Bloody Petals

Once, Ilmorog was a tiny village lost in the vast savannah, and today it is a thriving industrial and tourist center, where life is vibrant. But on the outskirts of the city, where the same primitive huts stand, time seems to have stopped – people here still live by the teachings of their ancestors, in harmony with the spirits of the forest, river, and hills. Here, as it was hundreds of years ago, the tribe gathers in a circle around the fire to perform an ancient ritual dance, causing the dry, cracked earth to hum and tremble. Here, under the forest canopy, a bowl of 'drink of truth', infused with bloody red petals of tengeta, is passed from hand to hand. To a person with pure intentions, tengeta will reveal the truth, while a liar will be exposed. But that was how it was before the arrival of white people, who decided to turn the sacred drink into an ordinary commodity…