Life2.0 - a Broken Shackles Narrative

[HistoryDude]

Wethide sounds like a bad disease.

What will happen if this loner in the wild doesn't have a clan? Who should be punished for his deeds then?

Ash-war? Is that just a special term for a civil war? What connotations does the word carry? Does it reference honor?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 4"
23rd Naomi, 10 (2188)
Naomi Of Unity​

Straight away I go to Duxanek.

"Naomi, is there a problem?"

"The combat modifications we're making to my child. I need them."

"But we've got much more sophisticated weapons and armour-"

"Not if I have to fight an honour duel against a Xenayan tribal chief I don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Such fights are fought tooth and claw Duxanek. Unless I'm modified, it's one naked Human woman against one naked Xenayan. I'll get eaten alive. Ergo, I change the paradigm."

Her eyes go wide. "Naomi... Do you realise just how extensive the modifications for Homo Tipheret's body structure were? It's a complete overhaul of the internal skeleton that replaces the calcium bone structure with beta titanium alloy, and there's a whole host of new organs that replace the calcium reserves lost from that change..."

"I know. But I have to win."

"Can't you send Buri?"

"I wish it was that simple. But no. Not all of the Xenaya accepted Buri's victory that made him Warchief; right from the beginning there were Xenaya on the ship who were members of the tribe who had defeated Buri, took him captive and killed his family back on the homeworld. That's why Buri is in constant training, because they killed his first wife and children."

"Oh, I am sorry."

"So, if I send Buri, it will be taken as weakness; that I'm hiding behind my husband. So, they'll insinuate I'm nothing without him and defy me as High Queen. And they'll do it in such a way that I have to issue the challenge, giving them the decision about what equipment is used."

"I'm not sure they'll think it through that much."

"Xenaya are primitive technology, not stupid. They'll know that they have to get me without my technology otherwise I'll wipe the floor with them."

She sighs. "Point taken. Let me guess, you also want it ASAP?"

"Absolutely. I can't afford to let this go undealt with, the last thing we need is a civil war. I have to nip the conflict in the bud."

I sit down.

Duxanek embraces me. "I'm sorry Naomi. How did this happen?"

"I let the Xenaya who didn't accept Buri be the first to go make a new civilisation of their own, where they promptly regressed to the natural lifestyle on the homeworld. And now that bites back."

Duxanek stands. "I will get in touch with Cibbav and the Holocron and see if we can thrash something out."

She turns to go. I return to Buri, just as Wami gets back. "Warchief, High Queen, the slain is Tawi B'Turna."

I try not to stare blankly; Wami's face, and my husband turning away, tells me everything.

I close my eyes.

The ground shakes just a little as Buri jumps and roars. It sends a chill straight through me as it reverberates across the landscape. Birds scatter into the air for miles around.

Buri bounds to the low embers of the fire; everyone is watching him pour smouldering ash on his head, before he leaps up a rock. The next thing he says is in the formal Xenayan. Roared. At the top of his voice. "B'Turna! You slew my wife! You slew my children! You rape my daughter! YOU SUMMON ASH!"

I rush to my husband's side, crying through the pain of our child waking up and reacting to their father's wrath. Wami and other Xenaya follow. Duxanek and the Human research staff take their hands off their ears as I weigh my options for a fraction of a second before I take some of Buri's ash to my own brow.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 5"
23rd Naomi, 10 (2188)
Naomi Of Unity​

Wami has all of us Humans, and Duxanek, sit down for a crash course in Xeyanan warfare. "So, an ash-war is basically equivalent to total war; the objective is nothing less than the total destruction of the enemy population. Men, women and children. You leave only ash, hence the name. I appreciate that total war in Human military theory refers more to the mobilisation of the country's entire economic base, but equally remember we Xenaya don't even use agriculture."

Gillian answers first. "Are we allowed guns?"

"Our weapons are constrained more by Naomi's need to be a legitimate High Queen; coming in with advanced technology will get their defeat, but not submission. It has to be handled the Xenayan way; tooth and claw."

I reply. "Are pregnant women expected to fight?"

Wami nods. "In an ash-war, yes. There are no non-combatants."

I rest my head in my hands. "Is there an alternative that isn't as brutal?"

