Well, I'm still on Lazga. Hasn't been a whole lot to talk about lately. This whole place is strange to me. My own little room is well lit -- it even has little sun-lamps for me -- but everywhere else is just so dark. There's no color and no light in any of the corridors outside my little room and some of the Xala-occupied areas near the gâ'axao.
I did get to go outside recently. I'm not allowed to go out during the day -- apparently the reason the Tzállö live in caves is the surface has wild temperature swings. I wouldn't be able to tolerate the heat of the day without strong protection, but the yela'kaja was able to arrange to get me some well-insulated clothing for outdoors, though it was still a bit cold for the few minutes they had me there. Lazga has a rather large moon. Kesata had a good size moon, too, but I didn't notice it as much since I was usually out more in the daytime there. Seeing planets with moons reminds me of Earth, and also of the complete weirdness of my first few hours on Jed (I didn't even count days there, they just don't work) when I looked up in the sky to see that great massive planet, staying always in the same spot forever.
Its still kind of strange, though. On Kesata, I learned to get used to a day/night cycle again, though it was a good bit shorter than on Earth. But on Lazga, I have to program the lights in my room to get any kind of cycle. Lazga does have days, of course, and the Tzállö even follow them in their calendar, but they really aren't paying much attention to the sky. They can't really see it. Some of them can "feel" the light of their moon, but from what I've gathered from talking to them, it just seems strange to them, unless they're into astronomy. There's no air to carry the sound up there -- and even if there were, that big object I see so clearly in the sky would be much too far away for them to detect.
So, what do Tzállö do? The stay in their tunnels, going back and forth. They have a huge network of tunnels connecting different parts of this city, plus larger tunnels that carry trains to other cities. I'm going to get to ride one of those trains eventually, but they've still got my travel restricted for now. The officials here told me that there were a number of big epidemics when Lazga first got connected to the rest of the trade network, so they now quarantine all travelers who come in. Apparently the close quarters in these tunnels was a blessing and a curse during that time -- he said they were able to seal off affected areas quickly, but that close quarters and communal living made the diseases spread faster.
Anyway, I don't know about their history with disease, but I'd really like to be getting somewhere. But, well, I suppose they have good reason to keep me here -- me being a new species and all. Damn inconvenient for me, but I'll deal with it.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Communal Living and Fungus Food
So far Lazga is a bit boring, though that might be just because I have a tough time seeing in the corridors as we tour through. I think I do have to share some of things. The Tzállö seem to be rather communal. They all live in these underground tunnels and caves in big groups. I've seen some of their little barracks, there are quite a few people in there. They also have a big communal mess hall where they all go to eat. In fact, though I've been given a special room that has electric lights and some special accommodations to keep me comfortable, I'm still required to go to the public mess hall for two meals a day.
Going to the mess hall is a bit of a strange thing for me. Tzállö can't see, but some of them can detect light on their skin somehow (the yela'kaja told me something about light-sensitive cells or some such). Now, me and the yela'kaja both have very bright lights strapped to our heads--which are very good, by the way. They don't penetrate the corridors as well, but they throw light all around the mess hall, and my batteries haven't worn out yet despite the amount of use this thing gets. Anyway, since light isn't a very common down in a Tállö mess hall deep underground where you can't even get sunlight through the ventilation shaft, whenever one of them "feels" our lights, suddenly about thirty pairs of ears start shifting in our direction and some heads turn to get a better "look" at the aliens.
Then we get special attention from the cooks. The Xala have cleared a few Tzállö foods for me to eat, so when I go to get my food one of the servers pulls out this little sheet of paper with the list in Fbeki and starts running his fingers along each little entry, making suggestions as he finds up with stuff he particularly likes. Note that, while he's reading the paper on the table with his fingers, his nose and ears are firmly aimed at me -- he apparently can read and stare at the funny alien at the same time.
Most of what they serve is fungus and maybe some small animals. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the mess hall eating a big plate of mushrooms with some moss harvested from the tunnel entrance, along with a Xala protein bar, of course -- none of the meats are cleared, yet. Apparently Lazga has dozens of varieties of edible mushrooms. The one's I'm having are called zbugy (something like ZHBOO-gyu), and they're not so bad, for mushrooms. The food's not quite as good as on Kesata, but it's definitely not as nasty as the protein bars the Xala give me.
