NOTE—Years are given in Mictlanian years, which are 1.365 Solar years. Dating is from Year 0, the year in which the colonists found themselves orbiting the planet which would become known as Mictlan.
The Ibn Battuta (the culmination of a multinational scientific effort, and crewed by approximately a thousand men and women, most of them in LongSleep compartments) arrives in the Tau Ceti system and parks in orbit above the fourth planet. The planet is largely water, with two large landmasses, one mostly in the northern hemisphere, the other nearly opposite and mostly in the southern hemisphere. Once it is determined that the planet is within acceptable Earth standards, the artificial intelligence that runs the ship—named “Ghost” by the crew members—awakens those in LongSleep. The first survey shuttle sent down returns with the surprising news: Another intelligent race evolved here. The first ruins of the Miccail’s civilization are found in the southwest corner of the continent in the northern hemisphere (though not in the southern hemisphere’s continent), but there seem to be no surviving members of that race. Dating of the ruins shows that none are more recent than 1,000–1,500 local years.
Following established procedure, the crew of the Ibn Battuta sends a message back to Earth via tachyon packet impulse, letting them know where they are and what they have found.
There was no answer. For whatever reason, there would never be an answer.
Two bases are established on the planet’s surface and are rapidly growing, supplied from the Ibn Battuta stores via shuttlecraft. One of the two shuttles is beginning docking manuevers with the Ibn Battuta when a fuel relay bursts. The resulting wild acceleration slams the shuttle into the Ibn Battuta’s drive units. The shuttle and drive units both explode, sending shrapnel flying, which holes the living quarters of Ibn Battuta in several places. Nearly everyone there dies in the next few seconds. The drive units are crippled, the Ibn Battuta is sent reeling from its geosynchronous orbit into an elliptical, tilted one. The other shuttle, which was already docked on the Ibn Battuta for repairs, is destroyed. On the ship, the remaining crew members work to save the ship’s computer and its links to the small colony below—they manage to maintain power to the computer and some of the ship systems, though the ship remains airless and unrepairable. The crew members aboard Ibn Battuta do not live long, though Ghost continues to operate the crippled computer network.
On Mictlan, there remain some twenty-four people on the two bases. The majority—six women and nine men—are located at the base in the southern hemisphere.
The southern base stays in contact with their northern brethren and Ghost only for another ten months. A huge storm system slams into the southern continent during that winter; when it passes, all contact with the southern base is lost. It is never again regained.
At the northern base there are only nine people: four men, five women. Akiko Koda and Shigetomo Shimmura had already formed a relationship; Rebecca Allen and Guy Levin quickly became a couple as well, as do Maria Martinez and Antonio Santos. Gabriela Rusack, while a friend to some of them, never formed another sexual relationship —she had been involved with a woman who died on the ship, and remains celibate and deliberately childless (despite considerable and growing pressure from the others) for the rest of her life. Jean Delacroix and Robert Schmidt are temporarily left outside of any relationships.
The first children of the colony are born late this year, Kaitlen Allen-Levin and Shigetomo Koda-Shimmura.
Monogamy never particularly worked on Earth, where adultery is common—it doesn’t work here, either, and it’s much harder to hide … Rebecca Allen and Shigetomo Shimmura become lovers, and the pressure splits apart the Allen-Levin and Koda-Shimmura relationships. It’s also obvious to the colonists that from a strictly biological point of view, monogamy dangerously limits their genetic diversity. A few point out that the storm of four years past may have destroyed only the southern colony’s computer and radio links to the Ibn Battuta, and that the people there could well be still alive: They argue that there is no need to do anything drastic. But as the months continue to go by without contact, their protests are increasingly weak. Gabriela steadfastly refuses to reproduce, but Robert and Jean are (unprotestingly, it should be noted) drawn into the task of survival.
Rebecca and Shigetomo have a child in Year 6. So do Akiko and Robert. The breeding program is put into the virtual hands of Ghost, whose holographic image can be transmitted down to the colony from Ibn Battuta whenever the ship’s new orbit takes it overhead. This is not an easy decision, and there are many emotional, angry confrontations in succeeding years as the program solidifies. Still, they all realize that the next generation will find whatever arrangements they make “normal.” Chemical birth control is impossible—the technology doesn’t exist. The only effective birth control measures are barrier methods, and the production facilities for these are limited. It hardly matters—to allow humankind to survive, reproduction is paramount. With the continuing silence from Earth, for all the colonists know they may be the only remnants of their kind left anywhere.
Despite this, the four women of the first generation will produce only fifteen progeny.
