[ WP ] A Tribe finds proof of their once great civilization , and find shame in the evidence of its fall .

The people of Shai-Huh are nomadic. An ancient curse prohibits them from staying in the same place for more than three days. Each couple must only have three children and five goats, cows, or mules. It is imperial that the animals have only three legs and the children must either lose one limb or die. In other words, the curse forced them to live a life full of odd numbers 
 
 The Shai-Huh people have struggled for many years because of this, and every day they wish the curse would be lifted from them, so that they could prosper without having to live under that odd religion. 
 
 Recently, however, a Strio ( a unit of three men who's job is to scout for the next settlement ) found a manuscript in an ancient tomb. They read the inscription in the front, which said `` The Curse of the Shai Huh.'' They quickly took it to the tribe elder, and the elder called for a tribe meeting at dusk. 
 
 Finally, the Shai-Huh people unite in the middle of their shoddy, hidden village. The elder woman is holding a manuscript. Both the item and its holder, are brown and crumbling. A fire burns greatly, illuminating the altar in which the elder stands. 
 
 The younger integrants of the tribe, the fathers, mothers and children are attentively watching the elder as she reads the one piece of evidence that might prove the Shai-Huh people were once a lively civilization with many outposts and many great accomplishments, free and curseless. For years and years the supposed triumphs of the once great civilization were told as bedtime stories, and the cure for the curse as well. Nothing else but fables and myths. Now, however, they shall see if these historical events and theories are real, or merely fabrications of the imagination of the elders. 
 
 The elder finishes reading, a weak, trembling tear across her face. The crowd mumbles. She raises her hand and complete silence overcomes the village. She begins to speak. 
 
 `` They were true. The tales.'' 
 
 The crowd smiles, feeling prouder, a sense of hope overcomes them. 
 
 `` The triumphs of our predecessors will live forever, now that they are proven. But there is one thing in this manuscript that...'' 
 
 She wipes another tear from her face. 
 
 ``..will bring shame to our people and our land until the end of time. It will be unbearable. A cure for the curse, it's...'' 
 
 She bows her head, sobbing. She ca n't take this sort of shame. 
 
 ``..not possible'' 
 
 The village gasps, screams and tears erupt from all corners, crows fly away at the sound of the noise. A working man stands, tears in his face, looking like his life had been ripped out. 
 
 `` What do you mean, not possible?! What if I want more than three children, god dammit?'' 
 
 The crowd stares at the still crying elder woman. The elder stands, putting her weight into her cane. She speaks, at last. 
 
 `` My dear, it looks like we just..'' 
 
 The crowd's stare intensifies. 
 
 `` We just ca n't even'' 
 
 
 
 

