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"It took a while for the Nightsisters to realise that all actions had consequences even when dealing with slaves. After the little girl was rescued from the mountain. Things seemed to go well for the settlement. Even though the Nightsisters were upset, because they thought that the Rancor living in the settlement was allowed to hunt on the lowlands, but he was not. They did nothing, because there were always clan Sisters nearby. Now it was actually the Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clan that were doing the hunting, because the Rancor was always kept busy. Now, the Sisters were used to hunting for their upland Rancor, not a swamp Rancor, so they always brought too much meat. The people of the settlement did not mind. They made sure that none of the meat was wasted. This gave them excess cheese, which they sent to the mountain along with the regular supplies. The Nightsisters liked getting extra food, and they noticed with the Rancor in the settlement, they started producing more. In fact, at planting and harvest, the settlement begged them for extra help, so they were used to sending them all the slaves they felt they could spare from the mountain. The consequence was that the food supplies steadily grew on the mountain. They thought that life was perfect."
"Then a number of Nightsisters found out they were pregnant. When the male slaves found out, they did something unexpected for emotionally dead men. One day the male slaves that still had wives on the mountain as female slaves, said goodbye to their wives, then disappeared. All the other male slaves also disappeared. It was only later that day, when the Nightsisters started looking for them, that they found that they had all walked off the top of the mountain. Apparently, knowing that they could be a father of a Nightsisters' child, was more than the emotionally dead male slaves could bare. The Nightsisters had to rethink how they would have to control male slaves in the future, because this last attempt, that seemed so promising, ended up as a failure, and now they had hysterical female slaves to deal with. The wives of the dead male slaves. They would have preferred to just push them all off the mountain, but slaves were not easy to come by. With all the settlements paying tribute to the hated Singing Mountain Clan. That was no longer a source for them. Their only new source for slaves was political exiles, pirates, slavers, and breeding their own slaves. Though their settlement was growing, it was only because they had been leaving them alone. They needed the hysterical women to keep working for them, so they sent them to the settlement, and kept the more stable ones on the mountain. They could not afford to lose anymore slaves, so they had to stop beating them as entertainment."
"All the female slaves sent to the settlement, moved in with the beastmasters. They remembered the little girl on the mountain, doing her best to help mother, help make their lives a little better. So it was a great comfort to be near her. Their home became known as the widows' house."
"Because they could no longer beat their slaves, the Nightsisters resorted to their traditional form of entertainment, which is fighting one another. When it came time for the babies to be born, mother asked the Nightsisters' Mother if she could arrange a regular supply of Brackaset milk to be delivered from the settlement to the mountain, so that the babies would have a guaranteed source of milk. The Mother thought it was a good idea. So right after the morning milking at the settlement, the Rancor had to run some milk up to the mountain. Of all the babies that were born, one was a male. They had to take him away from his mother right away, or she would have killed him. First, because of the shame of giving birth to a male child, and second, as her first child it would probably be a force user. He would never be trained to use the force, and would be a slave to all the little Nightsisters that were born, looking after their every need."
"The Rancor took the baby boy to the widows' house, so that they could find a surrogate mother for him. So the real mother would not find him and kill him. It was amazing how many political exiles the Nightsisters were able to seduce away from the town and enslave them. All they had to do, is to promise to show them great power. Though they had read the journal, and knew what Nightsisters were capable of. They still found the lure of power too overwhelming. The Nightsisters found that it was best not to make them slaves right away. They would let them have a look at their kingdom, to see if they would have any useful suggestions. That is how they obtained the idea to reinforce the outside of the Sandstone Mountain with sandstone blocks, because it was being eroded away by the great tides."
"A political exile noticed a sandstone outcrop on the escarpment over the lowlands. He assumed that because they went through Singing Mountain Clan's gate at the top of the escarpment, that the lowlands were controlled by the Nightsisters. They never bothered correcting him. They also took the political exiles by the widows' house. In case there was anyone there they were attracted to. If there were, they would force them to marry, and the settlement would have to build them a new home. That is how the settlement grew so quickly into a village. The one woman they never forced to marry, was the beastmaster, even though a couple of the political exiles said that they were interested in her. A clan Sister came by the settlement every year to collect the tribute from the little girl. Usually there would be two of them, and they would get the boy to pay tribute as well. He was willing, when he found out that the tribute was for the Clan Mother, because he wanted her to know that he was also willing to give her a kiss. This was the one assignment that all the Sisters would beg their Mother to send them on. So the beastmaster was protected. If someone wanted her, they would have to convince her to marry him. The political exiles were more used to women swooning over them, than having to approach a woman."
"Now concerning the Sandstone Mountain. The coastal swamp would regularly get covered by tides, whenever two or more of the moons would line up. How high the tide would get, was dependent on how many moons were lined up. When all four moons would line up, which happened once every 15 years. The tide was more than 100 meters high, almost reaching to the top of the Sandstone Mountain, and flooding part of the lowlands. Coming close to the village. When this would happen, a part of the mountain would disappear. Now to get their hands on the sandstone, the Nightsisters had to petition the Council of Mothers, to have the Singing Mountain Clan let them have access to the sandstone formation. The Council told them that they would need to pay the Singing Mountain Clan compensation, for having access. The Nightsisters demanded to know why they needed to pay compensation for a resource that the Singing Mountain Clan was not interested in. They were told that their presence in the area would drive away the local game. They were forced to agree, to paying the Singing Mountain Clan, 10 % of their grain harvest, for as long as they harvested sandstone blocks. They were allowed to build a habitation on the site, for the people who would be working there. So the Nightsisters made some of the couples they forced to marry, to go live at the sandstone quarry. They made the guy who gave the suggestion, the position of site foreman. They found that between planting and harvest they could have a large number of the slaves working at the quarry. But during planting, and harvest, most of the slaves had to be at the village. They enlisted the help of more swamp Rancor, by threatening them with dark force lightning. Since they found it boring to stay at the quarry to keep an eye on the Rancor, they convinced the young beastmaster, who was growing into a young man, to be in charge of the Rancor at the quarry. The Rancor much preferred working with the young man, over the Nightsisters. They would also go help at the settlement during planting and harvest."
"As the son of the Nightsister grew in the village, he became arrogant and belligerent, often getting into fights with the other children in the village. When they complained to the Nightsisters' Mother, she decided it was time the little Nightsisters started training their slave. They would treat him as their pet. They put a leash on his neck, and make him go around on all fours. If he miss-behaved, they would burn the hairs on his body with dark force lightning. The mothers of the little Nightsisters would harass the mother of the boy, thanking her for providing such a nice pet for their little girls."
"With the influx of new male slaves, more Nightsisters became pregnant. When it was time for them to give birth. They followed the same procedures as before. If a son was born it was immediately removed from its mother. Only this time it was harder to find surrogate mothers in the village. This time when a son was born, a male slave was chosen to be punished. They had to choose one, because no one was sure who the father was. The little Nightsisters would compete for the privilege of beating the male slave. Their pet was forced to watch, so that he knew what awaited him, if he got them really upset. One time they even beat one of the male slaves to death."
"The little Nightsisters foolishly took their pet with them wherever they went. Which meant he got to watch them train. He got up at night, when everyone else was asleep, and practised the things he saw. One day he snapped, and killed the little Nightsister whose turn it was to have him as her pet that day. Unfortunately he did this in front of the other little Nightsisters, who in fear all turned on him at once. He managed to kill two more and deeply scar most of the others, before he was finally killed. His mother was very proud of her son. She would often remind the other Nightsisters, that with a little training, they all would have been her son's slaves. This deeply concerned the Nightsisters' Mother. She wanted force user males, because she believed that they would sire stronger force user daughters. Unfortunately this boy died before he was old enough to father children. As it was, she considered her Nightsisters to be pathetically weak, because they were not strong enough to stand up to the clan Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clan."
"This weakness was exposed a number of times. The Nightsisters would regularly go out to the settlements. They knew they could not steal the people and make them slaves, but that did not mean they could not steal anything else. They prized metal objects above anything else. Since they had no natural source of metal in their territory. Little Nightsisters were known to come up to little girls playing with the doll their mother had made them, and take the dolls from them, because no one ever made a doll for them, and they wanted one. One time, one Nightsister was so successful in stealing from the settlements, that she forced a midland Rancor to carry her booty for her. For some reason the Nightsister thought that the Singing Mountain Clan would let her pass through the gate unchallenged. She just barely escaped that encounter with her life. The clan Sisters assured the Rancor that they would not kill him, if he led them back to where he was first forced to help the Nightsister, and helped them get the stolen articles back to their rightful owners. They kept their promise."
"One time a young man of the village wanted to marry the young female beastmaster. She was turning into a lovely young lady. He had to ask permission of a Nightsister to do so. The first one he encountered, was a scarred Nightsister. She told him that he had to sleep with her first, to rid her of the shame of her virginity. He refused, so she killed him. Leaving his body near the village. It was not long before the village found his dead body. They could tell that a Nightsister killed him, and they guessed it was because he wanted to marry the beautiful beastmaster. A few days later a starship landed next to the village, and half the village got aboard. Telling the slavers in the ship to take-off, before the Nightsisters came and made them all slaves. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan was sure that some of the political exiles that had boarded that ship, still had considerable personal wealth on the planets they were from, and could afford to buy freedom for the villagers. The Nightsisters' Mother was furious at losing half of the people of the village, and blamed the scarred Nightsister for it. She wasn't upset that she killed the young man. She was upset that she left his body where it would be easily found, and caused the exodus of her slaves. She had the other Nightsisters torture her, then finally let her own mother kill her, to end her suffering. As far as anyone knew, she died a virgin."