Gabriela becomes the first person to be shunned, ostensibly in punishment for her refusal to participate in the breeding program. This first shunning was for six months; afterward, she still refused—angrily—to participate.
The first of the third generation is born to Adari Koda-Shimmura: Tozo. Given the breeding program, it’s obvious that the old method of naming children with the paired names of their mother and “father” is ludicrous, given the fact that—without blood typing or DNA tests—the identity of the father is questionable in many cases. The birth of the Families is in the decision to give only the maternal name to the offspring of any union: children “belong to” the mother alone, and to her extended family.
Gabriela is declared shunned once more, this time for establishing a relationship with a younger woman in the colony, Adari Koda-Shimmura. Gabriela is banished from the colony altogether, living apart from the rest on the Rock and having little to no contact with them. The rift between Gabriela and the others (with few exceptions) would never be closed.
A furious storm much like the one that struck the south-em base rakes the settlement and six of the original nine colonists (Akiko, Maria, Jean, Robert, and Shigetomo) are killed, along with three of the second generation. The sudden population decrease is frightening. Any last remnants of the old social structure are swept away with the furious winds. The first of the Family compounds arises: The Koda clan builds what will eventually become the Koda-Schmidt compound. Long ago, the shuttles’ lasers had carved out a series of interconnected caverns with several entrances in a large hill alongside the river—the hill was actually one large rock, much like Uluru in Australia. The Koda clan partioned out one cavern as their own; the other new Families quickly followed suit. Over the next several years, a complex series of buildings were erected: mostly underground, some above, but all connected to each other in a warren of passages.
A disease, evidently mutated from some Mictlanian virus, runs through the group, killing mostly those eight or younger: the Bloody Cough. The illness devastates the new fourth generation in particular, and leads to another drastic reduction in population. In the next few years, nearly everyone who shows the symptoms which gave the disease its name dies. However, the virulence of the plague eventually lessens. Some who catch the Bloody Cough survive. Still, through succeeding generations, almost two of every five children born will succumb to this plague.
Kumar Allen-Levin and Kemeul Koda-Levin embark on an ocean voyage to reach the southern continent and find any survivors of the lost colony there. They are never heard from again.
The skeletonized body of the last of the original colonists, Gabriela Rusack, is found in her cabin several kilometers from the Rock.
The last of the second generation, Robert Allen-Delacroix, dies.
The well-preserved body of a Miccail Sa, or midmale, is found in the bog near the Rock. It is given to Anaïs Koda-Levin, one of the two doctors in the colony, to examine and dissect. Anaïs will soon discover that ke, too, is a Sa.
A Miccail Sa is born on the island of AnglSaiye. The discovery is made that the “grumblers” are actually the much-changed remnants of the supposedly extinct Miccail, and that certain tribes of the grumblers have retained a veneer of their culture.
A human colony is founded on AnglSaiye by Anaïs Koda-Levin, Elio Allen-Shimmura, and Máire Koda-Schmidt after Anaïs is shunned by the Families on the Rock for her relationship with Máire. Others of various Families join them over the next few years.
A child is born to Máire Koda-Schmidt. Gabriela, as she is named, is the first human child conceived via a human Sa.
With other human and Miccail midmales being born, Anaïs Koda-Levin forms the Community of Sa, both human and Miccail, roughly based on the tenets of the ancient Miccail Sa community on AnglSaiye. Anaïs will become known as O’Sa (Great Sa) and be revered as the Second Founder.
A cooperative venture of Miccail and humans (mostly from AnglySaiye) begins the long undertaking to repair the old Miccail system of highroads and wayhouses.
Despite the increased interaction between Miccail and human, there are still occasional violent clashes between the two species, usually involving land and resources, to which both groups feel they have claim. In 140, the QualiKa (“Souls of the Small Moon”) sect is formed by the charismatic NagTe, who claims divine inspiration from GhazTi, one of the darker gods in the Miccail pantheon. The symbol of the sect is a crescent moon tattooed on the chest. The QualiKa preach separatism, and violent confrontation if necessary. In the years following, there will be skirmishes between the human colonies and the QualiKa. especially in the mountainous region around the lakes named Castor and Pollux, where iron ore and copper deposits have been discovered.
Despite protests from the Miccail, a steel-smelting operation is set up at Lake Pollux. This will eventually become known as Irontown, under control of the Elders of the Rock.
