Tales from Rodentèrra

[Egerius]

After being infected by the Conworld Story Virus by other members on this forum, the time has come for my conpeople to come to life in their own thread.

As with all my work I presented here, Rodentèrra is work in progress — so beware of continuity errors (which I will probably point out as footnotes).

The stories will not be linear, not confined to one place (hence Tales from Rodentèrra, and not "Tales from Bonavalle" or "Tales from Wínchaster").
Of course, I will post in English (except place names, personal names or names of buildings/institutions/organisations, which also will be explained in footnotes).

Here bygynneth the Threed of the Tales from Rodentearthe...

---

I am walking through a city. I see buildings made out of glass and steel near the train station — which front entrance is being rebuilt now — and historical buildings appear more frequently the nearer I come to the university. I could've taken the bus, but I prefer walking to waiting for an overcrowded box on wheels. Not that I hate public transport, but waiting for one takes forever. So I'm walking, fairly quickly, across streets, always having to watch out for reckless cyclists — they're everywhere!

I see people, dogs, cats, sometimes they're speaking foreign tongues. And then, there are beggars. I pretend I don't understand them, or I whistle a melody the they ask me for change — "get a job, already!" I shout towards one of them who blocks my way, in nearly accent-free Wínlandish, even though he's muttering along in Buonavallese.

Yes, I am in Buonavalle, a student from Grezognja, a much smaller city about fifty miles1 further south.
"I waste two hours a day..." I think. I have to go by train from the city centre of Grezogna, and before I have to take the bus – and now a nearly quarter-hour walk to the Gothic faculty! I speed up. My pocket watch shows that it's seven past 10. I'm not late, but I don't have much time before the Seminar starts — "Introduction to Linguistics II — Old Wínlandish", my favourite topic. My bag shakes and swings, and sometimes I'm tripping over my own tail, which is embarrassing.

I finally arrive at a large building, which is built in a classicist style. As I enter, I hear a damp, buzzing sound — the servers of the faculty are hidden behind the walls to my left. I run up the stairs, into the room on the other side of the floor... and I'm just in time: The lecturer is just setting up his laptop. No, it's not a laptop, it's a luggable, a giant box. I am unpacking my own gear, one of the most up-to-date machines.

It beeps. I thought I switched off the sound yesterday? Whatever.
I quickly open the document for the lecture, bend the screen back and get out the stylus.

The lecturer is calling up everybody: "Argenzu Montéis!"
"Here!" I say.

My laptop's screen is divided between a document viewer and something that looks like a drawing application.
After the attendance check is done, the lecturer starts the presentation about Old Wínlandish. I smile. The other students are gazing over the picture: It shows a medieval scribe, and below it, the topic of the today's lesson.
"That's something for you, right?" the person next to me says: It's my friend Niccolo.
"Yeah, I like that topic." I whisper, scribbling something onto the screen of my laptop.

Some other students still use normal pens and paper, some have laptops, like mine, or from another brand. I can recognise most brands and some specific models merely by looking at the cover.

"The Old Wínlandish language is the first station on our journey that leads us from the Island-Gothic branch to Modern Wínlandish", the lecturer says.
"We will briefly look at the language itself, some developments that happened during that period, and, of course, we will discuss the most important historical dates in the period..."

---

1 = A Buonavallese mile is 36 cm x 32 piedes (feet) = 1.152 km/1152 meters

[elemtilas]

After being infected by the Conworld Story Virus by other members on this forum, the time has come for my conpeople to come to life in their own thread.

Yay!

My pocket watch shows that it's seven past 10. I'm not late, but I don't have much time before the Seminar starts — "Introduction to Linguistics II — Old Wínlandish", my favourite topic.

Brings back memories! I hope some of Argenzu's professors like to regale their students with stories and tales of the old days! One of ours, Professor Fleck, used to tell us the story of Julius Pokorny and the Irish King. A veritable font and mathomhouse of philology in general and Germanic & Celtic languages in particular was he.

Hope you will continue with these little stories of life in Rodenterra!

[zyma]

How old, approximately, is the narrator? Is time measured the same on this planet as it is on Earth? If any, what general time period in Earth's history would you compare to the setting here, in terms of the overall level of technology? It seems quite modern, but I'd like to check anyway.

I see buildings made out of glass and steel near the train station

Are these skyscrapers, or something similar? Or are they something completely different?

