Solar Huntress

Content Strike - March 21st, Friday

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:56:16 GMT

Yes, I'm supporting this. I have a paid account, but all the same, LJ management keeps fking with people.

...

For those of you who don't already know, there has been a strike scheduled for Friday, March 21st, 2008, during which we hope to have many members of LiveJournal provide LJ with absolutely no content for twenty-four hours. This means no posting and no commenting. If you post elsewhere and have it set up to be posted through a feed on LiveJournal, don't do it. Stay away from LiveJournal for twenty-four hours. That can't be too hard, can it? I know some of you are probably quite active on LiveJournal and will find it hard to stay away for an entire day, just as I will, but this is something that needs to be done, to show the people running LiveJournal that we're watching the changes they are making, that we're paying attention, that we're discontent, and that we want to be heard and taken in to consideration. We are not simply users who can be tossed to the side and ignored. We are the people who make up LiveJournal. Without us, without the content we create, without our words, our voices, our creativity, our participation, there would be no LiveJournal. This is a fact, and it needs to be realized and understood and then taken in to consideration when making decisions regarding the way that LiveJournal is run. The strike is only a few days away, so there isn't all too much time to prepare. While this is unfortunate, it isn't enough to keep this strike from taking place. It will take place, the second it is meant to, and it would be best to have as many people take part as possible. Please, spread the word. Spread it fast. There are only a few days to organize this. If you find that you care about LiveJournal or care about the people you interact with on LiveJournal or simply want it to remain a place where you can entertain yourself without constant censorship and money-hungry practices being thrown in without the consideration of those who use the service, act now. If you don't wish to spread the word, that is fine, but please: refrain from using LiveJournal on Friday, March 21st. Do something else for a change. It's for a good cause. (:

For background on this strike and why it is being held, please read the following posts:
http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/394838.html
http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/395310.html

To find out exactly when the strike begins and ends, depending on where you are located, please see this:
http://beckyzoole.livejournal.com/395125.html

What's this about?

* It's about free and ad-free LiveJournal accounts being abolished for new members, ignoring the advice from the newly-formed Advisory Board.
* It's about LJ staff trying to sneak this decision in under the radar, and when people found out, telling the users it was done 'to make the signup process less confusing'.
* It's about LJ staff failing to apologize for trying to hide the facts from view and for lying about the actual reasons for their actions.
* And finally, it's about the latest decision to hide certain user interests from the list of Most Popular Interests, some of them being fanfiction, bisexuality, sex and depression. This decision was not announced or explained in any way. Users found out for themselves.

-Taken from the journal of m03m

AND ICONS TO SUPPORT THIS:

(Icons not made by me.)

Copy and repost this in your journal and spread the word as much as possible. (There's a copy and paste bit HERE.)

...

I love livejournal, and despite its management screwing up like this, I don't want to leave. Nor do I want to be pushed around. I'm in - are you?

TGIF!

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:21:21 GMT

Title-- Hazrun C-6 (part three)
Rating and Warnings-- PG-13; hunting.
Species and Characters-- Species is Aerha. Characters are XenBi (narrator) and VetDef. (Please note that, despite duplicate names, these characters are wholly separate from those of Jackpot.
Summary and Notes-- (Part One, Part Two.) After a particularly devastating assignment that halves the number of living crew, the survivors of Hazrun C-6 start repairing their ship and scouring for new Aerhai to fill the roles left by the dead.

To a rural, a few hours' trot is nothing. To a spacer, it's a bleeding marathon. I was struggling hard not to show my fatigue by the time VetDef slowed her inexorable jog and fanned her tailtips at me. Her voice was a coarse whisper. "Nearby. Smell?"

I sniffed. I couldn't make heads or tails of the wind - it was warm and overflowing with scents, too much at once to identify anything that might be food. It had been years since I'd had more than a couple days on-world. I wasn't a rural anymore. "Can't catch it," I admitted.

The old cat turned a sharp-toothed grin on me. "Good," she whispered. "If you said you could, you'd be lying."

"Can you?" I asked.

"Barely. I've been here three months now. Starting to get back the old edge." Her grin hadn't faded, and I noticed a light to her eyes. I inhaled. Well, that was adrenaline, that spice to the air - the waft got my heart running a little faster. Aerhai feed off each other's emotions - pack instincts.

"Let's get 'em, then," I hissed, and she turned without a word and began stalking. Her gait was smooth, even, and far quieter than mine when I attempted to mimic her. I hadn't been hunting in two years. I'd probably mess up and cost us the meal.

After a few moments, we'd gotten into thick undergrowth. VetDef pressed her tail against my chest, and I waited as she crept forward, angling her path until the foliage hid her from me. I could hear, now, the crunch of greens beneath sharp hooves, the nervous shifting of weight... off to my right. Creh Zehn had a lot of thin hooved beasts. They'd be faster than us, but--

VetDef roared ahead of me. I heard the unseen animals on the other side of the brush bugle in fright, and begin to run... towards me. I shoved my way through the greenery and hit the clearing running.

They were small. Tiny heads, long slim legs, compat little bodies, wiry tails, barely taller than Am. I swung my tail and knocked into the closest one that was running alongside me, trying to seize a leg in my tailtips. I didn't get a grip, but I tripped the thing, and it tumbled.

I swung around, just a heartbeat behind, but it was already up and sprinting at a right angle to me. I coughed, but the rest of the herd had already raced past when I hesitated, so off I went after the one I'd hit. Rotted thing wasn't even limping.

VetDef appeared from the brush, too far to help me. I chased doggedly, but our meal was steadily putting distance between--

A rock sailed through the air and slammed into its thin shoulders, knocking it to the ground. I didn't spare a glance to VetDef, even though I heard her laughing hoarsely. I just tried to pounce the thing before it could get up again.

I missed, of course.

But I flung my tail forward and, this time, got ahold of its back leg in my tailtips. I dragged it back towards me, got kicked in the shoulder for my trouble, and attempted to claw it to bits with my forepaws without getting my face any closer to those blasted hooves.

VetDef pushed past me, ducked close, and broke its neck in her jaws.

I let its leg go, once the death-throes passed, and sat down to try to catch my breath. My heart was pounding in my ears, every hair on my body on end and tingling. My claws itched. Blood stank. Adrenaline stank. It was driving me crazy. Couldn't catch my breath. Couldn't slow my heart. My gums itched.

"Eat," VetDef growled, her jaws already dripping with flesh. I gave into instincts at her demand and tore into the meal. It was still hot.

It's all about time management, really...

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 22:53:54 GMT

Title-- Hazrun C-6 (part two)
Rating and Warnings-- G; no warnings.
Species and Characters-- Species is Aerha. Characters are XenBi (narrator), Pilot, Eng, Am, and VetDef. (Please note that, despite duplicate names, these characters are wholly separate from those of Jackpot.
Summary and Notes-- (Part One.) After a particularly devastating assignment that halves the number of living crew, the survivors of Hazrun C-6 start repairing their ship and scouring for new Aerhai to fill the roles left by the dead.

We didn't get any more hails. So, a week and a half after we first heard from the Hazrun veteran on a nearby colony world, we took off for her. With Eng's sister, our new Xenospeaker.

Pilot figured it out without Am slipping up, without Eng surrendering to his conscience and telling her, without me making some unthinking remark. Our Pilot never knew the old Pilot, Eng's older sister - that cat had died before Pilot got on the Hazrun. But still, she saw Eng and Am interact, and spilled the secret. Saved all of us a lot of creeping around the fact; Eng admitted it, I acted surprised, and that was that.

Pilot shared misgivings with me later. I echoed them. But really, Xenospeakers willing to crew a Hazrun are rare. Once we got six cats on-board again, then we'd see about tossing Am out to a safer ship and getting someone a little more hardened. Until then, we were stuck with a novice - and a cat very near and dear to Eng. Aerhai sometime do stupid things to protect their family. I hoped he wouldn't.

I promised Pilot and Eng they could finish the little nitpick repairs on the ship, once we docked with the orbital station over Creh Zehn and I went down to meet the vet. If I hadn't, we would've been immobile another week or two. Those two insist on tweaking every little thing after every single assignment. It was annoying. It had also probably saved our lives before.

I wasn't feeling charitable enough not to complain about it. Am was already on my nerves.

It wasn't a long trip - just a week. Enough time to let Am settle into her new quarters, get used to Pilot's no-nonsense attitude, and plenty of time for her to drive me up a wall. Xenobiologists often work with Xenospeakers. But the kid wasn't my kind of 'speaker, and I didn't respond well to her insistence that she and I review alien species together.

We docked. I was all too glad to get planet-side, and probably took a little too much satisfaction in telling Am that she had to stay with the ship. She hadn't been on-world in over a year, she protested - but she hadn't been on-ship for months on end, I countered. So she stayed.

It was weird. The old Am never would have let me boss her like that. Tails, Pilot would take my whiskers off, and Eng would just ignore me. Little Am still had some claw-growing to do, if she was so soft-pawed that she didn't stand up for herself.

Creh Zehn is a nice place to be. I've been there twice - once to pick up new crew, and once to drop off some medical supplies when they were having an epidemic. Nearly died that time. Bloody plagues.

I got off the station-to-ground shuttle and stepped outside. Big, deep breaths got me light-headed, and I enjoyed the smell of real grass, real dirt, real water.

"XenBi of Hazrun C-6?" a hoarse voice asked. My head turned, and I earflicked in acknowledgement. A big old Aerha stepped out of the little crowd near the landing pad, moving slowly. "I'm VetDef."