Anaïs Koda-Levin dies while ending the Hannibal Massacre. In addition to Anaïs, five other humans die there, along with a dozen or more Miccail, including NagTe, the leader of the QualiKa. Afterward, each group would point to the other when asked who started the hostilities. All that can be certain is that the precipitating event was when Mahesh Allen-Shimmura killed a member of the QualiKa sect (though Mahesh claimed he acted in self-defense.) The situation escalates when NagTe and the QualiKa demand Mahesh’s life in payment, and the Elders of the Rock adamantly refuse. The Elders of the Rock instead send an armed delegation toward the Miccail encampment; Anaïs, hearing of the original incident, hurries from AnglSaiye to defuse the escalating situation. By the time she arrives, the fighting is already under way. Anaïs, despite her advanced age, insists on walking openly down the highroad between the encampments in company with a mixed delegation of human and Miccail; she is struck, undeniably, by rifle fire from one of the humans, though no one will admit to having fired the shot. The striking down of the O’Sa horrifies both sides. Refusing to be moved from where she had fallen until she meets with the leaders of both sides, the mortally wounded Anaïs negotiates a peace.
Anaïs dies two days later in Hannibal. Over the next several years, perhaps as a result of the loss of NagTe, the QualiKa movement loses momentum, with only occasional eruptions of trouble since.
Two sisters, Lev and Henriette Koda-Schmidt, and two brothers, Agadir and Algernon Martinez-Santos, set out for the southern continent in an oceangoing sailing craft, leaving from the island of AnglSaiye. As with the expedition a century earlier, none of them are ever heard from again.
Euzhan becomes the Eldest of the Allen-Shimmura family after the death of Andrea Allen-Shimmura.
The granddaughter of NagTe, Cos, is born. She will, in the first years of the third century, revive the QualiKa, and will be called CosTa.
Fianya—a Sa—is born into the Allen-Shimmura family, even though the Allen-Shimmura expressly forbid their Family members to have sexual relations with the Sa. Fianya will die two years later, after Euzhan refuses to give her to the Sa Community on AnglSaiye as custom demands.
The QualiKa (“Souls of the Small Moon”) sect was formed by the Miccail NagTe in Year 140 of the human colonization. NagTe, depending on who is telling the story, was either a charismatic leader led by the visions of the Miccail deity GhazTi, or a murderous fanatic bent on destroying the human element on Mictlan. The reality, as is often the case, probably lies somewhere between the two.
His birth is announced on a stele located slightly east of the Rock. The dating of the stele entry is Fourth Quali, Six Finger Winter, which translates to the early spring of Year 119. NagTe was eldest child of the TeTa who ruled there, FasTa and SefiTe, who were also known to the humans as Dottó and Whitetuft, both of whom had once saved O’Sa Anaïs’s life when ke was shunned by the colony of the Rock. NagTe no doubt led a relatively privileged early life, and as eldest stood to possibly inherit the title of Te upon his father’s death.
NagTe claimed that he had visions from the Shadow-World from earliest childhood, with many of the prophetic dreams involving the major deity GhazTi. However, he experienced a true spiritual epiphany in Year 138, when his father, SefiTe, was killed by the human Srivaya Martinez-Santos, who was a member of a mapping and exploratory team from the Rock searching for copper and iron deposits. Details again vary depending on who tells the story …
The tale brought back to the Rock was that VarTe and a large contingent of his XeXa—including NagTe—came to the human encampment late in the day, when only Srivaya and Kuro Allen-Shiummura, another team member, were present. The Miccail chieftain threatened the two humans and was obviously distressed with the invasion of his territory. Hopelessly outnumbered, Srivaya and Kuro were in fear of their lives, and when SefiTe showed his claws and advanced on Srivaya, she fired on the Miccail Te, killing him instantly.
One of the XeXa immediately slew Srivaya with a foot strike—this was NagTe, according to Kuro’s retellings of the story in later life, when NagTe became infamous among the humans. Kuro also fired, wounding or killing another of the XeXa, and fled with the Miccail in hot pursuit.
Kuro managed to elude the Miccail in the forest, find his other companions, and warn them. Fighting off occasional ambushes from SefiTe’s people, they fought their way from SefiTe’s territory and returned to the Rock.
According to QualiKa folklore, SefiTe, accompanied only by his eldest child NagXe, leamed that several humans had invaded their territory without coming to the TeTa as they should. Worse, they were violating the land, digging into the earth without the proper rituals and thus risking the spiritual well-being of all the CieTiLa by disturbing the earth kahina. SefiTe had come to offer his people’s help in assisting them with the rituals, to show them how to appease the kahina so that there would be no earthquakes or other repercussions, and to forgive them for their impoliteness in not coming before the TeTa.
When they arrived at the encampment, SefiTe and NagXe initially believed the area to be deserted, until they heard noise from inside one of the tents. Entering, they found the two humans engaged in sexual intercourse. The humans, lost in their passion, did not notice the CieTiLa until SefiTe spoke in the CieTiLa tongue, telling them (as any CieTiLa would who had interrupted friends in the middle of things) to finish and that he and his eldest would speak with them afterward. And, with the casual attitude CieTiLa had toward sex, they started to crouch down there to wait.
