It seemed to be a day like any other in the town of Gulu. Venti was just beginning and the weather was appropriately warm with small gusts of cool wind blowing in from the north and west. Fluffy clouds floated along with the winds overhead and Trafalgor couldn't quite keep the small smile off of his face as he entered the town from the northern entrance. His green robes billowed slightly, the dust kicked up and blew away from under his sandals, and he let himself appreciate the cool breeze blow over his freshly waxed head and through his chest-length beard.

He watched the children run through the streets before him with his forest-green eyes as he continued past the rows and rows of mud and brick homes with thatch roofing, his staff tapping the ground softly and the amulets hung atop it jangling every few steps. Seeing nothing amiss as he cast his gaze about, he gave a nod to one of the town guards as he passed. The guard returned the nod with a respectful, "Mtetezi" in acknowledgement.

He gave no further reaction, but internally shook his figurative head. Never in his wildest dreams did he see himself becoming the Protector of Gulu after he returned from his lengthy journey abroad to Ataiyo to "find himself." But after he came home to Gulu and ousted those problematic forest bandits, the Elder named him the Mtetezi for the town as a "reward." He (ruefully) still believed that it was the crotchety old man's way of getting back at him for his decade-long absence, but Trafalgor had absolutely no way to prove that theory.

Trafalgor's musing cut off as he stepped up to the single building in the entire town not made out of mud bricks and thatch; the old cobblestone and wood church where Father Sidney once resided and held his sermons. Where Trafalgor himself had learned to read and write… and where his journey out into the wider world of Revaliir began. After Father Sidney's passing, he left the building and all its contents to Trafalgor to use as he pleased. So Trafalgor had turned the church into a place where those who had grievances between them could air their issues to a neutral party… or where crimes could be brought to light and judged.

In the short few months he had held the position and opened the doors to the new "Court House", he had only had to deal with a small handful of quarrels and a single crime. Because it was a local who had committed the crime, the entire tribe had gathered around the building to hear the verdict… and the entire tribe was there to volunteer to encircle the man once Trafalgor had given his verdict. Many tears were shed that day, but both the man and the tribe came out of the ordeal stronger.

"Heh… I really am just stuck in my musings today, aren't I?" he said with a chuckle as he opened the wooden doors and propped them open with the stones set aside for the purpose. On the days where he would come into town from his small hut in the forest to the north, he would leave the doors open to let the town know he was there and available. He made his way past the rows of old wooden benches and up the two steps to the platform where a cloth mat was laid out near several books and other sundries. Once there, he renewed the incense in the small holder and lit it with a small application of fire manipulation before sitting on the mat facing the doorway and laying his staff across his lap. Settled to his satisfaction, he closed his eyes and began to fall into a light meditation.

It was a nice day out and the general sounds of the town outside remained as they usually did - with small spurts of conversation, children playing in the distance, and the general calm of a town at peace.

Or rather, it had been…

A young woman with black short hair and simple clothes was walking away from a house that lingered towards the edge of the village. A poor man had lost his amulet in the forest and sent out a notice to have it retrieved. Attie found it wedged between some rocks and had just returned it. He offered to pay her but Attie refused, instead asking for information about pottery. She wanted to learn more about pottery and how to make it, which happened to be information that the villager knew. With her payment settled, Attie was heading further into the village to see what it was like. Many of the villagers were staring at Attie which only confused her. Was it something on her face? Perhaps they had never seen glasses before. 

She happened to go into an alleyway where she was found by a thief immediately. The thief was wearing ragged clothes and had a knife in his left hand. Instead of running away or trying to escape, she got out her journal and made a sketch of the stranger. This was the first sketch that looked like a human, though it was still terrible. The confused thief began to shout and suddenly made a stabbing motion towards Attie. Seeing the attack, she dodged to the left towards the thief's body. Her teeth transformed into fangs and she chomped down on his hand. He dropped the knife and began desperately trying to get her to let go. Attie dropped his hand and watched as he ran away. 

