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 ====== Diary of a Xtauh ====== ====== Diary of a Xtauh ======
 **The Life and Journey of An-uxhwi Son of Je-thuro, and the Happenings that Have Occurred to Him therein:**\\ **The Life and Journey of An-uxhwi Son of Je-thuro, and the Happenings that Have Occurred to Him therein:**\\
-**including his enslavement by the [[takma:|Soakers]], and his time in the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:cerulean_tangle|Wet Lands of the Furthest South]]**+**including his enslavement by the [[takma:|Soakers]], and his time in the [[geography:sekhaa:region:cerulean_tangle|Wet Lands of the Furthest South]]**
  
-//Behold, I call upon the //pirr// to aid me in recalling long-gone days and committing them to record. May the [[universe:mikurmiya:kastun:|Gentle Eye]] of [[culture:mythology:eyes_of_the_sky:daxelh|Daxelh]] look favorably down upon this [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author|speaker]]-in-[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing|daubings]].//+//Behold, I call upon the //pirr// to aid me in recalling long-gone days and committing them to record. May the [[universe:mikurmiya:kastun:|Gentle Eye]] of [[mythology:eyes_of_the_sky:daxelh|Daxelh]] look favorably down upon this [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Author|speaker]]-in-[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing|daubings]].//
  
 //Know, then, witnesses, that I am [[person:An-uxhwi]], son of Je-thuro, who was daughter of Je-hwun, who was daughter of Je-badulh. Many eights of [[concept:timekeeping#turn|blinks of the Gentle Eye]] have passed since my hatching in the Far South, and I have grown old and seen much come to pass. And, it must be said, I have done much for which I will be judged - and indeed have been. I scorn those who have. When the time comes that the [[universe:mikurmiya:|Burning Eye]] looks upon me and scours away my flesh, I hold no doubt that my soul shall stand the scrutiny and join the countless stars.// //Know, then, witnesses, that I am [[person:An-uxhwi]], son of Je-thuro, who was daughter of Je-hwun, who was daughter of Je-badulh. Many eights of [[concept:timekeeping#turn|blinks of the Gentle Eye]] have passed since my hatching in the Far South, and I have grown old and seen much come to pass. And, it must be said, I have done much for which I will be judged - and indeed have been. I scorn those who have. When the time comes that the [[universe:mikurmiya:|Burning Eye]] looks upon me and scours away my flesh, I hold no doubt that my soul shall stand the scrutiny and join the countless stars.//
  
-//Until then, the regard of my beloved [[person:Je-xejro]] is all that I care to maintain. For those among the people of [[avishraa:community:Poradrin:]] that have begged me to commit to daubings the tale of my life, know that it was only the joining of her voice with yours that convinced me to relent. I remain troubled that the repeating of my tale, whether by spoken words or daubed signs such as these, shall only keep alive the comments and the curses that she has had to share with me; but she has said, not without reason, that without explanation there can be no understanding. I have relented to her wishes, in the hope that she is correct. But before I begin, know that the Burning Eye scours her soul no more than it does mine! Strange of form she may be, but her heart is good, better still than that of I, her bitter father; and Daxelh has favored her with a good husband and healthy children.//+//Until then, the regard of my beloved [[person:Je-xejro]] is all that I care to maintain. For those among the people of [[geopolitical:Poradrin:]] that have begged me to commit to daubings the tale of my life, know that it was only the joining of her voice with yours that convinced me to relent. I remain troubled that the repeating of my tale, whether by spoken words or daubed signs such as these, shall only keep alive the comments and the curses that she has had to share with me; but she has said, not without reason, that without explanation there can be no understanding. I have relented to her wishes, in the hope that she is correct. But before I begin, know that the Burning Eye scours her soul no more than it does mine! Strange of form she may be, but her heart is good, better still than that of I, her bitter father; and Daxelh has favored her with a good husband and healthy children.//
  
