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"When the meeting finally started, the Clan Mother of the Red Hill Clan, led the other Mothers and their selected Sisters through a detailed description of both battles. She then took them on a tour of both ships. Because the smell of humans was still strong on the ships, the larger animals that would make them their den, were not there yet. The smaller animals that are always looking for a new place to hide, scurried out of their way, during the tour. The Mothers asked the two Sisters that were injured by their swords in the second battle, to testify before the council. They wanted to know the history of their swords. They wanted to know who made them. What technique was used, and what metals were used in its construction. No one wanted a sword that would explode into hundreds of sharp metal fragments. Any similar swords would need to be reworked to protect the Sister who had it. The sword that went molten then splattered was a different story. When they questioned that Sister, she told them that her sword was made by the force using blacksmith, who along with his sister, taught all the clans to fight. The Mother whose clan they were from, told the council, that her blacksmiths still use his techniques today. Unfortunately he had the reputation of trying different metal combinations, in each sword he made. With the sword destroyed, they may never know which combination of metals were used in her sword. "Will this help?" She emptied a wooden water pail, full of metal pieces that had been molten, then cooled. You could still see pieces of flesh sticking to the undersides of some of them. Some of the Sisters that were with their Mothers, became queasy, and had to look away, when they realised, that it was her flesh, sticking to the metal pieces on the ground. The Mother told her that there was enough metal for her blacksmiths to determine which metals were used. They could then fashion her a new sword if she wanted. She said that she would rather have a new sword, then a water bucket full of metal. The Mother got up to help her put the metal back into the bucket. She quietly, told the Sister how proud she was to meet her. From the tears in the Mothers eyes, she knew the comment was sincere, and thanked her. The Mother took the full pail from the Sister, and gave it to one of her own Sisters, to take it to her blacksmiths right away."

"The Mothers discussed strategies, on how to best combat these attacks. They also wanted to know why the Red Hills Clan was the only clan that has been attacked. One of the things they were considering, was making heavy dummy swords, to absorb the impact of the blaster bolts, until the Sister is close enough to draw her real sword and dispatch the attackers. Suddenly a Sister from the Singing Mountain Clan, rides right up on her Rancor to where the Mothers were meeting outside. Interrupting the meeting by telling her Mother that the town was attack by pirates again. "Their Rancor were able to drive the pirates off, killing some in the process. But what is really amazing, is that their skin was not injured by anything the pirates shot at them."

Now all the Mothers knew about the first pirate attack on the town, and knew that it was on the agenda for discussion later on. What three of the Mothers did not know, was what steps the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan had already taken, to help protect the town. They looked at her, and demanded to know what she had done to the town. They were afraid that she had made it part of her clan. She told them that she had already shared what she had done, with the Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, and was scheduled to make her presentation later, when they discussed the pirate attack on the town. She told them this to tease them, and because she sensed that they were suspicious of her. Because the Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan was hosting this meeting, she was the one in charge of the agenda. So the three Mothers turned to her, to ask her permission, for the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan to make her presentation now. She wanted to laugh because of the way, the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan had managed to tweak the noses of the three Mothers. But she supressed that desire, and smiled, and gave her permission. The Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, started by telling them, how she heard about the first pirate attach on the town. "She sent one of her Sisters to warn a clanless settlement in her territory, about the danger. Then she talked with her Herd Mother about the town's situation. Mentioning that she could not send them some Sisters to protect them, without violating the neutrality agreement made with all the clans." The three Mothers were embarrassed that they had thought that she would. "She was the one who suggested bring together some lone Rancor, to form a small herd. Then they could be the town's garrison. When I pointed out that there were no force users in the town to talk to the Rancor. She told me that they did not need them. She told me that there were people in my own clan that were not force users, but could still communicate with them. The other humans in the clan call them beastmasters. She told how she took one beastmaster and tested him, by having him communicate with the first lone Rancor they found. We had surrounded the Rancor, and it was very upset. It calmed down when the beastmaster approached it, and sat down, as I had instructed the beastmaster to make it do. The other lone Rancor we encountered all reacted the same way to the beastmaster. When I pointed out to the town's people, that this was the only way their town could be protected in the future. They reluctantly agreed to cooperate. The Rancor I gathered agreed to become one herd, and they selected the person in town that could talk to them. She is the wife of the man killed by the pirates in the first raid. Before leaving, I instructed the town that they need to build enclosures for every clan. Because none of us will be able to enter their town with our Rancor, without there being a conflict. We would also need to keep our own Rancor separate, for the same reason, when we gather for our Council of Mothers. I told them that each clan should reimburse them, for their enclosure, because it would be clan property." The Mothers did not like that they had just acquired another debt, but could not argue with the logic. One of them asked the Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, if they could move this meeting to the town, because the results of this pirate raid could affect the strategy they adopt to counter the raids. All the other Mothers agreed. So the Council of Mothers was moved to the Town."

"The Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, felt that the information they would uncover at the town, was worth her not being there, if her village was attacked while she was gone. The only Sister she took with her, was the one who was burnt by her molten sword, since she was still recovering, and her Mother did not want her in another battle, until she was fully recovered. Also one of the Sisters that was accompanying the Clan Mother from the Misty Falls Clan, is the healer who helped her. She had already indicated that she was willing to keep ministering to her, if she accompanied them. When they arrived at the town, they found the people busy with their construction projects, and in very good spirits. Everyone in town wanted to personally thank the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan for what she did to help protect their town. She kept telling them that it was a Rancor that came up with the idea, because she could see that the other Mothers were a little jealous of all the attention she was receiving. They first went to talk with the Rancor. They questioned them about how they were recruited. Than they described the battle. None of the Mothers asked them what happened to the dead pirates, and the Rancor were glad they didn't. The Rancor were proud of their beastmaster, and of how well she was looking after them. So when the Mothers asked her to demonstrate her control over them, they were very careful to follow her instructions, so that she would not feel humiliated in front of these powerful women. They then interviewed everyone in town individually, asking them about the first pirate raid, and the second pirate raid. That is when they found out, that one of the women that had been raped in the first raid, asked them why they did not go to the villages north of their town, were all the beautiful young ladies were. She wanted the pirates to attach one of their villages, so that the Sisters would kill them. She was happy to hear that all the pirates were dead. She did not know about the second ship. She was clearly upset that two Sisters died defending their village."

"When she left the council, the Sister with the burns caught up to her. The woman could tell that she was recently disfigured, she asked if this was because of the attacks. The Sister confirmed that it was, and the woman started crying. The Sister asked her to stop, in case she take away from the legacy of what happened. She told her that not one of her Sisters were sorry that she used them as instruments of vengeance. She described how her best friend died in the second attack, and how she still managed to kill one of the attackers before she died. "Not only that, but because she drew all the attackers fire, many of her other Sisters were able to reach the attackers unharmed, and quickly dispatched them. My friend is now a hero to all her Sisters, something that she would have been proud of. Don't cry, or be sorry, that you helped make a hero. But you can cry because of our pain and our loss." The woman thanked her for her words, she did feel better. She asked permission to give her a kiss on her cheek, because she did not want to hurt her, by giving her a hug. The Sister pointed to where she could kiss her. She felt the woman's tears on her face as she did. The woman told her that now she had a hero to look up to. That evening the Sister told her Mother what happened between the woman and herself. The Mother was happy she told her, she knew that all the Sisters will feel better because of it. All the Mothers now knew that having Rancor, was key to the strategy of beating the raiders. The Sisters can use the Rancor as a shield, as they approach the attackers. The raiders always attacked at night, because they thought they had a technological advantage. They can then blind them with a ball of force fire. Then it was relatively easy to dispatch them. If they can attack them while they are still getting off the ship. Than the village will never be in danger. It did not matter if the ship got away. In fact it might be better for them, because they could warn other ships away.

The strategy that all the clans adopted, once they all had Rancor. Was to have three Sisters with their Rancor resting by their main gate. They could have sentries on their walls that were not force users. They would wake the three teams when they detected a ship in their area. The three teams would then try to reach the ship just after it landed. To engage anyone trying to get off the ship. In the meantime the sentries would have awaken the rest of the Sisters and their Rancor, in case the first teams needed assistance (they never did)."

"The Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan wasted no time in reaching a cooperation agreement with the Herd Mother of the Rancor herd near her village, once she returned from the Council of Mothers. When she explained that she had been given permission to enter another clan's territory to harvest the trees they would need for the logs for the palisade. The Herd Mother guessed right away that it was the human from the Rancor herd, the one who introduced them, as the one who gave them permission. She told the Clan Mother that this woman is good to have as their ally. The Clan Mother warned her that she had also given permission to another group to harvest trees. They were not a clan, and it would be very bad to have a conflict with them. The Herd Mother had her explain, what was so special about this group. After the explanation, the Herd Mother knew that she would have to go with them the first time they went to harvest trees. On the way there, the Herd Mother gave permission to the hunters to kill any game they came upon during the trip. When they saw the town's people and their small herd of Rancor, she asked her herd to keep back while she went to talk to the small herd. Her herd did not like that their Herd Mother was going alone to talk with the strange herd. They thought they should show a show of strength, and send a large group to intimidate them. The town's herd was already intimidated by the presents of such a large herd, and could not understand why the Herd Mother from this herd was approaching them by herself. Their beastmaster was giving them signs that everything was all right, and to keep in peace. They were surprised that the Herd Mother would ask permission to speak to them, rather than just saying what she wanted to say. They readily gave her permission. So when she sat down they came closer to her and sat down as well. The Herd Mother told them that the people of her herd feel a special obligation to protect the small herd's people, and therefore they feel that the small herd must be protected as well. To honour her people, she feels that her entire herd is obligated to protect them, while they are together. She asks that they refrain from attacking any of her people, or of her herd, because they will not be allowed to retaliate. This was not what the small herd was expecting. They promised the Herd Mother that they had no intention of attacking her people or her herd. They were grateful that she felt obligated to extend the protection of her herd to them. So they would show her honour, by maintaining peace while they were together, and would willingly help defend her herd if the need arose. The Herd Mother than called over one of her hunters, and to bring his kill. The Herd Mother than asked the hunter to give his kill to the small herd as acknowledgement of their agreement, both herds were surprised by this. Usually the smaller herd paid tribute to the larger herd, if they wanted to keep peace, while passing through a larger herd's territory, while looking for new hunting grounds. She than called each member of her herd to come and get the scent of the small herd, so they would know not to hurt them, but to protect them while they were together. The Clan Mother came over and sat beside the Herd Mother, because she wanted to understand what was going on. She did not know that her peaceful presence, reinforced what the Herd Mother was instructing her herd. Back at the village the Herd Mother explained her action to the herd, so they would understand. There was no incidents the entire time the two groups were together harvesting trees. The small herd liked that though they were small, they were special, and it helped to strengthen the bond they had established with their people. The Clan Mother was pleased, that just as the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan predicted, their new village palisade was completed in under half a month. All the Sisters and their Rancor mounts were sent out hunting as soon as the palisade was completed, so that they could have a great feast in celebration."

"Now to make life more interesting, a ship lands next to town in the middle of the day. Its ramp lowers, then a man gets tossed down the ramp, and off the ship. The ramp is raised, and the ship takes off, leaving the man stranded on the planet. After he stands and brushes himself off. The people from the town come out to meet him. They ask him if he is alright, and why they threw him off their ship. They still did not know if he was a pirate or not. He says that he will tell them all they want to know. But first he would like them to point him in the direction, to where he could get a nice stiff drink. They look at each other because they are not sure what he wants. Someone tells him that the only drinks they can offer him, are water and tea. There are no fruits that are ripe right now, so they cannot offer him that, if that is what he was looking for. He asks them if they have any drinks with alcohol in it. They ask him what alcohol is. He tilts his head back, and yells, "Nooooooooo!" The town's people don't know what to make of his behaviour. Suddenly the beastmaster runs up with her herd of Rancor. She said that it sounded like they were torturing this man. The man does not know what to think of these Rancor. The others are not bothered by their presence, but he wants to keep as many people between him and the beasts as he can. He tells her that it is worse than torture. They have dropped him off on an uncivilized planet. The town's people have heard enough. They all start going back to what they were doing before the ship landed. The beastmaster said, "Your good at making new friends, aren't you!""

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder. "Why did she say that when he had not made any friends yet?"