Thinking that the incident was over, she began to walk through the village as though nothing happened. Attie did not have the social skills to understand that blood on her shirt would automatically make people suspicious or afraid of her. When a couple of guards began gathering around her, she had no idea why until she saw the thief with the bloody hand. Realizing that she was in trouble, she tried to flee the scene but ended up tripping over her own feet and sending herself face first into the dirt. The guards dragged her off to the court place to have her go to trial for attempted murder. Attie decided to go along with it, as she didn't want to hurt anybody because of some idiot's claims. When they dragged her into the building she saw a bald man with a long beard. 

"Hello baldy!" Attie said with a friendly wave. 

It had begun slowly, but soon the upturn in noise outside of the building sharply increased from some sort of commotion. Trafalgor roused himself from his meditation with a soft sigh and, on a hunch, sent out a burst of fire manipulation towards the torches on either side of the room to light them and the room.

Sure enough, a short time later a trio of guards dragged a young light-skinned (though somewhat dirt-covered) woman wearing glasses and simple travel clothing through the doorway, followed closely by a man he had seen little of in recent weeks. Several dozen other members of the tribe brought up the rear of the procession. The woman, strangely enough, greeted him as she was dragged in, but he took it in stride with a small smile. "Greetings, young lady," he greeted in return before turning his eyes to the man behind and slightly to one side of the guards. "Hmm… I take it from the reaction of the guards and the state of Mukisa's hand that this is not a social visit. Very well," he said as he turned his attention to the guards. "Please lead the woman to the front bench." He motioned with his staff to indicate the bench to his left. "Mukisa, you will sit there." He gestured to the bench on his right. Once everyone started to move to the indicated positions, he turned to the rest of the crowd and increased the volume of his voice to be heard over the din.

"If you wish to bear witness to this trial, you may sit on one of the benches or stand along the walls quietly. Otherwise, please remain outside or go back about your business."

Many came in and sat down, quickly quieting down, but others decided that they'd had enough excitement for one day and wandered away from the building. Once everyone had settled, Trafalgor turned his head to the injured man. "Now, Mukisa, what happened that caused your current state of injury?" he asked easily, but firmly.

"That crazy outsider-"

"The woman in question is mzungu, as you well know. You will speak in the common tongue so that she may understand the words you speak against her," Trafalgor cut the man off sharply with a glare. Mukisa glared back with a scowl, but gave a begrudging nod before continuing.

"That crazy woman attacked me out of nowhere! She was skulking between the rows of huts and I just went to make sure she wasn't up to something evil when she did her crazy magic to turn her mouth into an animal and bit me!" he cried out, gesturing wildly in the direction of the young woman on the other side of the room. "I was able to get away before she killed me and told the guards so they could catch her! She's probably rabid, too! She needs to be put down like the beast she is!"

Trafalgor glanced over to the woman and noted the dried blood on her clothing, but said nothing as he turned back to the man and motioned for him to come up the steps. "Show me the wound, Mukisa." He quickly complied, continuing to ramble away as he showed the bite mark to Trafalgor. Indeed, there were very defined bite marks, but they were neither deep, nor in a location that would commonly be injured were the man to have defended himself from any supposed attack. He knew what those injuries looked like all too well from seeing hunters come home at death's door after being mauled by one of the many predators on the plains. No, the marks on his hand looked like his own had when he had agitated one of the stray dogs in his youth and it had bitten him as a firm warning - deep enough to draw blood and cause pain, but not deep or vicious enough to leave lasting harm.

From the blood on the woman, there was little doubt that she did, in fact, bite Mukisa. However, it was yet to be determined as to why she bit him.

The teeth puncture pattern was not one he was overly familiar with. They were too narrow to be any large cat from the peninsula, but too wide to be any sort of canine. He glanced at the woman once more and quirked an eyebrow. "A tiger…? Or perhaps a bear?"

Instead of being led to the bench, she just hopped over to it and plopped down on the seat. Her eyes were wide with excitement as this was the first trial that she had been to. Even though it was her own trail, she was still excited. One of the guards whispered into her hear telling her that the bald man was named Trafalgor and was the judge for this trial. Attie nodded in thanks for that information. The guards seemed relatively nice to her due to how calmly she reacted to being dragged to this building and how she was not resisting the trial. The thief, Mukisa, began telling his own story about what happened to the court and Attie couldn't help but feel annoyed at the comments about her being rabid. It annoyed her that they thought that beasts should be put down and he clearly didn't know how being rabid worked! Not to mention he was making a big deal over what was nothing but a little bite…

"Bear bite." Attie responded to Trafalgor, "I want it to be known that I do not have rabies. Your hand would look very different if I did. And killing seems a bit excessive for what is just a bite. I did bite him, I'll not lie. Also can I have my journal? Its in my bag. I want to record this trial down. Its fascinating to watch these processes and I don't think I'll get another opportunity to be at trial." 