But the humans had already broken apart, shrieking like crazy animals and confusing SefiTe and NagXe. The woman reached for her weapon. Before SefiTe or NagXe could react, she had pointed it at them and fired. NagXe saw the side of his father’s head explode, and he was spattered by brains and blood. Instinctively, NagXe lashed out at the naked human female, his footclaw eviscerating the woman in one strike as the human male fled the tent shrieking.
NagXe would have pursued, but he could not. At the moment he’d slain the female, the strongest vision he’d ever experienced clutched him, holding him tightly, and GhazTi came to him …
Where is the truth in all this? (For there are other alternate versions of the event as well, though none by eyewitnesses.) The truth can never be known with any certainty, since both surviving participants in the event, NagTe and Kuro Allen-Shimmura, are long dead. In all likelihood, both designed their versions of the tale to fit their own agendas.
True or not, the vision that NagTe claims came to him then was the genesis of the QualiKa society he would form just a few years later. In that vision, GhazTi appeared in His Spirit Warrior aspect holding the LansaTi, the God-Spear. The horn of crescent Quali was set in his forehead as his brais; a gigantic, perfectly rounded wingclaw feather was carefully braided into His spinal mane.
Reaching down to where SefiTe’s body lay huddled on the ground, GhazTi dipped a finger in SefiTe’s pooling life-blood and with it traced the image of a crescent Quali on NagTe’s chest. Then GhazTi bent over the dead human and lapped at her lifeblood with his tongues. Finally, GhazTi embraced NagTe, kissing him fiercely, and NagTe could taste the metallic sourness of the human blood. The blood burned in him, rushing through his body; when it reached his chest, where GhazTi had sketched the sign of Quali in his father’s blood, his skin was seared from the inside, burning the sign of Quali forever into NagTe’s flesh.
“The CieTiLa have abandoned the ways the gods have taught them,” GhazTi said, His voice as harsh as rocks, as stern as a thundercloud. “Too few perform the old rites, too few observe KoPavi, the path of the Open Door, and that has weakened all CieTiLa. You must bring the CieTiLa back to KoPavi, or the CieTiLa will fall into human ways and be lost. You have felt how CieTiLa blood and human blood cannot mix together. They will try to change the KoPavi, they will claim our land as their own, and they will use their tricks to change the CieTiLa into something else. I will send you signs and omens to keep you to the KoPavi, but you must be alert and have the courage to stand with the KoPavi against even the resistance of other CieTiLa.
“I tell you this: The earth will drink blood. The kahina, the spirits of earth and fire and air, will all rise up with you. You are Cha’akMongTi, the GodMouth, and your words will be my words. You are CheVeyo, the Warrior Spirit. You are also LansaTi, the GodSpear, and you will prepare the KoPavi with blood if you must.
“If you fail, it will tell you that the CieTiLa are still too weak, still lost from your long sleep, and I will take you with me into the ShadowWorld. But I will eventually come to another of your line, Te or Ta, and I will make that one the new Cha’akMongTi.”
So saying, GhazTi picked up the body of SefiTe in one hand and devoured it in a single gulp, swallowing it whole. Thunderclouds formed in the sky above Him, the earth shivered underfoot, and a thousand kahina in the shape of lightnings wrapped themselves around Him and bore GhazTi back to the ShadowWorld. NagTe was knocked unconscious as the electrical bolts snapped around him, and did not recover for a full hand of days.
That was the vision of NagTe, the beginning of the QualiKa, who were named for the moon symbol burned into NagTe’s chest.
We know the historical facts of the next few decades all too well. In the wake of SefiTe’s death, FasTa declined to claim another of the Xe as her mate, and so as eldest child of the Ta, NagXe became NagTe to rule with her. But the vision still troubled him, and by Year 140, NagTe had left his home with a small group of followers, the seed of the community that would become the QualiKa, and wandered the land for some time.
