Saga - PT [DDC 2016] Letters Never Sent (OCs | ROTS) - COMPLETE, PARTIAL E-BOOK

Ooh, Ewok Poet. I think you have found the perfect outlet for your style here. Letters Never Sent. Nice title. Only got through a couple of chapters so far but I like the depth you are bringing to your character.

 

Thank you so much for your replies! <3

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Sauna?

Likely the bolded part.

I CANNOT HEAR YOU OVER MY OWN WHISTLING.

I did not read this book, and I have added it to my reading list...predictably populated by your suggestions.

And yes, that's the irony - he asserts that Elamm is not much of a talker, but whom is he talking to? Perhaps there are also things Elamm wonders about him, on the other hand. FUSTERCLUCK.

Did you notice the other title drops, too? I...dropped quite a few.

And this is the main leitmotif of pretty much everything I'm currently writing. Each single creature in the Galaxy has a connection to the Force and, though they may not be explicitly Force-sensitive and able to control anything, they should not outright be denying their potential divinity, either.

Welcome. And thanks for having said that. I didn't know just how free and intuitive I could possibly be before I started writing this diary. There is no thing which flows as naturally as this does.

If you like, you can download the e-book with the first fifteen entries to catch-up, and then proceed from the entry #16.

 

Entry 19

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 00:32>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: NEAR THE BOILING SEA, DRALL>>

I regret to inform you that former lover is fifty-three percent mute.

Sixty?

Seventy-five? I never liked the idea of rounding things up to numbers that are easier to grasp, but this situation just called for it.

I have become more of a silent, observant type ever since I arrived to Drall. The problem with being around somebody who talks in these…avalanches and then does not say a word for hours is evident. Elamm is powered by whatever abstract energy he made up, whatever somebody like me is incapable of even understanding. He will be detached for hours, perhaps even go a day or two without speaking and then this novel-length monologue will come out of…practically nowhere. Nowhere! This is awkward. This is strange. And I’m not sure how to describe it. When he’s at the peak of these performances, monologues, whatever, he hugs me and gets way too close. Once he’s done speaking, he runs away. I don’t understand. What is this?

The other day, I asked him if he is in love with me. He nearly got angry. Men are disgusting, he thinks. He never considered himself one, but he never considered himself a woman, either. He would not want to be like Halin. Just like he has no clearly set preference when it comes to who he is, he is not particularly interested in anybody. As much as men are disgusting, women are complicated and greedy, he says. I tried to imply that it’s different outside of Drall, but he refused to believe. I asked him if he had a rejection story, if some wealthy snob from Mastigophorous or wherever else rejected him because he was a hermit. He laughed. He didn’t snicker, he outright laughed out loud for a couple of minutes. I even thought he was having seizures at some point.

Once he caught a breath, he calmly told me that he still has his ta'devsh and that he is in no hurry to get rid of it. He was never keen on relationships with the sexual aspect to them or, as a matter of a fact, relationships with living things.

Now, that was strange. Not only that I didn’t ask him about it, but…well, where do I even start? I jokingly asked him if he would consider making love to stardust. He closed his eyes and went on and on about how some of the constellations are more beautiful than any woman he could ever imagine, that there is no lifemate more eternal than a young star, perhaps still surrounded by a protoplanetary disk. He compared such a protoplanetary disk to jewelry worn by the daughter of the Duchess of the Mastigophorous clan.

Once Sha'lott's screech stopped him in the middle of his daydream, Elamm nearly fell off the chair. He stopped twirling his braids and looked at me for good ten minutes, not saying anything.

I told him about Korgah, how she more or less stalked me, how she wanted to have me no matter what and that all my flaws, both real and imaginary, turned out to be igniting these frightening fires within her body. I added that I was passionate about her myself. Looks like I’m not good with imaginary anything. Despite his lack of experience, he figured out that I was bluffing and he asked me about my true love. I had no choice but to tell him about you.

At first, I was cautious. I thought that a hidden pervert in him wanted to know details of the night my ta'devsh went away and what age I was back then, but he was not interested in that. Not at all. And that was good, because I therefore avoided accidentally saying that I was way too old for that, yet a decade younger than he is now. What he really cared about is how it is like to be an adult and constantly be around somebody who is not a friend, family member or a pet. He said that the idea of being obliged to communicate was scary. How could I have complained about not communicating enough and suffering because of that? K-k-kriff.

Anyway, k-bombs aside as I could smash a planetary shield if I started to throw them as much as I would like to…I didn't know how to explain that to him. Even the times when you and I, Ranni, would live together for a couple of months at time, I did not feel like communication was an unnatural thing and something of an obligation. It’s not like you were counting my words or that I was counting yours. Sweet nothings were sweet nothings. Small talk was small talk. Deep stuff was deep stuff. Planning future was…oh, wait, we couldn’t have possibly planned future. We had no future. I got caught in the trap of sweeter in history once again. I…


<<***** HAS BEEN IDLE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES:: TURN THE UNIT OFF? Y/N>>
<<THE UNIT WILL NOT BE TURNED OFF>>

Where was I?

<<***** HAS BEEN IDLE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES:: TURN THE UNIT OFF? Y/N>>
<<THE UNIT WILL NOT BE TURNED OFF>>

I can’t have this much of Elamm. Maybe him talking in waves is a progressive thing.

Come to think, it's been about six months since I last used the word "progressive".

Aw, kriff! Make that six seconds. I guess that the only things that bring out a true Sacorrian in me nowadays are things that are almost impossible to understand, regardless of where one is from. And after this conversation today, I’m one-hundred percent sure that I’m nowhere near as odd as everybody, ever led me to believe.

One hundred? A-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Looks like I’m fond of numbers after all. Those who have crossed the boundaries of irrational and went beyond the edge of known worlds, they bring out the most logical and rational in me.

<<LOCAL TIME: 02:45>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

I will have what Elamm is having. Holy Mandalore varactyl with constipation, what was this about? Just what? Did these two take some nice spice and then forget that they did? Or are they so nuts that they cannot understand each other? Different brands of nuts, though, he-he. Kriff this, I’m not making sense. This is contagious.

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Ta'devsh is, err, Drall male virginity. Fanon.

