“Not every peg fits into the same hole.” Old folk saying.

“I take it that the river floods more often around here?” asked Aideen the moment she laid eyes on the settlement of Clan Blacktower in the distance. The mixed clan of Orcs and Goblins did not wander the prairie like most others did, but instead settled down in one place most of the time, which was easier to do with the richer wildlife in their region.

The difference Aideen noted even from afar was how most of the Clan’s wooden houses were built some distance away from the river, with those houses built on the slope towards the river built on top of stilts, which kept them at roughly the same height as the other buildings. That sort of setup was a telltale of infrastructure built to deal with floods.

“Not that often, but maybe two to three times a decade, yeah, when the rain comes down really heavily during the summers,” admitted Jort readily. “It hasn’t flooded bad enough to wet our floors in the past three decades, though. Worst we had only reached two-thirds up the stilts like seven years ago. Most of the time, the floods only reached halfway up the stilts, which is normal.”

“More for precaution than out of actual necessity for the most part then, huh?” noted Eilonwy with interest as she also looked over the clan settlement with her sharp eyes.

“The floods made the land near the river particularly agreeable to growing things for the rest of the year, and also means we’d have as much fish, snails, frogs, crabs, prawns, and other things that inhabit the river to eat while it’s there,” explained Jort with a smile. “It might look like a disaster to outsiders, but for us it’s a time of plenty, one we’ve learned to make full use of. It’s why we stay at this spot rather than wander around like the full-blooded clans do.”

“Come to think of it, is it coincidence that the clans that settled down instead of adopting a nomadic lifestyle are the hybrid ones? Aunt Aideen told us about the ones up north, by the shores, who were part merfolk. Then there’s the Greentusks who are part elves, and now your clans which are all part goblin…” muttered Áine with some curiosity.

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“Quite right, actually. The nomadic tradition itself is primarily an orcish one. There’s less call for it in mixed clans like ours, so we tend to settle down if we find the right place,” said Jort. “Mind you, there’s values we also look for in the orcish traditions, so usually we would have some of our younger clan members live with other clans we’re in good relations with for a few years to help impart those values as well.”

“There’s many benefits for the youth to experience life in the plains for themselves. It’s a very good way to prepare them for the world out there, something the safer environment around our settlements can’t provide in the same way,” he continued. “It’s far too easy to lose one’s edge when life is easy and comfortable. We had a few clans fall in that manner in the past, ones we tell our children as examples on what not to do these days.”

“So you send the young ones out to experience the harder way of life on purpose to toughen them up, huh? Not a bad compromise, I guess,” replied Aideen with a nod.

“I’m honestly surprised that you see things my way immediately. The humans we adopted after the wars had been the ones who had the hardest time accepting those practices,” noted Jort with a raised eyebrow. “Many of them were even wondering why so many of the clans remained nomadic instead of settling down like we do.”

“I’ve been around… and what you said about losing one’s edge while living too easy… Let’s just say that I’ve seen that happen quite often myself. If anything, humans are particularly prone to this, often also taking the easy and comfortable life for granted while forgetting the sacrifices and effort it had taken to get them there,” said Aideen with a shake of her head. “It’s gotten to the point that I’d say it’s become a rather common illness amongst our kind, if we were left alone without others to remind us of the things we forget too easily.”

“We are not so different after all,” replied Jort with an amused chuckle. “Anyway, I think we’ve watched enough? Please allow me to welcome you all to the village of Clan Blacktower.”

With Jort in the lead of the group, the warriors who were standing guard in the perimeter of the settlement’s area let them through right away. Some, especially those who were tending the fields or the younger ones learning the skills from their parents, looked at Aideen’s group with curiosity. Even if the Clan had taken in a few humans from time to time, they remained a rare sight, and so were elves in this part of the plains.

Closer to the village itself a small group already gathered to welcome them, amongst whom were two elderly personages – one an orc, the other a goblin – in outfits that marked them as the previous shamans of the clan. Jort’s predecessors also had good relationships with Miro, so they were quite eager to welcome him on the rare visit, despite their advanced age.

Compared to the Clans that were mostly if not almost entirely composed of orcs, Clan Blacktower had a higher populace count, partly due to the goblins that formed a near-majority of their population. Compared to orcs, goblins tended to have more children over time, and even the hybrids between orcs and goblins were more fertile in general compared to pure orcs.

It was very noticeable from the larger number of curious children that were looking at the group as they entered the settlement. Some of the more daring children even came closer to look more clearly, with some others being ushered away by their parents so as not to disturb the welcome.