Chapter: 597 – Fox-kin

Tala willed herself and Lisa to what was fast becoming the fox-kin neighborhood, at least on the timescale of immortals. After all, there were already five doors, each entirely distinct.

Lisa’s twisted, intricately carved, redstone doorway was surrounded by a patch of grass some ten feet to a side, with rose bushes just starting to grow next to each vertical, framing the archway.

To the right was an utterly plain, black frame made out of what seemed to be obsidian. No, not plain…

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the obsidian had been fractured or knapped into precisely right angles for every corner. There was a subtle beauty in the simplicity that entirely bypassed ‘plainness’, and that was accentuated by the nature of the obsidian, which was translucent toward the corners, where the light shone through just slightly.

The square around the black frame—which Tala now realized was effectively the yard of sorts—seemed to be of a flat, white stone. It wasn’t marbled in texture, and it also didn’t look to be soft like a soapstone.

Rane would probably know what it is.

On the other side of Lisa’s door was a frame of rounded blue marble, set in a yard of green sand. Beyond that one was a hexagonal opening, seemingly framed by steel rods or tubing—Tala’s threefold sight let her know it was solid—and the yard was simple grass with some wildflowers just beginning to grow.

On the far side of the row, past Lisa’s door and the obsidian doorway, lay the final one. This one was more intricate, reminiscent of Lisa’s, in that it was carved and twisting. It seemed to trick the eye—and even her perception—into looking like it couldn’t possibly be as she saw it.

There weren’t distinct images carved into it, rather the wood of the construction had been shaped by a carving blade, or at least been made to look like it had. The result was mesmerizing.

All in all, the area was actually laid out more like a beautified district of doors from one of the various arcane cities, than a neighborhood in any other sense.

That thought gave Tala pause. “Lisa. Do any of your kind reside in the arcane cities, among the local districts of doors?”

He snorted at that. “We started those… you know… originally, not specifically in every city. We helped the arcanes work out hold construction and anchoring. So yes, some of us still reside in such districts, though usually in secret as we are no longer as highly regarded.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I thought you were always a bit distrusted. Is that a new development?”

He shook his head. “Yes. In the beginning, we were appreciated for our wisdom, knowledge, and precision. As we imparted our knowledge, and as our wisdom conflicted with what they wanted to do, we were first pushed to the sidelines, then outright thrown away. As to our precision? Few people like being told how they are wrong precisely and articulately. At least, they don’t once they think themselves knowledgeable. It’s easier to ignore us.”

“And when your precision also leads you toward interpretations of agreements in your favor…”

He huffed. “Interpretations that we were upfront and clear with by the exact language used.”

“And the taking of swords when only offered offhandedly?”

He gave her a flat look. “Do you really think that is all there is to the story? Do you really think that the premiere Eskau of the House of Blood had a slip of the tongue, and I then magically snatched the sword from her, running back into my den, cackling in mad glee at her foolishness? All the while, she wailed at the sky and shook her fist at my retreating back?”

Tala blinked a few times before tentatively answering, “…No?”

Lisa let out a long sigh. “But you did until I said something… See, this is the issue. Whenever we try to be more vague, to trust in your powers of interpretation, we are disappointed.”

She arched an eyebrow. “And by ‘your powers’ you mean humanity’s?”

He gave her a level look. “Yes, them too.”

She scowled.

“Regardless, after I latched onto her slip, Eskau Meallain didn’t agree. Instead, she stormed off with the weapon, determined to find someone else to fix it. In the end, no one else would make the attempt given the value of the weapon. So, finally, she came back and agreed that if I could fix it, she would give me a weapon of equal value as payment. If I broke the weapon further, I would have to replace it with something worth as much as it had been worth before my attempt.”

Tala grunted at that. It made a sort of sense.

“So, I fixed it, and she demanded the sword back.” He shrugged. “I rightly refused until payment was provided, but as it turned out,” he grinned mischievously, “the weapon was all but unrivaled in value, thus there was no other weapon that could be given to me as proper payment.”