 

I can't say if the reader is a he or a she, but it will be clear very soon.

And yes, Elamm is too progressive AND regressive at the same time and poor Lil can't quite grasp that. Then again, there's a reason such a strange fellow would live on his own and barely ever talk to others. Maybe he can't get himself, either!

Precisely that. This kind of, err, closeness, though...

HA!

The downsides of not knowing how to be stardust properly. He could use a manual.

He would take it apathetically. The default Elamm mood is apathetic. XD

 

Entry 20

<<<142 DAYS HAVE PASSED SINCE LAST LOGIN. REAUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. ENTER NAMECODE!!!>>>
<<<NAMECODE: *****>>>
<<<NAMECODE CORRECT. WELCOME, *****>>>
<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 13:24>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: NEAR THE BOILING SEA, DRALL>>

So, I have a job. Again. But it’s nothing I wanted. It’s only the necessity and the fact that I needed the credits that led me to basically being a flesh and bones equivalent of a multi-use droid at Halin’s. I am not sure if this is the non-planet equivalent of having been sucked up by a supermassive black hole, or if this planet is the worst place in the Galaxy.

I’m exhausted. Meccha is one of the most annoying small towns ever and, regardless of the ways I’m trying to rationalise what happened to me, I’m afraid that I just can’t. Impossible. No use. This is not where I belong.

Ending up working for Halin was the last thing I ever wanted. But that’s the only thing we could come up with after about everybody in Mastigophorous rejected my job application. They don’t take the “corrected” version of my Sacorrian degree. They don't take my fake Corellian degree. They just don’t take me and they won’t take me. My knowledge of teaching is sub-par and my methodology is nonsensical, does not give students enough freedom; and, on top of it, I don’t look like an authority…whatever that may mean.

After about every school in the city rejected me, Elamm had this idea of having his mother hire me. He is either fed up with me, or he loves me very much, since that meant that he actually had to talk to Halin and persuade her. Or not, since she accepted me as her sole employee faster than I thought. I mean, she didn’t exactly say that she accepted me – she just handed me a bar rag.

She’s a ruthless individual. She scolds me. She belittles me. I absolutely understand why her poor son ended up being the hermit he is and why he prefers animals to sentient beings. Halin is an anomaly. Her voice is scarier than Sha’lott’s screeching. She looks nasty, on top of it all. She wears bright pink lipstick that is so un-Drall. Perhaps she could not find a job in Mastigophorous, either? Also…her chest is – I swear – bigger than her head!

And that is how I learned that not all busty women are you. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t know, but you never used that to your advantage. You never took that ridiculous bit of what is most certainly Human-centric culture close to your heart…that was funny, right? Sorry! She can take her breasts wherever she wants to, as long as she keeps them away from me. I heard that younglings get a slap on the muzzle if they call breasts “stormie helmets”. I have no idea what a “stormie” is and what kind of helmets are those, but I sense that this is yet another thing I should be disturbed about! And Sacor knows I’m way too disturbed already.

Being around Halin, I found myself missing Elamm’s company. Sure, I would see him as he patrols the sky – Sha’lott distinctive violet feathers are pretty easy to make out – but he was not visiting that much and each time he would, his mother would find a way to drive him mad and more or less kick him out sooner than he wanted to. Seriously, where is her husband? Does she have a family? How can somebody like her keep a business and actually don’t end up arrested for, I don’t know, cruelty towards everything and everybody, ever? Kriff Halin. Kriff everything.

And this is where I realise that I should go to…Aurea. I have just about as much Imperial credits as I need to get there. That is where I’m going to be able to be myself. I can’t go back to Corellia, I can’t think of ever going back home as I would be dead the second I got into our star system, but Aurea has always sounded like my kind of a planet. Almost everybody there is an artist. And you know what that means? Bliss, laid-back attitude, perhaps some nice spice as well. Nothing too strong, of course.

This mermaid I once got from Zizi is going to be my pass to no other place than the famed Mardri Soulworks Collective. He got there by showing somebody else’s glass figurine to “a gatekeeper”, so why wouldn’t I get there that way?

This may be an insane plan, but I don’t care.

Oh, and I am going to find Coovo Ferry. The one who wrote about me.

And then I’m going to ask that wise guy what it’s all about and why am I not me, etc. Having two identities is enough, I don’t need another and even if I did, I don’t want it in a place where I am inevitably seen as an underachiever, just because I am not rich.

I don’t want my departure to be as emotional as it was when I fled Corellia and came here. Then again, I’ve become so emotionally detached on Drall that leaving here will not be much different than throwing away an old shoe. Speaking of that, I can’t wait to be wearing clothes again. I already practiced it in front of the mirror of this stinky refresher-and-room space with no air purifying. It feels snuggy, the way it never did before. I guess that this planet and this wicked woman made me so miserable that I am now happy about having a pair of underpants on. A black Drall in white garb, essentially one big mess of grey, grey and more grey. Just like those people patrolling around.

I could totally see you scolding me over this and calling it a rash decision. For one, rash decisions saved my life. Twice. A rash decision brought us together. A rash decision led me to the path that changed my career. I think my existence is based on rash decisions. They’re my starship fuel. Know what, Ranni? Rash decisions are me, end of the story! Kriff it.

Come to think of it, kriff everything. Kriff Drall and what it has to offer to descendants of our species. Kriff gambling, luxury and jewels. Not everything that glistens is good. As I have said some months ago, we are nothing but blind charting the stars in the end, but I would prefer not to be additionally blinded by greed of the world we came from. And no, we didn’t come from whatever higher kind of a place the alleged Celestials brought us from. Kriff the Celestials.

And kriff me for being this stupid.

<<LOCAL TIME: 14:22>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Drall really believe that Celestials transported them to their homeworld from a different place in the Galaxy.

 

Ewok Poet Hi me again. Read another entry! Haha loved Dandelion's name. Little flourishes like that, which resonate so well in real life - who hasn't had a classmate with a silly name? - adds such verisimilitude. Interesting development in that he doesn't really know what's going on with the wars - and somehow also very plausible. We watch the news and can get desensitised so easily now, I find myself agreeing it must be just as easy in a GFFA with instant galactic news everywhere.