If they did decide to kill her over a bite, it would suck. She wasn't terribly keen on dying before her twenty first birthday or dying due to somebody as dumb as Mukisa. Attie looked into the audience and saw nothing but suspicious strangers. The only person who seemed remotely interested in seeing her side of events was the bald man. She wondered what Mukisa was trying to get out of this besides revenge. Surely all of this wasn't over some little bite? 

"Mukisa tried to steal from me and I bit him in response. That's my side of things." Attie said to Trafalgor then looked to the audience, "Oh and I saw a lovely shop afterwards that had delicious smelling breads for sale. So if the baker who owns that shop is here, I compliment you on your food!"

Death. No death. Who cared anymore really? If she was meant to die here, then she would die. 

Trafalgor couldn't help the small smirk at the woman's antics as she hopped over the bench, as carefree as he had ever seen someone at any trial - let alone their own. He noted that one of the guards had whispered something to her as he was listening to Mukisa tell his side of things, but as she wasn't being unruly, he assumed that it was informational in nature rather than some sort of threat or chastisement. In fact, all three guards seemed rather… relaxed around someone they had brought to him to be judged. There was more to the story that he wasn't quite seeing, he was certain.

He also noticed the annoyed look on the woman's face after Mukisa made his accusations. He mentally commended her for her restraint in not immediately retorting to them.

When the woman answered his question, Trafalgor gave her a smile and nod, then listened to the rest of her words while firmly holding Mukisa's hand in his own. When the man went to turn towards the woman and respond (most likely by yelling) Trafalgor squeezed his hand. "Enough." He noticed the man the woman complimented sitting a few rows behind her give a small smile… as well as the pensive frown of the man slowly making his way through the open doors in the back and finding a seat. The potter? He was certain the man lived closer to the other end of the village. 'Did the incident take place near his home or is he here for some other reason?' he thought before shuffling it to the back of his mind to concentrate on the pair in front of him.

Taking a moment to focus his magick, he sent a pulse of healing into Mukisa's hand for just long enough to start healing the major damage and bleeding, but not enough to completely make the wound disappear. Trafalgor's instincts were telling him that the man wasn't being truthful and that the woman was. If he was wrong, he would go back later and completely heal the wounds… but if not, then he felt that having marks to remind him of his ill-conceived ideas would be… beneficial.

"Mukisa, go sit down and hold your tongue," he said dismissively, gesturing to the bench on his right. "The young woman is correct in saying that were she actually rabid, you would be in a much worse state. I daresay we wouldn't be having this discussion what with her ability to transform into something that would give many of our local predators pause. I will also remind you of my own ability to do the same thing and advise you choose any further words wisely," he pointed out with a mild glare before turning his attention back to the woman with a much more serene expression. "Now, as for you. First, allow me to assure you that the threat of death does not hang over your head in this matter. The most at stake for you is a portion of your belongings and being expelled from the town." He raised a hand to forestall any immediate replies. "That is only if it is proven that you attacked Mukisa maliciously, and not in self-defense as you claim.

"I also understand your inquisitiveness, but I must clarify a few things before I can acquiesce to your request. First of all, my name is Trafalgor and I am the Mtetezi, or Protector, of Gulu. It is my duty to act as judge and mediator when incidents like this come up. As such, I am tasked with doing my utmost to ensure both parties are given equal opportunity to present their side of the story and judge which side has the right of things. Mukisa," he continued, gesturing to the other man with one hand lazily while not bothering to spare him a glance, "has given his side and shown his wounds that you have already admitted to causing. In the future, I would advise that you wait until you are asked before providing your side of a story if you ever find yourself in a similar situation."

