Blackening Fortitude

Prologue - The Outskirts

             Centuries and centuries ago, the ancient Old City, where the Pullulu Tribe resided, was a thriving place. The colorful, vibrant scenery was breathtaking, the culture was unlike any other, and the citizens were good-hearted. Many of the Pullulu Tribe citizens were immensely blessed with gorgeous plumage, brightly colored robes to wear, an intricate castle to live in with elegant land, and many choices of delcious tribal meals to eat. The land was decorated in beautifully colored terracotta castles on clean mortar streets and the community buildings and other amazing structures were adorned in ribbon and colorful flags. The upperclass pullulus were accepting and openhanded to the middle class citizens. They would often share their blessings with others and generously invite neighbors over for a friendly cup of tea. Many of the citizens were greatly blessed. Almost the entire city had the privlege to enjoy three deliciously prepared home meals a day, and many were able to maintain a large family without the fear of financial issues. Others were blessed with abundant fields for harvesting crops.
             For the most part, pullulus loved working with agriculture and the most wealthy pullulus owned farms with the most expensive equipment. During the spring, the pullulus would spend weeks at a time planting their seeds since they had a very intricate way of separating certain soil types from others to keep the seeds hydrated. Because of their excellent skills in agriculture, it never took a lenghty amount of time for the seeds to sprout. During the late summer, pullulus would often pick their well-earned ripe fruits and veggies for delicious additions to their meals. Fresh vegetable wagons being pulled around the city were always a pleasant sight to see after harvest season. The fruits and vegetables grown by the Pullulu Tribe were recognized by many tribes from all over the world for their mouthwatering ripeness. Harvest season was a pleasant time of the year for the citizens, but tribe's favorite time of the entire season was collecting their fresh bell peppers. Bell peppers were a delicacy in the Pullulu Tribe for their sweet taste and loads of vitamins and fiber. The Pullulus loved to make their best dishes with these sweet, rich veggies. It was a custom to have bell peppers in a meal at least once a week for good health. Because the pullulus were generous and never wanted a full plate for themselves, they would often take some bell peppers and other home-grown goods to large street markets or fairs in the early autumn when their ripeness peaked.
             This was another town favorite. Pullulus loved celebrations and they had one for everything. There was a celebration for harvesting season, for soltices, dances and for congregation festivals. Celebrations could have consisted of a few family members or the entire town. The Pullulus never said no to organizing a well-rounded party for loved ones, holidays, or simply to enjoy a warm summer day. The tribe's favorite part about festivities like these was the music. Pullulus certainly adored music enjoyed dancing even more. They would often have lengthy music festivals where they would dance for an entire day and into the night until their tiny, energetic legs could not keep them steady anymore. A good matter to note is that Pullulus were never explicit at these enthusiastic parties and festivities. They always made sure to keep the music and dancing modest and virtuous to be a good example, especially to youngsters who wanted to join the fun and to other tribes who may visit to learn about their culture.
             The pullulus were, for the most part, a moral and principled tribe, for they believed strongly in modesty and chastity among their citizens. They also were a rather religious group and worshipped the mighty earth god, Ulcus. Ulcus was believed by many to be the savior of the world and the protector of the Soul Tree. The fruit of this tree was incredibly fundamental to the life of all the tribes of the world and Ulcus would promise to destroy anyone who intentionally hurt the tree. There was only one church in the whole tribe that many went to. It was considered a high honor to attend the church every other month when the usual gatherings were. During this time, pullulus would bring a gift to keep the earth god from becoming angry with them. The gifts were presented to a priest who would bring them to an underground site where the pullulus believed that the divine being was most present. Many young Pullulus were educated well on the wisdom and stories of Ulcus so that a legacy was left for them to continue the traditions they had kept for centuries. Because of these inherited traditions, that were continuously passed down, celebrations were often held when the priest made it back safely from the long journey to and from the divine gift site, or when they believed that Ulcus had greatly blessed their town. The Pullulus believed that celebrations of these moments were key to keep the earth god content with the good works and community services from the whole tribe.