Incisive comment: How can one leave the Republic, can you move planets?

Thanks for sharing. I'll be back.

 

Thank you for comments, likes and reads that I have no proof of.

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I didn't, actually. A couple of friends had odd last names, but that was it. I missed on a lot, I think.

And Dale's parents probably had no idea that dandelion is not a cute thing in the GFFA. Methinks somebody got too enthusiastic reading about species from faraway worlds.

Yes, to a certain extent, but it's also a consequence on spending forty years on a xenophobic, insular planet. Lil will be a fish out of water in further entries, a lot!

Conspiracy theories and, once again, growing up in the strange, strange world that is Sacorria. This fanon entry and this story, straight from the bizarroo-universe should...give you an idea of just how screwed up that world is.

I...need an Arnie gif. And you're welcome!

I didn't even notice that the theme was in ALL my stories. Probably because, well, I am quite the opposite of my numerous displaced characters. This city has been a capital of four or five different countries in my lifetime, and I'm just freakin' 33. O_O

I know the feeling too, I'm mortified of full-time office jobs for many reasons, including that. But why would Dralls from Drall reject a Sacorrian Drall? Maybe he was not Drall enough for them.

She and Bozzie would get along just fine!

I'm not saying what Ranni is like in that department...you'll see.

And yeah, both Korgah and Halin are anti-Rannis in some way...but at least he didn't go to bed with this one, yikes!

I hate saying "you'll see", but you'll see.

He...just might.

Not that exact one, but close!

 

Entry 21

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 00:00>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: CRYSALLIA, AUREA>>

It’s midnight! Buzzzzzzz! Yes, my sense of time is alive and well, Ranni, unlike some other senses.

I’m on Aurea and I’m NOT all lasered up. In fact, I’m completely sober and sobriety never felt more beautiful than this.

Turns out, ghonna spice is not…the kind of spice I thought of. It’s a tropical seed used in cooking. I requested it from the first person I met on the street here, after I left my luggage in a nice hotel – this planet is dirt-cheap, by the way – and she laughed and pointed me to a Consumart on the corner.

Turns out, Aureans don’t do spice, plain and simple. It’s forbidden on this planet and if somebody has it, they will be evicted. Vagran is conveniently close, but that’s a whole different issue, right?

Turns out, the creativity this planet is known for comes from whatever natural heights that the artists in the collectives are capable of.

Turns out, I say “turns out” a lot.

Maybe it’s because this planet really IS a jewel. Maybe it’s because there are so many rainbow-like reflections in the glass domes of the nearby city that some strange, almost unbelievable form of synaesthesia is at works. Maybe I should not be asking questions. The moment I got here, I felt like I regained some aspects of my freedom. And all my plans to get high were gone. They evaporated. They…just don’t exist anymore.

Turns out, maybe. Turns out, maybe. Ugh!

Before anything else, just like I implied two days ago…I could not wait to wear clothes again. The moment I got onto the ship, I unpacked my favourite pair of trousers and the shirt you bought me for the graduation party and put them on. You know, the exact clothing item I left Sacorria in. And the exact clothing item I asked you to propose to me in. But let’s not talk about that now.

We landed at an improvised landing pad on top of one of the glass-covered skyscrapers in the centre of Crysallia, the capital city. And once again, I thought about how beautiful the glass was, compared to transparisteel. These reflections, as I said earlier…they’re gorgeous. There should be more glass. Everywhere. I don’t care if it’s breakable, it’s incredible. And when used like this, it’s…like…different from the way Zizi used it with the Cobble Stone Square glass blowers. I had no idea it was more than art material. How ironic, to find it used for building on a planet known for glass artefacts.

By the way, is this just me or did I forget how to properly express myself after all those days of being quiet next to Elamm and Halin? I sound like a kriffin’ grain fly on a bad day. You know, a bad day for a grain fly means it stepped into a pile of bantha droppings.

Oh, yes, you never thought my ‘fresher jokes were funny. Never mind, never mind, never mind. Turns out…maybe.

So, right now, I’m sitting here with a ghonna-spiced, blue cream filled flatcake with pieces of shuura and I’m loving it. The mountain I can see through the window of my room is called Carmine and I’m relieved. It’s a bunch of peaks in gorgeous ruby red hues, in the distance, peeking from above fluffy clouds. That’s right, a mountain the way the Maker, Force, Celestials or whomever one believes in intended for it to be. No eyes, noses and other facial features. It’s not preying on me and I don’t feel like every single move I make is being judged.

And, in some way, this is funny. Because I don’t want to do anything particularly outrageous.

Not today.

Tomorrow, however, I’m going to the Shakkam Crater. That’s where the Mardri Soulworks Collective arcology is located. It is the very site where a passenger liner crashed six thousand years ago and where Coovo Mardri, a wannabe artist and son of some rich Corellians – yes, I know rich does not mean lacking talent, but you know I’m talking about her and not you whenever I say that…and I say that a lot. I mean, Coovo Mardri discovered those incredible crystals on the edge of the crater. Soon it was discovered that the crater was not a volcano that never was. A meteor travelled the Galaxy and hit this planet. And, apparently, that created the incredible crystals the spoiled brat found. The next thing he knew, people wanted to live with him and the one of a kind commune, the Mardri Soulworks Collective formed. And they worked with crystalline glass. Every single thing made with that is cheap here, while it costs a ridiculous amount of credits on pretty much any other planet in the sector. Life’s strange like that.

Now, people say that it’s hard to get there if you’re not an Aurean yourself. Their artists are hand-picked. No journalists are allowed and, for some reason, the ruling body of the Collective, which is…oh my…also the ruling body of the entire planet…what in the name of…what kind of a place is this? Anyway, the said ruling body may reject the individual if they turn out to be undesirable.

On top of this, an item created by a Collective alumni is required in order to even get there. But I have this. I have one of Zizi’s mermaids, the strange red one that he could not sell to anybody, the one he gave me in exchange for what was, essentially, a result of splattering lots of paint on a smaller piece of canvas, during a spice episode. How ironic is it that we ended up with what have got to be the strangest and most bizarre pieces of each other’s work?