As I enter, I hear a damp, buzzing sound — the servers of the faculty are hidden behind the walls to my left.

If you wouldn't mind, could you perhaps explain what you mean here?

[elemtilas]

As I enter, I hear a damp, buzzing sound — the servers of the faculty are hidden behind the walls to my left.

If you wouldn't mind, could you perhaps explain what you mean here?

I do believe this is in reference to the whir of the computer/servers' cooling fans.

I get the feeling they don't have slaves or anything like that in Rodenterra, so it probably isn't the subdued hum of servants talking. But I could be wrong!

[Egerius]

Yay, feedback!

How old, approximately, is the narrator? Is time measured the same on this planet as it is on Earth? If any, what general time period in Earth's history would you compare to the setting here, in terms of the overall level of technology? It seems quite modern, but I'd like to check anyway.

The narrator is 21 years old — and the year on Rodentèrra is 386 days at 32 hours/day, 8 days a week and 16 months a year.
In this story, the technological level roughly corresponds to the 21st century. The design of computers is still stuck in the 80s and smartphones are very expensive, but the inside of those is more advanced (by about 5 years) than computers on present-day Earth.

Are these skyscrapers, or something similar? Or are they something completely different?

Not skyscrapers, but relatively big buildings, housing commerce (especially near the train station), flats or vertical farms (in the suburbs)

If you wouldn't mind, could you perhaps explain what you mean here?

I do believe this is in reference to the whir of the computer/servers' cooling fans.

I get the feeling they don't have slaves or anything like that in Rodenterra, so it probably isn't the subdued hum of servants talking. But I could be wrong!

Elemtilas is right: Computer servers are buzzing in that university – or almost any other on the whole continent.
Slavery is forbidden since a couple centuries here.

I wanted to spare some of these things for the next story, but to elucidate the general background, I think, some spoiling shouldn't be too bad.

[zyma]

The narrator is 21 years old — and the year on Rodentèrra is 386 days at 32 hours/day, 8 days a week and 16 months a year.
In this story, the technological level roughly corresponds to the 21st century. The design of computers is still stuck in the 80s and smartphones are very expensive, but the inside of those is more advanced (by about 5 years) than computers on present-day Earth.

Ahh, got it. That's a really good description of the technology.

Not skyscrapers, but relatively big buildings, housing commerce (especially near the train station), flats or vertical farms (in the suburbs)

Elemtilas is right: Computer servers are buzzing in that university – or almost any other on the whole continent.
Slavery is forbidden since a couple centuries here.

Oh, OK. For the second situation, I think the word "damp" threw me off at first, since I wasn't taking the cooling fans into account.

I wanted to spare some of these things for the next story, but to elucidate the general background, I think, some spoiling shouldn't be too bad.

Sorry. In the future, please don't hesitate to say "this question will be answered in another story" if you want to.

[Egerius]

I guess it's time for the next, not particularly exciting story. Same time, same main character.
Also, I think clearing any misunderstandings after posting the story is a good thing.

---

The seminar is over — and I knew most of its contents already. My notes are plentiful, nevertheless.
"You knew all that stuff, right?", Niccolo asks me.
"Sure I did. And I could read what was written on the manuscript images during the lecture — the lecturer couldn't!"
Niccolo looks at me: "Those scrawls I could barely see? Oh right, you've got the slides on your laptop."
"I can read and write that. Uh, what's up next for you?"
"Another lecture in sociology. And for you, Argenzu?"
"Nothing. That's all I've been for at university today. I'll go to the library and download an article and a book or two. There's some really interesting stuff on the servers."
We two are slowly going down the stairs that lead down to the ground-storey. The walls are white, the stairs alternate in colour, black and white.

"You've been there quite often. Ain't it daunting for you? Anyway, see you tomorrow."
Niccolo is slowly going outside.
"No. I discover something interesting almost every day. See you!"
I have to store my bag and my cloak in a locker before I can enter the library, so I go to a small room where they are. Rows of orange boxes in a white room.
The lockers only accept a Two Denari coin, or a special chip which is too big for shopping trolleys, so I insert one of these silver chips into the slot before locking away my valuables — except one 3.5 inch disk, which I use to store all the stuff I downloaded from the library servers.

I go upstairs, to the department library.
The large glass door always is closed — but not locked until 22:001. As I pass through it, I am greeted by a member of the staff, to whom I greet back - in Wílandish, of course.