"Only single combat between the Chief of their tribe and the High Queen as a ritual honour duel."

Gillian perks up. "Then let's do that." I look at her. She looks at me. She looks at Wami. She looks at me. "Oh, right. Yeah."

I descend to her level. "I'd get eaten alive. And not the fun way Buri does it either."

Gillian bursts into laughter. Wami looks utterly confused. Sophia stands and whispers an explanation. Wami shakes his head.

"How long do we have until fighting starts?"

Wami shuffles. "Well, I have the Donkeys conducting patrols already. They will know about the challenge."

Gillian winces. "The whole bloody continent probably heard that challenge."

I stand up. "Wami, I really can't fight with how advanced the pregnancy is. Fit and battle ready I might be able to use my agility and stamina to draw out a fight long enough to tire my enemy into weakness, but an honour duel right now is going to be a disaster."

"That will only be taken as proof of you being unfit to rule, my Queen."

I run through the possibilities. Again. "I have to abdicate to either Buri or Rivkah then."

"Which again will be taken as a sign of weakness on your part."

Gillian again interrupts. "Buri... Is there any way to make it be his preposterously toned ass the one on the line?"

"No, only Naomi may scale the conflict back down without surrendering her High Queen status, and that by making it an honour duel between the two rulers. Any member of a tribe who has sufficient greviance may declare an ash-war, and Buri does have numerous greviances against clan B'Turna."

Gillian looks at me. "So, what does your boytoy have against this clan anyway?"

"They captured him, and his old family. Made him watch as they executed his family one by one. Then sold him to MSI. And then that fellow captured Rivkah and attempted sexual harassment, at which point she killed him. A bit of a family feud."

Gillian nods. "I have an idea. What if I fight in your place?"

"Gillian, let's be honest here. You're white. I'm black. They're going to notice... No, the only option is we take me in for surgery to c-section my child, then Buri becomes High King and adds vengeance for me to his list of greviances."

It takes her a little while to see what I mean. "Cazzo."

 

[Macavity116]

I see lots of ways this ends with "Buri kills everyone," and with each post, the number of paths leading that direction only goes up.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 6"
23rd Naomi, 10 (2188)
Thando HaMaadimi​

I jump in. "There is another option."

Sis looks at me. "Go on?"

"Don't judge me, but I made an animatronic of you as well as Buri."

She's glaring. "Did it convince him?"

I glance at Buri, hoping he's... Nope. He heard. He's coming this way.

I may have made a mistake.

It's only when he stands this close to you that you realise that he really is two heads taller than me.

He grabs my throat, and lifts me to his eye level.

Damn I'm glad I wear a neck brace in case this happens. "Did you deceive me on the ship?"

Sis looks at Buri, takes his other hand. "Husband, please don't hurt him. He has an idea that might save my life."

Buri puts me back down, then kneels to Sis and nuzzles her hand, saying something in Xenayan, after which she nuzzles him. I slowly resume saying my plan. "Having demonstrated the efficacy of the animatronics, I can explain. So, the animatronics can have either extrapolate from recorded data or have a full body motion capture/motion impose suit."

Sis glares at me again. "Does Alexandra know you spied on me and Buri?"

Thankfully, my wife rests an arm on my shoulder. "Actually the whole thing was my idea."

My wife and my sister are staring at each other. This is awkward. Eventually, Sis backs down. "Ok. Leaving aside how gross it is that you spied on Buri and me, how exactly will it work?"

"Well, we send the animatronic into the fight. After that, you just have to win."

Sis and my brother in law exchange looks. Then they look at Buri's second in command. Sis looks at me. "What if I lose?"

"Um." I think about it. "Yeah..." There could be a problem with that.

Buri finishes, folding arms the size of Alexandra's waist. "Then we leave only ash."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

I see lots of ways this ends with "Buri kills everyone," and with each post, the number of paths leading that direction only goes up.

Well, he wouldn't kill everyone. Naomi for example, is safe. As is Rivkah.

Wethide sounds like a bad disease.

What will happen if this loner in the wild doesn't have a clan? Who should be punished for his deeds then?

Ash-war? Is that just a special term for a civil war? What connotations does the word carry? Does it reference honor?

Think the seriousness of something like Bubonic Plague.

