Satare Empire - Melanoc Lunar Colony

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One of the central lunar colonies orbiting the vast, water world Satare.

A farming colony, what isn't walled farmland is dense forest and woodland.
There are 12 moons in the sky, though not all are visible at any one time and the enormous blue ball that is the planet.

Don't go out after dark, there are monsters in the woods.

"i do not know, I will do as my Lord commands me. " She gazed toward the windows. "When he returns..."

"When would he return?" Bianca asked. She'd told Moone he would, but she sure didn't know when. *He's been gone a long time now."

Kaliyani shook her head. "I do not know. He will, as soon as he is able, of that I am certain. " She bowed her head. "It is likely the Elders have delayed him, they do not approve his coming and going. His place is in the capital, not exploring the universe."

"So you stay here with us, while your elders keep Web away. That's strange of them to not let him leave. Do you miss home?" Bianca asked.

Kaliyani managed a faint chuckle. "yes, I would think they would prefer him to be gone, then he would not be around to argue with them. Perhaps they enjoy the arguments." She shook her head. "I should not speak so flippantly about the High Council of Enlightened Elders" She bowed her head repentantly "I have spent too much time around My Lord, his bad habits have rubbed off on me." She smiled though, it was clear she was very fond of the man. "I do miss home yes, this place is strange. I have spent most of my life in the underground and this place is so very alien. Even my father's people and their home world were not so foreign. I know I am farther from home than I have ever been, and I cannot say I ever much thirsted for such adventure." She ducked her head again. "Still, I do as my Lord asks me and he has entrusted me with something greatly important to him. This is his childhood home and you are people who matter to him and the Kanistha, and so I shall serve. "

"If I was them, I would make him leave. Keeping someone around to rule with you, who doesn't agree with you, is a bad idea," Bianca said. "What are your father's people? What's their home like? Why do you do what Web says?" She hadn't really caught onto the kevali/kalvair thing yet, except that the farmers smelled a bit different from Kaliyani.

Kaliyani blinked, that was a lot of questions. She took a deep breath and took them one at a time. "The Elders keep the Ishvara around because they have no choice, Fate demands representation and he is her representative. They cannot defy Fate." Though she herself didn't know why, gods and their business wasn't something she liked to think too hard on. "My Father was Kalvair, like the farmers outside." She nodded toward the door. "My Mother was Kevali. I am one of the few hybrids, most, sadly, do not live long." She lowered her head. "I have only seen the Kalvair home world a few times, when I was young and my parents still lived. It is... dry and arid, but they have mastered the art of collecting and diverting water to their fields. I recall the sky was vast and clear, the twin suns beating down on us. It was very hot. I did not like it there." The final question she actually smiled. "I do as my Lord tells me because he is my Lord."

"Why can't they deny fate?" Bianca asked, puzzled. She considered the description of the kalvair's world. "It's strange that anyone would choose to live on such a hot planet. It's no wonder you didn't stay."

"Because when they led the people underground, Fate demanded equal say in the council. It has been that way since the founding days, each of the gods has a seat. Fate is the only one who uses a proxy to sit in hers." Kaliyani explained. "She cannot manifest in this plane of existence, but that does not mean she is to be trifled with. Should the other Elders refuse her emissary, Fate herself would take action I am certain. "
She gazed out the window at the trees rising over the great walls.
"The Kalvair believe Fate guided them to their world, they believe they are the blessed people and their world their salvation. They fled the underground generations ago, trusted Fate to guide them as they shaped space. They knew she would guide them safely."

"I guess I don't understand why someone who isn't on this plane of existence would be worth noticing," Bianca mused. "Visions are powerful, but they aren't that dangerous, are they? Not that I really understand how visions work or what they do," she admitted. "So they stay there because they think Fate wants them there forever? Hmm."

"They stay because it is home." Kaliyani nodded. "Much as the Kevali remain where they are because it is all they have ever known." She frowned a little at the question. "Dangerous to whom? It is said that knowing ones future is always a curse, and those who Fate takes a specific interest in are destined to lead... interesting lives. Her emissary generally dies young, the last two were younger than I when they succumbed to final death. Their father before them went mad. " She shook her head. "the lives of the Ishvara seldom have happy endings, then again, who's do? In the end, death takes us all. "

"So people do what Fate wants because they don't want her to bother them?" Bianca asked. She considered the other statement, "I ran away from home when it wasn't good. Maybe they should do that too."

Kaliyani shook her head. "Fate does not directly demand anything of most of us. She guides the Ishvara and he in turn guides us, with the Elders at his side. " She looked wary. "Where would we run to? It is home, many would not wish to abandon that. Do you not miss your home?"

"My home had too many gloved hands, food I didn't like, and nobody to talk to except the hands," Bianca said. "I don't miss it much. Anywhere else was better."

"Gloved hands?" Kaliyani looked confused. "Why were there hands? Were they not attached to bodies?" what a bizarre image, disembodied hands.

"They were attached to humans, but the hands are what I remember. They picked me up a lot to look at, and I didn't like it," Bianca said. "It was better to leave."

Kaliyani nodded. "What did they want with you? They.. they did not wish to devour you no?" She looked wary.

Bianca blinked. "No, it was an experiment in mental enhancement. They wanted to see if they could make an animal smart enough to read and talk and learn like a human."

Kaliyani frowned. "For what purpose?"

"I don't know. Maybe they wanted to make smarter humans. Or maybe they just wanted to make smart animals. They didn't tell me very much," Bianca said, "they just wanted me to read and talk and do math."

"Can you read?" Kaliyani had no idea what Math was and hadn't quite caught on to the idea that most rats didn't speak. She also failed to see how teaching one species something useful would possible help another, these other worlders were very strange.

"Yes, I can read. I can't read from a distance though, my eyesight isn't good," Bianca said. "Can you?"

Kaliyani nodded. "I am a scribe, all scribes are taught to read and write. We are the only ones who are taught as such however, what use does a hunter or a smith have for writing after all?" She shook her head.

"Some people say that literacy is very important if you want to protect yourself," Bianca said. "I don't know how that works, but that's why people try to teach everyone to read where I'm from."

"That does not make a lot of sense. How would one protect themselves with parchment and ink?" Kaliyani looked bewildered. She looked to the baby dragons. "Should we move them?" She asked, not really sure.

"I don't know," Bianca said, "I never really figured out why they say that knowledge is power." She looked at the babies. "Maybe we should? Someone might step on them here."

Kaliyani nodded and moved to pick up one of the dragons.