Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Clancreb
CC5
Clancreb
One by one each of them nodded their agreement that Brun would be their new leader.
That night, the Clan gathered outside the cave, by the racks of drying meat and fires. Creb performed the ceremony and passed the Leadership of the Clan on to Brun.
Chapter 5: Clan Gathering
Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling
Earth’s Children is owned by Jean M. Auel
“Now that this man is Leader, there will be some changes to this Clan.” signed Brun. “Uba the Medicine Woman was mated to the old Leader, Brac. She will remain at the Leader’s hearth and this Leader provide for her. The Leader’s mother will perform women’s tasks for the Leader, with the exception of Relieving the Leader’s Needs. For that, the Leader will use the mates of the other men of the Clan.
This Leader is too inexperienced to Lead the Hunts. So Dorv will lead the Hunts until this Leader has learned enough to lead hunts on his own.”
After the change in leadership, Men’s and Women’s ceremonies were held. The Clan soon became used to the new Leader, who was already showing signs of become a wise Leader who would always do the right thing for his people. Seeing this, Creb pulled his brother aside one day for a delicate conversation.
“What is it you wished to speak of,” signed Brun.
“The son of this mog-ur’s mate, Zeen, has asked this man to teach him to use the sling.”
“This is not surprising,” signed Brun. “The boy is of the age that boys start to learn to hunt and your magic sling often brings more meat that the men with spears do.”
“This man has sent Zeen to Zoug to learn the sling as he is a better teacher of using the sling with two hands and normal skill with a sling must be learned before the sling magic can be learned. Grod and Grek also wish to learn sling magic. So Zoug is starting to teach them too.”
“This is as it should be,” signed Brun. “Why does the mog-ur feel the need to speak of this with the Leader?”
“This mog-ur believes that the girl, Vara, should also be allowed to use the sling, signed Creb.
“That’s not Clan!” signed Brun. “Women of the Clan do not hunt! Women of the Clan are not allowed to Hunt! It is death for a woman of the Clan to touch a hunting weapon!”
“But women of the Others, DO hunt,” signed Creb. “And it was Darn, a man of the Others who’s totem defeated Vasa’s totem to make the girl, Vara. She is part Other’s and may be called by the spirits to become a woman-who-hunts, like this mog-ur showed the Clan in the old memories. The girl should be given the opportunity to learn the skills of a woman-who-hunts.”
“This Leader will call the men together to discuss it,” signed Brun.
When he did, one more than half the men (Dorv, Grev, Bok and Gred) were against The girl learning to use the sling and possibly becoming a woman-who-hunts. Three of the men (Zoug, Creb and Vorn) were in favor of it. In the end, Brun ruled that Zoug would make a special sling for the girl to learn with that would be blessed by Creb, the mog-ur. She would not be allowed to touch any other hunting weapon. Vara tried one session of learning the sling and did well for a beginner. But in the end, she asked to be excused from learning the sling. Her women’s Clan memories were too strong for her to feel comfortable learning to hunt. Her sling was burned and she went back to being reminded of the normal things that a girl of the Clan needs to remember. Although Vara was not a future hunter, Creb still counted the experience as a victory. He had helped pave the way for Ayla.
In addition of learning the sling, Brun made certain that the boys were also learning to use Clan spears. The other two, Grod and Grek, were taught by their mother’s mates. But Brun took care of his brother’s mate’s son, Zeen, personally, as his brother had been too infirm to learn to to hunt with a Clan spear.
Brun also began practicing more with the Bolo. He wanted to become more proficient and master the weapon.
Throughout the Summer the women gathered and the men hunted. Sometimes Creb would go with the men and use his magical sling to bring down big game. Other times he would go with Zoug to bring down small animals for their hearth.
Soon another Winter was upon them and the Clan had to stay within their cave.
When Brona became a woman, Creb gave her First Rites, where he showed her that women could have Needs and how to Relieve them. Even though the Leader did not have a mate, he did not want Brona to be his mate. So she became a second mate at the hearth of Grev.
Iga had another daughter, which was named Uka. She was born sickly an almost did not live until the naming day. Greeba’s daughter was not so fortunate. Vasa’s new daughter was perfectly healthy and was given the name: Drasa. Vora also gave birth to the girl, Greda. It seemed that this was a year for daughters. Except at the mog-ur hearth, Aba had given birth to a son. Krug would be the only boy born this year.
By the time Spring arrived, the boys (Grod, Zeen, and Grek) had become better enough at their slings that each of them had killed a bird with one. This was a sign to Creb that they were proficient enough that they could might be able to learn to augment their sling with magic. When the news spread that Creb was going to teach the boys to do magic with their slings, the older boys Droog and Targ wanted to learn too. Creb gathered them together in the practice area. One by one, he took them by the hand, starting with his mate’s son, Zeen, and channeled magic into the boys hand.
“Did you feel that?” signed Creb, once he had let go of the boy’s hand so he could make signs.
Zeen nodded.
“This was this man channeling his magic into you,” signed Creb. “Now feel this:”
Creb pulled magic down Zeen’s are and out of the boy. He then had to let go in order to explain.
“That was this man pulling magic down your arm and out of you,” signed Creb. “When you use the sling, send your magic down your arm like that and into the sling, then concentrate on making the sling hit the target. You will become less accurate at first, but with practice, can learn to never miss what you aim at.”
Creb repeated the lesson with each of the boys. Grod and Grek were able to feel the magic. But Droog and Targ could not.
“Slings are stupid weapons anyway!” waved Targ, before throwing down his sling and stomping off, as he waved: “Only old men and cripples hunt with slings! Real men hunt with spears!”
The three boys who were able to use magic, practiced all Summer and by the time Autumn came, they could do sling magic well enough to hit the target every time.
Another winter came and went.
Brona had a son, who was named: Brev and Drona had a daughter, who was named: Aga.
Ebra became a woman, so Creb gave her First Rites, then Brun took her as his mate.
