The Scraps of an Abomination

[Tinnok]

The Scraps of an Abomination
(Aka: Tinnok's Journal)

Made from tanned Tskanna leather is a strangely large bound journal kept at the bottom of an oaken box, and removed only occasionally to add or to pore through it's contents. Within are images, feathers, shells, letters, and all manner of writings that Tinnok has collected over her sordid life time.

Have fun!

[Razkar]

A recent letter smells of sea salt and bird droppings, its writing the painstaking neatness of one unused to writing.

Wolf, That bird shit on my horse, so you're lucky I'm sending it back at all. Goddess alone knows how it had the brains to fly across jungle, ocean and plain to find me, but it did. And then what does it do? Shit on it's destination's mount. Wonderful. Yes, you read that right. I have a horse now. His name is Mrrko. You really have to have one of them out here. There's no jungles in the Cyphrus region, and the fields and plains go on forever. They still have plenty of beasts here, though. Ever heard of Glassbeaks? Big, towering, vicious land birds with reptile heads. They could take on one of our Tigers, I shit you not. Wanderings progress, but I'm writing this to you seated on a dock in Riverfall. That's because I'm about to leave. I got into some trouble and the blue-skins running this place are forcing me to leave. I know, rather undignified, but I can't slaughter a whole city. These Akalak barbarians are tougher than you'd think, and they're sore losers. But I have heard tell that there is a city far to the east, called Sunberth. It's pure chaos, they say. Nothing but warring war-gangs and murder in the streets. Not really a place for a warrior, but the barbarian lands are so peaceful now, damn them. There are no wars. Just endless little feuds. I will be returning after I taste that dark city, I think. Too long have I woken to cold air and without a canopy over my head. I trust you are not letting those shyke-heads mess you around. Are you still working your djed in the jungle? I know that gave you much peace. You deserve it. I have no intention to die far from the Jungle. I will come back. When I do, perhaps we can finish what our Goddess-Queen started, so many years ago. Before I forget, there is something important. I do not know whether or not they will believe you, so take this letter with you. The Djed Storm was caused by a barbarian. His name is Leo Varniak. He is a human. To make a long story short, he meddled in the name of Ivak. His meddling unleashed the Storm that savaged our people so grievously. He says he wishes to make amends. I believe him. I also believe he must answer for his crimes. Our people suffered terribly for his selfish agenda. They deserve at least to know the name of the one responsible. Right now he is in Riverfall, but he is a wanderer. If I see him again where I pass, I will let you know. Stay alive, Wolf. I look forward to sparring with you again. Mayhap you will present a challenge when I return. Eagle

[Ayatah]

A letter arrives, delivered by a Sun Conure bird who screeches ear-piercingly loudly and instantly defecates wherever he has landed.

The letter itself is written on neatly folded paper, with fine and swirling handwriting.

Tinny, First thing's first. This bird is called Kiwi. He's my pet... I know, I know... it's hardly Myrian of me to have a brightly coloured parrot like some pirate. But he's a sweet bird and the more he shits, the more he likes you. His favourite thing in the world are dried cranberries, though I warn you: if you happen to eat one of his treats yourself, he'll try to blind you. I'm leaving for Darva today, which is some island the city-dwellers are yet to explore. It should be fun, but they keep looking all forlorn like Dira herself is going to greet them there. But the main outcome from my little adventure is.... that I'm unable to look after Kiwi. So I thought 'who better to send Kiwi to than my bestest ever friend, Tinnok?' Okay, so I considered Razkar at first but I get the feeling a friendly bird like Kiwi would probably make his Pilgrimage a little less intimidating. I hope you don't mind. He's annoying at first, but you'll learn to like him eventually (we're talking about the bird now...) I've finished at the university now, so I know more about the Eypharians than ever before. But I'm yet to go to the Desert, and to be honest I don't know if I ever will. I've done what I came to do... The only thing now is whether I can find anything worth staying for. If not, I'll come back to Taloba so we can get drunk and eat and laugh like we did before. Zeltiva is cold. Ridiculously cold. And for the entirety of Winter there was some horrible plague so everyone was dying left right and bloody centre. Thankfully I didn't get ill. There's too many rules here, too. It's been so long since I've killed anything. No... that's not true. I stomped on a spider a week or so ago. It was a valiant battle but I was triumphant in the end. I hope your safe and happy, Tin. I'd say that I miss you, but I know you'd only wrinkle your nose at such sentiment. Aya. PS. Kiwi wakes up before Syna does, and he will scream and shout until you've fed him... I hope your ready for early mornings!