"She was rebuking him for chasing away the people he should have been making friends with."

Krillgan thought about that for a moment. "Do adults often say the opposite of what they really should be saying?"

"Yes, and when you are older you will be saying it to. It is not just the words, but the tone in which you say it, also has a meaning."

Krillgan thought about it for a moment, than he looked at the Captain, like he was ready to hear more.

"The man did not want to stay and talk with this woman. Because she was the only one between him and the beasts, and they followed her here. So she must be able to somehow control them. He called out, "Who is in charge here?" The people turned back, and said they all were. He asked if there was someone in charge of the planet. They told him "No!" "Then how do you get anything done here?" One of the people answered, "By working, instead of standing around talking to strangers with half a brain." Most of the people had to put their hand over their mouth, to keep from laughing. "He asked them if they had an Inn here, and what sort of currency do they use?" They told him that they had no idea what he was talking about. He asked them where people stay when they visit this place, and where can you get a meal? They tell him, that if a visitor comes with their own Rancor, they will camp outside of the town. If a visitor is good friends with someone in town, they usually will stay with them. Otherwise they will let them stay in one of the empty houses. As far as getting a meal, they can go to the kitchen with everyone else. "So you don't pay for any of this." We don't know what you mean by pay? But if you want to live here, than you work. "Do I have to wait for everyone else to want to eat, because I'm kind of hungry now?" One of the women told him to follow her to the kitchen, she will give him something to snack on, to hold him over, until dinner time. In the kitchen, she cut off a piece of porridge cake, some cheese, and gave him a cup of water. He thought she was going to cook him something. Then she left. He quickly followed her, because he did not want to be left alone. He followed her to where the people were, and watched them putting up a palisade around what looked like another section of the town. It was fascinating to watch the people and the beasts working together. The beasts were better trained than he thought. He watched the woman closely who seemed to be the one controlling them. By the time he had finished his snack, and washed it down. He was confident he knew what she was doing. He walked over to one of the beasts and did what he thought was an imitation of what she was doing. The beast looked over at the lady. The lady made a gesture. The beast hit him with the back of his hand, bowling him over. All the people laughed, and he was sure the beasts were laughing too. He walked up to the lady, and demanded to know, "Why she made the beast do what it did?" "She told him that first it is not a beast, it is a Rancor. Second I did not tell him to do that. He told me that you were as annoying as a baby Rancor. So I told him to treat you like one. I had no idea they treated their young that way." The town's people laughed again, when they found out why the Rancor did what he did. She suggested, that for now he just sit and watch, and try to keep out of everyone's way. Later they will figure out what to do with him. His ego was bruised by his treatment so far on this planet, even more so, because a woman was telling him what he should do."

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder again. "What is ego?" Chitrah thought for a moment. "The ego deals with how we think of ourselves, and how we think people think of us. If we think we are important, and find out that other people do not. Then that knowledge is believed to bruise our ego, because we are now forced to re-evaluate ourselves. It appears that this man came from a society were men are dominant, so for a woman to tell him what to do, he felt humiliated."

"Do you feel humiliated when mother tells you to do something?"

"No. Your mother is a very intelligent woman. Someone who deserves our respect. So when she tells me to do something, I know it needs to be done."

Andriel told Chitrah, that that was a very good answer. Then she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Chitrah told Krillgan, "Sometimes you get benefits." So Andriel leaned over and kissed him again. Krillgan smiled, then looked at the Captain.

"As dinner approached, he did not notice that some of the people, had left the others, and went into town, because he had stopped paying attention to what they were doing. When everyone else stopped working, he noticed. He followed them to the kitchen. He lined up with the others and was rewarded with a nice hot plate of food. He did not know what it was, but it smelt good. He grabbed whatever anyone else grabbed, and followed them to a table. When everyone else started eating, he did what they did. Again someone asked him why he was thrown off of the ship. He told them that he had a disagreement with the man in charge of his planet. So the man had the ship bring him here. Someone asked what the disagreement was about? He told them that he had let the man know that he thought he could run the planet better than him. What he did not say, but they found out later, was that he tried to overthrow the government. Now a lot of pirates are also mercenaries. They are not the type that you can find on a planet's surface. They are the type you can hire along with their ships, to help defend a planet, from pirates, and other people who might try to invade the planet. For the pirates this can also be an opportunity to upgrade their Starfighters. Most Starfighter manufacturers will not sell directly to a pirate. But they will sell their product to someone who is in control of a planet, even though it would not be their current line, but Starfighters that are a couple of generations old. For pirates, these are usually a couple generations newer than what they currently have. So the pirates will buy the starfighters from the person in charge of the planet, and sell their old ones to them as scrap. Now you have to be very careful when hiring pirates, because, once their contract is over, and you don't rehire them. It does not matter if you had a good relationship with them or not. If you have not built up your space fleet while they worked for you. They will land and attack your settlements. You have to remember, that while they worked for you. They found out where all the wealth on the planet is, so they know where to attack. It was probably some of the pirate/mercenaries that told the ruler of the planet, that Dathomir was a good place to put people that he did not want on his planet anymore. Now the man did not like, that after dinner, they made him help clean up, and wash dishes. They did show him a house he could sleep in, and some nice people gave him some blankets and a pillow. When he entered the house, it was completely empty. There was not one piece of furniture. He went back to the kitchen, and asked them where he could sleep? They told him he had a house, he could sleep wherever he wants. "But there is no furniture." "Then make some. You are not a child. We should not have to tell you these things." He was not happy when he went back to his empty house, he was used to others doing things for him. It wasn't long before the clans all heard about the offworlder, and that the town did not think he was much of a man. Some even thought that he may have had his private parts cut off."

Chitrah did not wait for Krillgan to squeeze his shoulder. He told him that some mean men, if you are their prisoner, they will cut off the horn of your manhood, or the sac underneath it, or both. "Why would they do that?"

"What I will tell you for now, is that they do it because they can. They do it to humiliate the person they do it to."

"Then how do they go pee?"

"The same way a woman does."

Now Krillgan knew for sure, that there was no such thing as a horn of womanhood. He looked sideways at his mother, because he did not want her knowing he was looking at her. He wondered how she went pee. His faced darkened because he was too embarrassed to ask her. Instead he looked down at his hands in his lap, and told the Captain he was ready to hear more of the story. The Captain felt sorry for him. He was learning a lot about life these past two days. He was surprised his head had not exploded.

"When the Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, heard about the offworlder, she decide to take the objects they had taken off of the bodies of their attackers, and show them to him. Maybe he could tell them what they were, and if they have any practical value. He was surprised to see the objects, and asked them where they got them. They told him that their village had been attacked twice, and these were some of the objects they had collected off of the bodies of their attackers. He asked them what they did with their weapons. They told him that they put their weapons aboard their ship, because they were dangerous, and she did not want any of her people getting hurt. He asked her, if he tells her what the objects are, will she take him to see the ship? Now the two Sisters that came with their Mother, did not like this man at all. He showed no respect to their Clan Mother. Now he did not know she was the Clan Mother. He still believed that there must be a man, or a group of men in charge. He wondered if they were testing him, and sent this woman in their place. She told him that if he did tell her about each object, she would make sure he was taken to the ships. He told them that the small tubes with dried fungus inside are called Death Sticks. The women were surprised, because they had started calling the weapons the attackers used death sticks. He explained that it was an addictive mild hallucinogen. Their attackers smoked them to help them forget how bad their life was. He did not tell them that he really wanted them, even though he had never smoked one before. The Clan Mother told her Sisters that she was going to send half of what they had to the healers in the Misty Falls Clan, maybe there is a medicinal use for them. She showed him the metal discs, and told them that they thought they were the images of the gods they worshiped. The offworlder laughed, he said the men whose image is on these coins, wished they were gods. He told them that the coins could be exchanged for goods on the planets the men had been to. None where from his planet, so they have no value to him. The Clan Mother asked him to explain. At first he wanted to reach for a death stick, then changed his mind and picked up a ring. "Let's say you were a jeweller that specialised in making rings. I want to buy a ring from you, and you tell me how many coins you are willing to accept in exchange for that ring. I give you the coins, and you give me the ring. It is almost dinner time, so you go to the baker, and exchange some coins for a loaf of bread. Then you go to a farmer who is selling cheese. You use some of the coin to buy some cheese. Then you go to a vender to buy something to drink that will go nice with your bread and cheese. With that ring, you where able to buy your dinner, and probably have some coins left over to buy breakfast." "Don't people share their food with you, on this planet that you are from?" "No. If you do not have coins, they would rather let you starve to death." "So you would rather be on a planet, where the only thing people care about are metal discs, than on this planet, where people are willing to share their food with you, and provide a roof over your head, as long as you are willing to work to support your community." The man was clearly embarrassed. No wonder the town's people are reluctant to help make the furniture he needs. His ideas of value, and importance are all mixed up. The man did point out that some of the coins had the same metals in them as some of the rings they have. If they knew someone who makes jewellery, he could melt the coins down and make some nice rings, or maybe something else. The ladies realised that the jeweller must be a special type of blacksmith. One whose speciality is to work with soft metals, to make body ornaments. She put her box away. Right now there was no one on Dathomir like that. She asked him if he was ready to go, because they were ready to take him to the ships. When they went outside the town, the three ladies got on their Rancor. The man looked around and saw that there was no Rancor for him to ride. He asked if they could wait a moment, while he gets one of the town's Rancor to ride. The Clan Mother asked him if he could talk to the Rancor. He said he tried once but it did not go that well. The woman who handles them said that the Rancor complained to her that I was just like an irritating infant. So she told it to treat me like one. All three women burst out laughing. They knew it must have been a male Rancor."

"They have seen firsthand what a male Rancor does when a young infant irritates it. Whamp, it gets the back of the hand, making it roll away. It does not appear to be injured, because as soon as it stops rolling, it gets up and starts irritating another adult. What is funny, is to watch the herd's reaction to what happens next. The mother of the infant is clearly upset, and goes up to the offending male, and starts yelling at him. The rest of the herd is clearly entertained by this. You can even see some of them quietly laughing, until the mother of the infant looks there way, and then they try to hide that they were laughing. When one of the Sisters noticed the male that was being yelled at, had tears in his eyes. She asked her Rancor about that, when he approached her to go hunting, because the mother was looking at him. He told her that the Rancor was not sorry for what he had done. He had tears in his eyes because he was trying not to laugh. If he started laughing the mother would start beating him. They wondered how far the offworlder flew when he was hit by the Rancor's backhand. He wasn't hit very hard because he had no broken bones."

"The Clan Mother told him that if he cannot talk to a Rancor, then they will not let him ride them. The man was confused, because he did not see any of the three women make any hand gestures, they just climbed aboard. "So what am I supposed to do?" The Clan Mother said, "Run." Her Rancor told her that when infants get older, they make them run all the time, that way they are too tired to be irritating. He had no choice but to try and keep up with the three women on their Rancor. When they saw him getting tired they would stop to let him catch his breath. They would share some of their water with him, by pouring some it, into his hands, to let him drink. There was no way they were going to let him drink right out of one of their skins. He would probably put his lips on it, instead of pouring it into his mouth. They knew his horn of manhood was not cut away like some of the villagers thought, because when he had to go pee, he would stay standing, and turn his back to the women. Unfortunately, he would forget to check which way the wind was blowing, and get a lot of it on his pants. Even their young village boys knew to check which way the wind is blowing before they pee. When he took a break as the evening approached. One of the women disappeared, along with the Rancor she was riding. The other women were not concerned, so when they thought he had rested enough, they pushed on. They kept him going, well after sunset. They only stopped because he said he could not see. There were two moons shining that evening, more than enough light to see where they are going. They figured the real reason was because he was too soft, and probably could not run anymore. So they decided to stop there for the night. They started a small fire going by burning the animal droppings they found in the area. The other woman showed up with two dead young Verne bulls."

