Keen Eyes bleeked with laughter. He had cheered up a great deal in the last few days. Clearly, his new bond gave him what he needed to clear from his spirit the guilt he felt for having been part of violence between People.
<I would like to see those places, too, and I taste that hunger for learning in Shining Sunlight, as well. I he will return to the Hot Lands, and I will go with him.>
Climbs Quickly agreed. More and more, the People’s lives were becoming intertwined with the lives of the two-legs. That meant scouts such as he and Keen Eyes would need to take careful note of all they saw, so that the memory singers could teach the People about their changing world.
He twitched his whiskers, amused at the image that came to him that moment. <Yes, Keen Eyes. Who would have thought the lights in our night skies were other worlds, each as vast and wonder-filled as our own? But they are, and they have many surprises, the two-legs who move between them. I think it will be a long, long time before we even begin to truly understand them all. But we will understand, and it will be scouts like you and me who leap from light to light all across the two-legs’ netwood and bring that understanding back to the People.>
Notes:
Ante Diaspora — the notation Ante Diaspora (or AD) indicates the T-year counting backwards from 2103 CE, Year One of the Diaspora. That is, the year 2102 CE would be the T-year 01 AD.
bark-chewer — treecat term for wood rat.
burrow runner — treecat name for a Sphinxian chipmunk.
cluster stalk — treecat name for terrestrial celery.
condor owl — a nocturnal flying predator of the planet Sphinx. An average adult condor owl’s body is 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) long, with a wingspan of 2.9 meters (9.5 feet) and a body weight of 5.4 to 6.35 kilos (12-14 pounds). Despite the name assigned to it by the Sphinxian colonists, it is actually mammalian and is covered with fine down, not feathers. It has very acute vision and is fully capable of taking even an adult treecat if it can surprise it. Indeed, it has been known to take considerably larger game and is considered a dangerous threat even to humans. Unlike Sphinxian “birds,” it has only a single set of wings but four sturdy legs, each ending in a set of powerful talons.
crown oak — a deciduous, hardwood tree which looks much like a
really
big white oak but has large, arrowhead-shaped leaves. It also sheds its leaves
twice
in the course of a planetary year, once shortly after the end of spring and again at the end of autumn. The summer-autumn foliage turns a bright, deep gold, rather like terrestrial maples, before falling, hence the treecat name for it. The spring-summer foliage does
not
change colors before it falls. Average height of a mature crown oak is 80 meters (263 feet), although some as tall as 102 meters (335 feet) have been reported.
death fang — treecat name for hexapuma.
death gleaner — treecat name for peak vulture.
death-wing — treecat term for condor owl.
Diaspora — humanity’s expansion to the stars, dated from September 30, 2103 C.E. and the departure of the first manned interstellar vessel from the Sol System. 2103 thus became officially Year One of the Diaspora.
fox bear — a species native to the Beowulf System. Fox bears are collie-sized, ground-going marsupials whose vaguely bear-like bodyform and tall, mobile ears gave rise to their name. They have powerful, otter-like hands and are considerably more intelligent than dogs, though still short of full sapience, and have been trained as service animals for centuries.
golden ear — treecat name for range barley.
golden-leaf — treecat name for crown oak.
grass runner — treecat name or a Sphinxian range bunny.
gray-bark — treecat name for red spruce.
green-needle — treecat name for near-pine.
ground runner — a generic treecat term for small, non-arboreal prey animals.
Gryphon — Manticore B-V, the fifth planet of Manticore B, a G2-class star which is the secondary component of the Manticore Binary System. The planet of Gryphon is the sole habitable planet of Manticore B and has an orbital radius of 11.37 LM and a gravity of 1.19 Old Earth standard gravities.
hexapuma — a six-limbed Sphinxian predator. Hexapumas are very quick for something their size and extremely territorial. There are several subspecies of hexapuma, which vary in coloration depending on the season and the climatic zone in which they are found. The largest species are located in Sphinx’s temperate zones, and adults of those species can be as much as five meters (16.4 feet) long with tails 250 centimeters (8.2 feet) long and weigh as much as 800 kilograms (1,763 pounds), more than most terrestrial horses.
horn blade — treecat term for prong buck.
ice potatoes — a Sphinxian tuber, about twice the size of a terrestrial Irish potato, edible by humans. It is a winter-growing root with a rather nuttier taste than potatoes.
lace leaf — treecat name for near-lettuce.
lace willow — a willow-like tree found mainly along waterways or in marshy territory. It is relatively low growing and bushy, with very long, streamer-like leaves. The leaves have a pierced look, because they form insect-trapping openings (thus the name “lace willow”).
lake builders — treecat name for near-beavers.
Lowland vulture — a winged Sphinxian scavenger. Lowland vultures average approximately 90 centimeters (3 feet) in length with an average wingspan of 2 meters (6.5 feet) have been verified, with two pairs of wings and powerful talons. Lowland vultures are found primarily in coastal and lowland areas (as the name implies) but are closely related to the much larger peak vulture.
Manticore — Manticore A-III, the third planet of Manticore A, a G0-class star which is the primary component of the Manticore Binary System. The planet of Manticore is the inner habitable planet of Manticore A (orbital radius of 11.4 LM) and the capital world of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Manticore has a gravity of 1.01 Old Earth standard gravities.
Manticore Binary System — the home star system of the Star Kingdom of Manticore, consisting of Manticore A, the GO primary component of the system, and Manticore B, its G2-class companion star.
moss-drying — treecat name for south.
moss-growing — treecat name for north.
mountain eagle — a bird analogue of the planet Sphinx. It was two sets of wings and a single pair of powerful, talon-tipped legs. An average adult mountain eagle’s body is 1.0 meters (3.2 feet) in length, with a wingspan of 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) and a body weight of 4.1-5 kilos (9-11 pounds). The mountain eagle is a very efficient hunter, but prefers small prey and seldom attacks treecats.
near-beavers — a Sphinxian mammal approximately 51 centimeters (20 inches) long. Although the colonists have named it the near-
beaver
, it is actually closer to a six-legged otter in basic body form. Unlike terrestrial otters, however, the near-beaver is an industrious dam-builder. Various species of near-beaver are found in virtually every Sphinxian climate zone except the high arctic.
near-lettuce — a native Sphinxian plant very similar in size and shape to terrestrial head lettuce, although its leaves are perforated in a lacey pattern. It is edible by humans and is quite popular in salads, with a flavor which combines that of terrestrial lettuce and onions.
near-otter — a Sphinxian mammal approximately the same size as a treecat. Although they look very similar to the Sphinxian near-beaver, they have clearly carnivore teeth without the tree-gnawing incisors which gave the near-beaver its name. They do not build dams, but they are very fast, strong swimmers and skilled hunters and fishers.