[Tinnok]

Notes on Morphing Current Techniques: Changing Eye Color, Claws, Scales (rough) Claws have become easier, anything that takes what is already there is so much easier to shift. Imagining eye color, longer fingernails, bigger scales...they are different, but the same.. I tried to grow a monkey tail again...the uses are numerous but I couldn't summon up the will. I am not sure if I am too weak still or if it is because I lack the appropriate...subject? Monkeys are fast and impatient, they don't often allow for you to just study their tails, much like a Dhani. Sometimes I wonder if he was still here if I would learn faster. The speed with which he could transform his entire hand was amazing...will I be able to do that someday with my whole body? Svan. Even thinking the name makes me cringe. I have gone from a loyal half breed to a petching traitor in the span of half a season, and I blame him...well not him, it wasn't his fault...it was the other Dhani, the one actually marked by Caiyha that forced my hand...forced me to choose...Myri forgive me, but I know she never will for picking a Dhani over my own kind. I bet if I told Svan now he still wouldn't believe me...but I still suspect its his fault somehow...like his Dhani tricks wormed their way into my brain That isn't fair...I think he feels the same way, at least that's how it appeared in his eyes, like he had the same frustration in his eyes, wishing I wasn't a Myrian while...not wishing it at the same time. Does that even make any sense? Maybe that's just how I feel. I don't see how it petching matters anymore...I'll never see him again. That shouldn't bother me either...but it does, DAMMIT, his words taunt me even now. I wish he was here so I could actually fight him...or kiss him again. Petch.

[Licearsvansan]

The letter arrives in the claws of a familiar phirebird on the 48th day of sping. The note is held together in a roll by a thread torn from a rope. When unfurled, one of the edges appears to be jagged and torn. Likely paper that was ripped straight out of a book. As Tinnok finishes the letter the bird will stare back at the halfbreed as if asking her if she would like to send Svan a reply.

Dear Daughter of Caiyha, After a significant amount of argueing with the bird, and more than a few concessions on my part, (3 mizas, a dozen acorns, and a formal apology) I managed to get the feathered fiend to agree to act as a messenger for us. At least I think thats what it was trying to tell me... Between the hail of acorns, and the dive-bombings, the creature's "kinder" messages can become garbled to say the least. Even so, I doubt that my letters will be fequent due to to the distance he will soon have to travel, and the fact that he seems fairly reluctant to leave my side. I assure you that I am just barely able to hide my joy at the bird's coming departure. Moving on. Seeing as how I was the one to teach you morphing I guess that makes me your teacher of some sort. If thats the case then its my duty as "teacher" to make sure that you continue your studies. Since I will be traveling around Mizahar, I'm probably going to see creatures that you have only dreamed of. For example, did you know that there is a beast that is both part duck, and part beaver? Its called a platypus, and that very same creature is also poisonous AND it lays eggs like a snake. (I can only imagine that such a creature was made by the gods shortly after the creation of alcohol.) I'll do my best to send samples of anything interesting I find. I doubt that they will be large enough for you to preform a full body morph with it, but perhaps you will be able to gleam some information out of the small pieces this bird can carry. I hope that Caiyha will continue to look over you, and that she will will lead us to meet again in the future. The next time I see you I pray that I am actually in the condition to give you a worthy fight as well. We still have a duel to settle, and I can barely wait to kick your skinny Myrain arse to Taloba and back. Till then stay safe and grow strong. I will do my best to contact you again when I get my gnosis. From, Caiyha's grandchild P.S. I kissed you when you were unconscious. (Its your fault for leaving yourself vulnerable when I said I would be back) If you are keeping score then its Svan 2, Tinnok 1. I eagerly await your plans to get even, whether it be a another kiss, a dozen arrows to the chest, or any other fiendish plot your half Dhani mind can come up with.Svan did not actually kiss her when she was unconscious.