Vera was next to become a woman. After Creb had performed her First Rites, which had, by now, become an unofficial ritual of the Clan, she was mated to Droog.
Droog and Targ were both old enough to have their manhood hunts this Spring. And Targ was given his first. Creb did not even attend the manhood hunt of the irascible man who repeatedly denigrated Creb’s ability with a sling. The boy picked a wooly rhino as his prey for his manhood hunt and at a critical moment, the boy tripped while running, allowing the rhino to escape. Later that Spring, Targ was given a second chance and this time he succeeded.
But by then, Droog had already had is own successful manhood hunt and so he was the man who was mated to Vera, while Targ would have to wait for a girl to become a woman so he could take her as a mate.
Targ had to remain at the hearth of his mother’s mate. This did not improve his mood at all. And like the Leader had before him, when he had Needs, he had to ask other men for permission to use their mate to Relieve them. We he asked Creb, the mog-ur offered his second mate, Uma. But Targ was so rough with the middle-aged woman that he never allowed either of his mates to be used by the man again.
Creb was now starting to teach Grod, Grek and Zeen his two-birds-with-one-stone trick, using magic to direct the stone to hit more than one target. Zoug had taken on a bunch of sling students as Crab, Vorg, Greeb, and Vorc all wanted to be taught the sling.
Another Summer passed into Autumn and Winter came again for the Clan.
Iga lost her baby in miscarriage. The same happened to Vasa. Greeba’s son died before his naming day. But other women of the Clan managed healthy babies.
Vera had a son, who was named: Droov. Vora had a son named: Vred.
Creb’s mate, Aba brought another son to his hearth. This one he named Lun, after his mate from the previous life.
But the biggest surprise was Ebra’s first child, who this time, lived past his naming day. And even though he was two years early, Creb could give him no other name than: Broud. How could Broud have come earlier? The earlier existence of Ebra’s first child to live made Creb think about how different his life was from the one he had lived before. In his previous life, he had never been mated until Luna had come from the future to be his mate. Now he had two mates! What would Luna say to him when she arrived and found him already mated. Aba had lived through the earthquake in the previous life. So there was a good chance she would still be around when Luna arrived. And Luna had only brought one son to his hearth. Aba had brought four! Then there was the issue of Pleasures. He only tried getting his Needs Relieved a couple of times as a young man. But the women had been so disgusted with Relieving his Needs that he stopped trying to give women ‘the Signal’. But with the knowledge from the future he had brought back, he knew how to give women Needs and how to Relieve them. He’d done this with all the women in the Clan whose mates would allow him, and given First Rites to the new women that had come along since then. As a result, most of the women in the Clan were near constantly encouraging him to give them ‘the Signal’, especially the ones who’s mates would not use any of the things he had taught the women. He ignored their advances, which only made them more interested in him. Two mates were enough for him. But the mystique he had for ignoring advances from the other women was giving him a similar reputation to the one he had in his previous life when had been chaste and celibate.
Creb’s sister Iza became a woman. But Creb did not feel right giving First Rites to his female sibling. Droog was one of the men who was willing to Relieve his mate’s Needs. And from what he could tell, Vera seemed happy to Share Pleasures with her mate. So Creb asked the young toolmaker to perform Iza’s first Rites. She seemed to enjoy the experience. But afterwards, like in the previous life, she was mated to Targ.
Her new mate cuffed Iza often and was often rough with her when he Relieved his Needs. He was not at all interested in using what Droog had taught her about about how to Relieve her own Needs. But like last time, no children were born to his hearth.
Creb, Brun and Iza had two other siblings, a boy and a girl who had never existed in the previous life. How much would their existence change things?
Creb decided that his mate’s son, Zeen was old enough to become his Acolyte. So he began teaching him about how to help him in his mog-ur duties and how to do the things that mog-urs do.
This was the year for the Clan Gathering. It would to the Clan’s first since Bran became their Leader and Creb, their mog-ur. Uma did not want to go, but she wanted less to go stay alone in the cave. So all of the Clan were going.
When they set out for the Clan Gathering Creb was the one who slowed the Clan down. They could only travel as fast as their slowest member and that was Creb, who, with his club foot, was even slower than the older women like his mother and Uma. This time, Droog was put in the rear to guard the back of the Clan as they traveled. It took two moon phases to make the journey. After they arrived, the women and children set up lean-tos for the Clan to sleep in and then the Clan began socializing with the members of other Clans.
The children who had teased Creb at the previous Clan Gathering for being deformed were all adults now, and too polite to wave such cruel things to his face. This time, it was Vara who was teased by the children of other Clans for being deformed.
After they were settled in, Creb gave Aba ‘the Signal’. Like usual, she took off her wrap and laid down so her mate could more more easily give her Needs and Relieve them. He made certain her Needs were most thoroughly Relieved before he let her Relieve his Needs. People were not supposed to look at what was going on in lean-tos of other Clans. But some of them did anyway. And the next day one of them asked Aba about what they had seen.
“What was that your mate was doing to you yesterday?” signed Wesa, a woman from another Clan. “Why was he putting his mouth on yours and on your woman parts?”
“That is some special magic my mate created to give this woman Needs:” signed Aba. “When he puts his mouth on my woman parts it not only gives this woman Needs, it usually Relieves them too! And you do not have to be a mog-ur to do this magic. Some of the women in our Clan that my mate has done this to have taught their mates to do it to them so they can have Needs and Relieve them too!”
“Women don’t get Needs!” signed Wesa. “This woman has never felt Needs. But this woman is a good Clan woman. So when her mate give her the signal, she lets him Relieve her needs.”
“This woman has felt Needs before,” signed Hisa, a woman from a third Clan. “And sometimes, this woman’s Needs are Relieved when my mate is Relieving his Needs.”
“If you like, this woman’s mate could Relieve your Needs,” signed Aba to Wesa.
Later, in the day, when Creb returned from a mog-ur’s meeting, a woman from another clan that was camping nearby was visibly trying to entice him to give her ‘the Signal’. This was surprising to Creb because at the last Clan Gathering, this woman had been the girl that had told Creb how ugly he was. Now she was trying to entice him! Aba had noticed it too!