She looked grizzled, and so many scars tore through her rust-and-brown pelt that any markings she might have had were obscured. She was my size, which was good - I liked having bigger cats with me - and in possession of all her limbs, which was also good. Two of six tailtips were missing, though, and she only had one ear.

"Good to see you, VetDef," I greeted. I waited as she sized me up in much the same way as I'd just done to her, then she nodded.

"You look capable," she said.

"I am," I replied. "Pilot, Eng, and our new Am are still on-ship, making repairs. We have a week or so until we're perfectly set to go."

"Good." She didn't smile, but there was no glaze over her eyes, no slack in her expression. She wasn't one of the haunted veterans. "Let's hunt, then. I'm sure you haven't been out in a while."

My face betrayed my surprise; she growled a harsh, hacking laugh as I shook it off. "...I forget about hunting, sometimes," I muttered, feeling just slightly sheepish.

"I know. Come on - there's a herd within a few hours' trot."

I followed.

It wouldn't get outta my head.

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:02:52 GMT

Title-- Hazrun C-6
Rating and Warnings-- G; no warnings.
Species and Characters-- Species is Aerha. Characters are XenBi (narrator), Pilot, and Eng. (Please note that, despite duplicate names, these characters are wholly separate from those of Jackpot.
Summary and Notes-- After a particularly devastating assignment that halves the number of living crew, the survivors of Hazrun C-6 start repairing their ship and scouring for new Aerhai to fill the roles left by the dead.

"Hazrun C-6? Reading me?"

I looked up and over at the controls; Pilot was back with Eng, trying to figure out what the black was wrong with our navigational computer. The tinny voice repeated itself as I stretched my tail to the communications console and pressed the keys. "XenBi reading you," I called towards the receiver. "Pilot of Hazrun C-6 is currently elsewhere. Need me to get her?"

"You're fine, XenBi. This is Second Operations Coordinator speaking. State your full qualifications, please."

I earflicked and stifled a sigh. Formality. "Primary Xenobiologist, Primary Emergency Medic, Secondary Red Defense."

"Acknowledged, XenBi. Can you give me the qualifications of the rest of your crew?" The voice was surprisingly respectful. Maybe it knew about the losses our little crew had suffered.

"Sure. Primary Pilot, Secondary Computer Technician. That's Pilot. Primary Engineer, Primary Computer Technician, Secondary Red Defense - that's Eng."

"Thank you, XenBi. The others?"

Hrr. I'd guessed wrong. "Dead. You still want their quals?"

The voice over com hesitated. "...yes, please. My condolen--"

"Xenospeaker, Primary Trader, Secondary Behaviorologist. That was Am. Primary Weapons Specialist, Secondary Engineer, Primary Grey Defense. That was Weap. Primary Medic, Primary Behaviorologist, Secondary Mechanic. That was Med. Got all that, SecOp?"

My gruffness gave the voice pause again. "Yes. Thank you, XenBi. Have you reported the Hazrun's condition to the local mechanics?"

"Don't need them," I said. "Pilot and Eng have it under control. They've already requested the necessary supplies."

SecOp cleared its throat, a metallic sound through the com. We really needed to tweak the transmission quality. Then again, we also really needed to get space-capable again. "Will you be the one to organize additional crew, XenBi? You are the closest left to a Behaviorologist."

I snorted. Pilot and Eng would be too busy repairing the ship to help; both SecOp and I knew it. "Sure. This ship can run with just three crew, though, you know."

"I'm aware. But you won't be sent out on assignment again until you have a full staff."

"You really think you can find me three qualified girls who will voluntarily staff a Hazrun? On this tiny steel ball of a space station?"

"I'll do my best. Will you accept males?"

"Weap was male," I muttered. "Eng is male. We do well with a mixed crew, here, thanks."

"...thank you, XenBi." The voice sounded ready to be done with me. "I'll contact you as soon as I find a candidate for your crew."

"Hrrh," I replied, and tailed the communications console silent.

...

I stared down at the bronze-furred Aerha who introduced herself as a Xenospeaker. Stared way, way down. She was a full foot shorter than me. Tiny. "...you know this is a Hazrun?" I asked her, once I found my voice.

"I do," she replied. Her voice was uncannily light, like she was half-purring through the words.

"...you know what Hazrun means?"

"Hazard Runner. A ship that goes into potentially dangerous situations. I'm aware." Her voice kept calm, smooth, composed.

I was being rude. Maybe even a little judgmental, condescending. Maybe a little mean. "You're adult? Finished your training and all? Certified Xenospeaker? Really?"

Her composure didn't falter. Not a huff, not an earflick, not a narrowing of the eyes, not a twitch of her claws or tailtips. "I finished Xenospeaker training last year. I have a Secondary in Navigation, as well. I know five languages."

Okay, I was starting to be convinced. As little as she was, and as inexperienced as SecOp had warned me she'd be, she had some good control on her. I was used to making strangers squirm, and I couldn't even get a whisker-flare out of her. "Combat training?" I asked skeptically.

"Only the core course. I took no extras." Her head lifted a little; she expected me to be annoyed at that. It was foolhardy for a Xenospeaker to not take a few extra combat courses. They tended to be in the thick of dangerous, uncertain situations. And on a Hazrun?

"Your hide," I shrugged. She looked faintly surprised, and my initial impression faded. Maybe she was only so controlled because she'd guessed the tack I'd take against her. Hrrh. If she relied on predictions, rather than on-the-fly reactions... she'd not only get killed, she'd get us killed, too. "Why do you want on this ship?"

She drew herself up a little straighter. Despite being so small, she knew how to strike a stance. "I heard about the casualties to your crew. I knew you'd need people, and I am not afraid of being a Hazrun crew. And I want to get into the black; I'm tired of this station."

My eyes narrowed. "So, you're a bored opportunist." Her eyes widened in offense, but I spoke before she could. "Ever crew with males before?" She shook her head mutely. "Pilot's a woman. But Eng isn't. And we have three other crew to pick up. One of those might be a male, too. Problem with it?"

"I... no."

"A stuttering ambassador is next to worthless," I growled, unimpressed.

Her eyes flashed; I hit home. Questioned her usefulness one too many times. "Eng is my brother," she snapped. "Does that answer your question? He didn't want me to say anything, to preserve your neutrality."

My thought processes ground to a halt. "Full-blooded?"

"Yes." Now she really was striking a pose, and this one unintentional. Defiance. Dare you to dismiss me now, that body language said, loud and clear.

Eng came from an exceptional bloodline. His older sister had been Pilot when I first got on the ship. If this little cat had that same crazy blood in her veins, I wanted her on the ship, inexperience or no. On a Hazrun, instincts played a critical role in survival, and bloodline practically determined instincts. "If I can't find someone more experienced," I said, "you're in. Don't tell Eng I know you're his."

"...okay," she murmured, deflating a little. "But he was right, wasn't he? You wouldn't have taken me on my own merit."

"Yeah, he was right," I agreed. "You're too young, too inexperienced, for a Hazrun. Even with that blood of yours, you'll need to learn real quick to stay alive more than one or two trips. Don't try to predict - just react." I began to turn away, pausing when I was broadside to her. "The Xenospeaker keeps the entire crew alive with her silver tongue. Make sure you want that responsibility before I talk to you again."

She just nodded, and I walked away.

...

Eventually, I had to crawl into the gut of the ship's machinery and drag Pilot and Eng out by the tails for some food and sleep. I was a poor cook when it came to taste, but at least the meals I made them choke down would fulfill bodily needs. Eng didn't complain, to his credit, when I demanded he get to the messpit, but Pilot muttered under her breath as I coerced her out of the engine bay. "Got a new cat," I said as the three of us walked the halls. It smelled of too much metal everywhere; we'd scrubbed all the olfactory residue out of the interior after our crew was halved. Wasn't kind to the mind to keep smelling dead comrades.

Pilot glanced at me, but Eng kept plodding, half a body length ahead of me. "A Xenospeaker. Tiny little thing. Young, inexperienced. A bored opportunist, I think I phrased it as. Wants off this rack and is willing to go on a Hazrun to get out."

"Sounds like a slag-poor deal, XenBi," Pilot muttered.

"It is," I agreed. "But we're not going to get out of here without the station foisting some cat on us, and this one at least is willing to learn. 'Sides, I get the feeling her instincts are pretty sharp." I saw Eng earflick. He was pretty quick, for a male. He'd probably already figured out that I knew. Neither of us would bring it up, though. "I'm still waiting for them to find someone more useful, though. Or more experienced. Something."

Pilot huffed a long sigh, ears drooping low. "We are sorely understaffed," she grumped. "We need another weapons expert. XenBi, you're good at the medic stuff, aren't you? Good enough to make us not really need a Med?"

I nodded. "I can stitch wounds and set bones with the best of 'em. But I can't mother anyone." Eng growled a quiet laugh at that. "A behaviorologist would be nice."

"This Xenospeaker. What's her other training?" Pilot asked.

"Secondary Navigator," I answered. "Useful, really, but eh. I can be our Med. We need a Xenospeaker, a Weap, and... well, somebody needs to be Secondary Pilot. I really don't like not having a back-up." I shot a look at Pilot, but she was nodding. We were Hazrun crew; we knew skills needed to be doubled up as much as possible. That's why I'd been a medic along with Med, why Med had been a mechanic along with Eng and a behaviologist along with Am, and why Eng was combat-trained along with me. We overlapped where we could.

"We need to be very specific with who we choose," Eng rumbled, finally joining the conversation. "XenBi, you should give the recruiters a list of the skillsets that we need to fill. It might help. We can't afford to be a mishmash."