"The Verne are a mammalian herd animal found on the grasslands of Dathomir. The bulls have six horns that protrude from the back of their head, and the leather made from their hides, was used in making a lot of their clothing. These were young bulls, so their horns were not very long. It also meant that the meat should be nice to eat. Not sinewy, like an old bull. Two of the women took out their knives and soon had both Verne cut clean in half. A half was given to each of the Rancor, for their dinner. The last half was divided into four relatively equal portions. The Clan Mother was given the piece that the Sisters knew had the tenderest meat. They kept two portions for themselves, and gave the last portion to the man. They rightly assumed that he would not know one cut of meat from another. They gave it to him raw, and told him not to eat it all tonight, but to save a portion for breakfast. Mother gave them a dirty look for that. Did they want to get the man killed? By holding onto a raw piece of meat all night."

"The man had never cooked anything before. When he was out in the field with his men, they always cooked the game meat for him. All he had to do was eat it. He held it too close to the fire. Burning the outside while the inside was still raw. He singed his fingers in the process, not knowing how to hold the meat, and settled on eating it the way it was. He was starving, after running all day, and ate all of it. He did not care that he had nothing left over for breakfast. He did follow their example. When he cleaned the meat off of a bone, he threw it in the fire. After he finished eating, they made him go down wind from them. Because he stank. He smelt from sweating all day as he ran, and from all the pee he managed to get on his pants. Even the Rancor did not want to be down wind from him. He did not care. He was too tired. Now that his tummy was full, he just wanted to sleep. The three women did not sleep very well that night, because the man snored. One of the Rancor complained that he snored louder than the Herd Mother. The other two laughed, but they were able to fall asleep. At sunrise, they woke him up, and gave him a piece of porridge cake for breakfast. After he ate that, they poured some water in his hands to wash it down. He complained that he was stiff all over. They told him to stretch it out. He would feel better once he started running. For some reason his feet felt heavier than they did the day before. It was not until after his first rest, that he fell into a running grove. In the middle of the afternoon, when he stopped to rest. The Clan Mother, with the three Rancor kept going. She decided that she did not want to spend another night with him, and left for her village, leaving the two Sisters to babysit him. The Sisters knew that she had more important things to do, than babysit this man. They were sorry that they had to give up their Rancor as well. They were much better company than he was. The man did not know what one of the women killed for their dinner, nor did he care. He was happy they cooked the creature before they divided it up. He greedily devour everything they gave him. Then went right to sleep. The two Sisters had to move to stay upwind of him. They did not tell him that the lizard they ate for breakfast, they killed while it was sneaking up on his body while he slept. They did not think it would have hurt him unless he accidentally rolled over on it while he slept. They think it was attracted to his body heat. He did not know he was eating a lizard, he just knew it was food."

"They reached the two ships by mid-morning. As soon as they entered the canyon, he asked about the bad smell. The two Sisters were honestly surprised he could smell it, considering how bad he smelt. They told him that he was smelling the creatures that now live on the ships. They were easier to smell since there were so many of them living so close together. He asked, if they were dangerous? They told him that they were predators, so given a chance they would kill him, and eat the flesh off of his bones. The women did not seem to be afraid, so they approached the ships, until he actually caught sight of one. He wasn't sure what it was, but it looked mean, and ugly. He refused to come any closer to the ships. His hopes of going aboard, and retrieving all the blaster rifles was dashed. He had two plans for the blaster rifles. One, he was hoping to train the town's people into becoming a fighting militia, and taking over Dathomir. Second, they were the only commodity that he had found on this planet that he could think of to trade with a merchant ship or smuggler, to get him off this planet. Even if the power cells were dead, the rifles still had value, because all you had to do was replace the power cell, which was easy to come by on most planets. What he could not understand, is why the ships' crews would land their craft so close together. They were not allowed this close together on the busiest spaceport he had been to. The other thing he could not understand, is why they landed so far from the village they attacked. He has yet to see it. He knew it was on top of a hill, so should be relatively easy to spot. He also knew that most pirates and slavers are lazy. They would land as close as possible to their target, so they would not have to walk too far, once they claimed their prize. He also could not understand how these primitive people could beat them. As soon as a Rancor showed up, he would think that most pirate crews would make a hasty retreat to their ship and get off the planet. Even if they had smoked a few death sticks before battle, it should not impeded their judgement for them to get slaughtered, and their ships captured. When he knew that he would find no answers here, only more questions, he asked to be taken back to town. They made him run to keep up with them. It bothered him that they never seemed tired. One could easily break off, he assumed to see if they could find some game, then join back up with them, as if they never left. Two things were different on the return trip. He learnt how to check the wind before he would pee. He found he wasn't as stiff in the mornings as he was before, and got into a running grove much sooner."

"It was still early in the morning, when they sighted the town's wall. The Sisters asked if he needed them to run with him all the way to the town, or could he make it on his own. There were no predators in the area, and they wanted to run back to their village, and sleep in their own beds tonight. He told them he was fine. He did not tell them that he thought they had been out in the sun too long if they thought they could run all the way back to their village in one day. As he approached the town, he noticed that everyone was out working on the enclosures. As he approached them he told them that the two young ladies that escorted him back to town, said they could run back to their village in one day. The one lady said why not, it's not like they are like you or me. This statement confused the offworlder. How where they different? They seemed normal to him. When he came closer, the lady wrinkled her nose and waved her hand in front of her face. "You need to wash your clothes right now, you might want to wash yourself while you're at it. She shooed him away from them, and told him to go to his house. A short time later she knocked on his door, handed him an empty wash basin, a scrub board, and an empty pail used for water, and some soap. She told him that he could borrow the wash basin and scrub board for the day. He can keep the other items. He asked how to use it. She told him he would figure it out. He asked her what he could wear while he was washing his clothes. She told him that it was fortunate for him that no one else lives with him, so he doesn't have to worry about it, and left. He put the wash basin right in the middle of the main room on the floor. He went to the town's well, and retrieved two pails of water for the wash basin, and one pail of water in case he needed it. He had to kneel down at the basin to use it. He decided to take off his shirt and start with that. He put the shirt in the washbasin, and wondered what he was supposed to do next, because now he had a wet shirt, but not a clean shirt. He needed to get soap on it. He put the scrub board in the basin and put a piece of his shirt on top of it. He grabbed the soap and started rubbing it on the shirt. He quickly realized that if he wasn't careful he could use up all of the soap on just his shirt, and have nothing left for the rest of his clothes, or to wash himself. He wondered if he could transfer the soap, from the one piece with all the soap on it to another piece of the shirt. So he put another part of his shirt on the scrubbing board. Then rubbed the soapy part on top of it. It wasn't long before they were both soapy. So he kept transferring the soap to the rest of the shirt this way. Then he tried rinsing the shirt in the wash basin. He could tell from the water that he had been able to get some of the grime out of his shirt. So he quickly squeezed his shirt and held it up, wondering where he could hang it. As he held it up, water started dripping from it. He did not do a very good job squeezing it out. So he tried again. He got more water out, then held it up again. It wasn't long before more water started drip out of the shirt. He because frustrated with himself. And decided he needed to find a place to hang it. The only place he could think of hanging his clothes was on the window seal of a window. He did not want to do that, because he was afraid that as his clothes dried, the wind would catch them and blow them all over town, and he would have to run naked through the town, to retrieve his clothes. Something he did not want to do. So he went upstairs to the room he used as his bedroom, and spread it on the floor. He hoped it would dry that way. Then he went back down to the main floor, and started washing the rest of his clothes. Piece by piece. Whenever he finished washing a piece of clothing he found a dry section of floor to lay it on. Then he would go move everything else he had washed to another section of dry floor, flipping it on its other side. It was midday by the time he finished washing his clothes. He used the dirty water in the washbasin, and the soap to wash himself. Then he stood over the washbasin, and grabbed the pail of water, pouring it over himself to rinse himself off. Most of the water ended up on the floor. He took the washbasin, and dumped the water out through a window that opened between houses. He then went back to the main room, and started spreading the puddles of water around with his feet. Hoping that the water would dry faster. Then he went around the house, flipping his clothes over again. It was dinner time before his clothes were damp enough to put on. He went to the kitchen, to grab a bite to eat. He was starving. When the woman who lent him the washbasin and scrub board saw him, she started to laugh. She told him that his clothes looked dirtier than they did this morning. Then she sniffed him. "At least you do not smell as bad. You really don't know how to wash clothes do you. How did they wash them on the planet you are from?" He told her that humans don't wash their clothes on the planet he is from. They give them to laundry droids to clean. She asked him, what are droids? He told her that they were special mobile machines that were designed to help humans. She did not know what mobile machines were, but she liked the part about helping humans. She told him that next time she washes some clothes, she will show him how she does it. A few days later, after breakfast, she tells him to follow her. She has the washbasin on a table outside her house, with the scrub board in it. She started washing the first piece of clothing the same way he did, only she used a lot less soap, and scrubbed it a lot longer than he did. After she rinsed in in the washbasin, she scrubbed it all over again. After rinsing it the second time, she folded the clothing over a few times, then really started twisting it. He did not think you could twist the clothes so hard without damaging it. She got a surprising amount of water out of it. Then she hung it up on a thin piece of rope running between the houses. She told him that if it was windy, you could use a peg to keep it in place. The peg looked like a piece of a branch, with a slot cut into it lengthwise, about half of the length of the peg. He had never noticed the rope before. He thanked her for her instruction, and went back to his house to see if there is any rope running between the houses. She did not tell him that her more intimate garments, she hangs on a line strung inside her house."

"The one good thing that resulted from the offworlder running to the ships and back to town. Every morning at the crack of dawn. He would get up and run around the town a few times. Then he would wash himself and go for breakfast. Unfortunately, he wore his shoes out quickly. When he asked them where he can get his shoes repaired or replaced, they handed him a piece of leather. A stone knife to cut the leather, a metal tipped awl, and a strong dull needle, with what he thought was a couple of strong pieces of thread. He asked them what was he was supposed to do with it? They told him to make something for his feet."

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder. Than asked him what an awl was? Chitrah asked him if he remembered seeing on his workbench, a hand tool that looked like it had a squashed wooden ball for a handle. A round thin piece of metal came out of it, which ended at a point. He used it to make holes in leather. Now that his father mentioned it, he remembered seeing it.

"He made something that was a cross between a short boot, and a slipper. It wasn't long before he wore a hole in it, and asked for more leather, and the strong thread. They decided that he needed to learn where the leather came from. Every day, before dinner time, the Rancor went out hunting. They brought whatever they killed, back to town, and let the humans handle it before they ate it. They knew that many of the humans in town helped to make the porridge cakes they ate in the morning. Because they could smell the scent of the different people on it. It was not hard to accept that the people in the town were part of the herd, so they had the right to remove from their kill, whatever helps the herd. They even tried to make sure that there was one for the humans to share. So the town's people started eating more meat with their dinner than they ever did before, since no one in town was a hunter. So the people would remove the hides from the animals to make leather. They would also remove the long tendons that the offworlder thought was strong string. They would also remove any hoofs and horns and antlers, and any animal part that they would use in making leather or other things, like glue. Stuff that the Rancor did not miss eating. So now he was assigned to help dress the Rancor's kills. Then in the morning after breakfast, he was part of the crew that processed the hides. They would do it differently, whether they wanted to keep the fur or hair on it, if it was a mammal, or if they wanted to keep the scales on it, if it was reptile. Then they would if they wanted just the leather (no fur, hair or scales). He was told that as long as he worked the leather crew, he could keep one full leather skin, every half month, for personal use. He knew that this was one of the few exportable items this planet manufactured, so he readily agreed."

