Book - the Kat that Walks

[raggidman]

~~~~~~~~~~~

begin trailer:

bobbyhood sent trailer and music urls: the Haunting Desert video .

It is said that a hundred civilisations are buried beneath the sands.

A testament to the ancient people who endured this unforgiving land.

Beset by plague and cursed with war, they fought for their home.

And remain there still.

The Clan Mother Ri?rassi Tells the Story of The Kat that Walks Alone

narrative:

[1ST]C[/1ST]ome, favoured daughter, there is much to learn. You have always been restless, and long to leave this place. But the desert is in the soul of our people. You have seen Ahnissi?s words, and know them well, and yet you do not know all.

You may have heard others call us Cat people, but as is proper we call ourselves Khajiit - those walking. And our history is ancient. This then is our tale, more ancient even than the desert:


In the beginning, Ahnurr and Fadomai gave birth to three litters. Khenarthi of the first litter was the eldest daughter of Fadomai, like you, my favoured daughter, are my first. But Azurah of Fadomai?s third litter was her favoured daughter. Nirni and Khenarthi were jealous of Azurah.

When Azurah took Nirni?s forest people and made the Khajiit, Nirni was angry. Nirni wanted to make the desert hot and the sands biting, so that the Khajiit would always be hungry. She asked Khenarthi, to whom Fadomai gave the wind, to help her.

"Does Khenarthi-sister want to be good sister-friend to Nirni? Help Nirni punish nasty Azurah's favored people for her selfish trick?"

And Khenarthi said, ?Yes, Khenarthi will help Nirni. For Khenarthi should have been Fadomai?s favoured daughter, as Khenarthi was Her first. Khenarthi will make the winds blow hard so they strip the very fur from their skins.?

And the winds followed the walkers everywhere they went so that they could not see and they became lost and began walking in circles. They walked in circles for so long that the winds sucked all the moisture from that land, and the soil dried up and blew away...

And so the desert came, hot and windy, and the Khajiit suffered in the stinging sands. Nirni, who was so angry that she did not care how the land suffered so long as the Khajiit hurt too, watched with tail erect as the Khajiit perished in the flaying sandstorms.

The Khajiit prayed. They prayed to their own special deities: some prayed to Alkosh, ferocious Tiger Dragon, but He slept the long deep sleep of His kind and heard them not;
- and they prayed to Khenarthi, but of course Her ears were turned from them;
- they prayed for Ja-Kha'Jay the lunar lattice, yearning to climb up above to a place of peace and safety
- to Jode and Jone they prayed but the howl of the wind drowned the yowls in their mouths and the swirling sands hid them from the Moons' bright gaze;
- Azurah, some cried You were with us at our conception, will You come to us now, but there was no sight of either Dawn or Dusk in the darkness brought by the sands and none knew the right time to call to Her;
- to Mara the Mother some pleaded, but again the shrieking of the winds drowned out their words, and so they thought She was too busy with Her other children to listen out for them, as the swirling sands blew on;
- a few thought to call on Sheogorrath, but He was mesmerised by the patterns of the whirling sands on the face of the world and they could not break the trance.

Now it just so happened that S?rendarr, the merciful cat, who was having enormous fun playing in the sand which was new to Him, wandered into the pitiful remains of the people and His heart reached out to them. it was S?rendarr, the merciful cat, who saw the Khajiit suffering and He took pity on them.

?Khenarthi,? he said. ?S'rendarr wonders why do you make them suffer so, can you not hear them calling out to you? Are You no better than noisy Lorkaj to do this??

And he opened Khenarthi?s ears to the prayers of the Khajiit.

?Gentle Khenarthi,? they said. ?Why are Your terrible winds punishing us? We have done nothing wrong. Why are You punishing us??

And Khenarthi thought to Herself, ?Why am I punishing them? They have done nothing wrong.? And Khenarthi felt disgusted with Herself. And She stopped the winds from making the sand fly so hard.

Nirni was angry when Khenarthi stopped the winds and She cursed Her older sister to always walk alone. And Khenarthi wept, as She watched Nirni make nasty creatures to torment the Khajiit.

And so Khenarthi called to Alkosh and at the sound of Her voice He awoke, ?Alkosh-brother, can you turn back time so Khenarthi can stop Herself from making the mistake of helping Nirni? Khenarthi would be a good friend to Alkosh??

And Alkosh said, ?No, dear sister. Everyone must learn from their mistakes, all of Fadomai?s children included. You alone must forgive Yourself.? He said.

And so Khenarthi saw that Alkosh was right and She resolved to make something for the Khajiit. She granted one of Her favoured Priestesses with a Divine Vision. She had the priestess craft an artifact and hide it in the desert, to help the Khajiit survive Nirni?s wrath.

The artifact was a ring, so small a trinket with such a power. They say it made you light as one of Khenarthi's feathers and swift as Khenarthi's winds. They say Khenarthi looks favourably on one who wears the ring, stopping the flying sands.

Now when Nirni found out about the ring, She swallowed it deep into Herself, so no one ever found it. Not even the great Rajhin!

Khenarthi though had one last trick up Her budi. Using Her power over the wind she whittled down a part of Nirni?s body into Her divine form, as a marker for her gift. It took many, many phases, and She was so careful and worked so delicately grain by grain that Nirni did not find out.

Now, Clan Mother Ri?rassi knows not if Khenarthi?s landmark still exists, for she has not looked for it, but should any of Clan Mother Ri'rassi's litter find this artifact, Clan Mother Ri'rassi thinks this would make Khenarthi very happy and that kitten would also bask forever in the warmth Ri'rassi's regard.

end

rm:
Just had a thought, hows about a Gryphon = cat-bird for the marker?
Ja-Kha'jay replies:
Perfect! It would fit in with Khenarthi being a Khajiiti deity, whilst still maintaining the wings on Kynareth.
I'll get onto some concept art away!
concept art of statue by Ja-Kha'jay right done!

Edit: Fixed attachment - Krisi-_

raggidman has attached this image (reduced version):

[Deeza]

Edited and moved to the literature forum. It makes more sense there now the trailer has been abandoned.