Return-path: Received: from DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU by DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU (PMDF V5.0-5 #7763) id <01HYPSN089J4HXJ7VG@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU> for sw-rpg@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU; Tue, 12 Dec 1995 10:11:15 -0400 (EDT) Received: from storm.stud.unit.no by DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU (PMDF V5.0-5 #7763) id <01HYPSMJEROYHXJ3WJ@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU> for jae+sw-rpg@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU; Tue, 12 Dec 1995 10:10:48 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from leirbakk@localhost) by storm.stud.unit.no (8.6.12/8.6.12) id PAA12133; Tue, 12 Dec 1995 15:10:30 +0000 (GMT) Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 16:10:30 +0100 (MET) From: Jens-Arthur Leirbakk Subject: A New Race, and a Player Character (long) To: Gunder Bruun Eriksen , Star Wars Mailing List Errors-to: jae+sw-rpg-errors@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU Reply-to: jae+sw-rpg@DRYCAS.CLUB.CC.CMU.EDU Message-id: MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT I haven't generated stats for any of the creatures encountered in the fluff introduction of the player character, and haven't generated the complete information on the system of Kass'Jadar - I hope to rectify this in the immediate future, and then and only then upload it to the pool. =============================================== = Jens-Arthur Leirbakk = = e-mail: leirbakk@stud.unit.no = = http://www.pvv.unit.no/~leirbakk/index.html = = Smash forehead on keyboard to continue = =============================================== Nolisha Attribute Dice: 12D Attribute Minimum/Maximum Dexterity 2D/5D Knowledge 1D/3D Mechanical 1D/2D Perception 2D/5D Strength 2D/5D Technical 1D/3D Move 10/14 Size 1.1m-1.7m Special Abilities: Survivalists: Any Nolisha gets +1D in Survival at creation only. Hardiness: Any Nolisha succeeding in a Difficult Strength: Stamina check, does not need a Breath Mask in a given Type II atmosphere, and any Nolisha succeeding in a Very Difficult Strength: Stamina check, does not need a Breath Mask in a given Type III atmosphere if the GM so allows. Tough: Any healing time for a Nolisha is half that of standard time. In addition to this, a Nolisha will treat a Mortally Wounded result as an Incapacitated result. Vision: Nolisha have a natural eye-covering of a transparent, keratin-like substance. They suffer no adverse effects from sandstorms or similar conditions, nor does their vision blur underwater. Story Factors: Code of Honor: Many of the Nolisha have a code of honor which they follow rigidly in all situations, and which they would be hard-pressed to break. Interest in Unarmed Combat: A Nolisha will typically be interested in any form of unarmed combat encountered, as they are rather dependent of their fighting arts for their survival. Omnivorous: Nolisha have had to adjust to their desert world, and in a desert one eats anything crossing one's path. As such, they constantly evaluate things in terms of their edibility. Technologically primitive: May not have any dice in any technological skill, i.e. Blaster, any Repair skill except Melee, and so on. THE NOLISHA The Nolisha come from the Unknown Regions, hailing from a small desert planet circling a red giant star. As their desert world is a harsh and unforgiving world, they had to become tough or die. They became tough. The Nolisha are the only sentient species on this planet. They are relatively widespread on their planet which they call Kass'Jadar, meaning Place of Life. Kass'Jadar is the fourth planet orbiting the primary of the system, catalogued as ICN-8854-B3, having no name in astrogation computers aside this. The system has never been charted by any scout service, and has instead been catalogued through an unmanned probe and spectral analysis from the nearest other system. It may be surmised that independents have analyzed the system more thoroughly, but this information is not available to the public. Kass'Jadar is similar to any number of desert worlds - sand, sand and more sand. What is interesting is that this sand comes in many differently coloured varieties which are concentrated - due to weather systems and some other environmental systems not fully understood - in wide bands over the planet, making it look like some exotic marble from space. The most irregular feature of Kass'Jadar is the giant inland sea, called the Kass'Nedeir, meaning Place of Death. This is the only open source of water on the planet, giving it a rather unique flora and fauna. However, due to high concentrations of heavy metals and toxic compounds in the sea, all of which including the water itself is poisonous in any amount to the