Solace on The Rules
Nov. 24th, 2011 01:42 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
annwfyn.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
writing_shadowsRules.
You need to learn the rules, Solace.
Sit down. Breathe. Don’t panic. You’ve got pen and paper and you can write them down. Make a list, hold it close to you, learn it by heart. Don’t speak without thinking, without running through your list in your mind.
Right. Let’s begin.
Rule One.
They don’t think they are Low Born. What they think they are doesn’t exactly make sense yet, because no one has explained that, but apparently it isn’t Low Born. Dog and Mongrel is also a discourteous word, which to be fair should be relatively self evident. I mean, one doesn’t call a lady ‘fat’, and one doesn’t call a member of the Forsaken a ‘mongrel’. It is probably also a bad idea to refer to them as the demented children of mad Luna, but that’s a long enough descriptor that it is unlikely to just slip out.
Refer to them as…
…maybe just don’t refer to them. Just nod a lot.
Rule Two
There are no formal rules for how to speak to them. This is probably because they are Low Born mongrels without a thousand years of Perfection, but that is something else you probably shouldn’t say. Suffice it to say that they seem to want one thing, but think they want something else, and have no idea how they want it served.
To show the throat, to address a werewolf as an ‘Honoured Son of Wolf’, to refer to oneself only as ‘this unworthy wolf blood’ is, apparently unnecessary and may make them uncomfortable. And uncomfortable werewolves tend to get irritable. The last compound fracture on your right arm came from him getting uncomfortable and these ones are unlikely to be as restrained as him.
Therefore don’t say that.
However, looking them in the eye, expressing defiance or scorn, showing discourtesy, or anger, or questioning their right to rule or lead is also going to cause irritation. The other compound fracture on your right arm, the concussion and hairline fracture on your skull, the broken pelvis, six of the cigarette burns and nineteen of the scars on your back all come from him being irritated by such things. Once again, remember that he was motivated to keep you alive. They aren’t. They may do worse.
Rule Three
It is not considered discourteous in this society to use gifts or other mystical powers on others. Well, not when werewolves do it. One should accept such in a graceful manner. Anything else counts as discourteous.
Remember, do not show discourtesy. There is a very clear line from you being discourteous to werewolves being irritable. I think we have covered this topic extensively. If the gifts seem intrusive, close your eyes and pretend you are somewhere else for a while. And remember that no matter what they say or think, there are things they can’t take away from you and never will be able to. He never did and they will not either.
Rule Four
Remember that they have no cause to trust you, or to care for you. You are not the Perfect and Pure scion of a Perfect and Pure line to them. Well, possibly you are. That may actually be the problem.
OK. You are the Perfect and Pure scion of a Perfect and Pure line to them. This is almost certainly why they do not trust you and have no cause to care for you.
As such, do not push your luck. Remember that your people would not welcome a runaway Wolf Blood into their midst. Well, perhaps the Firetouched would. But they are rather unstable and also have been known to keep their kin locked in the cellar, and so you would almost certainly be far less comfortable there.
Rule Five
They do not venerate the spirits here.
This is not an easy thing to understand, but always remember that to be touched, to be chosen, to experience that which no mortal should be able to experience is not a mark of honour here.
To be fair, you have no idea exactly what it does mean. It may be a death sentence. It may simply be a mark of being shameful and being tainted. It is probably best not to ask. Perhaps someone will explain in time, or at the very least shout loudly about a related subject whilst in your hearing. That might make everything make a little more sense.
Rule Six
They are not just divided by tribe.
Actually, it’s not entirely clear what the other divisions are, but they do clearly exist. Korsten is a ‘rahu’, which could mean anything, but from the tone of voice Verity uses when she mentions it, it probably has something to do with him shouting a lot. Maybe ‘rahu’ are speakers? Or just loud hailers?
Korsten also has ‘irraka’ in his pack, who you have to give answers to, whenever they demand them. There are, apparently, no limits on what these ‘irraka’ can ask, which seems to imply that they hold some kind of interrogatory position? Maybe they are like inquisitors. That would make a certain degree of sense.