I go through a long floor, which is opening to many large rooms, filled with computer terminals and books.
On the end of that floor, there is a large glass door. I go through it, and the floor continues.
I go into one of the cubicles, which houses a single, small computer terminal each, surrounded by books.

I have a small wax tablet with me, which I acquired recently, and I search for one of the books I quickly noted down on the tablet.

"The Development of Wílandish — Volume II: Old and Middle Wílandish... There you are!" I whisper, grabbing the book.
Quickly thumbing through the big volume, I can see some black-and-white facsimiles of medieval manuscripts, pictures of rune-stones and transcripts of medieval works of literature.

I am taking a look at the table of contents: The chapters about orthography, sound changes and transitional texts are the most interesting.
Putting this book back into the self, I notice another one: "A course book on Old Wílandish", which is written in Buonavallese, so I take it out of the shelf and carefully go through the pages.

This book is relatively easy to understand, the author used the Universal Phonetic Alphabet (UPA) correctly and consistently, without the "a sounds like the vowel in faðer" nonsense.
In fact, the book is so well written, I consider buying it.

I go to one of the terminals, log on and put the diskette I brought with me into the drive.
The terminal boots into an interface for searching books or articles, either in the library system or on-line.
I type the name of the book I looked at. The individual chapters are available for download — but only three per day, and for a small fee, except the table of contents, which can be downloaded any time, for free.

I fish my library/cafeteria card out of my cloak and stick it into a small opening below the terminal's monitor — the fee of 9.00 Denari2 for the three chapters is automatically subtracted from my account, and I get a receipt.
I have to drag the files into the base directory of my floppy. As soon as the light goes out on the drive, I take the floppy out (why won't other people also manufacture auto-eject drives for their computers?), and I do the same with my library card after I log out from the terminal.

I go downstairs, back to the room with the lockers, and get my things.
"Digitisation is a blessing" I think.
Many books are available for digital download for students — chapter for chapter, of course.
Getting the books chapter by chapter is expensive, so I only download the chapters that are important for me. Journal articles are free through the university network (or a private virtual network, which I set up myself last semester).

My library card slides through my hands as I grab my bag and lands inside the locker.
"I'll have to pump money into you again" I think. I still have about ten Denari on the card, enough for a meal in the cafeteria, but honestly, I've been there only a few times — too often I've spent the time between lectures in one of the university's library instead of eating.
Anyway, I want to go home.

I exit the building and go to the bus stop across the street. After about a minute, I enter the bus which goes to the train station.
The bus isn't particularly fast — in fact, it would take me as long to go by foot to the train station as going by bus, but at least it is a reliable method to go around. If I was going from the Taulkish seminar or the Language Centre to so, going by bus is the only she option, if you don't have a bike, scooter or a car.

I exit the bus at the train station, and I have to go all around the big building — the main entrance — which is being rebuilt since last year, when I began studying at Buonavalle. I look at my watch: The next train to Grezognja departs in five minutes, so I'm running.
I get it just in time, and there are not many free seats left. Finally, I can sit down somewhere near the end of the wagon.

A few stations later, a ticket inspector goes around. I quickly grab and open my purse with the ticket visible. The inspector nods and goes to the next seat.
The next station is where I exit: Grezognja (Rumagnja) — Train Station. Of course, I didn't forget my bag!

But my journey back home isn't over yet: I still have to go by bus. Thus, I'm walking to the bus stop.
I'm waiting for the bus, which arrives with two minutes of delay, every day.
After a few more minutes of sitting, I have to go by foot again, across the street, turning left, walking forward.

And then, I see two big houses, multi-family houses.
My family lives in one of those flats.

I enter one of those five-storey houses and go up one storey.
I get out my keys, insert one of them into the lock and turn it. The door opens and reveals a narrow floor with doors along the walls.

Am I alone? No, my dog Edelwulf, who's been reading, comes out of the door "Argenzu! How was university today?"
I close the door and take my shoes off.
"It was fine. How was your day, Edelwulf?" I go into my room, dragging the bipedal canine along.
"I've been reading. When will we go to that weird inn again? I saw some food I'd like to know how to make."
"I don't know", I reply. "I'd have to get permission from one of the professors in the Physics department. Maybe next week."