“The woman, Wesa from that Clan has never had her Needs Relieved before,” signed Aba. “You should ask her mate if you can use her, so that you can show him how to do that Sharing Pleasures magic that you do.”
Creb nodded and hobbled over to the other Clan’s camp and approached the woman’s mate.
“May this mog-ur speak with your mate?” signed Creb.
The man nodded her assent.
Creb sat down in front of Wesa and addressed her:
“Does the woman remember this mog-ur?” signed Creb.
“This woman remembers the acolyte who is now a mog-ur,” signed Wesa, sadly ashamed of how she had signed to a future mog-ur when she was a girl.
“This mog-ur’s mate says that you have never had your Needs Relieved,” signed Creb.
“This woman had never heard of women having Needs until the mog-ur’s mate told her of this,” signed Wesa.
Creb turned to her mate, Drog.
“The mog-ur knows how to give women Needs and how to relieve them,” signed Creb. “If the man permits, this mog-ur could teach you how to give your mate Needs and how to Relieve them.”
“This man would like to learn the secret of Need magic,” signed Drog. “The mog-ur may use this man’s mate for this.”
“Take off your wrap and lay down,” signed Creb, after he turned back to Wesa.
Step by step he showed Brog how to give his mate Needs and how to Relieve them. After he had do so a few times, she was only too happy to Relieve his Needs. And after Creb was done a returned back to his own lean-to the Drog gave his mate ‘the Signal’ so he could try out what he had learned, and she happily complied.
But it didn’t end there. Drog tried Giving Needs and Relieving them with all the women in his Clan. And his mate, Wesa showed what she’d learned to all the men in her Clan. The members of that Clan liked it so much that they started teaching it to the members of other Clans. This new fad of Relieving the Needs of women was spreading all over the Clan Gathering! And as part of it, lots of women were trying to entice the ugly crippled mog-ur into giving them ‘the Signal’.
Creb chose not to participate in the Sling competition. He felt to do so would be cheating. He was however willing to demonstrate his skill with sling magic on the condition that it would not count for the competition. Zoug won the non-magical Sling competition.
The children’s sling competition was a three way tie between Zeen, Grod and Grek. Until Zeen realized that using magic, none of them would ever miss. Once he realized that, Zeen persuaded the other two to drop out of the competition. Though they did demonstrate that all three of them had mastered the two-birds-with-one-stone magic trick.
Brun won the bolo competition and Gred won the run and stab race where men would run with a spear and stab a target. The winner was judged not only for speed, but also for how accurately he stabbed the target, a bison hide stretched out on a frame.
Vorn won the tool making competition and Droog won the foot race.
Brun had difficulty winning the Leadership competition. Some of the other Leaders had more experience on him.
When the medicine women compared their knowledge with each other, Uba easily held on to her position as the First Ranked Medicine Woman. But Iza had shown herself to be almost as knowledgeable and all the medicine women agreed that Iza would be the next First Ranked Medicine Woman as her mother was now.
This year for the first time in a long time, the title of Mog-Ur, the First Ranked mog-ur was in contention. For many generations the mog-urs from the Clan with the flute playing mog-ur had been the Mog-Urs. But Creb’s sling magic made him a contender for the title. Then this new Need Relieving magic that was sweeping through the Clan gathering made many view Creb favorably. But Creb strongest supporters were the mog-urs who had been acolytes with him at the previous Clan Gathering and participated in the Acolyte ritual. This accounted to about a third of the mog-urs.
“No! The Flute playing mog-urs have always been the Mog-Urs! waved the flute playing Mog-Ur. “Need Relieving is not a good basis for making him the Mog-Ur!”
“Why don’t we do a mog-ur’s ceremony?” signed the mog-ur from Grac’s Clan. He had been and Acolyte at the ceremony of the previous Clan Gathering and knew how this would turn out.
“This is a good idea,” signed Creb. “The Medicine Woman from this mog-ur’s Clan is the First Ranked Medicine Woman. She can make a datura tea for us.”
“No! You are trying to trick us!” signed the flute playing Mog-Ur. “The medicine woman from this Mog-Ur’s Clan will make this tea!”
Creb nodded his accent.
After the medicine woman made them the datura tea and they shared it, the mog-urs all sat in a circle facing a Cave Bear skull. This time, Creb grabbed their minds from the very beginning and pulled them back into their past life memories. One by one their lines of memories joined together until their were a single line of memories going all the way back to the time of Mog. Once he had shown this to the mog-urs, he pulled them back to the younger memories. One by one they split off until they were individuals, back in the present. It had not taken all nite to do this like it usually did. Creb the Mog-Ur had only given them a quick peak. But there was no longer any doubt amongst them about who was The Mog-Ur. As soon as they mog-urs returned to their Clans the word began to be spread about who the First Ranked Mog-Ur was.
The Cave Bear ceremony went well. Gred was one of the men chosen to fight the Cave Bear and he was chosen by Ursus (killed) during the battle. Uba made the special root for the mog-urs ceremony and the mog-urs performed their special ceremony that only mog-urs perform. This time, Creb the Mog-Ur led them back to before they were Clan, he showed them the women-who-hunt and the female version of mog-urs that dealt not with Ursus, but with older spirits that the Clan had forgotten. Then he took them further back, back to the beginning when they were fish, then fish that walked onto land, the mouse-like things hiding under rocks from the big toothy monsters that ate them. Then he gradually brought them back to the present. He’d taken more time and the ritual lasted the whole night.
The next morning, Creb hobbled out of the cave to be greeted by the sight of the massive pile of sleeping naked women who had still no recovered from their women’s ritual. Zeen was out of the cave just after him as he had been doing the not allowed, but tolerated acolytes ritual, wherein he had given the acolytes a similar experience to the one Creb had given the mog-urs. His mate’s son had inherited The Mog-Urs abilities.
