Three years before the "Mystery of the Olko beads," story, a great famine hits the Yakunko lands claiming all food crops except for the "Unnu'(sunflower) crop! A southern farmer known as Yudo Ramundo discovers the Unnu crop could survive through the...
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They found him in a meeting with three other village elders. Whatever they were discussing, Tsote felt like they needed to know. So they went around until they found a closer spot near an extensive ox kraal. They listened.
'...if Mgonga has fallen too, then the invasion of the wild can no longer be underestimated.'
'Chief Chenoya and the surviving people of Mgonga?'
'They managed to push back as far as Nasheti villages but found the eastern territories of Nasheti settled on by people from Kigedo villages. Chief Okukko provided them with a passage through Nasheti so they could settle halfway between Nasheti village's Northern borders with Marakusha's. But we don't think this is good for us.'
'And as we speak, the wild is pressing hard against the Southeastern wing of Nasheti village. We could win because Chief Chenoya and the surviving warriors of Mgonga and Kigedo villages are fighting back with us...' came the messenger. 'But we no longer got enough Honto dust to safeguard the village nor enough food to feed our warriors and their families altogether.'
'Food we can understand. But concerning Honto dust? We don't think we got enough to spare...' Menshi D'amunsa started.
'We gave much of our Honto dust to our kin in Nukoki and Manyero Villages to help them cease the wild's advance North...' came Chief Chenoya's messenger.
Nukoki alone required everyone's assistance because we heard its reserves were burnt down. Accidently or not... Menyora, Kigedo, Mgonga and the rest were just enough to help her out from zero...' Menshi D'amunsa retaliated.
'Yes. But there was no necessity then because the sunflower fields were alive and still provided the security of the village against the wild.' Came the messenger.
'What now?'
'Not until we received the shocking news that the Hombaki trees in Kigedo were sickly and withering.' the messenger narrates. 'We couldn't believe this until swarms of Honto butterflies started landing in Manyero and Mgonga.'
'What was wrong with the trees?' Menshi D'amunsa asked.
'No one had any idea what was causing the illness. Everyone simply hopes the problem would revert! Not until swarms of Honto Butterflies started deserting the trees and sunflower fields there to land in Manyero and Mgonga.'
'Was it an illness or some sort of mismanagement of the...?' Menshi D'amunsa asked.
'We cared less until two more weeks later when Menyora village reported similar hints of withering among their Hombaki trees. My brother Chief Chenoya heard the news and travelled there to try and understand the problem.' The messenger narrates. 'And on return, he sent for Menshi Yudo Ramundo who planted these trees and whom he believed would understand better the root of the whole problem...'
'We revived the messenger and Menshi Yudo acted in haste as he needed to...' Came Menshi D'amunsa.
'What happened then because we waited another eight days without... ?'
