Those who know future live in fear

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THALMYRIS — VILLAGE PROFILE

Thalmyris is a forest-shrouded village of forty-seven households, built upon a circular clearing where nothing green grows naturally. Three unnamed streams meet beneath the village, but their water is never drunk without first adding salt and a spoken name.

CASTE SYSTEM

1. THE SPIRIT-TALKERS

The highest caste. Membership is determined by birth during a new moon and the ability to hear voices from inside the earth. Spirit-Talkers do not farm, hunt, or marry outside their caste. Their duties include: interpreting the movement of smoke, deciding which prayers are answered and which are burned, binding forest phantoms to rotten fence posts, and selecting one child per generation to be "given to the roots."

2. THE HUNTERS

The second caste. Hunters enter the deep forest in groups of three, never two, never four. They carry iron knives, salt pouches, and small bones from previous kills. A Hunter who returns alone does not speak of what happened. A Hunter who returns with an extra set of footprints behind them is met at the palisade by the Spirit-Talkers and taken to the ash pit. The most senior Hunter wears no weapon — because they have become one.

3. THE FISHERS

The third caste. Fishers operate from seven dugout canoes moored to a half-submerged idol with no face. They fish only at dusk and dawn. Between those hours, they sit in silence facing the water. If a Fisher catches a fish with human teeth, the fish is returned and the Fisher is promoted. If a Fisher catches a hook with no bait but blood on it, the Fisher is demoted to the lowest caste before sunset.

4. THE FARMERS

The fourth and largest caste. Farmers work the outer fields beyond the ring of white stones. They are forbidden from entering the forest. They are forbidden from touching running water after dark. They are forbidden from naming any child before the Spirit-Talkers have examined the birthmark. Each spring, Farmers bury a live rooster at the northern field corner. If the rooster is gone by morning — no feathers, no blood, no hole — the Farmers harvest nothing and spend the winter digging graves for the Hunters.

6. THE BONE-SETTERS

The sixth caste. Bone-Setters serve as healers, midwives, and the handlers of those who died mid-sentence. They live in a single longhouse at the southern edge, with a red door for the living and a black door for everyone else. A Bone-Setter who hears a corpse speak three times is required to leave by sunrise. None have ever returned. A Bone-Setter who hears a corpse ask a question must answer truthfully or lose their own tongue the same night.

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