The time of Creb had passed, and when the Mog-urs gathered together at the Clan gathering, it became clear a new first ranked Mog-ur would have to be chosen. Goov, from Broud's Clan, presided over the ceremonies at first.
"To choose a new first ranked mog-ur," he said, "we must have a vote, as Clan tradition dictates. There will be two candidates, each must be nominated and seconded. Each candidate must also have an acolyte they are training, should anything happen to them. Does anyone have any nominations?"
"I nominate Goov," gestured Noord, "He was Creb's acolyte; he learned from the best. He will keep the spirits happy, as Creb did for many years."
"I will second Goov," added Zorn.
Goov nodded, "I accept this nomination. Are there any others?"
Vorg motioned, "Brec. He is not from the first ranked Clan as Goov is, but he is an older mog-ur and has already proven his skill. He would make a fine chief mog-ur."
Drac signaled, "I second that nomination."
Brec added, "And I accept this nomination whole-heartedly. My mother's mate, Brac, was chief mog-ur before Creb; it was always his dream that I might be first ranked, too."
Since Goov was a candidate, Noord, of the second ranked Clan, took over the presiding role. "Each candidate must have an acolyte chosen from their Clan. Who are your acolytes?"
Brec stated, "My acolyte is Droob. He has assisted me for years and shows much skill towards becoming a good mog-ur."
Goov began, "My acolyte is Croog. He is still quite young, but he shows the talent for it early."
"Croog is still an infant; he can not be your acolyte!" Growled one the other acolytes.
"He is a child, not an infant. He is walking and has been weaned. He lives at the hearth of our Clan's second-in-command, and is the firstborn son of our medicine woman, Uba. Already he shows much skill towards hunting. He is a thoughtful boy, full of questions. I feel he would be a good mog-ur."
The mog-urs nodded, agreeing with this comment. Noord gestured, "Clan tradition states that we must have a vote. After the votes are tallied, the new chief mog-ur is announced publicly to all the Clans at the gathering, and this evening there will be a feast and ceremony, to cement this choice with the spirits."
The mog-urs watched with rapt attention as Noord produced a small leather bag, a large flat stone, and a bowl of red ochre. He passed the bag around the room, and each of the ten mog-urs removed a small flat stone. Noord then placed the empty bag next to the bowl in the center of the circle. He held up the large flat stone.
"To vote for the candidate you feel would be the better chief mog-ur, you must draw the symbol of their totem onto your piece of rock and then place into the bag." Noord scooped some of the red paste out of the bowl. "If you wish to vote for Goov, his totem is the aurochs." Noord then drew a large version of the symbol, a V-shape atop a small circle, on the left side of the flat rock. "If you wish to vote for Brec, his totem is the onager." Noord then drew this symbol, a V-shape on top of a small triangle, on the right side of the stone, next to Goov's symbol. Then, he placed the stone, on the ground, next to the bowl and bag. "Now it is your turn to vote."
Each mog-ur removed a dab of the paste and drew on their rocks. Within a few minutes, all of the stones were in the bag. Noord signaled, "Now it is time to count the votes." He was struggling to hide the nervous look on his face, and all the men knew why. Only Creb had been truly able to count. These mog-urs, lacking Creb's super-ability, could count only to three or four. Each of them silently hoped that when the votes were separated, it would be very obvious who the winner was.
As Noord removed the small stones, he placed them on the large flat stone, smaller symbols on top of their matching larger ones. The first vote he pulled out was for Goov. The one for Brec. Another for Brec. Another for Goov. Another for Brec. Another for Brec.
Brec could not hide his excitement. "I have won! I am the new chief mog-ur!" he gestured happily, then swept all the little rocks off the big one.
Panic lasted for a few moments. Sweeping the stones off the rock clearly announced to the spirits that the winner had been chosen. But not all the votes had been counted! The men gestured wildly having no idea what to do.
Goov snarled, "We did not count all the votes! Brec might not be the winner!"
"It is very obvious I have won!" was Brec's angry reply. "There is no need to count the others!"
"Somebody bring in all the acolytes; they need to see this, so they?ll know what to do if it ever happens again," commented one of the mog-urs, and the others all nodded in agreement.
Once all ten acolytes had joined the mog-urs in the small room, Noord described what had happened concerning the vote.
Goov spoke up as soon as Noord was done. "We should recount all the votes. It is the only fair way to determine who is the real winner."
We should not have a recount." Droob, Brec's acolyte spoke. "Brec has clearly won, and if you were a man, Goov, you would honor that choice."
"We will all accept that choice, if it is the choice, but not all the votes were counted so how can we know?" Zurg, one of the other acolytes, commented.
"You are acting like a child, Zurg. Is that how you want the Clan?s and spirits to think of you, as a silly child?" sneered Droob.
"You're the one acting like a child, Droob."
"I'm no child! I had my manhood ceremony several seasons ago, and my mate is expecting a child."
"Enough!" Noord gestured, angrily. "There will be no petty arguments in the place of spirits. I think that Goov is right; we must recount the votes to be certain of the winner."
So all the stones were put back in the bag, and then pulled out and placed on the larger stone, as before. A vote for Brec. Then Goov. Another for Brec. Brec. Goov. Brec.
"See? He is the winner." Said Droob.
Another vote for Goov. The men sat silently, waiting to see what would happen next. Noord put his hand into the bag, pulled out a stone and gasped. He showed it to the men. The V-shape was obvious, but instead of a clear circle or triangle, there was a smear!
All the people in the room started gesturing madly, for no one knew what to do.
"That smear is circle shaped; it is clearly a vote for Goov!"
"Nonsense! It could be either, that vote should be thrown out!"
"We'll never know! Let's have a revote!"
"I tell you, the vote was for Goov!"
"No for Brec!"
"Goov!"
"Brec!"
Noord stopped the confusion with a gesture. "Because this vote is unclear, it will not be counted."
"Then I won! I won!" Brec swept off the stone, again, and there was a panic, again, because not all the votes had been counted, again!
Goov lowered his head, a sad look on his face. He wanted to be first ranked mog-ur so badly, but he didn't want a fight. He didn't want the spirits to be uncertain about who had won, and cause trouble for all the Clans. With dignity, he gestured, "Brec feels I has won. I will accept and honor this, and support him."
Noord rose and signaled, "Come. The evening is upon us; it is time to go. We shall feast and celebrate, as a Clan, our new chief mog-ur." He paused for a moment before adding, "All mog-urs will return here after the feast, for a ceremony that will cement Brec's place in the clan."
All of the Clan's at the gathering enjoyed the feast, and Brec received many compliments and congratulations. He stood happily, enjoyed his new honored place, surrounded by light and happy people.
Several acolytes: Zurg, Norv, Vurc, and Broov, stood off in the shadows. Zurg gestured, "Let's go count those votes. See who really won."
Vurc looked nervous, "I don't want to do anything that might anger the spirits."
Norv signaled, "We'll put them on the ground, not the sacred stone. Then we won't disturb the spirits."
The boys trooped off the place of spirits, a small nook in the back of the cave. The divided up the stones into three piles. Goov's stones, Brec's, and that one strange smeared rock. The four of them stared down at the piles. Five stones were in Goov's, four were in Brec's, and that one weird stone.
Broov asked, "Anybody know how to count?"
"No."
"My mog-ur has not taught me yet."
"I sure don't."
"Hmmm," Broov mused, "I guess we'll never know then."
And they scooped the stones back into the bag and left, each wondering who the real winner was.