---

1 A day on Rodentèrra is 32 hours long.
2 The denaru is the primary currency unit in Buonavalle — it is also freely convertible with the currencies of the surrounding Romance-speaking countries; the coins and banknotes share the same form, size and colour, much like the Euro on Earth.
In the Multiverse Inn, the currency used by Argenzu is the "lira" — the Argemontese currency.

[Ànradh]

Ah, so the multiverse inn's somewhat canon then?

[elemtilas]

Ah, so the multiverse inn's somewhat canon then?

I think in more universe than Rodenterra's! The M.I. -- or rather the store-front that contains the M.I. -- exists in The World as well. Once in Auntimoany, just take a turn down Ropetwisters Mew and you'll find a place called Poupina Macoui Tourannias (I guess something like McTurney's Pub, in English). Pop on in -- never know who you'll meet! Or what strange world they might be from!

And Egerius (or should that be Egerie??), don't forget to let us know how how Argenzu's two travelling companions are faring!

[Ànradh]

I think in more universe than Rodenterra's! The M.I. -- or rather the store-front that contains the M.I. -- exists in The World as well. Once in Auntimoany, just take a turn down Ropetwisters Mew and you'll find a place called Poupina Macoui Tourannias (I guess something like McTurney's Pub, in English). Pop on in -- never know who you'll meet! Or what strange world they might be from!

Or how many retcons changes have occurred to the visitors since your last visit. :P (This being the reason I stopped posting in it.)

[gestaltist]

Ah, so the multiverse inn's somewhat canon then?

I think in more universe than Rodenterra's! The M.I. -- or rather the store-front that contains the M.I. -- exists in The World as well. Once in Auntimoany, just take a turn down Ropetwisters Mew and you'll find a place called Poupina Macoui Tourannias (I guess something like McTurney's Pub, in English). Pop on in -- never know who you'll meet! Or what strange world they might be from!

And Egerius (or should that be Egerie??), don't forget to let us know how how Argenzu's two travelling companions are faring!

This is incredibly satisfying. Thank you on behalf of the Innkeep. :)

[zyma]

"Sure I did. And I could read what was written on the manuscript images during the lecture — the lecturer couldn't!"

I'm not really sure how to ask this, but is there any particular reason why the main character is so captivated by Wílandish? They (he?) are (is?) a student, but they know more than the teacher, and they seem to speak the language to some of the people they interact with (a homeless person and a member of the library's staff, for example), whether those people understand it or not.

I go to one of the terminals, log on and put the diskette I brought with me into the drive.
The terminal boots into an interface for searching books or articles, either in the library system or on-line.
I type the name of the book I looked at. The individual chapters are available for download — but only three per day, and for a small fee, except the table of contents, which can be downloaded any time, for free.

Many books are available for digital download for students — chapter for chapter, of course.
Getting the books chapter by chapter is expensive, so I only download the chapters that are important for me. Journal articles are free through the university network (or a private virtual network, which I set up myself last semester).

So library books aren't free? Interesting. The limit on how many chapters you can download per day is especially surprising.

My family lives in one of those flats.

How many others does the narrator live with?

Am I alone? No, my dog Edelwulf, who's been reading, comes out of the door "Argenzu! How was university today?"
I close the door and take my shoes off.
"It was fine. How was your day, Edelwulf?" I go into my room, dragging the bipedal canine along.

Slavery is forbidden since a couple centuries here.

Slavery is forbidden, but having whatever kind of relationship this is with sentient, bipedal beings that have the ability to read and speak is not?

2 The denaru is the primary currency unit in Buonavalle — it is also freely convertible with the currencies of the surrounding Romance-speaking countries; the coins and banknotes share the same form, size and colour, much like the Euro on Earth.
In the Multiverse Inn, the currency used by Argenzu is the "lira" — the Argemontese currency.

So, do I understand correctly that the surrounding countries don't use the same currency, like many countries in Europe do, but their currencies are just very similar, like the currencies of the US and Canada?

[elemtilas]

The denaru is the primary currency unit in Buonavalle — it is also freely convertible with the currencies of the surrounding Romance-speaking countries; the coins and banknotes share the same form, size and colour, much like the Euro on Earth.
In the Multiverse Inn, the currency used by Argenzu is the "lira" — the Argemontese currency.

So, do I understand correctly that the surrounding countries don't use the same currency, like many countries in Europe do, but their currencies are just very similar, like the currencies of the US and Canada?

Ah, the Latin Monetary Union lives!