otherwise desert flora and fauna. Due to the rather irregular shape of this inland sea or rather, the extremely regular shape of the inland sea, it could be speculated that the sea is artificial in origin. The inland sea is shaped like a giant bowl, being shallow at the edges but becoming rapidly deeper towards the center, in the center giving way to a perfectly circular abyss of immeasurable depth. Sometimes warm geysers spout out of this abyss, giving rise to the interesting atmospherical phenomenon the Nolisha call the Itar'Nedeir, or Beautiful Death - a circular rainbow circling the entire Kass'Nedeir. The Nolisha are the only sentient species of the world of Kass'Jadar, Nolisha meaning "the people" in their language. Physically, a Nolisha is not much imposing, being small and compact humanoids. The Nolisha are usually the colour of the sand of the region they hail from, giving rise to many different tribes of Nolisha. Spotted or striped varieties also exist, often through tribes intermarriaging. Nolisha are hairless, and have leathery skin. Their ears are internalized, protected by skin folds on the sides of their necks. Their faces are noseless and with bulging eyes, emphasizing their alienness. On their heads they have two semi-rigid flaps of skin beginning at their brows and continuing down their necks, functioning as natural heat sinks. They are four-fingered and four-toed, with a fully opposable thumb. Vestigial webbing are present on the hands and feet of some Nolisha which may suggest a formerly aquatic environment despite their current desert environment. Their usual clothing is simple robes of plant-fiber, similar to those worn by Jawa, though hoods are not as common. Often, these robes are dyed in bright colours, sometimes signifying adherence to a particular sect. On their feet they wear simple sandals, if anything. The Nolisha are technologically primitive, despite their cultural and physical perfection, sustaining a stone-age technology level. They tend to congregate in small clans of 10 to 50 individuals, led by their eldest to a certain degree. However, clan structure and boundaries aren't particularly rigid, making it common for clans to exchange individuals or spontaneously spawn new clans of old ones. Nolisha culture is mainly centered arounds certain schools of thinking, or philosophies, which groups of Nolisha claim adherence to. These sects have some differences in their teachings, but one of the common elements in all these philosophies is the non-interference they have with other sentient beings. This common element can be summarized like this: If you do not bother a Nolisha, the Nolisha will not bother you. However, if you do bother a Nolisha, odds are the Nolisha will rip your heart out, no matter how big and nasty you are. It is interesting to note that a Nolisha, once explained what the Empire is, would probably instantly enter a rage, and then when calmed down claim adherence to the Rebellion sect immediately, as they would see the Empire's rather heavy-handed politics as the supreme intervention against a being's independence. Another aspect which is interesting despite the Nolisha technologically primitive society, or perhaps because of it, is the Nolisha interest in unarmed combat. Often, the only thing that is between a Nolisha and death is his own body, and thus various ways of utilizing this body in the most effective way in a combat situation. Because their environment is rather poor in materials that can be made into durable weapons easily, a Nolisha often spurn weapons in favor of his own fists, even though clans which teach stick fighting, spear fighting or thrown weapon techniques do exist. Stories are told about legendary Nolisha fighting masters that transcended fighting so that they fought by not fighting, but these masters are long gone. GM suggestions: * The legendary Nolisha masters could have been adepts of the Force, utilizing abilities similar to that of for instance Jedi Battle Meditation in their daily struggle for life. * The Nolisha could have been introduced artificialy to Kass'Jadar, as the giant inland sea could be the crash-site of a ship. * The Nolisha could formerly have had a high level of technology, and then through some self-made or other catastrophe transformed their homeworld from an aquatic world to a desert world. This could somehow explain the Kass'Nedeir. * The Empire or one of their scout services could discover precious metals on Kass'Jadar or some of the other planets in the system, or perhaps high technology on one of the other planets' moons. Variations on this theme hold the promise of entire campaigns. The Rebellion (or New Republic, for that matter) could get word of the Nolisha, and seek to turn them to their side. * The Empire (or Empire-fragments) could seek new gullible races after