Trafalgor paused and gave her a small smile, noting that she seemed to be treating this whole situation as a hassle, then went on. "My first question for you is quite simple: might I know your name?" He waited for her response, then proceeded with his next question. "Now, you say that Mukisa attempted to steal from you. Can you please tell me exactly what happened so that I might better understand the entire situation from your perspective?"

He listened patiently to her response, paying careful attention to how Mukisa reacted from the corner of his vision. 

Attie liked Baldy. That was the first thing that she had decided while the trial proceeded. Besides his general non-jerk attitude, it appeared that he genuinely cared about the truth which was a trait that she could respect. Even if the truth was nasty, it was still important to know. Attie listened to Trafalgor intently, her eyes never leaving his. She was determined to show him respect and listen to the people during the trial. This was her first trial and she needed to pay attenti-. Suddenly a butterfly flew past her face and her eyes began following it. Every part of her wanted to start chasing after it but she remained in her seat, instead just watching it from a far. What was the butterfly doing in the room? Had it flown in from a window or when the door opened? Her thoughts began to leave the trial and focused on the little creature flying around the room.  Until Trafalgor began asking her questions. Her eyes snapped back to the bald man and she tried to remember what was the last thing that he had been talking about. 

"Attie. Its a nice name, right?!" Attie said with a face of pure joy, "I'm really proud of having my name! Oh and yeah I'll describe what happened. So I was walking in the alleyway cause I was trying to figure out a shortcut. Then Mukisa, sorry am I pronouncing that right? Anyway Mukisa came out with a knife in hand. I wanted to remember his appearance since he was a stranger so I took out my journal and made a sketch of him. Then he tried to stab me. I managed to dodge to the left towards him and bit him with my teeth. Then he dropped the knife and ran away."

She then looked over to Mukisa.

"By the way, that is a bad strategy for stealing." Attie explained, "I'd suggest trying something like pickpocketing or straight up theft. Holding a knife to somebody only works if you know they are unarmed and can't fight. Its really dangerous. Perhaps you might want to find a professional to study under. With somebody to teach you, you'd have an easier time while lowering the risk factor. Or at least that's what I read in books. I've never stolen anything myself so I don't really know for certain. And don't ever let anybody tell you that you are not worthy or anything like that! You can do anything if you put enough work into it and believe in yourself!"

Her words were meant to help him and teach him. Attie wanted to get him better and help him achieve his goal of becoming a master thief. Or at least that's what she thought his goal was. 

He worried that perhaps the girl wasn't paying enough attention to the proceedings, but her direct response to his questions proved that fear to be baseless. Trafalgor couldn't help but smile at the pure joy on the girl's face and in her voice. "Yes, Attie is a very lovely name." The smile dropped off of his face as he listened to her side of events, but he did not turn his gaze to Mukisa until she began to address the man directly. As soon as she had mentioned the knife being dropped, but did not mention picking it up, his eyes shot to the guardsman in the back of the room, who quickly gave a nod and disappeared through the doors.

By the time Attie had finished her chastisement… or was it advice? Regardless, by the time she was done, Trafalgor simply raised an eyebrow at the man for a few moments, not saying anything, and watched the man's body language carefully. He was disappointed at what he saw.

He caught movement in the back of the room and turned his eyes once more to the returning guard, who nodded at him with a grim expression. With a sigh, Trafalgor focused on Mukisa and asked directly. "Mukisa. I will ask you only once: is what Attie claims true? Before you answer, I want to be clear that if it turns out that Attie's claims are proven true, you will have brought dishonor onto yourself for bringing this false claim to me in an attempt to discredit and harm an outsider. If this is the case and you lie to me once more, you will have dishonored both yourself and this village… and the punishment meted out will be appropriately harsher." Mukisa's complexion lost a shade as his eyes darted from Trafalgor, Attie, and back again.

"Well?" Trafalgor prompted once more.

"I… I'm…" Mukisa looked over at Attie once more before all the tension left his body and he dropped his gaze to the floor. "It's true, Mtetezi."

