Kenly's Tales: The New Rogue

It was night; the tribe was secure and content following their feast.

Kenly had been watching Onyeel at every opportunity, he knew that Onyeel would soon break his oath to his Chief Anwen and turn Rogue.
Onyeel appeared uneasy.
The trouble between Onyeel and Anwen, Onyeel's Chief, had grown to the point where Onyeel must break his oath to Anwen and go his own way. There were other Chiefs who would accept his oath, including their Chieftain, D’anyu, but Onyeel was chary of swearing an oath of fealty to another Chief. He had thought long and hard on this matter, and he had decided to become a Rogue.
As a Rogue, Onyeel would be free to solicit friends and followers from among any of the warriors of the tribe. If he could gather a small party to himself then he could become a Chief.

As the tribe began to gather around the Spirit Fire that burned within the inner circle of the tribes' lodges Onyeel gazed up into a full moon and then went within the long lodge of the warriors and emerged with a drum. Onyeel took the war drum to his closest friend, Greald; Greald smiled and winked and carried the drum to the circle that ringed the Spirit Pole just south of the Great Spirit Fire.
Greald began to strike a throbbing rhythm of declaration as he entered the circle.

Onyeel began to dance.

Approaching the circle about the Spirit Pole Onyeel took in the entire tribe as it gathered about the four poles of the Great Spirit Fire. The Spirit Fire was sacred; it represented the life energy of the tribe. The four poles marked divisions of spirit, labor, thought and feeling among the tribe with the majority of the people gathered about either the east or west poles.
The East Pole was the Gatherers' Pole. The people of the tribe who congregated there were mostly gatherers, Mothers and young women not yet married. The West Pole was the Hunters' Pole, where men were more likely to group. To the north of the Spirit Fire stood the War Pole, a customary place for the Chieftain and his Chiefs. To the south of the great fire stood the Spirit Pole, where the Shaman kept his coterie. In times of war the North Pole became more crowded, while the South Pole was favored more in times of distress from dark creatures, hunger or disease.

The tribe was taking their various places about the Great Spirit Fire, and as they settled in, they recognized the acclaim being drummed by Greald, and they looked to the south for the dancer who was now declaring himself a Rogue.

Few were surprised to see Onyeel dancing there, as he began his way around the Spirit Fire and each of its four poles.

Onyeel continued his dance, going thrice widdershins about the Spirit Pole with his eyes closed. He could not look upon the faces of the shaman or the shaman's friends until he had assessed the support of his tribe.

"From darkness we came, in darkness we begin..." Onyeel intoned dancing in circles.

Approaching the end of his third widdershins turn about the spirit Pole Onyeel completed the litany:

"... to darkness we may return, unless we seek the light"

Onyeel opened his eyes as he left the Spirit Pole behind him and began to dance spryly around the Spirit Fire, moving to the west where he danced about the Hunters' Pole thrice more widdershins.

"In darkness we hunt, in darkness we are hunted, in darkness we may cower, unless we seek the light"

As he danced, Onyeel looked into the eyes of those of his tribesmen who were gathered here and invited them to join or challenge him. Each man looked back directly and made his position clear in his gaze as Onyeel danced by.
Onyeel departed from his widdershins journey about the Hunters' Pole and danced spryly to the North, to dance about the War Pole thrice widdershins.

Onyeel continued to meet the gazes in the eyes of his fellow tribesmen as he passed them by.

"In darkness War is made and in darkness do we murder..."

Each of the men around the War Pole gave his blessing, curse or indifference to the would-be rogue, and as Onyeel passed Anwen, Anwen smiled fiercely. This unexpected response disturbed Onyeel and he nearly stumbled in shock and confusion. Onyeel had been prepared for anger and wrath, but instead his Chief had smiled with a look of such ferocity that Onyeel shuddered within himself to think what sort of challenges may now lie before him, before he could become a Chief.

"...in darkness we may die unless we seek the light."

Completing his last turn widdershins about the War Pole, Onyeel turned spryly once more to dance about the Great Spirit fire to the Gatherers' Pole.

"In darkness seeds are sown, in darkness souls are made..."

There were few men here about the Gatherers' Pole; most of the men here were youths courting potential brides. The youths smiled in delight for Onyeel as he passed by, for they knew they would be well entertained during Onyeel's quest to become a Chief. Some of the youths were eager to swear their oath of fealty to Onyeel if it became apparent he would succeed.

"...in darkness may we find ourselves while we seek the light."