"The Nightsister's Mother decided it was time to build a palisade around the village. Not to protect the village from marauding predators, or pirates, or slavers. But to cause a restriction on how quickly the people could leave, whenever a ship showed up. When she first tried to harvest trees for the palisade, the clan Sisters forced everyone away from the trees. Even though they were outnumbered, the clan Sisters easily defeated the Nightsisters. It did not help the Nightsisters that the clan Sisters all rode upland Rancor, while they were without rides. The Beastmaster refused to let her Rancor leave the village to help them, until they obtained permission from the Singing Mountain Clan to harvest their trees. The Nightsisters felt that this was in part, retaliation, for one of them killing her daughter's fiancé. They knew that to touch her, would be all the excuse the Singing Mountain Clan needed to eliminate them. The Nightsisters' Mother was forced to appeal to the Council of Mothers. Because there was no way that she would negotiate directly with the Singing Mountain Clan. When she approached the Council to talk with the Singing Mountain Clan on her behalf, they asked her what she was willing to offer in compensation. She wanted to know why she should compensate them for a resource they weren't using. The Clan Mothers rolled their eyes. They have been down this road before. They told her point blank that she either offer compensation, or she should stop wasting their time. She asked them, why they can't just order her to let them have the trees. They told her that it would be easier to order her to return the Sandstone Mountain and the southern coastal swamp to the Singing Mountain Clan, and submit to their Clan Mother's judgement. This was not the way the Nightsisters' Mother thought this would go. She was already giving a portion of each crop harvested to the Singing Mountain Clan. Finally she decided to offer some cheese. She would have rather offered some time with her male slaves, but she doubted the uppity Clan Mother would take it. They asked her how much cheese. She said the village's production for one seven day cycle. She figured that she could still keep some cheese, and claim that is all they made. They told her that the Clan Mother was agreeable to one month's worth of cheese production. She said that was too much, and countered with half a month's worth of cheese. They told her that since she turned down the Clan Mother's generous offer, she was now asking for two months' worth of cheese. This floored the Nightsisters' Mother. She asked them how she could do that. They told her that the Clan Mother is under no compulsion to let her have any trees. If she wants the trees she has to negotiate seriously, or the Clan Mother can refuse to negotiate altogether. She reluctantly agreed to the Clan Mother's first offer. They told her that the Clan Mother accepts. They told her how many wheels of cheese she was expecting to be delivered to the gate, every cycle. Her clan Sisters will show her people which trees they can harvest for the village's palisade. The Nightsisters' Mother was taken aback that the Clan Mother knew exactly how much cheese her village produced every day. She knew that her Nightsisters were going to be upset, that they will have to be without cheese for a month."
"When the clan Sisters were showing the villagers which trees they could cut down. One of the women from the widows' house approached a clan Sister, to ask if she could talk with her. A Nightsister saw that the villager approached a clan Sister, and she went over to whip her with her new leather braided whip. The clan Sister grabbed the whip and tore it right of her hand. She then proceeded to whip the Nightsister with her own whip. The Nightsister retaliated with dark force lightning. The clan Sister surrounded herself with an air shield, which protected her from the lightning, but did not protect the villager that was standing a few feet away. The clan Sister was so angry she hit the Nightsister with a force push. Which slammed her into a tree trunk, momentarily stunning her. The clan Sister than ran up to her and started whipping her again. The sting of the whip quickly brought her to her senses. So she quickly threw up an earth shield to block the whip, and ran away."
"Now all the Sisters are taught to master the four elements. Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. Each element has an attack component, and a defence component. Each element can be controlled using either the light side or the dark side of the force. Most Sisters find it easier to use the light side, especially for the defensive components. For Air the defensive component is to form a dense bubble of air, to surround the force user. It is primarily the defense against Air's attack component, which is lightning. It can also be used to protect against Water, and Fire. Deflecting both attacks. But an Earth attack is strong enough to penetrate an air shield. A well practiced force user, can make a small Air shield to surround just the head, for when they want to go underwater. Or take a large Air shield, and draw it close to their body, so that they could dive into the water, otherwise a regular Air shield would just have them skip across the top of the water. The Water element, needs to be practised near or in water. The Water shield can be used as a defence against all the other elements. But to protect against force lightning, they must create a complete Water shield bubble, which is only practical in water. The attack component of water, is a water lance. Earth has a shield which is useless against Air and Water. Unless the practitioner is sufficiently powerful enough to make an Earth shield out of living rock, which is strong enough to block a water lance. Again to use the Earth element you must be near a source of the element. For instance. If you are on top of a granite mountain, and were not sufficiently strong enough to use the living rock component of the Earth element. All you would do is tire yourself out, if you tried to use it. Another poor source material for either the Water element or the Earth element, is mud, because it contains both elements, so cannot be controlled by either. The Fire element uses wind as its defensive component. A skilled practitioner can use the wind to knock a ball of force fire back at the person that threw it. Otherwise the wind just absorbs the fireball and disappears. It offers no protection against the other elements, so is rarely practised."
"The clan Sister went to check the villager, and saw that she was badly burnt. She forced the woman's vital signs to minimum, if it did not help in any other way it would keep her unconscious, until she could get her to a healer. She took the unconscious woman up on her Rancor. Told the other clan Sisters to send everyone back to the village, there will be no more work today. Then headed for the Singing Mountain Clan's main village. The clan Sisters started herding the people back to the village. The Nightsisters protested, but their protest fell on deaf ears. Some of the clan Sisters dared them to make a stronger protest, but the Nightsisters backed away."
"The healers dealt with the woman and returned the woman's vital signs to normal. When she found out she was in the main village of the Singing Mountain Clan, she asked if it was permissible for a slave to speak with their Clan Mother. They told her that she was their guest and not a slave, and the Clan Mother was waiting just outside to find out if she would be alright. While one of them went to get the Clan Mother, the other healers told her that they were able to get the dark force energy out of her. So nothing was damaged internally, but they were not able to keep her skin from scarring. They have an ointment that they would like to massage into her skin over the next few days, which should make her scars more elastic. So she should have no motion impediments due to the scarring. When the Clan Mother came into the room the woman wanted to get up and kneel before her but the healers restrained her. She started to cry, and asked them why they won't let her show this woman the respect she deserved. The Clan Mother had tears in her eyes. She sat on the edge of the woman's bed and told her that if she truly respected her, than she should also respect her healers, and listen to them. The woman calmed down, and promised to listen to the healers. Then the Clan Mother asked her why she wanted to talk to her. She told her that when she was on the mountain, the little girl that she rescued, often helped mother to minister to them. She overheard mother tell another slave that the girl has a heart of a healer. She does not turn away from any injury, yet she tries to be as gentle as possible in administering the ointment. Now their village has no healer, but needs one. The Nightsisters know nothing about healing. They just know pain and death. She was hoping that one of her Sisters could teach the young beastmaster about healing, for the sake of the people of the village. One of the healers said she would go. Her Mother said no. She would be too easily spotted as a Sister. They need someone who looks similar to this woman, who could pass as her, and not attract the attention of the Nightsisters. That way she could spend time with the young beastmaster, while this woman undergoes a lengthy convalescence. One of the older healers realised that she looked like her, and if she applied some plant gum to her skin, it would look like she had some scars too. She said that she would go. "It would be a change to work with someone who knew what they were doing." The Clan Mother told her that this sense of humour was required by someone who was going to do what she was about to do. They exchanged clothes. The Sister applied plant gum, and took a small gourd of it with her, because she would need to reapply it while she was there. The Sister that brought the woman. Carried her Sister back, so it looked like she was returning her to the village."
"In the village the Sister picked the healer up in her arms, and jumped off of the back of her Rancor. Using the force to slow her descent, so she landed as light as a feather. Something you want to do when the person you're carrying has been injured. She told her Rancor to wait outside the village so as not to upset the village Rancor very much. She did not have to do that, because the village Rancor was used to the Rancor from the Singing Mountain Clan being nearby, and his beastmaster always told him that they were friendly. He could also smell their scent on the meat the clan Sisters delivered to the village. They would not share a kill with him unless they were friendly. The young beastmaster came out to help the poor lady, and noticed right away that this was not her friend. The Sister asked her where she can lay her down. The young beastmaster led them to her home. Once inside she asked the woman who was being carried, who she was and where her friend was. "Why I'm your new instructor." They explained to her why her friend tried to talk with the Sister in the first place. They said that their Mother thought this was the best way to bring her a healer as an instructor, so the Nightsisters don't know she is there. The young beastmaster wanted to know why it was so important that the Nightsisters did not know she was being trained as a healer. She said that the Nightsisters think they interfere too much with the village already. They themselves have no knowledge of healing, which would make them even more jealous. Also, if they knew she was a healer, they would try to get her to go to the mountain, to help mother raise all their brats. They would even go as far as to poison mother, to get her to go up there to heal her. She admitted that that would be the only way they could get her back on the mountain. If she knew mother was not well and needed her help. She looked at her new instructor, and asked her where they begin. Her instructor told her to bring her a sample of every herb that grows around the village, and they can talk about the properties of each one. The new student told her instructor about the herbs that mother uses on the mountain. She has not found any around the village, and believes that they only grow in the coastal swamp. The healer was very interested in finding the plant that has a numbing affect. Her student drew pictures of all the leaves that mother used on the mountain. The healer was impressed that she could remember how they looked, after all these years. She told her that she would be leaving her for a few days, to see if she can find these plants in the east coastal swamp, because she did not think it would look good for her to be traipsing through the south coastal swamp, with all the Nightsisters present."