The Clan Gathering was over. Brun’s Clan was once again the First Ranked Clan. They already had the First Ranked Medicine Woman and had won most of the competitions. But this time, Brun was, for the first time the First Ranked Leader and their mog-ur, Creb had wrestled the title of First Ranked Mog-Ur away from the Clan with the flute playing mog-ur.
As they walked back to their Cave. Brun began considering how he should arrange the hearths. Vora had lost her mate and would need a new one to provide for her. He could make her the second woman of one of the men. But there were three boys (Grod, Zeen and Grek) that were likely to become men in the next year and only two girls (Vara and Dona) who were likely to become women. Brun was hesitant to change things once a man and women were mated, even if that gave a man two mates. But Vora need a mate to hunt for her now. She could not wait for next year, even if that meant some of the boys would have to wait for a mate.
When the arrived back at the Cave, Brun announced that Vora would be mated to Bok. Their hearths were next to each other and it would be less of a change for her to become his second woman.
Now that they were home, the Clan need to hunt and gather for Winter. With Creb Sling magic, the Clan had not trouble bring down enough large game to feed the Clan through the winter, and by Autumn the three boys who were soon be men had perfected Creb’s magical trick of making a stone go fast enough to kill large game at a distance. But Brun made the decision to make them wait until Spring before having their manhood hunts. An exception had been made for Creb because of his infirmity. But Brun wanted the boy to prove they could hunt with a spear before recognizing them as men of the Clan. This didn’t stop them from help Creb to aid the Clan in killing enough to feed them over the Winter.
The Winter gave Brun time to speak with each of the boys, who were almost men, about their preferences for mates. Zeen wanted Vara to be his mate, even if he had to wait for her. The other two boys did not have a preference and wanted the first available woman to be their mate.
Zoug’s mate, Iga, gave birth to a son, Zig that winter. But Grev had two new children at his hearth as each of his mates had given birth. Greeba had a son named: Crug, and Brona had a daughter named: Greva.
When the Spring thaw came, all three of the eligible boys were eager to have their manhood hunts. All three of them were successful and their were all now men of the Clan and eligible to make a hearth of their own. They just needed a mate. So when Dona be came a woman, after Creb had performed her First Rites, she was mated to Grek. Vara, the other girl expected to become a woman this year showed no signs of her impending womanhood. Zeen would have to wait for her and remain at the hearth of the Mog-Ur. This was a source of bonding between Zeen and Grod. They were both new men who didn’t have their own hearths. When they had Needs, they would have to ask the man of another hearth if they could use his mate. Grod, after trying many of the women of the Clan settled on using Uma to Relieve his Needs, which she looked forward to because the young man was willing to Relieve her own Needs and had the stamina to do so more than once a day. Zeen, preferred Vasa, in no small part because of her resemblance to Vara, the girl he wanted to someday mate. But he tried to go for as long as he could without having his Needs Relieved. He could tell that seeing him with her mother disturbed his future mate.
year -20
Brun (11) – Clan, Leader (Bison totem)
---Ebra (9) – Clan, daughter of Iga, Mate of Brun the Leader
------Broud (1) - Clan, Ebra’s son, weez-ur
---Uba (22) – Clan, mother of Creb, Brun and Iza, Brac’s mate Medicine Woman
------Brev (6) - Clan, Uba’s son
------Braca (4) - Clan, Uba’s daughter
Zoug (21) – Clan, second in command to Brac, the leader before Brun
---Iga (17) – Clan, Uma’s daughter, future mother of Ebra and Uka
------Grod (7) – Clan, son of Iga, the mate of Zoug (Brown Bear totem) weez-ur
------Uka (3) – Clan, Ebra’s sister, daughter of Zoug’s mate Iga
------Zig (0) – Clan, son of Iga,
Creb (14) - Clan, mog-ur, Weez-Ur
---Aba (15) - Clan, Ona’s daughter, Creb’s mate, mouse totem
------Zeen (7) - Clan, weez-ur, Acolyte
------Crab (5) - Clan, weez-ur
------Krug (3) - Clan, weez-ur
------Lun (1) - Clan, weez-ur
---Uma (28) - Clan, Borg’s mate
Dorv (22) - Clan, Hunt leader
---Ona (22)- Clan, Dorv’s mate
------Grorva (4) - Clan, Ona’s daughter
Vorn (20) - Clan, Toolmaker
---Vasa (19) - Clan, Vorn’s mate
------Vara (7) - 1/2 Clan, Vasa’s Daughter
------Vorg (5) - Clan, Vasa’s son
------Drasa (3) - Clan, Vasa’s Daughter
Targ (9) - Clan, Greeba’s son
---Iza (8) – Clan, Medicine Woman
Grev (17) - Clan
---Greeba (19) - Clan, Uma’s daughter Grev’s mate
------Greeb (5) - Clan, Greeb’s son,
------Crug (0) - Clan, Greeb’s son,
---Brona (10) - Clan, Drona’s daughter, 2nd mate of Grev
------Brev (2) - Clan, Brona’s son, weez-ur
------Greva (0) - Clan, Brona’s daughter
Bok (18) - Clan
---Drona (18) Clan, Bok’s mate
------Bon (6) - Clan, Drona’s Son
------Bona (4) - Clan, Drona’s daughter
------Aga (2) - Clan, Drona’s daughter, Droog’s future second mate
---Vora (12) - Clan, Vasa’s Daughter, former mate of Gred, 2nd mate of Bok
------Vorc (5) - Clan, Vora’s son, weez-ur
------Greda (3) - Clan, Vora’s daughter
------Vred (1) - Clan, Vora’s son,
Droog (9) – toolmaker, Aga’s future mate, mother of Vorn
---Vera (9) - Clan, Ona’s daughter, Droog’s mate
------Droov (1) - Clan, Vera’s son, weez-ur
Grek (7) - Clan, Greeba’s son, weez-ur
---Dona (7) - Clan, Ona’s daughter, mate of Grek.