their loss of the Noghri race, and could feed the Nolisha false information or could simply develop mind control or brain washing techniques to utilize the Nolisha martial arts. * A legendary Nolisha master could return from a hibernation and spout prophecies. Perhaps some Dark Jedi senses the return of a Force adept, and comes to investigate, either personally or through cronies. * Someone claiming to be a legendary Nolisha master could return and seek slave labour for domestic mining operations, or could even sell clans to slavers, claiming to have "led the clan to a higher level of self." The player character I have generated using the Nolisha template: Lerebuce ======== Dexterity 5D Knowledge 2D Survival 4D Willpower 4D Mechanical 1D Perception 4D Strength 5D Brawling 7D (A) Martial Arts 1D Stamina 6D Technical 1D First Aid 2D (character points) Move 10 Size 1.32m This Character is Force-sensitive Force Points: 2 Dark Side Points: 0 Character Points: 2 Equipment: One battered blaster carbine (4D+2), a robe, a 1.5m steel stick, sandals, a belt, beltpouch, glowrod, 1 litre waterskin, 19 credits Special Abilities: Survivalists: Any Nolisha gets +1D in Survival at creation only (added). Hardiness: Any Nolisha succeeding in a Difficult Strength: Stamina check, does not need a Breath Mask in a given Type II atmosphere, and any Nolisha succeeding in a Very Difficult Strength: Stamina check, does not need a Breath Mask in a given Type III atmosphere if the GM so allows. Tough: Any healing time for a Nolisha is half that of standard time. In addition to this, a Nolisha will treat a Mortally Wounded result as an Incapacitated result. Vision: Nolisha have a natural eye-covering of a transparent, keratin-like substance. They suffer no adverse effects from sandstorms or similar conditions, nor does their vision blur underwater. Story Factors: Code of Honor: Many of the Nolisha have a code of honor which they follow rigidly in all situations, and which they would be hard-pressed to break. Interest in Unarmed Combat: A Nolisha will typically be interested in any form of unarmed combat encountered, as they are rather dependent of their fighting arts for their survival. Omnivorous: Nolisha have had to adjust to their desert world, and in a desert one eats anything crossing one's path. As such, they constantly evaluate things in terms of their edibility. Technologically primitive: May not have any dice in any technological skill, i.e. Blaster, any Repair skill except Melee, and so on. Physical Appearance: Lerebuce is a Nolisha of the rustbrown variety, no spotting. His eyes are a startingly green, something which is uncommon for even the Nolisha. He is clad in a simple, light tan robe with a black leather belt, and carries a battered old blaster carbine on his back together with an old waterskin. In his hand he carries a steel rod longer than he is, and has a little belt pouch which he carries his other material goods in - his few credits and his glowrod. Background: The sand swirled in strange shapes before him, yet the whirling sand didn't bother him. Much. With a little impatient shake, he shook the worst of it from under his robe. He felt an itch - an urge to scratch himself where some of the sand had rubbed against his skin - but resisted it. He was, after all, the top student of his clan's martial arts and had, after all, been summoned to the master after hours. A summoning from the council of elders he could have been inclined to ignore - they rarely offered any information he could use anyways - but not a summoning from the master. The master was a constant source of new insights into bettering his martial arts, and even recently incorporating the staff in his ever broadening array of techniques. He wasn't that good with it yet, but was learning to use its longer reach to perform techniques impossible with his feet or hands. Casually, he tok a better grip on his hardwood staff and whapped the kruss that had stalked up behind him over the sensible nose of the large scavenger. The scavenger whimpered and scampered away in haste, as he had known it would. Cowards, the lot of them, he reflected, before shifting his weight to his other foot. Always looking for a free meal. And didn't even have the sense to stalk him downwind. They weren't even good eating. The master appeared shortly after the winds had died down. The student hastily gulped down the bite of the tasty sand-lizard he had catched before offering the remaining of the lizard to the master. The yellow Nolisha accepted and sat down, apparently satisfied with the morsel. While waiting for the master to finish his meal, the student idly scratched lines in the yellow sand, painting the universal picture of boredom. The master watched amused between bites on the student. So young, he thought. Yet so promising. Soon I