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Subject: {ASSM} Tails of Rabelaisia - Abandoned Work (furry) TBD
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:10:08 -0400
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Unfinished ideas for 'Tails of Rabelaisia. 'Change Winds' is the only
one I may finish, eventually.
----

This one was to be a companion piece to 'Brother Bard'.
---

Filling The Gap
---

Nikki and Whisper were returning home when they heard Ash talking to
someone.

"Wait, this could be important." Nikki's voice is gentle. "Ash is
being a Bard.

"I wonder who has his attention?"
====

A little bit of whimsey...
---


Blacktip
Tails of Rabelaisia
by: Nikkolai the Bard

Blacktip, a female wolf, sits at a table and moodily studies an
ancient book on shape-changing.

* The rules of shape-changing
+ The change of shape is absolute as to form and function. Nobody
knows how or why this is. We only know that it is.
+ While the original personality is complete after the change, it does
get influenced by the 'world concept' of the species it is housed in.
+ If people of different species wish offspring, one or both can shape
change to a species agreed on. Conception is possible as long as both
persons are in the same species.
+ Once conception has taken place, the female is frozen into the
species of fertilization.
+ Inability for a female to shape change is often an indication of
pregnancy.
+ Some, all or none of the offspring will inherit their parent's
abilities in full or in part.
+ Gender changes are also absolute with the exception they are
sterile.

She sighs and looks over at her 'teacher' and current mate, Dreamer.

"Whoever wrote this, left out an exception to the last rule:
+ "Gender changes, under the proper conditions, can self-fertilize
themselves."

She looks down at 'herself' and then looks up and smiles wryly. "We
should know. Right?."

Dreamer shakes her head and laughs gently. "Yes. My husband.

"What prompted you to try the 'experiment' anyway?"

Blacktip shrugs. "Curiosity, mostly.

"We're a vanishing type you know. Most of the scholars were killed in
the war.

"Most of the books and knowledge of the mages were lost as well.
Either destroyed in the battles or by the mages themselves as they
were defeated.

"We, and I mean we morphs, don't have a written tradition as the
humans do. So, our knowledge of our heritage is spotty at best.

"Self-fertilization was the one possibility that I never saw mentioned
in relation to shape-changing.

"At the time, it made sense to try it and see what would happen, if
anything.

"In my haste, I forgot about consequences." He smiles wryly. "So here
I am. Experiencing pregnancy from the other side and wondering what
the end results will be."

Nikkolai
====

Gypsy Rover
---

Parsea stuck her head through the door to her father's office.
"Father, I'm going for a walk."

"Yes, yes, m'dear. Be back in time for supper."

"Yes, father."

She gently closed the doors and leaned against them briefly. 'He's so
careworn, these days. Ever since mother...'

She brutally shut down her thoughts and straightened. After nodding to
each of the guards she strode off.

Lost in her thoughts about the recent past and her plans for the day,
she never noticed the understanding and sympathetic nods the guards
exchanged with each other.

* * *

"Harlan, I'm only going to be wandering nearby. I don't need an escort
for that and you know it!" Exasperating man! He acted as if she were
some maid to be constantly hovered over. She was full grown, and
within limits she understood too well, her own mistress. Harlan knew
this, but he still hadn't lost his vision of her as a little girl, a
little girl who was also the heir.

"Yes, Lady Parsea. We know you need your privacy. It's just that...
Well, there are the gypsies, you know. Others, too, who might fall to
temptation if they discover the heir is on her own."

She sighed. Duty. Always duty. "Very well. I wasn't planning on going
any further than the riverbank and my usual place. You may place,
discreetly and within easy hearing *only* a guard. More than that and
I will have words with my father. Understood?"

Harlan winced at the sudden note of command in her tones. 'More and
more like her father. I pity the man she weds. Strong-willed, she is.'
He nodded. "Understood, Lady Parsea."

"Good." Considering the matter settled, she gathered her skirt to keep
it clear of the grass and strode off.

Harlan watched her. 'Strong-willed. And not a man for leagues who is
worthy of her.' Sighing at the injustice of it all, he returned to his
duties, carefuly making sure that the guard he sent to watch over her
undertood his duties.

* * *

She settled on the bank took off her shoes and idly dipped her toes in
the slowly flowing water.

'We have a lot in common, you and I', she thought towards the river.
'Free to move, yet constrained to a definite path through life.'

She gazed at the water and considered her future. Yes, there was a
young man she liked. She supposed that if her father found no other
man better suited to his plans, she would marry her friend. But he was
so... plain. Plodding, she supposed. He was wedded to the land, the
now. He couldn't see past it and it annoyed her. She saw so much more.
There had to be more to life than becoming a wife, a mother and little
more. She was born, trained, to rule. While Arthur was a good man in
his way, he wasn't a Lord, a man who could plan for his people's
future as well as his own. Yet, if they wed, he would be the new Lord,
and responsible for all of her people.
====

Change Winds
Nikkolai
---


"Your Majesty... Council members....

The wolfhound pauses to gaze thoughtfully at the assembled people.
With him are his mate and a vixen.

"It is my duty as a Master to announce that Rabelaisia no longer needs
her Bards."

The quiet words have stunned the gathered people into silence.

