The True Game
Page 58
So you may picture us now as we ride to the very highest point of the road across the Dorbor Range, that place where the road bends down toward the jungles of the north. Queynt and Chance are upon the wagon; Yittleby and Yattleby are pulling them along with that measured, effortless stride. Jinian and I are looking back to the south where all the lands of the True Game are spread, town and demesne, land and stream, tower and field, far and veiled by distance in the light of the westering sun. There is no mist giant now to walk the edges of the world. We may walk it ourselves, in time, in chance, in hope.
Who knows?
Appendices
The Order Of Descent By Lineage
The Gamesmen of Barish
1.
Dorn, Necromancer
Talent: Deadraising
2.
Trandilar, Ruler
Talent: Beguilement
3.
Shattnir, Sorcerer
Talent: Power Holding
4.
Wafnor, Tragamor
Talent: Moving
5.
Didir, Demon
Talent: Mind Reading
6.
Dealpas, Healer
Talent: Healing
7.
Tamor, Armiger
Talent: Flying
8.
Hafnor, Elator
Talent: Traveling
9.
Buinel, Sentinel
Talent: Firestarting
10.
Sorah, Seer
Talent: Seeing the Future
11.
Thandbar, Shifter
Talent: Shapechanging
In addition, the Immutable were reckoned to have Talent Twelve, and Peter was found to have Talent Thirteen. The Talent of Wizards is never specified. ‘Strange are the Talents of Wizards.’
Notes on the Fauna of the World of the True Game
The animals, birds, and water creatures originally native to the world of the True Game lack a backbone and have evolved from a vaguely starfish-shaped creature. The basic skeleton is in the form of a jointed pentacle, or star, often elongated, with the limbs and head at the points of the star. Despite this very different evolutionary pattern, the bioengineers among the magicians succeeded in meshing the genetic material of the new world and that from which they came. Among the creatures now native to the world of the True Game are:
Bunwits: Any of a variety of herbivorous animals with long hind legs and flat, surprised-looking faces under erect, triangular ears. Like all animals native to the world, bunwits are tailless. They eat young grasses and the leaves of webwillows.
Flitchhawks: Swift, high-flying birds which prey mostly upon bunwits of the smaller varieties. Noted for their keen eyes.
Fustigars: Pack-hunting predators, some varieties of which have been extensively inbred and domesticated.
Gnarlibars: A huge animal which lives in the high wastes below the Dorbor Range. It feeds upon anything it can catch, including old or ailing krylobos. The gnarlibar has a ground-shaking roar which has earned it the name of ‘avalanche animal’. Gnarlibars always pack in fours, two females and two males; females always bear twins, one male and one female. A set of Gnarlibars is called a ‘leat’ or crossroads, because of their invariable habit of attacking from four directions at once. It is thought that the gnarlibar is the descendant of a prehistoric race of animals so prodigious in size as to be considered mythical.
Grole: A long, blind, legless animal with multiple rows of teeth which lives by burrowing into soil, stone, or other inorganic materials, utilizing the light metals in its metabolism. The teeth are of adamant and can be used as grinding tools. The so-called ‘sausage groles’ are not related to rockeater groles but are smaller creatures of similar configuration which eat only organic materials, notably the meat of the ground nut.
Krylobos: A giant, flightless bird with well-developed wing fingers, capable of very high running speeds. The krylobos dance contests are among the most exciting of spectacles for adventurous zoologists, as the birds are extremely agile and powerful.
Pombis: Carnivorous distinguished by clawed feet and the ability to climb tall trees or nest in virtually inaccessible locations. Pombis are irritable and have a reputation for unprovoked belligerence.
Thrispat: A small omnivore which bears its young alive, lives in trees or upon precipitous mountain slopes, and mimics the calls of other animals and the human voice. Small thrispats are favorite pets in the jungle cities where breeders vie in extending the vocabularies of their animals. A good thrispat can speak up to a hundred words and phrases with some indication of understanding their meaning. Thrispats are particularly fond of ripe thrilps, whence the name.
Warnets: A stinging, flying insect of minuscule size and legendary bad temper, which lives in hordes. Called ‘saber-tail’ by some. It is said that krylobos will take warnet nests and drop them into the nests of gnarlibars during territorial disputes.
Native Peoples
At least two peoples are known to occupy the lands around the area of the True Game.
Shadowpeople: Small, carnivorous (omnivorous when necessary) nocturnal people delighting in music and song. They are extremely fond of festivals, dance contests, song contests and the like and have been seen to assemble by hundreds within sound of the annual contests at the Minchery in Learner. While Shadow-people eat bunwits of any size, it is notable that they do not attack krylobos and are not attacked by pombis, gnarlibars, or warnets.
Eesties: A people said by some to be aloof and withdrawn, by others to be friendly and helpful. Seen most often as solitary individuals. Native language unknown. Habits unknown. In appearance, star-shaped, moving as Armigers do or rolling upon the extremities.
Table of Contents
The True Game
Contents
Maps of the True Game World
King's Blood Four
Contents
1 King's Blood Four
2 Journeying
3 The Wizard Himaggery
4 The Road to Evenor
5 Windlow
6 Escape
7 Mandor Again
8 Hostage
9 Shapeshifter
10 Swallow
11 The Caves of Bannerwell
12 Mavin
13 The Great Game
14 Challenge and Game
Necromancer Nine
Contents
1 Necromancer Nine
2 A City Which Fears the Unborn
3 Perlplus
4 Befriend the Shadows
5 Schlaizy Noithn
6 Mavin's Seat
7 The Blot
8 The Magicians
9 The Inner Doors
10 The Labs
11 Calling Home
12 Huld Again
13 Bright Demesne
Wizard's Eleven
Contents
1 Wizard's Eleven
2 Xammer
3 Dindindaroo
4 The Great North Road
5 Three Knob
6 The Grole Hills
7 Reaverbridge
8 Hell's Maw
9 Nuts, Groles, and Mirrormen
10 Wind's Eye
11 The Gamesmen of Barish
12 The Bonedancers of Huld
13 Talent Thirteen
Appendices
The Order Of Descent By Lineage
The Gamesmen of Barish
Notes on the Fauna of the World of the True Game
Native Peoples
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