[Egerius]

The denaru is the primary currency unit in Buonavalle — it is also freely convertible with the currencies of the surrounding Romance-speaking countries; the coins and banknotes share the same form, size and colour, much like the Euro on Earth.
In the Multiverse Inn, the currency used by Argenzu is the "lira" — the Argemontese currency.

So, do I understand correctly that the surrounding countries don't use the same currency, like many countries in Europe do, but their currencies are just very similar, like the currencies of the US and Canada?

Ah, the Latin Monetary Union lives!

What elemtilas said.
... And I didn't know the LMU even existed.

[elemtilas]

The denaru is the primary currency unit in Buonavalle — it is also freely convertible with the currencies of the surrounding Romance-speaking countries; the coins and banknotes share the same form, size and colour, much like the Euro on Earth.
In the Multiverse Inn, the currency used by Argenzu is the "lira" — the Argemontese currency.

So, do I understand correctly that the surrounding countries don't use the same currency, like many countries in Europe do, but their currencies are just very similar, like the currencies of the US and Canada?

Ah, the Latin Monetary Union lives!

What elemtilas said.
... And I didn't know the LMU even existed.

Everything old is new again!

What you describe for Buonavalle and its neighbours, a system of "freely convertible" currencies rather than a single currency as used in multiple issuing countries, does seem closer in scope to the old LMU than to the modern eurozone. The former seems really to have been about facilitation of international trade -- most of the countries that followed the standard seem not to have been signatories to the original treaty; while the latter seems really to be an attempt at creating a unitary state in Europe, a united Europe. Napoleon finally got his wish! And without a single shot being fired.

[Egerius]

I will answer the questions and what happened to the passengers in the TARDIS later (the last one probably in December). Despite all the university work I have to do now, I don't want you to be left without any progress on Rodentèrra.

For now, I'll have an excerpt of the book 'The Development of Wílandish — Volume II: Old and Middle Wílandish', a few lines from a Wílandish chronicle from the 23rd century AUC (about 1200 AD), which are reflecting on what happened in the years after the Saselvan conquest of Wínland (in the book, a facsimile, a transcription and a translation into modern Wílandish are printed — for practical reasons, here's the Modern English translation, which might seem similar to that [on page 69]).

"Thus came our Wineland into Saselvanish hand — and the North-Men spoke as they did at home, but their scribes came from other lands at the foot of a mountain, which they called themselves 'Argemonte'.
And these scribes did spell often as if they knew king Leofric's brethren: When they wrote in their own tongue, they arranged the letters similar to how the Wínlandish scribes have done before — and when they saw the old sermons, they knew they were not wrong with what they bought to the page for the laymen and parish priests who knew the craft of reading.

The men from the cold north, however, they often could not do the latter. As rude as they were in the craft of letters, so did they reign and fight the better: Whoever wanted to get back the throne to the island-born, he would be slaughtered and much more. The laws were at the hand of both, the wood-men and the mountain-dwellers; the first had fists of iron and their eyes on the land, the second had as much mercy as their home was full of silver and minds learned, full of other peoples' tongues."

[Egerius]

I think it's time to answer some questions.

I'm not really sure how to ask this, but is there any particular reason why the main character is so captivated by Wílandish? They (he?) are (is?) a student, but they know more than the teacher, and they seem to speak the language to some of the people they interact with (a homeless person and a member of the library's staff, for example), whether those people understand it or not.

Argenzu knows a lot about the history of Wílandish, but certainly not as much as the teacher. He (read: I) is very interested in the language history and historical linguistics and he uses that knowledge, whether for or against people (this includes telling beggars to look for a job in any phase of Wílandish).
Also, some of the Wílandish department library (or the department in general) is from Wínland, or their former colonies — thus, it is more than appropriate to greet, and even communicate, with staff in that language. Talking with fellow students, he switches back and forth between Buonavallese and Wílandish.

So library books aren't free? Interesting. The limit on how many chapters you can download per day is especially surprising.

Well, that's a form of copy-protection. The universities are digitizing the books in their libraries to avoid loss of the physical copies (my own university experienced a flood some time ago, that's why I'm implementing a high degree of digitization on Rodentèrra). The copies can be printed and saved on multiple media, but through a digital process they can't be uploaded on the internet.

How many others does the narrator live with?

In addition to Argenzu's dog, there's another dog, Argenzu's brother Jacobu, and their parents.

Slavery is forbidden, but having whatever kind of relationship this is with sentient, bipedal beings that have the ability to read and speak is not?