Then the matter is settled. And this guy would probably wish he didn't have a clan if he realised who he was dealing with.

Essentially, war is fought until all that remains of the enemy is the ash left behind.

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, leaving those Xenayans alone was definitely a mistake. Maybe Naomi should deal with the other possible challengers in the wilds while she's at it?

This battle should be fun. Hopefully the enemy Xenayans don't figure out that they sent out Naomi's robot body double and not her...

 

[Macavity116]

Leaving aside how gross it is that you spied on Buri and me, how exactly will it work?"

"Well, we send the animatronic into the fight. After that, you just have to win."

What if the animatronic is revealed as a machine? Does the foe have any knowledge of the concept, or would they just assume that Naomi was always a machine from the word "go?"

 

[CBR JGWRR]

What if the animatronic is revealed as a machine? Does the foe have any knowledge of the concept, or would they just assume that Naomi was always a machine from the word "go?"

What makes you think it is a machine?

Well, leaving those Xenayans alone was definitely a mistake. Maybe Naomi should deal with the other possible challengers in the wilds while she's at it?

This battle should be fun. Hopefully the enemy Xenayans don't figure out that they sent out Naomi's robot body double and not her...

From Naomi's perspective, she didn't want to force them to stay, and she couldn't have known ten years down the line people from her husband's past would turn up.

Same as @Macavity116 ; why do you think robot?

---

I'm aiming to post the next updates soon, just in the middle of moving house. But I did just want to indulge my curiosity for a moment; I had figured describing Naomi and Buri's responses to these would illustrate their true natures sufficiently, so I'm wondering if it was a writer error. Had anyone figured out the true nature before reading this?

Some hints on developments that would blur the boundary between machine and man were dropped right from introducing Naomi's parentage, but back on page 39 we had "It would be advantageous if we had cross-compatibility for the Neumanns. That way, we can regenerate ourselves as Homo Tipherets." from the Holocron. A logical development milestone between Homo Sapiens and Homo Tipheret is to have animatronics like these that allow R&D progress on solving the calcium bone structure to titanium bone structure transition, among other things.

And with these animatronics specifically, I figured it would be an obvious extrapolation from using Naomi and Buri as our viewpoint characters that these animatronics were practically lifelike. Naomi describes Buri's replica and how she was initially willing to treat the animatronic as her husband, while Buri's response to Thando and Naomi in part 6 is intended to show that it was convincing enough Buri did treat the animatronic like she was Naomi, and, he successfully explains that to Naomi after cheating on her with her replica; two clues that I thought were honestly perhaps too obvious.

 

[Macavity116]

What makes you think it is a machine?

I would say 'expectations molded by the setting.' Since this is a Stellaris story, my immediate assumption is that the "animatronic" is a Synthetic made to look outwardly Human, and would be indistinguishable from an organic lifeform without closer inspection.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 7"
25th Naomi, 10 (2188)
Naomi Of Unity​

I throw up. Again.

Training for the fight at this point in a pregnancy is horrible, and all I have to do is control the animatronic.

Animatronic really doesn't do it justice. They're actually one of the old technologies of the Iriphubliki, prototypes on the path to Homo Tipheret - all Thando did was make these two look and feel like Buri and me.

They were an offshoot of the development process of Homo Tipheret during the skeletal and musculature revisions working towards the total replacement of the Human skeleton with titanium alloys ten times stronger than the original calcium-based structure.

And the Holocron has been taking them out of storage as part of the Iriphubliki-In-Exile's efforts to adopt biont forms; he now uses one of these things as an R&D exercise to iron out bugs, and they're scaling up production capacity to start equipping the millions of Neumanns in New Bulawayo, New Mzilikazi, New Lobengula, New Lupane (they've been expanding massively) and on Kri-Kyase-Ci (although those ones are adopting Kyaese-like forms instead) with them.

I pause. Get my duplicate to stand still.

I examine her, look at her the way Buri looks at me.

I can see why Buri thought she was me, it's quite life-like. I do understand, especially given he found her laid with a light covering of petals in candle light. But just like fake-Buri there's a few inaccuracies; she's not as wrinkled as I am. Hair roots aren't going grey like mine are. Her skin is less blotchy. And... Various parts of her look like mine used to several years ago.

I haven't aged well.