Clancreb
One by one each of them nodded their agreement that Brun would be their new leader.
That night, the Clan gathered outside the cave, by the racks of drying meat and fires. Creb performed the ceremony and passed the Leadership of the Clan on to Brun.
Chapter 5: Clan Gathering
Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling
Earth’s Children is owned by Jean M. Auel
“Now that this man is Leader, there will be some changes to this Clan.” signed Brun. “Uba the Medicine Woman was mated to the old Leader, Brac. She will remain at the Leader’s hearth and this Leader provide for her. The Leader’s mother will perform women’s tasks for the Leader, with the exception of Relieving the Leader’s Needs. For that, the Leader will use the mates of the other men of the Clan.
This Leader is too inexperienced to Lead the Hunts. So Dorv will lead the Hunts until this Leader has learned enough to lead hunts on his own.”
After the change in leadership, Men’s and Women’s ceremonies were held. The Clan soon became used to the new Leader, who was already showing signs of become a wise Leader who would always do the right thing for his people. Seeing this, Creb pulled his brother aside one day for a delicate conversation.
“What is it you wished to speak of,” signed Brun.
“The son of this mog-ur’s mate, Zeen, has asked this man to teach him to use the sling.”
“This is not surprising,” signed Brun. “The boy is of the age that boys start to learn to hunt and your magic sling often brings more meat that the men with spears do.”
“This man has sent Zeen to Zoug to learn the sling as he is a better teacher of using the sling with two hands and normal skill with a sling must be learned before the sling magic can be learned. Grod and Grek also wish to learn sling magic. So Zoug is starting to teach them too.”
“This is as it should be,” signed Brun. “Why does the mog-ur feel the need to speak of this with the Leader?”
“This mog-ur believes that the girl, Vara, should also be allowed to use the sling, signed Creb.
“That’s not Clan!” signed Brun. “Women of the Clan do not hunt! Women of the Clan are not allowed to Hunt! It is death for a woman of the Clan to touch a hunting weapon!”
“But women of the Others, DO hunt,” signed Creb. “And it was Darn, a man of the Others who’s totem defeated Vasa’s totem to make the girl, Vara. She is part Other’s and may be called by the spirits to become a woman-who-hunts, like this mog-ur showed the Clan in the old memories. The girl should be given the opportunity to learn the skills of a woman-who-hunts.”
“This Leader will call the men together to discuss it,” signed Brun.
When he did, one more than half the men (Dorv, Grev, Bok and Gred) were against The girl learning to use the sling and possibly becoming a woman-who-hunts. Three of the men (Zoug, Creb and Vorn) were in favor of it. In the end, Brun ruled that Zoug would make a special sling for the girl to learn with that would be blessed by Creb, the mog-ur. She would not be allowed to touch any other hunting weapon. Vara tried one session of learning the sling and did well for a beginner. But in the end, she asked to be excused from learning the sling. Her women’s Clan memories were too strong for her to feel comfortable learning to hunt. Her sling was burned and she went back to being reminded of the normal things that a girl of the Clan needs to remember. Although Vara was not a future hunter, Creb still counted the experience as a victory. He had helped pave the way for Ayla.
In addition of learning the sling, Brun made certain that the boys were also learning to use Clan spears. The other two, Grod and Grek, were taught by their mother’s mates. But Brun took care of his brother’s mate’s son, Zeen, personally, as his brother had been too infirm to learn to to hunt with a Clan spear.
Brun also began practicing more with the Bolo. He wanted to become more proficient and master the weapon.
Throughout the Summer the women gathered and the men hunted. Sometimes Creb would go with the men and use his magical sling to bring down big game. Other times he would go with Zoug to bring down small animals for their hearth.
Soon another Winter was upon them and the Clan had to stay within their cave.
When Brona became a woman, Creb gave her First Rites, where he showed her that women could have Needs and how to Relieve them. Even though the Leader did not have a mate, he did not want Brona to be his mate. So she became a second mate at the hearth of Grev.
Iga had another daughter, which was named Uka. She was born sickly an almost did not live until the naming day. Greeba’s daughter was not so fortunate. Vasa’s new daughter was perfectly healthy and was given the name: Drasa. Vora also gave birth to the girl, Greda. It seemed that this was a year for daughters. Except at the mog-ur hearth, Aba had given birth to a son. Krug would be the only boy born this year.
By the time Spring arrived, the boys (Grod, Zeen, and Grek) had become better enough at their slings that each of them had killed a bird with one. This was a sign to Creb that they were proficient enough that they could might be able to learn to augment their sling with magic. When the news spread that Creb was going to teach the boys to do magic with their slings, the older boys Droog and Targ wanted to learn too. Creb gathered them together in the practice area. One by one, he took them by the hand, starting with his mate’s son, Zeen, and channeled magic into the boys hand.
“Did you feel that?” signed Creb, once he had let go of the boy’s hand so he could make signs.
Zeen nodded.
“This was this man channeling his magic into you,” signed Creb. “Now feel this:”
Creb pulled magic down Zeen’s are and out of the boy. He then had to let go in order to explain.
“That was this man pulling magic down your arm and out of you,” signed Creb. “When you use the sling, send your magic down your arm like that and into the sling, then concentrate on making the sling hit the target. You will become less accurate at first, but with practice, can learn to never miss what you aim at.”
Creb repeated the lesson with each of the boys. Grod and Grek were able to feel the magic. But Droog and Targ could not.
“Slings are stupid weapons anyway!” waved Targ, before throwing down his sling and stomping off, as he waved: “Only old men and cripples hunt with slings! Real men hunt with spears!”
The three boys who were able to use magic, practiced all Summer and by the time Autumn came, they could do sling magic well enough to hit the target every time.
Another winter came and went.
Brona had a son, who was named: Brev and Drona had a daughter, who was named: Aga.
Ebra became a woman, so Creb gave her First Rites, then Brun took her as his mate.
Vera was next to become a woman. After Creb had performed her First Rites, which had, by now, become an unofficial ritual of the Clan, she was mated to Droog.