I nodded. When I first joined the Hazrun, it was a mishmash crew. My first assignment didn't have any casualties, but the second one saw Pilot and Med dead. We got more careful, then, picking out people to go with us into the black. We got better with each assignment. And even with experienced cats, with a well-rounded crew, we still lost three last round.

"I'll give the recs some stats and see if they can't figure out who can fill those marks from the nearest stations. We're at the halfway point between two colonies - you'd think there'd be enough local skill to scrape up three cats." We got to the messpit, and I thumped my shoulder into Eng's hip to sit him down. Pilot didn't need the encouragement; her thoughts had switched from repairing the ship to eating, and she trotted past me to her own platter and bowl. "Eat. I'll go talk to SecOp."

"Don't forget to sleep sometime, XenBi," Eng growled after me as I slipped out the door.

It was a long list. Hard as scrap to find three cats who'd fill the marks without overlapping, without missing the big necessities - three cats who were that skilled, and willing to crew a Hazrun, and without a ship or a better offer.

Xenospeaker. Behaviorologist (primary or secondary). Secondary Pilot. Secondary Medic. Weapons Specialist. Grey Defense (primary or secondary). Mechanic or Engineer (primary or secondary).

I didn't figure we'd get lucky. All Aerhai had at least two skillsets, and a lot had three... but we needed three cats to fill seven roles. The odds were strong against us, given how specific we were about what we needed.

I got a hail from one of the nearby colonies, a day after sending out my list. They had an old veteran - well, not really old, but a Hazrun vet was always prematurely aged, especially if she was the sole survivor of a ship, like this one was. But she was what we needed - Weapons Specialist, Primary Grey Defense, Secondary Red Defense. Three cats trained in red defense would load us heavy on combat readiness, but given that this is a Hazrun, it wouldn't be overkill. I replied that we'd come visit her as soon as our ship was flight-capable, and got a message back that said she wasn't going anywhere. We were the only Hazrun in the vicinity, and though a few other ships were looking to fill out their crew, a Hazrun vet doesn't ride anything but a Hazrun. I liked her attitude.

And if we took Eng's sister as Xenospeaker, that still left us in need of a behaviorologist, a pilot, a medic, and a mechanic. In one cat.

Critics, editors, and reviewers wanted!

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:24:18 GMT

Hi, guys. Can you help me out?

See, since I proved to myself that I can actually finish a novel (or a trilogy, as the case may be) by completing The Demon-God of Jubagh, I'm looking to up the ante this year. I have a list of projects that I want to finish. Genres range from high fantasy to sci-fantasy to science fiction. Though I set reasonable goals for myself, it's still waaay more than I've ever done before; even if I fall short, I'll still have done a lot.

When I finish these projects, I am going to need people to thoroughly review and critique them, because my goal is to self-publish them through Lulu.com (much like I'm doing with Jubagh right now!). Critiquing takes a lot of patience, a love of reading, a great eye for detail, a solid knowledge of the English language, and the ability to constructively criticize something you may either hate or love - and remain objective. You'll need to tell me if I leave loose ends, if I don't explain something enough, if I have too much unnecessary detail, if my characterization is too flat or too cliche or too complicated, if the pacing is too slow or too fast, if I've gotten something entirely incorrect (as I might well do when trying to be technical with sci-fi; I am no engineer!), if something is confusing, and, of course, what you feel is good and original and doesn't need changed.

It's a tall order. I'm picky and will have flea-combed the manuscript(s) before I ever send it/them to you, so hopefully the really obvious stuff, as well as the grammatical things, will all be taken care of well before you open the file. It's up to you to catch the subtle things that I can't. And each manuscript will probably be anywhere from 50-70k, with one in particular tending towards 90-100k.

It's also worthy of noting that any and all reviewers get a free copy of the published manuscript, if/when I finish revising it post-reviews and publish it through Lulu.com... as well as a mention in the book itself under "dude, you rock, thank you so much."

Interested? Speak up! And please, mention which genres you'd feel comfortable tackling; be as specific as you'd like. ("I can critique steampunk fantasy, but not technical science fiction" would be useful to know, for example! Yes, there will be steampunk, and yes, there will be tech scifi. No, they aren't in the same story. ^_^)

On that note, for your reference, a tentative list of my projects includes:

an expanded (unabridged) version of The Demon-God of Jubagh
a second trilogy set in the Jubagh 'verse*; there will be steampunk, magic, critters/aliens, disc-shaped worlds, and intersun travel in giant freaking boats
an action-packed science fiction story that involves Terole and Drakka
the first in The Panthera Walkers trilogy; this is the high fantasy one, folks - shapeshifting, magic systems, nature gods, and culture-clash galore
a mostly-fantasy werewolf/shapeshifter novel with references to a parallel but modern-day Earth; it's ... kinda sci-fantasy, mostly beastie-based

*Yes, I could not leave well enough alone. You know you couldn't get enough of your favorite characters from Jubagh, anyways! The fun starts in February, if all goes well; keep an eye on jubagh! Oh, and for those going, "What do you mean, a second trilogy...?", keep in mind that The Demon-God of Jubagh was split into three Books ... and since I'm doing the "unabridged" version, each of those Books will be made into a more complete, mostly-stand-alone novel with a lot more flesh and depth, hence forming a trilogy, rather than an inherently omnibus novel.

[disclaimer] In all honesty, life is crazy, and I fully expect something to come up and bring my head outta the clouds. All the same, I will do my best to get these done before 1-15-2009, and even if I don't manage all of them... I will finish some or most of them. (I also reserve the right to exchange projects if some new plotbeasts snatches my jugular and demands to be written. It does happen, you know. *points at Jubagh and grins*) So, while it's entirely possible you might volunteer to critique a story that I don't finish, please realize that I'm going to do my best, and that at least some of these will need folks willing to help out. [/disclaimer]

Thanks in advance for your comments, guys. It'd be awesome to have at least three folks critiquing each manuscript; and, of course, the more the merrier! If I have to send out ten free copies of each book because that many people pitched in, I'd be so delighted.

...and now, since it's 1h20 AM here, I might want to sleep. G'night!

Quick note.

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:32:04 GMT

I'm going to make a good effort at reviving and enlivening pern_fic, so if anyone of you is a Dragonriders of Pern fan and would be interested in writing/reading some good fanfiction, as well as participating in some discussions and etc, feel free to wander over!

[drums]

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:31:20 GMT

"What is that?"

The grey-furred Nila looked up, no expression crossing his flattened face. Yellow eyes sought the origin of the inquisitive voice, but the forest greenery was thick and concealing. He drew his brows low to express disapproval. "It is a drum," he answered flatly, four-fingered hands stilled on the wooden carving. He had been binding the head of the drum, made of Leasheas hide, to the mouth.

"What's a ... drum?" the voice asked, carefully pronouncing the new word. "What's it do?"

The Nila identified the general direction of the speaker and shifted his position to face it, black claws carefully resuming the tedious stitch-and-wrap. "A drum is this," he answered impassively. "It makes noise."

"Wood and skin and--" There was a pause, then the faint sound of sniffing, "--gut-rope? How does that make noise?"

The Nila sighed. He really had no need to humor his invisible watcher, so he stayed silent and completed the very last bindings. Tufts of silver and violet fur still ringed the edge of the drumhead, and the wood had been carefully carved to preserve the grain-patterns. Even the gut-rope had been skillfully braided. He allowed himself the smallest of smiles as he drew a dyed leather strip from the pouch at his hip and wound it about the waist of the small drum.

"What's that for?" the voice pestered.

"Do you not have anything better to do?" the Nila countered peevishly, removing a few strings of braided cords from the same pouch. These were decorated with teeth, claws, and feathers, and twined in the weave were long hairs from the same Leasheas that gave its skin for the drum's head. The wood's rich red-brown color was well-complimented by the silver, violet, and deep blue of the decorations.

"Not really," the voice responded. It sounded cheerful, and a few leaves whispered a warning of movement. The Nila looked up as the speaker poked its dark face through the canopy, a fanged grin stretching open a long, sleek muzzle. "I noticed the reek of Leasheas blood. Tell me, did you actually eat it?"

"It was a sacrifice," the Nila replied, frowning up at the black Korat. "We do not eat sacrifices. Its flesh was burned."

"Food is scarce on the best of days, and you don't eat what you kill?" The Korat snorted, nostrils flaring wide. It descended to a lower bough, the sturdy branch five feet thick, then sprawled languorously. "Even if Leasheas are sentient, no sense in wasting meat. You could have at least left it for the Chitters or something."

The Nila huffed, then lifted the drum reverently to study it from all angles. It was a good work of craftsmanship, and he was proud of it. Far better than his first two.

"Why do you even need a noise-maker like that?" the Korat asked conversationally. Its blue eyes remained trained on the Nila below.

The Nila didn't reply, shifting his weight on the log that had served as his workbench. He had to lean forward, his ankles pressed against the rotting bark and his knees jutting out, and his tail got in the way and bent awkwardly upwards--but he managed to settle the drum between his knees and hold it there with his legs alone. It was a good fit, a good solid feeling - not too heavy, not light enough to be fragile.

"That looks uncomfortable," the Korat commented from thirty feet above. "I didn't know your tail could twist like that. Your tail is short and fat - I don't think you're supposed to--"

The Nila slapped the head of the drum with one flattened hand, and the resulting bark of noise silenced the Korat. The forest was too dense to allow an echo, but the sound was satisfyingly loud nonetheless. The Nila allowed himself one more tiny smile, then lifted his yellow gaze to the lounging Korat.

The Korat blinked down at him. "Uh," it mumbled, looking uncertain.

