north ern group was separated from the southern group, and its own internal communication deteriorated Political strife fragmented the territories held h> the empire and made continuity of training north of the Great Sea BENE GESSERTF HISTORY 122 BENE GESSERIT HISTORY almost impossible Brief reunion with the south came when Mother Eleanor, accompanying her husband/king on an extensive political-religious excursion into the south, used her time (while her husband battled and pillaged) to restore some communications with the south Unfortunately, the linkage was brief, and after Mother Eleanor's death the northern groups fragmented, losing any union with each other as well as with the south The only continuity left at all was found IB two groups separated by sociopolitical boundaries The aristocracies continued to intermarry, and the remnants of the old Bene Gesserat attempted to continue secretly breeding aad training within the extended families Occasionally an aristocratic breeder would gain public power, such as the woman who briefly held a dominant ecclesiastical position But in genera), the order had to work through its members' husbands and sons A broader and stronger organization developed ID die trades and amoag the peasantry, a religious group called Wicca Voice Helga Matra suggests mat not only did this organization follow the programs established by die Bene Gesserat missionaries, but that it also practiced the "sciences" of the day particularly the medical skills But she also notes that political disruptions left pockets of uninitiated and untrained active women who, after centuries of alienation, were forced to interpret the evidence of their abilities within the patriarchal religious my-thos of their territory These women, hearing "voices," often went mad, and m the pro eess were either venerated or executed by their neighbors, their fates dependent on the interpretation of their local priests Voice Blanche Terese tells of one such woman whose "voices" drove her to become a national hero she was martyred for defending her prmce in battle The northern branch also became active m conquering and colonizing territories newly discovered through more advanced navigational skiEs This activity brought both of the north-em gene-carrymg groups together under social conditions which allowed their reunion They also became involved with two more family types, each carrying similar genetic traits The family inhabitatmg the conquered territory was almost annihilated by the conquerors, and the new genes were not successfully integrated into the general breeding pattern for several centuries (Certain genetic identifiers in this group have raised the possibility that it m some way, may be part of The Duncan s heritage Minority ge neticists have begun a careful study of this portion of the tapes) Voice Mawaganawa gives some history of the second family group, one set in a slave position within the conquering society She speaks of the l