When our young heroes came of age, they were given the choice: Choose to court one of the girls from their village of Groakpod, or venture out of their territory to find girls in one of the neighboring territories. But that journey leads through the Deth Plains, over the Ironcut Mountains, and through the Serging River.
But the journey can be made. Over the years young men from those other villages have visited Groakpod, successfully courting the most beautiful young women and winning, through trial of deeds, the right to take up residence in their new home. So it was in all villages.
The choice was easy. The most attractive young women were already married. Feldspar was gifted with the steel armor and burgundy cloak of his father. Gypsum, the younger by almost an hour, received the nearly identical armor and cloak from his father's twin brother, who had given his wife only the seeds for daughters.
The young men were confident in their abilities to survive the journey and then win the approval of the loveliest maidens in those other villages. Both were blessed with classic good looks.
Each sported eight tusks of deadly sharp ivory, with the lower tusks protruding just past the shiny black nose at the end of the short hard muzzle. The upper tusks were shorter, not quite reaching the bottom of the lower jaw and the thick soft fur there.
The horns, too, were of classic mold, showing a slight spiral as they curved upward with a vicious grace that would worry any opponent and enchant any woman.
If that wasn't enough, the young men were larger than the average by about two inches in height and twenty pounds of hard muscle in weight. Their father and uncle had trained them with loving mercilessness from the day each could hold a weapon. They would prevail. Neither they nor their family nor their friends had the slightest doubt.
With the joyous confidence of the young, they hugged their mother, exchanged staggering back slaps with their father and friends, and set out.
They would never see Groakpod again.
But the journey can be made. Over the years young men from those other villages have visited Groakpod, successfully courting the most beautiful young women and winning, through trial of deeds, the right to take up residence in their new home. So it was in all villages.
The choice was easy. The most attractive young women were already married. Feldspar was gifted with the steel armor and burgundy cloak of his father. Gypsum, the younger by almost an hour, received the nearly identical armor and cloak from his father's twin brother, who had given his wife only the seeds for daughters.
The young men were confident in their abilities to survive the journey and then win the approval of the loveliest maidens in those other villages. Both were blessed with classic good looks.
Each sported eight tusks of deadly sharp ivory, with the lower tusks protruding just past the shiny black nose at the end of the short hard muzzle. The upper tusks were shorter, not quite reaching the bottom of the lower jaw and the thick soft fur there.
The horns, too, were of classic mold, showing a slight spiral as they curved upward with a vicious grace that would worry any opponent and enchant any woman.
If that wasn't enough, the young men were larger than the average by about two inches in height and twenty pounds of hard muscle in weight. Their father and uncle had trained them with loving mercilessness from the day each could hold a weapon. They would prevail. Neither they nor their family nor their friends had the slightest doubt.
With the joyous confidence of the young, they hugged their mother, exchanged staggering back slaps with their father and friends, and set out.
They would never see Groakpod again.
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