Droog and Targ were both old enough to have their manhood hunts this Spring. And Targ was given his first. Creb did not even attend the manhood hunt of the irascible man who repeatedly denigrated Creb’s ability with a sling. The boy picked a wooly rhino as his prey for his manhood hunt and at a critical moment, the boy tripped while running, allowing the rhino to escape. Later that Spring, Targ was given a second chance and this time he succeeded.
But by then, Droog had already had is own successful manhood hunt and so he was the man who was mated to Vera, while Targ would have to wait for a girl to become a woman so he could take her as a mate.
Targ had to remain at the hearth of his mother’s mate. This did not improve his mood at all. And like the Leader had before him, when he had Needs, he had to ask other men for permission to use their mate to Relieve them. We he asked Creb, the mog-ur offered his second mate, Uma. But Targ was so rough with the middle-aged woman that he never allowed either of his mates to be used by the man again.
Creb was now starting to teach Grod, Grek and Zeen his two-birds-with-one-stone trick, using magic to direct the stone to hit more than one target. Zoug had taken on a bunch of sling students as Crab, Vorg, Greeb, and Vorc all wanted to be taught the sling.
Another Summer passed into Autumn and Winter came again for the Clan.
Iga lost her baby in miscarriage. The same happened to Vasa. Greeba’s son died before his naming day. But other women of the Clan managed healthy babies.
Vera had a son, who was named: Droov. Vora had a son named: Vred.
Creb’s mate, Aba brought another son to his hearth. This one he named Lun, after his mate from the previous life.
But the biggest surprise was Ebra’s first child, who this time, lived past his naming day. And even though he was two years early, Creb could give him no other name than: Broud. How could Broud have come earlier? The earlier existence of Ebra’s first child to live made Creb think about how different his life was from the one he had lived before. In his previous life, he had never been mated until Luna had come from the future to be his mate. Now he had two mates! What would Luna say to him when she arrived and found him already mated. Aba had lived through the earthquake in the previous life. So there was a good chance she would still be around when Luna arrived. And Luna had only brought one son to his hearth. Aba had brought four! Then there was the issue of Pleasures. He only tried getting his Needs Relieved a couple of times as a young man. But the women had been so disgusted with Relieving his Needs that he stopped trying to give women ‘the Signal’. But with the knowledge from the future he had brought back, he knew how to give women Needs and how to Relieve them. He’d done this with all the women in the Clan whose mates would allow him, and given First Rites to the new women that had come along since then. As a result, most of the women in the Clan were near constantly encouraging him to give them ‘the Signal’, especially the ones who’s mates would not use any of the things he had taught the women. He ignored their advances, which only made them more interested in him. Two mates were enough for him. But the mystique he had for ignoring advances from the other women was giving him a similar reputation to the one he had in his previous life when had been chaste and celibate.
Creb’s sister Iza became a woman. But Creb did not feel right giving First Rites to his female sibling. Droog was one of the men who was willing to Relieve his mate’s Needs. And from what he could tell, Vera seemed happy to Share Pleasures with her mate. So Creb asked the young toolmaker to perform Iza’s first Rites. She seemed to enjoy the experience. But afterwards, like in the previous life, she was mated to Targ.
Her new mate cuffed Iza often and was often rough with her when he Relieved his Needs. He was not at all interested in using what Droog had taught her about about how to Relieve her own Needs. But like last time, no children were born to his hearth.
Creb, Brun and Iza had two other siblings, a boy and a girl who had never existed in the previous life. How much would their existence change things?
Creb decided that his mate’s son, Zeen was old enough to become his Acolyte. So he began teaching him about how to help him in his mog-ur duties and how to do the things that mog-urs do.
This was the year for the Clan Gathering. It would to the Clan’s first since Bran became their Leader and Creb, their mog-ur. Uma did not want to go, but she wanted less to go stay alone in the cave. So all of the Clan were going.
When they set out for the Clan Gathering Creb was the one who slowed the Clan down. They could only travel as fast as their slowest member and that was Creb, who, with his club foot, was even slower than the older women like his mother and Uma. This time, Droog was put in the rear to guard the back of the Clan as they traveled. It took two moon phases to make the journey. After they arrived, the women and children set up lean-tos for the Clan to sleep in and then the Clan began socializing with the members of other Clans.
The children who had teased Creb at the previous Clan Gathering for being deformed were all adults now, and too polite to wave such cruel things to his face. This time, it was Vara who was teased by the children of other Clans for being deformed.
After they were settled in, Creb gave Aba ‘the Signal’. Like usual, she took off her wrap and laid down so her mate could more more easily give her Needs and Relieve them. He made certain her Needs were most thoroughly Relieved before he let her Relieve his Needs. People were not supposed to look at what was going on in lean-tos of other Clans. But some of them did anyway. And the next day one of them asked Aba about what they had seen.
“What was that your mate was doing to you yesterday?” signed Wesa, a woman from another Clan. “Why was he putting his mouth on yours and on your woman parts?”
“That is some special magic my mate created to give this woman Needs:” signed Aba. “When he puts his mouth on my woman parts it not only gives this woman Needs, it usually Relieves them too! And you do not have to be a mog-ur to do this magic. Some of the women in our Clan that my mate has done this to have taught their mates to do it to them so they can have Needs and Relieve them too!”
“Women don’t get Needs!” signed Wesa. “This woman has never felt Needs. But this woman is a good Clan woman. So when her mate give her the signal, she lets him Relieve her needs.”
“This woman has felt Needs before,” signed Hisa, a woman from a third Clan. “And sometimes, this woman’s Needs are Relieved when my mate is Relieving his Needs.”
“If you like, this woman’s mate could Relieve your Needs,” signed Aba to Wesa.
Later, in the day, when Creb returned from a mog-ur’s meeting, a woman from another clan that was camping nearby was visibly trying to entice him to give her ‘the Signal’. This was surprising to Creb because at the last Clan Gathering, this woman had been the girl that had told Creb how ugly he was. Now she was trying to entice him! Aba had noticed it too!
