There were many clans residing in The Dimension of Barbarik, namely the True Believers, the Idealists, the Power Hungry, the Skeptics, the Indifferent and the Truly Persecuted. Nanah Cub had been born into The Clan of the True Believers.

The True Believers believed that all citizens had been sent to The Dimension of Barbarik for a specific purpose and that was to prove their worth by following sacred clues. The True Believers were the clan that attracted the most ridicule from the other clans for any Barbarikian believing in doctrine such as pre-life were surely fools. Where was the scientific proof to back up their beliefs? Pre-life, testing ground, true worth, after-life, eternal progression? Poppycock!

The Clan of the Idealists prided themselves in being open minded, though they strongly felt it should be “obvious” to all citizens that they alone knew just exactly how the affairs of The Dimension of Barbarik should be conducted. Of course that was because they only wanted the best possible life for every citizen, asking nothing for themselves in return except of course that everyone else agree with their philosophy that those who have should give the majority of what they have to those who haven’t. That is how it came to be that the Idealists set themselves up as the true champions of the Truly Persecuted. And that is how it came to be that the Clan of the Idealists were the least tolerant of the True Believers, for they were the one group that would never “agree.” The True Believers believed that each citizen should be rewarded according to his or her own efforts, exception being made for orphans, the disabled and the aged ones.

Members of the Clan of the Power Hungry knew beyond any doubt that it was their destiny to “take charge” for surely there could be no dispute that they were superior in every way. It was only logical that they dominated every facet of Barbarikian life but they most often ended up in high places in the Ruling Body of Barbarik. True, there were quite a few Idealists holding ruling positions and some Skeptics and Truly Persecuted also and even a couple of True Believers, but mostly the Ruling Body was comprised of the Power Hungry. Of course the Clan of the Indifferent were never found holding any governing position. Why should they? They were positive beyond any possible doubt that nothing they could ever possibly do could positively make any difference.

The Skeptics were the “show me” clan. They prided themselves in not being naive. They did not say that the True Believers were right or simply misguided. They did not say that the Idealists were right or simply well meaning. They did not say that the Power Hungry were right or simply overachievers. They did not say that the Indifferent were right or simply misinformed. They did not say that the Truly Persecuted were right or simply malcontents. They logically and systematically studied each and every notion set forth by each of the clans and then came to the conclusion that they as yet could come to no conclusion.

The Truly Persecuted were the angry clan and for good reason. In a time far back in Barbarikian history, Evil Leader had lusted after the fair Goldilocks. It is of no consequence which of the five clans she came from, what matters is that Goldilocks had hair that matched the color of sunbeams at noonday. She spurned Evil Leader’s advances, not in private, but in public for all the citizens in The Dimension of Barbarik to witness. Humiliated beyond tolerance, his immediate and infamous command had been “off with her head!” and it was so. But that was not the end of his retaliation for her indiscretion. He sent forth an Executive Order demanding that every citizen in The Dimension of Barbarik, no matter which clan they belonged to, who had hair the color that matched the sunbeams at noonday should be banished from their homes and land forever. Many families and communities were torn apart and there was great lamenting in the land. Nevertheless, Evil Leader’s will was carried out for The Law must be obeyed, for once disobeyed total anarchy would follow. Total Anarchy had been tried once before. Didn’t work. (Of course any riches left behind by those poor, unfortunate souls were then deemed to be the property of Evil Leader.)

With no place to call their own, the outcasts built makeshift shelters of tika bush, covered themselves with cloth woven with the strands from the sibannac plant and foraged for whatever food they could find all the while constantly being told to “move on.” Anyone found trying to give aid to the outcasts would meet the same fate as the original Goldilocks. Any citizen having hair with roots that matched the color of sunbeams at noonday also met with the same fate of the original Goldilocks. The Goldlockians, as they came to be called, eventually became an angry, dirty and pathetic people. In a much later and more sympathetic time a new Executive Order issued by Compassionate Leader generously allowed the Goldlockians to become servants to the real citizens (those who had official Clan membership), which greatly improved the quality of Goldlockian life. The True Believers were found to be heartless in this transition for they refused to take in any Goldlockian as servant.

Then after a hundred thousand sunsets of suffering, humiliation and degradation, the Goldlockians were finally granted legal clanhood once again during the reign of Just Leader. The newly established clan was fittingly called the Clan of the Truly Persecuted. They once again were given full Clan status equal to that of the other five clans in The Dimension of Barbarik and were granted lands of their own (1/6th portion donated from each of the original five clans) with additional privileges and considerations to compensate for their cruel banishment so many years before. Still the Truly Persecuted never forgot nor forgave the evil that had been done to their people so long ago and were constantly demanding more in the way of reparations. This put them at odds with the True Believers who believed that it would be doing a disservice to any citizen to expect anything less than self-sufficiency.

Nevertheless, all things taken into consideration, life was adequately tolerable for all citizens in The Dimension of Barbarik at the time that Nanah Cub made his grand entrance.