I guess that means we truly love each other?!

Either way, that mermaid will get me there…I hope. I need to sleep on it. Not the mermaid itself, of course.

I want to have another flatcake before bedtime, though. Hope the hotel kitchen is still working.

<<LOCAL TIME: 01:10>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

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Footnotes

Spoiler

Consumart is a thing and, as far as I am concerned, it should have chains all over the Galaxy.

Cobble Stone Square is a square in Dorthus Tal City on Sacorria, where (controlled) artisans offer their art and often create it live in front of the customers.

Flatcakes are the GFFA pancakes/crêpes. Yummy!

Shuura is the fruit Anakin Skywalker makes levitate in Attack of the Clones.

I may or may not try to make crêpes with cottage cheese, pears and cinnamon in near future and pass it as a GFFA recipe.

Aurea is a planet on the west of the Corellian System, located close to Vagran and Sacorria.

Crysallia is the capital of Aurea.

Carmine Peaks are mountains on Aurea.

Coovo Mardri is indeed a dilettante artist from Corellia who discovered Aurea.

Shakamm Crater is where the passenger liner Mardri was on made an emergency landing. It's indeed a site of a meteor impact.

Ghonna spice is one of Aurea's exports. I imagine it to be like cinnamon.

Mardri Soulworks Collective was founded by Coovo Mardri and they believe that art is created from one's soul, hence the name.

The Soulworks Collective Advisory Council is indeed the governing body of Aurea. It's a meritocracy-based society.

Crystalline glass is the substance made from Aurean sand.

Mardri Soulworks Collective arcology is indeed a sustainable building.

Crysallia, Carmine Peaks, Coovo Mardri, Shakamm Crater, ghonna spice, Mardri Soulworks Collective, The Soulworks Collective Advisory Council and crystalline glass do not have Wook pages, but they were all mentioned in the Suns of Fortune RPG sourcebook. If it continues like this, I may have to add them to Wook myself and deal with fanboys.

'fresher jokes - Toilet humour. Fanon.

Zizi Pao's glass mermaid, albeit a different one, appears in the story he originated from - leiamoody's excellent short, The Song Hour.

 

Thanks for reading, all who do. I apologise for being late - things are happening, mostly good ones and I'm chaotic. This chapter was pre-written, but since it contributed to May word count, I could not sort everything out immediately.

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Ha! Makes sense. And since I started re-reading Watership Down (or Brežuljak Voteršip, as we say here), it's even more flattering.

You're right. and other than that, my Aurea fanon just continues on Aurea canon.

One could say that this is the place he never knew he needed.

I have been thinking of this - leiamoody and her creation of Zizi Pao have made all of this happen, in some way and I don't even know how to make up for that amount of inspiration. I had the idea out of nowhere and it wasn't expanded on enough and then...boom, Zizi appears and suddenly he's a part of Lil's life.

Glass as building material is probably foreign to most of GFFA, while Ewoks probably didn't even discover it. Life's odd that way. And then, Aurea puts a value on it and has a special kind of it.

I totally need to come up with a recipe for those. Cinammon, quark/cottage cheese and pear pieces, perhaps from compote. It has got to be good.

 

Entry 22

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 18:35>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: MARDRI SOULWORKS COLLECTIVE ARCOLOGY, AUREA>>

Ranni, this one would be a very messy monologue. I actually wrote you a story. Yes, for the second time. I’m such a cheater. But here I go…

The hotel staff insisted that one of their spaceport drivers could transport me to the site of the Mardri Soulworks Collective Arcology, because this young blonde Human woman was going there herself. Having learned that it’s 200 km, I realised that so many things on this planet are relative. 200 km is not close in my world. On the other hand, you used to travel far longer distances than that in order to see me.

The woman didn’t say a single word during our trip and the moment the gorgeous A-shaped sustainable building appeared in front of us, she disappeared. Unlike the other Aureans I’ve met so far, she seemed unfriendly and I was more or less sure that it was because I ate three flatcakes on our way from Crysallia to here.

Getting inside of the arcology proved to be harder than getting out of the Dorthus Tal prison. Not that I have ever been imprisoned, but I was close. You simply have to know someone who knows someone.

And when I said that I knew someone, the security personnel, a male of species I have never seen before, raised an eyebrow. He commented that he has not seen a Drall less classy in his lifetime. I frowned, solely for him to burst into laughter and pat me on the shoulder. He liked the idea of a messy Drall. Glad he did point me to the refresher after all.

Once I was in front of him again, he directed me to a group of large tents close to the arcology and said that I need to be registered and spend some time at the “offworlder colony”. I shrugged and made my way through the gemlike sand.

The offworlders colony was dominated by one large tent surrounded by a bunch of small ones. I laughed when a Dug, or at least I think it was a Dug, working under an improvised shed asked me if I was looking for the Mother Tent.

And that’s what its name was.

Once I stepped in, it reminded me of Curheg factories. No, beings were not snorting hallucinogenic flowers or making ugly speeders and lava wall coverings. They were in hurry, running around on these funny platforms, some of them even had jetpacks. Later on, I was told that they got the idea from a manda…manda-something who left an alleged war culture of his homeworld and came here. They think jetpacks are handy.

I headed to a large glass table, solely to find the blonde woman from earlier that day sitting next to a datapad connected to the terminal inside of the arcology.

“So, the one who likes flatcakes is an artist?” She said, cocking her head. “I’m delighted.”

“I’m from Sacorria, then Corellia, then Drall. I didn’t like Drall.”

She snickered at my last remark. “Drall is boring.”

I nodded and pulled Zizi’s glass sculpture out of my waistbag.

"Mermaid?" She picked the tiny glass sculpture in her hand and looked through the hollow space formed by its twisted tail. "Everything I ever come across follows a specific theme and this little trinket of yours is no exception."

I snatched the item back from between her sapphire-coloured fingernails. "Mermaid #414, as created by your collective's alumni, Zizi Pao, during his residence at the Cobble Stone Square."

She used a device adjacent to her datapad to imagegrabber and, twenty seconds later, she turned the datapad to me - two identical mermaids appeared on screen – mine to the left and a two-dimensional model with all those lines to the right.