I don't know what you're thinking, but the relationship between Argenzu and Edelwulf is somewhat like that of a father and a son, probably more akin to brothers or very close friends.
However, I don't want to hide that, in some places, much, much dirtier things are going on.

I will continue with the fate of the unearthly passengers from the Inn later, probably next week.

[Egerius]

I have neglected this poor thread for too long.
Nevertherless, to liberate is the cause and the duty of the Rodentèrran people, so it's going to be that. Or rather, a diary entry chronicling this inter-dimensional event.

If someone is missing here, please tell.

Argenzu sits down in front of his old, wooden desk and takes a book out of a drawer.
The book, looking like a twenty-fourth-century (Earth: 15C AD) codex, still has many empty pages, but most of these have been filled with the more or less regularly chronicled life of this fellow rodent. And now, there's this day to be fixed: Alien Liberation Day. It's those Argenzu brought with him inside the faulty inter-dimensional phone booth.

Thumbing through the pages, Argenzu takes one of his pens. Then he begins writing on the next empty page. He writes in Wínlandish.

24 – III – AUC 3016 | My dear diary | Page 132
————————————————————————

A week ago was ALIEN LIBERATION DAY; we liberated two[?] persons from different worlds.
First, there is CANASH — a ‘Daine’ from the City of Automann A u n t i m o a n y, West-Marche of a planet (s)he only calls ‘The World’ – we aren't much different in that: Tèrra... I think Rodentèrra is a better name.
So Canash looks much like a human, except that (s)he has wings – that reminds me of these ‘angeli’, a human representation of heavenly messengers (we aren't better, hehe).
The notable about that: Canash has been forced into gender reassignment and does not see colour – like these old TVs or the first-generation Maçón computers!

Then, there is Kolla Tash, a human – and a former slave, I think. She had a tattoo that marked her as a criminal – it's gone now. And boy, that was a hassle to erase it with lasers!

Well, we arrived at the Ladroman parliament, where we were awaited by security people, ministers and scientists. We were driven to the medical research center outside Buonavalle, since Tash had her hands broken and we had to check whether the two visitors were healthy.
The manual detections wee the easiest part – taking blood samples or taking x-ray photographs were a lot harder to justify, let alone MRTs!
Tash at least could be persuaded to get her hands fixed, but Canash only screamed and fainted when we told her what it all was for – not even color vision could persuade her (Dr. Faustus took blood samples of her, anyway...).

After about two weeks, where expert linguists did their best to write the documents attesting the two unearthly refugees' freedom from slavery, a simple ceremony was enacted to give Canash from the West-Marche and Kolla Tash their certificates (in Latin, Gothic and their mother tongues), the gold, silver and copper for their former masters and their robes.
I forgot what colour these robes were, but they were colored to be associated with the free bourgeois of the respective cultures – and they were made out of polyester.
Of course, liberating slaves is no longer a daily business, so we (the lawyers and politicians; my dog and I as witnesses) had to re-enact a liberation from late antiquity.

So much data was generated that the university of Buonavalle could open a new field of research: Extraterrestrial Studies. A great step towards understanding humans and other species!
I gave Canash a small book – mostly empty, but at the end is a colour table for her to use, a table of our phonetic alphabet and different alphabets used in Rodentèrra.

After that ceremony, I brought them back to the Multiverse Inn, where they departed to their homes. I did not go into the inn, but quickly returned to university.
For my commitment, I have got my very own TARDIS – beige, modern interior. Allons-y!

[gestaltist]

Very cute. :)

I like how the Inn has grown beyond this forum.

[elemtilas]

A week ago was ALIEN LIBERATION DAY; we liberated two[?] persons from different worlds.
First, there is CANASH — a ‘Daine’ from the City of Automann A u n t i m o a n y, West-Marche of a planet (s)he only calls ‘The World’ – we aren't much different in that: Tèrra... I think Rodentèrra is a better name.

Very interesting indeed, this "alien liberation" ideology. While Canash will remain forever confused about what, exactly, she was liberated from, she would most likely go along with the curious rituals with grace, and for the sake of her very kind host and his hospitable folk. She would at least note some similarities between this particular ritual and some of the legal proceedings she's seen in Auntimoany. Slavery, while uncommon there, does exist and there are, naturally, legal norms in place for manumitting a person from that condition.

