Fear of the other...5 liters...
"Garrett is quick to note the sullen change in her demeanor. “The elders told me the Arwyks laid in wait, probably not far from where we are now. Their warriors were nearly three hundred strong, or so the tale tells. Many of that number were the freshly taken slaves from the neighboring tribe and those slaves didn’t care to die for the cause of others so as scouts were sent out, one of them stood out too far into the lantern light from the walls and got himself noticed and caught so as to avoid dying needlessly.”
"Garrett stops long enough to concentrate on pushing a fresh needle through the seam of his sandal boots as he adds a winter layer to them. He’s also quick to check on Gris’ mood, much improved since he stopped asking about her past. “The slave gave up the numbers and intentions of his fellows readily enough but the town folk weren’t convinced, so great was their hatred of the tribes. They starved him and beat him while his fellows planned and plotted their attack, they whipped him and burned him and stuck him in a hole in the ground and so fervent became the townsfolk’s interest in gleaning the real plan of attack from their captive savage that they gathered all around his misery and left a gate short staffed.”
“The leaders of the Arwyks saw that one of the gates was nearly unmanned and made their move. It’s said that even as the alarms began to ring out and the attack on their walls began, the people who had gathered were so enthralled in extracting some imaginary hidden information from the poor miserable slave that they ignored the alarms, or simply didn’t hear them.”
“The Arwyk warriors and their enslaved thralls stormed the city, capturing its goods and killing and conquering those they found in their wake until the leaders of the tribe followed the even louder sounds of screams into the town center. It was there that the leaders of the tribe saw the reluctant warrior, laid out on a slab of stone, being pulled taught by camels being prodded in two opposite directions. The sheriff of the town had long since opened up the stubborn muscles surrounding the poor man’s guts and was busy playing around inside them as he howled and begged for death.”
“That was the image that confronted the leaders of the invading tribe and it so repulsed and disturbed them that the Arwyks fled Vantown never to return. They didn’t take a single piece of meat with them, nor a drink of water for so tainted by evil were the people of the settlement that the water and animals they used for nourishment were considered below contempt to touch much less use.”
"Garrett stops talking and continues to focus on finishing the addition and reinforcement of his boots."
“So that scared away all the tribes forever?”
"Garrett nods. “Winneh’s father, Tohan, our chief, says that no tribe has ever crossed the shadow of the Vantown walls since then. I tend to believe Tohan, he knows this area better than any man I’ve ever spoken with.”