Going to the mess hall is a bit of a strange thing for me. Tzállö can't see, but some of them can detect light on their skin somehow (the yela'kaja told me something about light-sensitive cells or some such). Now, me and the yela'kaja both have very bright lights strapped to our heads--which are very good, by the way. They don't penetrate the corridors as well, but they throw light all around the mess hall, and my batteries haven't worn out yet despite the amount of use this thing gets. Anyway, since light isn't a very common down in a Tállö mess hall deep underground where you can't even get sunlight through the ventilation shaft, whenever one of them "feels" our lights, suddenly about thirty pairs of ears start shifting in our direction and some heads turn to get a better "look" at the aliens.
Then we get special attention from the cooks. The Xala have cleared a few Tzállö foods for me to eat, so when I go to get my food one of the servers pulls out this little sheet of paper with the list in Fbeki and starts running his fingers along each little entry, making suggestions as he finds up with stuff he particularly likes. Note that, while he's reading the paper on the table with his fingers, his nose and ears are firmly aimed at me -- he apparently can read and stare at the funny alien at the same time.
Most of what they serve is fungus and maybe some small animals. In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm sitting in the mess hall eating a big plate of mushrooms with some moss harvested from the tunnel entrance, along with a Xala protein bar, of course -- none of the meats are cleared, yet. Apparently Lazga has dozens of varieties of edible mushrooms. The one's I'm having are called zbugy (something like ZHBOO-gyu), and they're not so bad, for mushrooms. The food's not quite as good as on Kesata, but it's definitely not as nasty as the protein bars the Xala give me.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Out of Quarantine
They've let me out of the quarantine cell, finally. We had a guided tour of the little underground city where I'll be staying. Of course, there wasn't much for me to grab hold of, since the only light I had was from my own flashlight strapped to my head. The flashlight itself isn't even that interesting, it looks just like a regular electric light, possibly a bit more advanced as the bulb is very bright and the batteries haven't burnt out in the hours that I've had it.
One thing that I notice is the walls. After Kesata with its sculptures and brightly colored rooms this place seems dull and grim. We did see some statues of some historical figures, but most of them are not nearly as detailed as Kesatan sculptures. They do have some very good textures on a few of the statues, but they seem to be smoothed out over all, and of course none of them are painted. The more important statues are made with granite, while some others are made with some gray rock, maybe shale, and a few are made from what looks like coal.
The signs on the walls are interesting. The yela'kaja pointed them out to me. The letters are all big blocky shapes cut out of the walls. He tells me that this type of lettering is easier to read by echolocation, and he's also going to bring me a Fbeki book (the Tzállö language is called Fbeki) so I can see their other alphabet, which from what he describes is similar to what's on the walls but is felt with your fingers like Braille. I definitely won't be staying here long.
By the way, I only got one yela'kaja, in human form, as humans can apparently pronounce all the sounds in the Tzállö language. That's what they tell me, at least. From the sound of it, I have my doubts as to whether I could do it myself.
One thing that I notice is the walls. After Kesata with its sculptures and brightly colored rooms this place seems dull and grim. We did see some statues of some historical figures, but most of them are not nearly as detailed as Kesatan sculptures. They do have some very good textures on a few of the statues, but they seem to be smoothed out over all, and of course none of them are painted. The more important statues are made with granite, while some others are made with some gray rock, maybe shale, and a few are made from what looks like coal.
The signs on the walls are interesting. The yela'kaja pointed them out to me. The letters are all big blocky shapes cut out of the walls. He tells me that this type of lettering is easier to read by echolocation, and he's also going to bring me a Fbeki book (the Tzállö language is called Fbeki) so I can see their other alphabet, which from what he describes is similar to what's on the walls but is felt with your fingers like Braille. I definitely won't be staying here long.