The Nila flattened his other hand in the same way, careful to keep his claws from piercing the head, and slapped the drum three times. Left-right-left. The last note was the deepest, and it rang a shade longer than the other two. He curled one hand and extended his long thumb, then slapped the drum with the side of his thumb. It produced a deeper, shorter note when he struck the center of the head, and a lighter one when he struck near the rim.

"Hey," the Korat said, drawing its limbs beneath its body into a crouch, "do that again."

Feeling pleased enough with his work to oblige, the Nila repeated the notes. Short-short-long, deep-light. He kept his right hand flat and alternated the slap with the thumb-strike from his left hand. Short-deep-short-light-long.

The black Korat stood on its branch and swayed, as though it were going to topple. The Nila eyed it, then repeated the rhythm. The Korat seemed to be moving in time to the beat. "That's catchy," the Korat said, its muzzle creasing in a grin. "Keep it up."

The Nila continued to drum as the Korat began to dance.

It's not -really- failing... it's just time management.

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 01:29:01 GMT

So, I've made the decision to only publish Book One: Jubagh of The Demon-God of Jubagh quasi-trilogy.

Why?

Well, for one, this is largely for my parents' benefit. Neither of them are huge readers, and Book One alone is 160-some pages when formatted for book-size. This will make it a lot more manageable for them.

For two, I don't have time to give Books Two & Three the attentive revisions that they deserve. Not to mention the careful eye to detail while formatting them.

For three, by printing only Book One, I'll have a good example of how things work with Lulu.com so that I can tweak and refine the process for Books Two & Three.

I still plan on releasing an "omnibus" edition of all three books in one fat novel, with custom cover-art and all, but I just don't have the time to do so now. I'll use my vacation days to go over, edit, and revise Books Two & Three so that, when I'm back in January, I can knock the other two publications out quickly.

Look at me, talking about publications. *giggle* I had a conversation today with one of my coworkers about Nanowrimo and Lulu.com and all of this crazy stuff. I think I may have awed her. Completely unintentional, I swear; I was just kind of geeking and she got a O_O expression.

Those of you waiting on Jubagh - be patient with me. You'll get the whole big thing in January, once it's been cleaned up and prettified. I promise it'll be worth the wait!

Holy freaking crap.

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:29:59 GMT

jubagh is done.

The Demon-God of Jubagh is done. Rough draft finished.

NOVEL COMPLETE.

Wow.

Now for the editing... but first, blessed sleep...

Ohey.

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 05:40:46 GMT

Guyz. Lookit.

*flex*

Now, to finish Book Three in and of itself...

EDIT:

The official one!:

*grin*

The Chaz Challenge - Result!

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 23:45:40 GMT

Okay, okay. I'm woman enough to admit it. I failed hard.

Most of you likely know this, but for the folks who don't - I'm ADD. Somehow, in challenging Chaz to prove himself and then offering to compete with him, I miraculously forgot this one important factoid. It's hard enough for a normal person to focus on one thing for 12 straight hours. For me, it's downright impossible. My brain shut down and refused to function within the first four hours. Even after I tried doing something else and it rebooted, it bluescreened whenever I thought about going back to the new story. (Yes, my brain is a crappy Windows machine. You can't tell me you're surprised.)

So, I failed at writing 50k in 24 hours.

However. Before my brain dissolved into a steaming pile of mush, I was writing at a pace of over 2k an hour. And it was not a steaming pile of feces, either.

Which means that, had I made it all 24 hours - I would've had 50k at the end.

After NaNoWriMo, and after Jubagh is finished, I am trying this thing again. I'll leave myself a few days to write 24 individual hours, in whatever increments won't make my head essplode, and see if I can make 50k.

Granted, I won't be able to say "I wrote fifty thousand words in a day!"

But "I wrote fifty thousand words in twenty-four hours!" sounds just as impressive. *grin*

I'll keep you posted on when I try to drive myself insane again. It'll likely be after December.

Oh Chaaaaaz~! What was your end result, O Claimer Of The Impossible?

Jubagh is moving!

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 07:22:13 GMT

That's right, I said it. Jubagh is cluttering up my journal and probably spamming a lot of people who aren't interested in being spammed.

SO!

jubagh! Friend this journal if you want to keep up with the story from here on out. Nothing is friendslocked, and I'm not going to monitor who friends it and friend you back - it's just my journal for Jubagh bits.

I've crossposted all the past bits over to that journal with the original times, dates, and etcs, but I'm not going to delete the original posts off this journal just yet. I'm too fond of everyone's comments! =3

Again, friend jubagh to continue keeping track of the story! No further snippets will be posted on this journal.

To my fellow NaNos - keep writing! =D
To everyone else - you just rule. ^_^

"There's a reason they call 'em the deadlier sex."

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:22:47 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part fifteen)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

Rai forced a smile at the Sivefi, who seemed determined to pack himself into as small a ball as possible, but his mind was whirling. Brandon had called off his questioning after Ju'jou's face seemed to lose distinction and became nearly featureless - the boy had almost switched back to his animal-body. But Rai still had questions, such as 'which town was it?' and 'how did you get back to your home?' and 'are the bastards who enslaved you still alive?', because if they were, he wanted to go kill them.

Actually, Lhafa was more angry than he was; her tail was still lashing violently, her fingers moving in restless little jerks that suggested she wanted a weapon to grasp. "Lhafa?" he said tentatively, rocking back on his heels and looking over at her.

She tilted her face towards him. "Used and abused," she snapped, repeating Brandon's earlier words. The phrase had infuriated her enough that she'd stopped sitting calmly near the doorway, waiting for Ju'jou to stop shying away. Her tail gave an extra lash. "Those people treated him like an animal."

Brandon had gone back to his window, but he hadn't left the conversation behind. "Softstep, look. We can't go kick more asses than we can really justify." He shot her a wry grin, not caring that she couldn't see it. "As ironic as that is, comin' from me. We've gotta--"

Lhafa interrupted. The sheer fact that she spoke over him at all was enough to draw Brandon up short. "And you," her face turned towards Rai again, "you said he was made to fight his own kind for sport." She spat the words. "After all we have done, we will do nothing about this?"

Rai switched to his own native tongue; not a diplomatic move, but a necessary one. "Brandon, I've never seen her get so riled up. Even after beating the hells out of Kerrek in her own head, she was calmer than this. Think her using anger as magical fuel is having a side effect?"

"Doubt it," Brandon replied in the same language. "I bet you she's just attached to the pup. I've never met a woman of any species who doesn't get protective over certain people." He grinned mirthlessly. "There's a reason they call 'em the deadlier sex."

Lhafa frowned tightly when the two began conversing in a language she didn't know; Rai didn't even answer her question. It reminded her how Ju'jou must feel when the three of them spoke in baghan. A sudden warm weight against her leg startled her; she angled her face downwards, unable to hide a look of surprise. Carefully, she quested with a hand until her palm met Ju'jou's furred back.

"Whyareyouupset?" he rasped, a little whine underlying the words. He wrapped himself around her leg again, his fluffy tail brushing noisily against the wooden flooring. She'd been too immersed in her own emotions to hear him approach her.

Instantly regretful of her preoccupation, Lhafa petted the shapechanger's shoulder. "I do not..." She paused. Could she tell him honestly that she didn't like to hear about his past? Well, she couldn't lie. "...approve... of what happened to you. I would like to rectify things, if I could." She turned her face towards the two men. "However, I doubt they will allow such to happen."

Ju'jou looked startled. "How wouldyou fixit?"

The blind woman smiled, even though the expression still seemed to puzzle him. "I was once a warrior, Ju'jou," she explained softly. "I kill those who do wrong."

"Not was," Rai interrupted in sivefan. He gave both of them a pointed look. "Still is. Powerful." He turned back to Brandon without another word, and they continued speaking.

Ju'jou tilted his head and peered up at Lhafa. "You wanttokill thosepeople? Becauseofme?"

"I would kill them because of what they did. It would not make things right for you, or change your past, but it would prevent it from happening to other Sivefi." Her voice was solemn, her tail stilled; she'd gotten her anger under control. Or, at least, she wasn't showing it any longer. "I hope I never go near that place, for their sakes," she added in a dire tone.

Rai interrupted again, speaking baghan with a cheerful tone. "We need to rest, all of us. The sun will be setting soon, and we should head out around dawn. Can you ask Ju'jou to get a Sivefi to bring warm water for the bath? My command of the language doesn't include the necessary words."

"And no," Brandon added, "you're not allowed to go hunting the bastards. We're here for a reason, and we can't make a week's detour just to rough up some slavers." He chuckled ruthlessly. "Even though we'd all enjoy it."

Lhafa didn't allow herself to sigh, settling back into her strict self-control. She simply nodded, then asked Ju'jou to speak to his friend for them. He nodded and bounded out of the room, coming back shortly after with the Sivefi woman. They arranged to have the bath drawn and drained three times, once each hour, and Lhafa let the men bathe first. Ju'jou hadn't wanted a bath, so she settled on the mattress nearest the door and let him doze on her lap.

Once Rai and Brandon were cleaned and settling into their respective beds, the baghan took a quick bath and cleaned the grime out of her fur. She dried off, replaced most of her human-made clothing, and made her way across the quiet room to her bed. Soft, regular breathing indicated that the men were asleep.

Lhafa paused beside her bed, tilting her head and listening carefully. A smile flickered across her face; it didn't really surprise her to find Ju'jou already curled up on her bed. At least he left enough room for her.

"Doesn'tmattertoyou!"

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:06:22 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part fourteen)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

The lady looked surprised, and maybe a little hurt, when he pulled away so suddenly to wrap his arms around his legs and curl into himself. But she shouldn't have asked! It really wasn't off-worlder business! It shouldn't matter to them...