“The woman, Wesa from that Clan has never had her Needs Relieved before,” signed Aba. “You should ask her mate if you can use her, so that you can show him how to do that Sharing Pleasures magic that you do.”
Creb nodded and hobbled over to the other Clan’s camp and approached the woman’s mate.
“May this mog-ur speak with your mate?” signed Creb.
The man nodded her assent.
Creb sat down in front of Wesa and addressed her:
“Does the woman remember this mog-ur?” signed Creb.
“This woman remembers the acolyte who is now a mog-ur,” signed Wesa, sadly ashamed of how she had signed to a future mog-ur when she was a girl.
“This mog-ur’s mate says that you have never had your Needs Relieved,” signed Creb.
“This woman had never heard of women having Needs until the mog-ur’s mate told her of this,” signed Wesa.
Creb turned to her mate, Drog.
“The mog-ur knows how to give women Needs and how to relieve them,” signed Creb. “If the man permits, this mog-ur could teach you how to give your mate Needs and how to Relieve them.”
“This man would like to learn the secret of Need magic,” signed Drog. “The mog-ur may use this man’s mate for this.”
“Take off your wrap and lay down,” signed Creb, after he turned back to Wesa.
Step by step he showed Brog how to give his mate Needs and how to Relieve them. After he had do so a few times, she was only too happy to Relieve his Needs. And after Creb was done a returned back to his own lean-to the Drog gave his mate ‘the Signal’ so he could try out what he had learned, and she happily complied.
But it didn’t end there. Drog tried Giving Needs and Relieving them with all the women in his Clan. And his mate, Wesa showed what she’d learned to all the men in her Clan. The members of that Clan liked it so much that they started teaching it to the members of other Clans. This new fad of Relieving the Needs of women was spreading all over the Clan Gathering! And as part of it, lots of women were trying to entice the ugly crippled mog-ur into giving them ‘the Signal’.
Creb chose not to participate in the Sling competition. He felt to do so would be cheating. He was however willing to demonstrate his skill with sling magic on the condition that it would not count for the competition. Zoug won the non-magical Sling competition.
The children’s sling competition was a three way tie between Zeen, Grod and Grek. Until Zeen realized that using magic, none of them would ever miss. Once he realized that, Zeen persuaded the other two to drop out of the competition. Though they did demonstrate that all three of them had mastered the two-birds-with-one-stone magic trick.
Brun won the bolo competition and Gred won the run and stab race where men would run with a spear and stab a target. The winner was judged not only for speed, but also for how accurately he stabbed the target, a bison hide stretched out on a frame.
Vorn won the tool making competition and Droog won the foot race.
Brun had difficulty winning the Leadership competition. Some of the other Leaders had more experience on him.
When the medicine women compared their knowledge with each other, Uba easily held on to her position as the First Ranked Medicine Woman. But Iza had shown herself to be almost as knowledgeable and all the medicine women agreed that Iza would be the next First Ranked Medicine Woman as her mother was now.
This year for the first time in a long time, the title of Mog-Ur, the First Ranked mog-ur was in contention. For many generations the mog-urs from the Clan with the flute playing mog-ur had been the Mog-Urs. But Creb’s sling magic made him a contender for the title. Then this new Need Relieving magic that was sweeping through the Clan gathering made many view Creb favorably. But Creb strongest supporters were the mog-urs who had been acolytes with him at the previous Clan Gathering and participated in the Acolyte ritual. This accounted to about a third of the mog-urs.
“No! The Flute playing mog-urs have always been the Mog-Urs! waved the flute playing Mog-Ur. “Need Relieving is not a good basis for making him the Mog-Ur!”
“Why don’t we do a mog-ur’s ceremony?” signed the mog-ur from Grac’s Clan. He had been and Acolyte at the ceremony of the previous Clan Gathering and knew how this would turn out.
“This is a good idea,” signed Creb. “The Medicine Woman from this mog-ur’s Clan is the First Ranked Medicine Woman. She can make a datura tea for us.”
“No! You are trying to trick us!” signed the flute playing Mog-Ur. “The medicine woman from this Mog-Ur’s Clan will make this tea!”
Creb nodded his accent.
After the medicine woman made them the datura tea and they shared it, the mog-urs all sat in a circle facing a Cave Bear skull. This time, Creb grabbed their minds from the very beginning and pulled them back into their past life memories. One by one their lines of memories joined together until their were a single line of memories going all the way back to the time of Mog. Once he had shown this to the mog-urs, he pulled them back to the younger memories. One by one they split off until they were individuals, back in the present. It had not taken all nite to do this like it usually did. Creb the Mog-Ur had only given them a quick peak. But there was no longer any doubt amongst them about who was The Mog-Ur. As soon as they mog-urs returned to their Clans the word began to be spread about who the First Ranked Mog-Ur was.
The Cave Bear ceremony went well. Gred was one of the men chosen to fight the Cave Bear and he was chosen by Ursus (killed) during the battle. Uba made the special root for the mog-urs ceremony and the mog-urs performed their special ceremony that only mog-urs perform. This time, Creb the Mog-Ur led them back to before they were Clan, he showed them the women-who-hunt and the female version of mog-urs that dealt not with Ursus, but with older spirits that the Clan had forgotten. Then he took them further back, back to the beginning when they were fish, then fish that walked onto land, the mouse-like things hiding under rocks from the big toothy monsters that ate them. Then he gradually brought them back to the present. He’d taken more time and the ritual lasted the whole night.
The next morning, Creb hobbled out of the cave to be greeted by the sight of the massive pile of sleeping naked women who had still no recovered from their women’s ritual. Zeen was out of the cave just after him as he had been doing the not allowed, but tolerated acolytes ritual, wherein he had given the acolytes a similar experience to the one Creb had given the mog-urs. His mate’s son had inherited The Mog-Urs abilities.
