Fire in the Mist Page 27

  Medwind noted her widened eyes and her quick intake of breath. "Things in Ariss are changing because of the war. The mages and sajes have realized, at last, how much their feud cost everyone. And even though they will try to pin the blame on Sahedre and you, they can see that their own ignorance of each other was at the heart of the matter this time. Mage-Ariss and Saje-Ariss aren't one, yet—but even as we left, the first of the walls were coming down."

  The hill girl whistled in amazement.

  "So—where are you headed?" Nokar asked.

  "I know not. I cannot return to Willowlake—though I would love to see Aldar again someday. I dare not try to find Kirgen—I do not even know if he still lives. There is no more Bright. I thought to head north, where it is warmer, so that I will not have such a hard winter while I am great with child."

  "Then you really are pregnant?" Medwind asked. "I thought that scream of yours a clever trick you came up with to fool Sahedre."

  "You heard?"

  "I heard, all right—it nearly became the last thing I ever heard—"

  "—And lucky for you it wasn't," Nokar interrupted, "because if I'd had to search through the Hundred Hells to find you—"

  "I thought the sajes had seven hells," Faia whispered.

  "The sajes can't make up their minds," Medwind answered.

  "—I might have been tempted to leave you there," Nokar concluded. "And there are a hundred hells. Those idiots who claim another number ignore the perfect symbology of the number one hundred, which—"

  "—Isn't where you would have found me, anyway, idiot. I would have been in the eternally green foothills of Yarwalla, with goats and husbands and children, wearing the necklaces of a thousand victories and reading the lays of Yarwalla's greatest eternal poets."

  "Not so! You would have been circling around the Wheel, resting before you chose another life," Faia said.

  Medwind snorted and changed the subject. "You were saying you're pregnant."

  "Oh. I thought the tale a ruse as well. I did not discover until after I escaped the city that the tale was truth—then only when no food in the world would stay with me."

  "An experience I've never had," Medwind said.

  Nokar laughed. "But we're doing our best."

  Faia looked at the mage, then at the old saje, then at the mage. "Would you like some alsinthe?" she asked. "I found some growing along the road once it was too late to do me any good."

  Medwind chuckled. "I'll take my chances. It can't be that bad." At Faia's scowl, she laughed and hurried on. "Come with us. We'd be grateful for the company, and a fellow mage could be quite helpful. We thought to set up shop near the Omwimmee Trade Border."

  The old man chuckled. "Medwind thinks she'd like a life as a stay-at-home magic merchant."

  Faia gave them both a calculating look, then grinned.

  "I'll come. If I can bring my cat."

  "Then get the cat and come on."

  They were well down the road when the kitten uncurled itself from its perch on a bale of cailtecloth, and began to stalk the sslis in Medwind's nose.

  Medwind noted something odd about Faia's kitten. "Where did you get this beast?" she asked, her voice abruptly sharp.

  Faia was startled. "The kitten? He found me hiding in an alley, and came along for the company. I imagine he is one of the offspring the Mottemage's cat left behind him."

  "He has hands."

  "Oh, yes. He uses them quite well, too."

  Medwind was silent for a long, disbelieving minute. "By damn, she did it after all, and she never found out," she whispered. "She made a trait that would carry itself on. Not with something useful, like wingmounts. Not with everbearing redfruits. Not even with self-feeding philos plants. But with Flynn! Medwind's voice got louder, and merrier. "Ye gods and spawn of madness, she's gifted the world with a plague of handed cats."

  "I think she would be pleased," Faia said, smiling.

  "Think? I'd bet anything—and that will be the first thing I tell her." Medwind laughed—her first real bellylaugh in days. "Give the joke that keeps on giving—that always was her philosophy. And Flynn being the randy tomcat that he was, the city must be full of them. I'm happier than ever to be well out of the City of Fogs and Bogs."

  GLOSSARY OF ODD OR FOREIGN TERMS

  Animals

  Blue hovie—(Arissonese) One species of a multitude of small, jewel-colored sauroids which have four wings and two legs. They are rumored to be survivors of "the time before Folk." Blue hovies are inhabitants of the southern reaches of Arhel and, like the other suspected "survivals," are plainly entirely unrelated to the rest of Arhel's fauna.

  Dew-fly—(Arissonese) Radially symmetrical insectoid with a top-mounted whirling flight-propeller. Thought to be native to Arhel.

  Kellink—(Wen Tribes) Lion-sized six-legged sauroid native to the northern jungles. A vicious pack-hunter whose saliva is poisonous to humans and other mammals.

  Morka egg—(Kareen) Highlander tradition relates the existence of large, flightless sauroids long ago that were delicious to eat and that laid piles of eggs large as a man's head. If such creatures ever existed, no sign of them remains.