"Ju'jou?" she murmured, carefully reaching out a hand. He shied away, struggling to not let his bones slip into place as animal-bones. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to be on two legs, even if he was sitting on the floor and huddled so that it didn't really matter. He hadn't liked towns after spending time in the first one he'd ever seen.

"Doesn'tmattertoyou!" he repeated fervently, hiding his face. It was easy to forget that she couldn't see, but it was even easier to pretend none of them could see him if he hid. He knew it was immature and foolish. He just didn't care.

"Does now," came a gruff voice, and Ju'jou looked up in surprise to find the big man towering over him. He hadn't heard him move from the window! Humans can't walk that quietly! Or maybe he'd stopped listening. "Tell," the big man demanded, fixing him with a hard look. Were his eyes always yellow like that? Did humans ever have yellow eyes?

He could smell heat, like burning candles, but there were none in the room.

"Iworkedinatownforaverylongtime," he blurted out, speaking as rapidly as he could in hopes they wouldn't really understand. "Iwasn'tallowedtogobacktomyhomeuntiljustlastseason. I'vebeenonalotoftripssincethenbutIhadn'tgoneononealone."

The man said something in the other language, and the lady answered with several slow, smoothly-spoken sentences. The other language was pretty to hear. He wished he could speak it. She probably translated what he'd said for the men. She was really good with his language. He wondered how many languages she knew. He only knew two, and sivefan was the second of those. But other Sivefi were used to his kind speaking in bursts like they did in their own tongue. They didn't have trouble understanding, like the off-worlders did.

The three were talking now in thoughtful voices, exchanging meaningful looks that he didn't understand. The lady was mostly quiet, her hand still extended towards him, though she probably didn't expect him to come over there now. He wanted too, though. The off-worlders weren't stupid. They would ask more questions, and what if they decided he wasn't a good guide? His elders told him he'd do okay. But then, he'd thought most off-worlders didn't care this much about their guides. Some of them hadn't even bothered using the Sivefi's names.

The conversation died down, and the big man said something while looking down at him. Ju'jou cringed under the look, even though the man's eyes had gotten dark again instead of bright. He'd never seen humans change their eyes like that before. He wondered what it meant. He wondered if he shouldn't have reacted so badly to the question, because maybe they wouldn't think they needed to ask more questions, then. Oops.

"Ju'jou," the lady began, speaking so quietly that he had to uncover his face and prick his ears to hear her clearly. "What kind of work did you do in the town?"

That was a good question. If he hadn't been him, he would have been proud of her for her keenness. Instead, he shrank a little further down. His bones felt liquid, and it was hard to hold his shape. "IdidworkforSivefiwhoneededworkdone," he answered, trying to mumble. A booted toe nudging him lightly in the ribs nearly made him leap out of his skin; the big man was glaring.

"Speak slow," the man commanded, frowning and taking his foot back. Ju'jou wondered if he would kick him.

Being as quiet as he could, the shapechanger repeated himself. "I didwork for Sivefi who needed work done."

"What kind work?" The big man had taken over the conversation; the lady was quiet.

Ju'jou fixed his eyes on his toes and wedged his chin between his knees. His joints felt loose, like he'd pop a limb out of place if he moved. "I was aguard, sometimes," he muttered dejectedly, "and I helpedmove things, sometimes, and I fought otherSivefi forentertainment, sometimes, and I was acompanion, sometimes." He swallowed a whine, trying to shove the tension from his body without losing his shape. He hadn't accidentally switched bodies since leaving that town. He didn't want to lose control like that again, even if he was ashamed of himself.

The big man said three words in the other language; the lady stood slowly, moving like she was made of liquid steel, and said something else in a low, edged voice. The smaller man spoke hastily and stepped between them, empty hands articulating in gestures, then he glanced down at the changer's unmoving form. "What town?" he managed to ask. His pronunciation was a little better than the other man's.

"Atown veryfar from here, southandwest," Ju'jou answered, his eyes flicking to the lady. Her tail was moving rapidly behind her, but it didn't seem like a happy motion. He could smell anger in the air. Did the big man make her mad? Did he make her mad?! He whined.

The smaller man stepped forward and crouched within arm's reach of the Sivefi, his black dress pooling around his feet. "I speak bad," he admitted with a strange expression, "but she not want speak. In town, you fight..." He trailed off, searching for words, then pointed at Ju'jou. "Sivefi you? Not Sivefi--?" and he pointed at the floor, indicating the other Sivefi in the common room below.

It took Ju'jou a moment to figure out what he meant, but he nodded. This time, he spoke slowly voluntarily. "I fought Sivefi like me. Sivefi-rasarde, not Sivefi-hyunnin." He could almost hear his bones splashing around in the cavities of his muscles. He clung to his shape with as much willpower as he could muster. He'd already said it all - there was no use in hiding now.

"Entertainment?" The man said it properly, but questioningly. "Sivefi-...younen? Entertain?"

"For Sivefi-hyunnin entertainment." Ju'jou nodded again.

The man said something over his shoulder in the other language, which made the big man frown, then glanced back at the shapechanger. "How companion?" He paused, lips moving restlessly as though trying to find a word. He made a hand gesture, which turned into a motion towards the little window. "Like ... cart puller? Less work, still ... less person?"

That was an interesting way to ask that question, Ju'jou thought. Sivefi-hyunnin domesticated a lot of animals to serve them. Sivefi-rasarde were never supposed to be like those animals, but sometimes, they were. "Sometimes," he nodded.

"What other times?" the off-worlder asked, peering closely at Ju'jou's dappled face. "What when not less person?" He was very bright, just like the lady. They were good questions.

What had he been when he wasn't a pet? The shapechanger glanced at his toes again. Did he really have to answer that? It was embarrassing. Maybe he could get around it. "I wasjust acompanion othertimes," he answered vaguely, "not lessthanaperson."

The big man said something in the other language, and the smaller man replied in a horrified tone. They exchanged a few more words before the smaller man regained his composure and looked back to Ju'jou. "You guide us?" he asked, ending the interrogation.

Ju'jou nodded firmly, and his bones felt like bones again. "I willguide youthree," he affirmed.

"You aren't supposed to -look-!"

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:07:13 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part thirteen)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

Rai paused in his inspection of the strange, woven curtain that sectioned off the sivefan bathroom. "Did he just say he wanted to stay with us?" he asked, keeping to the baghan tongue. He glanced over at Lhafa, arching a brow.

She nodded, a little smile playing on her lips. "He is not afraid." The smile faded. "Though, perhaps he should be."

Brandon turned away from the window, frowning at them both. "Look, let's be realistic, alright? We already ruined Softstep's life. Do we really need to screw this kid over? Light only knows where we're gonna be shipped after we leave here. Assuming none of us gets killed tangling with Jazzy's crew."

"He comes from the south," Lhafa pointed out, "and we are going yet farther north. It is unlikely that we would harm his relationship with his family or tribe when we are so distant from them."

Brandon sighed melodramatically at her. "Quit using logic against me, blast it," he muttered, unable to fully hide a sharp grin. "I guess, so long as we don't teach him magic, we won't permanently damage him. Can the boy even fight?"

Rai cocked his head at the ex-paladin curiously. "Why do you keep referring to him as though he's young? We don't know his age, and surely even an adolescent wouldn't be allowed to wander so far from home."

Brandon snickered. "He's walking around naked, Rai. Even if the Sivefi aren't built quite as ... openly ... as human men, he's still not full-grown. Unless Sivefi are really small by nature."

The magician recoiled, jaw dropping. "You aren't supposed to look!" he exclaimed, aghast. He scowled as Brandon burst into uproarious laughter, shaking his head. "I would expect some measure of decency--"

"--from me?" Brandon chortled. "C'mon, Rai, you oughta know me better than that by now!" He grinned broadly, then lifted a hand to wave away Rai's sputtered protests. "Relax, man. He's not actually a kid. Probably fifteen or sixteen, if he were a human. Old enough to be competent. But I don't know if he can fight. Lhafa did kinda step in before he could show off his skills... if he has any."

The baghan woman spoke in sivefan, still lightly patting the shapechanger wrapped around her. "They wish to know if you can defend yourself in a fight, if necessary."

Ju'jou looked surprised, eyes widening. "We are theguards!" he rasped quickly. "I canfight. I don'tlike fighting, but I can."

Brandon took another stab at the new language. "If she not help, you win against other man?" His vocabulary was as large as Rai's, but his pronunciation far worse.

After taking a moment to puzzle out what Brandon had said, the changer nodded vehemently, ears flapping. "I wouldhavewon! I have clawsandteeth. OtherSivefi onlyhave strength. They standupto punchesandkicks well, butnot bloodandgashes."

The ex-paladin raised a brow, tattooed forehead wrinkling with the expression. "You stand punches?" he asked skeptically in mangled sivefan.

Ju'jou flinched, ducking his head and averting his gaze. "Notsowell," he admitted guiltily. He glanced back up. "But I wouldhavedodged! I am faster." He nodded firmly.

"...he's not a puppy," Brandon grumbled in baghan, "he's a kitten. Great. At least he'll keep outta our way, since he already knows he can't take hits well." He shrugged, leaning back against the narrow windowsill. "Good enough. You can keep your kitten, Softstep." He grinned.

The baghan woman didn't comment on the ex-paladin's callousness, hands methodically stroking the huddled Sivefi's back. "I do not want to see him harmed," she murmured.

Rai winced. "As soon as we get firm directions on where we can find Jazerin and his men, Lhafa, we'll send him home. But, to be honest, we could use a native's help here. I didn't see a single edible thing in the forest, and I don't even know if roads will lead from here to wherever we're headed. If he knows where towns are, then we need his help."