"The healer was successful, and even identified the plant that numbs the pain. She gave her student a description of what the whole plants looked like, in case she ever needed to go down to the swamp to find them. Her student told her that she smelt the odour of the numbing plant recently. When she thought about it, she said that she smelt it when she was near one Nightsister, but not the others. Then it hit her. The Nightsister she smelt it from, had a bow and arrows, while none of the other Nightsisters did. Now all the young Nightsisters revered mother. She was the only mother they knew. Whenever one of them was injured, she was the one they ran to for healing. When they had that fight with their force using pet. She was the one they turned to, to heal their burns. They followed her to her source of herbs that she used for healing. They respected her too much to take her herbs away, in case they needed them themselves in the future. But now that they knew what the plant looked like, they were able to find other plants, and picked the leaves. They found they could use the alcohol they used to keep their pierced ears from being infected, as an agent to extract the essential oil from the plant and concentrate it to the point that it caused muscle paralysis. They dipped a hunting arrow in the solution, and shot a male slave in the leg. In a short time he fell over and could not use that leg. They showed their discovery to the Nightsisters' Mother, by shooting another male slave in the leg. This time they nicked a major vein. This carried the poison to the heart paralysing the heart, causing him to die. But he did fall down and was not able to use his leg before his heart stopped. Mother than had them shoot one of the Nightsisters in the leg, to see if the force could be used against it. Because no one volunteered to be shot, since a slave had died. Mother picked one. The Nightsister was able to use the force to lessen the effect of the poison. But her leg did feel numb, and she had trouble walking. Mother knew it would be hard to shoot a clan Sister with an arrow, but it is something they should have on all their edged weapons. It could give them an edge in battle. They should still coat all of their arrows, because it could help them capture pirates and slavers. Making them their slaves. The Nightsisters had other encounters with clan Sisters while they were harvesting the trees. It usually involved a Nightsister abusing a slave, and the clan Sister stepping in to protect that person. It always ended with the Nightsister running away because she feared for her life. Their Mother went to complain to the Council of Mothers about this treatment. The Clan Mothers told her that if her Nightsisters did not want to be abused, they should not provoke the Sisters of the Singing Mountain Clan while in their territory. They even gave the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan permission to have one of her Sisters throw her out, because she was wasting their time. She went out on her own, indignant by the way she was treated by the Council of Mothers. The Sister that escorted her out told her to be more respectful of her superiors. She told the Sister that they were not her superiors. The Sister said that all the Clan Mothers were superior to both of them, and if she did not believe her than challenge her, so that she could prove she was her superior as well. The Nightsisters' Mother did not know how strong this Sister was. But since she was standing with her Mother in the Council chamber, she had to be well trained, so would be difficult to beat in a fight. Since all of her Nightsisters have been beaten in all of their encounters with the Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan, she thought it best not to challenge the Sister. She told her that she had pressing matters back at the mountain, but might take up her offer another time. The Sister told her that whenever she felt like being humiliated, she should contact her. The Nightsisters' Mother left quickly before she said something she would later regret."
"Because of the Nightsister's Mother's trip to the Council of Mothers to complain, the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan ordered a stop to the harvesting of trees for the palisade, until all the cheese had been received at the gate. She feared that the Nightsisters would stop sending the cheese once the palisade was complete, as retaliation. She doubted that the Council would let her go to war over cheese. This enraged all the Nightsisters, but they could do nothing but deliver the cheese."
"One time two young Nightsisters happened to be close to a settlement when pirates landed to attack it. They decided to attack the pirates, then take the people of the settlement as their slaves. Because it would look like the pirates took them. They knew the effective range of a blaster rifle from the male slaves. So they knew that they should stay that distance away, and half again to be safe. Which was well within their bow range. Because they were able to carry the arrow using the force, it had the same penetrating power at 250 meters as it had at 50 meters. Non force users could only shot an arrow around 100-125 meters, and they would have to shot it up into the air to get it to go that far. Where a force user could keep it on target the whole distance it was traveling. So they shot the first two pirates in the leg as soon as they stepped off the ramp. The Nightsisters had to keep moving because the pirates returned fire, and would eventually zero in on them if they remained stationary. The Nightsisters were able to hit two more, but they were still on the ramp. When they went down, two more pirates appeared to try and help them. The young Nightsisters were too impatient, and shot the two new pirates while they were still on the ramp. The pirate ship took off, then started lifting its ramp. Leaving two behind, but saving four. One of the two mothers at the settlement suspected the Night Sisters would now try to abduct them, so she scratched a quick note on a piece of leather. "Nightsisters attacking pirates. They will come for us next.""
"Now one very good thing the political exiles brought to Dathomir, was the Standard Basic Alphabet. The Kwa had taught all the species they worked with the Basic spoken language, to make it easier to communicate with all the different alien species. Basic was also the spoken language of the Rakata Infinite Empire. It was only after the collapse of the Infinite Empire that different planets tried coming up with a written forms of Basic. Because space travel happened at around the same time, linguists from a number of planets were able to compare notes, and adopted the Standard Basic, for the written language. Within one generation, most adults on Dathomir, learnt how to write Standard Basic. Children cringed at the thought that they would be forced to learn something new, on top of what they were already taught."
Krillgan smiled because he did not know how to read or write. His time was coming.
"Even the Sisters stopped using the Kwa symbols in their books of Knowledge and Wisdom. Since it was easier to write ideas in Standard Basic, than it was with the Kwa symbols. All Sisters are still taught the symbols as part of their education. Because they did not rewrite the first parts of their book in case they misinterpret what is written and important knowledge is lost." The Captain was looking at Krillgan when he said it. "The mother was hoping, that when the Sisters from the Red Hills Clan came to investigate the pirate attacks, they would find the note, and know that they have been taken as slaves by the Nightsisters. Now her little daughter had the doll her mother made her, stolen by the Nightsisters the year before. Now the mother wanted to make her another one, but she was afraid that it would also be stolen. So her father carved her some small figurines out of wood to represent their family, and their neighbours. The little girl loved them, and played with them all the time. She also liked that they were easy to hide when the Nightsisters came by. When the Sisters from the Red Hills Clan came by, she would always get them to play with her, so they were quite familiar with all her figurines. When the Sisters came to investigate, they found one of the figurines in the settlement, but not in the direction of the pirate ship. They knew the little girl was very careful in looking after her figurines, so they looked around to see if they could find more. They found another one not that far away, and kept looking in that direction. By the time they found the third, they saw that they were in a line. When they looked out over the grassland, in the direction the figurines indicated, they could see that a large group of people passed that way recently, and were heading in the direction of Neutral Town. One of the Sisters continued in that direction, keeping her eyes peeled for more figurines. The other Sister went to have a closer look at the settlement. In the little girl's home, amongst the smouldering debris, they found a partial burnt piece of leather. When they picked it up they saw that something was written on it. All they could make out was "Nightsisters fighting pir" and that was it. No wonder there were relatively few tracks between the landing site and the settlement. They also had expected to find the dead body of the father, because he would have fought against the pirates. But he would not have fought a Nightsister. One of them ran back to their main village to inform their Mother. So that she could send a runner to the Singing Mountain Clan, to warn them about the abduction. The others ran to catch up to their Sister following the trail. If they can catch up to the group before they reached the lowlands then she would need help fighting the Nightsisters. When they caught up to her, she had found more figurines. She stayed down following the trail, until they had found all of the little girl's figurines. Then she got up on her Rancor, and the three Sisters followed the trail as fast as they could. When they approached the town they had to slow down, because there was crisscrossing foot traffic. Once past the town, they were able to speed up again, because the trail was clear again. They were able to follow the trail the group left, right up to the escarpment above the sandstone quarry. They were able to make out a small trail. Which would be easy for a Nightsister to use, but would be very difficult for a non-force user. It looks like they made it down to the lowlands, and the sandstone quarry is not very far from the west trail leading down to the swamp. They decided to head to the gate before attempting to go down to the lowlands. As they approached the gate, they could see a large group of Rancor with Sisters sitting on them. They decided to stop where they were, and only one Sister ran ahead to the group. So there would be no conflict between their Rancor, and the Rancor of the Singing Mountain Clan. The Sister that ran up on foot spotted the Clan Mother. She gave a full report on what they found since they left the settlement. The Clan Mother instructed one of the Sisters standing watch at the gate to go with the Sisters from the Red Hills Clan, so that they can show her where the small trail is. She told the Sister that they will look after things from here. So that there would be no conflict between their Rancour. Otherwise they would be happy to have them come along. The Singing Mountain Clan Sisters descended to the lowlands. Then ran to the Nightsisters' farming village. The swamp Rancor that was still there was familiar with their Rancor, so should not feel intimidated, even though it was much smaller. The Clan Mother talked first with the beastmasters, than talked with the Rancor, asking if it could guide them through the swamp to the mountain. The Rancor was happy to help the ones who kept bringing it meat, so it led the way. When they were close enough to the mountain. The Clan mother told the swamp Rancor to head back to the village. He should not be seen by the Nightsisters to be helping them. The Rancor was smart enough to understand, and ran back to the village. The Singing Mountain Clan Sisters surrounded the mountain, then started climbing up it. The first part was the hardest because they were climbing up sandstone blocks that were only cemented together with tar from the swamp's tar pit. The last part of the climb was the easiest and the fastest."
"The Nightsisters on guard duty raised the alarm, as soon as they sensed the clan Sisters surround the mountain. They were not happy to see so many Sisters on their Rancor climb up over the lip of the Mountain. They were outnumbered and not as well equipped. They doubted their poison tipped arrows could even penetrate the hide of a Rancor, even if they tried to use the force to push it in. The Nightsister's Mother stepped forward, and asked them why they were there. The Clan Mother told her that they were there to pick up the people from the settlement, who have paid tribute to their clan. She asked them why they thought they were there. The Clan Mother told them that the Sisters from the Red Hills Clan tracked their trail to the top of the escarpment where the sandstone quarry is. They just followed it the rest of the way here. The Clan Mother lied, but did not think it was worthwhile telling her the truth. The Nightsisters' Mother was bothered by the Sisters being able to track the people from the settlement, all the way to the mountain. The young Nightsisters assured her that they made it look like pirates had taken them. She had no choice but to return the settlement people to the clan Sisters. She had the Nightsisters bring them all out. Fortunately they had not done anything to them yet, because they had only arrived shortly before the clan Sisters did. When the people from the settlement came out and saw the Sisters from the Singing Mountain Clan there, sitting on top of their Rancor, they were jubilant. The Clan mother directed each one to a different Rancor. The Sisters helped them to climb up and told them to hold on to them. The wives told their husbands to be careful where they put their hands. Which caused their husbands to turn red, and made the clan Sisters laugh."
Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder. He wanted to know why the wives would say that to their husbands. Andriel smiled at Chitrah, letting him know he was on his own in answering that question. Chitrah reminded Krillgan that women have their mountains of womanhood. It is not appropriate for a husband to touch another woman's mountains, even accidentally. Krillgan asked if it was appropriate for a husband to touch his wife's mountains. "Yes, but not when anyone can see him." Krillgan looked at his mother, who was turning a little darker. Then he looked at his father, who was smiling at his mother. He had never seen his father touch his mother's mountains even by accident. So when did he touch them? He looked at them both again. His mother was definitely a lot darker, and his father was smiling, but starting to turn purple. Maybe it was best if he did not know right now. He looked at the Captain who was also smiling, looking at his parents. Krillgan cleared his throat, then asked the Captain to continue.