NagTe sought out the Miccail of the territories through which they traveled, talking with them of the KoPavi, relaying his vision, performing the rites and making the required sacrifices. Each time he stopped, NagTe gained more followers. Eventually, he came to AnglSaiye, and for a few years dwelt there with his followers. As once had his parents, he became a friend of Anaïs, the human O’Sa, and he helped ker to reestablish many of the old customs of the Sa, so that they had their own KoPavi. However, he could see that O’Sa Anaïs had a personality as charismatic and dominant as his own, and NagTe realized that the Community of Sa, both human and Miccail, would never completely align itself with his vision of the KoPavi. In the last few months of his time at AnglSaiye, in Year 151, there were clashes between the QualiKa and the human settlers of AnglSaiye, and with much sadness, O’Sa Anaïs eventually ruled that NagTe and his followers were to be shunned, banishing NagTe and the QualiKa from the island. NagTe refused to leave, however, and the QualiKa were forcibly removed in a violent incident that left two humans, the FirstHand of the Miccail Sa, and three of the QualiKa dead. NagTe and O’Sa Anaïs exchanged bitter, harsh words before the QualiKa were taken away from the island.
For the next several years, there were regular bloody encounters between the QualiKa and the humans. The symbol of the crescent small moon became feared by the humans, and many of the Families began to regard all Miccail with suspicion. Like similar human apocalyptic sects, the QualiKa were roused by the fundamentalist passion and fervor of their beliefs in the KoPavi, and this passion often manifested in fury: both toward the human society, as well as toward those Miccail who refused to follow the KoPavi as preached by NagTe. The violence escalated, reaching a zenith in Xear 164 with what would later be called the Hannibal Massacre.
When work crews from the Rock arrived at the point where the Green River met the old Miccail highroad and began to build a small settlement as a shipping point for ore from the Twin Lakes region to the north, the outcry from NagTe was immediate and loud. The humans had asked not asked permission of the TeTa of that territory, had not performed any of the rites needed to appease the kahina of the earth or the river, and the location of Hannibal might disturb the traditional migratory route of the nik-nik, whom the Miccail hunted in the fall. The KoPavi was being ignored, NagTe ranted; the humans ignored NagTe and continued building.
Frustrated, NagTe led a group of over a hundred of his followers to Hannibal. Afterward, each group would point to the other when asked who started the hostilities.
The precipitating event leading to the final confrontation was the killing of a QualiKa by Mahesh Allen-Shimmura. Mahesh claimed that the act was pure self-defense, that the QualiKa attacked him as he walked down the highroad toward Hannibal. This is possibly true, but Mahesh was one of the more militant in attitude toward the QualiKa of the already unsympathetic Allen-Shimmura Family. The QualiKa, for their part, claimed that the murder was entirely unprovoked, and that is also entirely possible.
The Families in Hannibal told NagTe that he must leave; NagTe, in defiance, settled the QualiKa in tents across the highroad, refusing to depart. The situation deteriorated further when NagTe demanded that Mahesh be turned over to the QualiKa to be executed according to Miccail law. NagTe insisted that the KoPavi was entirely clear on this, Mahesh’s death being the only way reparation could be made to the offended kahina of the area. The Elders of the Rock, not surprisingly, given the Allen-Shimmura influence, adamantly refused when this demand was brought to them. The Elders instead dispatched an armed delegation to relieve their Family members at Hannibal. At the same time, O’Sa Anaïs, learning of the original incident through Ghost, departed from AnglSaiye to attempt to defuse the worsening situation. Ke would be too late.
Mahesh was killed by one of the QualiKa while walking sentry duty, though whether the murderer was NagTe himself remains a question. Open fighting had already begun by the time Anaïs arrived, the QualiKa armed only with spear, bow, and claw since the KoPavi did not permit them to use captured human weapons. When Anaïs stepped ashore at Hannibal, five more humans were already dead, as were a dozen or more QualiKa, including NagTe, who was seen to fall after being shot leading the charge of the QualiKa across the highroad to where the human troops had gathered. NagTe’s lifeless body was carried from the battle by his followers only hours before Anaïs’s arrival, and would never be seen by human eyes again.
Anaïs, despite ker advanced age, insisted on walking openly down the highroad between the warring factions, accompanied by a mixed delegation of human and Miccail from AnglySaiye. For a moment, the fighting stopped as ke approached, the gunfire and shouts fading. There would be one last shot fired, however: the bullet struck Anaïs, who crumpled to the stones of the highroad, clutching ker side.
The wounding of the O’Sa horrified both sides, for even though the last meeting between NagTe and Anaïs had been marred by anger, a deeper respect for the O’Sa remained in NagTe’s heart. He had often declared that the human Sa were protected by the KoPavi, and had honored the Miccail Sa who came to the QualiKa in their ritual wanderings, all his own offspring being conceived through the Sa. For ker own part, O’Sa Anaïs had always defended NagTe to ker own people as a true visionary, insisting that the KoPavi held the best path for both human and Miccail while lamenting the violence of the QualiKa.