"It wasn't long after this, that the Clan Mother, that inherited the Dathomirite short sword, took her turn sleeping at her village's gate with two Sisters, and their Rancor mounts. It was that night that pirates made the mistake of attacking her village. When the sentries woke them, they were up on their mounts and out the gate in seconds. Now the pirates had never encountered Rancor before. They thought that if humans were riding them, they could not be that dangerous. Now the Clan Mother was eager to see how her force activated sword, did against the enemy's bolts of light. She was pleasantly surprised to find that her sword reflected the bolts of light, rather than absorb them, like the other swords did. Now she found it awkward to lean forward on her Rancor to deflect the bolts of light, because she could not easily control where she reflected it. So she stood up on her Rancor to make herself a target. Now the two Sisters with her panicked, when they saw their Mother stand up, exposing herself. They had not been able to see what she was able to do with her sword. So they each sent a ball of force fire at the pirates, from further away than they would have liked. Now their Mother was able to reflect the bolts of light back at the pirates, killing all of them on the boarding ramp, so a signal was never given to raise the ramp and take off. In fact when the force fireballs impacted the pirates, they were already dead. Now the Sisters had seen what their Mother did after she stood up, and now knew why she did what she did. So when they came to the ship, instead of taking out their swords, they felt that they could better back up their Mother with their bows and arrows. So Mother would stand in the middle of the walkway on the ship, drawing the pirate's fire that where still aboard ship. While her Sisters picked them off with their bows and arrows. They made it to the bridge in time to kill the pilot, as he had just started lifting off. The other Sisters from the clan arrived just in time to check out what the three had done. They were all excited to hear about what their Mother's sword had done. Now everyone wanted a Dathomirite sword. When the Sisters first started riding Rancor, they knew that it would be awkward to kill a pirate with a sword, while trying to remain shielded by the Rancor's body. So many of the Sisters in all the tribes attached their swords to the end of fighting sticks. Some of them talked to their blacksmith, to see if he could make a device that would keep a sword securely fastened to the end of the fighting stick, but which could easily be disconnected, for when they needed to board a ship, and did not have room for such a long weapon. Every clan came up with their own design, so you could tell which clan a weapon came from just by looking at this connection. To have a Datomirite sword on the end, would make it a very powerful weapon. With all the Sisters of her clan present, their Mother dispatched runners to all of the clans, to tell them how well the Dathomirite sword did. She sent two Sisters to town to bring back the offworlder, so that he could show them how the pirates' weapons worked. They took all the bodies off the ship, and removed everything from them except the clothing. They moved the ship to where their Mother told them. Then took the bodies and dumped them in the ocean. It was quite a trip to take them to the ocean. They ran flat out to the ocean and back, because they wanted to be back in time to see the offworlder demonstrate the weapons. They could have taken their time. They sat around for a couple of days waiting for him to show up. It was almost nightfall, when he did show up. But they could see him shaking from excitement. He asked if he could go aboard the ship. The Clan Mother said yes. The Sisters had laid out the weapons in a neat orderly fashion, at the top of the ramp. Everyone thought he was going up to look at them. Instead, he just kicked them aside with his foot, so he had room to get past them. It was good thing he did not know how many Sisters he upset with that move. The Clan Mother decided she better follow him, and signalled two of the Sisters to come up as well. He looked in every room, like he was looking for something. What he was doing was taking inventory. He was looking for practical stuff he could use on this planet. Any clean clothes he found, he checked it, to see if it would fit him. Any footwear he found, if it looked close to his size, he would grab them to try on later. The Clan Mother asked him what he was doing. He told her he needed new clothes, and was checking to see what fit him. She told him that he should ask first, before assuming he could take anything. He wasn't impressed. He told her that these are guys' clothes. It would not be appropriate for any of the ladies to wear it. She told him that the ship and everything in it, except for him, was clan property. He did not notice that she had not excluded herself, or the Sisters as being clan property. There are men in her village that these clothes could fit. He asked her if any of the men in her village would want to wear these clothes. She did admit that none of the men she knew would want to wear these clothes. She did not say, because they might accidentally be mistaken as a pirate, and get themselves killed. "So these clothes are no good to anyone else but me." Now he already dressed like a pirate, so having more pirate clothes would make no difference to him. She did not say anything. Now was not the time to correct him. When he found the captain's cabin, he dumped his armload of goodies in there. She asked him why he did that. He told her that he was going to sleep here tonight, and wanted something clean to wear in the morning. One of the Sisters signalled her Mother, that she was ready to draw her sword, and lop the head off of this arrogant man. Mother signalled her to be calm. Since dinner time was approaching, she asked him if he would be joining them for dinner. He told her that he was going to eat on the ship. They were surprised that there was food on the ship. He told them that there had to be food on the ship, it is not like you can travel from one place to another in an instant. Sometimes you have to spend months aboard the ship. So you have to be able to eat drink and sleep, along with whatever else you do on the ship. He led them to the galley, and pulled out a frozen meal for each of them, and one for himself. They had never felt anything so cold. They asked him how you eat it. It seems hard enough that it could damage your teeth. He told them that you need to warm it up first. He operated two units at once, and had two piping hot meals in no time. He handed them to the ladies and told them to be careful, it was quite hot. Then he warmed up the other two. The ladies could not believe that the meal that was so cold, just a moment before, could now be too hot, until one of them did not hold it properly, and the steam coming off of it, almost burnt her hand. The other Sister had to catch it before she dropped it, and used the force so she would not burn herself. He had his back to them, since he was removing the other two trays of food. So did not see anything. He handed one tray to the Sister that almost burnt her hand because she was not holding anything. He found clean utensils for everyone. Then he removed the cover from his tray, and dug right in. They watched what he did, then tentatively tried it. The food was rather bland and chewy. He asked them what they thought. The Clan Mother politely said, that it is fine, if you're a pirate. He told them that he grew up eating this stuff. The one Sister whispered, "That would explain a lot about him." Her Mother accidentally stepped on her toe. She told him that she has to go and join the others for dinner, and thanked him for sharing the food. She almost said, our food. She told the Sisters that they have to stay and keep an eye on him. She would send them something to eat later. After he finished his tray, he started eating from the tray the Clan Mother left behind. The Sisters wanted to hand him their trays as will, but politely pecked at the food instead. They noticed that each tray was divided in sections, so they sampled a little from each section. They both found the section that held something sweet. At least they found something that seemed interesting. After he finished Mother's tray, he put all of his stuff away, then showed the ladies were they could put their trays and utensils, when they were done. He told them he has exhausted, and heading to bed. As soon as he left, they put their trays away, then wondered what they were going to do. The big problem for them, was that they could not see the sky, so they had no sense of time. In the morning he was wearing different clothing, and he was wearing shoes, instead of his slipper things. He had also cleaned himself up. He went back to the galley and heated up something for his breakfast. They asked him, if he was eating the same thing for breakfast that he had made last night? He told them he was eating something totally different, and offered to make them some. They were curious and hungry, so they told him he could. He also made them some tea, just like he made for himself. After tasting the tea, they asked him if he could make some for Mother. He thought they were saying, that the other woman was their mother. He never would have thought that she was that old. The breakfast he made them was better than porridge cakes, and the tea went nice with it. They ranked this meal much higher than what they tried last night. When Mother showed up, they handed her the tea. She also liked it. She asked him where he got the tea leaves. He showed her. She asked if there was any more like it in on the ship. He did not think so. She took the container, and gave it to one of the Sisters to take back to the village, for special occasions. After the demonstration, she would send a runner to the Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, so she could send one of her Sisters aboard each of her ships, to see if they have the same tea. It was the one item on the ship that had value to them. After his breakfast, he was ready to give them a demonstration. They had set up some wild gourds as targets for him to shot at. He told them that these blaster rifles were designed for assault, which means close in fighting. Not long range sniper fire. The Sisters thought that the gourds they set up where for close range shooting. They asked him how close he wanted them. He asked them to set them up at half the distance. They thought at that distance, you would not need to aim. They brought most of them closer, but left some further out, for when it was their turn to shoot. He brought out one rifle, and showed them the different parts of the rifle they would need to be familiar with, including the power supply. He pointed out that the power supply was not at full charge, which meant that it had been fired. They asked him, how many shots they could get on a fully charged power supply. He told them that he was not that familiar with this particular model. Most blaster rifles can be fired between fifteen to twenty times before the power supply needs to be replaced. Soldiers in an army would often have four or five power supplies on them, so that they can switch them as needed. Pirates and Slavers, only expect a short fight, so they rarely carry extra power supplies. He then told them how to aim the rifle. After that, he let them handle the blaster rifle. Taking the power supply out, checking it, putting it back in, and aiming it. He then showed them how to switch it on, and take it off safety. He then fired the rifle, only killing half a gourd. He then brought out a number of rifles. He did not want them taking the power supplies, all the way to dead. He let a few of them try them at once. Most of them shot at the gourds that were further away. Killing them, until there were no pieces of gourd left to kill. He thought that if he was training them for his army, he would have them all training as snipers. After the training session was over. He told them that he would like to take all the weapons back to town with him. He wanted to train the town's people how to use them, so that they could help the Rancor in defending the town. The Mother thought that that was a reasonable thing to ask, and since no one wanted them. She said that he could take them back to town with him. She asked him, what else, he wanted to take back to town with him? He told her that he has not finished checking everything yet. But he found something interesting in the captain's cabin last night that he wanted to show her. He was hoping that she would come alone, but she brought her two daughters with her. He brought out some bottles of liqueur that he found in the captain's cabin. He poured a little into one glass for himself, and a little into a glass for the mother. She took a smell. It was a strange smell, but she had smelt something like it before. She watched how he drank it, then did the same. She said it tasted like water with fire in it, and enough sweetness to round out the taste. She asked him if there was anymore, because these bottles looked almost empty. He told her that there were a couple of bottles more. She said that was good, because she wanted all her girls to try it. He was heartbroken, the one bottle was full, and he was hoping to sneak it off of the ship without her knowing. This might be the last bit of alcohol he might ever see in his life. He went back to the captain's cabin, and retrieved all of the bottles. He decided to start serving the drinks from the cheapest liqueurs. That way he might be able to have what remains of the more expensive liqueurs to take back with him. He found all the cups in the galley and started pouring a small amount in each. The two daughters interrupted him, and asked if they could try what he shared with Mother. That was the expensive stuff, he reluctantly agreed, since none of the other girls had showed up yet, and he would have time to hide it. When he finished pouring some into each cup. He realised that he should be taking these cups back with him. They were better than the wooden ones they had in town. He decided to take all the utensils as well, even though they were meant to be used once, then put in recycling. He needed to go through this galley more carefully, he might find other items that might be useful, that he never thought about before. It was interesting to watch the faces of the girls when they drank their sample. Some did not like it, but most were surprised. When they asked him about it. He told them that most adults on his planet consume alcohol, in one form or another most every day. Some have formed a dependence on it. What he just served them was a form that was consumed on special occasions. It was both stronger, and sweeter, then what was normally consumed. Quite often it was served after a meal. Some of the girls claimed they could feel some heat in their cheeks after drinking it. Mother let him know that he could take what was left back to town with him. There was not enough left, for everyone to have another sample. But there was enough left for him to have on his own. He quickly took the bottles that were left, and wrapped a pillow around each one. To protect them on the trip back to town. He told the mother that he would like to take one bed, with its mattress back to town. He would have really liked to have been able to take the captain's bed back with him, but it was built right into the cabin. He could have taken the mattress, but then he would have needed to build a bedframe for it. What he settled on was the top bunk, of a bunk bed, that looked like it had never been used. It was metal framed. He showed the mother how it was connected to the lower bunk, and how it was bolted to the bulkhead. He told her he was going to look for some tools to disconnect it. When he left the cabin, he heard some zaps. Then he saw the mother carrying the bed with its mattress off of the ship. He was quite surprised, he thought the bed would have been two heavy for one person to handle. He went back into the cabin to see how she managed to disconnect it from everything. He found the parts of the bunk just below where it had been connected, looked like the metal had been melted. He picked up the end of a bolt that he found on the floor. It was quite warm. He put it in his pocket to have a look at it later. He found some coins in one cabin that were from his planet. He pocketed them, hoping that no one saw him, but the Clan Mother did. She wondered why he pocketed those coins, when all the other coins he found, he put aside for them, so that they could melt them down to make personal decorations. She guessed that those coins must mean something personal to him. He found the ship's armoury, it was just a weapon's locker, where all the blaster rifles were stored. He found the connections to recharge the power source from the rifles, and some extra power supplies. Then he saw them, two blaster pistols, and a holster. He put on the holster. She asked him, what was he doing? He told her that this belt is to hold a blaster pistol, a smaller version of a blaster rifle, but just as powerful. Then he took one of the pistols, and placed it in the holster. She told him to take it off, and put it away. She did not want him walking around with something so powerful strapped to his hip. He thought it was a request. She had given him an order. When he did not do anything. She said it again. When he still did not do anything, she snatched the pistol from him using the force. He could not figure out, how she was able to move so fast, to get it from him. What she did next, chilled his heart. With her one hand, she crushed the barrel of the blaster pistol, like it was nothing. He was not strong enough to do any damage to the blaster pistol by squeezing it. She was a lot stronger than she looked. "When I tell you to do something. Do it! It is not a request! Everything you have asked for, belongs to the clan, we are not giving them to you. We are letting you use them. If we do not like the way you are using it, then we will come and take everything from you. Is that clear?" He thought about the bed, the clothes, and the precious bottles. "I hear you, and understand." "Good." It took him a while to recover. He picked up the crushed pistol. At least the power source wasn't damaged. He took the holster off, and put everything back into the locker. He grabbed some blankets, and started wrapping the blaster rifles in them, once there power sources were fully charged. He emptied the content of the gun locker onto another blanket and wrapped it up. He kept piling everything onto the bed. After he had removed everything he could think of taking, he found some straps on the ship, and secured everything to the bed. He showed the mother how to raise and lower the ramp. He was hoping that they would seal up the ship. She told him that they will leave it open, so that creatures can use it. He realised that he would not be able to come back to the ship to recharge the power supplies. He asked her if they have a cart that they could load the bed and everything on it, onto. She replied there was no need, the two Sisters will have no trouble carrying it back to town with him. Now he understood, two sisters, like in her daughters. If they are as strong as their mother, then they should be able to handle it. They each grabbed one end of the bed frame, just above the mattress, and ran off. He had trouble keeping up with them on the return trip. Just like he had, running to the ship. He thought they would slow down, because they were carrying so much weight, but it did not seem to bother them. All the way back to town, he thought of the pros and cons, of having a woman that strong involved in his personal life."