My husband comes in. "Wife Naomi." I wonder which he will pick. I stay as motionless as possible. He comes over, cautiously. Sniffs the air. Sniffs me. Nuzzles me. "Found you."

I feel so complicated as I burst into tears.

"What's wrong my love?"

I lean into him. "Realising I'm getting old..." I pause. He nuzzles me. "I'm glad you picked me."

"I always will. What do you mean by 'getting old'?"

"I'll be 41 this year."

"And?"

"That's the age by which MSI recycles Companionship Assets. Although most have committed suicide by then."

"Why?"

"Because by then we've been replaced by the next generation, and no one wants us anymore, while our debts continue to rise... You either do it yourself or wait for them to do it to you."

"And you worry about that?"

I nod. "You live in constant fear of being recycled, while they use you until only a husk remains. And it's crippling."

"Says the woman who isn't afraid of being crucified by them?"

"I am afraid of that, but it's not quite the same... It's different now we are free."

"You know what you can lose now."

I nod. "Odoos said the same thing, several years ago."

He lays me on my back. I smile. "Let's talk about something we can deal with. Clan B'Turna."

"Well, there's a few possibilities. What if this guy was actually the creepy uncle of the family, and that was why he was sold to MSI?"

My husband contemplates it. I've got a perfect view of his upper body, he is really working hard...

"...Naomi?"

"Sorry Buri, I got distracted."

He nuzzles me. "I said that I doubt it."

He softens as I embrace him. "Why?"

"You are much more forgiving than me."

"I'm just thinking that there's a reason why a B'Turna was on the slave ship." I look at my husband's teeth. Oh. He has a small chip missing off his left sabre, when did that happen? "What do you think?"

He nuzzles me. "My head hurts."

 

[CBR JGWRR]

I would say 'expectations molded by the setting.' Since this is a Stellaris story, my immediate assumption is that the "animatronic" is a Synthetic made to look outwardly Human, and would be indistinguishable from an organic lifeform without closer inspection.

It depends on how you define synthetic really.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 8"
27th Naomi, 10 (2188)
Alexandra HaMaadimi​

My sister in law never made any kind of plans for the possibility of hostilities with the groups on the far side continent. Why would she, we're allies against MSI... But, this whole situation has just exploded.

I didn't realise just how many of the Xenaya on Unity were actually sold to MSI by the B'Turna clan, and well, Wami went public with what happened to Rivkah as soon as we returned to Hortensus' Folly, and the Xenaya of the colony spent the next day documenting all the crimes of the B'Turna family; Valerius has had a team of bureaucrats take statements for days.

Essentially, the B'Turnas sold slaves to buy gunpowder and muskets. Well, to a Human those muskets would actually be a small cannon, but to a Xenayan it's a musket. Along the way there's driving prey from hunting grounds, burning of forests, theft of water, one claimant says they dammed a river to change a tribal border and the usual rape, theft and murder charges.

Naomi might not want war, but her people do. They want heads on pikes, and that literally for a substantial number.

It's not just Xenaya either; everyone knows Quislings like the B'Turnas who sold out their people to MSI. And faced with the possibility of bringing mob-justice to some collaborators, there's a lot of common ground among the other races on Unity.

Which means I'm taking the opportunity to plan it as a full scale planetary invasion. We're not sure what the enemy will have, but we know what they don't - there's been no nuclear weapons testing apart from ours, and we have complete orbital superiority. So, it's the perfect opportunity to field test a lot of equipment and procedures.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 9"
27th Naomi, 10 (2188)
Mei Hua​

Even Osshi and I are stuck with this conflict, trying to source upgrade documents for the Chengdu J-33 spyplanes; the Colony's Archive only has data up to the 2140s in line with the original technical aid agreement. Naturally recon is the most critical task, and the Neumanns are already flying their remakes above enemy territory in search mission. Our problem is that we are effectively scouting a continent to find someone or some group that could have responded to the situation with any course of action:

They might know nothing about us.

They might be Hiders already.

They might have made use of the weapons technologies we've been putting out there planet-wide.

They might even be as sophisticated as the Holocron's Iriphubliki-In-Exile.

We don't know. Only that they're Xenayan. Which based on the colony's Xenaya, is reassuring.