By the way, I only got one yela'kaja, in human form, as humans can apparently pronounce all the sounds in the Tzállö language. That's what they tell me, at least. From the sound of it, I have my doubts as to whether I could do it myself.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Quarantine
Sorry I was absent, I was just now allowed to have my stuff. I'm here on Lazga ("LAHZH gah") to meet a race that the yela'kaja here calls the Tzállö (which sounds something like "CHAWL yer" with a British accent). Once again, they give me the spellings, they don't let me make them up. Anyway, the Tzállö (which I'm sure would be harder to type than it is to make this gadget type) are apparently a bit neurotic about germs, so when I got here (which, according to what I'm told, took a couple days anyway, though to me it was all instantaneous) I was sent immediately to this little quarantine cell, despite assurances from the yela'kaja that all proper the proper precautions had already been taken -- which I'm quite sure of from all the vaccines and antibiotics and whatever-all drugs the Xala gave me before they took me to the gâ'axao station.
Anyway, at least they gave my cell some lights and found something I can eat. Outside my cell in the corridor is pitch black -- from the looks of it the Tzállö don't even have eyes. They find their way around through echolocation. Luckily, my hearing isn't good enough to hear their constant clicking, which I was warned about before I came, but I think I can kind of feel it -- every time one of those things comes in here I feel really uneasy. Of course, that could be just the fact that they look like tall gray-skinned people with no eyes and some serious ear lobes (thing giant raggedy elf ears). Hopefully I'll be out of this cell soon and the tour can get underway. There is no way that the whole planet is as dark and cold and gloomy as this quarantine cell.
Anyway, at least they gave my cell some lights and found something I can eat. Outside my cell in the corridor is pitch black -- from the looks of it the Tzállö don't even have eyes. They find their way around through echolocation. Luckily, my hearing isn't good enough to hear their constant clicking, which I was warned about before I came, but I think I can kind of feel it -- every time one of those things comes in here I feel really uneasy. Of course, that could be just the fact that they look like tall gray-skinned people with no eyes and some serious ear lobes (thing giant raggedy elf ears). Hopefully I'll be out of this cell soon and the tour can get underway. There is no way that the whole planet is as dark and cold and gloomy as this quarantine cell.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Action Plays and Power Players
Just came back from that ballet. It was quite a bit different from the one I went to when I first got to Kesata. It started out with the Storyteller like the other one, but once we got into the play there were a lot of holographic images and lights and even fireworks (in the underwater stages, no less). I'm didn't get the story very well, the dancing was quite fast and confused and the yela'kaja couldn't keep up with the translation -- something about a group of terrorists trying to sink one of those big Kesatan deep-sea cities. Meanwhile, I was surrounded by Kesatan diplomats who seemed to be enjoying themselves a bit, though most of them were quite old. Their feelers kept twitching and their hands would slap at the walls.
The yela'kaja later explained to me that there were two major modes to Kesatan ballet, traditional mode and modern mode. Traditional was what I saw when I first got to the planet, with set pieces of all natural materials and very few big effects. Modern is what would describe the play I just came from, lots of lights and pyrotechnics and some applications of Xala technology that I hadn't yet seen, like force-fields formed into giant holograms.
Anyway, the Kesatan diplomats went for a soak after the ballet (they'd started to dry out spending the whole play in the air-breather areas with me), and then they came back and started talking to me. I'd already had the introductions before the play, but apparently they wanted to do small talk. I think there were some Kesatan reporters there with something that looked like a camera along with a little Xala device that puts writing up on a force-field screen in front of you (though I couldn't read the writing, of course. I think it was Kesatan.) They asked me a couple of stupid questions like "Do you like it here on Kesata?" (something every one of the diplomats asked me, as well.) and "Do you thing your planet will soon join the trade network?" How am I supposed to know whether my planet is going to join the trade network? I don't even know if the most powerful leader. But I guess that's how things go.
Pretty soon I'll be heading out for the next planet. The Xala call it Lasga. All I know about it is it's cool and dark and it's possible I might be incessantly annoyed by clicking sounds if my hearing goes up high enough to hear it (the Xala haven't tested that part of my anatomy completely). Anyway, my next blog is likely to be from there, if I can get a light to work.
