Stace de'Lorne o'Breac
Dances better than you
Over the course of several months, Lorn learned many things. The most important detail was that he was nowhere near Qiilura, his home planet. He didn't know how it came to pass that he left Qiilura, Lorn just knew he was no longer there. The place he awoke and had since wandered was called Ord Mantell. Or Bright Jewel. Or Worlport. Or resort.
Or capital. Or city. But he was pretty those weren't names. Lorn still had trouble identifying the difference between words and names. Weren't names also words? Why were they so indistinguishable? Whoever invented language didn't do a very good job of it.
Needless to say, the Neti had learned the importance of names. Apparently, there were many different places on Bright Jewel (he liked the name Bright Jewel), and they all had names. Streets had names. Buildings had names. Even parks had names, which seemed to be the most arbitrary designation for a plot of land that Lorn could imagine. Wasn't land just land? He supposed if someone could name an island, somebody else could name an arbitrary plot of land.
All the different names of things probably could help direct a being on a route or path, so he supposed all the names could be useful. The only use he could find, though, was that some names apparently told of invisible boundaries he wasn't supposed to cross. Arbitrary plots of land also had arbitrary lines and some people seemed to own those lines. You couldn't own land, at least not in the Neti's mind, so it must be the invisible lines that these people owned. Lorn wasn't big on lines. He wasn't big on ownership either.
To go along with invisible-arbitrary-line-boundaries, Lorn also had learned that there were these invisible concepts known as credits. Everyone seemed to have them except for Lorn, but no one could show them to him. They showed him synthetic cards, or sometimes metal, but never credits. Apparently, invisible-credits could occasionally gain one access beyond and invisible-arbitrary-line-boundary. He still hadn't really learned how that worked.
Lorn continued to greet everyone with a smile, which was apparently uncommon on Ord Mantell. Since he had met and immediately lost Lilin, he had learned that whatever that "Force" thing was she had mentioned was also uncommon. Some people said that Force was invisible too, but that didn't seem right. Some people started talking about push and pull and electromaga-... electronimer-... elecmagom-... electromagazines or something like that but none of that sounded right either.
Even more uncommon apparently was him. Lorn was just Lorn. He was nothing special. But the initial glance everyone offered him was always the same: a mixture of shock, awe, and fear. Some hid that look, but Lorn saw their expression obviously. It was the same expression that the Lorn family had given him when they first happened upon him. At most, the only thing people would say was: "I thought Neti were a myth." Lorn wasn't sure what a myth was. Were Neti and myth synonymous? But most folks just stared from a distance and avoided him when he approached. He hoped to find someone as kind as the Lorn family was. He was sorry he had just run off after talking with Lilin. She seemed nice.
Lorn had most certainly learned that no one knew the Lorn family. Even when he asked about their village on Qiilura no one seemed to know of that either. The few that would talk to him told him to just visit the planet and find out for himself. After learning that you needed a ship to get to another planet, and that there was a difference between water-ships and spaceships, he tried to get on a spaceship. But anytime he tried to get close, one of those invisible-arbitrary-line-boundary-inspectors would come by and prevent him.
So Lorn had waited and wandered about the city for awhile planting himself in arbitrary-"parks" and trying to learn the secret behind invisible-"credits." After all, he was patient. Certainly he could figure something out.
Or capital. Or city. But he was pretty those weren't names. Lorn still had trouble identifying the difference between words and names. Weren't names also words? Why were they so indistinguishable? Whoever invented language didn't do a very good job of it.
Needless to say, the Neti had learned the importance of names. Apparently, there were many different places on Bright Jewel (he liked the name Bright Jewel), and they all had names. Streets had names. Buildings had names. Even parks had names, which seemed to be the most arbitrary designation for a plot of land that Lorn could imagine. Wasn't land just land? He supposed if someone could name an island, somebody else could name an arbitrary plot of land.
All the different names of things probably could help direct a being on a route or path, so he supposed all the names could be useful. The only use he could find, though, was that some names apparently told of invisible boundaries he wasn't supposed to cross. Arbitrary plots of land also had arbitrary lines and some people seemed to own those lines. You couldn't own land, at least not in the Neti's mind, so it must be the invisible lines that these people owned. Lorn wasn't big on lines. He wasn't big on ownership either.
To go along with invisible-arbitrary-line-boundaries, Lorn also had learned that there were these invisible concepts known as credits. Everyone seemed to have them except for Lorn, but no one could show them to him. They showed him synthetic cards, or sometimes metal, but never credits. Apparently, invisible-credits could occasionally gain one access beyond and invisible-arbitrary-line-boundary. He still hadn't really learned how that worked.
Lorn continued to greet everyone with a smile, which was apparently uncommon on Ord Mantell. Since he had met and immediately lost Lilin, he had learned that whatever that "Force" thing was she had mentioned was also uncommon. Some people said that Force was invisible too, but that didn't seem right. Some people started talking about push and pull and electromaga-... electronimer-... elecmagom-... electromagazines or something like that but none of that sounded right either.
Even more uncommon apparently was him. Lorn was just Lorn. He was nothing special. But the initial glance everyone offered him was always the same: a mixture of shock, awe, and fear. Some hid that look, but Lorn saw their expression obviously. It was the same expression that the Lorn family had given him when they first happened upon him. At most, the only thing people would say was: "I thought Neti were a myth." Lorn wasn't sure what a myth was. Were Neti and myth synonymous? But most folks just stared from a distance and avoided him when he approached. He hoped to find someone as kind as the Lorn family was. He was sorry he had just run off after talking with Lilin. She seemed nice.
Lorn had most certainly learned that no one knew the Lorn family. Even when he asked about their village on Qiilura no one seemed to know of that either. The few that would talk to him told him to just visit the planet and find out for himself. After learning that you needed a ship to get to another planet, and that there was a difference between water-ships and spaceships, he tried to get on a spaceship. But anytime he tried to get close, one of those invisible-arbitrary-line-boundary-inspectors would come by and prevent him.
So Lorn had waited and wandered about the city for awhile planting himself in arbitrary-"parks" and trying to learn the secret behind invisible-"credits." After all, he was patient. Certainly he could figure something out.
[member="Iceis Sovereign"]