This was at the time before Orna was given and we were not Formoris yet.

The Nemedians, a people of sea pirates coming from Northern Islands, had invaded the lands where our ancestors had settled and most of the tribes had fled inland, deep in the forests, deep in the valleys and deep in the swamps. Others had fled overseas.

It had been three generations since the King Nemeds, the holy leading priests of the Nemedians, had been able to sit and converse under the Sacred Tree, on the island off the coast of Bara, which the children of Ybaer could only worship in distance, around the Younger Tree of Yloxa, far from the sea.

One of the tribes, which had not been enslaved by the Nemedians, had founded a group of three villages, on the Northern shore of the River, next to the swamps, where they managed to survive the insects and the epidemics, growing sheep and fishing trout.

Away from the eyes of the Nemedians who regularly patrolled the river, the tribe had been able to maintain its skills in forging bronze swords, spearheads and arrowheads. And one night, while they knew that most of the Nemedian fleet was at sea, all the valid men of the tribe, wearing leather armors and horse-haired helmets, moved to Bara, in an expedition to free the Tree.

Unfortunately, a group of young Nemedians, gone fishing, spotted the troop on the shore and rushed back to Bara to warn the guards. When the warriors arrived, a trap had been set. Caught by surprise, they were surrounded and captured.

The ruling King Nemed decide to keep them in custody and sell them as slaves in the Southern Cities after the fishing season is over. Meanwhile, he thought he had to make an example and sent his warriors to burn down the rebel villages and bring back the women and children as slaves.

Two ships of Nemedian warriors were sent on the river and when the women saw them arriving near the villages they knew their men had failed. Some began panicking and wanted to run and hide into the swamps. Others refused. They might have lost their husbands and sons, they will not loose their villages too. Instead, they collected all the hunting bows and arrows the men had left and hid around their houses.

When the Nemedians set foot on the shore, they were so confident that they did not wear any armor. What would they risk from lonely women? Actually, they expected to have some good time before going back to Bara. They dispatched into the villages and found them empty. When they entered the houses, each of them was welcomed with an arrow in the throat and fell in the dust without a cry. Only one of them was spared and surrendered when he saw dozens of angry women ready to slaughter him in the blink of an eye.

The women had a plan. First, they dyed their hair in red to look like the hairy Nemedian warriors. Then they washed the clothes of the dead warriors and wore them. They put their own clothes on the bodies of the Nemedians, darkened their hairs with ashes and packed them in one of the ships. Disguised as Nemedians and guided by their prisoner, they sailed back to Bara.

When, they arrived in Bara, a guard on the landing stage hailed them:

"Where are the women?"

"They are in the ship we trail!" answered the prisoner.

The guard looked at the bodies, tied together with ropes and said, laughing:

"They look quiet!"

"Now they are!" answered the prisoner. "WeÕll need some help to disembark them!"

The guard then called the other guards for a helping hand. This was exactly what the women had expected. They had bent their bows and when they stood up, all the guards were killed without a cry. ThatÕs how they could enter the City unnoticed.

Shortly after that, they had freed their men. Then, altogether they collected all available weapons and rushed to the bridge which led to the Rock of the Tree. The remaining Nemedian guards could not resist them and the King Nemed was easily captured.

The word was spread all over the country and a rebellion surged against isolated Nemedian chiefs and their troops so that when the Nemedian fishing fleet was back, they found that their King had been captured and that hundreds of young warriors had gathered, ready to fight them if they dared to set foot again on this shore. So they decided to sail back to the North.

Since that time, Formori women use to dye their hair in red when it is time to show to their men that they are ready to fight even if all hope is gone.