Anyway, after the ballet was over
The yela'kaja later explained to me that there were two major modes to Kesatan ballet, traditional mode and modern mode. Traditional was what I saw when I first got to the planet, with set pieces of all natural materials and very few big effects. Modern is what would describe the play I just came from, lots of lights and pyrotechnics and some applications of Xala technology that I hadn't yet seen, like force-fields formed into giant holograms.
Anyway, the Kesatan diplomats went for a soak after the ballet (they'd started to dry out spending the whole play in the air-breather areas with me), and then they came back and started talking to me. I'd already had the introductions before the play, but apparently they wanted to do small talk. I think there were some Kesatan reporters there with something that looked like a camera along with a little Xala device that puts writing up on a force-field screen in front of you (though I couldn't read the writing, of course. I think it was Kesatan.) They asked me a couple of stupid questions like "Do you like it here on Kesata?" (something every one of the diplomats asked me, as well.) and "Do you thing your planet will soon join the trade network?" How am I supposed to know whether my planet is going to join the trade network? I don't even know if the most powerful leader. But I guess that's how things go.
Pretty soon I'll be heading out for the next planet. The Xala call it Lasga. All I know about it is it's cool and dark and it's possible I might be incessantly annoyed by clicking sounds if my hearing goes up high enough to hear it (the Xala haven't tested that part of my anatomy completely). Anyway, my next blog is likely to be from there, if I can get a light to work.
Anyway, after the ballet was over
Friday, July 6, 2007
One Last Little Trip
They're preparing me to go to the next planet on my tour. Today we went out on the speedboat for a quick ride around the city and some nearby islands. The yela'kaja says it could be a while, as it seems they're negotiating with some of the leadership (apparently its tricky arranging a tour in this planet).
Frankly, I've grown to like Kesata quite a bit. In fact, I might ask to be brought back here before I get sent back to Earth. The other day I went to see some of those giant eels the Kesatans ride, and I actually learned to ride a little. They gave me an older one, easier to control, though I found it hard to keep it from diving. Kesatans can survive for nearly an hour underwater, sometimes more, so they don't do much to break these things' habit of going underwater for extended periods when it cruises. I was pulling the reins so hard to pull it up that its nose is sore from the harness tugging at it and the poor things gills are almost bleeding. Now the Kesatans won't let me ride it anymore, at least not until they can get one trained for "land people". I hear some of the tourists resorts have mounts that will stay above water most of the time.
Anyway, I haven't been told much about the next stop. For one, they say it'll be just a little lighter gravity (my muscles have adapted to the high Kesatan gravity, so they wanted to warn me that I may end up putting in just a bit more force than necessary once I enter the next world). The other thing they said is that it's dark there, so they're preparing a light for me (they're engineering a special one for human eyes, though I didn't know Xala eyes were any different).
Anyway, there's another ballet on the itinerary before I leave. Frankly, I'm not quite sure I want to go, but I was told that there would be some people there that wanted to meet me, the kaja ga' Erta ("alien from Earth", I'm picking up some Xala, as well as some Kesatan Sign), so I'm guessing that some diplomats want a meeting or something and that skipping isn't really an option.
Anyway, it'll be sad leaving Kesata, and I'm not sure I'm going to like the place I'm going better than here, but I guess that, being the alien here, I'll have to follow the schedule.
Frankly, I've grown to like Kesata quite a bit. In fact, I might ask to be brought back here before I get sent back to Earth. The other day I went to see some of those giant eels the Kesatans ride, and I actually learned to ride a little. They gave me an older one, easier to control, though I found it hard to keep it from diving. Kesatans can survive for nearly an hour underwater, sometimes more, so they don't do much to break these things' habit of going underwater for extended periods when it cruises. I was pulling the reins so hard to pull it up that its nose is sore from the harness tugging at it and the poor things gills are almost bleeding. Now the Kesatans won't let me ride it anymore, at least not until they can get one trained for "land people". I hear some of the tourists resorts have mounts that will stay above water most of the time.