"The Clan Mother asked the headman of the settlement if everyone was there, and were they leaving anything behind. The headman said, "Just those two pirates," who came limping out of the building. They both had leg wounds. The pirates pleaded with her not to leave them behind. She asked them what they were doing at the settlement. They admitted that they were there to raid the settlement, and take anything that was of value. "So you were there to take the people away as slaves?" They admitted they were. Again they pleaded to be taken away, because what these women will do to them is inhuman. "How is that any different from taking the people away to be slaves on another planet? Not to mention that you would probably have raped all the women, before you got there. You have also put me in the awkward position, of having to thank the Nightsisters, for keeping your companions from hurting these people. Anything they do to you, you deserve." The Clan Mother, true to her word, did thank the Nightsisters for driving the pirates away. Then they all departed. The Nightsisters now knew that they had permission, to engage pirates anywhere, and they could keep as slaves any pirates they captured. Because if the Singing Mountain Clan would not defend them, neither would the other clans. This incident was not a total waste, as far as the Nightsisters were concerned. When the Rancor climbed down to the top of the sandstone blocks. The Sisters let the Rancor jump down from there, and used the force to lighten their landing. At the base of the mountain. The Sister that had the little girl holding onto her, handed her a bag. When she looked inside, she found all of her figurines. She told the little girl that the Sisters from the Red Hills Clan found them. That was how they knew pirates had not taken them. That is also why she did not give them to her on the top of the mountain. So the Nightsisters would not know. The Clan Mother asked them if any of them remembered the way through the swamp to get here. The headman said that he heard her say they had followed their trail. The Clan Mother admitted that she lied. She wanted to get to the mountain as fast as possible, to prevent the Nightsisters from doing anything to them. The people told her they are all grateful she did, and will keep it as a secret. The headman's wife said that she thought she remembered the way. The headman affirmed that his wife was good with directions. So she led the way, while everyone else followed. The Clan Mother later had her clan plant a lot of prickly bushes at the top of the trail, above the quarry. It would not stop the Nightsisters from using it. But it would prevent non-force users from going that way."
"The Nightsisters were frustrated that they had to replace the sandstone blocks whenever a major tide swept across the swamp. A political exile that one of the Nightsisters had seduced, told them that he could provide them with a more permanent solution, if they agreed to let him return to the town to live. The Nightsisters' Mother agreed to let him go, provided it was a good solution. He asked if he could use a blaster rifle that they had taken from the pirates. (They kept the blaster rifles, because only a couple of them had swords, and arrows were useless against clan Sisters.) The Nightsisters' Mother let him have one, but promised she would kill him if he tried using it on any of them. The man took the blaster rifle, and fired it repeatedly at a sandstone block. Making the hole a little bit bigger each time he fired it, until he had drained the power cell. He told them to go look into the hole he had created, to see what he made. They looked in the hole. It only penetrated about a third of the way into the block. But they could see that there was something different in there. The blaster bolts hitting the sandstone block had caused fractures to appear in the block. The Nightsisters were able to tear the block apart to get at the transparent blob inside. They had to hold it using the force, because it was still too hot to touch with bare skin. They asked him what it was. He told them it is called glass. When you heat sand to high temperatures, it transforms into glass. Because sandstone is mainly compressed sand. Heating it will cause it to turn to glass. They wanted to know how this would protect their mountain. He told them that on the world he came from, almost all their drinking containers were made from glass, because it was resistant to most liquids. Even liquids that would harm most other materials. If they could heat the sandstone blocks they were placing around their mountain, to a high enough temperature. They would turn to glass. That would make it immune to the erosion effects of the super tides. By now the Nightsisters could handle the blob. The Nightsister's Mother noticed how smooth it was. If the entire outside surface of their mountain was covered in smooth glass. There would be no purchase for the Rancor's claws. They would not be able to climb up the outside of the mountain. The only way up to the mountain top, would be up through the spiral walkway they had carved. Which would finally make their mountain defensible against a Singing Mountain Clan attack. She needed to know the cost in resources, to have this project done. She also needed to talk with the Nightsisters in charge of following the movement of the stars, and of Dathomir's four moons, to see how much time they have before the next major tide. The man suggested that since their sandstone blocks were an average of a half meter thick. He estimated that they would need to place a double layer of blocks around the mountain. To get a layer of glass around a hand width thick. Which means they would have to surround the mountain with one giant bonfire. Because of the time constraints the Nightsisters' Mother had everyone from the village at the sandstone quarry. The beastmasters had to point out that the people and Rancor needed to eat, or they would only be able to produce half the blocks she wanted before they all died. She reluctantly agreed to have some of the people working on preparing food for the others. She also had her Nightsisters go into the neutral territory to start harvesting trees there. Since they did not need the tall straight trees from the Singing Mountain Clan's forests. What they did, was gut the inside of a grove of trees. From the outside it would look untouched, but there were no trees on the inside. When they had enough sandstone blocks, she had them produce an additional amount to come up 1/3 of the way up the mountain in case they were needed, before she let the slaves return to the village. When her Nightsisters finished placing the last block around the mountain. She had them clear cut all the trees around the sandstone quarry, since the clan Sisters had been staying away. The next night she tried to cut all the trees above the quarry, but the Sisters at the gate heard them, and came out to challenge them. Forcing the Nightsisters to flee. The next morning, looking down from the top of the escarpment at the quarry, they saw the devastation the Nightsisters had done to their forests. They sent one of the Sisters to inform their Mother. The Nightsisters in the meantime had kicked all of the slaves out of the village, and moved in. Forcing the slaves to sleep around the outside of the palisade, and next to their fields on the ground. Then they lit the bonfire. For two nights the light from the bonfire could be seen from the main village of the Singing Mountain Clan. The Nightsisters forgot that hot glass is a liquid. Most of it pooled around the base of the mountain. With a very thin layer on the mountain itself. They almost sealed themselves out of the mountain. The Nightsisters found that by heating the glass. They could use the force to start pushing the glass back up the mountain, and open up the entrance to the spiral walkway."
"When the man found out when the next major tide was expected. He told the Nightsisters' Mother that she had to give the glass time to cool before the tides came. If the cold ocean water touched hot glass, the glass would shatter, and everything they did would be wasted. They were able to force the glass about ¼ of the way up the mountain before stopping to let the glass cool. The political exile had suggested that the glass be allowed to cool for at least one cycle before the tides came. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan sent an envoy of Sisters demanding compensation for all the trees they had cut down without permission. The Nightsisters' Mother told them that she would be willing to negotiate at the next Council of Mothers, which she knew was still a few months away. The tides that came were only 15 meters high. They came regularly for the next ten days before they subsided. That would have been enough to wash away the base layer of sandstone blocks."
"When the Nighsisters examined the base of the mountain. The only evidence that they could find of the tides, was the debris left behind in the spiral walkway. The Nightsisters' Mother was satisfied that the man had given them what he promised, and let him go free. The Nightsister that seduced him, was upset that her Mother let the only male slave she had access to, go free. The Nightsisters' Mother told her that if she was that good at seducing him. She should be able to do it again. The Nightsister did go visit him quite regularly in town. He would always welcome her into his residence. The town's people questioned him about his relationship with her. One of the women even went so far as to suggest he might be in love. The man laughed, he said that he doubted that either one of them knew anything about love. He enjoyed her visits, and apparently she did as well, because she kept coming back. When she did not show up for a period of time, the town's women speculated that she was pregnant. When she did come back, everyone saw that she looked a little different. She did resume her regular visits. When he was pressed by the town's people about the break, he simply said that she did not say anything, and he did not ask."
"It took longer for the Nightsisters to gather the wood they needed for the next phase of the operation, because the clan Sisters were keeping a close eye on them. They also collected most of the swamp cane they could find, and built a scaffold around the mountain for them to climb on. They divided the Nightsisters up to preform designated tasks. Half of them were to handle the glass once it was soft enough. A third of them were needed to keep the fire in position. The rest were needed to continue to replenish the fire. They started by building a ring of fire around the base of mountain. Once the Nightsisters' Mother felt the fire was strong enough. The glass handlers and the fire handlers, used the force to pick the fire up and hold it around the base of the blob of glass they had left, about a quarter of the way up the mountain. Because they were starting with cold glass, and not the blob of hot glass that they first had around the base of the mountain. They had to hold the fire in place for more than half a day before the glass started to soften. It was another couple of hours after that, before they could start pushing it up the mountain again. The whole time the fire had to be fed. It took another two and a half days, before they were able to work the glass all the way up to the top of the mountain. When they didn't need the fire anymore. They just dropped it. A lot of the pieces of wood flamed out before they reached the ground. The glass handlers and the fire handlers held the top section of soft glass in place for around three hours before their Mother felt it had cooled down enough that they could leave it. Now the whole time they were doing this operation, none of the Nightsisters ate anything. They did drink water. Every time their Mother yelled water, two of the wood handlers would run for containers of water. They would make sure that Mother was refreshed first, before making the rounds to all the other Nightsisters. When the fire handlers dropped the burning wood, it was the wood handlers' responsibility to make sure that the burning wood was not too close together, to get really hot and start melting the glass at the base of the mountain, and they had to keep it away from the base of the scaffolding. One of the wood handlers ran to the village to let the cooks know that the Nightsisters would be feasting in a few hours. The Nightsisters were famished, and ate their fill. Then they all went to bed, and slept for 18 hours straight. The next morning they could not help but admire their new Glass Mountain. It looked like it was on fire when the sunlight struck it first thing in the morning."
"When they made their way to the top of the mountain, they found that every building suffered heat and fire damage. All the grain they had stored was now oven roasted. They tore apart all their old buildings except the granary, since it was still full. Mother remembered all the extra sandstone blocks she had the slaves produce. Now it was time to rebuild according to their extravagant needs. They built their new Temple first, making sure it had everything that a dark side force user would want to meet their needs, and the place for their entertainment. Including the well secured rings for securing slaves' hands and feet, for their beatings. They all wanted larger quarters than before, but there was only so much room, and so many blocks to build things. Mother decided that their eating area, and the kitchen should have first priority. Then they would have an idea on how large they could build their residence, and the nursery. They decided that the slaves could build their residence out of wood and rubble from the previous buildings."