Nikkolai's smile is slight but genuine as he looks over at his Queen
and then at her 'advisor'.

Sand is stunned into an unchatracteristic gape of astonishment.

Sand opens his mouth as though to speak and then slowly closes it
again. Finally, he nods and turns to the Queen.

"Your Majesty. One such as Nikki would not have called a full Bard's
Council meeting unless he had a good reason.

"This certainly qualifies."

He smiles ruefully and looks about the room.

"All here know me, anyway..." With that he changes from his light
colored hound form to his natural form. A Coyote.

"Wise One. There are things even Coyotes do not know." Nikki's tone is
gentle.

"Well, all but one anyway. Wind Song knows. Has known from the
begining. As mate to my son Dale, we could not keep things from her.

"Many years ago, I was asked to join the Bard's Council.

"For reasons of my own, I refused.

"Before you stands that reason.

"Whisper, Lady Chrystal and myself are the Guild Masters of a group of
Bards who long ago realized that since Rabelaisia has changed, the
Bards must change with her.

"Change or they will be seen as ones who cling to the empty husk of
our past. People who are to be respected as historians...

"But people who are also somewhat foolish and unwilling to look to a
new future.

"As such... We would be unable to fulfill our primary duty. Bards will
no longer be Rabelaisia's 'Agents of Change'.

"With the meeting of our world and Terra, there will be many changes."

With that, he falls silent and Whisper and Chrystal step forward to
join him.

"May I speak?" The voice is from one of the Terrans. Many had been
wondering what reasons Nikki had for specifically asking that they be
present.

Eyes narrow as the people gathered begin to catch up on what has been
happening. It is the Queen who settles back in her throne and gently
chuckles.

"So, Nikki. It has been many generations since someone presumed to
give a 'Bard's Lesson' to the royal person and the gathered council
members.

"Beth. Charles.

"I hope Nikki prepared you well for this. He is well known for using
the 'tools' at hand to teach lessons.

"It is also seldom that he is so obvious about things. One generally
does not know they have received the lesson until it is over.

"Beth, you have our permission to speak. Speak as you wish with no
fear of consequences...

"Personal ones anyway. I have the feeling that the consequences to
Rabelaisia will be many and far reaching."

"Your Majesty?" Beth's tone is puzzled.

"Bard's Lesson? Nikkolai made no mention of such. I... *We* have never
heard of such.

"All Nikkolai asked of us was for us to be here to offer our knowledge
to you. We have a long history. One in which there have been many
encounters between differing cultures.

"He felt, and we agree, that the time to discuss and plan is now.
Before our cultures mingle.

"Before things have a chance to fall into chaos."

Many shudder at the word 'chaos'. Rabelaisia has reasons to fear such.

Here is someone calmly telling them that unless they get a handle on
things... It could very easily return.

It is Chrystal who moves first.

Without speaking, she removes her cloak and places it around Beth's
shoulders. Then, she smiles as she explains.

" 'Bard's Lesson' is what people call an obvious teaching situation.
Bards are teachers all of the time. Generally, our 'lessons' are far
more subtle. We only become obvious when we feel the situation demands
conscious awareness of the things being taught.

"In this case, part of the lesson was for your benefit. You needed to
see one of the more obvious differences between your culture and ours.

"Actually, Nikki was only partly right in calling Bards 'Agents of
Change'.

"Another of our duties is to get people to accept change as a natural
state. What some might call 'supression' is a cultural acceptance of
personal responsibility. People look at things and stop to wonder how
it will affect others as well as themselves.

"What I and Whisper and Nikki fear is that the changes brought about
by our cultures intermingling will happen so rapidly that nobody will
have any idea where things will lead.

"Chaos.

"If there is one thing Rabelaisians do to our shame...

"They look to Bards when changes happen too fast. Bards are also
'Agents of Stability' during times of change. We are the link between
the old and new ways. People see us as ones who are able to integrate
change into our lives. Yet, we are also people. So the attitude is 'If
they can do it, I can.'

"We are not seen as aloof from the ordinary people. As, I gather your
entertainers are.

"As your fellow crew members have learned, we are respected but not
held apart because of it.

"So, Nikki called this meeting with the hope that you and Charles can
teach *us* so we may pass that knowledge on to our people."

With that, she and Whisper and Nikki settled in front of Beth and
Charles.

Beth stands in silence as she ponders what she has been told.

When she absently looks down at the symbol emblazoned on it, she
stiffens. Slowly, her eyes raise to meet Chrystal's.

She gets a slight nod in return.

Her voice is barely more than a whisper but all there hear it clearly.

"Leaders who never lead.

"Teachers who never teach.

"Everyone has a lesson to give if we but seek it.

"On Terra, such people are rare even now. Held in great esteem when
discovered.

"I suddenly find myself on a world where everyone is such. Yet they
unhesitatingly ask for my help."

Her laughter is a bit forced but honest.

"The entire crew was carefully selected and trained. We knew we could
wind up making decisions that would affect both our cultures. So all
of us are people who are much like yourselves in outlook.

"Were we any other than what we are, we would call your trust
incredibly naive.

" 'Bard's Lesson'.

"Indeed...

"Layers upon layers...

"Once one begins to look for them.

"Or, as someone once said... 'When you think you understand someone,
then is the time you should question that understanding.'
==== 

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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