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder, and asked him what "pros and cons" mean. Chitrah had to think for a while. The concept was simple. But explaining it to someone so young wasn't. "Let's say that you are the captain of a starship, and some equipment was malfunctioning. You have to make the decision on whether you send someone outside the ship right now to repair it, or do you take a chance, and try to make it to the closest spaceport to repair it. Either way, the chance of losing the ship with everyone in it is quite high. To help you make that decision, you have to look at what is good, and what is bad, about each choice. That is called looking at the pros and cons." Krillgan thought about it, and determined he had a good enough understanding of what his father was trying to tell him. He let the Captain know he could continue.

"The offworlder finally decided, when he caught a glimpse of the town. That as tempting as it was in having a relationship with the beautiful mother, or one of her lovely daughters, in the end the relationship would be bad for his health. As they came closer to town, he realised that he never saw the village that the mother, her daughters, and all the girls were from. Are they hiding something? Just like he thought the other women, who took him to the other ships were hiding something. Is he being tested by the people who are really in charge? He had them leave the bed with everything on it, outside his house, he was feeling self-conscience about having an empty house. He told them he could handle everything from there. He took everything off of the bed and piled it just inside the door to one side. Then he tried lifting the bedframe and mattress. How did she do it? He took the mattress off of the bedframe, and struggled getting just that up to the bedroom, and leaned it against one wall. He finally had to recruit someone from town to help him with the bedframe. As the person was leaving the house, they noticed the pile of material near the door, and asked the offworlder what that was all about. The offworlder grabbed a bundle, and suggested that they go have their dinner. Then he would show everyone some of what he brought back with him. The bright red blanket was not hard for anyone to see. The colour was hard to miss, and they had never seen that material before. Everyone was whispering during dinner, asking if anyone knew what it was. They asked the guy who helped him if he knew. He told them that he did not have a clue, but he has a whole pile of them back at his house. After dinner, while some went to clean up, the rest of the town's people sat at the tables, watching the offworlder sipping his cup of local tea. No one wanted to leave. After the cleanup crew were finished, one of the ladies walked up to him, and asked him if he was going to show them what he brought back. He loved this sense of drama, the anticipation of the unknown. He got up and sat on the table, with the bundle behind him, forcing their attention on him. He told them that he had heard them talk. They all wanted to do something, when the Rancor ran out of the town to battle pirates. "I know that helpless feeling you get when you see someone fighting your battles for you." He knew that they had blaster rifles dropped by the pirates the Rancor killed, but none of them knew how to use them. "You have thought about asking me to show you how to use your blaster rifles. But you are too embarrassed to, because you do not have enough for everyone. You feel that it would not be right if only a few of you used them, and the rest sat around feeling more helpless. As of tonight, this all changes." He took the bundle, and reached inside, and pulled out a blaster rifle. He told them that the two ladies came and got him, because they had captured a pirate ship. They wanted to know about some of the stuff found on the ship. They also wanted to know about these. Now that they know how to safely handle them, and how to fire them. They have no more use for them, and let me bring them all back to town with me. So that you could use them." They asked if he was sure that he brought back enough. The man who helped him carry in the bedframe, told them, that from the pile he saw, there was enough for everyone, and then some. Then one of the ladies asked him about the red material, he stood on a bench and opened it up. He told them it was a blanket taken from the pirate ship, he also brought back a bed that was removed from the pirate ship. Because he was more comfortable sleeping on that type of bed. Everyone from town wanted to see the bed, but no one thought it was polite to ask. Later the man who helped him carry in the bedframe described it to them. He told them that it was made completely from metal. He did not think it would be very comfortable, because the pieces of metal would dig into your skin when you lay down. He had not seen the mattress. The offworlder informed everyone that he could now return all the bedding material they let him have, when he first arrived, because he has more than he needs from the ship. They had a quick town's meeting, and decided that they could spend some time right after breakfast, learning how to safely handle the rifles, and learning how to shot. The offworlder could bring all the blaster rifles with him, when he comes for breakfast, and they can then start their training, right there in the dining area. Learning how to safely handle the blaster rifle. They asked him if he would need any help carrying the rifles to the kitchen. He asked if two of them could stop by his house on their way to breakfast, that should be enough help. The two people who lived closest to him, said they would stop by. The town latter learnt from people who visited his house, that the metal frame had something placed on it that was called a mattress. It was quite comfortable to lay on. Instead of leaving the blaster rifles wrapped in the blankets he had taken from the pirate ship, he bundled them in the bedding material the town's people had given him, when he first arrived. He was afraid that the town's people would not give the blankets back. He was right, the town's people were disappointed that the blaster rifles were not wrapped in these new blankets. So they had no idea how many he had. After all, if he had a lot, then he should share."

"He taught them the basics on safely handling the blaster rifles. When everyone felt comfortable with their rifle, they all went outside. Just outside of town, on the southwest side. There was a large rock. It was around waist high, and around three people wide. It became the target for everyone to shoot at. After they had fired off a number of shots, he had them all power off their weapons and check their power supplies. He reminded them that they have no way to recharge it, so when the power supply indicated it had no more juice, then they won't be able to fire any more. Now he did have some spares, so they should let him know if they were getting low. He assumed that everyone would be looking after their own rifle. He then tried to get everyone to line up in formation. He wanted to teach them how to march, and behave like a military unit. The people resisted. They questioned why they would need to know that, when they would just be firing at pirates from the top of the palisade. He told them that they would need to know that, if any of the clans decided to attack the town. They all started laughing, they thought he was joking. When they saw that he was serious, they explained to him, that apart from the pirate raids. This town was the safest place to live, on this planet. Every clan had sworn an oath to protect the town, from themselves, and from others. They were neutral ground for all the clans. No one was allowed to fight, unless they were actually protecting the town, and the town's people would have to back them up, or they were in big trouble. That is why they hold their Council of Mothers here. Now when he heard Council of Mothers, he thought it was a bunch of women getting together, and talking baby stuff. They explained that the reason they were building the compounds for each clan, was so that they had a place for their Rancor, or their Rancor would fight when they came for their meetings. This was how he found out that the clans' ability to control Rancor was a relatively new thing. Now he just lost his motivation for forging the town's people, into his personal small army, his dreams of planetary conquest, were quickly starting to fade. He told the people to stay away from the rock, for the next few days. It had just absorbed a lot of energy, and would burn them very bad if they touched it. They went back to their collective work. They had already completed the compound for the Singing Mountain Clan, and had already started working on the next one. That evening instead of meeting in the kitchen area for dinner, they decided to eat outside, and cook dinner on the rock. Everyone felt like they were celebrating something, even the Rancor came out and joined them. Some of the town's people approached the offworlder, and talked to him about the safest way to store the blaster rifles, because they had small children, and did not want them getting their curious hands on them. He talked to them about various techniques for storing firearms, including describing the ship's armoury, which was a fancy storage locker. He had a small piece of leather on him, and he touched a small branch against the rock, so the tip turned to charcoal. He drew a design for a rack that they could make out of wood that would securely hold the blaster rifles, yet would give them quick access, for when there was a pirate raid. They took the design he had sketched on the leather, and went around talking to the different groups. He did not think any more about it, until three days later, after breakfast, they took him to an empty house on the south side of the town, right next to the steps leading up to the top of the wall. When they led him inside, they had made gun racks, and fastened them to one wall. They had made enough racks to cover the one wall. Even though they only had enough blaster rifles to fill in only a quarter of the slots. They told him that this was now going to be their town armoury, and they wanted him to be in charge of it. He was speechless. Even though they had put it together quickly, the workmanship was quite good. When he was finally able to speak, he asked them why they never made anything for his house. They told him, that he never asked for their help. If he would have started a project, they would have helped him finish it. Later that day, he drew a sketch of a dresser he would like to have made. He also drew a clothes closet and a linen closet. But the dresser was the most important piece. He took the sketch with him to dinner and asked them how he could have it built. They told him where and when they meet to work on wood working projects. If he was willing to put his time in, they were willing to help him with his project. When they helped him carry the new dresser into his home, one of them noticed a damp spot in the middle of the main floor of his house, and asked him about it. He thought that maybe his roof leaked, and they would have to fix it before the next rain. He told them that he bathes there, because he does not know where else to do it. That's how he found out that he had a room that was designed for bathing. There was even a slight slope to the floor so that the water would drain away. He felt really embarrassed, because he did not know what the room was for. He thought it was just a large closet. He was told that they all had wooden tubs in their bathing room. He might want to consider it for his next project. He told them he had something else in mind for his next project, but he would definitely add it to the list of things he needs to make."

