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tional hosts were
the clans of the bloodline San'Paul whose turf bordered the 'great
river'. The camp site was octagonal, with the clans of the She-Kargo
and D'Troit occhpying opposite sides. As they were the most numerous,
they were each allocated two sections; the remaining four were allotted
to the lesser bloodlines - the San'Paul, the San'Louis, the M'Waukee,
and the C'Natti. Although they were all 'of the Plainfolk', they were
resolutely dedicated to fighting each other for forty-seven weeks of
the year. The other five encompassed the present truce; seven hectic
days of trading plus fourteen days on either side to cover the journey
to and from the trading post.
If, through the spirit of Talisman, this brief harmony could have been
prolonged, then the San'Paul and M'Waukee would probably have aligned
themselves with the She-Kargo; the San'Louis and the C'Natti with the
D'Troit. It was the clans of the D'Troit which posed the biggest
threat to the She-Kargo's primacy amongst the Plainfolk. For these two
groups, 'Walking on the Water' was like balancing on a knife edge
because they were - literally - at daggers drawn.
In the past hundred years the truce had been broken twenty-three times
with the D'Troit leading fourteen to nine. Disputes resulting in minor
injuries were not regarded as an infringement. Black marks - or points
of honour, depending on your point of view - marked a more serious
incident ending in one or more fatality as a result of knives being
drawn. According to Mr Snow, the D'Troit had always been mean mothers
and were evidently quite content to do whatever was necessary to
maintain this 'bad guy' image, leaving the field of honour to the
She-Kargo. To Steve, they sounded like the team to watch.
Over the next forty-eight hours, the rest of the trading parties
arrived and set up camp alongside others of the same blood-line. The
carved trading post which was situated near the beach where the Iron
Masters' boats would run ashore, towered over an open square of ground
delineated by stones in which the bargainin1 would take place.
In the unoccupied centre of the nearb' octagonal camp-site was a
smaller eight-sided area known as the 'bull-ring'. At each corner was
a stack of wood some six feet high. Mr Snow explained that these
stacks would be ignited when the wheel-boats arrived and would be kept
burning till they left. The 'bullring was where formal meetings
between representatives of the various clans were held, and where the
wordsmiths congregated to exchange information. They also took turns
to recount the history of the Plainfolk to spellbound audiences and it
was here, when darkness fell, that the fire-songs were performed, the
singers vying with each other in extolling the bravery and feats of
arms of their clan-brothers and sisters.
By tradition, no one was permitted to carry weapons inside the area
enclosed by the octagon or outside the limits of their allotted camp
site. It was also the custom for groups of extravagantly decorated
warriors to parade around the perimeter of the camp, eye-balling the
opposition and generally being provocative. Any group engaged in this
activity was said to be 'strutting the stuff'. The verbal exchanges
usually mocking remark: and thinly-veiled insults delivered via the
elliptical syntax of'fire-speech' were the main cause of the sporadic
outbreaks of violence. Line capos, working in groups containing a
representative from each bloodline and empowered to break heads if
necessary, were usually successful in quelling any disturbance before
it got out of hand.
Mr Snow was concerned that there could be trouble this time too. When
the clans had all pitched camt around the lines, it became apparent
that the M'CalI, had snagged a record number of renegades. To make
matters worse, they had caught more than the whole of the D'Troit camp
put together. Their best haul - by the clan D'Vine, an old enemy of
the M'Calls, was a paltry seven. The D'Troit were clearly
discountenanced by their rivals' good fortune and things were not