Fortunately, we have a lot of scouting potential, and the Colony's SAM Systems - of which the data was published planet-wide and is therefore a reasonable starting point for working out what the enemy has - aren't really suited to hitting spyplanes doing mach 6 at 26km up. And spy satellites will be operational very shortly anyway.

Which is perhaps one of the most terrifying things about the potential of the AutoWars the Holocron is planning to use, the industrial development pace is astonishing; nothing but blueprints of an aircraft designed in the 2140s five days ago, and there's now eight of them airborne.

I'm worried.

The colony has been making this stuff available all this time. What if we're walking into a trap?

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 10"
29th Naomi, 10 (2188)
Rivkah Of Unity​

Mum throws some footage on the table. Her face is full of pain. "We've found them."

The rest of us watch. It is...

Well, it's footage from a Neumann identifying itself as RCK231CY who carried out a videographing mission this morning. And what it shows first is Xenayan slavemasters working a flock of Lokra-Kitan on building cages for Kyaese. As he continues his flyover, we see Human slaves, Sirzusian slaves, Thostrunaeans used as livestock...

It's horrible.

Us Xenaya are filled with equal parts rage and worry about the situation. We look at Mum.

She stands. "I am Naomi Of Unity, High Queen of the Xenaya, and leader of LIfe2.0. And I cannot allow these tragedies to continue. I know my agreement was to let the Farsiders be to themselves, but we cannot allow this."

Dad stands immediately. "We are with you, our Queen."

Mum sighs. "No matter what happens, I love you all."

---

We pack up and fly out on transport planes that night. Dawn breaks as we arrive.

Mum and Dad are really annoyed as they were looking forward to their wedding anniversary, but...

Well, no one is willing to let the slavery last another day, and as a result Mum has authorised the launching of the 12m Orions; she wants orbital bombardment capability, and the 12m ships are launchable with LOX-Methane boosters. There's now enough nuclear missiles up there to devastate a continent.

Mum is still hoping to avoid an ash-war, and our first priority is liberating slaves.

Sitting here in the turbulence as the plane flies, I feel nervous.

Mei Hua is right; we don't truly know what we might be about to face.

But equally, that's why we're wearing lead-lined power armour.

Dad stands on all fours just to fit inside this cargo plane in his suit. Mine is only a little smaller.

Mum too wears power armour. It's painted blood red, in the aesthetic of some Earth monster; horns jut straight out from behind her head, and the reinforced radiators are stylised to look like wings.

And the Holocron looks like the bad guy out of Star Wars.

A proximity alarm sounds.

I cycle weapons checks; load the shoulder mounted grenade launchers, activate my left under-arm mount minigun, and switch my broadsword's stunpack on. Check all eight parachutes are good.

The cargo bay opens. Mum is first, followed by Dad.

Deep breath.

"[Censored for profanity]"​

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, letting them have a small realm to themselves was clearly a bad idea. Maybe they should've double-checked that the people who they were giving land weren't terrible beings... but hindsight's 20/20.

I do appreciate the clarification on what the animatronics are. Can Naomi control hers from long distances? If so, that could be very useful...

 

[Macavity116]

Oh, come on! Don't leave us with the "end the chapter just before everyone kills everyone else" cliffhanger! I won't be able to sleep tonight!

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 11"
30th Naomi, 10 (2188)
Rivkah Of Unity​

The turbulence is buffeting me all over the place. I don't know where I'm going, only that I'm going there really fast... I'm flailing trying to control the fall, but I just can't. The sound of the wind drowns everything out.

Mum and Dad see me struggling; they exchange some hand signals, then manage to get themselves oriented to slow down and let me catch up.

They've got me. We're falling together.

The Holocron just dives past.

I close my eyes, get my breathing under control.

Mum taps my helmet; she's holding up four fingers and a thumb on one hand, then mimes pulling the chutes with the other. I'm glad it's almost over. I look down, the Holocron has already pulled his. Mum finishes the countdown, and soon my heart rate is back to normal as the parachutes fill.

My heart settles. Xenaya are not meant for jumping out of planes.

I make my mind focus on the situation. No anti-air fire inbound, which is nice. Then I wonder if we're off course, but I cycle the HUD and find we're still on target.