have no more to teach him. He has even started to develop own techniques with that staff of his. Surely a passing whim, the staff, yet he is even now training precision with the staff. The master ate the last of the legs of the sand-lizard, and spat out the blue bone before announcing his pleasure with a hearty belch. After regarding the contrast between the blue, polished lizard bone and the yellow, gritty sand for a moment, he directed his attention to the student sitting before him. The twin red orbs glittered mischievously under the light of the Glittering Belt above them both, which bathed the desert in cold, faint white light, transforming the desert to a strange half-shadow land. The master considered this transformation of the familiar desert, then returned to the spry rustbrown youth sitting before him, watching the bunching and unbunching of those powerful arms whilst the youth idly dragged the crudely fashioned staff back and forth "Is my companionship this boring, that you merely sit there wishing you were in the sleeping cots, sleeping together with the clan?" The youth started, obviously lost in his own thoughts, and focused on the master. "Not at all, master. I-i-i was merely thinking, considering, pondering..." "You were bored." The youth looked downcast. "Not exactly bored. More just existing." The cooling fins on the head of the youngster deepened somewhat in colour. He was blushing. The master smiled, somewhat amused. "So you need something to keep you occupied." That was not a question. The youth frowned, seeking to divine the ulterior motives the wily old master so obviously had. "Yes, master. Do you have something particular in mind, master?" The master smiled again, though this time only inside himself. Perceptive as always, the little sand-devil was, he thought. "Before your training is complete..." the master anticipated the protestations his young student would make, and held up a biding hand "...as I said, before your training is complete, I would like you to make a little walkabout in the desert." Joyed that the master thought his technique so good as to soon make him an instructor at the least, the youth focused on what the master said. "For some days now I have heard strange sounds from the black sands, and sometimes strange lights have streaked through the skies. This is what I wish you to investigate. This is what I deem as a fitting rite of passage for you." The student rose, and bowed to the master. "This is a task I will be happy to perform for you. This is what I accept as a fitting rite of passage for me." With no further ado, he looked towards the belt of black desert perhaps visible as a darker band in the night, perhaps not. A strange feeling filled him. Not so much of fear or consternation, as a feeling of ... longing, perhaps homesickness, for some unfathomable reason. The master watched the youth walk lightly across the desert, resting his arms on his staff which he had slung across his back. Before long, the youth accelerated into a loping stride he could sustain for quite some time. The master sighed, and felt through some strange connection the same longing, the same homesickness. The stonebeetle walking through the sand was so startled it didn't even scritch when the master snatched it and cracked its sturdy carapace with a swift chop of his hardened hands. Good luck, little one, little student, he wished silently while he sucked out the tasty innards of the beetle. For some reason I don't think this old master will see you again. I have a feeling about this. The master walked over to his relatively solitary sleeping cot, only sharing it with three other masters, and snuggled up to the others, seeking the warmth of many to keep out the cold of the desert. In a strange flash of insight the master felt that the youth could become a great master, yet that his future was hanging in the balance. And that that future was not necessarily on Kass'Jadar. The master wondered at that idea. Not on Kass'Jadar? What a strange idea. Meanwhile, the student was loping through the yellow sand, towards that invisible band of black sand which the master had directed him towards. He wondered at what he would perhaps find there. Some other plant to fashion a better staff than the one across his shoulders, perhaps? Strange lights and sounds in the desert would perhaps be some strange dream-creature he could talk to, or perhaps be forced to slay. Or perhaps something else, something he could not comprehend. But what could that be, of such prominence he couldn't even comprehend it? Dreamily, he ran on, pacing himself so that he kept warm on this cold desert night. He could always sleep during the hot period of the morrow. Soon, bloodred sunrise slashed the horizon, like the markings of a zhar, and the youth stirred out of the trance he had