Afterwards

Oh Sardman, give us clever hands to dig

and lusty hips and kissing lips

and plenty food to eat

Oh Jimbo keep the peace

between the fangers and the 51

or let justice be done

Oh Lady Tiger be not vexed

and teach instead the feel

of "Whee!".

Feast prayer of the Rowdillan tribe

Olady God-Mother thanks for your blessings and bedtime stories.

May you always kiss our booboos.

God-Mother Day prayer from the Pwetorika tribe

The fifty one tribes all spoke the same language, and all worshiped the same deities. They all had dogs, who were serious and respected, large and black. A dog could and would chastise a child who was endangering them self or another, the dogs were protective and could usually persuade one of the striped fangers to go elsewhere, not by barking and threatening, but seemingly through diplomacy. Large areas were forbidden for hunting, being the lands of the fangers.

Even so, everyone in all tribes big enough to safely hold it carried a long thin spear, almost two big people long, with a slender sharp point. Just in case a fanger was unreasonable. Everyone defended against a fanger who broke the peace, and they usually did not escape justice.

For all that they spoke the same, the fifty one tribes had people who looked very different from each other, but the babies were starting to look more alike all the time. There was a rule that said you couldn't mate with someone from the same tribe, or that if you did, you both had to leave and go as far away as you could, to beg entrance to another tribe.

The tribe had some holy days, namely crys-mess, God-Mother Day, and hollerin. The other two were mostly parties, but God-Mother day was for dressing up in your best, at least a clean loin-cloth for God-Mother's sake! Of Course, God-Mother was one of the deities, the main one.

Next was the Laughing Lady Tiger, who looked like a striped fanger, and was the deity of playfulness and temper, prayed to for luck. Then it was the Jimbo, who took the shape of a dog, and was the deity of thoughtful foresight and planning. Last was the Sardman, who was the deity of clever hands and crafts, and also of lust and pleasure. His sign was a strange object called a ca-noper, which indicated feasting and plenty.

He was the one who made the corn and potatoes grow, and taught the enjen-ears how to irritate the gardenplot. The enjen-ears were respected, and when they asked the tribes to dig the trenches with the shoves to wet the gardenplots, and put in the water gates to stop the flood, everyone made the sign of the ca-noper, and helped them, in the name of the Sardman, to ensure feasting and plenty. Then, at the party, the other nearby tribes who had joined in the work, joined in the orghee to honor lust and pleasure, and clever hands.