With a sigh, Trafalgor gave a nod, gesturing for the guard holding Attie's belongings to return them to her and for the guard in the back of the room to come forward with his findings. The spectators were murmuring amongst themselves at how everything had turned out, but Trafalgor raised a hand to call for silence once more. "Thank you for answering me honestly, Mukisa. I have no doubt that were Attie here," he gestured to the woman with a quick smile, "to show me her journal, I would see the sketch of you that she mentioned. Not only that," he held out a hand to the guard that had approached, taking the item wrapped in cloth from him and unwrapping it to reveal the knife in question, "but Kala here went to the scene and found the knife you dropped."

He placed the knife beside him on his mat and turned back to the man. "I am very disappointed with your actions, but I would hear your reason for attempting to rob an outsider before I give out your punishment. You do not have to tell me, but it may sway my decision."

Mukisa did not raise his head as he simply shook it from side to side, indicating that he did not wish to say anything further. Trafalgor nodded and took a deep breathe. "Very well. Mukisa, for your attempt to rob a visitor to the village, you will forfeit both the knife you used to commit your crime and are restricted to the village proper for one month's time. You will not be allowed outside the village to work the fields or join hunting parties during that time. After one month, assuming you have followed your restrictions, you will present yourself to me and be tested before being released." He turned to the room at large and raised his voice slightly. "Who among the natives of Gulu will act as his bondsman?" For a few seconds, there was no sound aside from the scuffling of shifting bodies throughout the room. Then near the back of the room, one of the elder members of the village slowly stood and spoke out.

"Mtetezi, I will act as this young one's bondsman," said the old potter with a serious expression. A small furor rose, but quickly quieted down as Trafalgor waved him forward. The guard, Kala, moved aside and disappeared out of Trafalgor's range of vision as he went behind him to retrieve the necessary item.

 "Very well, Tal. I won't question your commitment on this. You know what comes next." The potter gave a nod. Having said his piece, he reached out his left hand to his side, and promptly had a length of rope placed into it by Kala. He brought one end forward and tied a loose knot in it, forming a loop around the potter's wrist, then turned his head to Mukisa. "Come forth and be bound, Mukisa." The man stood, eyes still towards the ground, and approached Trafalgor and Tal. He, too, held one arm forward without a word. Trafalgor then tied a very intricate and tight restraint around his wrist, tying it off with a special knot and giving a nod. "You will remain bound to Tal for one month and return her after that time to be unbound. Do you understand, Mukisa?"

"Yes, Mtetezi," was the simple and quiet response.

"Very well. Moving on. For the crime of falsely accusing an outsider of a crime against you, I sentence you to sit in the village center sitting in a Circle of Atonement until dawn tomorrow." With those words, most of the people in the building stood up and began to file out of the room. No doubt, they were heading to the village center to form the circle ahead of time. "With that, we are done here. Tal, please escort Mukisa to the village center."

"Yes, Mtetezi. Thank you for handling this as you did." He turned his head to Attie and gave the girl a broad smile. "She's a good girl. Came to me wanting to know more about how I did craft. Wrote down everything in that little book of hers, too." He turned back to Trafalgor and gave a short bow. "I would have hated to see her punished for this one's impudence." With that, he turned and guided the guilty man out of the room.

Trafalgor gave a sigh and turned a smile to Attie. "Please come over, Attie." He waited until she had approached before reaching beside him and picking up the knife, mindful of the blades edge, and held it towards her, handle-first. "You have the apologies of our village. As reparations, you are entitled to the weapon he used against you if you so desire it." He looked down at it, identifying it as a well cared for hunting knife forged several years previously. "You are also entitled to a sum of silver from him… however, if his true reasons are for attempting to rob you are actually as I fear them to be, he does not actually have silver to give. Therefore," he reached into the pouch at his hip and came out with a handful of silver. He carefully dropped the silver into five piles of ten each. "I shall give you fifty silver in his stead as monetary recompense. Will this suffice, Attie?"

Attie watched quietly as the trial proceeded. She greatly admired how Trafalgor handled the situation. He never got angry nor did he shout, instead he kept his temper and simply asked questions. It was clear why he was chosen as the judge. At times he reminded Attie of the disappointed parents that she had seen in the village near Viren Forest. Though her own mother never looked like that due to being a bear and all. She continued to watch as the truth that Attie knew already was revealed. She watched as Mukisa admitted to his mistake, which surprised Attie. Most people she had met would have tried to cling to their lies no matter what the cost was, believing that it would save them from whatever punishment was about to be dished out. She was glad that he finally owned up to his mistakes, even if it took him this long to do so. 