"The Singing Mountain Clan had sent a young lady to inspect the compound that the town had made for them. She was very excited about it. It could easily house more than half the women in her clan. The offworlder was surprised to hear her refer to them as Sisters. There was lots of room for their Rancor mounts. She told the town's people that she would be giving a good report to her Mother about the excellent work that they did. The town's people were very happy to hear that. They told the offworlder that to them, the Singing Mountain Clan, was the one they wanted to please the most. Because they were the ones that provided them with their herd of Rancor. Without their help, they would still be helpless against pirate attacks. That is why they designed their compound to be larger than all the others. The offworlder enjoyed talking with the young lady, he found her very flirtatious. That night there was a pirate attack. The town's sentry had alerted everyone, and went to the Singing Mountain Clan compound to awaken the young lady. Everyone had grabbed their blaster rifles from the armoury, and where now waiting on the town wall. The Rancor were waiting at the town gate. Ready to charge out as soon as the ship landed, and the gate was open. The town's people were whispering to one another, to remember, "Don't shoot the Sister". He wondered who they were talking about. He did not know that they had a religious order on the planet. The pirate ship was an unusual design, because it had a laser gun turret on its' side, and not just on the top and bottom. A pirate was in the gun turret, apparently they had heard about the town's Rancor. As soon as the town's gate opened, the pirate opened up on the Rancor that rushed out, with his dual lasers. Fortunately he was not used to shooting at something that close. His first shot straddled a Rancor's leg, vaporising two large divots in the ground. If he would have hit the Rancor's leg, he would have destroyed it. The offworlder recognised the danger the Rancor were in. He told everyone to shot at the gun turret, to blind the pirate, our all their Rancor would be killed. He also warned them to stay behind cover, because the only place the gunner would be able to see to shot, was the bright point of light they created, every time they shoot. The gunner did start raking the top of the palisade, with laser fire. As the Rancor approached the ship. The young lady that had flirted with him, suddenly appeared in the gate. He wanted to warn her away, until she produced a ball of fire in her hands, and threw it at the pirates, throwing it right between the Rancor. Next she quickly ran up behind a Rancor, using its body as a shield. She then jumped over the Rancor, with very little effort. Landing right in the midst of the pirates. Dispatching them very quickly with her sword. Then she launched herself at the laser gun turret, which made everyone on the wall stop shooting. She hit both laser barrels hard enough with her sword to bend them, making them useless, then landed on them. Smoke started to billow in the gun turret from the malfunctioning lasers. She smashed the glass on the turret with a punch from her left hand. The offworlder was stunned, watching all this with his mouth open. He knew that she had just shattered special optical glass that was at least 15cm thick on older model turrets, 20cm on newer ones. She then stabbed the pirate gunner with the sword in her right hand. She did a back flip off of the bent laser barrels. Landing safely on the ground, as the ship had already lifted off and was turning to speed out of there. She then ran into town, then appeared on the wall with two pails of water. She disappeared again and came back with two more. He could not imagine how she was able to get the water so quickly. If he had been at the well, he would still be cranking up the water for the first pail. The lady beside him, jabbed him in his ribs with her elbow. "Are you just going to stare at her, or are you going to help." He quickly took his shirt off, and soaked it in one of the pails of water. He then placed his wet shirt over one of the divots the dual lasers had made in the wooden palisade, because there were glowing embers inside. They had to do this with each one, to prevent them from erupting into flames. After they were done. All the town's people considered him the hero of the battle, not her. It was his quick thinking, and having everyone redirect their fire that saved their herd of Rancor. They all wanted to go to the kitchen area to celebrate. He told them that he would meet them there, after he goes home and gets a dry shirt. He returned with a dry shirt and three bottles, and enough cups for everyone. He put some of the liquid from the bottles into the cups, then told everyone that they had to grab a cup, than they had to do what he did. They all took a cup and sniffed it. He then raised his cup and said, "To the town, and to the Rancor." Then he downed the contents of his cup. Everyone followed his example, some started coughing after downing their drink. He offered some of what was left to whoever wanted more as he put some in his cup. They saw that there wasn't much left, so they said he could have it. He reminded them, about when he had first arrived, how he wanted a drink. This was what he was looking for. Then he poured the contents of his cup back into the bottle. He actually did not need it. The beastmaster asked him if he would come to the Rancor. She had informed them of what he did for them, and they want to thank him. The Sister spoke for the Rancor, as it was easier for her to do so. Because it was dark, it was harder for the beastmaster to understand what they were trying to say. The one male Rancor told him, that no matter how annoying he gets, he promises not to swat him anymore. Which made the whole town laugh. It made the Sister wonder what the story behind that was. He told the Rancor, that he would try and not be as annoying as he was. Which made the Rancor laugh. Some of the ladies in the kitchen, had been saving some ingredients, for a special occasion. They decided that tonight was it. They made sweet treats for everyone. They even set aside some for parents with children to take home for them. While they enjoyed their treats, the offworlder confirmed tonight's revelation. The women who ride the Rancor are not flesh and blood sisters, but are Sisters as a title. So their mother is not their flesh and blood mother, but their Mother as a title. They said that some were flesh and blood sisters, and some were mother and daughter. But as he said, all Sisters are force users. Their Mothers were the Clan's Mother, or leader of the clan. Also one of the most powerful force users in the clan. They were actually surprised at how long it had taken him to figure this out. The town's people noticed a dramatic change in his behaviour after this. He was no longer arrogant and aloof. He was now easy to talk to. Easy to socialise with. They found his journal when he passed away. He had made it out of the leather he received for helping in the tanning process."

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder, and asked him what a journal was. The Captain said he can answer that question. There are some people who record the events that happen in their life in a book. Some do it every day. That is usually called a diary. Others do it whenever something important happens in their life. On a ship they are also required to make entries into a journal, only on a ship they are called logs. The Captain called up the ship's log on his computer screen. His cabin, and the engineer's cabin, where the only ones that had computer terminals. But the ship's computer had no audio-visual communications with the room. He showed Krillgan were he recorded them coming aboard his ship on Manaan. Then he recorded them departing his ship at the Sith planet. Andriel asked him why he choose that planet. He said that after what happened there that day. He was sure the Moff would arrange that that day's data, was either corrupted, or lost altogether. He was pretty sure that someone would be smart enough to know that his ship was the only one that could possibly have removed them from Manaan. So he wanted them to hit a dead end when they went through the ship's log. It was the best he could do to protect them. Chitrah asked if there were any other log entries concerning them. He told them that the only other entries were in the Captain's personal log. The only one other than himself, who would be allowed to read it, was the man who would become the captain of his ship, after him, and he has not yet found that man. Now if he passes away before he has found the next captain, or if someone tries boarding the ship. The ship's computer will permanently erase the captain's log, and write garbage data over it, which it will then be forced to erase. Chitrah was satisfied that the Captain had taken every precaution to protect them. Andriel would ask him about it later. The Captain also mentioned that because there is no spaceport on Dathomir, there is no requirement for him to record that he was even there.

Krillgan was satisfied with the answer, so the Captain continued.

"The offworlder wrote in his journal, that when he first came to Dathomir, he thought he was a big fish in a little pond. Now he knew that he was a little fish in a little pond, full of a lot of big fish. He was fine, as long as he did not make waves, and disturb the big fish. He also wrote that if he was able to take just one clan to any world, he could control that world with ease. But there were five clans on this world. He did not think that if he was able to bring every army from every planet he knew, fully equipped. That he would be able to dislodge even one of the clans. Now, whenever anyone comes to Dathomir, they are required to read his journal. Because I have read part of it, and they know that I would tell you about what I read, they will not make you read it. He did mention one regret in his journal, he regretted not marrying, and having children. What he did do was go out and meet the new political prisoners, when they arrived, so that they did not make the same mistakes he did. For quite a while, there were more males then females in neutral town. Because many of them did not want to enter into relationships where the female is so much more powerful, then the male. The Mothers started sending single non force using females, with the excuse that they were responsible for maintaining the clan's compound. The town would feed them, and let them help with everyday life. Some would return to the clan with a new husband in tow."

"There was one offworlder that became friendly with one of the clans' Sisters. He talked her into letting him go hunting with her. When she agreed, he borrowed a blaster rifle from the armoury, without first asking permission. They went a fair ways from town, and came across a majestic Verne bull. He was able to stay down wind of it. He was able to approach close enough, to make a nice clean kill. She handed him her knife to clean it and skin it. He asked her what the knife was for. She told him that as it was his kill, he was responsible for cleaning it. He told her that he did not want anything from the animal, because there was no one in the town that could mount the head for him. He just wanted to kill it, he said that there were enough scavengers around to take care of the body. She tore the blaster rifle right out of his hands, and smashed it to itsy bitsy little pieces. She could not believe he used her for his sick pleasure. She told him that she would give the animal the respect it deserved. She pointed in the direction of town, and told him to leave quickly, and not turn around, or the scavengers will find another body to deal with. He took off running, until he felt that he was a safe distance from her, and turned around to see what she was doing. When he did, an arrow landed between his legs. He did not stop running until he reached town. Huffing and puffing, as he entered through the gate. The Sister took the dead Verne to her village and asked the Herd Mother, if she would accept it. The Herd Mother told her that they don't normally kill a Verne bull in its prime, because their meat is tough and stringy. The Herd Mother noticed that there was something wrong with the Sister. So she told her that she has not had a visit from a Gibbit bird in quite a while, and needs to clean her teeth. She can use one of the horns from the creature to pick her teeth until a Gibbit bird returns. The Sister was very grateful to the Herd Mother, and ran off to find her Clan Mother. When she found her, she fell at her feet crying, confessing everything that had happened. The Mother sent runners to all the clans, naming the offworlder, and telling them what he had done. All the clans agreed to have no dealings with the man. If they were dealing with someone in the town, and he came by, the Sister would stop what she was doing. She would tell him point blank, to get out of her sight, or she would kill him, because the town's neutrality agreement did not extend to him. When the town found out what he had done. Taking a blaster rifle with close to a fully charged power source, and not returning it. The town's people held an emergency meeting. They were thinking of expelling him from the town, as punishment for his crimes. The offworld community, approached the town's people, and pleaded that he not be expelled from the town, because that would be certain death. The town's people told them that he was now their responsibility. He can no longer live in the house they gave him, and he must return everything the town has given him, since he arrived. He is also not allowed to eat any meals in the town's kitchen area. He quickly became the most hated man on the planet, as far as all the clans and the town's people were concerned. Two months later, his body was found outside of town. The town did to his body what the clans do for pirates and nightsisters. They threw his body into the ocean. When they were asked to report before the Council of Mothers about his death, they told them, that he was apparently a very clumsy individual. He accidentally fell backwards on a knife, repeatedly. They had agreed to call his death, accidental. The Mothers all agreed, that no further investigation was necessary."

"The planet found out through the political exiles, that there was a group of planets near the core of the galaxy, that have formed an alliance, and called themselves the Republic, and were expanding their sphere of influence. Some of the married political exiles were allowed to bring their wives with them. It was sad when one wife did not have any force sensitivity, and the pull from the moons was tearing her apart. The only thing the town could do, was to give the husband a knife, and told him to be merciful. Make it quick, because there is no cure."

"When the first offworlder was entering his senior years, the first merchant ship showed up. He tried purchasing passage for one of the political exiles, using the blaster rifles they had accumulated. The wall was now full. The merchant told them that the blaster rifles they have, are considered relics, and have no value. The merchant did allow him to recharge every working power source. He told them that many planets are giving them away, so he would be able to bring him a lot, for next to nothing, the next time he came through. The only commodity the offworlder had that the merchant was interested in was the leather he had. The only item the merchant had that the offworlder was interested in trading for, was the tea in his galley. The merchant took two nice leather hides in exchange. Even the town's person watching the exchange knew the merchant got a much better deal, and asked him why he did it? He told them that he did this deal, to entice the merchant to come back. The first planet he goes to will snap up the leather at a good profit for the merchant. Next time he will bring much more tea, because he has seen a nice pile of nice leather hides, hoping for as good a profit. As long as they trade with good quality furs and leathers that the merchant will be able to sell easily, for a good price. Than he will keep coming back. He was asked to explain his transaction to all the town's people. They gave him an empty house next to the south gate, to be the town's trading post. They started storing extra furs, reptile skins, and leather hides in the trading post. So he could have them on hand, when the merchant returned. When the next Sister came to town, they told her about the merchant ship, and the tea they were able to trade for, in exchange for leather, and how the offworlder believes he will have more tea, the next time he comes by. She informed her Mother, who sent runners to all the clans, because the Clan Mother from the Red Hills Clan, let them taste the tea she was able to get off of the two ships that attacked her, during one of their Council of Mothers meetings. They all enjoyed it, and everyone had an excess of leather hides."