She nodded, face angled down at the motionless Sivefi. "Ju'jou?" she said quietly in sivefan. "Promise me that you will flee if we go into a dangerous situation."

"No!" he immediately responded, jerking his head up and fixing her with a determined look, even though she couldn't see it. "Youthree are myoffworlders now. I willnotleave until youthree are where youwanttobe!"

"...something tells me that being a guide is a matter of pride for this type of Sivefi," Rai commented to Brandon in baghan, trying to follow the sivefan conversation. "Speaking of 'types', we should make a point to find out what the different races are called. Soon, before it gets confusing, referring to Sivefi and Sivefi."

Brandon shrugged heedlessly, staring out the window. Their room was at the front of the inn, directly above the common area, so he had a good view of the shops and buildings facing the inn, as well as the people wandering around. All signs of the fight earlier had already been cleaned up, the unconscious dragged off by their comrades who hadn't felt like jumping in, the smashed pieces of benches and carriage gathered and tossed in the trash. Looked normal again.

Lhafa sighed quietly, eliciting a whine from the Sivefi. "As you wish," she murmured, "but I do not want you hurt."

"I havebeen hurt before," Ju'jou countered defiantly. "I am stillalive! Mykind are hardertokill than we appear." He grinned then, a predator's display of sharp fangs and healthy pink gums - not the soft smile of a human or baghan. Even with his comical ears, the toothy smile made him look dangerous for a split second.

"How old are you?" she asked abruptly, blind to his expression. Still, her face was turned towards him as though she was studying him.

Ju'jou blinked rapidly, tilting his head. "I am manyseasons!" he replied. "Why?"

"Are you an adult?" she rejoined.

His eyes shifted side to side. "I am eightseasons from beingadult," he admitted guiltily, gaze falling to the floor. "MostSivefi are guides with manytrips intheirpast bynow."

"What?" Brandon turned, eyeing the native. He spoke in baghan out of habit. "Is he saying he's an amateur?" Lhafa translated the question, phrasing it far more kindly than Brandon had.

The Sivefi shook his head rapidly, long ears swinging. "I havebeen on manytrips before! But," he glanced down again, "this is myfirsttime beingaguide alone. Thetimesbefore were with mymates or myelders. Still! I havebeen manyplaces. I know manypeople."

"Tribal cultures like his often train young," Rai mused. "He may not be an adult yet, but he's probably been wandering about as a helper for years. I wonder why he got a late start in going on his own, though."

Lhafa glanced up at Rai, expressionless, then spoke again in sivefan. "Why have you not had your own trips before now?" she asked gently.

Ju'jou recoiled with unexpected vehemence, unwinding his arm from the woman's waist and huddling into himself. "Itisnothing," he said hastily, unable to stifle a low whine. "Nothingthatmatterstooffworlders."

The Chaz Challenge - An Update!

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:33:44 GMT

Due to ~~having a social life~~ roommate-ly obligations, Chaz and I have struck a slight compromise on the Chaz Challenge. The 24 hours will be split into two 12-hour periods.

Now, granted, this -does- take sleep deprivation out of the equation, but it still leaves in the "oh gods when will I find time to eat?!" and the "crap I gotta pee!" and "aw man the dog's gotta pee!" issues. (Not that one isn't allowed to eat or use the restroom during the double 12 hours... but each minute one spends away from the keys is a minute without wordcount!)

Chaz states that his two twelves will be taken on Saturday and Sunday. Mine will probably be much the same - one on Saturday evening/night, whenever I get home from Lynx's den, and one on Sunday, after some sleep.

IT'S STILL ON, BABY.

(With the revised rules of engagement, anyone else wanna be crazy and step up to the plate with us? Aiming for 50k, but whomever gets the most words gets mad bragging rights, be it more or less than the goal!)

The Chaz Challenge!

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:51:23 GMT

[discussion of NaNo and writing]
Chaz (platinumetude): If I sit down and type it up
Chaz: I could probably have it done in a day.
Me: What, the entire story, or Nano?
Chaz: Both.
Me: ... you think you could do 50k in a day?
Chaz: mhmm.
Me: Alright. CONSIDER YOURSELF CHALLENGED. I wanna see it happen.
Me: I'll even see if I can do it with you.
Me: WALK THE WALK, BABY
Chaz: I SHALL
[insert banter here]
Chaz: 4:35 PM*
Me: Read and witnessed!

*EST, November 6th, 2007.

He's starting this RIGHT NOW, and I'm going to see if I can't beat his end number. I'll fall off the face of the earth on Sunday (11/11 - hah! auspicious) and write like hell for 24 hours. (Probably midnight to midnight... I will so need sleep before work on Monday.) It won't be Jubagh, though - it'll be something else. ~~I don't wanna trash Jubagh.~~ I wanna start fresh with something this crazy. 8D

Anyone else up for the challenge? *mad grin*

"...perhaps we should part ways here."

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:47:27 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part twelve)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

Ju'jou stared in wide-eyed disbelief at the scene before him. At least half a dozen other Sivefi must have gotten involved, once the scuffle was taken outside, and a few of them were cut up as well as unconscious, but neither the lady nor the big man were more than lightly coated with dust. After a moment, the man stopped his barking laughter; behind him, the smaller man chuckled to himself.

Just what kind of off-worlders were these?!

The changer cringed, drawing into himself and nearly sinking back to four legs before he caught himself and stopped. No, these were his off-worlders. Even though they'd protected him and not the other way around, they were still his, and he would make sure they had food and a warm room like he'd promised. He didn't quite know what he'd do after that.

Stifling the urge to whimper, Ju'jou padded forward, head low, tail curled between his legs and dragging the ground. "They willmake food for youthree," he rasped, crouching at the lady's hooves and wrapping his tail around his ankles. "And they have aroom, too. You won'tneed tobe cold tonight." He peered up at them both.

The lady's face got the strange expression again. She gently laid a hand on the top of his head, not minding the prickling of his quill-like mane. He couldn't help but think of those hands bodily hurling the Sivefi through the door that he had struggled to merely open. "Thank you, Ju'jou," she said quietly. "Are you unharmed?"

"I'mfine," he answered, swallowing a whine. "Thefood willbeready soon. I canshow youthree to yourroom?" He noticed the big man speaking with the smaller man in that other language, but he watched the lady's face for clues. She nodded, and he forced himself to stand, staying on two legs. He really wanted to walk on four, but he would show them courtesy while in the town. Besides, he didn't want to be hailed and asked to pull a little carriage. "Thiswaythen."

The lady let her hand fall when he stood again, and she followed him as he went around to the main door of the inn, rather than taking the side entrance again. These doors were taller, made to accommodate off-worlders, and they were much easier to open, designed for people with less strength than the Sivefi. He opened them for the three off-worlders, and his Sivefi friend met them as they entered the inn. She smiled, bowed, and showed them up a wide flight of stairs to the top floor, then down the short hall to their room. With a few words promising food in short order, she left again.

Ju'jou stepped into the room first, inspecting it carefully. There were three beds, as he'd requested, and a thick rug covering most of the polished wooden floor. The room was a large one, so it had its own bathing area, the trough-like bathtub curtained off. He pointed at it. "Thekeepers willfill that with warmwater in themorning," he explained, "or you canask Guerna tofill it tonight." The sun was already setting when he glanced out the small, round window. In the cold-time, the days were very short. He disliked that.

"Guerna is the Sivefi who showed us up here?" the lady asked.

He headbobbed, dark ears dangling. "Guerna is myfriend. She runs theinn with herfamily." He ran clawed fingers along the windowsill, making sure it was sealed tightly, then took one last look around the room. It was clean and spacious and barren of decorations, like any good sivefan room. The hearth was already set up and beginning to blaze, and there was a stack of firewood neatly leaning against the mantle. "This is aniceroom," he decided, nodding to himself. He crouched in the center of the rug as the men wandered about and the lady stayed in the doorway. The men spoke to one another in the other language.

"We are talking about where to go from here," the lady murmured. She extended her hand, and the changer moved to her side instantly, wrapping a speckled arm around her leg and leaning against her. She patted his head. "How far are you willing to guide us?"

Ju'jou blinked in surprise. "Ididn'tthinkthatyou--..." He cough-growled. "I didn'tthink you wouldneed guidance fartherthan this," he replied, surprised. "This isnot yourdestination?"

"No," she said quietly. "We are trying to find people that he," she gestured towards the big man, "once knew. They are still many days away, probably north of here, from what we have heard."

The smaller man paused in his conversation and looked over, saying something that Ju'jou couldn't understand. The lady replied, and her mouth bent downwards. He knew that look. That was a frown. That wasn't a good sign. The man answered her, then resumed talking to the big man.

"Whatisit?" he half-whispered, a whine escaping his throat despite his best attempts to stifle it. He didn't like to see her unhappy. Tail wrapping about his ankles and knees as he crouched, he hugged her leg more tightly.

"Perhaps we should not ask you to go with us any farther," the lady sighed, her voice sad. "It will not be safe, and we do not want to see you harmed." She stroked his head, fingertips clicking once or twice against the backwards sweep of his horns.

"But..." Ju'jou leaned over just enough to swing the door shut. The latch clicked into place, and he felt better. Even Sivefi hearing couldn't really penetrate heavy wooden doors and walls. "Why? Whodoyouseek? Whyisit..." He paused, reminding himself again to speak slowly. "Why is it dangerous?"

She said something in the other language, and the big man replied shortly, shrugging. Then, she lowered herself into a crouch, and he released her leg so he could wrap an arm around her lean waist and rest his head on her chest. She circled her arm around his shoulders, and he again thanked the gods for letting him find an off-worlder who could touch.