Finally she got her notebook and other stuff back. Quickly, she snatched her quill and began to write down everything that had just happened, trying to include every detail. The trial had been eye opening because it demonstrated that it worked. The truth had come out and nobody innocent had been condemned. She listened as the punishment was being set for Mukisa. The punishment was fair and not half as harsh as it would have been in many other countries or cities. The punishment appeared to be less about punishing as it was about motivating him to never do it again. 

Another surprised popped up when the old pottery man volunteered to be a bondsman, whatever that meant. She soon began to understand what it meant when the pottery man was literally bound to Mukisa. However, this seemed like a good thing as it would give Mukisa some time to spend with somebody else. Attie was glad it ended up being the pottery man. During the time she spent with him, he was very patient and understanding despite the mess that Attie made during her lesson. When the pottery man said that she was a good girl, Attie's face had a big smile. Somebody thought she was a good girl! 

Suddenly Trafalgor called Attie over. She walked up to him and he pulled out the knife that had been used against her in the alleyway. Attie took the knife after he apologized for Mukisa's poor behavior. He then began to talk about the silver and how the man probably didn't have the money in the first place to pay it. Those words made Attie think for a while. She put the knife into her bag and took out her notebook again. Attie carefully wrote a message on the paper then ripped it from the notebook and folded it up. She then reached out and took the silver, placing it into a small empty pouch. Then she handed the pouch of silver to Trafalgor with the note. 

"Since this is my silver then…I want you to give it to Mukisa. It's not a reward or anything…but if what you say is true." She paused for a moment, "I think he can do better. Be a better person you know? If this is the source of his problem then I want to fix it. And make sure he reads the note first! It will impact how he receives the silver." 

The note read,
-Dear Mukisa, 

This is not a reward nor do you deserve it. This is a gift from me to help you get out of the situation you are in, whatever it may be. But I see hope in you, especially when you decided to tell the truth, even if it took you longer than it should of. I know that you have hopes and dreams other than being a thief. I believe in you. You can be a better person! Follow your hopes and dreams even when nothing is quite as it seems. Time to open up your eyes and get a good look at who you really are! I won't give up the chance to help you be the person I know you can be! I know you can go far! You just need to get out there and do it! You can go far to be what you idealize. It will be tough but don't give up cause your new day's on the rise!

P.S. The pottery guy is a good teacher. I would suggest learning some of his stuff. Even if you don't want to do it as a job, it is really good with relieving stress and anger.

Good luck,
Attie-

Trafalgor watched with interest as Attie looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to an empty page of her journal and began writing. Once she finished writing, she tore out the page, folded it up, took up the silver between them and promptly placed it into an empty spare pouch before returning it to him with the letter.

Her logic and reasoning caught him by complete surprise… and he began to laugh helplessly for a moment as he reached out and accepted the letter and pouch of silver. He then looked up at the woman with a large smile and gave her a nod. "Never in all of my years have I met an outsider like you. I think," he began as he stood for the first time since he entered the building, coming to his full height and looking down upon the much smaller woman, "that you would have made a wonderful addition to our village if you were born here." He turned and walked up to a well-used desk in the back corner of the platform, opened a drawer and dropped both the letter and the pouch inside it before closing it once more. Trafalgor then walked back to Attie, retrieved his staff from the ground and motioned for her to follow him out of the building. "I will ensure that he receives the letter when he comes to me to be unbound… and then give him the pouch."

As he came to the door, he stopped and turned to look at the smaller woman thoughtfully. "You know, I get the feeling that you are someone that understands ubuntu at a base level…" He did not explain the foreign word right then, instead gesturing to their left as he began walking again. "You are a highly inquisitive person… I'd bet good silver that you also want to know what a Circle of Atonement is, too, don't you? Then let me show you."