"One day a mad Rancor, came near the village of the Clan Mother with the Dathomirite short sword. The Herd Mother yelled at her to kill it before it infects her children. The Clan Mother told her, for her to use force lightning to kill it, would be a slow and painful death. It might also send the creature on a destructive rampage before it died. The Herd Mother told her to use her sword. It was able to easily cut through the hide of a Rancor. If she quickly climbs up the creatures back. She can then stab it down through the skull on the top of its head. Piercing the brain, which should kill it instantly. This was news to the Clan Mother, and she wondered why the Herd Mother had never shared this before. The Herd Mother made a noise that all the Rancor knew meant keep far away from this creature. The Sisters were forced to get off of their Rancor mounts, if they wanted to help their Mother, because none of the Rancor would come close. As the Clan Mother approached, she noticed the mad Rancor was foaming out of its mouth, and there were small amounts of blood coming out of its eyes, nose, and ears. She ran around behind it, which caused the creature to stop advancing, and start turning around. When she jumped up onto its back. It roared spraying foam for a few meters. The Clan Mother then jumped to its neck, dealing the death blow to the head. She jumped down off of the dead Rancor, to walk back to the village. But the Herd Mother screamed at one of the Sisters to tell her to stop. The Clan Mother was too far away to hear the Herd Mother. The Herd Mother told her that everything that has touched the mad Rancor, must be burnt. Any fluids that has left its body, must be burnt, the path that it walked, must be burnt. Any creature it has made contact with, must be killed and burnt. If possible, the source of its madness needs to be found and destroyed. For another Rancor to touch any of these things, is pretty much a guarantee that they also will go mad, before the large moon completes a full cycle. The Sister asked the Herd Mother if she expects them to kill their Clan Mother and burn her body. The Herd Mother told her to stop being a silly human. Of course she does not expect them to kill their Mother. She would not have sent her if that was a possibility. But she must remove all her clothes, and burn them with the mad Rancor. The sword also needs to be burnt. It will not hurt the sword itself, but a new handle will be needed. She asked the Herd Mother how her Mother can be purified, without her being burnt. She told the Sister that the Kwa pasted force lightning over their bodies, to purify themselves, after they were forced to deal with a mad Rancor. The Clan Mother told the Sisters, that she can stay where she is for now. They need to gather what they need for a funeral pyre for the Rancor, and extend it out from the body for at least two meters. They should get some pitch, and place it on the path the Rancor took. She also needs her best hunters to trace back the path the Rancor took, without stepping on it themselves. And kill every creature that has come in contact with the Rancor. If there is another infected Rancor out there. They need to tell her, because someone will need to take the sword, to kill it. The hunters followed the Rancor's path the best they could, marking it so that pitch could be spread on it. They only found one animal that had made contact with the Rancor. It was half dead from its wounds. So they put it out of its misery, with a couple well places arrows. When they could not find the Rancor's path anymore. They marked where it ended, then went further, in case they could pick it up again. They were not able to determine the source of the Rancor's madness. They went back and reported to Mother. Mother suggested that they backtrack along the path the creature took. It may have been the source of the Rancor's madness. She then relayed the information to the Herd Mother. The Herd Mother thought it was prudent of her to have them track the creatures trail. The hunters tracked the trail to a badly decomposed Rancor body. Now that they have seen it. They believed that this was the source of the Rancor's madness, and like their Mother suspected, it was the animal that had transmitted the madness to the Rancor. They tracked down every creature that had tracks coming from this body and killed it. The hardest to kill, where the half dozen Ravens, that had feasted on it. The good thing was, that the Ravens seemed mad, because they kept returning to feast on the body. One of the hunters stayed to guard the body, while the other returned to Mother to make her report. The Herd Mother agreed that it was probably the source of the madness, and confirmed that every creature would need to be burnt. After The Clan Mother had lifted the dead Rancor's body using the force. The Sisters used the force to spread the combustible materials underneath. The Clan Mother then removed all her clothing, and shoved it into the wood pile. Two Sisters lifted her body while she started passing force lightning over her body. She had to stop because it felt like a hundred shear mite bites, and she looked closely at her body. The pain she was feeling was from all the hairs on her body, melting. She told one of the Sisters to go get a very sharp knife, because she needs to shave off, all of the hair from off her body. The one Sister asked her why she doesn't use her sword. She replied that the sword has Rancor blood on it. If she nicks herself using the sword, there is a chance that she might become infected herself. If she did not become infected, she might become a carrier of the disease, and infect every Rancor in the herd. A Sister asked the Herd Mother, why she did not warn them about this? She said she did not know. The Kwa were reptiles, so they had no hair. When a sharp enough knife was found, one of the Sisters stripped off her own clothes, and took the knife to her Mother. Her Mother asked her why she did it. She told her Mother that she could not see everywhere on her body that she needs to shave, so it would be best if they shaved each other's body. The Sisters were all upset, because their Mother had lovely blond hair, and their Sister had lovely dark brown hair. All the Sisters considered them the two most beautiful women in their clan, and possibly all of the clans. It was a sources of pride for them, whenever they escorted their Mother to the Council of Mothers. Now because of the force lightning, there was a good chance it may never grow back. When they were ready, Mother had the Sisters pick their Sister up in the air, and then she enveloped her with force lightning. When the Herd Mother said it was enough. They carried her using the force to where it was safe to put her down. She went and found her clothes and dressed. In the meantime they lifted Mother into the air, and she enveloped herself in force lightning. This time there was no pain, just a tingling sensation all over her body. When the Herd Mother said enough, they brought her over to the side and set her down. Right away, a Sister wrapped a robe around her, and gave her a hot cup of tea, because she had been standing for a long time without any clothes on. Mother gave the signal, and the youngest Sister created a fire ball and threw it at the pyre. They chose the youngest, because they did not want an explosion when the fireball hit the wood. The Sisters then scattered to find more combustibles, for everything that needs to be burnt. Mother stood there watching the fire, sipping on her tea. After a while, when she felt it was safe, the Herd Mother came up to her, and thanked her for saving her children. "When were you going to tell me?" "That it was easy for you to kill a Rancor?" "Yes." "I don't know. I was hoping that you would never have to find out. There has not been a mad Rancor since the time of the Kwa." "I will have to tell the other Mothers." "You must do what you must. What has been done, cannot be undone." "I wish you would have told me sooner." "Can you understand why I did not?" "Yes. You did not trust me completely." "I thought I was protecting my children." At the next Council of Mothers, the Clan Mother had to explain what happened to her. The other Clan Mothers, except the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan, were disappointed that their Herd Mothers had not shared this information with them. After the meeting, the bald Clan Mother, came up to the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan. "I envy the relationship you have with your Herd Mother." "She asked me not to tell, and I agreed. I would have been interfering with your relationship with your Herd Mother. We both knew that if a mad Rancor did appear, the Herd Mother in the area would be forced to tell." "Did you know about the force lightning?" "Yes. But I did not know about the hair. Has it started growing back?" "My Sister's is growing back nicely. Mine has not. I think I may have damaged the roots." "I'm sorry. I was always jealous of your beautiful hair. I'm still jealous, because you still look beautiful." The bald Clan Mother was embarrassed, and pleased with the compliment. She thanked her rival, and felt much better heading home to her village."

"With the news that Dathomirite swords can kill Rancor, there was another push to try and find the rare metal. Every clan had at least one Dathomirite sword. When they did not have enough for a second sword, they usually had enough for a brace of Dathomirite daggers. The daggers made it easier to cut up a Rancor's hide to make leather armour for the Sisters. Sisters started hunting lone Rancor for this purpose. Unfortunately, some got carried away, and made a sport of it. When their Mothers found out they were furious. They berated the Sisters, telling them that only offworlders, and Nightsister, killed for sport. They made the Sisters go and apologise to their Herd Mother for their actions. Then expelled them from the clan for a couple of months, so that they could meditate on what they had done. After the Clan Mothers apologised to the Herd Mothers for the actions of their Sisters. The Herd Mothers told them that this was the reason they had not told them about the ability of the Dathomirite sword. This is what they were afraid of. The Clan Mothers could only reply, "What has been done, cannot be undone.""

"Around this time, there was an increase in the number of Sisters that turned to the dark side of the force, and became Nightsisters. Up until this time there had only been one or two Nightsisters per generation. They were banished to the Great Desert, and never heard from again. These Nightsisters, did not go to the Great Desert, instead they went to the Sandstone Mountain, in the southern coastal swamp, in the Singing Mountain Clan's territory. They appeared at a Council of Mothers, and pleaded that the southern coastal swamp be given to them as their own territory. The Singing Mountain Clan opposed this, because they claimed it was their territory. The other clans were jealous of the Singing Mountain Clan, because they had more than twice the territory, compared to any other clan, and they had no other clan near them that could challenge them for this territory. Whereas the other clans were constantly involved in disputes with their neighbours. Whenever a dispute came before the Council of Mothers, it was always the Singing Mountain Clan's Mother that usually had the deciding vote. Whenever the Frenzied River Clan was in dispute. The Singing Mountain Clan's Mother, would usually rule against them. They pointed out that the Misty Falls Clan, and the Great Canyon Clan, could not expand northward, because the mountains were blocking them. The Red Hills Clan could not expand northward, because the Frenzied River Clan was there. The only thing hindering the Frenzied River Clan was the upland swamp. They could easily build a road through the swamp, and have easy access to all the territory north of there. Now the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan, treated that land as her own personal reserve, not allowing her Sisters to go up there and hunt. So when she saw that the Nightsisters would be well placed to challenge the Singing Mountain Clan for territory, she threw her support behind the Nightsisters, and convinced the other Clan Mothers to let them have the southern coastal swamp. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan was not very pleased with the council's ruling. Nor with the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan, for being the force behind it. But she did not go against their ruling. She ordered her Sisters to not enter the south coastal swamp without her permission."

"What the Nightsisters did next, was very loathsome for all the clans. The Nightsisters sought out single families that lived independently, just after the first harvest. If they had children around Krillgan's age, they kidnapped them. Then they told the families that if they wanted to see their children again, they had to bring everything they had, especially their grain reserves, to the trail head leading from the lowland plateau, down to the south coastal swamp. Some of these families had domesticated the docile Brackaset as a beast of burden. The Brackaset was an ungulate that had folds of skin along its back that resembled armour. So the families desperate to do anything for their children, loaded up their Brackaset and themselves, first with all their grain supplies they had just harvested, then with whatever belongings they could easily carry, and abandoned everything else. If someone asked them what they were doing? They told them that they were moving to a new area, just as the Nightsisters instructed them. The people who knew them, did not believe them, since they hadn't harvested the late grain yet, when they left. When they arrived at the rendezvous point. A Nightsister would meet them, and make them drink a liquid. As they went down the trail to the swamp, it felt like their body and mind were separating. By the time they reached the Sandstone Mountain, the Nightsister had total control of their body. That is when they were told that their child was playing on the top of the mountain. Even though they were warned a number of times to keep away from the edge, they never listened. When the Adults were busy with their work, their child slipped over the edge. Because they were drugged, the only physical reaction they could show to the news, was their eyes would moisten. What really happened, is the Nightsisters could not put up with the crying child always asking for its parents. So they gave it the same drink mixture as was given to its parents. While the mixture was just right for adults, it was too strong for children, and the Nightsisters did not know how to adjust it. So the child would die. When the child died they would push it off of the Sandstone Mountain to make the body look like it had slipped over the edge. They would usually keep the husband drugged, so he would not try to fight them. But by the next day, the wife was usually drug free. They would demonstrate to the wife how complete their control over her husband is. By telling him to walk. At the last moment they would tell him to turn back, just before he stepped over the edge. They told her that if she would not cooperate, then they would not give the command to turn back. The Nightsisters wanted a spiral walkway curved inside the Sandstone Mountain. They wanted it big enough that a swamp Rancor could walk up it. But not big enough so an upland Rancor could fit inside. The Nightsisters had easy access to swamp Rancor, and they were the smallest of the Rancor on Dathomir. While the Singing Mountain Clan used upland Rancor, the largest of the Rancor on Dathomir. The drugged men could do the menial labour of hauling the rubble away. But it would be too hard for a Nightsister to control them to do the carving. A drugged man would carve a straight hole, right through the mountain if instructed to carve out the sandstone. So they needed slaves that were not drugged to carve the curved spiral walkway. If they thought a women was not working hard enough, they would make her watch that night, as they made her husband do degrading things, including having sex with a Nightsister."

Chitrah ignored Krillgan squeezing his shoulder. He wasn't ready to talk to him about sex.

"One time a wife went hysterical, and grabbed her husband by his feet, to try and stop him from what he was doing. So the Nightsister's Mother, handed the husband a strong branch, and told him to beat his wife. Most of the Nightsisters thought this was great entertainment, and started laughing when the blood started splattering."

Andriel was concerned that this was too graphic for Krillgan, and was getting ready to stop the Captain.

"The husband kept beating his wife, long after she was dead, because no one told him to stop. The hard thing for the men, is that they knew exactly what their bodies were doing, but could do nothing about it. After being under the drug's control for a year, and forced to do horrendous things during that time. The Nightsisters found that they no longer needed to keep the men drugged. Because they were now dead inside. They would do whatever the Nightsister wanted. When the Nightsister wanted it. For as long as the Nightsister wanted it. To the Nightsisters, they became the perfect men."