worked himself in. With some surprise he discovered he was running through night-black, sparkly sand. He had arrived at the black sands. After foraging for some food and kicking a kruss that mistook him for a carcass where he lay half sleeping in the shadow of a dune, he felt much refreshed, and decided that he would press on a little more before he would try to find the strange occurence that the master had spoken of. It was some time later that day he discovered that he was being followed. He was certain that he was being followed. Exactly by who or what was difficult to say, but he had sensed it for some time now - a warm feeling in his head-ridges, an itchy feel in his neck. He stopped, and allowed some time for the follower to come forward and present himself. He waited for some time more after that. Yet noone came forward, as the Nolisha code stipulated. He was puzzled, but not really afraid. In all his days of living in the desert he hadn't really met anything that he couldn't handle. Once, he'd even seen the Kass'Nedeir and killed a thing that had flown in the water there. Of course he didn't eat it, but it was a pretty, shiny thing. When he had thrown it inside the water again and shook his hands thoroughly, he had observed many small, shiny things that had darted forward and eaten the shiny thing he had thrown it in again. While musing over this little fact of life, he casually shifted his grip on his staff, and stole a glance behind him. The thing hadn't shifted from where he last had seen it. Casually, he flipped his stick end over end above his head and idly waited for it to land. And had his hunch confirmed with a rather undignified, startled cry. "Ouch! Oops..." With a little smile on his face, he turned around and watched the place where the sand squirmed a little more than usual - around the place where his staff had landed. "Would you please come forward - and bring my staff with you, if you would be so kind?" he requested, sitting down patiently to wait. Noone answered. Sifting through the sand, he found a stone somewhat larger than the sand and gravel usual, and marveled at the rough beauty of it. And tossed it at the same spot where he had thrown his staff. Repeating the process an even dozen of times, he was rewarded by some low grumbling, and shifting of the sand. A black Nolisha with small, white spots rose up from the sand, picked up his staff, and came forward while mumbling obscenities under her voice. Because it was a female Nolisha, rather young but lovely all the same. Some steps away from him she disgruntedly threw him his staff, and he lazedly performed a somersault while catching it. And overheard a comment of someone being a showoff, and a self-satisfied showoff on top of it all. The girl stood defiantly before him, hands on top of her shapely hips, and demanded why he had thrown his staff at her. To which there was really only one response - "You were there." "So? What right does that give you to throw sticks at me?" "You were following me." "I did not! I was out hunting, and was merely sleeping while you walked past me, trampling the sand like a bloated kruss." The young student blushed a little then - it was true that he hadn't particularly mastered the art of silent walking, and he was generally so confident in himself that he didn't bother hiding. "Yes, that is true. I am not very good at the art of silent walking, yet I must confess that I sensed you following me for quite some time." The girl cocked her head to one side, and mimicked his voice. Quite a good imitation, actually. "'I sensed you following me' ... so you say you are one of the old Masters, then?" The student blushed again, but couldn't respond any but the truth. "No, I am not one of the Masters of old. However, I didn't really see you as much as know you were there - I must have caught a glimpse of you or something." She didn't seem convinced by this, but relented a little. "So why are you walking through our turf, then?" The young student puzzled at the question. "What is a turf?" She laughed out loud, and the young student blushed at being laughed at by someone younger than he. "So little you know. You're probably from the mostly Yellow clan right up here in the yellow sands, then?" "Yes, I am." "Oh, well, that explains it. I can as well join you - you're going in the direction of the main of my clan, and you scared away any of my hunting anyways." Hunting he could understand, but what connection did that concept have with that strange word ... 