"This template matches the one Zizi Pao created for our database. You’re in." The woman leaned on her elbows. "I guess Zizi cares about you a lot, otherwise he would have never given you that." She paused to count on her fingers. "It's been a long time since he left Aurea. Where is he now, anyway? The last I heard of him, he had plans to move."

“…what?” I was confused.

“Are you, by chance, the friend of his who had to run away from some Hutt? Blobbo or something?”

I nodded again. Just what the kriff was she going to think about me, giving all this grinning, nodding and the other yes-being reactions?

“I’m in awe. That creature is not to be messed with. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him and I would not want anybody I care about to come anywhere close to him, either. Hutts are monsters. All of them. Have you heard of Jabba? Ziro?”

I drew a blank. The first name was popping up when a friend was betting on some races outside of the Core, but other than that, I had no idea. It was Coovo’s turn to nod and grin, as she apparently didn’t want to tell me more. Instead of this, while I was trying to remember just what role this Jabba character had in podracing, she grabbed the mermaid figurine again and, honestly, Ranni, I didn't even register the moment she did it. For a free-spirited artisan, she was an incredible thief.

"Your stay at the Collective has been granted..." She gestured towards me with both of her hands. This is when I realised I needed to introduce myself.

"...Lidgrain. Lidgrain of the Nar'cees clan. But you can call me Lil."

"Coovo. But not Mardri, he died four millenia ago. Coovo Ferry."

That was my first big surprise of the trip! Coovo Ferry was standing before me and she was not the pretentious art historian I imagined! A Human woman in her mid-twenties, she is originally from Kammas, on the other continent, but thanks to her being chosen by the Collective to represent their diplomatic interests, she now lives in one of the apartments, called bubbles, inside of the arcology with her partner, Sayran Ferry. They happen to have the same last name, which they say will come in handy in case they ever decide to marry.

A Ferry-Ferry. Ferry-marry?

Quite contrary!

Come to think of it, it's somewhat scary.

And that was it, for the story. I’m not good with this medium. Not good at all.

I am trying to imagine you cackling at that, err, joke of a joke I ended the story with. After this amount of time, the only memory I have of your cackling and snorting are recordings on some of my datacards.

The first thing I asked Coovo once she and Sayran pointed me to a spare tent at the end of their working hours was how she obtained information on Sacorrian artists.

She said that she had contacted the Sacorrian Ministry of Culture in order to get a couple of artists featured in her caf-table book. The response she received in turn was from CESA, two weeks after her inquiry. She requested to speak to the Minister, but there was no follow-up. Eventually, she gave up on trying to find out more and used whatever material she already had to write her book.

The first thing I told her is that Saride is the author of most pieces presented as other artists' work. She was confused, to say the least. If this was any planet, I am pretty sure that my sanity would have been questioned and that I would have been probed. I told her everything I knew about that Doloria-backed piece of Triad-aligned scum.

Guess what? Both Coovo and her partner were absolutely sure that the Doloria was a terrorist group, working against the Sacorrian Triad. The Republic had them listed as such, the Empire has them listed as such! They thought it was that simple! Doloria's love/hate relationship with the system depends on credits and credits only. Everything else...kurso-kurso!

Sayran remarked that, if nothing else, Saride is a versatile artist. Where does this guy get his optimism?

I confirmed that everything she has about Davoreen Lylek is true, minus the part about generations and generations of his descendants being as talented as he was. I explained that Korra Lylek is nothing but a stylusmaniac, and that her art history degree was probably a result of nobody having ever read any of her essays because she was a Lylek and that was enough. She, of course, proceeded to ask me about her father, Agoste. I couldn't have lied. Agoste was pretty good...for a Lylek. But just like his daughter, not an artist!

Coovo noticed I was furious and she brought me a mug of iced ryoo tea. At this point, I would've clearly preferred the spice mix I had on my first night in Coronet, but it was only after I took a large sip that I realised I was burning! What was it? The proximity of all those glasswork furnaces? My rage against Sacorria? Or could it be that the Aurean desert was warmer than the Boiling Sea coast on Drall?

It was anger. And both Ferrys figured it out. Said that they had to go back to the arcology, either way, but that they would check on me tomorrow. They looked like they were to, ummm…try to conceive. I could be right, I could be wrong. Maybe I just miss doing that sort of stuff. With you! Most certainly not Korgah!

But Saride. Lyleks! CESA! I should probably calm down and, I don’t know, have more of this tea and a sonic. In this place, it’s really a sonic, not the fancy stuff with water that we have at home. And it’s a communal one. Ugh…as long as I don’t have to go under it together with that Dug from earlier.

It’s one minute to midnight, so I’d better hurry the kriff up!

<<LOCAL TIME: 19:59>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

Wait a second, I know a Coovo Ferry who is involved with a Sayran Ferry! Impossible!

---

Footnotes

Spoiler

The Mardri Soulworks Collective arcology was described as sustainable in Suns of Fortune and it was implied that they could live on their own, not depending on the rest of Aurea for quite a while. I expanded on that.

The Mother Tent, the process of getting accepted as the Collective apprentice, the master moulds of whatever the artist was creating

Imagegrabber would be a GFFA scanner. Fanon.

The idea of Zizi Pao's residency at the Cobble Stone Square in Dorthus Tal City on Sacorria is courtesy of leiamoody. I expanded on it, but that is going to be referenced in a different story.

Kurso-kurso is an expression in Mandaba, it means "so and so".

Doloria are an assassin cult from Sacorria.

 

Wow, so much stuff! First Lil with Korgah - and squick! And Gwyn and Lor. That dude is totally bad news for her and Anjie.

Ibbots - yikes they'd give me the willies too. I'm so not surprised Elamm's silence alternating with nonstop chatter would work a person's nerves.

Aurea sounds like a nice, lovely, calm place to settle.

 

nm

 

Ewok Poet Hi me again! I must apologise for not keeping up. You can blame Ny. She's got me working overtime on something new.