 //Let those who condemn her - and me - be exposed as hateful and as enemies of Daxelh. They shall shrivel in the sight of the Burning Eye along with their bodies! But those who witness this and dare to understand, I welcome them. If indeed they see and understand and Je-xejro's children may take pride in their ancestry, then my learning of the town-signs will not have been in vain.// //Let those who condemn her - and me - be exposed as hateful and as enemies of Daxelh. They shall shrivel in the sight of the Burning Eye along with their bodies! But those who witness this and dare to understand, I welcome them. If indeed they see and understand and Je-xejro's children may take pride in their ancestry, then my learning of the town-signs will not have been in vain.//
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 Life is hard in the Far South, but not impossible. For in the earliest of days, before Daxelh ascended to the skies and She lived among Her children, she taught them the habits of migration that they would know ever to seek that which was elsewhere. So it was that when those of the People who lived in the Far South were faced with the Burning Eye, they withdrew to the mountains where the air remained cool by reason of their nearness to the love of Daxelh, and in Her watchful gaze could remain in half-sleep. And when the Gentle Eye glowed in the night, they saw that it was safe to go down and feed, for it was then that the desert saw rain and life, however sparse. Life is hard in the Far South, but not impossible. For in the earliest of days, before Daxelh ascended to the skies and She lived among Her children, she taught them the habits of migration that they would know ever to seek that which was elsewhere. So it was that when those of the People who lived in the Far South were faced with the Burning Eye, they withdrew to the mountains where the air remained cool by reason of their nearness to the love of Daxelh, and in Her watchful gaze could remain in half-sleep. And when the Gentle Eye glowed in the night, they saw that it was safe to go down and feed, for it was then that the desert saw rain and life, however sparse.
  
-So it was with most of the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:Flitting //Hargh// People]]. How long ago I was brought into life I can no longer say with certainty, for the Flitting Hargh did not count the blinks of the Eyes as do the people of Poradrin. I suspect that some fifty eights of blinks at least have passed, but whether more, and how much more, cannot be said. As was the custom, my mother, Je-thuro, timed conception so that her eggs would be laid as the Burning Eye closed, and cunningly hid them among the rocks of the highlands; of the two that were laid, only mine hatched after slightly more than two blinks, when the Burning Eye had just closed and the time of the Gentle Eye came.+So it was with most of the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:Flitting Hargh People]]. How long ago I was brought into life I can no longer say with certainty, for the Flitting Hargh did not count the blinks of the Eyes as do the people of Poradrin. I suspect that some fifty eights of blinks at least have passed, but whether more, and how much more, cannot be said. As was the custom, my mother, Je-thuro, timed conception so that her eggs would be laid as the Burning Eye closed, and cunningly hid them among the rocks of the highlands; of the two that were laid, only mine hatched after slightly more than two blinks, when the Burning Eye had just closed and the time of the Gentle Eye came.
  
-My mother was yet young, but by virtue of her beauty had already acquired two mates, An-ehwko and An-kulri, who were my fathers. At the time of my hatching she had borne but three times before - the one egg of her first was eaten by scavengers, that of her second yielded my eldest brother An-ilhji, and the three of her third my sister Je-kan, my brother An-lhiru, and another son who hatched but did not survive to the time of naming. Aside from the last, these were those that were with me upon my first migration, and I was taken down into the lowlands to [[avishraa:community:je-xurros_rest|Je-xurro's Rest]].+My mother was yet young, but by virtue of her beauty had already acquired two mates, An-ehwko and An-kulri, who were my fathers. At the time of my hatching she had borne but three times before - the one egg of her first was eaten by scavengers, that of her second yielded my eldest brother An-ilhji, and the three of her third my sister Je-kan, my brother An-lhiru, and another son who hatched but did not survive to the time of naming. Aside from the last, these were those that were with me upon my first migration, and I was taken down into the lowlands to [[geopolitical:je-xurros_rest|Je-xurro's Rest]].
  