[Licearsvansan]

The letter arrives on the 4th day of fall in the clutches of Red, the phirebird. He is accompanied with another large bird who promptly flies off after being rewarded with a shiny object from Red's beak. Dropping the letter off to Tinnok, the phirebird flits onto the halfbreed's head and makes itself comfortable.

Dear Tinnok, Daughter of Caiyha, Hello Tinnok, after the crow gave my ear an unwanted piercing, I managed to get Miss Myrain Outcast to read me your letter because I could understand jack-shyke of it. After she finished laughing at me and consequently finished bleeding, she told me what you had written. So...wow, apparently your language completely lacks ANY kind words. Why am I not surprised?! I did try my best to write back to you in a language you would understand, but I couldn't seem to figure out how to STAB the paper quite right to turn it into words. So unfortunately for you, I'm going to reply in common. Because if its good enough for every other race on Mizahar, then its sure as heck good enough for you. Seriously, you Myrians are the only race that can't speak fluent common, and yet you wonder why people refer to you as savages. (Don't bother chewing me out on this, I already know what you would say: Ooga Ooga, me hit dumb snake with pointy thing now.) On a related note, I'm glad to see you are so eager to finish the dual we started. I have never been so excited to stab someone in my entire life. Its funny how you think you might actually win. Pleasantries aside, I hope you are doing well. I for one have been having a...mixed experience. Sadly, my plans to earn Caiyha's favor have been delayed due to trust issues the city seems to have with my kind. Apparently the Shinya bastards kind guards here don't fancy the idea of having a carnivorous snake beast next to their sacred creatures. Who would have thought. To curry their favor I have initiated myself into the Dusk Tower. It is a building taller than even most of the trees in Taldera, and the people in it work tirelessly studying a magic that allows you to see the very soul of another person. For now I work as an assistant, but I hope to rise through the ranks soon enough. Once I have done that I should be able to get close to the Okomo. There is also a third magic that I have been studying, I know precious little of it now, but it may be the answer to all of my prayers. I will tell you more when I can. By the way, there is also a library here, and since my Myrian friend has left Lhavit, I will do my best to learn your language so that I can actually read your letters for myself. Also, to answer you questions about morphing, it took me a LONG time to reach the level I am at now. However, it was my first magic, and I had numerous other complications. I expect you to reach such a level much more rapidly. Also I use models to transform. I can do it from memory but the proccess is much slower. Think of it like stretching. The more you do a specific stretch the easier it becomes in the future. Now, since you seem to trust my words about as far as you can throw me I am going to ask you to do something....unique. Ask the bird to show you the city of Lhavit. I promise you that it is everything and more. You done? You see the city from a birds eye view? I'm sure you did, the bird seems to like you much more than it does me. (No accounting for taste I guess) I know what you are thinking. The buildings are made of glass? That's probably the dumbest thing you have ever seen. But its not! Half of the city is built out of a material called skyglass. Its this incredible crystal that is taken from fallen stars. How they make it is beyond me, but the stuff is harder than even the finest steel. Trust me, I punched a wall of it once, and my hand still hurts. They also have this amazing park here that is like no other place on Mizahar, but I asked the bird to keep that a secret for me. I told you that we will meet again someday, and I hope to see your expression first hand when you finally see it. Till then farewell, and may Caiyha watch over you. (And may she teach you a kind word or two while she is at it.) From, Svan, grandson of Caiyha. PS. Don't worry the outcast agreed to keep this a secret, For your safety, I wouldn't want the Myrians to learning that you are fraternizing with a Dhani. PSS. How the petch am I supposed to bring you a live platypus. Its not like the bird can carry it. Never mind that. I will find one, and I will send it to you. Someway, somehow. My only regret will be the fact that I won't be able to see the stupefied expression you make when you see one waddling up to you! PSSS. I never said anything about lion dhani....