When she spoke, her voice was even quieter than usual. "We go to find men who have been making a lot of trouble for the Sivefi," she explained. "Brandon once knew them, and we want to ... help restore peace, somehow. But these men do not know Rai or myself, and there may be fighting. We also don't know where they are, so we'll have to ask around and find them. Brandon," she lifted a hand to point at the big man, "has a pattern on his face that they also wear. Sivefi may mistake him for one of them, so they might fight us, too."

Ju'jou nodded slightly, absorbing this. It sounded very important, and very big, and very ... scary. And, since the lady knew the language, he wasn't really needed to help in asking people where these troublesome men were. He'd just get in the way. He didn't even know the lands north of here very well, and he couldn't even see the gods, and he didn't have friends in northern villages, and...

"...perhaps we should part ways here," the lady murmured, stroking his shoulders and back. Her hands were warm and soft.

The changer glanced down at his pawfeet, then back up at her. "I amnot afraidof danger," he said decisively. "I willkeepguiding you."

"He works for -us-. You will not detain him."

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:24:37 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part eleven)
Rating and Warnings-- PG; mild language and violence.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

Lhafa's head snapped around, and she stared sharply at the door that Ju'jou had gone through. Brandon and Rai had been idly conversing in baghan while they waited, but they stopped when the blind woman moved forward, clicked hooved fingertips on the door until she found the handle, and hauled it bodily open. "Lhafa...?" Rai asked, startled.

"Ju'jou," she answered tersely, reaching a hand up to find where the top of the short doorframe was, then carefully ducking sideways through the doorway. A burst of sivefan chatter greeted her, but the noise of the common room of the inn was too much to distinguish breathing or cloth-rustling in order to pinpoint location. She gave a frustrated lash of her tail. "What is wrong?" she asked, standing tall enough that she felt the ceiling brush the very top of her silvery mane.

Rai shot Brandon a concerned look, then followed her before the door could shut. The exile grumbled under his breath, folded his arms, and leaned against the outside of the door. No one would be entering through it to cause further strife, and he didn't doubt Rai's ability to handle whatever was going on. Probably just a little scuffle.

The magician glanced between changer and another Sivefi; they had squared off, like they were going to fight, and Ju'jou's tail had fluffed like an angry cat's. Lhafa's question hadn't been answered, and Rai quickly stepped between the Sivefi and their guide, facing the stranger. He lifted empty hands, tossing his hood back to let his face be seen. "No fight," he managed, inwardly cursing his lack of fluency. Hard to be a diplomat when he could barely speak the language!

The Sivefi eyed him up and down, then snorted. "Move, off-worlder," he grunted, voice smoother and deeper than Ju'jou's. "My business is with the boy. He's going to work for me."

Lhafa spoke before Rai could pull enough words from his memory to respond. "He works for us," she countered, an edge to her voice. "You will not detain him."

Slowly, the Sivefi turned to look the necessary two feet up at the baghan woman. He crooked the three digits on one hand into an approximation of a fist and waved it at her. "You stay out of this, off-worlder. None of your business."

Behind Rai, Ju'jou let out a whine and spoke so quickly that neither Rai nor Lhafa could catch what he said. The Sivefi let out a short roar and made to lunge forward, an arm already upraised to knock the magician out of the way.

The sound was enough to let the baghan warrior pinpoint his location. He'd gotten a knee to the solar plexus and a swift blow to the side of his neck before he managed to take more than a half-step forward; he grunted and dropped to his knees, clutching at his torso. The room quieted, heads turning to look at the source of the commotion and the source of a new silver-white radiance.

Lhafa stood over the groaning man, her tail lashing and her talisman brightly a-glow. "He works for us," she repeated with deliberate care. "You will not detain him." She paused, looking sightlessly down. "Do you understand me?"

The Sivefi reached for a chair and used it as leverage to pull himself to his feet. "I understand," he growled, straightening. "But I don't agree." His thick fingers curled around the chair's back, and he swung it forcefully into Lhafa's side.

She staggered two paces to the right and shook off the blow, though the wooden construct had shattered into its constituent parts at the impact. "I should not kill him?" she murmured in baghan to Rai, a sharp-hoofed kick to the Sivefi's face knocking the squat creature backwards into a table, which tipped its steaming contents onto the combatant.

"Hells, we probably shouldn't even be causing a stir if we ever want fed," Rai replied, sounding more amused than the situation warranted. "However, he started it." He was grinning wickedly, hands folded in front of his stomach in a spectator's do-not-touch position. "So you get to finish it."

The Sivefi again climbed to his feet, acting more surprised and angry than hurt or deterred. "You think a few blows will stop me?" he snarled, scowling blackly up at the blind woman.

"I am not tired," she responded simply, a predatory smile flashing across her face. "But I do think we should take this outside before you ruin more chairs. The inns' owners would not be happy with that."

"I'm not going anywh--HRRK!"

Lhafa stepped close with baghan-quickness, wrapped both hands around the Sivefi's neck, then spun and hurled him through the door they'd used to enter the inn. She blinked after he crashed through the doorway, hinges groaning. "They are heavier than they sound," she commented in baghan, exiting the common room with the same care that she'd used while entering. The door swung closed behind her, shutting out a few choice words from Brandon.

Rai turned to Ju'jou as the sounds of scuffling continued outside. "Sorry," he said simply, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. "You hurt?"

The changer looked flabbergasted. "She... isfighting... for ... me?" he asked, too incredulous to speak quickly. His tail was slowly smoothing again, claws receding into his fingertips as he gradually straightened out of his ready-to-fight stance.

With a smile, Rai nodded. "She fight for all us. Friends." A particularly loud thump indicated a body had just hit the outside of the inn with considerable force; he glanced over, amused. "She good. Warrior. He no trouble."

"Myfriendswill..." Ju'jou cringed and looked around, then grasped Rai's thin wrist and led the magician towards what looked like a bar. He hopped onto a stool, crouching there with easy balance as it wobbled. He called a name that Rai didn't quite catch into the kitchen area, most of which was obscured by smoke and a few curtains.

A moment later, a Sivefi emerged from the back, wiping its hands on a stained cloth. "Ju'jou?" it asked, face breaking into an ugly smile.

The changer beamed, tail beginning to wag. Rai sidestepped the swishing appendage and leaned on the bar, eyeing the Sivefi. Judging by voice and build, it was a woman. The two natives began a rapid-fire conversation that he couldn't follow, so he turned to lean against the bar and survey the patrons. Most of them had gone back to their drinks, meals, and conversations, now that the commotion had been removed from the room. He saw three humans, two in a group and one in the corner, but none had Lightworker markings. He relaxed slightly.

"Rai!" Ju'jou hopped off the stool, grinning like a cat, and leaned against the magician. "Theyhavearoo--"

"Slow, slow, please," Rai interrupted, lifting up a hand and resisting the urge to lean away. The changer's physical closeness was unnerving, but he'd seen enough of how Lhafa interacted with him to know that he needed to tolerate it. Touch seemed to be very important to his people.

Ju'jou bobbed his head apologetically. "They. Have. Aroom. For. Youthree. And! They. Willbring. Food!" His tail wagged, thumping against the stool behind him. "They didnotmind thefight. He was abadcustomer," he added gleefully, moving quickly for the door. Rai trailed them, both entertained by his enthusiasm and relieved that they could have a meal.

The door opened on a scene of bloodless warfare. A carriage had been overturned, its equine standing nearby and looking perplexed; the carriage was missing a wheel, which had been shattered in bits across the ground. Passers-by had cleared a wide area that was still empty, although the fighting seemed to be over. Not just one, but several, unconscious Sivefi lay in thick-bodied lumps on the ground, sprawled amidst the ruins of a few wooden benches and a potted plant that had once lived on the inn's small porch.

Lhafa and Brandon stood in the middle of it all, seemingly unscathed; the ex-paladin was laughing loudly.

"I -said-, you looking for work?"

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:31:22 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part ten)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man); passers-by and townsfolk (Sivefi men and women).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

The town was buzzing and far busier than Ju'jou had ever seen it before. He didn't recognize half of the Sivefi who were trying to pull him aside with their hand-waves and meaningful looks, and when he'd come here last hot-time, he'd known everyone. It was strange. He hadn't expected this town to double in size over the course of two seasons. He wouldn't have brought the off-worlders here if he'd known...

"Ju'jou?" The lady still spoke softly, even while immersed in the background noise of people speaking. He glanced back and stopped walking, allowing her to draw even with him. "What do your friends do here?" She looked-without-eyes at him.

Even pausing for so short a moment, Sivefi were renewing their efforts to get the changer's attention. It was unnerving, and he slipped his handpaw into the lady's hand to pull her with him as he started walking briskly again. He was careful with his claws. "Myfriends haveandrun aninn here," he replied, a little less confident now. With so many new people and not so many new buildings, would the inn be full? Would his friends be too busy to feed the off-worlders? Would he... would he have to take on a new job for one of these stranger Sivefi to earn food? He shuddered at the thought.

The lady squeezed his hand lightly, and he remembered that he was still leading her along. She was much taller than him; he looked like a cub dragging its parent somewhere. Embarrassed, he let go. "You are upset?" she asked him quietly, keeping pace with him without effort.

Ju'jou jumped at the question, then realized how jittery he'd been acting. He made an effort to straighten his back and smooth his fur. It was very hard to stop ducking and slinking, even on two legs instead of four. "Manypeople are here that Idonotknow," he rasped quietly, trying not to glance around like a hunted animal. He was making a beeline for his friends' inn, but there were so many people. He made sure not to bump into any of them.

