Moon Wish village

Of the seven women's villages that line the river, Moon Wish Village is the youngest and most isolated. It is a minimum of three days' walking distance from the nearest village, and that's for a small boy pack making few stops; a larger pack transporting cargo will take at least double that.  Because of its isolation, Moon Wish Village has limited contact with other villages.

History

Establishing a new village takes several full cycles of seasons. When a small group of women begins plans to move, they make arrangements with a boy pack to scout for a promising location further along the river.  Once a site is found the women spend another cycle accumulating required supplies, and in the next dry season travel and set up the new village core. When the residents reach self-sufficiency, normally after four or five growing seasons, a Woman Woman is named.
The women who started Moon Wish Village had to undergo the process twice. After only two rainy seasons on the chosen site they realized there was not as much forested land as originally thought, and had to find a different location. The delayed timeframe made the new village dependent on supplies from Star Flower Village for twice as long as expected, a debt that was difficult to get out from under. Now that the village has been self-sufficient for several generations, they are careful about accepting other gits from Star Flower.

Points of interest

Boys who have been at Moon Wish Village during a full moon say that the view from the peak is unmatched. Although the full moon ceremonies are supposed to be held at the highest point within a village, it is not strictly true in most. Of all village peaks, the one in Moon Wish Village is lowest in absolute elevation, but locally it is the highest point within sight, which is not true of any other moon peak. The view is also more varied than from other villages, looking out upon mountain ranges to the east and west, steep river valley to the north, and a broad plain to the south.

Geography

The farming bias of the village's founders is evident in how far back from the river the cluster of houses are built. Women who fish in the river have to walk a half hour each way. The village is asymmetric, with most of the farming and foraging done on the hills to the north of the houses. The southern boundary is marked by the midden trench, a mere ten-minute walk from the stream.  The moon peak is in the northern half, inside the foraging zone.

Type

Village

Owner/Ruler

Moon Wish

Ruling/Owning Rank

Woman Woman

View from the future

Moon Wish Village became the epicenter of a bloody ideological conflict.  Although Moon Wish was the victor, it was the losing side that fled down the river and founded civilizations that spread along the coast and ultimately into the ocean.  None of those descendants have any knowledge that Moon Wish Village ever existed.