'turf'? He walked along parallel to the edge of the black sands, speaking with this defiant girl he had discovered tracking him. And he found that she had much to tell, and that most of her bluster was exactly that - bluster. She confessed that she hadn't excelled much at the combat, and had been forced to compensate by being good at stealth. This last she said challengingly, but when she discovered he was impressed by her forthrightness and honesty, she mellowed a little. The young student, at any rate, told that he was looking for the source of the strange sounds and lights that had been here the last few days. The girl said she knew where that was, and asked if the student wanted to go there. He would so very much. Subtly she walked a little in front of him, altering the course a little, and reveled in her leading someone so obviously schooled in taking care of himself. The young student was happy he had found someone to talk to. He had really missed that a little since that strange feeling had crept over him. That sabbatical - the hottest part of the day - when they rested together, both the student and the girl slept soundly. Not even a kruss bothered the two, as they lay there half buried in the sand, in the shadow of a dune, sleeping fitfully intertwined. The young student woke first, for some reason he couldn't fathom. He really enjoyed the feel of her supple body against his strong one, and was fast slipping towards slumber again when he felt it again. A faint tremor went through the sand, disturbing the sand around them. As he lay there wondering what that tremor might be, he noticed some sand grains hitting the top of his head. He glanced up, and furrowed his brow, alarmed. The dune was falling in over them! Thinking swiftly, half buried in the sand as he was, he pulled the girl closer, cradling her in the pit of his arm. She woke up, and started to protest when he stifled all her protests with a powerful kiss. He couldn't let her fill her lungs with all that sand that was coming down on them. Besides, he really enjoyed doing it this way. She was a little surprised and tried to pull back, then decided she enjoyed it. And then the world went black as the dune crested lazily down over them. It was twilight when he had dug himself and the girl out. It wasn't so much that it had taken much time to dig them out - it was more that they had slept longer than they had expected when they had gone to sleep that same day. When he was finished digging, he stretched to get all the kinks out of his body. His robe had been left down in the sand, and the girl was a little embarassed as he stretched and groaned with pleasure as he felt his muscles and spine pop into place. Swiftly, he dug into the sand again, but didn't find his robe again. He shrugged, and looked towards the girl. She stood there, not daring to look at him, and then she shyly stole a glance of him. He smiled. She smiled. And then she asked him if the kiss really was necessary. He smiled, grateful that she couldn't see he was blushing in the faint light. "No. But I enjoyed it more that way." She laughed, and threw a little sand playfully at him. He dodged it easily, and playfully tackled her into the soft, warm sand. They kissed again. And both was startled when the earth heaved again. The young student rolled into a compact fighting stance while the girl half squirmed down in the sand again, her black bikini blending with her skin and the sand perfectly. The young student was the first to spot the weird lights some dunes away, and silently motioned the girl towards them. They agreed - through sign language - to split up, so that they could approach this strange phenomenon with a greater chance of one of them getting away if this event was hiding something dangerous. Stealthy as a night-wraith she slipped away in the fast approaching night, while the student looked after her. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about her, but he felt comfortable in her company... He shaked himself as a vermin-ridden sand-crab, and crept as stealthily as he could towards the lights, tremors and clanking noises he more felt than heard. He had other things to think of. The master had asked him to do something, and he had agreed. The sight that met him as he cautiously crested the last dune wasn't anything he could have prepared himself for. A giant, shiny thing that was similar to a sand-crab yet wasn't, was eating black sand and streaming it out again in its other end with a prodigious speed and power! Sometimes the mound of sand it was eating crashed together as it ate the mound, and the sand trembled in sympathy. The vibrations were stronger here. Some strange, humanoid thing was sitting on top of the sand crab, holding some kind of stiff ropes while the crab was eating sand, and the student wondered a moment if the humanoid was just some antenna or something that the sand crab sported. When the sand crab stopped making all those noises and the humanoid rose, stretched a little, then jumped clumsily down into the sand, the student understood that the humanoid probably controlled the sand crab it was riding. While he was