She sighed. “And Eskau Meallain didn’t like that, as makes sense.”

Lisa shrugged again. “It is not my fault that the payment agreed to could only be rendered in one manner.”

“So, that’s a bit more complex than you said at first, but it shakes out to about the same thing.”

“Exactly. And it is a less useful story for conveying the importance of words.”

“And it makes Eskau Meallain look worse.”

“That’s a matter of personal interpretation. Some would say she comes out worse in the first telling, others in the lengthier one. I suppose that each has its merits.”

Tala shook her head. “Well, thank you for the full story.”

Lisa cleared his throat. “To be clear, you still don’t have the ‘full’ story, nor do I think you could, not without having actually been there for all parts, but you have a fuller picture of what really happened.”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed herself. It’s just how they are, Tala. Don’t get upset. He’s a fox-kin. This is what they do. Finally, she opened her eyes and nodded. “Regardless. Thank you.”

“You are most welcome.”

There was a momentary silence.

He gave her a searching, expectant look. “Are you ready to meet them, then?”

She nodded once, decisively. “Yes, I think that would be wise.”

Lisa held his hands as if to clap, but then paused. “I suppose I should note one thing.”

“Yes?”

“Even with my recommendation, coming here was still seen as a risk. Thus, those who did come are those who are older, or more… eccentric. Those more willing to take risks in the hope of gain if it pans out.”

“I see.”

He held her gaze a moment longer then turned back. “I just wanted you to know that.”

Without further delay, he clapped his hands, flicks of magic causing the action to send out ripples through reality that homed in on three of the five doors standing nearby, the wooden, the obsidian, and the hexagonal.

A moment later, the hexagonal frame held a door, where previously it was empty. The metal was still resonating with Lisa’s clap, and it created a bit of a buzz within the door that quickly faded. Once it had, the door swung open, up, on hinges that seemed to be on the upper right of the six sides. A gray fox-kin strode out, square glasses somewhat hiding his eyes.

He looked around a bit distractedly. “Who rang?”

Lisa shook his head but smiled. “I did, Sionnach. Remember? You agreed to meet with Mistress Tala, today. The owner and ultimate authority within this hold?”

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Sionnach seemed to finally notice Tala, and he reached up to shift his glasses as he looked her way. “Oh, hello there.”

“Hello.” Tala gave a polite wave, feeling a bit uncertain as to how to proceed. The fox-kin, for his part paused for a moment, as if waiting for a different response, but finally shook his head as if disappointed.

“Ah, well. Thank you for allowing us to move our homes here. It is rather frustrating to have to rebuild every century or so.” He shook his head. “So much research to do, and so little time. I don’t wish to waste what time I have.”

Tala tilted her head to the side. “Oh? What are you researching? Maybe I can help?”

Lisa closed his eyes with an obvious ‘oh-please-no’ expression, even as the other fox-kin huffed. “Unlikely, but I don’t mind sharing. At the moment, I am researching names.”

“Names?” She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly that! Names, what do they mean? We sapient species have thousands of names, many of them have meaning, but in what language? Hmm? Our language was unified by a Sovereign, who seemed to think that leaving us with our own names was fine, but they didn’t consider what a tangle that would make.”

“Oh? I’m listening.” Another frame was suddenly filled with a door, but Tala was focused on Sionnach.

“Take my name for instance. Sionnach. It means ‘fox’, but in what language? We don’t know. We only have one language, so how can we have names like mine at all. I wasn’t even named before the unification of language. My name persisted through that.”

Lisa sighed.

That seemed to draw the gray fox’s attention. “And Lisa! That means fox too, but again, in what language! We are left with a smattering of words of long obliterated languages because they happen to be names, but can’t any word be a name? Isn’t a word just a name for an object? Where is the distinction?”

Lisa sighed again. “Sionnach, it’s when an entity has a personal moniker to distinguish it from others of its kind. That is a name.”