PART 1: The Dying Star

Read up the prologue and introductory post here

Chapter 1

I was born at the very dawn of the age of enlightenment. The first white men had just recently washed ashore for the very first time. They came aboard giant canoes with clothed masts.  

I was born with no silver spoon; my father was a fisherman; I followed in his footsteps. My family could not be considered wealthy. We were mostly happy, we always had reasons to be grateful to the goddess Alamda for her blessings bestowed upon our family.   

Alamda; the highest goddess of the Iju has always been very influential in my life. Her guidance and wisdom has always guided my path, through both my past successes and my many failures.  

My earliest memories were those of celebrations and feasts. I never got to know my maternal grandfather. My earliest memory as a child was his funeral feast; “The march of the dead”. With all the lights and joy that graced the event; you could never have guessed that a man had died.  

The reason for the grand merriment was because he was the greatest man who has ever lived. I am sure you are surprised by this bold statement; he was the founder of the Iju Free states. I am certain your history books don’t mention him.  

He was quite the man. He single-handedly led the revolution which permanently rid us of the scourge that had led to our bondage and enslavement for many generations. He had single handedly made sure no Iju man or woman had a master. 

We owe our freedom to him.  For his valor and bravery he was overwhelmingly elected to serve as the first beaded head of Iriju in two centuries. It is said that great generals do not make good rulers; he was a rare exception to that rule as in the twenty years he ruled Iriju, he not only made Iriju the pearl of the whole delta, he totally upgraded the status of Iju from that of former slaves and serfs to that of masters of trade and enterprise all over the delta and even beyond.  

Regardless of all his achievements, it is said that he died a bitter and angry old man. Most people claim that this was due to his favorite daughter marrying my father; an Oride man.  

Chapter 2 

There is a story of two brothers. The story is as old as the Iju civilization. Both had eyes for the same woman. One of the brothers was named Oride, the founder of Oride, the other was his younger brother Iribe the founder of Iriju.  

A series of brawls broke out between the brothers, each new one more serious than the previous. While Oride claimed he was the elder of the two and hence had first choice by birthright. Iribe claimed he had met and wooed her first. 

To avoid further violence and avoid future resentment between the brothers; the elders at the time deemed that the woman in question made a choice between the brothers. The poor woman, distraught at the strife she had caused between two brothers of the same womb while unable to choose one and spite the other, threw herself off a cliff.  

It is believed that by the Iju that from her blood which was split on the rocks flowed the great river which had provided subsistence for the children of her two lovers. 

The Iju are thus river people and have lived beside her river for as long as anyone could remember. Her name was Alamda. 

Iribe was strong and conquered his enemies; his children flourished over generations, Oride on the other hand was considered to be a man of great wisdom but he lived in a time when that didn’t matter. 

Oride withered while Iribe grew. The two brothers hated each other for the rest of their lives but forever cursed with brotherhood they could do nothing about it.  For this reason every Oride man possessed a great but reserved hatred for the Iriju; this sentiment was also returned with the same severity. 

My parents broke an age long tradition of hatred, and tried to remedy the bitterness with love. This made them social piranhas; hated by both sides of the age long conflict. I once heard a man say if there is love, nothing else matters; that man was a fool.  

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