"When they dismantled the scaffolding, they stored the swamp cane on top of the mountain. They found it to be just as strong as what the clan Sisters used for their fighting sticks. But much lighter. The Nightsisters that had stolen swords when they left their former clans. Liked how easy it was to attach their swords to the end of the fighting stick made out of swamp cane. Now they could do battle with a clan Sister riding on their Rancor. They heated the sandstone blocks on the inside of each building, to give the interiors a glass glaze, and to use the glass to bond each block to the others. From when they started the glass fires, until they moved back to the mountain top, was just over two months. The villagers were glad to see them go, so that they could start moving back into their homes."
"The Clan Mothers were not surprised to see that no one from the Nightsisters showed up to talk about compensation for all the damage they did. They asked the political exile, who gained his freedom, to come and explain everything he had done for the Nightsisters. The town's people made sure that he understood, that he cannot say no to the Clan Mothers. He told the Clan Mothers that he wanted to perform the same demonstration for them, as he had done for the Nightsisters. He had asked the town if he could have one of their blaster rifles. When he told them that he was planning on draining its power source they said no. They told him to ask the Clan Mothers if they could supply him with one. So when he came before the Clan Mothers, he explained to them what he needed for his presentation. The Clan Mother of the Red Hills Clan sent one of her Sisters to retrieve a blaster rifle from the pirate ship that is being used by predators as a den. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan sent one of her Sisters to the sandstone quarry to see if she could find a chunk of sandstone close to the size of the blocks that the Nightsisters were using. When they returned, he was handed an old filthy blaster rifle covered in animal droppings. He suspected it would not have as many shots as the one the Nightsisters gave him. The sandstone block that was brought back was rejected by the Nightsisters, because a corner had broken off, but it was perfect for the demonstration. When he asked how long the blaster rifle had been laying where she got it from, he was surprised that it still worked when he turned it on. The demonstration was a success, and the Clan Mothers were able to handle the hot blob of glass he had just produced. He told them what he had told the Nightsisters to do, in order to get his freedom. He told them all the sources that he knew of, for the wood they used for their fire. The Clan Mothers sent Sisters to check all the tree groves in the town's territory. The town's people were upset that they would not be able to harvest any hardwood from the groves, until the trees re-established themselves. They relied on the hardwood from the groves to make their kegs and barrels, that they stored their ale, and wine, and distilled drinks in. They would have to rely on using animal skins, for the next few years, like the Red Hills Clan did."
"When one of the political exiles heard that they had made glass. He asked if he could make some more. He had always been fascinated by the art of glass blowing, and he wanted to give it a try. The Clan Mothers agreed to let him try, since he would need to go on to their territories to harvest the raw resources he would need. He had one of the clans blacksmith fashion him a long metal tube because he remembered that the glass blowers blew into a blob of glass at the end of a long tube. When he almost burnt his hands and lips, he remembered they were not using a metal tube."
"The Clan Mother of the Great Canyon Clan kept tabs on the glass blower's progress. He was getting better but his progress was slow. The town's people did help him harvest wood, because they also needed it for cooking. One day she approached him, and suggested he move to their village. They had all the resources he needed close at hand, and she had people who were willing to work with him, and learn from him. He quickly agreed, because the hardest thing he found was finding people who would work with him on a consistent basis. The town's people did help him, but it was always someone new, and he had to spend a lot of time explaining what he wanted them to do, before he started, because it was hard to talk with a tube in your mouth. The Clan Mother of the Great Canyon Clan let the other Clan Mothers know that if they had artistic people interested in learning glass blowing, she would welcome them. Her strategy paid off. She was able to establish a dual purpose village right next to the resources the glass blower needed. Because he now had experience in establishing two workshops. He was able to custom design a facility to fit his needs and that of all his new apprentices. It was also a farming village. She had convinced a small settlement to join her clan, and raise Brackaset, and make cheese. She had her own people from her main village move there to grow the crops. Hers was now the third clan to start a secondary village, and the first one to establish an industry."
"When the Nightsisters' Mother did not come to the Council of Mothers, the Singing Mountain Clan's Mother outlined the steps she was going to take, to force the Nightsisters to pay restitution. The Council approved her taking their entire grain harvest, but no more, even though she wanted to take all their cheese for a couple months as well. They consented to let her take the cheese that was designated as going to the mountain, while she was there for the harvest. But she was not to take the cheese from the village people that they made for their own consumption. (She never intended on taking their cheese.)"
"When the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan returned to her main village, she called all the trades' people together for a meeting. She needed a way to transport large quantities of grain quickly. Because the longer it sat by the village, the greater was the chance the Nightsisters would try to steal it. The carpenters, blacksmiths, and cobblers, all got together and designed the first Rancor cart. It is a two wheeled cart with one leg at the front to hold it flat while a Rancor was not pulling it. When the Rancor was pulling it, it would be sloped upwards at the front. They built the first one, and the Clan Mother, and Herd Mother, both checked it out. When the Herd Mother allowed herself to be strapped in the harness, she found that she hardly noticed she was attached to the cart. It did not hinder her motion in anyway. The Clan Mother noticed that the Sister could still sit on the Rancor's back while it was attached to the carts. So they both gave their approval to build a half dozen more. When harvest time came for the Nightsisters' village, they were quite surprised to see that all the Clan Sisters of Singing Mountain Clan showed up. The clan Sisters told the Nightsisters that had shown up to supervise the harvest. That because their Mother did not show up at the Council of Mothers as she promised, to negotiate reimbursing the Singing Mountain Clan. The Council of Mothers agreed to let the Singing Mountain Clan take their entire harvest. They also warned the Nightsisters that if they were found on the lowlands by any of them during the harvest. Their Clan Mother has given them permission, to give them a death match challenge."
"The Nightsisters' Mother was furious with the Singing Mountain Clan. They always managed to find some way to get her upset. She thought that because the clan Sisters were soft, they would leave enough grain for the village people to live on until the next harvest. They would just need to hunt more to supplement what they were not getting from the village. Two nights later, one of her Nightsisters returned to say that her hunting partner was dead. The Singing Mountain Clan was serious about the death match challenge. They had climbed up to the lowlands to do some hunting. They didn't know where the clan Sisters came from, but they suddenly appeared. She was still hidden in the bushes, so they did not seem to see her. But her partner was caught out in the open. She tried to run away. But the clan Sisters grabbed her by the force, and would not let her leave. One of them threw her a fighting stick for her to defend herself. While another Sister climbed off of her Rancor to challenge her. Her partner tried to burn her opponent with dark force lightning, but she shielded herself, and the other Sisters were able to combine their abilities to place a shield around themselves and all the Rancor, so the lightning would not hit them. Her partner next tried a fireball, which her opponent easily diffused with wind. The Sister taunted her partner, telling her that she could have sent the fireball back at her, but the undergrowth is too dry, and would have caught fire from her burning body. Her partner had no choice, but to pick up the fighting stick, and attack her opponent. At first it seemed they were evenly matched, but it turned out the clan Sister was just gauging her skill level. Then she would attack by first smashing her fighting stick against the fingers of her partner. Her partner would open herself up by trying to protect her fingers, which allowed the Sister to hit her with hard body shots. The match lasted for a while. She could see her partner's body starting to showing bruising on her arms and legs. Probably on her sides and back as well. Finally the Sister showed her mercy, and caught her in the neck with a death blow. The Sister dragged her partner's body by her hair to the west trail leading down to the swamp. (The trail closest to the sandstone quarry.) The Sister threw her body using the force so that it landed at the base of the trail. She snuck down and retrieved her partner's body, and brought it back to the mountain. Her Mother had her bring it into the temple, where they removed her clothing. Sure enough she had bruising up and down her side and back. When they examined her fingers, they could see that a number of them had been broken, the finger bones were actually crushed. The Nightsisters were allowed to remove anything they wanted from the body, with the earrings being the first to go. Then they called in a couple of slaves, and told them to go throw the body on the trash heap. None of the Nightsisters dared to climb up to the lowlands during the harvest, except near the quarry where they continued up to the midlands. They figured that with most of the Singing Mountain Clan on the lowlands. The midlands was the safe place for hunting. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan warned the villagers' that when harvest is over they would be leaving no grain behind. The Brackaset would be their only source of food."
"Because the village had three swamp Rancor. Two that used to be used at the quarry and one in the village. The Clan Mother had some of her hunting Rancor teach the three Rancor hunting techniques for when two or three Rancor hunt together. Because they were swamp Rancor, the only time they encountered another Rancor was to mate, or to fight over a kill. If they were really hungry, it would be a fight to the death. So they did not know how to hunt together. During harvest the Clan Mother let them practise hunting in the lowlands. But they knew that when the harvest was over, they would have to hunt in the swamps like before, because the Nightsisters were bad. Only now they knew how to hunt together."
"The Clan Mother was very impressed with the way the Rancor carts worked. After the village's harvest was over, the Clan Mother sent some of the grain and a couple of wheels of cheese to the town, and let them keep one cart. The town's people saw how useful the cart was right away, and knew they would have to petition the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan for more, for when she came for the next Council of Mothers."