 Now, those families of the Far South whose children are of a certain age may brave the open desert at night, but places of refuge and meeting are needed at various times and for various purposes. By virtue of the vulnerability of hatchlings, families carrying them take them to such places, which are often established around springs and oases and other good sources of water. Je-xurro's Rest was such an oasis, and it was the pride of my mother that it was named for her own grandmother's grandmother. On many nights she told us the tale of its founding, and I shall recall it here to the best of my ability: Now, those families of the Far South whose children are of a certain age may brave the open desert at night, but places of refuge and meeting are needed at various times and for various purposes. By virtue of the vulnerability of hatchlings, families carrying them take them to such places, which are often established around springs and oases and other good sources of water. Je-xurro's Rest was such an oasis, and it was the pride of my mother that it was named for her own grandmother's grandmother. On many nights she told us the tale of its founding, and I shall recall it here to the best of my ability:
  
 <blockquote> <blockquote>
-//Je-xurro was the daughter of Je-najhwo of the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:burning_rock_people]], who had been prosperous and borne many children. But in the time of Je-najhwo's old age, the Soakers pushed the Burning Rock People away from their ancestral lands. The Soakers, as all know, have long been the enemies of the People, and gone are the days of legend when the People lived along the rivers of the Far South and up to the feet of the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth|Gray Highlands]], for the Soakers in their misery have built their warrens and have become too numerous to remove.//+//Je-xurro was the daughter of Je-najhwo of the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:Burning Rock People]], who had been prosperous and borne many children. But in the time of Je-najhwo's old age, the Soakers pushed the Burning Rock People away from their ancestral lands. The Soakers, as all know, have long been the enemies of the People, and gone are the days of legend when the People lived along the rivers of the Far South and up to the feet of the [[geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth|Gray Highlands]], for the Soakers in their misery have built their warrens and have become too numerous to remove.//
  
 //The Soakers are large and strong and cunning, but do not understand free will; they mistrust it in others and in themselves. And so, at the bidding of those they accepted as masters, they came out into the desert in response to the raids of the Burning Rock People: not to fight in the honorable manner of the People, but to destroy, seed and shoot. The oasis of our foremothers was attacked in the midst of night, and old and young and egg perished at their forepaws, and among them Je-najhwo; and the oasis was poisoned so that it could not be used. Many healthy adults of the Burning Rock People were spared because they had been out hunting; but they had no elders and no young, and no place to provide for either, and insufficient strength to withstand the Soakers should they return.// //The Soakers are large and strong and cunning, but do not understand free will; they mistrust it in others and in themselves. And so, at the bidding of those they accepted as masters, they came out into the desert in response to the raids of the Burning Rock People: not to fight in the honorable manner of the People, but to destroy, seed and shoot. The oasis of our foremothers was attacked in the midst of night, and old and young and egg perished at their forepaws, and among them Je-najhwo; and the oasis was poisoned so that it could not be used. Many healthy adults of the Burning Rock People were spared because they had been out hunting; but they had no elders and no young, and no place to provide for either, and insufficient strength to withstand the Soakers should they return.//
  
-//A people without lands is no people, and the Burning Rock People were therefore no more. A great many of these, among whom was Je-xurro and her sister Je-lhorun, traveled east into the flat lands of the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:hidden_people]], who dwelt in burrows in the time of the Burning Eye because they had no highlands to which to retreat. At first the Hidden People were welcoming and gave shelter to them; but there was not enough food or water for so many extra mouths, and at last the travelers were obliged to go forth again. They passed north, into the deep center of the wastes, and came at last to the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:Jaruk Heights]]. By reason of their remoteness, few passed that way, and yet there was game and some water, and by a wide pool between two arms of the Heights they made their refuge, and because it was Je-xurro that found it they named it Je-xurro's Rest.//+//A people without lands is no people, and the Burning Rock People were therefore no more. A great many of these, among whom was Je-xurro and her sister Je-lhorun, traveled east into the flat lands of the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:Hidden People]], who dwelt in burrows in the time of the Burning Eye because they had no highlands to which to retreat. At first the Hidden People were welcoming and gave shelter to them; but there was not enough food or water for so many extra mouths, and at last the travelers were obliged to go forth again. They passed north, into the deep center of the wastes, and came at last to the [[geography:sekhaa:region:Jaruk Heights]]. By reason of their remoteness, few passed that way, and yet there was game and some water, and by a wide pool between two arms of the Heights they made their refuge, and because it was Je-xurro that found it they named it Je-xurro's Rest.//
  
