The Newcomer - Chapter 11

First | Previous | Next

"Tukla is an orc. They're big and green and strong. And all women. Apparently the first orc, Lagrush, was male. He was so strong and destructive that the other gods prepared to destroy him, until Lagrush offered a compromise."

"He would become a god, never interfering in the affairs of mortals again, and leaving the other gods' creations alone. He also agreed to curse himself so that he could never make another of his kind, and asked for a week before his ascension, to enjoy mortal pleasures one last time."

"So then how come Tukla exists?"

Pascal grinned at Neym. "Strong doesn't mean stupid, Neym. The gods sure kicked themselves for making that assumption. During his last week of mortality he lay with every species he could find, and finally ascended to divinity. Then all those women gave birth to orcs. Female orcs. Lagrush's curse was very clear. No other of his kind, no male orc, was ever born. They're all women."

Neym sat in silence for a second, absorbing all this. Finally, he asked another question.

"So Tukla is an orc, and she is cursed to never have a male child. What about you and Pif?"

"I'm one of the folk. Not to be confused with the fae folk. Big difference. There's nothing strange or remarkable about us. Legends said we used to be fae ourselves, but we fucked up and lost our special fae magic and our wings. As you might have heard from Tukla, we're sometimes called halflings, because we're about half the size of an orc, but that word shouldn't be used in polite company."

"Fae?"

"Imagine someone like me, but with a lot more natural magical talent, doesn't age, with small glowing butterfly wings, and can move at will between this plane and the fae plane"

"What's a plane?"

Pascal looked stumped for a moment, and started speaking a few times before stopping. Finally, he settled on an explanation.

"You know how we can see, but a blind man can't see? Just because he can't see a tree, doesn't mean the tree doesn't exist. We are all blind men, because we can only see what is happening on our plane."

"So they're invisible things?"

"Invisible means something you can't see. If something is on another plane it means you can't see, or touch, or hear, or anything. Look, I don't know much about it, but the elf I'm taking you to in Havank will know a lot more about planes. If she's as smart as I think, she might even know what you are."

"Elf?"

"Another species. Like you, but prettier, no offence. And thinner. More graceful too. Real uppity. But this particular elf is also very smart."

"And what species is Pif?"

"He's a felid. More specifically a forest felid, there's many different types. You'll be able to tell them apart based on how much fur they have and what colour it is. They're usually a bunch of racists, but Pif is alright. Be careful around them though, they're pretty fond of slavery, and if they see someone as unique as you, they might take you to one of their nobles as a gift."

"What's a noble?"

"A noble? Okay so you know how I'm your boss because you agreed to me being your boss in exchange for money and travel?" Seeing Neym nod, Pascal continued. "Okay so basically a noble is someone who is your boss because they own the land, and they get to set the rules for the land. Even if the rules are pretty stupid sometimes." That last part was more muttered under his breath.

"So a landlord?" asked Neym.

"They have landlords where you're from, but not nobles? Amazing!" chuckled Pascal. "Nobles are somewhat like landlords I guess, in the same way that a bandit is somewhat like a mercenary. The big difference is a landlord has an actual contract with you. A noble changes the rules as they go along, so you can't really tell them they're not allowed to do something. And a landlord won't show up one day and say your house and your farm, which you built and you looked after, is actually his."

"So nobles are evil?"

"Some are." answered Pascal with a snort. "And some are decent people. As much I moan about them, at least the alright ones do a half-decent job of keeping us safe from the really bad ones. Anyways, don't use this kind of talk when a noble can hear you, they usually don't like it."

"Besides elves, felids, and folk, there's also Sauris, they're like you but if you were a lizard. They also lay eggs instead of birthing children. Let's see, what else...there's also fawns, which are kinda like you but with horns and goat legs. And there's trolls, who are like you but half again as tall, much wider, and much much stronger. But they're not the smartest."

Neym was unsure how to continue the conversation. The only things to do were to watch as Randor's Rest slowly disappeared from view, and to talk to Pascal.

"So how long have you and Pif known each other?"

"Oh about three years now, ever since I won him."

"Won him!?" Neym was shocked at the choice of language, and what it implied.

"Yeah, technically Pif is a slave. Oh don't look at me like that, I still pay the man, even though I don't have to!" Pascal shot down Neym's glare. "Truth be told I removed his collar as soon as I received him. He's free to run whenever he wants, I won't even chase after him or call any guards on him."

"So why does he stay?" asked Neym incredulously.

"Well, that's somewhat of a long story."

First | Previous | Next