"The villagers sent a group of people to the mountain to petition the Nightsisters' Mother for grain to eat until the next harvest, to make their ale, and to plant in the fields. The Nightsisters' Mother was surprised that the Singing Mountain Clan had not left them any grain. They told her that the only thing they left them was the Brackaset, and warned them that the next time the Nightsisters wanted to behave foolishly, they would be taking even those. (The Singing Mountain Clan had not said that, but the villagers thought they should have.) The Nightsisters' Mother saw that the Singing Mountain Clan had more backbone than she gave them credit for. She led the people to the granary and told them to take what they can carry. The people knew as soon as the granary was opened, that something did not smell right. They reached in and grabbed some grain and rubbed it in their hands to remove the husk. Then they tasted it. They told the Mother that they can't use this grain for planting, because it had no life in it. They did not know if they could even use it to make the Rancor's breakfast. They could not malt the grain to use it in ale production. So any ale they make will be weak. They did not know if the Brackaset would eat it, which means milk production and cheese production would by way down. (They did not feed grain to the Brackaset, except on rare occasions. They just wanted any excuse not to send cheese to the mountain until next harvest. They will have to be careful to hide their cheese, so the Nightsisters don't find it.) Mother asked how much grain they would need to plant the fields and to malt for their ale. The villagers explained that they plant four types of grain, each with a slightly longer growing season than the others, because they just can't harvest all of their fields in a couple of days. The grains they use in most of their cooking and ale making is usually a blend of the grains, but there are some meals that require a specific grain. They named four common meals, and the grain specific to each meal. Now the Nightsisters' Mother understood why the cooks had not made those meals for a long time. All the grains in their granary were mixed together. It was the village that stored their grains separately. So the cooks depended on the grain coming from the village, to have the right grains for the right meals. She knew that in the future they will need to build separate granaries for each grain. She asked the villagers how much time, do they have before the next planting? They told her that the fields should be ready in a month. They did not think she would be interested in knowing how they fertilize their fields."
Krillgan asked the Captain, how did they fertilized their fields?
He told them that the people in the town and villages, dig latrines. Where the people go to the washroom. They don't have indoor plumbing, and waste disposal systems. The town and larger villages would have his' and hers' latrines. When the latrines are full they move them to the next holes that they have dug, and cover the last ones with dirt. After harvest, they dig up all of their old latrines, and spread the rich soil mixture on all the fields. When the Rancor plow the fields, they mix the rich soil, fertilizer, into the ground to provide the nourishment that the grain needs to grow. Krillgan remembered how bad the bathroom smelt after his father used it, and asked if everything smelled bad?
The Captain said that the latrines smelt, but you quickly get used to it. The old latrines would smell if they were still fresh, and not covered by dirt. The old latrines that they dig up for the fields, don't smell unless they get wet. So if it rains between harvest and planting, the whole village stinks. But once the Rancor have plowed it into the ground for planting, it does not seem to smell even if it rains.
"The Nightsisters' Mother sent the Nightsisters out to each settlement to get some grain for planting, and to make ale. She gave them sacks she found in the kitchen. Which none of them knew why they were even there? She told them to use whatever means were necessary to get the settlers full cooperation, and to keep the different types of grain separate. The Nightsisters chose to use extortion."
Krillgan squeezed his father's shoulder, and asked him what extortion was? The Captain felt embarrassed because he had used a big word again. Chitrah told him that the Nightsisters had the people of the settlement cooperate by threatening them with physical violence. Just like they had the Rancor to cooperate by showing him a little dark force lightning. That is what extortion means.
"The Nightsisters threatened to burn all the people in the settlement, if they did not get any grain. To the people of the settlement the amount of grain the Nightsisters wanted was not very much. They probably would have given it to them if they just would have asked. To the Nightsisters, just asking is too much like begging, and they did not want anyone to think that they were begging. So when they got what they wanted, they still burnt one or two of the adults with dark force lightning. When clan Sister patrols happened by a settlement just after they were hit by the Nightsisters, they could sense something was wrong. When they entered a home, quite often they would find the people inside crying, because they did not know how to treat this type of burn, and they did not know if the person could work anymore. In a settlement everyone needed to work together if they all were to survive. It was only in the larger settlements that they could afford to let someone rest if they were sick or injured. In a small settlement, even if you were sick or injured you had to keep working. Others depended on you. So when the clan Sisters saw the injured people. They knew right away what the cause was. They would get the injured person up onto a Rancor to get them to a healer. If there were only two Sisters in the patrol, one would take all the injured people back to their healers. While the other would go chasing after the Nightsisters. If there were four Sisters to a patrol they would split up, two and two. When a single clan Sister caught up to a couple of Nightsisters, this was no ordinary challenge. The Nightsisters deserved to die. The smart Nightsister would grab all the grain, and leave her companion to fight, and maybe get away. Foolish Nightsisters would both try and fight the better armed, angry clan Sister, on a Rancor. The Nightsisters lost over one third of their sisters because of this. But they got all of the grain they needed. So the Nightsisters' Mother counted it as a success."
"Two things changed with the clans because of this. They started sending out Sisters alone on patrol so that they could cover more territory. The Singing Mountain Clan started training all of their people to use the bow and arrow, and fighting sticks (in case they encounter pirates). And sent them out four or five to a group to accompany a Sister. That way if they encounter a couple of better armed Nightsisters, the militia archers could harass the Nightsisters with arrows, while their Sister engaged them at close range. To the Sisters this meant the difference between, coming out of the fight with a major injury, our coming out of a fight with only a couple of scratches. The other clans soon adopted this patrol tactic."
"At the next Council of Mothers, the safety of settlements was again an important issue. The Clan Mothers asked every political exile to come and talk with them. They wanted to figure out how best to keep the pirates from attacking the settlements. Than they would have to determine a strategy to deal with the Nightsisters. The Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan believed the Glass Mountain could be conquered, but it might cost the lives of the first few Sisters that made it to the top. From the information the exiles shared. The Clan Mothers understood that the chief sensor the pirates and slavers relied upon, was the infrared. When they spotted a large number of blips, they would approach it to determine if it was just a herd, or if it indicated the presence of man. They found that the infrared could not penetrate that deep into the ground. A meter to a meter and a half, should be enough dirt to block a signal. Also a freshly planted field gave off a distinctive rectangular pattern for the first month, because of all the organic activity happening in the soil. After that it was not visible. They also found out why the Frenzied River Clan had never been attacked. The ground in their territory was in transition from midland to highland. Their fields were much smaller because of that, but they had more of them to compensate. It would take an expert pilot, to safely land a large ship in the daylight, much more difficult at night. So they would be passed over, because there were other, easier, targets available. The Council of Mothers asked the Clan Mothers of the Singing Mountain Clan, and the Red Hills Clan, to visit every settlement. To explain to them what options they had available to prevent pirate attacks. If they could not be prevented. That they should find a safe place to hide until help arrived. The Clan Mothers felt that the people of the settlements already trusted them, so they would know that they are not trying to trick them into moving. Some of the settlements decided to dig into cliff faces that where not too far away. One settlement decided to dig into the base of a hill, even though they were warned about the potential of flooding, if there was a major rainfall in the area. Which is why the Red Hills Clan builds on top of hills. Most of the settlements opted to move closer to a clan village. They were told how to build a double trapdoor safe room, under their dwelling. And reminded not to use it to store vegetables. The way the double trapdoor worked. Is that there would be a trap door in the floor of the home. Chances are the pirates or slavers would find it. There would be another trapdoor below it that was kept open, holding back some dry loose soil. With the safe room beneath it. The idea being that when you closed the second trapdoor. The dry soil would cover it, so it cannot be seen when the first trapdoor is opened. So whoever opened it would think it was used to store vegetables. The reason they were not allowed to store vegetables in this room. Was because if one spoiled, it would consume all the air, and the people would suffocate in the room. Clan Sisters would know that pirates had landed, because they were close enough. By using the double trapdoors, Sisters would have enough time to get to the settlement and kill all the pirates before the people were discovered. The settlements that moved closer into clan territory knew that they were asked to live where the clan hoped to one day build a village. If their descendants were not comfortable living within a clan, the clan would let them know where they were planning on building their next village site, and would help them move. If they chose to stay, they would be accepted as part of the clan. One large settlement asked the Clan Mother of the Singing Mountain Clan if they could move to her territory. They had kept in touch with the family that chose to be part of her village, and be in charge of the Brackaset. They have never regretted their move, and the settlement would feel more comfortable living near a good friend. The Clan Mother told them that they were a large enough group. That she would prefer to set them up as a village right away. With a palisade, Rancor, and Sisters. They agreed. So the Singing Mountain Clan had their second farming village before the two smallest clans had their first one."
The Captain stopped for a moment, then asked them a question. "Which group, do you think, has killed more Nightsisters, than any other group?" They all answered, "The Singing Mountain Clan." The Captain told them they were wrong. It was a trick question. "The group that has killed more Nightsistres than any other group, is in fact the Nightsisters. They don't like it when things get too crowded on their mountain. Everyone is always in a bad mood. Very irritable. Fights often break out amongst Nightsisters. Rather than expanding the accommodations. The Nightsister Mother allows death match challenges. She hopes it will weed out the weaker Nightsisters, and promote the stronger ones. What usually ends up happening, is both the strongest and weakest get eliminated. The strongest like to show off, so they will pick on the weakest right away. They will do two, maybe three challenges right away. Before they get a chance to rest, a smart but mediocre Nightsister sees that she has a chance to improve her standing in their Sisterhood. So she will challenge the stronger, but tired Nightsister. If she can eliminate her convincingly. Then no one will dare challenge her. If she struggles to kill her opponent, than some will challenge her right away, trying to do what she did. In the end, the older Nightsisters are entertained, and the smarter ones survive."
"Now the Council of Mothers monitored the Republic expansion through space, by the number and frequency of political exiles that were dumped on their planet. There was on exile that arrived with his wife and two personal servants. He was the perfect picture of nobility. He thought he was head and shoulders above everyone else, when he was really only average height. His wife the perfect noble woman, which is why she agreed to accompany her husband into exile, rather than stay home and raise her children, which she considered the servants job. The two personal servants volunteered to accompany their master. They knew him since he was a little child, and loved him dearly. Their master loved them just as much. Which made his wife secretly jealous. Because she thought her husband did not love her at all. He treated her well, and had even gotten used to her company. But she was for show, just like everything else in his life, except these two servants. Unfortunately for the two servants, they had no force sensitivity. Within a month they were in tremendous pain, and going insane. One of the other exiles handed him a knife. He told him if he truly loved his servants, he would end their suffering, because there is no cure. He did love them. So he ended their suffering. His wife was on the verge of hysteria. Not because his servants were now dead. But because it now fell on her to look after him, and she had no one to look after her. He insisted that their bodies be buried, as was the custom on his world. Some of the town's people helped him move a large rock near the escarpment, overlooking the ocean. The bodies were sewn shut in a simple cloth, and the nobleman helped dig their grave. After placing their bodies in the grave, and giving a moving eulogy about how there love touched him in every aspect of his life. He then helped cover them. For the next month in public he kept a brave face. But he would cry himself to sleep every night. His wife did her best to comfort him. In her mind he was a good man as far as noble men goes. He never once mistreated her.
