Chapter 13: Loincraft

In the Valley of the Strange Birds, Kopesh hammers away at his iron. The pounding of hot metal, the rhythm of the swing and hit, the smell of the fire all calm him in a way that allows for him to go on. In some ways, not remembering was better than knowing the truth of what happened before he was discovered. Kopesh knows this at the most fundamental level.

It was the strange birds that led the wanderer from the village off the path and into the jungle where he lay. Having been taken to the healing temple after his discovery, the people of the Valley tended to Kopesh. He was stripped naked, with only a sheet to cover him, lying on a thick bed of large, green jungle leaves. When he finally awoke, Kopesh recalled his story.

He was heading for his obstacle, his goal, the Dream City, but he was blocked by a malevolent, invisible force. Each time he tried the repugnant force would reject him, wherever he stepped. For each step a laid toward the Dream City, he was knocked back twice as far, only to return to try again. Minutes turned to hours, hours turned to days, until, well off the path, he was led struggling to survive from the Jungle by the strange birds, not cognizant of where he was, willing to give up.
Taken in for rehabilitation by a farmer of the Valley, Kopesh quickly convalesced. Obtaining employment as a smithy’s apprentice, he showed skill with a hammer and a willingness to work hard. Moving into a cottage of his own in the Valley, he quickly became familiar with the people, and particularly the women, of the Valley.

Perhaps because of his apathetic condition, or perhaps in spite of it, Kopesh became familiar with many of the women of the Valley. Discovering a new occupation with his new personality – “loincraft” they call it – he becomes the Casanova of the Valley, wooing women of low and high places, of all ages, from country and city. Surrounded by his new ladies court, he forgets entirely why he came to the Valley and loses himself in his new role. Kopesh slides into a daily life of sloth, lust, and gluttony.