Anyway, read entry 3 (I'm waaay behind). I like the natural chatty style still. I liked the confusion with the Twi'lek name - that seems to be a recurring theme. Lots of little snippets of info smuggled away in here amongst the observations - I'm intrigued as to why he can't look at the moons at "home". New characters are coming thick and fast and it's a litte hard to keep them all sorted. So I'm filing away names temporarily for now - I'll pay more attention as and when the key players emerge.

Looking forward to seeing how this "clone wars refugee" fate develops...

I'll be back.

 

Reply to comments will go here in a moment - the unforeseen circumstances I spoke about in the social thread put me waaaay behind my schedule!


Wow, that took ages. I apologise to everybody.

---

Aurea is a place where everybody is truly given a chance, regardless of the age. Coovo's plus is that she's very mature for her age, which will be very, very useful in the days to come. And yes, she might as well be terrified with the fact that she accidentally came across as quasi-revisionist, but she is more concerned about Lil's well-being, as his anger is probably hard to hide.

As for Saride - we'll see.

There are many opposites to Saride - basically, any true artists. Sure, copying is normal to a certain extent, there are those views that everything is a copy, but Saride is a literal example of that...to the point where he's pathetic. Plus, he's an opportunist, which is probably not even a spoiler at this point.

The mermaid's number does not indicate that there are that many of them, or more. It's simply the number it was filled under. I am sorry if this didn't make sense.

Yup, that bit is important!

The squick was meant to be squicky all the way! So, that was the reaction I was hoping for! Sorry if it weirded you out.

Lor is a disciplinarian. Probably moreso of a representative of majority in the Universe than characters like Lil and Anjie.

Elamm is a planet of his own and he's feeling all right all by himself - whatever that means. Who knows, maybe he talks to himself the same way he talks to Lil?

Ibbots can range from that huge and scary to very small. There are also ibbots that are basically Galactic chicken.

It is! But is settling ever an option for Lil?

I guess that I had left this reply unreplied to for a long time because I didn't know what to say. And I am afraid that I still don't. However, I am doing my best not to take things too far away or do anything without your consent. If I have ever done so, I apologise.

Something new is always a good thing.

The snippets are meant to creep in one by one - otherwise this would be too much like breaking the fourth wall, and that would not be natural. Hope that it does look that way.

As far as the characters go - would a list help?

 

Entry 23

<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 14:20>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: MARDRI SOULWORKS COLLECTIVE, AUREA>>

Know when they say that there are not many hours in the day? On Aurea, there really aren’t - only twenty of them and so many things to see and do. I mean, twelve, since I still need my eight hours of sleep, regardless of the planet. That’s one thing I was initially happy about on Corellia: with two hours in the day more than at home, I thought I would have had more time to create something and record these messages, but for some reason, I ended up needing ten hours of sleep. Life is ironic. In my case, it’s also pointing, laughing and making faces, but that’s something you knew since the day you met me.

Another thing that’s odd about Aurea has nothing to do with its three moons, its closeness to its Sun, Aurus…it’s about names. You see…so many people are called Coovo, so many people have the last name Ferry. One is the name of the planet’s spiritual father, the other is the name of his wife, Ferry Aurah Mardri. Therefore, my new friend, Coovo Ferry is just one of thousands of people bearing that name and last name combination. She claims that there is a similar phenomenon involving people named Jax Pavan on Corellia and some districts of Coruscant. Baffled, I tell her that I met only one Jax Pavan during my year on Corellia. She laughs. She almost cannot believe it.

Then she lamented about Vagran. Apparently, Aurea/Vagran rivalry is as bad as the Sacorria/Vagran one. The Grannos dared to name a space station after the original mistress Mardri. They used her birth last name, as it's uncommon. And then that Aurah space station became a hive of scum and villainy. What happened next was quite funny: a man named Aurumm Ferry opened a cantina on that station and named it "Granno Exile". Bwahahahahaha! It’s no longer operated by him, but still…

Coovo then mentioned that Sacorria once refused to accept a bunch of refugees from somewhere on Jumus and that they were sent to Vagran. She asked me if that was an example of our rivalry and I had no idea what she was talking about at all. I went on and on about how Abatore Magnets took a bunch of our best limmie players and turned them into Galactic superstars. And…they, they forgot all the virtues of progress and unity. That is why we employ them in administration once they retire, after all. They need to learn about it over and over again. If they don't, their riches are taken away from them.

I stopped and looked at Coovo's face. She was slightly scared. I took a large sip of water from my glass and there was this awkward silence for about fifteen minutes, which is twenty minutes in some other place….I guess. I asked her if I'm too Sacorrian for her taste. I guess the values I no longer believe in peek out every now and then. But this was not the right moment. In fact, when I thought about it a little, I wondered why I was so…passionate about it. Who in their sane mind would think that limmie players make good government employees? They don't know anything about anything, which is…

…what makes them desirable for a system like ours at home. I think I finally get it.

Our awkward conservation was cut short by Damae, an artist who came to the main tent and asked for my help. She wanted somebody to draw something that she would them mould in clay, as she was not allowed to proceed with the glass yet. I offered to help her out and I asked her what she would want me to draw.

Her answer surprised me. She asked me to draw what has always been my ultimate nightmare – The Triad Mountain. She overheard the conversation about Sacorria between Coovo and me and, as strange as this may sound, she is fascinated by our homeworld. She says that the Galaxy needs more discipline and that she admires every single planet and every single government that can enforce it.

Once Damae's sculpture was done, she left it on the wooden table to dry and went to get us some food from the communal kitchen. I starred at it, until my throat and lungs started feeling smaller. Not even sure how to describe this feeling, it's like the sculpture was eating away all the air in my immediate proximity.

Later on, I was sitting outside with Sayran. He said that he was selected to go to the Eternal Furnace and check on apprentices working for the Glassworker’s Guild, whatever that may mean. I shrugged and grinned and then he added that the Advisory Council granted him an aide for this task.

Me.

And I have no idea what this place is, other than it’s on the southernmost continent close to Kammas, the city Coovo was born in. The rest just makes me think of heating appliances. But I agreed to go. Apparently, if that works out well, I can move into the arcology and get my own “bubble”. That means no more sleeping next to a snoring Frozian with bad breath. And, of course, that will make me a member of the Mardri Soulworks Collective. I can learn how to…err..do things with glass.