Anaïs refused to be moved from where ke had fallen until the leaders of both sides were brought to ker. Ke was visibly distraught on learning that NagTe was already dead. However, with the force of ker personality, the mortally wounded Anaïs negotiated a truce.
O’Sa Anaïs died two days later in Hannibal. Though the identity of ker murderer would never be known, suspicion is often placed on Micah Allen-Shimmura, then one of the Elders of the Family. Over the next few years, almost certainly as a result of NagTe’s death, the QualiKa movement lost momentum and dissolved. For the next several decades, the QualiKa, if they existed at all, remained hidden.
It would remain to CosTa, NagTe’s granddaughter, to revive the QualiKa.
Despite the obvious similarity of possessing both male and female genitalia, the human and Miccail midmales are more different than alike. Some of this is grounded in the fact that both are species alien to each other, each with its own sexuality and with no possibility of cross-fertilization. Evolution is a creative artist, and the canvas of the Miccail is utterly distinct from that of the human race. Even though at first glance, both human and Miccail Sa might appear to fulfill the same function and perform in the same manner, they do not.
Even the appearance of the two types of Sa are very diverse. The Miccail Sa has a vagina well above the anus and just below the end of the spinal column, with a normal Miccail penile structure in the front. This facilitates the usual mode of the Sa-involved sexual act for the Miccail: The Miccail Sa is penetrated by the penis of the male via ker rear vaginal opening; the midmale in turn penetrates the female in much the usual manner. This double copulation is performed by all parties at the same time, rather than separately. The semen of the male passes rapidly through the vaginal sheath into a seminal canal that passes along the pelvic floor of the Sa. The canal quickly transports the semen via orgasmic muscular contractions to the Sa “prostate,” where it is combined with more ejaculate from the Sa kerself and released through the midmale’s penis into the female. All of this happens within seconds, the male orgasm invariably triggering the Sa’s extended release a few moments later.
The human Sa, in contrast, is more traditionally hermaphoditic, with an erectile penile shaft—both shorter and thinner than that of the human male—sprouting from where the clitorial hood would normally be in a human female, the vaginal opening just below. This makes double copulation awkward if not impossible, and human Sa generally engage in single acts of intercourse with a male alone or a female alone. The human Sa “stores” the seminal fluid of the male within ker altered “uterus” (which also connects to the penis), where the semen is revitalized and kept active. Viable sperm can be released into the female up to three or four days later.
The ejaculate of the two species is also very different, though in both species, the midmale serves as an evolutionary “stabilizer.” The vaginal secretions of both human and Miccail midmales act as a biological “filter” for the male semen, culling sperm carrying mutated DNA while adding prostatic acid phosphatase and fructose (an additional energy source) to the remaining seminal fluid. This altered, energized semen can then be ejaculated from the midmale into the female. However, research has shown that the Miccail Sa also contribute genetic material of their own to the mix. The human Sa has no testes or prostate; the Miccail does possess a gland much like a prostate, and that gland also dispenses genetic material. Lacking the technology to study the actual genes and DNA structure involved, anything further is speculation, but we know that this material attaches itself to the head of the Miccail male’s sperm, and is thus injected into the egg along with the male’s genetic information when the egg is fertilized.
The human Sa contributes no genetic material to the mix at all. They serve only to pass to the human female a reenergized and stable version of the male’s semen.
Along with the above-mentioned genetic stability, as wanderers the midmales—both Miccail and human—also serve as dispersers of new genes, the human Sa by carrying (knowingly or unknowingly) the DNA of Families from one to another and the Miccail Sa by adding their own genes to the mix. Both human and Miccail can (obviously) reproduce without the Sa, but the midmales increase the genetic diversity of their respective population, significantly decrease the occurence of mutations, and increase the viabilty of offspring, thus fulfilling their role within the reproductive process.
Amberdrop Amberdrops are deciduous trees with purplish, thick leaves. They have multiple trunks, and a grove of them is more a single organism than a collection of individual trees. Amberdrops prefer moist soil along streams or swamps. There are several subspecies, only two of which become good-sized trees. The leaves vary from species to species, but all are characterized by the ability to seep a thick, yellowish substance. Insects are attracted to the sweet-smelling substance, and become trapped and quickly covered, so that they do not decay. By late summer, a single amberdrop tree may have “collected” several thousand insects and the occasional small bird or lizard. In fall, the leaves shrivel—forming upright cups—but do not drop from the tree, and the sap become thin and runny. The entombed insects fall into the funnel formed by the coiled leaves and are there absorbed by the tree.
Bell Root A medicinal plant with analgesic properties. Bell root is found in dry, rocky soil, and is characterized by spiked, hard leaves and a shallow root system with knobby protrusions.
