A Shine of Darkness
Sometimes, bad wins.
Once upon a time in a Sheep village up in the mountains of Kra. Some young sheep mysteriously went missing from the flock. At first, this occurred occasionally, but later the frequency increased and this got the Rams worrying. The sheep's numbers were depleting and the future of their clan was in danger.
Their first suspect was the Fox clan who lived in the valley below. The Sheep and Foxes had been enemies for ages.?However, they successfully brokered a peace pact that had lasted for decades. The old and weak of the sheep agreed to sacrifice their flesh to the Foxes so that the sheep clan would be safe. In return, the Foxes swore never to step foot in the mountains.
It appeared the Fox clan had broken the agreement and the Sheep herd got furious.?They decided to seek wisdom from the land of men, perhaps their age-long allies would have an answer. After all, the survival of the sheep was beneficial to the survival of both the Men and the Foxes. Men needed the wool of the sheep to survive the winter months, and the Foxes needed their meat for food.?
A meeting was arranged between Men, Sheep, and Foxes. At the meeting, Men were quick to point accusing fingers at the Fox clan because of their love for fresh meet. The Foxes, unable to defend themselves agreed to go back home to conduct an investigation. They promised to be sincere and revert to the Sheep if it was discovered that any one of the Foxes had breached the peace pact. The Foxes convened internal meetings at all levels to canvass the clan to remain loyal to their pact with the sheep. Eventually, all the Foxes swore non of them had breached the peace pact.
That night, a delegation of men went up to the mountains to meet secretly with the Sheep. They were led by Chinkwu, the northern kings' master of coins. It was the first of several plots to gain more allegiance from the Sheep clan. Chinkwu falsely confirmed he had seen one of the Foxes sneaking upon the flocks of the sheep at night. He confirmed this by showing them fox tracks, and holes in the boundary fences that the sheep had set up as a defense. Chinkwu further pleaded for permission of the sheep to allow him to set traps around the camp in other to catch the foxes red-handed. That night, several traps were set around the sheep camp to catch the foxes, and by morning the trap had caught a Fox.
It was a western-born black colored Fox with a peculiar northern alias. A trader in the regulated market of commons where the Northern Kings exchanged wool and gold coins. It had been generally agreed that the weight of the wool that would exchange for gold on each market day must jointly consider the total population of sheep on the night before the market, how much wool was available for sale, and the total sum of gold in the Arkput - the Northen Vault of the kings.
On each market day, Chinkwu declared the weight of the Arkput and counted the weight of wool brought by the Sheep. But the exact number of the sheep was always speculated. The sheep clan was unlearned, unable to calculate their own numbers or the weight of wool they brought to the market. At this, Chinkwu would assign a number for the population of the sheep in favor of the exchange value of gold coins. This went on for some time enriching the Northern Kings and their cohorts.
Aiken, a little black fox from the dwarf tribe that lived on the flood plains of the winding Sondo river had become suspicious of Chinkwu and his ways. Chinkwu's constant manipulation of the numbers of the sheep clan also meant that the foxes were unable to exchange enough gold for the wool they brought to the market of the commons. On every market day, more wool is progressively exchanged for less gold. The sheep were unaware and cared less because they had wool in abundance. The foxes on the other hand exchanged the little wool obtained from the few sheep they were entitled to in accordance with the peace pact. By this, the foxes got poorer and poorer. Furthermore, many of their sons had been conscripted into the Northern King's army. The foxes as well as the sheep paid taxes to the northern kings. And the taxes were paid in gold. Gold, mined in the north was paid as wages to the foxes in the army. More gold is earned into fox land through the wool exchanges in the market of commons. From these earnings, the foxes paid their taxes and kept the North at bay. It was a hard task for the fox clan, and it felt like slavery.
Aiken discovered he could improve the fortunes of his clan by reporting the actual numbers of the sheep in the mountains. Together with a group of his friends, he began sneaking up into the Sheep camp at night to count their numbers while they slept. They erected a wooden sign at the entrance of the common market and wrote out the true numbers of the sheep for everyone to see. The wooden sign soon came to be referred to (by all folks) as the Gantu. By this Chinkwu was unable to manipulate the numbers of sheep in his favor. At first, he contested the sources and accuracy of the Gantu. But it was soon put to test and its accuracy was found to be consistent with the actual numbers of the sheep in the mountains.
The fortunes of the North began to dwindle, and the revenue of the fox clan was increased as more gold came to be exchanged for the same weight of wool. By this, the foxes did not get rich, but things got better. Chinkwu began to seek a means to terminate the Gantu. Unfortunately for him, the Gantu gathered more fame daily. Everyone began to respect and depend on it for trade. Chinkwu still had an advantage though; for the true weight of the Arkput could not be confirmed by any member of the trading parties. And for the weight of the Arkput, they all continued to rely on his figures. Secretly, he sent spies across the land in other to discover the face behind the Gantu. After several months the truth was revealed. A young black fox of the dwarf clan along the river Sondo. Chinkwu plotted and failed to eliminate him several times. In the end, he began to launch attacks against the sheep in other to blame it on the foxes. His spies had revealed to him how the foxes sneaked (unnoticed) into the mountains every night. They fell for his trap and he caught Aiken the black fox.
The black fox pleaded guilty before the ranks of all Foxen elders. Chinkwu had hastily handed him over in the most disgraceful manner. The entire Fox clan was devastated, and the Sheep felt terribly betrayed by the Foxes. They felt even more indebted to the King's of the North who had exposed the betrayal of the Foxes. Emissaries were quickly deployed by the Rams to deliver the best wool and skins to the northern Kings as a show of gratitude for their assistance in exposing the Foxes.
The Foxes did not have a leader. They had coexisted by nominating chiefs from each of the land territories across the valley. Each territorial Chief presided over a marked land area. The clan immediately constituted a seeing of all the chiefs of each territory. There was an urgent need to atone for the misdeeds of the black fox.
The chiefs' seeing ended with tails between their legs (as a sign of shame), they resolved to drag the black fox to the house of Chinkwu and hand him over for his punishment to be determined. Chinkwu immediately suggested 'sebanku', an ancient method used to punish traitors in the once united kingdom of the Foxes. It was a severe and extreme form of annihilation from the tribe. The Foxes accepted this fate for the sake of peace, (to please Chinkwu and his Lords). They were desperate to prevent a repeat of the happenings that led to the collapse of the Fox empire. A war that broke their ranks and relegated them to rations from the Sheep folk.?
With the help of his friends, the black fox escaped to the Kingdom of the White horses. Leaving behind his life and livelihood. That night Chinkwu summoned the chiefs of the Foxes and demanded his execution without delay. At this point, the foxes had no choice. Another innocent black fox was hurriedly abducted to stage the execution of the black fox. His skin was removed and dispatched along with the coffers of Aiken the black fox to become a property of the Northern Kings. His wives and children were sold into slavery, and his home was torched.
On the same night, the black fox was executed. Ten young sheep went missing again in the Mountains. And though the black fox had been killed, his coffers confiscated, his family enslaved, and all his properties torched. Yet again, the sheep lost its folks. So now, who was it again this time? Perhaps the foxes had been innocent all along. Or another fox arose to continue the dark legacy of the black fox. Or Chinkwu had a sinister agenda up his sleeves. We could never tell. In the months that ensued, the Gantu disappeared, the sheep lost more of its kinsmen. And the cycle of the blame tales perpetuated by the Northern kings continued as their fortunes increased.
?? Lumix de luminous, September 19, 2021