Onyeel finished his third widdershins reel about the Gatherer's Pole and danced on to the Shaman's Pole to the South still meeting the gazes of the men of his tribe as they witnessed his declaration.
As Onyeel completed his first circuit of the Spirit Fire Onyeel felt elated; he was walking the Rogue’s Path! Onyeel knew in his heart that he would walk the Rogue's Path to its sweet end and become a Chief. So far, the gazes of the men of the tribe had weighed in favor of his walk. None would make it easy for him, but in the end he would succeed for there were more who favored him than not. Anwen's popularity with those loyal to their Chieftan D'anyu was waning and this had spurred Onyeel to break his oath to Anwen and to meet the challenges the men of his tribe would set before him as he walked the Rogue’s Path to become a Chief.
Dancing Widdershins once more about the Spirit Pole, Onyeel gazed into the eyes of the last of the men to acknowledge his declaration.

"I seek the light in darkness; I seek the light in fear..."

The sneer on Wergan's face as he stared daggers back to Onyeel chilled Onyeel to the quick. He knew the Shaman favored Anwen and the added risk of the Shaman's wrath had helped hold Onyeel back from making his declaration. This was why the dance ended its first circuit with the Shaman’s coterie. The power of the Shaman was strong and could only be faced with the added strength of any allies spied during the first circuit of the Rogue's Declaration Dance.

"I seek the light in anger; in all things I will see the light."

As Onyeel completed his second set of three circuits about the Spirit Pole he knew he could stop now and his oath to Anwen would remain intact. Or Onyeel could continue his Rogue's Declaration and as he entered the third circuit of his dance he would finally break his oath to Anwen forever.

Onyeel danced on.

Dancers gave power to the Spirit of the Tribe in their deft clockwise dances about the Great Spirit Fire. On this next circuit, new dancers would join him. The new dancers would dance widdershins to his spry and spryly to his widdershins, thereby declaring their open opposition to his quest to become a chief. Onyeel's challengers would draw power from the Spirit Fire as they danced widdershins about the Great Fire, and they would return the power drawn from the Spirit Fire to the poles of Hunting, War, Gathering, and Spirit by dancing about these poles.

Onyeel would meet each of these opposing dancers several times in his next two circuits around the Great Fire and its four poles. Those who opposed Onyeel most fervently would dance the hardest, the fastest, to be sure to meet Onyeel as frequently as possible.
Onyeel knew that he too could dance his fastest, and that this would help to reduce the number of opportunities his opponents would have to attack him; but it was a coward's option to dance the second or third circuits too quickly. Onyeel would gather fewer dancers to support him in the third circuit if he met his challengers too quickly now.

As Onyeel moved into the second circuit of his dance Onyeel's challengers rose to meet him and join the dance around the Great Spirit Fire. Each challenger slapped and shamed Onyeel as they met him. Onyeel bore the slaps and jibes without resistance, now dancing his declaration slowly, in total concentration upon both his own spirit within him, and the Great Outer Spirit of the Tribe in Whose Hands Onyeel's quest to become a Chief would ultimately be decided.
Onyeel's supporters would judge him by his concentration and his devotion; the better he ignored the insults of his challengers the higher he would rise in esteem as he danced on.

"I seek the light in the hearts of beasts and in the hearts of men."

Onyeel's declaration dance would be just his first step upon the Rogue’s Path. Tonight marked the beginning of his journey to become a Chief. His timing was propitious, the omens of the full moon would be a blessing upon his quest, and now Onyeel was certain that his quest would be a brief one.

"I seek the light in times of War and in times of Peace again."

A journey upon the Rogue's Path could be one month or many. At the end of each month walked upon the Rogue's Path a Rogue could seek acclamation as a chief from the men of his tribe. In general a quick acclamation in the first month was a considered to be a huge success, while Rogues who walked the path endlessly had little chance of success and risked being banished from their tribe if they would not abandon their quest and swear fealty to a chief once more.
Failure was the bitter end of the walk.
However, Onyeel mused, there were exceptions such as D’anyu whose quest had been long and arduous. And D'anyu had become their Chieftain in the end.

Onyeel considered his own quest and was grateful it would be quick.
D'anyu could be Chieftain, Onyeel would be happy to be just one more of D’anyu’s loyal Chiefs.

"I seek the light in the fruits of the earth and in the dew of dawn…."

As Onyeel drew close to the end of his second circuit of the Great Fire, his concentration wavered. He dreaded the encounter to come with Wergan.
Wergan was sure to pull one of his devious tricks, and suddenly Onyeel knew what it would be. Onyeel thanked his totem for the insight that would save him.

"I see the light in spirits bright; the light that shines for all."