Bluefern A common lowland plant fond of swampy or moist soil. The bluefern has thin, feathered leaves with a distinct azure cast.
Bumblewort A furry, placental mammal about the size of a terrier. Slow, thick-bodied, the bumblewort looks clumsy as it waddles through the brush searching for the succulent roots which are its primary food source. The bumblewort has sharp claws and teeth, used for digging and tearing, and can defend itself quite well against its enemies, despite its timid appearance. Bumbleworts are generally brown with black stripes, though one sub-species is tiger-striped.
Coney A small, agile mammal inhabiting brushy fields and forests. Coneys have the third sightless eye, and are quick to startle with changes in lighting, making swift, bounding leaps away to cover. The coney’s muscular back legs are nearly twice the length of their front paws, and they are generally bipedal, reverting to four legged locomotion only in flight. Unlike their Earth namesake, the coney is not particularly rabbitlike except for the hopping flight mechanism. They have no outer ears at all, only earholes, and more resemble a meerkat than a rabbit.
Curltongue A small, beakless bird, several species of which are brightly colored. Curltongues feed on flowering plants and amberdrop sap, sipping the nectar with their namesake long and agile tongues.
Ebonyew A dense, dark wood with pure white grain lines. Ebonyew trees flourish well to the south of AnglSaiye and the Rock, reaching well over a hundred feet in height, with trunks sometimes three or four meters in diameter, and a thick canopy of leaves that grows at the very summit of the tree. The wood is highly prized as durable, insect-resistant lumber, and is also sometimes used for sculpture because of its beautiful grain.
Faux-wheat A wheatlike grain, which when milled produces a slightly sweet, coarse flour suitable for bread-making. Faux-wheat has a reddish cast, and bread made from the flour is dark.
Globe-Tree Not a true tree at all, but more a giant fern, sometimes reaching heights of twenty-five meters. The leaves are variegated, profuse, and large, growing from ground to peak. The name comes the spiky extensions that sprout from the middle of the ferns, at the end of which grows a round fruit the size of a basketball. The inedible seedball ripens through spring and summer, until in fall it cracks explosively, the sound audible from some distance, scattering seeds up to a quarter-kilometer away. There have been reported injuries from people being hit by a globe-tree seed, though no deaths.
Goathen A large, flightless birdlike mammal with downy feathers. Goathens can grow to the size of the Earth ostrich. The head is cluttered with several knobby extrusions, and the goathen’s demeanor can be decidedly belligerent at times, especially in the wild. The goathen has been domesticated in the last several decades, and is kept both for its meat and for the thin milk it provides.
Groundslug A large, unshelled land mollusk, dark brown with bright green irregular spots. The groundslug can range up to a meter long. The slimy covering of the groundslug is caustic, and can cause chemical burns to unprotected skin, and evidently acts as a deterrent to animals that would prey on the slow, otherwise defenseless creature.
Honeydipper Flying insects about seven to eight centimeters in length, with thick, brightly colored bodies. Honeydippers are not hive insects, but solitary. They feed on the nectar of flowering plants, but do not process it as food. Rather, they take the nectar and deposit it around their burrow, using it as bait to lure unwary insects into range, which are then killed by specialized forearm pincers which both hold the victim and at the same time inject a fast-acting neurotoxin. Honeydipper poison is toxic to humans, though rarely life-threatening.
Ice-Borer The bane of wintering animals. Ice-borers inhabit lakes and pools in rivers and streams. Hibernating in the muddy lake bottoms in the warmer months, they awake in late fall when ice begins to form. Ice-borers are able to detect infrared radiation via a specialized organ in the middle of their heads. When they detect heat on the ice above (usually a jaunecerf or some other animal looking for water, though careless humans are not immune), the ice-borers, usually working as a quartet consisting of two mated pairs, will rapidly use the hard, ridged spines that line their spines to open the ice around the prey animals—the spines are substantially warmer than the rest of the ice-borer, and that heat aids the ice-borer in opening the hole. Once the prey animal falls into the icy water, the ice-borers attack, gripping the animal in their strong jaws and dragging them underneath the ice to drown and be eaten. During its mating season in early winter, the ice-borers call to their potential mates in long, melancholy grunts.
Jaunecerf A deerlike animal hunted for food by the human colonists of Mictlan. The jaunecerf has a yellowish coat in the summer, which darkens to nearly orange in winter. Like many Mictlanian animals, it has a third, sightless eye high on the forehead that registers changes in illumination, and a doubled tongue.
Land Barnacle A shelled creature infesting trees and rocks in moist environments. The shell is much the same shape and size of the Earth sea barnacle, though the shell is smooth and brightly colored, different species sporting different colors and patterns. The land barnacle, however, is not a mollusk, but a shelled reptilian creature, feeding on fungi growing on the surface it inhabits.