"One time, when two parents were passing by the town, to try to get to their kidnapped child back. They noticed that a Council of Mothers was in session. The mother took a chance, and went to the Mothers to plead with them for their help in trying to recover their kidnapped child from the Nightsisters. The Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan, told her that she was not clan, and had no right to appeal to the Clan Mothers, and had one of her Sisters throw the woman out. The other Mothers were stunned, because she actually had no authority to do what she did. But no one challenged her. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain whispered to one of her Sisters to go get the woman, and take her to their compound. After a few minutes, the Singing Mountains Clan's Mother, stopped the meeting, claiming they already had a strenuous enough of a day. They should retire to their compounds to rest, so they could start again in the morning. Most of the other Mothers agreed, because they were still trying to understand what just happened. When has any of them ever turned a person away that was asking for help? Clan member or non-clan member. The Singing Mountain Clan's Mother apologised to the woman, for the way she was treated when she came before the Council. No one expected the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan to act that way. The woman and her husband told her everything about the kidnapping of their child by a Nightsister, and the instructions they were given. They were told that the clans would not help them, because they did not care about non-clan families. They believed that was true, by the way they were treated before the Council of Mothers. But when her Sister approached them, they knew someone cared. They had heard that this may have happened to other families. Because they would pack up all their food supplies, and pretty much abandon everything else, just as they had done. But no-one has ever heard from those families again. So no-one knows for sure if they had ever gotten their child back or not. They don't trust the Nightsisters to keep their word, so they need help. The Mother told them that she cannot give them the help that she would like to, because of the strange things happening with the Council of Mothers. But she will give them the help that she can. She told them to continue on to their rendezvous point in the morning. She suggested that they spend the night in the town. The town's people will look after them. It is best if it is not obvious that she is helping them. She did promise them, that when they need her people, they will be there. The couple thanked her. They took her advice and left the compound. They went to the town's east gate. They approached the first person they encountered. They told them that they heard that they could get a meal and shelter for the night. There was an empty house near the east gate. The town's person told them that they never had Brackaset in town before, even though they all like the cheese made from their milk. So they should take the Brackaset right into the house, because they do not want to tempt the Rancor herd. They asked them if they have enough bedding for themselves, or do they need more. The couple said they have enough for their own needs. So when the Brackaset were settled on the main floor. The town's person took them with her to the kitchen area to join them for dinner."

"After the couple left the Singing Mountain Clan's compound. The Mother sent one of the Sisters back to their territory, to assemble a team of Sisters, hopefully, she won't have to make it all the way back to the village. She gave detailed instructions concerning what she wanted, and who should be involved. She left her Rancor in the compound. She needed both speed and stealth. She could get good speed with her Rancor, but they were not known for stealth. She asked the other Sister that was with her, to keep an eye on the couple, to make sure they stayed safe, and to see if anyone else was watching them. She had her permission to eliminate any Nightsister that may be watching them, once they were in Singing Mountain Clan territory. She was not allowed to eliminate anyone while still in town's territory. After she left. The Mother cautiously made her way to the Red Hills Clan's compound. When the Sister recognised her, she quickly let her in. The Red Hills Clan has been friend to the Singing Mountain Clan, ever since they helped the Red Hills Clan acquire their Rancor herd, and help keep the Frenzied River Clan from encroaching on their territory. The Sister led her straight to her Mother. The Singing Mountain Clan's Mother told them about the kidnapping, and about what the couple had heard about similar incidents. She told the Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, that they need to stall the Council of Mothers meeting, without having all the Mothers go back to their village. The Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan, told her that she would send one of her Sisters back to her village tonight. So that tomorrow during the day, she will receive an urgent message from her village, asking her to return to the village, because the Herd Mother is ill. The other Mothers will await her return, provided she is not away for too long. She believes that they will let her stay away for five days, before they suspend the meetings altogether, until the next time they can get together. This would give her the opportunity to go hunting one day with the Clan Mother of the Misty Falls Clan, to get her opinion on what is happening with the Clan Mother of the Frenzied River Clan. Then she could go hunting with the Clan Mother of the Great Canyon Clan to see what she thinks. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan thought it was an excellent idea. Then she made her way back to her compound. The Sister following the couple, was disappointed that no one else was following them. She did discourage some predators, from trailing them. But that was all the excitement she had."

"As the couple approached the rendezvous point, they were getting quite concerned. They had not seen anyone from the Singing Mountain Clan since leaving their compound, at the town. Their Mother promised that they would be there when they needed them, and they needed them, now! They stopped and waited, not knowing that a Nightsister was watching them. The Nightsister was also reaching out with the dark side of the force, looking for any signs of life in the area. When she was satisfied that there were no human life signs, just some small animals that seemed to live in the area. She approached the two parents. To the parents, she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The Nightsister handed each of them a small hollowed out gourd, with some liquid in it. She told them that they must drink it all, before she can take them to their child. The mother asked if they could first be told, whether their baby was alright, before they drank the liquid. Suddenly three Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, seemed to appear out of nowhere, and said they would also like to hear the answer to the woman's question, because they were all standing in their territory. The Nightsister could not believe it. They were the small creatures' life force she had detected in this area all day, and there was another one approaching very quickly down the trail the parents had come down. She was trapped. She crouched down into a ball, and put her arms defensively over her head. "Please don't kill me. I was only doing what I was told to do. I really don't want to be a Nightsister anymore." They told her to answer the woman's question. She told them that their son is dead. He died shortly after being brought to the Sandstone Mountain, just like all the children that had been brought before him. The Nightsister thought she was dead for sure, now that she had told them about the children. She just hoped her death would be quick, not the way the Nightsisters would do it, once they found out she had betrayed them. The mother collapsed sobbing into her husband's arms. The husband had to quickly snatch her gourd away from her, to prevent her from drinking it, or spilling its contents onto the ground. The Sister that came up behind them. Took the two gourds from him, allowing him to envelope his wife in his arms, and start crying in her hair. The Sisters asked the Nightsister where the child's body was. She told them where at the base of the Sandstone Mountain, they would find the boy's body, in a coarse cloth sack. They asked the child's parents, if they wanted them to retrieve the body for them. The parents both indicated that they would. The Nightsister told them to be careful, the child would be quite ripe by now."

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder. He wanted to know how a body could be ripe, since it wasn't a fruit. Chitrah told him, that when any creature dies, when life has left its body, certain bio-chemicals that the body used, and kept in check, are no longer being restrained by the life force. So they start to dissolve the body on the inside. Over time the body starts to expand to its largest size, with its skin being stretched to its limit. Because gases and liquids are being released, similar to the way a fruit ripens. If you touch the body, breaking the skin, the gases and liquids will start escaping, and it smells really bad.

Krillgan was satisfied with the explanation, and looked at the Captain.

"Two Sisters went to retrieve the body, even though they did not have their Mother's permission. They knew she would understand, and would not be upset with them. The other Sister, whose hands were free, grabbed the Nightsister and forced her to her feet. The Nightsister was surprised that she was still alive, so did not resist, and went wherever the Sister led her. The parents and the animals followed. They took her to a colourful tent, pitched at the base of the trail that led from the lowland plateau, to the midland plateau, which was on average 400 meters higher in this area."

"It was on the midland plateau that the town and the Rolling Red Hills are situated. This trail was the only natural link between the lowland plateau, and the midland plateau."

"They took the Nightsister inside the tent, along with the two gourds. There was an elderly lady sitting inside on some nicely embroidered cushions. The one Sister took the two gourds to her. After sniffing the content of each of them, she directed the Sister to place them on a short table off to one side, and slightly behind her. The other Sister presented the Nightsister before her, and told her that she claims she did not want to be a Nightsister anymore. The Nightsister wondered if that is why she is still alive. She knew this woman must be a respected clan elder, she was the one who would be deciding her fate. If she was truthful and honest, they might let her live. She knew that the elders knew how to tell if you are lying. She would have to be constantly hiding, fearful that at any moment the Nightsisters would find her, and administer a horrible death. But it would be a better life than actually being a Nightsister, knowing that at some point she would not be able to take it anymore, and either take her own life, or be killed by the Nightsisters, once her true nature was revealed."

"The elder asked her to make herself comfortable, in a pile of cushions that she pointed to. She then asked the Sister to bring them both a cup of tea. The Nightsister thought she must be a very powerful force user, if the two Sisters were not afraid to leave her alone with the elder. The elder asked her to start from the beginning, and tell her how she first became a Nightsister. She told her that she used to be a Sister of the Misty Falls Clan. She started having desires to delve into the dark side of the force, which is strictly forbidden by their teaching. She found out later, that it was the one the Nightsisters call Mother, that was giving her these desires. She started going off by herself, to experiment with the dark side of the force. One time while she was experimenting, using the dark side off the force. The Nightsister's Mother walked in on her, and told her that she must be a Nightsister, because she was using the dark side off the force. The elder asked her, what exactly she was doing. When the Nightsister told her, the elder asked her, if she thought the elder was a Nightsister, because she did the same thing in her past, and will probably do it again in the near future. The Nightsister was clearly embarrassed. She told the elder, that she now knows, that four of the clans allow their Sisters to dabble in the dark side of the force. None of the Nightsisters, considers any of them to be Nightsister, so she does not believe the elder is a Nightsister. "So you know now, that you were deceived." The Nightsister bowed her head and said, "Yes." The elder asked her to continue. She said that because her clan had taught her, that you either follow the light, or you follow darkness. Light and darkness do not exist together. She thought that she had started following the darkness. So when the Nightsister Mother asked her to follow her. She did. She found that there were other Sisters like her from the Misty Falls Clan. So she felt more comfortable being there. She did not like that the older Nightsisters were kidnapping children, to force their parents to bring them all their grain. Because the children were always crying, they tried drugging them, but always ended up killing them instead. The elder asked her what the Nightsisters were giving the children. She told her that they were giving them the same stuff as is in the gourds she was supposed to give to the two parents. The elder told her that it is impossible to give this mixture to children, and expect them to live. Just one sip is potent enough to kill a child. She asked her if any of the Nightsisters objected to the way the children were treated. She said that once, one of her Sisters pleaded with the older Nightsisters, to give the children over to her care, she will make sure that they stop crying. The Mother told her not to interfere in what another Nightsister is doing, especially when it brings food to their table. She told her that it was wrong for them to kill the children. Mother became angry with her, and picked her up using the force. Somehow she had also paralyzed her, because she could not move any part of her body. Mother took her and carried her, holding her over the edge of the mountain. Three other Nightsisters approached her, and started raking her body with dark force lightning. While they did this her clothes also caught fire. She started screaming horribly from both the lightning, and because her clothes were burning. The older Nightsisters, all laughed at her screaming. It seemed to encourage them to use more lightning. They only stopped when her screaming stopped. It was not enjoyable to them anymore. Mother let go of the body, and it dropped like a flaming torch, down the side of the mountain. That night she cried herself to sleep. That Sister had been a very good friend to her, both when they were together with the Misty Falls Clan, and here she was like an anchor in the midst of the madness. Now she was gone. She had no more anchors to hold onto."

"The younger Nightsisters were also forced to entertain the older Nightsisters. One of the ways they had to entertain them, was by removing all their clothes before them. Now they were not allowed to simply take off their clothes, they had to do it as if they were trying to seduce a man."

Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder, than stopped. He remembered that he had already tried asking his father once before. It was something he would learn about when he was older.

"At first she did not want to do it. Then she remembered from her Misty Falls training, that seduction was one of the things that Nightsisters do, and are supposed to be good at. So this was actually part of their training. So she watched carefully what the others were doing, especially if they were getting praise from the older Nightsisters. When her turn came, she tried to do what she saw the others had done."

The Captain told Andriel that she should probably cover her son's ears for this next part. He has already heard more than a boy his age should have. Krillgan did not mind his mother covering his ears so that he could not hear. It always hurt him inside, when he heard about how bad people hurt other people. He could tell by the tears in his mother's eyes, that someone else was being hurt.

"After she was completely undressed. One of the older Nightsisters, grabbed her from behind, and told her that they knew she was still a virgin, and had a special surprise for her. Other Nightsisters got up, and together they pinned her down, so that she could not move. Then two of them grabbed her knees, and forced her legs wide apart. Then Mother ordered one of the drugged husbands to have sex with her. They laughed when they saw her bleeding from her secret place. It hurt a lot, but she tried not to show it, because they would only want to hurt her more. Unfortunately, she could not stop the tears from coming to her eyes. When one of the Nightsisters noticed them, she licked them, and told the other Nightsisters that they were sweet, not salty. Which made the others laugh. When the drugged husband spent himself. They finally let her go, and told the husband to stand to one side. They would not let her put her clothes back on, for the rest of the evening. So that when they looked at her, they could relive what they had just done to her. At the end of the evening, one of the Nightsisters came up to her and whispered in her ear, "Now you are one of us." She knew in her heart that she could never be one of them."

The Captain let Andriel know that it was okay for Krillgan to listen again.