The First Tribe is found by two mythic figures: First Mother and First Hero. We’ve spoken about First Mother elsewhere. Now we will speak about First Hero. First Mother is linked to her patron: The Weaver. And likewise First Hero is linked to their patron: The Great Serpent. The Great Serpent personifies two things primarily. He is the anthropomorphic personification of drive and ambition, the embodiment of the quest and the adventure. He is also the guardian of consent, and the ability to abstain and decline and walk away. And these things are embodied in the bargain that the Great Serpent makes with the one who will become First Hero.
The Bargain with the Great Serpent goes like this. The First Hero is born from the Bargain with the Great Serpent. The tale of the First Hero when the scavenger folk who will become the First Tribe, find themselves faced with an enemy force they are unprepared to face. The Great Serpent offers the path of the First Hero as a way to overcome this danger. The Great Serpent does so in exchange for venerating the values of the Great Serpent. The Great Serpent does not ask that they venerate him, which is an important distinction. The Great Serpent also explains how the scavenger folk could survive without his aid, and he explains the costs of doing so. In explaining this, he gives the scavenger folk agency in this bargain. The choice is a fair choice, because the Serpent gives the scavenger folk a method with which they can walk away from the bargain. The Scavenger Folk consider the options, and eventually one of the children accepts the offer of the Great Serpent. This is also important. consent comes only from that child. The other scavenger folk are not allowed to block the child from making the agreement. And the Great Serpent bestows the insight of the First Hero on the child of the scavenger Folk, and the scavenger folk take their next step towards becoming the First Tribe.
So what is the through line in this story: respect the autonomy and decisions of others.
We must ask rather than coerce. This requires that both parties have agency in the agreement and the building of agreement.
This requires people deal as equals. This requires that people be equal on a foundational level. In order that all parties be on equal footing, they must all be able to walk away from the agreement. And this requires that both parties be able to survive without the agreement.
The adherent then, is expected to live by the following guides. They shall respect the autonomy of others and their ability to give or refuse consent. Those who refuse people the right to abstain are walking with the Locust. Those who force or coerce consent are walking with the Locust.
Professor Harbinger's School for Villains 