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The boys remain silent as the old man carries on with his oration, “Heaven Valley is where Man first appeared during the Emergence. We don’t know much about these first peoples, only that there were very few. They must have struggled greatly against the creatures of the valley long before the tribes tamed them.

“We know when the Emergence took place from the Wise One. Ten thousand years ago, his kind first came into brief contact with Man in the caves of the Wise Mountains. It was perhaps a stroke of luck since Man had not yet ventured deeper into the mountains where its peak, Wisemount, rises. Man’s skin was pale then, but his form was as ours.

“Our ancestors lived in the caves for some time before settling south in the valley. Beyond this point, we rely on the oral tales of the savage tribes. Wisedogs seemingly have an innate ability to keep track of the passage of time, but for Man, the rise and fall of the moon and the sun would suffice.

“If Man emerged ten thousand years ago, it was far longer ago that the Wisedogs emerged themselves. Not even they can remember when they first emerged… Tens of thousands of years, perhaps…

“The savages of the valley began as small groups, no larger than a hundred. They lived just as they live now, as nomadic barbarians. After pillaging the resources of one area, they would move to another to repeat their barbaric cycle of life. There were so few of them that this proved to be sustainable for the valley. For a time…

“As groups interbred, ties of kinship formed between them. Eventually came the first chiefdoms. These groups were and are ruled by members of elite families, with a single chief reigning over them all. Do not confuse these barbaric structures with government. They lacked and still lack law and writing. Many of them don’t even use wheels… Or have any concept of it…

“These chiefdoms are and have been in a constant state of war — sometimes for resources and other times just for the sake of it. They demand regular tributes from their people, centralizing the fruits of labour under the greedy hands of the head chiefs. There is some trade between them, but deals are seldom honoured. Slavery is their main form of commerce.

“While many of these chiefdoms supposedly worship nature, they are, in fact, the greatest destroyers of it. Large creatures have almost all disappeared — hunted and devoured — by these savages. The valley is full of their bones from eons of wars. Excrement has even built up as they have no concept of public sanitation.

“Heaven River, to them, is just for everything… Drinking… Bathing, if you want to call it that… Even dumping dead animal carcasses. They rarely dump their own dead in it, at least. Some of our people get sick every now and then from its water — polluted by the savages upstream.

“Some day, my students, our people will conquer the valley. Every generation builds up for it. It is our destiny. The valley’s soil is rich and fertile. We could support greater numbers with land that isn’t confined to the far edges of the valley. Heaven Falls is our sanctuary, but it will not be our prison.

“Our wise leaders, selected by their virtues — not by the amount of bones or feathers on their heads, will liberate the valley from savagery. Imagine a whole civilization united along Heaven River. This is the dream of our people, and it is your future.”

The End — Heaven Falls