"The nobleman often meditated on his eulogy to his servants, and realised that the words could not really be applied to him. They had shown him every day that they loved him, and not because he was their master. But because they saw something good in him, and wanted others to see it too. As a noble he often wondered what they saw in him. Then it dawned on him. Because he was capable of loving them, he was capable of loving others. He swore that their legacy would be his legacy. That night before climbing into bed he got down on one knee and asked his wife to forgive him. She was quite surprised by his odd behaviour and asked him if he was okay. He told her that he was more than okay, he finally understood what was important in life, and asked again if she would forgive him? She asked him, why she needed to forgive him? He told her that he was her husband, and he has never treated her the way a man with good character should treat his wife. She asked him, how a man with good character should treat his wife? He told her that a man of good character should love his wife. This answer surprised her, more than his asking an apology. She asked, if that meant he loved her? He confessed that he did not yet love her, which is why he had to apologise, but someday he would, and when he did he would tell her. She quickly accepted his apology, and told him she was looking forward to that day."
"He was a much nicer man to be around after that. The whole town noticed. He tried to help wherever he could, but they kept telling him to leave the hard physical work to them, they needed him for his sage advice. So he tried hard to be what they asked for. When someone had a problem they were trying to figure out. They started coming to him. He would listen carefully to them, then ended up telling them he was not sure what they should do, but he was sure they would figure it out. They thanked him for listening. Later they would come back and tell him that his advice worked. One night before falling asleep, he turned to his wife, and told her that he loved her, and kissed her on the forehead. She told him that she loves him too, and kissed him on the lips. Later she told the women in the town, that as a little girl she dreamed that she would marry the man she loved. It took coming to Dathomir, for her to find out that she did. Later a large ship came for them, to take them back home, his exile was over. The man who had sent him away, now needed him. He thought it would be best for his planet if they joined the Republic. They would not accept a dictatorship. He needed him back as his Prime Minister, to show them that he was no longer a dictator. The wife at first was reluctant to return, because she was afraid that she would lose her husband. He assured her it would never happen, and she had children that needed to be raised as people with character, not as a nobleman's children. That convinced her that it was safe to go back. He asked the soldiers on the ship to exhume the bodies of his servants. He wanted to rebury them on his estate back home. The soldiers dug but could find no bodies, all they could find were rags made from a synthetic fibre. An elder from one of the clans happened to be in town, she had never seen a starship up close before. She told the nobleman, that Dathomir had claimed them. That meant that their legacy would live on. With tears in his eyes he thanked her. Like his wife, he too was worried that going back, would change him back. Now he felt that the change in his heart was stronger."
"After that the frequency of political exiles arriving on Dathomir dropped dramatically. The Nightsisters now depended on their non-force user offspring to be their slaves. They would not kill off their slaves if it became too crowded. They just moved them to their village. They knew that their non-force user offspring, could produce force user offspring. These offspring tended to be powerful in the force. They promised the female slaves, that if they produce a force using daughter, they would never again be treated as slaves. They did not really tell them what fate would await them. The new Nightsisters' Mothers, when they read back through their history, believed that the early generations of Nightsisters were too weak in the force, because they were not fully committed to the dark side. They site the way the first few generations protected the healer they called mother. Now if a non-force using slave, bears a force user daughter. To show her commitment to the dark side, at some point she will need to sacrifice her mother, by killing her."
The Captain decided to end the history, with a story one of the Singing Mountain Clan's Sister told him. "One day while on patrol, a clan Sister and her militia encounter a Nightsister on a midland Rancor that she had bonded with. They were out hunting on Singing Mountain Clan territory. The clan Sister challenged the Nightsister to a dual. Because the clan Sister had a Dathomirite sword on the end of her fighting stick, and the Nightsister only had a regular sword on the end of her swamp cane. The clan Sister promised not to activate her sword, because it would give her an unfair advantage. The Nightsister ignored the four members of the militia, and accepted the challenge. Before they actually started fighting, the clan Sister's Rancor stepped too close to the cliff, and the ground they were on gave way. The clan Sister instinctively grabbed the cliff's edge. But when she looked down and saw her Rancor heading for the ocean, and a big fish waiting to swallow him. She knew he needed her help, and pushed of the cliff to go into the ocean after him. The Nightsister foolishly went to the edge of the cliff to watch her opponent's demise. She ignored the force warning her to keep an eye on the militia. The male in the group had strung an arrow in his bow, and fired it at the Nightsister. The Nightsister did not know that these were not ordinary militia. They were part of the Singing Mountain Clan's new secret weapon. They were Rangers. Rangers are the best woodsmen on Dathomir. When they travel through the forests, the Nightsisters only detect them as creatures of the forest, not as humans. They are also the most accurate bowmen on Dathomir. This group had one man, and three women. The Nightsister realised that she should not have ignored the forces warning, when the man's arrowhead entered her skull just behind her left ear. By the time the arrow's head exited out through her right eye socket, popping the eyeball out of her head, it did not matter. Because she was dead, and fell forward off of her Rancor into the ocean. The clan Sister formed an air shield around her, then sucked it close to her body so that she could penetrate into the ocean, as deep and as quick as possible. Because she was using the force her Dathomirite sword cut the water cleanly for her entry. Now Rancor are not a creature to give up without a fight. Even though he had trouble breathing, and could not see anything. His natural instinct was to shred anything soft around him. To a Rancor, everything inside the fish was soft. The big fish was in distress, with the Rancor shredding its insides. The fish's instincts from when it was small, was to head to deeper water when threatened, and it felt threatened. The clan Sister saw the fish, and reached out with the force to grab it. At the same time she expanded the air shield back to its natural shape. The air bubble was like an anchor to the fish. It knew it could not make deep water so it headed to the bottom instead. By the time she had pulled herself up to the mouth of the fish, it was already dead, her Rancor had killed it. She reached out and touched her Rancor, to let him know she was coming. She squeezed through the mouth of the fish, and kept pushing herself further in. She found her Rancor waiting for her, but having trouble breathing. She forced her way up onto his back, with shredded fish inners pushing against her. When she got high enough on his back, her air shield encompassed his head, so he could start breathing normally again. By this time her sense of smell was totally dead, making the situation more bearable. When she finally got to where she wanted to be. She told her Rancor to claw his way out. Because of the blue light of the sword, he shredded everything in front of him, until they came out through the belly of the fish. Because they were so deep, and the blue light from the sword did not penetrate very far, they could not tell up from down. It wasn't until they settled into the black ooze on the bottom, that they knew where down was. Fortunately it was not a thick sticky ooze. The clan Sister reached out with the force to see if she could find life that was known to her, because that would be where land is. When she felt she detected it, she pointed the sword. Her Rancor knew that that was the way to go."
"Now the Rangers found themselves in a situation that their Sister had trained them for. An angry Rancor had just lost the Nightsister it was bonded to, and it wanted revenge. They all knew the next few steps would happen very quickly, so they had to be loaded and ready for every target that presented itself. First, they shot out the Rancor's eyes, because that was the easiest first target to hit. This caused the Rancor to roar. With the Rancor's mouth open, they shot their arrows at the fleshy part at the back of the throat. This caused the Rancor to close its mouth, and flare its nostrils so it could breath. With their real target exposed, the Rangers shot through the nostrils into its sinuses, causing them to bleed. Because of the presence of its own blood bleeding in its sinuses, it lost all sense of smell. The most sensitive of its senses. Even without its eyes it could still use its nose to track them down. Now it was truly blind. Now they could take advantage of its hearing. Two of them went to the edge of the cliff and started yelling. The Rancor turned to them and roared because it knew where they were. This caused it to take another arrow in the mouth. It charged at its antagonists, hoping to crush them with its sheer size, until it ran out of real estate, and felt itself falling. The Rangers did not believe that the more than a hundred meter fall down to the surface of the ocean killed it. Rancor are more resilient than that. When they saw the large fish that swallowed it, calmly swim away, they felt that it had just given up on life."
"The clan Sister noticed that a number of fish where attracted to the blue light of her sword. Thankfully they were also attracted to each other. She could feel them fighting, both in the force, and in the turbulence in the water. Her Rancor ignored them, and kept walking in the direction the sword was pointing."
"On top of the cliff, the Rangers were discussing what they should do. Two of them thought they should head to their closest village to report what had happened. The other two said that their Sister did not fall, she dove after her Rancor. They should wait for them to come back. The two doubters decided that it would not hurt to wait, because they cannot change anything by leaving. Besides it would be really embarrassing to report a person dead, only to have them show up alive a little later. So they sat at the edge of the forest and waited. That way they would be invisible to any hostile wildlife in the area."
"The Rancor knew it needed to climb the cliff face when it reached its base. Climbing it underwater, where they hardly weighed anything was both easy and quick. When they reached the surface the, the Sister released the air shield. Instead she transferred her force strength to her Rancor, to help make the climb easier. The only thing they had to be careful about is the cliff face breaking off, sending them back down to the ocean."
"The Rangers suddenly smelt this overpowering dead fish smell. Then they saw a Rancor hand digging its claws into the ground at the top of the cliff. Then they saw the heads of their Sister and her Rancor appear over the top of the cliff, and they all stood up. The Rancor clawed its way up, and only stood up when it felt that it was a safe distance away from the edge of the cliff. The Sister jumped off of the Rancor, she wanted to hug all of them. But they backed up quickly, and told her she needed to bathe first. She laughed because she forgot that her sense of smell was dead. She could only tell how bad it was by the looks on their faces."