Okay, I’m not sure if I’m up for the latter. I would rather just sketch ideas for everybody else. Or become an art dealer. Something less stressful, something that won’t lead me to breaking things. Too much of me is still broken, I’d rather not start a chain reaction.

That said…I did some math. It has been two years since I left home, and a little less than a year since I left Corellia. Probably a couple of weeks since I came here from Drall, but I don’t care about Drall at all. I don’t even miss Elamm anymore.

Wait, I never missed him in the first place.

But sometimes, I miss my Corellians. Especially little Anjie. Maybe he’s not that little anymore. He’s, what, seven now? How come he hasn’t become a sector-wide music sensation yet? Hope Lor did not talk him out from quetarra or outright stop him from playing. I would be so mad and I would, I don’t know, convince Korgah that he’s been in love with her all along. They would make an interesting couple. Their couple dynamic would be pretty unique.

Yes, I’m taking it too far. Back to Anjie.

I would really, really like to know what that child is doing. He was so good at knowing when I was upset and comforting me, with his funny drawings and that silly Brave Banthas songlet. Sometimes I wonder how he knew. Sometimes I wonder about the mechanics behind his unusual role-play. Sometimes I wonder if he could have been slightly…no, that’s impossible. He wouldn’t be alive if it was so, and it’s not like anybody knew…

…oh, kriff. Kriffin’ kriff. Is that what Blobbo was blackmailing Gwyn with? Anjie’s gift?

<<LOCAL TIME: 15:01>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

Anjie Mencuri, the Jedi? Wait, that would get him killed. But a certain amount of…whatever makes one…that would be interesting. So, Blobbo wanted the blonde boob lady…I mean, Gwynda to betray Lil in order for her child not to be handed over to an Inquisitor?

I may need would think that helps people not make the worst of the worst decisions?

But the Ferrys. Cover me in bantha poodoo and call me a chocolate cake! Somebody is going to be teased over this and it’s going to be fun, fun, fun!

- Huh? What is going on? Why are you talking to yourself now when we're together again?

- No, I am not talking to myself. I’m just playing a hologame on this, err, conic datapad I found. You had a nightmare. Sleep, please! We’ve had quite a day…but you need your sleep more than I do!

- What are you doing in there? Everything fine?

- Everything is fine here! We are not having sex if that’s what you’re afraid of!

The blonde strikes again. Does she think that this is some kind of a basic school road trip we’re all on, or does she normally do this?

---

Footnotes

Spoiler

The star Aurus, the character of Ferry Aurah Mardri, the idea of many people having the name Coovo Ferry and the first name Coovo and last name Ferry...all of that is pure fanon.

Abatore Magnets are a legendary limmie team from Vagran. Fanon.

The Aurah space station is fanon and you can find it in my fanon entry on Vagran and the Vagran system.

 

I hate doing this for the second time, but I have to - this is a placeholder.

Placeholder filled July 05th, 2016. I'm sorry about this. June was hell. Thank you so much for reading.

---

It's not weird at all. To a person like me who writes in bursts and doesn't even think about she wrote because at the time of writing, she could just feel it was right, these little things people like you - or, say, divapilot in this epic, epic comment - point out are a new discovery to me. I guess I think in riddles, abstractions et cetera and when people uncover things that probably seem normal or natural to me, I sort of...get up and dance about the room. Not even kidding about this!

And somebody once said that we should be looking for ourselves in all the places that we go...I liked that.

Jax Pavan phenomenon on Coruscant AND Corellia.

Do you think Joak would be sad? Or if he's aware that he doesn't know anything about anything.

"Taking Sacorria out of the Drall" thing was so, so funny. Thanks for making me laugh with it.

Since I am late responding here, I shall just say that you got it all 100% right.

Same as above - and this is why I don't like being late with my responses.

Cannot say much about that...but I do hope he is all right, too.

Of course, , of course. But you're very very close!

 

Entry 24

<<<17 DAYS HAVE PASSED SINCE LAST LOGIN. REAUTHENTICATION REQUIRED. ENTER NAMECODE!!!>>>
<<<NAMECODE: *****>>>
<<<NAMECODE CORRECT. WELCOME, *****>>>
<<<RECORDING STARTED>>
<<LOCAL TIME: 16:20>>
<<GALACTIC LOCATION: KAMMAS, AUREA>>

I’m at the medcentre. My fear of being discovered aside, I’m fine. The burns are healing. Apparently, I spent two weeks in a bacta tank here in Kammas. I don’t remember those days and from what I understood, I would not want to remember floating around in a giant diaper with a tube stuck down my throat and nose to resemble an excuse for a breath mask. Still, I will try to reconstruct what happened before that err, road trip to nothingness, and what happened during the past three days, as today is the first day I’m completely aware of where I am and what I’m doing.

What happened was embarrassing in so many ways. I can’t tell you if it was painful. I may have passed out from pain, I don’t know.

And the day had started off so innocently.

Sayran and I said bye to Coovo and headed to Torragan Mountains. He had a pass for this thing called Dome of Crystal Fire and he insisted that we should go there.

Once we were there, I was surprised to see more security than at Triad Day parades back at home. Apparently, these crystals are a product of the magma trapped inside of the mountain – that’s right, the volcano just didn’t make it to the surface somehow – forged the minerals already present in the planet layers above the core and what was created is worth billions of credits. No wonder the security is making sure nobody steals them.

The other reason has a root in Aurean spirituality. You know, Soulism. Of course, it’s a religion Coovo Mardri and his followers made up themselves, the kind of a thing I would normally be cynical about, but this little story caught my interest. The crystals should change colour based on the spirits of those within the cave. That’s as if…if they could read your mind.

I didn’t like the idea of minerals reading me, but I followed Sayran to the small chamber where one could sit on the floor for a couple of minutes, alone. Of course, the security would search you on your way in, for tools, and on your way out, for pieces of crystals, but I was so intrigued by this strange, colourful space that I did not mind that at all. I sat inside, closed my eyes and did what Sayran and the female security guard told me – tried to think of the best and worst memories I have, my biggest failure and my most impressive achievement.

I had trouble coming up with most of these. Or so I thought.