I feel so exposed, waiting to touch the ground, but we get there in the end; chutes retract. I look around, there's other teams beginning their drops on other targets, and Mum motions us towards ours.

Smashing through undergrowth has never felt so easy as we advance on a location we identified as a slavepen. Our job is to confirm it, defeat the slavemasters and then load the slaves into the transport planes on standby. Five minutes and we enter a clearing with a barbed wire fence surrounding hundreds of Lokra-Kitan, guarded by Xenaya.

Naturally, four heavily armed and armoured soldiers storming the place makes a big impact; the fence isn't dug in deep enough to stop us running through it for a start. Lokra-Kitan in rags are cheering as Xenaya armed with stunbatons face off against Mum and the Holocron with sabres, Dad with a warhammer and me with a broadsword. The first one charges at Dad; one blow sends the guy cartwheeling across the yard. The camp commandant comes out with his bodyguards, we exchange gunfire, but they've brought pistols to a minigun fight, and they aren't armoured.

It's not long before the camp commandant is pinned to a wall in front of Mum. He's stubborn.

"You are not allowed to be here. Get out!"

"And you're not allowed to take slaves."

"We will be filling official protests. We have a treaty-" Mum gets impatient; the guy loses a claw. He screams.

He tries to punch her. Mum punches him back, he bends double where she hits his stomach. He vomits.

The Holocron exits the office carrying a laptop he's plugged into; it's not long before he breaks the security systems. He turns to the commandant. "Lugi B'Turna, you have two choices. Turn yourself in and live, or, we'll feed you to the Lokra-Kitan you've been starving despite maxing out your food requisition orders every week. Your choice."

Lugi B'Turna stares at us, eyes wild with hatred. He straightens up. "I will not betray the family."

His eyes go wide as Dad punches through his chest. "Then become prey."

The rest of the morning is spent dealing with other Xenaya guards and staff until administrative support arrives with the transport for the Lokra-Kitan. The vast majority of Xenaya are more helpful than the commandant was, and by midday we're airborne again, heading for clan B'Turna.

 

[CBR JGWRR]

"Into The Wilds, Part 12"
30th Naomi, 10 (2188)
Naomi Of Unity​

We arrive to find Alexandra's orbital forces have already been busy; enemy anti-air units have been disabled by laser fire, while crashed enemy air support dots the landscape. So far, the enemy has only used lower technology than we have, which presumably means it's still in reserve inside the mountain we are circling while everyone gets into position.

Eventually, our forces will converge, and the final assault of the day will begin.

It's been a good day, we've liberated thousands of slaves and three members of the B'Turna family have been captured. Plus, as a test of our capabilities, it's been really helpful:

Dropping soldiers from orbit in individual power armour suits.
Dropping soldiers from orbit in dropships.
Dropping soldiers from aircraft.
Dropping vehicles from aircraft.
Orbital bombardment, both precision strikes and general strikes.
Aerial bombardment, both precision strikes and general strikes.
Deploying airborne and orbital intelligence gathering vehicles.

Altogether, coordinating an air and space launched invasion of a large country in a single day to secure priority targets.

It seems to me that they were completely unprepared for an attack, let alone one of this scale.

The worry is they'll be more ready now...

I pull myself away from the monitors and sit with my husband. He leans his helmet on mine. "I'm really looking forward to that bath together."

He hums. "Yeah. We need it."

I shudder. "I know. This armour stinks of sweat."

"How long do we have?"

I shrug. I mean, until we're done... That's a piece of string question. "It depends. We can't hit anything inside the mountain without using much bigger bombs than I want to authorise."

"I mean until we drop again."

Oh. That we do know. "We're waiting for three more transport planes, and for the low Unity orbit equipment to come back around after that. Twenty minutes."

He rests his hand on my womb. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly, a little overdosed on ibuprofen. And adrenaline stims. Ran out of stuff to vomit up after this morning. Everything hurts. Once we are done, we will have that bath and I'm going to go to bed, and I'm not getting up for a week."

He nuzzles me. "I love you, Naomi."

"I love you too, Buri."

We stay there. Quiet, just being together before the chaos begins again.

 

[HistoryDude]

Was anyone left alive to bring news of the attack to Clan B'Turna?

Also, what were the exact provisions of that treaty? Wouldn't Naomi include a clause about not keeping slaves?