"There was a stream just a short way into the forest, she told her Rancor to follow the man, because he was a beastmaster, and she would follow the women, because they need to help her bathe. When they came to the stream the beasmaster had the Rancor roll around in the stream, but it did not diminish the smell. He figured that he would have to rub the Rancor down with the lush green underbrush growing in the forest to help get rid of some of the smell. He took his tunic off and hung it on a branch. There was no need to get it wet. He grabbed some large green leaves and started rubbing the Rancor's skin. While he did that he noticed that the Rancor's skin had become splotchy. Like someone had spilt bleach all over his body, but not evenly. He also noticed that small patches of fabric would suddenly appear floating in the stream, and was carried along with the flow of the water. One of the female Rangers showed up and grabbed his tunic. She said their Sister needed it. He yelled after her, only if she promises to keep him warm at night. Now he knew where the patches of fabric were coming from. Whatever was causing the discoloration in the Rancor's skin, must also be causing the fabric in her clothing to breakdown. He used most of the underbrush to rub down the Rancor's body. He had the Rancor roll in the stream again. The Rancor still smelt bad, but not as bad as before. They went to find the women. When they appeared, he did not notice that their Sisters skin was also splotchy. All he noticed was how she looked with just his tunic on. She complained that it was too short. He said that it looked just fine. The women Rangers laughed because they could see the way his body reacted to what he saw."
The Captain asked them if they had any questions about Dathomir. Andriel asked him if he could describe what the women wore on Dathomir. The Captain just said that they wore clothes. Andriel asked him if he could be more specific. He told her that when he was looking at the women, he was not paying too much attention to the design of the clothing. Just on how well they wore it on their body. Andriel first hrumphed, then she laughed. What a typical man. He did say that he believed that most Sisters either wore leather pants, or some leather leggings, so they did not chaff their skin when riding a Rancor. He did think the other women wore either dresses or skirts. He could tell from Andriel's face that it did not help answer her question. When they had no more questions, the Captain told them that there is one more thing they need to be aware of. "The Sisters very much believe in prophecy, they will listen closely to what their Clan Mothers say. They will also record the ramblings of their elders, just in case they turn out to be prophecy that they could not understand at the time. All the Sisters from every clan believe that they are entering a new age. A time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. We would call it their golden age." Krillgan asked if they know what happens after the golden age. The Captain said they do. "The clans and the Sisters will be no more." When he saw the look of shock on their faces, he elaborated. They believe that the age will end with the rise of a Warlord/Princess, who will be loved by all the clans. She will unite the Sisters from all the clans to defend the planet from an invader. There will be a fierce battle that will last a number of days, but in the end the Warlord and the Sisters will prevail. Instead of respecting them, their enemy will be terrified of them, and rain down fire from heaven to destroy all the Sisters, and will suffer loss in their own fleet because of it." Krillgan asked him, "If they know they will be destroyed in the end. Why won't they hide after the battle?" "The prophecy states that if they do not accept their fate, the enemy will rain down fire on the whole planet just to destroy them. If they accept their fate, the planet will be spared. Even the Rancor that are friends to the people will be hunted down and killed." Krillgan asked, if they know how the darkness ends? The Captain said that there is a prophecy that says, "A daughter of Dathomir will return, and the clans will be reborn. Humans and Rancor will work together again." They thanked the Captain for sharing what he knew about Dathomir.
They retired to Andriel's cabin to discuss what they should do now. Mainly the Parents talked and Krillgan listened. Chitrah told Andriel that none of their clothes will work for this planet. They are heading to a pre-industrialized world. Their clothes are to fine and too complex for this world. Andriel agreed, she loved all of her outfits, sadly she won't be able to wear them anymore. Now both Andriel and Chitrah had worked on items for archaeologists that were going to go explore ruins. They both agreed that that was the type of clothing they need for this planet. Andriel set about designing an outfit for herself. Chitrah helped her design an outfit for him and Krillgan. Chitrah took careful measurements of not just their feet, but of their legs as well. He wanted to sew them all rugged boots. The go anywhere type. He thought that they should come up to just below the knee. He also made some shoe versions of the boots, because if they will be spending most of their time in a village, the boots will be impractical for everyday life. He also made them all sandals, in case that was the common footwear for Dathomir. Andriel made herself an archaeologist's pant suit that came down to just below the knee, so she could show off the new boots Chitrah made her. She made it out of plain materials. One was a light kaki brown. Another was a medium kaki green. She also did a dark kaki brown, and a military grey. She had enough material in these colours to make outfits for all of them. They were also strong, durable, fabrics. Easy to clean, and would hold their shape well.
The crew asked Chitrah, if he had time, could he make them all another pair of deck shoes? They started wearing their new clothes and boots right away to break them in before they arrived on Dathomir. The crew started calling Krillgan, little Chitrah, which he loved, because he looked so much like his father in his new outfits. Since Andriel and Chitrah were constantly washing the new outfits. By the time they landed on Dathomir, they had lost their new clothes sheen, and were very comfortable to wear.
Now the Captain never told the crew that they are going to Dathomir. In the ship computer's log it is listed as Kindell's world. After the Captain gave his crew and Krillgan, their promised story Andriel pulled him aside and asked him about it. He invited Andriel and Chitrah into his cabin.
"Kindell was the love of my life. She always seemed to know when I was coming to Dathomir. She was a Sister of the Singing Mountain Clan. I had even proposed to her. I was ready to give up my ship, and live with her on Dathomir. But she turned me down, not because she did not love me. She just told me that our destinies are not the same. She told me that I was someday going to do something important for Dathomir, and that we should just enjoy the time we had together, while we can. The next time I came do Dathomir, she was not there to meet me. I went to the Singing Mountain Clan's compound, but they said she had not arrived yet. There was a runner resting there, she said that she would start running home to see if she could find someone who knew anything about her. She invited me to enjoy the hospitality of the compound until she ran back. I knew in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong. I was hoping to hear news, but at the same time dreading what I would hear. It was a while before the runner came back. By the look on her face, I knew she had bad news. She told me that Kindell was dead, she was killed by a Nightsister. My heart went numb, but I asked her to tell me what happened. Kindell thought her Rangers were running to slow, she wanted to get to town before my ship touched down. So she ran ahead with her Rancor. She was not her usual cautious self, and ran straight into a Nightsister's ambush. There was one Nightsister and eight militia archers, double their normal amount. So Kindell had to deal with the Nightsister, as well as her archers. Apparently the archers were able to harass her enough that she let her guard down, and the Nightsister was able to deal her a death blow. The Rangers arrived just as they were trying to kill her Rancor, because she was protecting Kindell's body. They had blinded one of her eyes and the Nightsister was trying to kill her with dark force lightning."
"When the Rangers showed up, the Nightsister must have thought that another Sister was with them because she fled. The Rangers killed all of the Nightsister's militia, before they could follow the Nightsister. The runner said that she had arrived their just as the Rangers finished securing her body to her Rancor, so that she could take her home. She expected that her Clan Mother would arrange for someone to come and get me. She asked that I wait in the compound, so it would be easy for them to find me. I went back to the ship and told them that I would be gone for a few days. Then I went back to the compound, and I cried. In the middle of the night a Sister shook me awake. She introduced herself as being Kindell's cousin, Allya. She told me that she had been hunting near the gate when she heard about Kindell, the runner had told her that I was in the compound waiting, so she decided to come for me, to take me to say my final goodbyes. She told me that her Rancor was not fresh, because they had been hunting. So even by giving her Rancor extra strength, it may still take more than 24 hours of riding to get us there. I told her I understood, and was grateful for her coming to get me. She climbed onto her Rancor first, then reached down and helped me get up behind her. I was surprised at how fast the Rancor was running, with Allya giving it extra strength. I probably would have enjoyed the ride if it was different circumstances. Instead I could only think of Kindell, and got her cousin's shoulder and back wet with my tears. I wasn't sobbing, or crying out loud, but I could not stop the tears. I think we stopped at every watering hole along the way, because she was afraid I would become dehydrated."
"It was the morning after, when we finally arrived at the main village. They had already laid out her body on the funeral pyre. They were just waiting for me to arrive and light it. She looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there. With the torch in my left hand I walked up to the pyre. I kissed the fingers on my right hand, then reached up with my right hand to touch my fingers against her lips, and said my goodbyes. I backed up a step and placed the torch in the wood near the bottom of the pile, than I backed up to where the other people were standing. I watched as the flames ascended, until her body disappeared behind a wall of flame, then I could watch no more."
"Allya introduced me to Kindell's mother, and other close members of her family. They all knew that I had proposed to her. They said that I made her the happiest woman in the clan. I asked them why she turned me down. Just like she knew when I was coming, she also knew that she would only spend a short time with me. To her that time was special. I tried not to cry when I told them that it was special to me too."
"I asked Allya to take be to Kindell's Rancor. The Rancor let us both approach. It had a bandage over one eye, and large bandages over the upper part of her body. The Rancor spoke to Allya, who spoke to me. She said that she knew me. I was the one who made her bondmate very happy, and now that she has met me, she will now have good memories of me. I asked Allya to thank the Rancor on my behalf, for protecting her bondmate's body, until help arrived. She told me that her bondmate fought very well, and the Nightsister was severely wounded. She wouldn't be surprised if they have already thrown her dead body off of their mountain. I thanked the Rancor for sharing this with me, and I hoped that she would be better soon. She told me that she would not be able to have another bondmate, all she could do now, is make little Rancor. I hoped that she had many opportunities to do so."
"When we left Allya told me that the Rancor really liked me, that maybe I was a beastmaster. I told her that the only beasts I've ever tamed were just women, but it was Kindell that tamed me. I spent the rest of the day with her family. They shared stories about Kindell's life. Stories I would have expected to hear at a wedding feast."
"The following day Kindell's cousin told me her Rancor was rested, she could take me back to town now. I told Allya that she did not need to rush the return trip, my crew would wait for me." Andriel asked if Madam knew this story. The Captain said that she does not know the story, because she does not know Dathomir. "She does know that I proposed marriage to a woman I loved, but that she died shortly after."
Andriel asked him if he had ever fulfilled Kindell's prophesy? Did he do something important for Dathomir? He told them that he was doing it right now. He knew, as soon as the elder on Manaan, asked that he take them. That they had to come to Dathomir. Andriel and Chitrah looked at each other. They had automatically held hands while they listened to his story. But they did not know how to respond to this. Captain Richard apologised for making them feel uncomfortable. They are good people, and they have already blessed so many people, even without being allowed to leave the ship. So of course, they are going to bless the people they meet on Dathomir. That's just who they are, which is why they are important to Dathomir. Andriel and Chitrah both felt better after the Captain explained it that way. Neither one felt that they were special people. Their son, on the other hand, was a special person.