So Canash looks much like a human, except that (s)he has wings – that reminds me of these ‘angeli’, a human representation of heavenly messengers (we aren't better, hehe).

The analogy is certainly not lost on Canash! She's seen enough icons of angels, from seven or eight different religions of Men, to know that there can't possibly be a coincidence! A well versed sawyer might be able to tell her who exactly the prototypical "angelus" actually was...

The notable about that: Canash has been forced into gender reassignment and does not see colour – like these old TVs or the first-generation Maçón computers!

What a curious turn of phrase, that... As if I were a tavern wench and one night the matron "reassigned" me from common room duty to wet sink duty!

Then, there is Kolla Tash, a human – and a former slave, I think. She had a tattoo that marked her as a criminal – it's gone now. And boy, that was a hassle to erase it with lasers!

This was, in some ways, the coolest part for Canash. Such pretty colors -- colors at least as she imagines they must look to those who can normally see them! These "lazeres" remind her of that horrible instrument they have at the Elektrodrome.

Well, we arrived at the Ladroman parliament, where we were awaited by security people, ministers and scientists. We were driven to the medical research center outside Buonavalle, since Tash had her hands broken and we had to check whether the two visitors were healthy.
The manual detections wee the easiest part – taking blood samples or taking x-ray photographs were a lot harder to justify, let alone MRTs!
Tash at least could be persuaded to get her hands fixed, but Canash only screamed and fainted when we told her what it all was for – not even color vision could persuade her (Dr. Faustus took blood samples of her, anyway...).

Yeah, sorry about that! I don't think I mentioned directly, but you captured her reaction to the whole "medical research center" thing very well indeed! Canash has never been so unfortunate to be subject to such "research" at home, nor has she ever "taken employment" in the medical college. For such are the euphemisms the body snatchers use when they wish to set aside any critical inquiry into questions along the line of, for example, "why is Uncle Wandelf's hardly used tomb broken into and, to the astonishment of the whole family, Uncle Wandelf himself seems to no longer be in residence?" But young would-be doctors need to learn their anatomy, and there's only one thing better than sending the lads around to cemeteries of a moonless night to pay respects to the recent dead and inviting them to take a position at the university -- as dissection corpse. And that one better thing is to send the lads out and find some wanchancy person wandering the streets alone, for preference a Daine (who, by law, are only just barely considered "persons"), cosh her and drag her off to the vivisection theatre. Short term employment, you see. But she has certainly heard many stories of those who have been so "employed". And some have even survived to tell the tales themselves!

So I hope the good folks of the BMRC will excuse her excitability and resistance to participate! (And anyway, what ever happened to informed consent!)

After about two weeks, where expert linguists did their best to write the documents attesting the two unearthly refugees' freedom from slavery, a simple ceremony was enacted to give Canash from the West-Marche and Kolla Tash their certificates (in Latin, Gothic and their mother tongues), the gold, silver and copper for their former masters and their robes.

Well, naturally, gifts of shiny and lustrous silver and copper and even gold (for preference in the form of rings for neck and wrists and knees and ankles), beautifully and cunningly worked are always appreciated by any Daine! And although she can't read the letters on her spiffy certificate, she does wonder at how similar are the words in this "Gothic" tongue to her own native language. Fralétan -- she got that one straight off! Qeins, yep, that's a girl! Vestmarka, yep, that's Westmarche!

I forgot what colour these robes were,

Grey!

but they were colored to be associated with the free bourgeois of the respective cultures – and they were made out of polyester.

One can only hope these "robes" are actual raccas and not leisure suits!



Canash would nòt be amused!

Of course, liberating slaves is no longer a daily business, so we (the lawyers and politicians; my dog and I as witnesses) had to re-enact a liberation from late antiquity.

I would actually be interested to hear about what they came up with!

So much data was generated that the university of Buonavalle could open a new field of research: Extraterrestrial Studies. A great step towards understanding humans and other species!
I gave Canash a small book – mostly empty, but at the end is a colour table for her to use, a table of our phonetic alphabet and different alphabets used in Rodentèrra.

What was in the book apart from the colour table? And how might she use said table?

Her world kind of looks like this:

After that ceremony, I brought them back to the Multiverse Inn, where they departed to their homes. I did not go into the inn, but quickly returned to university.
For my commitment, I have got my very own TARDIS – beige, modern interior. Allons-y!

Keep us updated on Argenzu's adventures!