Month: September 2018
Some shamans use magnetized flints or crystals (the composition of which is different from Earthly flint) to read the direction and intensity of an impending storm—or to determine whether a storm is coming at all.
Once, a Muvari named Troi Deen was with a reconnaissance party in the rocky wastes to the north of Ledgrim and was caught in an ambush. All her party was slain, but she escaped by leaping three separate precipices as the Galbran chased her. Many of the Galbrans attempted the same leaps but fell to their doom. These chasms are now called the ‘Three Precipices’ and the story of Troi Deen is told often to commemorate her fantastic escape. Also used as a term to mean jump to conclusions.
The Martian rat is called a skelk and has teeth which continue to fall out and new ones grow in their place. The teeth they shed are referred to as spottle and are considered worthless detritus. So if someone speaks ‘spottle and smoke’ they are speaking worthless words that fade quickly like smoke and have no truth or value.
Skutter is the noise a flying object makes but, in Martian language, it has also come to be recognized as the sound of a flying quarrel that has missed its target, for warriors are very aware of this noise when a shaft flies past their heads. So a ‘skutter-shot’ has come to mean a missed shot or to refer to the idea of someone losing their path or their objective. This word is also sometimes used as a noun, referring to someone who has no clear aim or direction.