-//In time, the Hidden People heard of this place, and some of them came north to dwell there. And some of the travelers, among whom was Je-xurro, remembered their hospitality and welcomed them; and yet others, among whom was Je-lhorun, had not forgiven them for not keeping them longer as guests. And the discord between them became such that they could not reconcile, and there were battles between them, in which Je-lhorun was slain; and at last the dissenters were defeated, and departed to a further region of the Heights, where they named themselves the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:jagged_tooth_people]] for the sharp ridges of rock there. And the people of Je-xurro, who remained with those Hidden People who had come to dwell by the pool, joined with them and called themselves the Flitting Hargh People, for the [[species:hargh|brightly colored insects]] that were found near the pool at dawn and dusk. And between the Flitting Hargh People and the Jagged Tooth People there remained enmity and strife ever after.//+//In time, the Hidden People heard of this place, and some of them came north to dwell there. And some of the travelers, among whom was Je-xurro, remembered their hospitality and welcomed them; and yet others, among whom was Je-lhorun, had not forgiven them for not keeping them longer as guests. And the discord between them became such that they could not reconcile, and there were battles between them, in which Je-lhorun was slain; and at last the dissenters were defeated, and departed to a further region of the Heights, where they named themselves the [[ethnicity:ixhwanlhai:Jagged Tooth People]] for the sharp ridges of rock there. And the people of Je-xurro, who remained with those Hidden People who had come to dwell by the pool, joined with them and called themselves the Flitting Hargh People, for the [[species:hargh|brightly colored insects]] that were found near the pool at dawn and dusk. And between the Flitting Hargh People and the Jagged Tooth People there remained enmity and strife ever after.//
 </blockquote> </blockquote>
  
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 ===== Wanderings ===== ===== Wanderings =====
-The Jaruk Heights are at the very heart of the desert. Those who have traveled most say it lies equidistant between the four great walls within which is the preserve of the People: the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth|Gray Highlands]] in the Far South, the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:Nest of the Sun]] in the East, the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:refuge_range|Pinnacles of Night]] in the West, and the cold lands in the North. In any of these directions I could have gone, and seen untold sights, and had a very different life as a result. But south I went, toward the lands held by the Soakers, for I was young and brash and I wished to see for myself the giants who were the tormentors of the People.+The Jaruk Heights are at the very heart of the desert. Those who have traveled most say it lies equidistant between the four great walls within which is the preserve of the People: the [[geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth|Gray Highlands]] in the Far South, the [[geography:sekhaa:region:Nest of the Sun]] in the East, the [[geography:sekhaa:region:refuge_range|Pinnacles of Night]] in the West, and the cold lands in the North. In any of these directions I could have gone, and seen untold sights, and had a very different life as a result. But south I went, toward the lands held by the Soakers, for I was young and brash and I wished to see for myself the giants who were the tormentors of the People.
  