As Onyeel came around the last of his next three widdershins turns about the Spirit Pole Wergan met him, slapping him lightly in the face. Onyeel held his breath against the stinging white powder that enveloped his face when Wergan slapped him. The powder was a drug with which Onyeel was familiar. He would have to be careful not to lick his lips or let any sweat tainted by the powder enter his eyes or mouth. He must alter his dance to casually wipe the powder away as if nothing were wrong. Sweat from the exertions of his dance would help to clean the powder away quickly.
Onyeel made a bear mask with his fingers before his face, calling on his totem's strength. His fingers discreetly swept the powder away from his mouth and eyes as he made the image of his bear totem come alive for his audience.
Onyeelrelished facing the shaman again, for the shaman would expect him to be well drugged and vulnerable the next time they would meet within the dance. The shaman's next blow would be meant to fell him, but he would not be weakened by the drug and the shaman's blow would fail.
Onyeel danced on into the third circuit of his declaration dance. Men he knew and trusted began joining him from among the men who watched him dance. These would be his supporters in his quest. They followed in Onyeel’s steps and were free to strike back at any who struck Onyeel again. As the number of Onyeel's supporters grew the assaults on Onyeel diminished; many of Onyeel's challengers were not brave enough to face the gauntlet of blows that would follow if they dared to strike Onyeel again.

"I find the light within the hunt and cherish each beast's spirit"

Entering the second quarter of the third circuit Onyeel spied Wergan approaching as Onyeel left the last widdershins turn of the Hunter's Pole.

The shaman had danced quickly. Leading the shaman was Wergan's stoutest defender, a brute and bully feared by most of the tribe. The bully would strike a light blow meant to stun Onyeel, while the shaman would deal the heavier blow meant to bring him down.
The bully would then batter each of Onyeel’s supporters who were brave enough to remain in the dance in order to exchange blows with him. By diminishing and disabling as many of Onyeel’s followers as possible, the bully would shield the shaman from the worst of the retributions of Onyeel’s supporters after Wergan brought Onyeel down.

But Onyeel was ready.

The powder should have befuddled Onyeel's mind making him unable to comprehend the approaching threat, it would have made him incapable of responding to it sensibly.

Onyeel ducked beneath the lunging bully's blow and embraced him, spinning him about and releasing him to the embraces of his followers. No blow had landed, so no follower was required to strike the bully.
As a challenger, the bully was not allowed to strike any follower who did not strike him first.

Onyeel turned in his dance to meet the shaman as, one by one, the bully was embraced and spun away by each of Onyeel's followers in turn.

The shaman faltered, seeing his scheme lay in ruins; Onyeel embraced Wergan.

The tribe went wild roaring exuberantly at this masterful coup.

The shaman made a great show of hugging Onyeel back before they parted, and the shaman was also greeted with embraces by Onyeel's friends and followers.

Onyeel wheeled into the last three turns about the War Pole in glee, his spirit lifted by the boisterous shouts of his friends and followers.

"I find the light within each battle and I cherish each foe's soul."

The shaman's chance to bring him down was gone for now. They would meet again on the shaman's second circuit, but the shaman would not strike, the shaman had declared himself Onyeel's friend by embracing Onyeel publicly, and from this day forward the shaman could only be Onyeel's enemy discreetly or he would be shamed before the entire tribe.

"I find the light in every harvest and cherish every season."

Onyeel wheeled away from the Gathering Pole and spryly danced the final quarter of his third circuit of the Spirit Fire. Wergan met him a third time. Onyeel could see the hatred burning in Wergan's eyes, but he met the man's smile and embraced him warmly, denying the darkness he saw in Wergan’s heart.
Onyeel had another moment of great inspiration; as he embraced the shaman once more he kissed him firmly on both cheeks. The shaman was now obliged to return his kisses but he would not because he could not know if any of the evil powder still remained and might poison him.

Wergan shamed himself before the entire tribe by failing to return Onyeel’s kisses.

Onyeel exulted; he had won another great coup against the malevolent shaman!

There would be a later reckoning with Wergan, but for now he was safe from any further mischief the shaman might devise.

Onyeel spun through three more widdershins turns around the Spirit Pole declaring:

"I find the light in all things and the light will make me whole."

As Onyeel came out of his last widdershins turn around the Spirit Pole the tribe all rose together to join the dance spryly or widdershins about the Great Spirit Fire, each person looking carefully at each other as they met, to discover who supported or opposed the new Rogue who would be Chief.

The tribe danced with increasing ardor, grabbing each other in their dances and turning each other around and around until the great wheel of Onyeel's Declaration Dance around the Spirit Fire was broken into tiny reels of dancing and the thoughts of who were friends or foes of the new Rogue were forgotten for the moment.

Kenly rejoiced in the dance, knowing his father had won a battle with his Uncle through Onyeel's declaration to break his oath to Anwen and embark upon his quest to be a Chief.
Onyeel was a popular fellow, a good hunter and a fine warrior. He would make a good ally for his father in the times ahead.