There are others, but you do not know what these are. It is best to not ask, as there is a high probability of causing offense, so it is better to just listen. You’re doing quite well at figuring out the divisions you’ve heard so far, so I’m sure you’ll do equally well with the rest in time.
Rule Seven
Remember that you have nowhere else to go.
He is dead. You killed him. That means you can’t go home anymore.
This is your only choice. Well, that or the Bale Hounds, and you don’t have any contact names for the Bale Hounds yet.
Rule Eight
They do not really understand what you truly are.
They never will.
Accept this.
They don’t know the stories, the legends, the meaning of what it means to be an Ivory Claw. To be an Ivory Claw is not just impressive because your lineage stretches back a thousand years. Really, everyone’s lineage stretches back a thousand years, doesn’t it? Well, unless one has an ancestor who was somehow brought into this world without father or mother, possibly through spiritual intervention, and frankly that is a little more impressive than anything even the Ivory Claws have managed.
However, that isn’t the point.
They don’t understand.
No one has sung the Songs of Silver, the Songs of Purity, the Duty of the Pure, and the Lay of the Bloodlines. They do not know.
In a way, that makes them better than you. They know no better. They are the tattered and stained children of the rebels of a fallen world. They do not and can not know what it means to be absolutely and truly Pure.
You do know. You always have, and you have chosen to throw it away, and for what? For a man in the firelight, and his mongrel child? For a single night of chaotic passion and a morning when you felt the touch of freedom?
Was that enough Solace?
Not by every lesson you have ever learned, but you did it anyway.
Don’t look down on them, Solace. They were born in this terrifying, rough, warped and tainted world, making of themselves what they can amidst the shards of their ancestors’ rebellion.
You are here because you chose to be.
They were never given a chance to be Pure.
You walked away from it.
Who really is the tainted one?
You need to learn the rules, Solace.
Sit down. Breathe. Don’t panic. You’ve got pen and paper and you can write them down. Make a list, hold it close to you, learn it by heart. Don’t speak without thinking, without running through your list in your mind.
Right. Let’s begin.
Rule One.
They don’t think they are Low Born. What they think they are doesn’t exactly make sense yet, because no one has explained that, but apparently it isn’t Low Born. Dog and Mongrel is also a discourteous word, which to be fair should be relatively self evident. I mean, one doesn’t call a lady ‘fat’, and one doesn’t call a member of the Forsaken a ‘mongrel’. It is probably also a bad idea to refer to them as the demented children of mad Luna, but that’s a long enough descriptor that it is unlikely to just slip out.
Refer to them as…
…maybe just don’t refer to them. Just nod a lot.
Rule Two
There are no formal rules for how to speak to them. This is probably because they are Low Born mongrels without a thousand years of Perfection, but that is something else you probably shouldn’t say. Suffice it to say that they seem to want one thing, but think they want something else, and have no idea how they want it served.
To show the throat, to address a werewolf as an ‘Honoured Son of Wolf’, to refer to oneself only as ‘this unworthy wolf blood’ is, apparently unnecessary and may make them uncomfortable. And uncomfortable werewolves tend to get irritable. The last compound fracture on your right arm came from him getting uncomfortable and these ones are unlikely to be as restrained as him.
Therefore don’t say that.
However, looking them in the eye, expressing defiance or scorn, showing discourtesy, or anger, or questioning their right to rule or lead is also going to cause irritation. The other compound fracture on your right arm, the concussion and hairline fracture on your skull, the broken pelvis, six of the cigarette burns and nineteen of the scars on your back all come from him being irritated by such things. Once again, remember that he was motivated to keep you alive. They aren’t. They may do worse.
Rule Three
It is not considered discourteous in this society to use gifts or other mystical powers on others. Well, not when werewolves do it. One should accept such in a graceful manner. Anything else counts as discourteous.