Once the security guard was back in the room, she turned on the biolight and the colours of crystals were green, grey and black. Sayran joined us, intrigued by the black circle forming on the floor, around me. The greens and greys seemed random, but the circle was almost perfect. He scratched his head and looked at me, then the guard. She shrugged. Me, I knew what this was. But I did not want to believe it. Those were the colours of the actual, original Curheg Sunset. Just…just how that could be etched onto anybody’s alleged spirit? What is the Soulist view of this stuff?

Sayran’s colours were mostly pinks and reds. I guess it’s because he’s young. In love with Coovo. Then again, those colours don’t even have to mean what we think they mean.

I’m too sceptical for this.

Following this, we had lunch with the same security guards who were pointing blasters at me minutes earlier. My favourite flatcakes were the dessert, but I almost forgot to eat. This thing with colours was starting to take over my mind.

And I did not stop thinking of it when we got to the Eternal Furnace.

The only thing you really, really need to know about that place is that it’s hot. Surprise, surprise! It takes years of training for the apprentices of the Aurean Glassworker’s Guild to develop the tolerance to the heat – the place is literally a giant lava pool and it cannot be cooled down. The volcanic glass is second to the crystalline glass from the crater, but art snobs in Coruscant prefer it, for whatever reason. Just when we got there, a group of very young crustacean creatures was picking magma with tools made of what they described as the same alloy Star Destroyers were made from. I asked what a Star Destroyer was. They told me this story about how the Empire is the peacemaker of the Galaxy…and they told it in unison.

One of them, a female who introduced herself as Manel Masuala, said that they’re working on a statue of the Emperor himself, which is to be composed of both volcanic glass and tiny pieces of crystals. It was commissioned for the Galactic Senate. I took a quick glance. The ugly nose, eyes bulging out of the skull, the hood…they were all there. The glass was making it more bearable, but, by Sacor, that man is ugly!

Sayran put his hand on my shoulder and then whispered to me that these poor creatures were actually slaves. Their planet did not obey to the new laws, so their species was relegated to non-sentient and for this particular project, for this vulgar display of power, students from universities all over the system they live in were commissioned to “work abroad”. What happened was this. The real apprentices, all Humans and fellow Drall, were sent on a holiday and they had no idea what was going on. They are observing the wonders of Corfai and the Plymptos and they are set to come back in three days, to their usual job – creating volcanic glassware for the rich, very rich and the insanely rich.

The worst part of all this? Sayran and I, we were to supervise the transport of the glass statue to the Mardri Soulworks Collective, where the campers would have to work on covering it in crystals – all day, every day, until they’re done. The Emperor does not like to wait and the rumour says that there are no rumours about him, which likely means that he gets rid of everybody whom he does not agree with.

Manel told us that two of her friends were literally cooked alive during this period. Crustaceans can’t stand the heat and that is why they were sent on this task. To die. She pointed to magma and sighed.

I looked at the lava pool. It was bubbling up. I came closer, wanting to see if it smells of anything.

Not sure if I slipped or something. The only thing I remember is Sayran running around and then dunking me into a cauldron full of ice. I lost my conscience and woke up on silk cushions, with a person the Ferrys claimed was a healer, with a mask covered in tiny crystals, chanting something in Olys Corelissi. I...did not believe a single word of what she was saying. How was that supposed to help me after a bout of hyperthermia?

I must have been shuffling back and forth to a conscious state of mind, as I don't remember the exact details of the next couple of days. I remember hearing Coovo's voice every now and then and I must have had fever, as there were points where it sounded like my mother's voice. At least I hope it was just fever and not some sort of near-death experience!

Once I really, and I mean really, came round, I saw Coovo, indeed, but she looked about thirty years older. I screamed and then asked if I had been in comma for a couple of decades. The woman laughed and introduced herself as Galley Ferry. It turned out that she was the healer coming to the hospital after I was released from the bacta tank. And yes, that was the first time I was told that I was in that thing.

Damae and Tarasbulba, the Dug, wondered about me. Damae apparently also wondered about the exact dimensions of the Square Building, because she’s impressed by it. I promised to whip up a quick sketch of it once I’m back to Mardri Soulworks Collective.

Sometimes, my whole life is like a bizarre holotoon. The kind of bizarre that was made in CESA-approved toonshops on Noleria. I enjoyed that stuff as a youngling and I enjoyed it even more as a young man chewing brightigum.

Perhaps the latter is why it’s happening to me right now.

I…I don’t know.

<<LOCAL TIME: 19:15>>
<<RECORDING STOPPED>>>

It’s good to have a Ferry in your life. Ferrys save lives. What else can I say?

---

Footnotes

Spoiler

Kammas is a city on Aurea.

Torragan mountains are where the Eternal Furnace and the Dome of Crystal Fire are located.

Dome of Crystal Fire is a natural phenomenon – a cave covered in crystals that constantly change lights.

Eternal Furnace is an underground lava pool used by the Aurean Glassworker’s Guild, where it’s so hot that the workers need to undergo long trainings to learn to work at such high temperatures.

Kammas, Torragan mountains, Eternal Furnace and the Dome of Crystal Fire do not have Wook pages, but they were all mentioned in the Suns of Fortune RPG sourcebook. If it continues like this, I may have to add them to Wook myself and deal with fanboys.

The idea of the lights in the Dome of Crystal Fire working like mood rings is fanon.

Triad Day Parade is a Sacorrian custom for a holiday called, surprise, the Triad Day. Fanon.

Soulism is the religion most Aureans are affiliated with. Fanon.

The “crustacean” species should be pretty recognisable.

The Plymptos are Plympto and New Plympto, both canon planets.

Can you guess how I got the name Tarasbulba?

 

Ewok Poet - read entry 4. Still going strong! I liked Syal - I've seen that dreamy type girl often. And I can comment from personal experience that you've got the baby right (including the fun bit at the end when the baby got hold of the recorder hahahaha). So, we finally meet Terrik (sorry can't bring myself to use his first name). Moody type, eh? We'll see how he develops.

I'm now interested as to why your prog thought Naboo was a myth. And his relationship with Ranni deepens with every entry. Nice stuff. Thanks for sharing.

K