             For many the Old City was a great place to live and the Pullulus were mainly a happy and content tribe. However, there was a downside to the Old City. The outskirts of this ancient city were unruly. Many pullulus who lived in the acreage right outside of the city were stricken by poverty, as many homes were worn down and hardly fit to reside in. These areas were also full of street gangs, crime, and filth. Often times gangs of Pullulus got ahold of deadly knives or clubs and would fight to the death in order to assert their dominance of a certain areas of living space. These groups would stalk the city boarders for any middle or upper class Pullulu who could potentially have lose change. Middle class Pullulus were often found severely injured near the borders where no one dared to walk into, in fear of being the next victim of the heartless group attacks. The walkways and roads in these areas were in terrible condition. There was broken glass or pottery found covering the gravel streets, as well as debree from havocked crops and rusted harvesting equipment. Fallen clothes lines blocked many pathes and, often times, even a dead or injured body of a Pullulu citizen was found in the road, either defeated from a vicious street fight or toppled over from an opium overdose. Many of the pullulus were sick, covered in fleas and some had a hard time finding even one small meal a day. In the worst areas, some pullulus were completely homeless and had to steal food from other hungry Pullulus, or had not choice but to pursue prostitution, which was greatly frowned upon, in order to have some food to eat. Unfortunately these lower class Pullulus were judged harshly by the members of the church and they were considered to be unclean by the average citizens. They believed that Ulcus put the curse of poverty on them for their immortality and ruthless behaviors.
             The wealthier Pullulus did not dare to enter these parts of town in fear of getting robbed or killed. The chances of a middle or upperclass Pullulu to get hurt in the suburbs was very high. They feared of a malicious gang potentially abducting or torturing them and stealing their belongings for their own gain. Luckily, many of the impoverished pullulus were simply misunderstood. The harmless Pullulus who lived in the suburbs simply could not afford a decent home or could not find a job. It is not false that many who lived in this area of the city were criminals, but in reality, more than half of the citizens who lived in these areas meant no harm. Many were families simply trying to survive and put a meal on their plate, other were Pullulus who could not afford rent, or orphaned teens who were trying to find work.
             One of these harmless Pullulus living in the miserable outskirts was a young adult pullulu named Akong. Akong was the only one to survive out of his mother's twenty-five eggs. Shortly after his egg hatched, his mother had died of serious illnesses as a result from her difficult pregnancy and his father passed away shortly after from suicide. Akong was too young to remember anything about his parents, and hearing disturbing the stories of their lifestyles made him dismiss any thoughts about them. Akong was luckily raised by an aquaintance of his father, who did her best to take care of him well. She sent Akong to a small school, where he strived to be a good student, and she made a decent living to keep Akong fed and sheltered before she died from a surprise gang attack when Akong was only twelve years old. Since that day, Akong sustained himself by reading old textbooks to strengthen his education and he earned a small living by cleaning busted and impaired yards of Pullulus who had died of starvation or opium overdose.
             Often times while he was brushing fallen leaves or repairing damaged stone fences, groups of Pullulus, appearing to be a part of a gang, would harass him or attempt to pick fights, which Akong never wanted to be a part of to begin with, often leaving him with a bruised jaw or broken bone. Luckily, for Akong, his dark brown feathers were brawny and plump which was a small amount of extra protection for him in these surprise attacks. If it wasnt for the extra protection, he would probably return home too injured to work the next days. The downside to this was that it was not too helpful during hot autumn days. By the time that Akong would end his work, his long, silky feathers would hang and reek from sweat. Pullulu feathers were very delicate and losing a few meant that it would take years to grow back, unlike other avian species. Still, Akong would get back to working hard the next day in order to get a small percent of income from an aquaintance who gave him the job. It was not much, but the little earnings that he was awarded were enough to at least provide two small meals a day for him. He made sure that not one day would he go hungry, considering how much energy he used in a full day. The Pullulu gangs who picked on him during work were of no concern to him and he knew it was worth the earning, unless he saw that they had a blade or knife, which Akong always had a great fear of. If that was the case, he would slowly and carefully move to a safer spot to work in order to not get hurt.
             Akong never fought with anyone who crossed his path because he knew exactly how it felt to be harassed on the streets and he did not want anyone he knew to feel the same way that he did living in such a harsh area. He was always a hard worker as well. Although we was not a well known citizen in the suburbs, his few peers admired his huge efforts to do what is best for his living space. He strived to make the world more peaceful and get along with those around him as best he can. Since he was a youngster, Akong always dreamed of being able to talk to mighty Ulcus personally and try to solve the issues of poverty and immortality in the place that he lived in. He had a bright mind and was always confident, but once his teenage years came quickly around the corner after his caretaker was murdered, as much as the young Pullulu did not want to admit it, he began to lose that small flicker of hope to spread peace among citizens of all ranks and he longed greatly for a way to fix the division and strife.