pondering what he was to do now, the humanoid walked over to the side of the sand crab, and removed a shell from the side of the sand crab. Absent-mindedly the student caught the stonebeetle walking through the sand in front of him, smashed it against his knee, and ate its innards while the humanoid dragged a little, squarish bowl from the innards of the sand crab. The humanoid picked up something sparkling and black from the little box. Seemingly satisfied, the humanoid put the sparkling stone in a pouch of its strangely shaped robe, and started to put the bowl back inside the giant, shiny sand crab. Suddenly, extra lights came on from the dunes opposite the student, and he froze while deciding what to do. The student watched in confusion as a humanoid shape appeared over an other dune and cautiously neared the giant crab and the humanoid while pointing a shiny, oddly-shaped stick towards the first humanoid. This other humanoid was clad in bits and pieces of something that looked like hard shell, but was otherwise similar to the first humanoid. Suddenly, the student noticed that some of the stars over his head moved, and dug even deeper into the sand. What could he trust, now that even the stars moved? Slowly, a whine became clear through the clear, silent night, and the student wondered what kind of appearance that whine herolded. A large shadow set down on a level part of the desert some distance away, and some more light was lighted by it. It looked remarkably like one of the flying things he had seen in the water, the student decided, with four stubby legs - one in each corner of the vaguely spheroid shape, and a head thrusting out in the middle forward, with some kind of tail thrusting out back. It was even shiny, like the thing he had seen in the water, but the drawings on the side of the thing didn't look like anything he'd ever seen before. A shell on the bottom of the thing tilted oddly, and four more humanoid shapes came walking out of there, one of them a big, walking humanoid rug. The student watched in confusion as the big rug came walking down to the first humanoid and did something to its arms and legs, throwing it roughly over his shoulders. The others pulled out small, oddly-shaped shiny but black sticks and started walking around down in the depression around the sand crab. The second humanoid shape walked to the sand crab, pulled out the little square bowl again, and started putting the contents of the bowl into one of its robe-pouches. Suddenly, one of the humanoid shapes lunged, and caught something slim and black squirming in his grasp. Laughing, it dragged the girl in front of the others to see. Roughly, the humanoid holding the girl stripped her of her halter and briefs. The student reddened with anger. They were imposing their wills on her! Her squirming and begging was obviously of no use here. Then he would end this torture, here, now! He rose from the sand, and came walking down into the midst of the startled humanoids. With a loud voice, almost cracking with anger, he demanded that they release her immediately. One of the humanoids put away his shiny stick, and came over to the student, towering over him. The smack came suddenly, and the student, not expecting an attack, tumbled over in the sand. Slowly, he rose while his head fins almost glowed a dull red. This was enough. If this was the way they wanted it, then that would be the way he would play with them. The humanoid came back, and this time tried a feeble hammer blow towards his head. The student easily blocked with an X-block, grabbed the hands of the humanoid and let himself fall backwards while he kicked out towards the belly of the humanoid. The humanoid let out a loud whoof! and landed in the sand some distance away. The rug turned around, and dropped the first humanoid in the sand. The humanoid let out a little moan, but not much more. The rug came toward the student, while it rumbled something... a chuckle? After a few preliminary swings which the student easily dodged, the big rug came charging in. The student leaped nimbly to one side, and wondered at the clumsy approach. As an experiment, he blocked the next lumbering blow the rug heaved at him. And was thrown clear across the depression and smacked into the side of a dune. The student slowly got up. A strange feeling overtook him, just as he distantly sensed that the giant rug came lumbering toward him again. It was a kind of power, a kind of relaxed distress that the girl was in danger, and a knowledge that he could do something about it. With a focusing yell, he jumped! up to the level of the head of the rug, and delivered a devastating kick. Using the shoulders of the rug as a springboard, he then vaulted over the rug, and landed with a double hammerhand strike squarely on the humanoid holding the girl. A