Cultural Description:
Exercise #1

by Trudy A. Goold

This exercise is copyright © 1996, Trudy A. Goold.
This story may be distributed electronically, as long as this copyright notice remains intact.

The sound of laughter and games travelled far in the forest air, R'Tsiy'Yan mused as she dug her toes against the branch, feeling the rough bark through the soft leather of the soles of her boots. Even from here, twenty klicks away from the center of the festivities, she could hear hints of the noise.
She listened for a few moments, but, unable to identify what part of the festival was so loud, she turned her attention back to the forest itself.
Ordinarily, R'Tsiy would have been joining in the festivities herself, but the Council was worried, and so she had volunteered for patrol duty. She didn't care overly much for the High Summer festival anyway; it was more important to children and traders than to any of the Rangers. She looked on it as being an excuse to let go of ordinary discipline for a few days, and getting into the habit of doing that every year could prove to be a fatal mistake for a Ranger, whose life often depended on his or her discipline. It was just chance that the Council's worries had come to a head now, but R'Tsiy was very glad of the excuse.
Of course, the Council's worries were important as well; the Liseini, the plainsfolk, whose lands adjoined the forests and mountains of the Az'Vaiy'Nai, had passed on rumours of strangers wandering in the area. Strangers who came from the stars. They told of how these Star-Strangers were determined to explore Lisein, all of it, including the land ceded up to the Az'Vaiy'Nai.
And there was the danger right there. Even the Liseini were not permitted into Az'Vaiy'Nai lands without escorts, and they were definitely not permitted into the Heart, where stood the Chambers of Council, and the Star-Tree. But these strangers were apparently very determined, not easily discouraged - and they were guests of the Liseini.
So R'Tsiy, and three other Rangers, in the other quadrants, were on patrol while the rest of the Az'Vaiy'Nai celebrated. Any attempt by the strangers to enter the forest had to be repulsed...
Unless they actually listen to the Liseini, R'Tsiy added to herself, scanning the area. It was quiet - almost too quiet. If they do listen, then they'll ask permission first. And if we refuse... they will have to leave. Surely these Star-Strangers need the good will of the Liseini if they are to stay here; and the Liseini will not allow them to give us an excuse to attack.
R'Tsiy felt satisfied with the answer she had come up with. When the Az'Vaiy'Nai had first come to Lisein, there had been a terrible war with the Liseini. It had lasted two centuries, before the Liseini agreed to cede the forests and mountains (that they couldn't even use) to the Az'Vaiy'Nai, and since then, the two races had lived in an uneasy peace. The Liseini wouldn't allow the strangers to break that peace. So surely there was nothing to worry--

I hope that you enjoyed reading this little exercise. Please send me any comments, suggestions, and/or constructive criticism you might have, in order to help me improve both this exercise and my other stories. Do you think I succeeded in my goal of giving an impression of the Az'Vaiy'Nai culture?

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Last modified October 11th, 1998.
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