The Dead Lands

Dead eyes of the night...

...stare at me not!

Long ago...

...our lands were the scene of a great battle.

It was a bloody and glorious time.

But now, peace reigns in these lands

and we all enjoy it.

Welcome, Wirepa.

Your father is not with you?

He apologises...

...and sends you his regards.

Let us go then...

...to the Place of Bones.

It is noble of you to listen to your ancestors...

...and seek proper burial for them.

We have not hunted or fished here

since the great war...

...your ancestors have been honoured

all these years.

May you find what you seek.

Do you still walk here, my ancestors?

I will avenge your deaths.

You will sing my name...

...and of my glory.

Welcome me, my noble ancestors.

I have a gift for you.

Sacrilege!

You dare lay hands on a chief's son?

Sacrilege!

There in the forest...

...your son...

...defiling the bones of my ancestors.

I saw him!

Did you do what he says?

No, Father!

He did it.

This is his plan...

...to blame us. I know it!

When my father finds out...

...it will be war.

We are at the edge of a precipice, Lord.

If my son did this act...

...then I myself will kill him...

...so that the bond between

our two tribes remains strong.

Father!

Be still, fool.

If I sacrifice my son...

...to the God of War...

...would you consider the balance restored?

Will it end your grievance

against me and my kin...

...for now and always?

It is all right, Father.

I did not do this thing...

...but I embrace death, if it helps you.

You make me proud that you are mine.

Is it at an end?

Will his death serve to bring us together,

for all time...

...as witnessed here by us all?

Yes?

Or is it no?

No sacrifice can repair this insult

to my ancestors.

You are all responsible

and my father will hear of it.

And when he does...

...pray doom does not fall upon your heads.

Brave warriors!

War feeds our glory...

...there is no place for peace.

Do you want them followed?

We could kill them in their sleep...

...and feast on their flesh this very night.

There has been a desecration.

It was likely done by Wirepa himself...

...a pretext for what is to come.

If his father wants cause for war, he has it.

There is nothing that will stop it now.

Finally something honourable

for a warrior to do.

If you were not so stupid, boy...

...I would thank you.

I want to be a warrior.

Is it not good to die in a great battle?

Does it not honour our ancestors?

To the east of here...

...lies the place we call the Dead Lands.

Once, a great tribe lived there...

...but they disappeared.

One day they were there, the next...

...they were gone.

A land without people, a dead place.

I do not want that...

...for our tribe.

They sigh at us.

The dead moan at us from the earth.

We can hear them.

We must heed their call...

...listen to their sighs.

We walk with our dead...

...but we don't yet know it.

Murder! Treachery!

I underestimated you.

You are truly your father's son.

Yes.

Before long...

...your tribe will be no more.

I will fill your daughter's uterus with dirt.

And that will be your lineage forever...

...dead earth.

Indeed...

...you are a warrior, Tane.

You will remember this face.

I will stare at you from death...

...and wait for you to join me.

You and all here...

...are cursed.

Well said.

A glorious way to die.

Slaughter the rest!

We will eat our fill tonight.

We take his head.

You are cursed.

I pity you.

Did you find the boy?

No.

The boy fled.

We leave.

Our men are dead...

...and they took your father's head.

Where were you, boy?

Look...

...see what you have done

to our glorious people.

Look!

What plant is this?

Wirepa has our father's head.

Do you understand the lesson?

Our ancestors scream at me for repayment.

And what can you do?

One against so many?

I will get repayment alone...

...or die seeking it.

If I could...

...I would kill Wirepa myself.

But I cannot.

And neither can you.

If I do not return...

...tell stories about me.

We will cross here.

That way is forbidden.

It goes though the Dead Lands.

So we'll move swiftly, then.

Travelling through the Dead Lands

saves us five days.

My lord...

...Tahi is right.

Those lands are forbidden...

...we risk the wrath of its spirits.

They say there is...

...a monster.

A monster who eats

the flesh of anyone who passes...

...who consumed a whole tribe.

What do I care...

...of monsters?

Or the dead ancestors of this place?

They will marvel at my glory!

And the ghosts will hide from us.

Yes, Lord.

We go.

Come here, boy.

Don't you recognise me?

The young have such short memories.

I am your grandmother.

I have never spoken with the dead before.

I am proud of you.

But...

...you are a fool.

What do you think you will do on your own?

I will kill Wirepa.

He will kill you.

Stupid!

I will not let it be so.

I am my father's son.

Then think, boy...

...as your father would have.

I know who can help us.

The flesh-eating warrior

who haunts these lands.

There is something of your father

in you after all.

Why are you here, little one?

Don't you know

men who come here never leave?

I am here to speak with

the warrior who is said to live here.

I am a chief.

Is that right?

A chief?

Show these witches no fear...

...or they will devour you.

They feast on the blood of great warriors.

This way, boy.

What you seek is inside.

Enter at your peril.

How old are you, boy?

Nearly sixteen seasons.

You are a dwarf, then.

Even small things can be useful...

...and some large things not.

You're funny.

Perhaps I should hang you above the fire,

keep you as my entertainment.

Or a tasty treat.

What do you think?

Nothing?

I caught this fellow hunting on my lands.

See what I did to him?

Why aren't you laughing, boy?

Why are you here?

Tell me...

...and I'll decide...

...whether to kill you

and eat you, or not.

I follow a man...

...he is called Wirepa.

Even now he walks through your lands...

...as if you do not exist.

Be quiet!

Mind those wives of mine, boy.

You know what they are doing?

They eat these mushrooms...

...and their heads fill with visions...

...and they talk to the dead.

Finish your story then...

...and we'll see if I eat you.

What is it?

A lizard on my staff...

...it is a bad omen.

Or not.

I told you we would be cursed.

This is proof.

The creature has polluted my weapon.

I cannot use it now.

We must leave this place.

Fool!

It is a genuine omen.

We are cursed...

...that is what it says.

You can hear it talk, can you?

Sleep.

Tomorrow we move on...

...and all will be as before.

The boy reminds you

of your own dishonour...

...that much is plain.

You won't escape this life so easily.

Until you die, I cannot kill myself.

I am trapped in this dishonour with you.

Seeing you suffer...

...is the only pleasure left to me.

Help the boy.

Why?

Give his blood to your ancestors.

Ask their forgiveness...

...so that you might join them in the afterlife.

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