The Villagers were not treated well by the citizens of surrounding clans due to their perceived lack of wealth as a result of the Village's pledge to never raid or steal resources from others.
After decades of integrating the system of resource-sustainability-practices presented by 'The Deck', the village had actually started to accumulate a substantial amount of wealth, but the Clan Leaders kept this fact well hidden and asked that the villagers do the same.
This request confused and frustrated the villagers who had been discriminated against and talked down to for years due to the perceived low socio-economic status placed upon them alongside their support and affiliation with this new way of life.
Taking notice of the rise in confused discontentment, the Clan Leaders called for another Game Night in order to explain their reasoning.
They started by collecting stones from their environment and distributing them equally among all of the villagers. They then presented a scroll with potential hands of power the players could achieve by mixing their personal cards within the flow of the deck.
The catch was that their personal cards, what they truly had, was to remain a secret until the end of each round. Prior to revealing what they truly had, each villager had the opportunity to boast and brag, to tell everyone how good or bad their hand was, regardless of what the reality was.
The Clan Leaders watched as the villagers played with their resources, acting as if they were richer and better, fooling others to believe the same. As the night went on, the biggest boasters and braggers became the targets of the lesson the Clan Leaders had in store. As they gained through projecting a higher status, they also became vulnerable to those who had observed in silence, that in all reality had greater resources and better hands.
By the end of the night, the loud ones had put themselves at risk and were being targeted constantly by the other players until each lost all of their resources and were eliminated from the game.
"Whether or not one has resources or a better hand has nothing to do with what one says or projects about them," the Clan Leaders said as the night came to an end.
"The neighboring clans spend resources to make others perceive them as having more resources. This only reduces the amount of resources they have, while putting themselves at a greater risk of being targeted by those who want what they believe they have."
"We remain silent and humble, observing and using our resources logically and intelligently so that we never become desperate enough to invoke violence out of desperation and need."
"The false perceptions and ill treatment with regards to our wealth are only emotional and temporary. If you can remain strong and unaffected by their misinformed words, we will grow sustainably stronger in silence, out of target and out of mind until we have the resources to not only protect ourselves, but those around us still affected by the raiding engrained in our surrounding culture."
"In the meantime, enjoy the temporary feelings of playing with resources and perceptions, within the construct of our game nights, but never in reality. This is how we will become the example of how to grow without taking from others."
With that it became clear. Emotions, perceptions, and reality are not all one and the same. In order to build the future the villagers were working towards, it mattered not what the other clans thought of them. The villagers once again found peace in their process and became less and less affected by baseless words with regards to wealth.
