Sorry sorry, Jace is bad bad x3[/html]
Her gaze followed the stranger woman's gaze to the Great Fire and the warmth sprang to her face. She could understand the confusion about it if you did not know the tradition and history behind it. She pulled herself up tall and cleared her throat, ready to recite the piece of history that was engraved into her perfect memory, "To understand why it exists you must know its story." Her voice developed an almost dreamlike quality, never before had she spoken this piece of law and been the first to educate an outsider,
"It is said that at some point, we knew nothing. Either there were none of us, or we were not enlightened as we are now. Some claim we lived a long time without hands, corn and fire, hunting in savage groups and every day inching towards extinction from the humans. Most of us believe there was nothing; no humans, and no us. When earth was created, our minds were numbed at first, but it did not take long until we discovered our true forms and conquered the large plains. We found horses and animals that could provide us with milk, and we could hunt with bow and arrow. This was the great gift bestowed upon our people.
We had no tribe, but we were many. There were seven great families scattered on the plains, often at war with each other. They were such fierce enemies that they would not send their young brides and grooms to other families. When the women started having sick children who were weak or deformed and died early, at least one of the Mothers of the families suggested they combine instead. They all had problems with children, and the wars with each other bore no fruit, only deaths. Finally, the seven families joined to form the first AniWayan tribe, and after that there were no more sick children. They had so many hunters they never needed to starve, and their crops were always successful. It was a sign from the spirits that they had indeed done a good thing, and after some time the tribe became blessed with the spirits' presence. Spirit Guides appeared to each new young one born to the tribe and stayed with them until their death. In their honor, the seven families who made up the tribe spared one ember each of their family hearths. So, the Great Fire was born. We honor it still as the most sacred element, and as representative of our history. Even more so, it is a symbol of our appreciation of the spirits' blessings."
As she finished the fire sparked and popped, sending out white hot embers to flare in the air briefly before extinguishing, she often thought that she fire had its own life separate from the stories. A hallowed feeling came over her as she spoke again, an almost kind of warning, "This fire must never, ever go out, if it does then we will have lost our way and our honor will be as the dust at our feet." She now turned again to the woman, feeling solemn,
"Here I shall assist you. I don't think so highly of myself that I should teach you your own craft, that is not my intent. You must have proved your skills as a carpenter and woodworker to be granted that rank, Councilwoman Ulilohi does not make any decision without due care and attention, especially one so important as the profession paths." Suddenly she received a brief image from Tamai Waki, a fire that flared brighter as though gaining new fuel and she smiled, the crease between her eyebrows disappearing. She was attaining new levels of spirituality to speak thus of the Anasgayv.
"It is imperative that our torches be as straight as possible and beyond a certain length, firstly so that they do not list over in heavy winds and set fire to the surrounding houses and also so that they can be pushed deep into the ground for better anchorage." She held up an unworked length of wood that was of the appropriate length so that Sighet could get a rough estimate of what she was trying to explain. "And then we tie around the cloth thus so.." Her voice drifted off as she slowly tied the complex knot around the end of the torch and then tied it into place with a twist of rawhide string.
"My job? I take care of the fire. I'm only the Gata Hineyu though, the fire maker, the lowest of the tier. I assist the Otlvna Gata, the fire keeper and the Etikaiele Gata, the fire master. I collect wood and make and light the torches, gather oils and fats to burn, things like that. I dance in ceremonies with the Otlvna Gata. Perhaps you would like a demonstration of this before we continue?"
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