distant ancestors could live beyond eighty years of age. However, few of us alive today will survive beyond our midforties, although there are rare examples of sixty year old Thurnian men and women. Elf Maidens in Thurn rarely live beyond their late thirties. The oldest Elf Maiden on record lived to the age of fortythree. The Atenex don’t seem to be longer lived than Elf Maidens, but we have insufficient information to be sure. I don’t know about the longevity of the Merope, but the members of their senate are no older than the men sat before us.

“I am Paulus,” says one of the Tribu elders. “I officially welcome you to our village, and thank you for your help. The elders have already met with Adelita and Elodia and we have been told of what has occurred. As you may already know, the Tribu and Hrill, are struggling for survival. At last count, there are now less than three hundred Tribu and only forty Hrill. Of those, only thirty are adult females. Mining is a dangerous occupation with a high death rate from accidents. We rely on mining for our trade, but we can’t sustain the current number of deaths each year. Even if every adult female produced one child a year, our society will cease to be viable within a few generations.”

“You mentioned both Tribu and Hrill. Are they different?” I ask, even though I’ve speculated about the difference.

“When the Phebes provided their potions to help remedy our race’s skeletal deformity, our forebears found that the Phebes’ potions didn’t work on everyone. Even after taking the potions, a few children were born with our original bone structure. Those we call Hrill, whereas those of us born as you see us now, we call Tribu. It was a problem that only affected the initial generation who took the Phebes’ potions. That was fortytwo years ago. Subsequent generations have been consistent; Tribu women give birth to Tribu babies, Hrill women give birth to Hrill babies, regardless of whether the father is Hrill or Tribu.”

“And are the Hrill children also predominantly male?” asks Cassandra.

“No, the gender balance is about equal among the Hrill. Only the Tribu produce many more males than females. Unfortunately the Hrill are relatively shortlived. Less than a quarter of them survive to reach adulthood. We can’t undo the problems the Phebes’ potions have created and we are at a loss about what to do.”

When we return to our house later, Makareta, Cassandra and I discuss what we’ve learned. I’m starting to feel overwhelmed by the challenges we keep encountering. I thought Thurnian politics were murky enough, but the motives of both the Merope, and possibly the Phebes, are alarming. Either the Phebes are dangerously inept at producing potions, or they share some nefarious ambitions similar to those of the Merope. Either way it seems that the very existence of our three races are under threat. I later realise that I have subconsciously included the Tribu and Hrill is my concept of ‘us’.

We can’t offer the Tribu any further help at the moment. If Adelita and Elodia are pregnant from their union with me, and they give birth to clones, then there is a chance the Tribu can be saved. I’m sure there will be plenty of Thurnian men willing to come and help. After all, the elven settlements in the forests of Thurn never lack for Thurnian men eager to exercise their cocks. As for the Hrill, I’m less optimistic. Their deformed bodies and short lives virtually doom them to extinction. But thankfully I’ll not be the one to decide on their fate.

Cassandra probes the Tribu elders about what lies to the south of here. She explains what the Merope machine speculated about a source of heat. The elders confirm that the jungle gives way to grasslands near the other two Tribu villages. The Tribu have rarely had cause to explore the lands to the south, but they add that the grasslands spread as far as a range of high barren mountains far to the south. Unfortunately, no Tribu explorer has ventured that far south. The elders don’t know of any source of heat in the mountains, but they don’t rule out the possibility of there being one or more volcanoes among them. Tribu folklore talks of strange clouds and rumbling sounds coming from the southern mountains.

“The only other suggestion the elders made was to ask the people living in the settlement on the river estuary,” says Cassandra, when she tells Makareta and me about what she has learned. “Apparently their ships travel long distances, so they may know something.”

We stay with the Tribu for a couple of weeks, getting to understand their society and lifestyle. We briefly visit the two other Tribu villages located on the edge of the grasslands. Adelita refers to her home village as East Village, and the other two as Middle Village and West Village. I think she has labelled them for our benefit, as the Tribu don’t seem to name their settlements.