 I passed first into the lands of the Hidden People. Now because of the past contact and kinship that had arisen between these and the Flitting Hargh People, we knew of each other and were on cordial terms, and often the wandering males of nearby tribes went to them to learn their ways of avoiding the heat of the Burning Eye even in the lowlands. As I have said, they [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugout_(shelter)|burrow beneath the ground]] to accomplish this feat, and they do so in two ways. I passed first into the lands of the Hidden People. Now because of the past contact and kinship that had arisen between these and the Flitting Hargh People, we knew of each other and were on cordial terms, and often the wandering males of nearby tribes went to them to learn their ways of avoiding the heat of the Burning Eye even in the lowlands. As I have said, they [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dugout_(shelter)|burrow beneath the ground]] to accomplish this feat, and they do so in two ways.
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 At last the land became more friendly to life, and yet more alien, for here I encountered a people who spoke a tongue unfamiliar to me. The language of the Hidden People had been like mine, though some words and pronunciations were different, and although I was never able to fully understand the tongue of my fathers (who never taught it to me, but sometimes spoke it between themselves) many words and phrases were like ours, though greatly changed, and it seemed to me that I could sometimes discern the topic of which they spoke. The tongue of the people I encountered now, however, offered me no such guides; I had no understanding of it, and found it unpleasant, for the words popped and clicked in the mouth. At last the land became more friendly to life, and yet more alien, for here I encountered a people who spoke a tongue unfamiliar to me. The language of the Hidden People had been like mine, though some words and pronunciations were different, and although I was never able to fully understand the tongue of my fathers (who never taught it to me, but sometimes spoke it between themselves) many words and phrases were like ours, though greatly changed, and it seemed to me that I could sometimes discern the topic of which they spoke. The tongue of the people I encountered now, however, offered me no such guides; I had no understanding of it, and found it unpleasant, for the words popped and clicked in the mouth.
  
-Nonetheless, my [[concept:empathic_sense|mind-sense]] of them proclaimed them a kindly people - or at least one adept at hiding their true feelings of me - and they were willing to trade. I learned some small portion of their tongue, but as I went on to a land stringed with oases, I found that they - who called themselves [[ethnicity:otarkit]], the Red Ones, for many of them were of that color - were more often familiar with mine, or in any case one enough like it to be easily understood. I learned from them that when the Burning Rock People had departed their homeland, they had passed through the lands of the Otarkit, and that some of them had stayed and joined with their people. Though their children came to speak the tongue of the Otarkit in their everyday lives, their former speech lingered, being much like that of the Hidden People and of use in their dealings with them.+Nonetheless, my [[concept:empathic_sense|mind-sense]] of them proclaimed them a kindly people - or at least one adept at hiding their true feelings of me - and they were willing to trade. I learned some small portion of their tongue, but as I went on to a land stringed with oases, I found that they - who called themselves [[ethnicity:Otarkit]], the Red Ones, for many of them were of that color - were more often familiar with mine, or in any case one enough like it to be easily understood. I learned from them that when the Burning Rock People had departed their homeland, they had passed through the lands of the Otarkit, and that some of them had stayed and joined with their people. Though their children came to speak the tongue of the Otarkit in their everyday lives, their former speech lingered, being much like that of the Hidden People and of use in their dealings with them.
  
 I considered staying among the Otarkit for a time, for I became comfortable among them and they valued the leaf-stone carvings I had brought from the Jaruk Heights, for they had no stone nearby that was such a color. But when the last of the carvings was traded away, I resolved to continue west, and see the lands of my foremothers. The Otarkit, living near to the area, gave more precise directions than my mother's stories had, and advice about the current conditions in my chosen path. They warned me that the land was inhabited mostly by bands of unattached males and a few female warchiefs, all fond of skirmishing among each other and against the Soakers. Though their advice was almost certainly meant as a warning, to me it smelled of adventure and a chance to earn status, and I eagerly pressed on. I considered staying among the Otarkit for a time, for I became comfortable among them and they valued the leaf-stone carvings I had brought from the Jaruk Heights, for they had no stone nearby that was such a color. But when the last of the carvings was traded away, I resolved to continue west, and see the lands of my foremothers. The Otarkit, living near to the area, gave more precise directions than my mother's stories had, and advice about the current conditions in my chosen path. They warned me that the land was inhabited mostly by bands of unattached males and a few female warchiefs, all fond of skirmishing among each other and against the Soakers. Though their advice was almost certainly meant as a warning, to me it smelled of adventure and a chance to earn status, and I eagerly pressed on.
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 Possibly I was less skilled in fighting than in romance; though An-ilhji's mate Arindarrak approved of my choice of gift to Jethrekin when I told her, An-ilhji found less praise for me when I sparred with him. But though I never could defeat him in combat, I at least came eventually to the point where I could hold my own against him, and could reliably best at least some other opponents. Therefore An-ilhji recommended me to Chirtpek, who agreed to allow me on the next raid. Possibly I was less skilled in fighting than in romance; though An-ilhji's mate Arindarrak approved of my choice of gift to Jethrekin when I told her, An-ilhji found less praise for me when I sparred with him. But though I never could defeat him in combat, I at least came eventually to the point where I could hold my own against him, and could reliably best at least some other opponents. Therefore An-ilhji recommended me to Chirtpek, who agreed to allow me on the next raid.
  