They walked for a few minutes, took another left past the next row of huts and could then clearly see a large gathering of people ahead in the village center… about twenty people of all ages sat on the ground in a circle. In the center of the circle sat Tal, the potter, and Mukisa. One by one, people sitting would stand, approach Mukisa, kneel down, say something to Mukisa and embrace them before turning and leaving the circle. Another villager would then sit in their place and the next would repeat the process.

Mukisa had tears freely pouring down his face as the process continued on, even some of the children of the village taking their turn in the Circle.

As the pair approached the edge, Trafalgor came to a stop and spoke softly to Attie to explain. "A Circle of Atonement is a punishment that isn't truly a punishment. It is how we show the person that did wrong that they are loved and can do better than they have before. Ubuntu means 'humanity to others'… or I suppose the better way to put it is 'I am what I am because of who we all are.'" He then pointed to Tal and the rope that bound him to Mukisa. "Do you know why I punished Mukisa with being bound in the village as I did?" He paused a bit to allow her the opportunity to say her piece if she wished, then explained. "His punishment was actually not just a punishment for him." 

He again pointed at the rope and the potter. "He has been bound to Tal, one of the only potters in Gulu, and he cannot leave the village to hunt or help in the fields," he explained simply. "His punishment has removed assistance for the village on multiple fronts. Not only are we now short on help with farming and gathering food, but one of our craftsmen now has the additional burden of caring and managing him. No, his punishment is actually a punishment for the entire village of Gulu… thus the Circle," he gestured broadly to the entire event. "I am what I am because of who we all are. If one of us has erred, then the village has erred in some way. Together we will fix the problem, and in the end, we will be better for it."

Trafalgor smiled down at Attie and couldn't help but think that the content feeling of a lesson well taught must have been what Father Sidney once felt with himself. "My late mentor, Father Sidney, used to always say that any mistake can be forgiven, so long as one has the courage to admit them. I have made sure to take that belief of his into account during trials like this."

He waited a bit longer for Attie to finish with taking in the event, then turned away, beckoning for her to follow. "Come, allow me to treat you to a meal. I'd like to pick your mind a bit about the contents of your journal." He smirked and reached into his robe, pulling out his own journal. "You can even read mine if you want. It goes over my journey many years ago when I was about your age and all of the things I learned."

Her eyes widened in surprise when she heard him laughing for a moment. At first she thought he was about to refuse her request, until he spoke again. Relief flooded through her mind as he began explaining that he had never met an outsider like her. A smile appeared on her face as she believed that to be a great compliment! She watched as he walked over to the worn desk in the corner to put the pouch and letter in a safe place. When he returned, he promised to her that Mukisa would receive the pouch once he was unbound. She followed him as they started to walk to the door and she stopped when he began speaking again. He mentioned something called Ubuntu which made Attie have a confused expression on her face. She had never heard of such a thing before! Her eyes glittered with curiosity as she mentioned Circle of Atonement. 

"Yes! I'd love to know about the Circle of Atonement!" She said with a big smile. 

They walked together for a short time, passing huts and turning a few corners until they approached a gathering of people. Attie spotted Tal and Mukisa right away, as they were the only familiar faces in the grounds, unless she counted the guards. She watched as people approached Mukisa, speaking to him and being embraced by him before leaving the circle. Even some of the children were taking their turn in the circle! Attie couldn't help but softly smile at the scene. Through her travels, she had met so many people who were rejected and denied all rights for a small or medium crime. This was a wonderful change of pace to that. Something that would actually get the person who needed help the help that would lift them to a better place. 

"No. Why did you punish him with being bond?" Attie asked curiously as she scrambled to get all of this information down in her notebook. 

Attie listened as he explained the binding and how it effected everybody in the village. This seemed to help prevent things like apathy among the villagers and encouraged everyone to help get Mukisa on the right path. She finished watching the event and began to follow Trafalgor for her free meal. Her eyes widened with delight when he pulled out his journal. To her, knowledge was better than any meal!

"Oo! We can trade journals!" She said with delight, "I'll read yours and you can read mine!"

They headed off to the meal and with their journals traded. Though Attie was careful to only show the information side of her journal and kept the more personal things private. She did not want friend, stranger, nor anybody to see into some of her deeper thoughts and feelings. Instead she simply showed her adventures and travels that stuck to the lighter side of things.