The Clan Gathering was over. Brun’s Clan was once again the First Ranked Clan. They already had the First Ranked Medicine Woman and had won most of the competitions. But this time, Brun was, for the first time the First Ranked Leader and their mog-ur, Creb had wrestled the title of First Ranked Mog-Ur away from the Clan with the flute playing mog-ur.
As they walked back to their Cave. Brun began considering how he should arrange the hearths. Vora had lost her mate and would need a new one to provide for her. He could make her the second woman of one of the men. But there were three boys (Grod, Zeen and Grek) that were likely to become men in the next year and only two girls (Vara and Dona) who were likely to become women. Brun was hesitant to change things once a man and women were mated, even if that gave a man two mates. But Vora need a mate to hunt for her now. She could not wait for next year, even if that meant some of the boys would have to wait for a mate.
When the arrived back at the Cave, Brun announced that Vora would be mated to Bok. Their hearths were next to each other and it would be less of a change for her to become his second woman.
Now that they were home, the Clan need to hunt and gather for Winter. With Creb Sling magic, the Clan had not trouble bring down enough large game to feed the Clan through the winter, and by Autumn the three boys who were soon be men had perfected Creb’s magical trick of making a stone go fast enough to kill large game at a distance. But Brun made the decision to make them wait until Spring before having their manhood hunts. An exception had been made for Creb because of his infirmity. But Brun wanted the boy to prove they could hunt with a spear before recognizing them as men of the Clan. This didn’t stop them from help Creb to aid the Clan in killing enough to feed them over the Winter.
The Winter gave Brun time to speak with each of the boys, who were almost men, about their preferences for mates. Zeen wanted Vara to be his mate, even if he had to wait for her. The other two boys did not have a preference and wanted the first available woman to be their mate.
Zoug’s mate, Iga, gave birth to a son, Zig that winter. But Grev had two new children at his hearth as each of his mates had given birth. Greeba had a son named: Crug, and Brona had a daughter named: Greva.
When the Spring thaw came, all three of the eligible boys were eager to have their manhood hunts. All three of them were successful and their were all now men of the Clan and eligible to make a hearth of their own. They just needed a mate. So when Dona be came a woman, after Creb had performed her First Rites, she was mated to Grek. Vara, the other girl expected to become a woman this year showed no signs of her impending womanhood. Zeen would have to wait for her and remain at the hearth of the Mog-Ur. This was a source of bonding between Zeen and Grod. They were both new men who didn’t have their own hearths. When they had Needs, they would have to ask the man of another hearth if they could use his mate. Grod, after trying many of the women of the Clan settled on using Uma to Relieve his Needs, which she looked forward to because the young man was willing to Relieve her own Needs and had the stamina to do so more than once a day. Zeen, preferred Vasa, in no small part because of her resemblance to Vara, the girl he wanted to someday mate. But he tried to go for as long as he could without having his Needs Relieved. He could tell that seeing him with her mother disturbed his future mate.
year -20
Brun (11) – Clan, Leader (Bison totem)
---Ebra (9) – Clan, daughter of Iga, Mate of Brun the Leader
------Broud (1) - Clan, Ebra’s son, weez-ur
---Uba (22) – Clan, mother of Creb, Brun and Iza, Brac’s mate Medicine Woman
------Brev (6) - Clan, Uba’s son
------Braca (4) - Clan, Uba’s daughter
Zoug (21) – Clan, second in command to Brac, the leader before Brun
---Iga (17) – Clan, Uma’s daughter, future mother of Ebra and Uka
------Grod (7) – Clan, son of Iga, the mate of Zoug (Brown Bear totem) weez-ur
------Uka (3) – Clan, Ebra’s sister, daughter of Zoug’s mate Iga
------Zig (0) – Clan, son of Iga,
Creb (14) - Clan, mog-ur, Weez-Ur
---Aba (15) - Clan, Ona’s daughter, Creb’s mate, mouse totem
------Zeen (7) - Clan, weez-ur, Acolyte
------Crab (5) - Clan, weez-ur
------Krug (3) - Clan, weez-ur
------Lun (1) - Clan, weez-ur
---Uma (28) - Clan, Borg’s mate
Dorv (22) - Clan, Hunt leader
---Ona (22)- Clan, Dorv’s mate
------Grorva (4) - Clan, Ona’s daughter
Vorn (20) - Clan, Toolmaker
---Vasa (19) - Clan, Vorn’s mate
------Vara (7) - 1/2 Clan, Vasa’s Daughter
------Vorg (5) - Clan, Vasa’s son
------Drasa (3) - Clan, Vasa’s Daughter
Targ (9) - Clan, Greeba’s son
---Iza (8) – Clan, Medicine Woman
Grev (17) - Clan
---Greeba (19) - Clan, Uma’s daughter Grev’s mate
------Greeb (5) - Clan, Greeb’s son,
------Crug (0) - Clan, Greeb’s son,
---Brona (10) - Clan, Drona’s daughter, 2nd mate of Grev
------Brev (2) - Clan, Brona’s son, weez-ur
------Greva (0) - Clan, Brona’s daughter
Bok (18) - Clan
---Drona (18) Clan, Bok’s mate
------Bon (6) - Clan, Drona’s Son
------Bona (4) - Clan, Drona’s daughter
------Aga (2) - Clan, Drona’s daughter, Droog’s future second mate
---Vora (12) - Clan, Vasa’s Daughter, former mate of Gred, 2nd mate of Bok
------Vorc (5) - Clan, Vora’s son, weez-ur
------Greda (3) - Clan, Vora’s daughter
------Vred (1) - Clan, Vora’s son,
Droog (9) – toolmaker, Aga’s future mate, mother of Vorn
---Vera (9) - Clan, Ona’s daughter, Droog’s mate
------Droov (1) - Clan, Vera’s son, weez-ur
Grek (7) - Clan, Greeba’s son, weez-ur
---Dona (7) - Clan, Ona’s daughter, mate of Grek.
Sign up to rate and review this story