Irstat-Kes
this was the title given to the second-eldest female of each tribal group. The term meant "tribal leader," although the female Irstat-Kes was not a matriarch. She was simply the leader of the tribe while the males were out hunting for food. If she lived long enough, the Irstat-Kes would become the oldest female in the tribe, and would become the tribe's wise woman - known as the Mother - after being succeeded by a younger female. The position of irstat-kes was not something a female Tarasin aspired to; instead, it was the will of the irstat which female became its leader.