-Now, the land of the Pa'irket lay among the foothills of the southernmost Pinnacles of Night, so called because, in the Jaruk Heights, it was behind those mountains that the Burning Eye closed for its rest. But as a wall to the domain of the People it stands incomplete, for there is a gap between its southern end and the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:Spine of Sirdanth|Gray Highlands]], through which the rivers of the south flow. The most ancient legends say that once these rivers were the domain of the People, and that along their lush banks there were prosperous villages and farms, even as there are in Poradrin. But the Soakers came up from the [[avishraa:geography:sekhaa:region:cerulean_tangle|Wet Lands]], south beyond the Highlands, and took the river valleys to dwell in, though they could not survive too far into the desert. This is how we named them as Soakers; for they must bathe in and drink water frequently, lest their scales dry up and they crumble away into dust.+Now, the land of the Pa'irket lay among the foothills of the southernmost Pinnacles of Night, so called because, in the Jaruk Heights, it was behind those mountains that the Burning Eye closed for its rest. But as a wall to the domain of the People it stands incomplete, for there is a gap between its southern end and the [[geography:sekhaa:region:spine_of_sirdanth|Gray Highlands]], through which the rivers of the south flow. The most ancient legends say that once these rivers were the domain of the People, and that along their lush banks there were prosperous villages and farms, even as there are in Poradrin. But the Soakers came up from the [[geography:sekhaa:region:cerulean_tangle|Wet Lands]], south beyond the Highlands, and took the river valleys to dwell in, though they could not survive too far into the desert. This is how we named them as Soakers; for they must bathe in and drink water frequently, lest their scales dry up and they crumble away into dust.
  
 The People do not have the strength to dislodge them from the rivers, for they huddle together in great numbers, and this together with the size of their bodies means an alliance of many clans is necessary to do battle against even one of their warrens. But they had also taken many oases for themselves, and these supported few of their kind and were difficult to defend. It was one such oasis that was the object of my first raid, and under the leadership of Arindarrak we went there, going so far as to begin our journey under the Burning Eye so that we might arrive shortly after nightfall. When we arrived, we spied out the Soakers from afar; there were scarcely twenty-four of them, and little more than half were adults, while we numbered about thirty. We moved in from two directions: some from the land, while others held their breaths and swam beneath the water. Though they had set a guard around their tents, it was not enough to protect them that night. The People do not have the strength to dislodge them from the rivers, for they huddle together in great numbers, and this together with the size of their bodies means an alliance of many clans is necessary to do battle against even one of their warrens. But they had also taken many oases for themselves, and these supported few of their kind and were difficult to defend. It was one such oasis that was the object of my first raid, and under the leadership of Arindarrak we went there, going so far as to begin our journey under the Burning Eye so that we might arrive shortly after nightfall. When we arrived, we spied out the Soakers from afar; there were scarcely twenty-four of them, and little more than half were adults, while we numbered about thirty. We moved in from two directions: some from the land, while others held their breaths and swam beneath the water. Though they had set a guard around their tents, it was not enough to protect them that night.
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