  Naenrid—(Arissonese) Magical constructs that take the form of winged monkeys or winged foxes with human hands. They are used as assistants or "fetches" by sajes (and rarely by mages) and tend to be mischievous and difficult to control.

  People

  Bellmaster—(Saje term) Man responsible for the care and sounding of the magical bells housed in the Saje-Ariss belltower.

  Darklingsprites—(Arissonese) Tiny, ethereal humanoid constructs of unethical mages and sajes. Their creation requires the use of pain, and the resulting creatures have evil dispositions and a tendency to mayhem. They can be useful to their creators, however, so there are always a few in existence.

  Delmuirie, Edrouss—Credited as the creator of the Delmuirie Barrier, he is in some circles reviled, in some worshipped, and in some said never to have existed at all. It is guessed that if he lived at all, it was at least eight hundred and perhaps a thousand years before the incidents chronicled here.

  Faljon—(Kareen) Ancient Kareen (hill-folk) philosopher, perhaps apocryphal.

  Flatter-men, Flatters—(Kareen) Hill-folk terminology for any people who do not inhabit the Booar Mountains.

  Hoos—Any of three separate and distinct tribes and their countless clans who occupy the Hoos Domains in the southeast corner of Arhel. The three tribes are the Chak Hoos, who are essentially agrarian; the Huong Hoos, who are nomadic herdsmen; and the Stone Teeth Hoos, who are hunters. Love of war is the only common ground between the three tribes.

  Makcjeks—(Hoos pejorative) The Arissonese, and by extension, any city-dwellers. Literally "stone-maggots." An even less complimentary term used for outlanders in general and often as a synonym is shesrud, the literal meaning of which is "dung-worm."

  Things

  B'dabba—(Huong Hoos) Large goat-felt tent, dyed in complex, gaudy colors and patterns that reflect the status of the occupants. The permanent, portable home of the Huong Hoos.

  Cat-patterning—(Huong Hoos) Face-paint pattern of the Song Clan. Black or gray esca mirrors the facial markings of a tabby cat. Ceremonial.

  Delmuirie's Barrier—Magical shield that surrounds and protects the continent of Arhel and a small area of adjoining sea; impenetrable from either direction. Arhelers have tales of other people and places outside of Arhel, but these are considered fantasies.

  Erda—(Kareen) Large square highlander overgarment of waxed felt or

  oilskin with one hole in the center for the head and an oversized flap that doubles as a hood. The erda can also be used as a tarp with the corners tied or staked; as a blanket; and as a carry-sack. It is an extraordinarily ugly garment. No highlander willingly goes anywhere without one.

  Helke—(Kareen) Frequently pejorative. Literally, an ancient and barren animal, usually a cow.

  Keurn-cloths—(Kareen) Fertility cloths woven of fine wool
with added items considered to have high sympathetic magic for pregnancy. Worn under skirts or pants by women wanting children. Perryfowl feathers are considered a good base for keurn-cloths because perryfowl lay dozens of eggs in a single clutch and clutch four or five times each warm season.

  Kordaus—(Kareen) Cord strung with thirty-three beads, each of a different material. Each bead has a meaning. The kordaus is used for "scrying," that is, telling the future. The reader closes the eyes and runs the cord through the fingers three times, each time stopping when a bead catches on the fingers. The combined meanings of the three beads are the prediction. Reliability of the kordaus depends on the reader.

  Sslis—(Huong Hoos) Nose ornament worn to denote sexual preference. The Huong have thirteen main ornaments that can be displayed in any combination. Because sex is a religious rite of the Huong Hoos and all forms are encouraged equally, the sslis does not segregate, but merely helps in identifying like-minded partners.

  Staarne—(Huong Hoos) Elegant, flowing tunic designed for comfort and to hide the exact position of the vital organs while fighting. Covers the body to mid-thigh. Tunic and long sleeves are loose and billowy, wrapped at wrist and waist for convenience. Brightly patterned in ancestral clan designs. Exact cut also varies by clan.

  Three-and-One—(Arissonese) Strategy board game played by two, three, or four players, using a large round board and one hundred and eleven small flat stones, each of two contrasting colors per player. The object of the game is to form the largest connected series of three stones of one color surrounding one stone of its complementary color. Game is the subject of tournaments, wide-scale betting, and occasional fistfights.

  Tide Mother—The multicolored gas-giant around which the moon Trilling revolves. Arhel is a continent on Trilling.

  Ideas

  Antis—(Arissonese) The first meal of the day.

  Bondmate—(Kareen) Publicly pledged sexual partner. There is no standard duration for the length of the bond union—the primary purpose of public bonding in the tiny villages of the highlands is to keep track of the genealogies of children, to prevent accidental inbreeding.

