The Tribe [WRC]

Taurug Nap. The name given to me by my father. He was Nap Rok, son of An Nap Taurus, leader of the Ultamo Tribe. When my grandfather died by the pierce of a mammoth tusk the Ultamo Tribe had withered. Nap Rok was not the caliber of strength seen in my grandfather. Because of this no one hailed him "An" (supreme leader of the Tribe). A shame carried with my family for a generation.

Today my ceremony is being held. I will be deemed An Taurug Nap. An addition of An in the line of Naps which had been broken by the blood that seeded me. My father will not show his face. He would be picking berries in the field if he knew his place. Should he enter my festival, I shall slay him with my spear. He is not worthy of the Nap blood.

Chulik Un will be my bride. I shall choose her after my crown of thorns is adorned to my skull. My blood shall wipe her face and she will know to be my property. I will slave her well, and I will breed her better. She will pass my blood to future Ans that will carry my crown and pass the name of Nap An.

"Taurug Nap" my friend Ban Tad shouts to me. Outside of our leather tent I can hear him yell. "Taurug Nap" he screams with vigor. His face slides through the tanned hide of my doorway and blood and dirt drip onto my woven floor. "Taurug Nap," he says again, "the An of Oo Ba Tribe has stolen that which belongs to you."

I clean my dagger and sheath it at my side. "He has stolen what from me?" I ask.

"He has stolen Chulik Un, the most vibrant breasts of Ultamo."

My hand slaps Ban Tad on the shoulder and I belly a boisterous laugh in his face. I slap his cheek and wipe the blood to his neck.

"You are wrong my friend, I have not taken Chulik Un as my bride yet. So her captors have moments before they will see the end of my spear. But I'm afraid you have been bested, and the blood on your face should next time be on your neck, for you should never walk away from this kind of battle alive. It is more honorable to die at the hands of your victor"

Ban Tad cries in his hands. His knees touch my woven floor and his fingers caress my toes.

"Forgive me An." He pleads.

With my elbow I hit him on the top of his head. He slumps to the ground as rabbit hit by the wolf. "You are wrong again my friend. I am not An yet, and you should not call me such until I am crowned.

--- --- ---

The Tribe is restless during my ceremony. Looks of fear and trepidation are cast upon their faces. They are meek, and weak of will. They fear a new An to fall today. To fight a stronger tribe and lose. They are wrong. They have lost the pride of Ultamo.

My crown of thorns draws blood from my hairline. It has been far too long vacant from the head of Naps.

--- --- ---

An Oo Ba had heard from someone about my crowning. I knew this the moment Ban Tad ran in blood and tears of better men. Better than Ban Tad, but no man compared to the blood of Nap. Not the blood of my father.

"Lead me the way you gazed on the Oo Ba An" I shout to Ban Nap.

He treks us over three hills, through a marsh and under the bridge fashioned by the hands of man. Bundled sticks and clay and logs from the trees of Thud Du Lak.

The Oo Ba An sits on top of a giant stone with the hands of my Un bound by his.

"This is Chulik Un." I yell. "She is to be the Un that is owned by me and she will be Un to no one else. Does the Oo Ba An heed the word of An of Ultamo?"

"The Ultamo have no An." The Oo Ba An shouts in return. "Their An died and there would be none replace him. The son of the An told me of this Un and I am to take her and breed her and you are to bow to the An of Oo Ba."

"I am the An of Ultamo, and I will cut your head and drag your spine across the valley for you have forgotten the Ultamo and her strength. I am An Taurug Nap, and Nap Rok will die by my hand for his coward's words to the An of Oo Ba."

The An of Oo Ba jumps from the rock on the stony trail beneath him. He raises his spear to my head.

"Who would hail you as An of Ultamo? You have not earned your An."

"I have slain ten beasts that bested our last An. I have earned my An." I shout in return.

His spear moves forward and I lunge to my side. "I have taken the heads of ten lions and cut out the hearts of the lizards in the water." I cry and pace the An in circles.

He takes a dagger from his side and throws it at my face. I move quickly, sharply and the dagger tickles the sense of my ear.

"I have trapped the eagle with my bare hands more than ten times and no man is quicker than my hand." I scream and stomp my legs onto the neck of the An of Oo Ba. "You do not believe me to be the An of Ultamo, but I have earned my An. And you will lose your An as I cut out your tongue and your eyes. There are no animals stronger than me in this land, and there are no men who shall take away my An. When you go back to your tribe, my friend Ban Tad will walk you and tell them of the An of Ultamo and his Un called Chulik. For she is the greatest breast in the land and I am the greatest strength. And all tribes will bow to Ultamo from this moment on."

The brown dirt path turns crimson and the fear of a dying rabbit twinkles through the eye of An Oo Ba.

"Where shall you go now An Taurug Nap?" Ban Tad asks.

"I shall kill Nap Rok with my spear. For he carries the name of Nap and he is not worthy of the name. When I am finished I will take Chulik Un to my hut and I shall make her a woman. And you will return with praise to me. And I will praise you. Now complete your task Ban Tad. For it is most important. Once again, the Tribe of Ultamo will be the ruling Tribe of these lands."

Post Script:

Un - is a classification for females in the land. They are both seen as wives and property and an "Un" can belong to man while always maintaining their position as Un and always maintain "Un" in their name. An "Un" can be owned by a man or can not be owned at all, always referred to as an "Un" or the "Un" of of a man.

An - An "An" is a leader of a tribe, and there is only to be one "An" per tribe. Should an "An" parish, it is up to another in the tribe to earn their position of "An" or for the son of the previous "An" to repay the shame by their father's death. In the case of this story, Taurug's grandfather was killed by a mammoth, and because his father did not do anything to wipe the shame, and no person in the tribe earned the position of "An", he had to kill ten mammoths with his spear to regain the title.


If there are any other questions about the story feel free to ask.

This is an entry into the Ruler of the World, writing contest.

Very nice story.

I like the descriptions (especially the primal barbarity of dragging a spine across the landscape), and the religious motifs (the crown of thorns).

It certainly is a different take on the currently "noble" interpretation of prehistoric hunter-gather life.

A little confusing with all those strange-sounding names at times, so I was glad the second post explained more.

Pity for the poor mammoths, with ten to one revenge ratios it's perhaps no wonder that they became extinct.

A great read though - almost takes one back a bit to the uncomplicated, politically incorrect way of imagining the prehistoric era in the 1970s.

reply to post by halfoldman

A little confusing with all those strange-sounding names at times, so I was glad the second post explained more.

I worried about this a little for the reader, but I felt it was important to the story. At least you get to sound out "Oo Ba An" and similar names in your head.



Making it more memorable.




Thanks for reading.

An interesting story...

Though, Anthropologically, tribal peoples had no real leaders, at least, no leaders with any REAL power or ability to force people or order people around. Tribalism was egalitarian and women had a generally equal/respected place, more or less.

reply to post by NoHierarchy

...tribal peoples had no real leaders, at least, no leaders with any REAL power or ability to force people or order people around.

Tell that to the An of Ultamo.