Chapter 40: Helping the Mariners

Although the newly arrived elves are made welcome by the Mariners, there’s no denying that the extra residents are placing a strain on the fresh water supply. The water from the lagoons, and the flat swampy area beyond, is salty and unsafe to drink. That leaves a small river that flows into the lagoon from the south as the nearest source of drinkable water. Replenishing the settlement’s four cisterns of drinking water requires a daily trip to the river by a barge laden with water barrels. It’s a tedious task that is shared among the settlement’s long term residents. However, the Mariners haven’t always filled their cisterns in this fashion.

“There’s an old aqueduct from the river to the settlement, but several sections are blocked by vegetation,” says AN332 on returning with several other adolescent elves after taking their turn transporting water from the barge to the cisterns.

I ask Marianne about the aqueduct. She confirms that it fell into disuse when trade along the rivers decreased, and many of the Mariners moved away from the settlement. That was nearly eighty years ago. It was easier for the remaining Mariners to make a daily trip by barge to fetch water, than to keep the aqueduct functioning. With many of the newly arrived elves working on unimportant tasks, some of them suggest devoting time and effort towards clearing the obstructions in the aqueduct.

Fortunately a couple of Mariners have the appropriate masonry skills to assess whether the aqueduct’s stonework is still fit for purpose. There would be little point in clearing away all the obstructions in the channel if the stonework is too damaged to retain the flow of water. Enthusiasm for the project grows rapidly among both the Mariner and elven population. The Mariners’ inspection reveals three sections where repairs to the stonework will be necessary, but otherwise the aqueduct seems to be in a usable condition.

Five teams are created, each made up of a mixture of elves and Mariners. Two teams attend to repairs to the stonework, while the other three teams clear the vegetation and other obstructions from the water channel. A sixth team consisting solely of Mariners is responsible for getting the aqueduct’s inflow and outflow mechanisms into working order.

The project takes over a month of strenuous work before the aqueduct is repaired and water starts flowing into the cisterns. A huge celebration is organised. It’s a monumental feat reflecting the growing cooperation and friendship between the Mariners and elves. For my part, I can’t claim any credit for the achievement in getting the aqueduct repaired. A large part of my days are spent fucking Elf Maidens and keeping them content. My task is made slightly easier when some of the Elf Maidens announce that they are pregnant, so are no longer driven by the urge to fuck. However, they have been replaced in the queue of sex-hungry Elf Maidens by two of the adolescent elves who have now reached adulthood. And both Cassandra and Ihapera are now ready to resume sexual activity after giving birth.

Cassandra and Ikaroa have been busy researching the history of the Mariners with Marianne. In particular, for any clues as to why the Mariners are biologically incompatible with any of the Potiora races. Despite us all having common ancestors, it seems that those who engineered the Potiora races were determined to ensure racial purity among each new race. That’s presumably why female elven clones are produced whenever Thurnian men impregnate elven women.

“We don’t know the reason why Mariner men don’t want sex with any of the elves,” says Cassandra. “They find the elves attractive, just not in a sexual way.”

I realise that the same applies in reverse. I find Marianne attractive, but I’ve no desire to fuck her. Of course, in my case, without the powerful pheromones of woman in heat to trigger an erection, I couldn’t fuck her anyway. But I think the issue goes deeper than that. Even when an Elf Maiden in heat has triggered my erection, I still don’t feel the urge to fuck Marianne. Some essential sexual signal seems to be missing when we look at each other.

The more we discover about the ancestry of the Potiora races, the more I come to believe that our ancestors made a huge mistake in modifying each race in the way that they did. Trying to create a perfect human race seems to have created more problems than it solves. The skeletal problems suffered by the Hrill are only the most visible of numerous flaws in our collective make-up. The difficulty the three races from the Atene Potiora have in sustaining a viable population is a direct result of our ancestors meddling in the human reproduction cycle. The survival of the Mariners shows that the original humans were capable of surviving the catastrophes that destroyed the ancient civilisations, even if their population was reduced to a small fraction of its previous size.

Unfortunately, none of our acquired knowledge helps us decide what to do next. Clearly, we must return to Atene or Thurn at some point, but the rulers of both territories are currently preoccupied with other matters. The Merope claim to have a cure for the problem with Atenex male fertility, but they show no inclination to share that knowledge. As for Thurn, I’ve done my best by sending my report with Captain Ortolan. Hopefully my report will reach the eyes of somebody inclined to do something to counter the rising threat the Merope leaders’ ambitions represent.

After the success in reopening the aqueduct, the Mariners seem content for us to remain for as long as we want. However, I think we all know that it cannot be a long term arrangement. The crews of visiting ships are less tolerant of the elves presence. Although several adolescent elves regularly help with the loading and unloading of ships, the sailors invariably avoid the elves as much as possible. Even Cassandra and I are treated with suspicion by the sailors of visiting ships.

Makareta and Defina35 are the next to give birth within a few days of each other. The biggest surprise is that both of their children are boys. The only explanation for them giving birth to male children is that the boys’ father is Atenex. In the circumstances, the only possible candidate is the masked male in the Merope breeding pens. If so, the boys may have inherited the remedy to the Atenex male fertility problem. Unfortunately, it will be many years before that can be determined.

A naming ceremony is held the following week once both mothers are fit enough to resume normal duties. Makareta’s and Defina35’s boys are named Aran and Damia respectively.

Once the celebrations are over, I gather our original group of six together, along with four representatives from the other elves. Meeting with all the elves would be fairer, but it would be a logistical nightmare to arrange.

“We must decide what to do,” I say to the gathered group. “We have a six week gap before the next baby is due. If we intend to travel to Atene or Thurn then we need to leave soon.”