  "Buy kellinks from Ranmeers"—(Arissonese) Pejorative. Ranmeers are a disreputable tribe from the far northern reaches above the Wen Tribes Treaty Line who have, from time to time, tried to sell immature kellinks to the unwary as work-beasts. Only the incredibly ignorant or stupid would buy one, however. (See, also—ANIMALS, Kellink)

  D'leffik—(Huong Hoos) Pejorative adjective. Means "goat-molesting." The noun is d'leffja.

  Getlingself—(Arissonese) The magical self, the self in touch with the unknown and unseen. The getlingself usually awakens at puberty. The same phenomenon is known to the Kareen as getting one's Lady's Gifts. (See also—GODS, Lady).

  Kikassa mekku—(Hoos) A series of challenges which a Hoos warrior must undertake to win each husband or wife who is not a war-trophy. Tasks are set by the prospective spouse and are usually dangerous—it is considered dishonorable to give a Hoos warrior easy kikassa mekku.

  Mehevar—(Arissonese) Ritual torture and murder by unethical magicians for the purpose of stripping the victim of the getlingself and transferring that magical potential to the murderer.

  Midden—(Arissonese) Meal in the middle of the day.

  My'etje—(Huong Hoos) Slang. Literal meaning is "baby goat." A term of endearment.

  Stranger-names—(Huong Hoos). Public-use names of children who have not yet reached adulthood and been accepted as full members of the Hoos society. Stranger-names, unlike soul-names, have no magical significance, and cannot be used against the children by the ill-meaning. Stranger-names are dropped at adulthood—it is considered cowardly for a warrior to maintain a powerless name for camouflage or protection.

  Vha'atta—(Huong Hoos) Secret ritual that involves the decapitation of enemy warriors of great renown and ancestors, for the purpose of magical preservation; and the keeping of painted skulls around the house. This ritual has given the Huong Hoos their reputation as headhunters, which they cherish.

  Foods

  "baby-not"—(Arissonese) Black-market herb. See—Alsinthe.

  Alsinthe—(Kareen) Sweet-tasting herb mixed with foods or drunk as a tea that prevents conception. No apparent side effects except the occasional allergy.

  Akka-bread—(Kareen) Nearly impermeable highlander bread that becomes edible when soaked in tea or water. Almost copper in color, strong-tasting. Travels well.

  Erd glabon—(Arissonese) Costly gourmet dish popular in Ariss high society. Winchell's Silver hovie, or the rarer and slightly larger Droman's hovie, marinated in premium Zheltariss, browned on a spit, and served in a golden sauce on a bed of wild herbs and grains.

  Fennar—(Southern Arhel) An appallingly foul-tasting, thick green mildly alcoholic beverage served hot. Has medicinal value as vasoconstrictor and antihypotensive. Useful in treatment of shock. Made of fermented fennarell, an herb.

  Gath cheese—(Kareen) Ripe, odoriferous orangy-yellow cheese popular in the highlands.

  Handpies—(Kareen) Circles of golden-brown whole-grain crust filled with various fruits.

  Raisin-and-grain sweetballs—(Kareen) Highlander travel-fare made of fruits and nuts held together by bitter black molasses. Strong-tasting, not popular outside of the Booar Mountains.

  Tare-ale—(Arhelan) A rich, bitter brown-to-black ale with a heavy head brewed from the native grain tare'-hrodar. First origins of the ale are uncertain, but attributed to the First Folk.

  Zheltariss—(Arissonese) Thick, deep burgundy liqueur with a sweet, fruity taste. Popular when mixed in equal parts with heavy cream.

  Gods

  There are thousands of gods in Arhel. However, a few generalizations may be made.

  The Kareen, for the most part, give thanks to the Lady and the Lord, two nebulously defined and all-encompassing deities who embody the earth and air, day and night, and male and female parts to every facet of life.

  The Hoos have elaborate pantheons of sexually voracious, warlike gods of all thirteen Hoos sexual orientations. These gods tend to be viewed as capricious and dangerous, and prone to weird humor. The Hoos try to emulate their gods in all the important ways—when they aren't ignoring them entirely.

  The Arissonese are not a unified people, but are made of up city natives and travelers from everywhere else. Thus Ariss has a cosmopolitan view of religion, where it doesn't interfere with taxes. For example, birth control is illegal in Ariss because there is a child-tax, and a high birthrate provides a solid tax base. So religions that stress birth control or abstinence are frowned on (except in the case of the Magerie and Sajerie, which are such ancient institutions that the rules of the city are formed around them, leaving them untouched.) One further generalization—Arissonese gods usually like to get money gifts.

  And a final note. The seven ugly gods who rule the lowest and most horrible hell ascribed by any saje in Saje-Ariss are Makog, Dramfing, Shelfud, Grum, Torling, Keknok, and Wilmer. Just thought you'd like to know.

  MAPS