Anyway, I haven't been told much about the next stop. For one, they say it'll be just a little lighter gravity (my muscles have adapted to the high Kesatan gravity, so they wanted to warn me that I may end up putting in just a bit more force than necessary once I enter the next world). The other thing they said is that it's dark there, so they're preparing a light for me (they're engineering a special one for human eyes, though I didn't know Xala eyes were any different).
Anyway, there's another ballet on the itinerary before I leave. Frankly, I'm not quite sure I want to go, but I was told that there would be some people there that wanted to meet me, the kaja ga' Erta ("alien from Earth", I'm picking up some Xala, as well as some Kesatan Sign), so I'm guessing that some diplomats want a meeting or something and that skipping isn't really an option.
Anyway, it'll be sad leaving Kesata, and I'm not sure I'm going to like the place I'm going better than here, but I guess that, being the alien here, I'll have to follow the schedule.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Still Floating in the Ocean
I've been relaxing a bit and I seem to have been neglecting this blog. I've been exploring the city here a bit. I even go swimming once in a while. A few of the buildings here reserve the big area in the center of the cylinder, what the Xala call the jôseta (DJO-sheh-tah), or the "access shaft", for a recreational area where I'm allowed to take a swim any time I please. I've also picked up enough Kesatan Sign Language to know that they are quite amused at the "alien" swimming with them. Adult Kesatans can hold their breath for over an hour, and the younger ones for even longer until they lose their gills.
It's the little ones that find it funniest. Some of them haven't even lost their gills yet, so they're more comfortable in water than on land. I've watched some of the nursery areas (I'm not allowed in there myself, but many of them are also in jôseta as well, so I can look at it from the windows). The adults seem to have a million ways to get xasedê, or little Kesatans that are just growing limbs and lungs, out of the water. The yela'kaja tells me that Kesatans do that because they believe that a young Kesatan has to be out of the water for a certain portion of the time once they can walk on land, or they won't develop right. According to him, there are dozens of horror stories of Kesatans who had difficulty walking or whose lungs are malformed and had trouble breathing because they started leaving the pool too late or didn't spend enough time on land. Wait a minute, he wants to add to that:
I don't know if anyone really cared to read that, but ever since I got my new machine, that yela'kaja can cut in whenever he wants, though he generally asks permission.
Also, the yela'kaja is helping me revise my tags. Hopefully this'll help people navigate around here and find the information they want. He said that there's some council on Jed trying to work up a site with more info on it, too. I don't know what that's about, but they want to set it up, though from the amount of hits this blog gets, I really don't think they're reaching many people back there on Earth, anyway.
It's the little ones that find it funniest. Some of them haven't even lost their gills yet, so they're more comfortable in water than on land. I've watched some of the nursery areas (I'm not allowed in there myself, but many of them are also in jôseta as well, so I can look at it from the windows). The adults seem to have a million ways to get xasedê, or little Kesatans that are just growing limbs and lungs, out of the water. The yela'kaja tells me that Kesatans do that because they believe that a young Kesatan has to be out of the water for a certain portion of the time once they can walk on land, or they won't develop right. According to him, there are dozens of horror stories of Kesatans who had difficulty walking or whose lungs are malformed and had trouble breathing because they started leaving the pool too late or didn't spend enough time on land. Wait a minute, he wants to add to that:
It is true that these stories exist. Whether they are justified is another matter. Kesatans can, indeed, have trouble walking if they do not practice enough as their limbs develop, but I have never seen any Kesatan die or develop any serious disability from this.
Unfortunately, Xala scientists can't study Kesatan development in much detail. While the Kesatans do raise their young in communal nursery pools and all responsible Kesatan adults in the community will care for them, regardless of relationship, there is a strong cultural taboo universal among Kesatans that does not allow non-Kesatans to approach these nursery pools or the protected cave-nests where the eggs are laid.
I don't know if anyone really cared to read that, but ever since I got my new machine, that yela'kaja can cut in whenever he wants, though he generally asks permission.
Also, the yela'kaja is helping me revise my tags. Hopefully this'll help people navigate around here and find the information they want. He said that there's some council on Jed trying to work up a site with more info on it, too. I don't know what that's about, but they want to set it up, though from the amount of hits this blog gets, I really don't think they're reaching many people back there on Earth, anyway.
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