| Guban | |
|---|---|
| Sex: | Male |
| Race: | Neanderthal |
| Culture: | Clan |
| Camp: | Guban's Clan |
| The Clan of the Cave Bear: | not mentioned |
| The Valley of Horses: | not mentioned |
| The Mammoth Hunters: | not mentioned |
| The Plains of Passage: | appears |
| The Shelters of Stone: | Unknown |
| The Land of Painted Caves: | Unknown |
Appearance and Personality[]
Guban's features were more pronounced -- "more Clan" -- than the faces of the clan that Ayla had known. His hair and beard were a lighter brown, and they were softer and less curly. His gold-flecked eyes were a lighter shade of brown and showed curiosity and intelligence. He had heavier brow ridges and a sharper nose. His face jutted out farther, his forehead swept back more abruptly, and his head was longer.
Guban was exceptionally open to new ideas for a man of the Clan. He had discussed the possibility of trading with the Others. He was willing to accept Ayla's help as a medicine woman, even after she had used a weapon and had claimed the Cave Lion as her totem. He was also willing to use Jondalar's crutches, although he would not accept the help of the horses.
History[]
Guban was the leader of a clan. He traveled to a faraway clan to bring word of a large Clan Gathering and to discuss the Others, who had been harassing them. While he was there, he met Yorga, and they fell in love. Without consulting his clan or his first woman, he brought Yorga back to live with him.
Yorga was quick to conceive, and Guban hoped that it would be a boy. (His first woman already had two daughters.)
Yorga had wanted to collect inner bark and tap certain trees whose sap would soon flow. Guban decided to accompany her, because it was no longer safe for Clan women to travel alone. While Yorga was collecting the inner bark, Guban climbed a large rock to look for animals to hunt.
Charoli's band saw Yorga and probably assumed that she was alone. They tried to force her, but when Guban saw them attack her, he jumped down from the rock, breaking his right femur. When Yorga heard her mate's scream, she tried to get away from the men.
Three of the men were fighting Guban, and three were trying to force Yorga when Jondalar and Ayla arrived on the scene. Jondalar and Ayla subdued Charoli's band and urged them to return to their Caves.
Ayla was able to communicate with Guban by using the Clan's ancient language. She eventually persuaded him that she was a Clan medicine woman, and he allowed her to reset his leg. Meanwhile, Jondalar made some crutches for Guban.
Guban worried about owing a kinship debt to a woman of the Others. However, Jondalar asserted that Ayla belonged to him, so any debts owed to her were owed to him. He then cleverly suggested that they exchange debts. Jondalar said that he owed a debt to the entire Clan for saving Ayla, who later saved Jondalar's life. They exchanged tokens of kinship and revealed the locations of each other's camps.
Family[]
Mate: Yorga
Issue: two daughters by his first woman and a child by Yorga