As I found out when I first came to the village, food is rather scarce, so I suggested we take a few of the pies we had made yesterday to put out for people to help themselves to. N’Ras had had a similar idea so we packed them into our bags and set off for the village.
As we got closer to the village we could already begin to hear music; the celebrations had started early in the day. On our approach N’Ras told me about the festival and how it is on a different day every year - it just depends on the soil. No one knows when the ground will allow the first crops to be planted but when it does it is a cause for celebration and so the next day there is always a festival.
We arrived in the square to find stalls with drinks and snack foods to consume before the big meal for everyone later in the day. There were also some games to keep people entertained. One game in particular seemed to be very popular. I queued up to have a go while N’Ras went off to talk to friends.
The aim of the activity was to shoot a single arrow through as many of the moving targets as you could. If you waited long enough the targets would all line up and for a moment the only requirement to get the top score was a good archery ability. The catch was that the bow was not made very well. It was good enough to shoot with but the wood was weak and holding it drawn for too long held a high risk that the bow would snap in half. But drawing the bow and taking aim when the targets had lined up took too long. In as long as people could remember the highest score was set by a woman from the village. The same woman who was, at this moment, out in the deep wilderness hunting. That is why the game was so popular - everyone wanted to steal her title while she was not there to defend it.
It finally came to be my turn. I had seen people before me in the queue getting fairly average scores; certainly nowhere near the highest score recorded. In Teeluw we are taught to use bows and arrows more than swords; in fact I was one of the minority in Teeluw to favour a sword over a bow. Still, I was a skilled enough archer. I thought it would be easy but the bow was so weak that drawing it even half way felt like it was more strain than the wood was able to take. When I loosed my arrow the bow snapped in my hands. For a moment I didn’t know if I had even fired or if it had broken too soon. I had fired, but my arrow only passed through one of the targets. It was the worst score so far that day.
I felt ashamed and embarrassed. Even though it was just a bit of fun I felt like I should have done better. Almost as if he had sensed my disappointment, the game master allowed me to have a second attempt on the basis that I am new to the village. Usually each person is only allowed one attempt but for me an exception was made. I did not allow myself to waste this chance. This time I was given a much better bow. Lucky. The seemingly random movements of the targets appeared to be getting less random as I prepared for my next shot. Lucky. I drew the bow and lined up a shot. I wasn’t quite quick enough to spot that the rare occasion when the targets all line up perfectly was upon me until it was too late but the targets hadn’t moved much when I did loose the arrow. It sailed through eleven out of the twenty loops. I walked away as the game master inserted my name into the fourth position on the high score table.
After that I took some time to wander around the village and look at the decorations. They were not fancy but they brought life to the place that has seemed so dead in all the times I have visited before. I smelled the food that was cooking for later - a stew made from I don’t know what. I would later find out that it tasted quite nice.
Later in the day the elder gave a speech about how important First Seed is to the village. After that it was time for the big meal. I sat with N’Ras on one side and a young woman called K’Ylin on the other. She was good company and I admired her for not persisting in asking about why I had left the forest. I simply said that I had my own private reasons and then the topic was closed.
After the meal came the music and dancing. I danced with K’Ylin for a good while until she wanted to rest her feet, at which point I sat with her and carved a piece of wood into a stick-whistle (I studied N’Ras’ yesterday while out looking for berries). When it was finished I joined the band and made music with them for everyone who was still able to dance to.
N’Ras and I made it back to the inn after midnight and we both collapsed into our beds after having a wonderfully fun day.
The Festival of First Seed.
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