The lady was not so deft. A Sivefi thumped his shoulder into her ribs in passing and she drew back, startled, and paused mid-stride. "Many people," she murmured to herself, face falling into a new expression that reminded him of a frown.

Quickly, Ju'jou skittered back to her side and grabbed her hand again. "Iamsorry! I willguide." He glanced past her to make sure the men were keeping up; they were, and easily. Passers-by were giving the big man a very wide berth and averting their eyes, though they seemed to be ignoring the man in the dress. The changer's ears pricked curiously - they almost acted afraid of the big man. He wondered why.

No time for such pondering. He had to find his friends and feed his off-worlders. He tugged on the lady's hand and began leading her again, putting his body between other Sivefi and her. It made him cringe to do so, and his tail hid between his legs and dragged the ground, but it would be better for him to be bumped than her. Off-worlders didn't like that, he seemed to recall.

"Theinn!" Ju'jou exclaimed, spotting the signboard of the big building over the heads of the shorter Sivefi. He pointed his free hand to it, tail wagging briefly as he glanced back at the men. "See? Theinn! We go there!" The smaller man nodded and made a strange expression at him, the one the lady had made a few times. He wondered how lips could move like that.

With his goal in sight, the changer found a careful path around the currents of walking traffic and got to the front of the inn. It was a big establishment with big wooden doors, and he had to release the lady's hand in order to use both of his to haul one of the three doors open. Even so, it took all his weight to move it, and he ducked into the Sivefi-sized opening. "Waithere!" he said quickly, disappearing inside.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust as the door swung slowly shut behind him. The inn was dimly-lit, smoky, loud - and crowded. Most of the patrons were Sivefi, though he spotted the one other changer he knew who worked there, and a few humans scattered about. Off-worlders were so rarely here; it startled him. One of them even had writing on her skin like the men did - she sat alone at a table in a corner, hood drawn over to shadow her face. Only her hands showed, but he could see the glint of the ink.

Still, she wasn't one of his friends. He needed to find--

A heavy, three-fingered hand curled around his elbow and gave an impatient jerk. "Boy," a gruff voice said, "you looking for work?"

"No!" he half-yelped, jerking away and whirling to face the speaker. "Ihaveworkthankyou!" The sturdy Sivefi gave him a glare.

"I said, you looking for work?" he repeated, voice dropping pointedly as he fixed his eyes on the changer.

Oh. He was one of those kinds of Sivefi. Ju'jou bared sharp teeth and fluffed his tail. "No!" he said again, the word barely distinguishable from a growl. He let his claws show, curving out of his fingertips as he took a step back from the seated man. "Iamnotlookingforwork. Leavemealone."

The Sivefi stood, the top of his furry head barely reaching Ju'jou's shoulder, but the thickly-built man was easily twice the changer's weight. He looked displeased, flat face contorting in an easily-recognized expression. "I think you're looking for work," he said slowly, taking a step forward. "You're too young to have work of your own." He eyed him up and down, scrutinizingly. "Come with me."

Ju'jou was beginning to panic. This man was not listening! And even though the other Sivefi had no sharp claws or teeth, the sheer strength in those arms would be enough to win any fight that might break out. And he didn't want to fight in his friends' inn!

The changer threw his head back and let out a wailing howl.

"One's temperament is not determined by one's physical capabilities, Brandon."

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 18:36:46 GMT

Title-- The Demon-God of Jubagh (book two, part nine)
Rating and Warnings-- G; mild language.
Cast-- Rai Gerring, defected black magician (human man); Brandon Styhan, exiled paladin-warrior (human man); Lhafa Softstep, blind voodoo warrior (baghan woman); Jujinkajou, native guide (shapechanger Sivefi man).
Previously-- Book One: Jubagh. Earlier parts of Book Two: Sivef.

Rai was the first to stir the next morning, easing open his eyes slowly and blinking until the sunlight seemed less blinding. A giant paw was inches from his face; the leg to which it was attached was stretched over his chest and left shoulder. He studied the curving claws protruding from the three toes until the rest of his body woke, then slid a hand from his sleeve to grasp the Sivefi's ankle and displace the leg. The shapechanger gave a soft huff as Rai sat up, working the cold-stiffened kinks from his spine. Jubagh's ground had been so much softer.

The magician turned, prodding Brandon in the shoulder, then climbed to his feet as the Sivefi nudged Lhafa awake. He stretched, then offered a hand to Brandon, who ignored it as he also stood. "I don't like the sivefan language," the exile grumbled, already grouchy.

"Best to get used to it," Rai shrugged, adjusting his robes. "We'll need to keep using it if we want to hit fluency with it. I don't know how Lhafa learned it so quickly," he added, smiling faintly when she glanced blindly up at him. They'd been speaking in baghan out of habit. "With practice, it'll be just as easy as baghan, I'm sure."

Lhafa reached down a hand and lightly patted the Sivefi's back. "How far is this town from here?" she asked, speaking sivefan with extra care so that the men could understand her. She ran her hooved fingertips along his spine, and he leaned against her leg.

"Notfar!" Ju'jou replied. He was either eternally cheerful, or they hadn't yet figured out how to differentiate his tones of voice. Rai was beginning to suspect the former. "We willbe there bysunhigh."

Brandon glanced up and eyed the rising sun, rolling his shoulders back until his joints popped. "Good," he muttered, gamely attempting sivefan again. "Lots traders there?" He glanced at the Sivefi impassively.

"Notmany." The shapechanger tossed his muzzle in a gesture neither of the humans could interpret. "Maybe onegroup, maybe none." It was getting easier to understand him, despite his tendency to speak more rapidly when excited. Maybe they were assimilating the language more than they realized. "This bad?" he asked, tilting his head at Rai.

"No. Just..." The black magician couldn't remember the word for 'curious'. "...wonder." That would have to do. Too bad they couldn't have brought one of the language books off the Light's Hammer.

Ju'jou nodded energetically, then pushed off in a brisk stride to the northeast. Now accustomed to the routine, the three followed him quietly. Lhafa still had no problem navigating the forest floor, even when there were clumps of debris and fallen branches in her way.

The town was an actual town, which was a pleasant surprise; Rai had half-expected to see a baghan-esque cluster of huts, perhaps with a dirt path stretching away into the cold forest. The road was, indeed, only dirt, but it was wide and well-kept, snaking through a considerable number of fairly large buildings. A few four-wheeled carriages rattled into and out of town, most pulled by burly equines, but a smaller cart with only one passenger was pulled by a shapechanger in its animal-body. Clothing hung out on ropes, drying in the surprisingly strong sunlight, and simply-dressed townsfolk went about on their daily tasks.

"I get the impression," Brandon muttered to Rai in baghan, "that these Sivefi won't be as over-the-top friendly as ours." He eyed the stocky villagers skeptically. "They look tough."

"One's temperament is not determined by one's physical capabilities, Brandon," the magician chided, though he looked slightly worried as he watched the other Sivefi. Other than the shapechanger pulling the small carriage, he had yet to see any of more tribal Sivefi - all the inhabitants here were the architectural ones, the traders and builders. The illustrations had portrayed them well; they were thick-bodied, easily as broad-shouldered as Brandon, and squat, the tallest barely coming up to Rai's shoulders and the shortest barely topping Lhafa's hips. They looked to have dense fur, or so he presumed - they wore thin, unlayered clothing, despite the chill air.

"Ju'jou," Lhafa murmured, reaching out a hand until the Sivefi trotted to her side and nosed her palm. "We will be welcome here, yes?"

"Ofcourse!" he said, headbobbing. Rai kept himself from laughing at the comical movement; if it weren't for their long, floppy ears, animal-bodied Sivefi would look like competent predators... but the ears just made them amusing. "I havebeen here before. I willtake you tosee myfriends!"

"Do they speak as quickly as you do?" the blind woman asked, walking forward when the shapechanger began to move.

He nodded again. "But they know toslowdown with off-worlders." Tail swishing side to side and lightly thumping against Lhafa's thigh, the changer brought them past the first outlying building. It was made of stone and wood, far more sturdy than the small baghan huts of hides and sticks.

One of the Sivefi spotted them and lifted up a thick arm to wave them over. Ju'jou hesitated only a moment before trotting up, tilting his head at the grey-furred Sivefi. "You looking for work, pup?" the Sivefi grunted, ignoring the off-worlders. Ju'jou recoiled like he'd been slapped.

"No! Ihavework! Iamguidingthesethree--" he paused for a split second, glancing over at them wide-eyed, "--andwemustbegoingnowthankyou." He darted back to them, tail tucked low, and bumped against Lhafa's legs with a whine.

Rai and Brandon exchanged looks. "There something should tell us?" Brandon asked, mangling the language. To compensate for his lack of fluency, he folded his arms across his chest and loomed over the shapechanger with a severe look. "If we're harboring some sort of fugitive..." he grumbled in baghan.

Ju'jou ducked his head with another whine. "Nothing! OtherSivefi expect all towork. Ihavework! Hedidnotknow." He paused, glancing around. Other Sivefi were watching them, some curious and some expressionless. A few made to wave, but Ju'jou looked away quickly. "I willtake you to myfriends. Theywillhavefood!" He nodded to himself, settling to his haunches.

When he stood again, it was on two legs. In the span of a second, his stocky body had slimmed and lengthened, forepaws becoming slightly more handlike and muzzle half-shrinking into his face. He stood just barely taller than Rai, and he gave them all a wide, fanged grin. "Comewithme!" Unfortunately, his voice hadn't changed from the raspy, croaking growl. "Myfriends willfeed you."

Heedless of his own nudity, Ju'jou led the three off-worlders through the town at a fast clip, avoiding any Sivefi who tried to wave them down.