Brand has the strength to work and farm, the will to fight and conquer, the knowledge to create and build, the wisdom to lead and judge. But he is alone, Aidan having returned to the Fire Within.
He returns to the Door between worlds that Aidan had created. He uses it to bring forth others Born of the Fire Within to the World Beyond. And then they are tested, to see if they will be Born of the Fire Beyond, the fire that brings light to their eyes, knowing to their minds, work to their hands, and wisdom to their tongues.
The test consists of this: He gives them a Gourd, grown from the original vine that grew the Gourd that brought him sight. If those pigs born of the Fire Within are able to pick up the Gourd and place it on their heads, they receive the second sight, and are born again, born of the Fire Beyond.
This Fire lets them see Beyond, beyond the world they know, to a world of possibility. A world with of new creations, a world with new empires. A world where war gives birth to peace, where work gives birth to rest, where poverty gives birth to plenty, where words give birth to nations.
All who are born of the Fire Beyond accept responsibility for their lives. They submit themselves to work, to poverty, to the hardships of the World Beyond. They give their lives to a greater cause, to the cause of all pigmen. They suffer in this world to build a better world. They know they will not achieve it while they live. But they know that it gives them a reason to live.
Not all who who are born of the Fire Beyond follow the same path. Some become farmers and workers. Those with more ambition become warriors. Still others aspire higher, to become builders and engineers. The greatest of those born of the Fire Beyond become leaders of the pigmen, the elite of the nation, and true representatives of Aidan, the Pig Who Returned From Beyond.