Remember, do not show discourtesy. There is a very clear line from you being discourteous to werewolves being irritable. I think we have covered this topic extensively. If the gifts seem intrusive, close your eyes and pretend you are somewhere else for a while. And remember that no matter what they say or think, there are things they can’t take away from you and never will be able to. He never did and they will not either.
Rule Four
Remember that they have no cause to trust you, or to care for you. You are not the Perfect and Pure scion of a Perfect and Pure line to them. Well, possibly you are. That may actually be the problem.
OK. You are the Perfect and Pure scion of a Perfect and Pure line to them. This is almost certainly why they do not trust you and have no cause to care for you.
As such, do not push your luck. Remember that your people would not welcome a runaway Wolf Blood into their midst. Well, perhaps the Firetouched would. But they are rather unstable and also have been known to keep their kin locked in the cellar, and so you would almost certainly be far less comfortable there.
Rule Five
They do not venerate the spirits here.
This is not an easy thing to understand, but always remember that to be touched, to be chosen, to experience that which no mortal should be able to experience is not a mark of honour here.
To be fair, you have no idea exactly what it does mean. It may be a death sentence. It may simply be a mark of being shameful and being tainted. It is probably best not to ask. Perhaps someone will explain in time, or at the very least shout loudly about a related subject whilst in your hearing. That might make everything make a little more sense.
Rule Six
They are not just divided by tribe.
Actually, it’s not entirely clear what the other divisions are, but they do clearly exist. Korsten is a ‘rahu’, which could mean anything, but from the tone of voice Verity uses when she mentions it, it probably has something to do with him shouting a lot. Maybe ‘rahu’ are speakers? Or just loud hailers?
Korsten also has ‘irraka’ in his pack, who you have to give answers to, whenever they demand them. There are, apparently, no limits on what these ‘irraka’ can ask, which seems to imply that they hold some kind of interrogatory position? Maybe they are like inquisitors. That would make a certain degree of sense.
There are others, but you do not know what these are. It is best to not ask, as there is a high probability of causing offense, so it is better to just listen. You’re doing quite well at figuring out the divisions you’ve heard so far, so I’m sure you’ll do equally well with the rest in time.
Rule Seven
Remember that you have nowhere else to go.
He is dead. You killed him. That means you can’t go home anymore.
This is your only choice. Well, that or the Bale Hounds, and you don’t have any contact names for the Bale Hounds yet.
Rule Eight
They do not really understand what you truly are.
They never will.
Accept this.
They don’t know the stories, the legends, the meaning of what it means to be an Ivory Claw. To be an Ivory Claw is not just impressive because your lineage stretches back a thousand years. Really, everyone’s lineage stretches back a thousand years, doesn’t it? Well, unless one has an ancestor who was somehow brought into this world without father or mother, possibly through spiritual intervention, and frankly that is a little more impressive than anything even the Ivory Claws have managed.
However, that isn’t the point.
They don’t understand.
No one has sung the Songs of Silver, the Songs of Purity, the Duty of the Pure, and the Lay of the Bloodlines. They do not know.
In a way, that makes them better than you. They know no better. They are the tattered and stained children of the rebels of a fallen world. They do not and can not know what it means to be absolutely and truly Pure.
You do know. You always have, and you have chosen to throw it away, and for what? For a man in the firelight, and his mongrel child? For a single night of chaotic passion and a morning when you felt the touch of freedom?
Was that enough Solace?
Not by every lesson you have ever learned, but you did it anyway.
Don’t look down on them, Solace. They were born in this terrifying, rough, warped and tainted world, making of themselves what they can amidst the shards of their ancestors’ rebellion.
You are here because you chose to be.
They were never given a chance to be Pure.
You walked away from it.
Who really is the tainted one?
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-24 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-24 04:39 pm (UTC)Rahu are seldom shouters though :P
no subject
Date: 2011-11-24 06:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-24 07:25 pm (UTC)She would love to learn this stuff (and help out with words like Rahu ...)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-25 04:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-25 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-25 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-28 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-30 07:47 pm (UTC)