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“There was one Cave that put all their syether in a special little cave in the side of a hill near their shelter It was considered such a sacred place that no one would dare to disturb the, an avalanche washed down the slope, destroying the cave and everything in it The people bla cooperative Without each other’s help, life became very difficult The people scattered, and the Cave died So people learned that if soed by natural shifts caused by water, wind, or earth movements, the family or Cave had serious proble”

“It is all right to put surrogate stones together,” Zelandoni added “The Mother appreciates them, and She can trace them back, but they are just little tokens, not the real elandons”

Ayla was delighted with the “Legend” She had heard people talk about the Elder Legends, but she didn’t realize they were stories told to help people understand things they needed to know They reminded her of stories that old Dorv used to tell to Brun’s clan in the winter

Then the donier continued “The abelan is a symbol or mark or pattern that always has life-force associated with it It is used specifically to identify or characterize soroup The Zelandonii abelan identifies all of us and is the les, often with variations and embellishments It may be different colors, or made of different materials, or even different numbers of squares, but it must have the basic shapes Part of this is a Zelandonii abelan,” she said, pointing to the mark tattooed on the side of her forehead Ayla noticed that three rows of three squares were part of the design

“The squares tell anyone who sees it that my people are Zelandonii Because one can count nine of them, the mark also identifies me as a member of the Ninth Cave There is more to this tattoo, of course,” she continued “It also marks me as a member of the zelandonia, and declares that I a Those Who Serve The Great Earth Mother Although no longer as significant, a part of it is also my own personal abelan You will notice that Marthona’s tattoo is different froh parts of it are the same”

Ayla turned to examine the former leader’s tattoo Marthona tilted her head to show it better “There are the nine squares,” Ayla said, “but the mark is on the other side of her forehead, and there are other marks, more curved Now that I look at it, one of them seems to have the shape of a horse, fros”

“Yes,” Marthona said “The tattoo artist was very good and captured the essence of h more stylized so that it could ith the whole pattern, it is very close to the mark on

my elandon, which is a horse, but simplified like that”

“Our tattoos tell you so about each of us,” Zelandoni said “You know that I Serve The Mother because mine is on the left You know that Marthona is or was a leader of her Cave because hers is on the right side of her forehead You knoe are both Zelandonii, because of the squares, and that we are of the Ninth Cave”

“I think Manvelar’s tattoo had three squares, but I don’t remember if I could count up to fourteen squares on Brameval’s forehead,” Ayla said

“No, you couldn’t,” Zelandoni said “Caves are not always identified by the number of squares, but a person’s Cave is always identified in some way Brameval’s tattoo has fourteen dots in a certain shape,”

“Not everyone has tattoos,” Ayla said “Willamar has a small one on the middle of his forehead, but Jondalar doesn’t have one at all”

“Only people who are leaders have tattoos on their foreheads,” Jondalar said “Zelandoni is a spiritual leader, mother was a Cave leader Willamar is the Trade Master It is an important position, and his advice is often asked, so he is also considered a leader”

“Though most people would rather shoho they are with their clothes, like Shevonar, some people have tattoos on other places, their cheeks or chins, even hands, usually someplace that shows and is not covered up by clothes Notmark where no one can see it The other tattoos often show sonized for, but usually it’s a personal achievement, not a primary tie relationship,” Marthona said

“A the Mamutoi, the mamuti—that’s like zelandonia—have tattoos on their cheeks, but not squares They use chevrons,” Ayla said “They start with a diamond shape, which is like a square turned so that it points up and down, or half of that, a triangle—they particularly like doard-pointing triangles Then they repeat the pointed shape, like one point nestled inside another Sos All those sy to teach them to me the winter before I left”