strange, cracking sound could be heard, and something gave in the head of the humanoid. The humanoid with the shiny bits of carapace on himself started fumbling with the oddly shaped stick again, as if in slow motion. The student felt as if everything he had ever learned came together in this moment. Charging towards the humanoid, he was surprised when the humanoid shot light! towards him, glancing his chest. Stumbling a bit, he then found his pace again, and leaped towards the humanoid with one elbow extended, smashing it into the chest of the humanoid. The largest bit of carapace, the one the student hit, cracked cleanly in two, and fell off the clothing of the humanoid. As the humanoid doubled over, the other elbow of the student hit it with his other elbow in the face. It, too, crumpled, and the student turned around, looking for new targets. He saw the humanoid he had thrown trying to stand, and the girl sobbing while she tried to put on her ruined bikini again. Contemptously, the student walked over to the humanoid he had thrown, aimed for a moment, and kicked it in the jaw. It fell over. The rug lay where it had fallen, and didn't seem to want to move, that one either. The student walked over to the girl, and tried to comfort her. He helped her make new clothes from the clothes of the humanoids with not too much blood on it. At least she seemed to be a bit consoled. The student then turned his attention to the creature which the rug had been carrying, which had made noise while he comforted the girl. "Why haven't you gotten up if it is so important to you that you have to make so much noise and all? Perhaps these shiny things is the reason." "You want me to get you out of these shiny ropes? What do you keep saying for?" "I'll get you out of those ropes. Now hold still." ". Hey, those ropes were tough! I'd better just stamp the ones holding your feet together like this , and you're free. Though what you'd want those metal ropes around your wrists is beyond me." The humanoid the student had just freed seemed to be mumbling quite a lot, and ran towards the big thing that had landed a bit away. The girl and the student waited stoically - the girl less stoically - while the humanoid came back, with an extremely shiny and clumsy humanoid with him, and another more reddish colored humanoid which was rubbing its wrists. "Well, I don't know what you're jabbering on about, but I thought I would leave now, after you've told me what the shiny, giant sand crab is. This is the task I have been tasked with as my rite of passage, and it is important for me to complete it." >Yes, Master, I Think I Can Understand The Young Gentleman< >Yes, Master. Immediately.< >"Told You Am I To Do, My Master Thank You Wishes To." "You can speak my language? Sort of at least? Do you come from the golden sands to the green sands of here - your accent's a bit strange." >"Do That I Do Not, Come Henceforth From There I Mean." "Oh. Whatever." >"Told You Am I To Do, My Master Gift Wishes You To Give." "I give him a gift? What strange notion. What could I have that would interest him?" >Oh dear, a little mistake there.< >"He Gift Wishes To Give To You, Was What I Meant." "Oh. That sounds real interesting." >"Worlds Beyond He Wishes To Show You." "Worlds beyond?" ... And after a little explaining was done, the student decided to accept the offer from the man he came to know as Farban, to travel the galaxy and see the world. Farban gave him gifts - one staff of "metal", harder and better than the one he had made himself, and one of the sticks that could shoot light. Then there was only thing left to do. The student faced the girl. "I will leave for the stars, to see other worlds beyond this one, this Kass'Jadar, and to study and learn." "Yes, I understand. Will I ever see you again?" "I do not know. Know this, however, that my name is Lerebuce." "I am Neesha." "Neesha, I task you this if you will do a favor for me." "I will." "Tell the master and the elders what I have done, and that I travel with luck in my heart." "I will." "Tell them that some of these otherworlders are good, and others are bad. Tell them that they must approach with caution, because one cannot tell on the outside which is which." "I will." "Then I leave Kass'Jadar, yet always will carry it with me in my heart." "You will." Lerebuce turned around, and walked to the "ship", up the "ramp", and sat down in the "sofa" which was in the "lounge". He reconsidered, and walked into the "cockpit", to see out through the "hood" when they "lifted off", or started flying as he preferred to think of it. He couldn't see Neesha, but he knew she was out there. He stood in the cockpit, and saw his world from the high point of "space". Soon, they were in "hyperspace". And he was on his way to the other worlds, other Kass'Jadar, Kass'Jadari - Places of Life?