Nik-Nik The nik-nik is a fleet four-legged mammal with a light, woolly coat, large ears, and heavy, cloven hoofs. Nearly blind, the nik-nik relies on echo-locating clicking calls to navigate through the forests it inhabits—hence its name. The adult nik-nik has a series of horny spikes along the spine and down the legs which the nik-nik can raise in danger.
Pear-nut A small, bushy fruit tree with tiny, spiky leaves. The pear-nut fruit is about the size of an orange, bright green when ripe, and hard-shelled with a granular interior that when scraped yields a whitish paste. The taste, according to the original colonists, is somewhat similar to the Earth pear, though pear-nut paste is generally balled and left to harden and served in that fashion, sometimes garnished with spices
Proto-wolf A carnivorous pack animal, though not overly wolflike despite its name, looking more like the front of a jackal grafted onto the rear of small horse. The proto-wolf has spiky gray-to-brown fur, a thick, smashed-snouted nose, lean body, and short clawed paws. The back legs are longer and more muscular than the front, lending the animal a sloped, crouched appearance even at rest. The packs communicate with high-pitched squeals which are audible over long distances at night. Packs out hunting are afraid of nothing, and will attack animals far larger than themselves. Circling the chosen prey, the proto-wolves dart in whenever an opportunity presents itself to nip at legs or flanks, slowly wearing down the opponent until it falls exhausted, at which point it is doomed. The pack attacks in concert, ripping and tearing at the prey.
Puffwort A small relative of the globe-tree, the puffwort is a prolific bush with greenish to purplish fan-shaped leaves. Like the globe-tree, the puffwort grows a central spike from which dangles a seedball that ripens in the fall. Unlike the globe-tree, the ripe seedball remains intact until contact by some animal, bird, or large insect causes it to rip open, usually enveloping the poor victim in a cloud of whitish, sticky spores, which adhere for a time to the hapless victim before dropping off, thus spreading the seeds over a large area.
Redwing A large flying insect, with bright red, translucent wings over a handspan wide, now rather rare. The founders of the human colony on Mictlan told of huge swarms of redwings filling the sky, so many that the sun was dimmed and bloody through their wings. Not much is known of the redwing owing to their current scarcity.
River Grouper A large fish inhabiting the rivers around the colony. The adult river grouper is one to two meters long, thick-bodied, and slow. The river grouper’s usual feeding tactic is to sit on the muddy bottom of the river with its mouth open and its long tongue extended—the end of the river grouper’s tongue has a knobbed shape that resembles a small fish. By wriggling this “lure” the river grouper attracts schools of small, minnowlike fish. The river grouper will then rush from its resting place and feed. River groupers can be easily snared with seines, though they are muscular and can put up a tremendous fight before being subdued. The meat of the river grouper is white and succulent.
Sawtooth A large carnivorous seabird with a gray breast and white wings with pale orange stripes. The head is large, sitting atop a long neck, and it has exceedingly keen sight. Adults can reach the size of a condor and can present a threat even to humans. The sawtooth is not actually toothed, but the large beak is lined with toothlike, razor-sharp ridges, hence the name. The sawtooth rarely ventures more than a few kilometers inland, and prefer offshore islands where the winds are reliable. An adult sawtooth is too heavy to fly on windless days, and is itself vulnerable in that state.
Skimmer Skimmers are brightly colored birds who prefer swampy or boggy land. They scoop up insects, water plants, and fish with their wide beaks as they fly over shallow pools, their white-plumed breasts seeming almost to touch the water. Skimmers leave distinctive cloverleaf tracks in the mud.
Spindle-leg A colony insect, with eight long legs and a thick carapace. The spindle-leg is a burrowing insect, creating colonies that may range over several meters with several entrances and exits. Usually found in dry soil, though the red-backed species prefers the muddy ground near the river. Spindle-legs will bite when threatened, though they are nonpoisonous.
Starnose A burrowing mammal, with clawed front feet, dark fur, and a distinctive, fleshy nose. The starnose is blind and deaf, having no organs of sight or hearing at all. It does possess a keen sense of smell, and can evidently feel vibrations through its body. It feeds on worms and grubs, as well as the roots of succulent plants. In the faux-wheat fields, it is a destructive pest.
Stink-flower Aptly named, the stink-flower is a smallish tree, no more than six meters high, with a thick, ridged trunk and large flowers that bloom year-round. The stink-flower produces a strong odor that attracts insects and small birds from long distances, but in the interior of the cup-shaped flower is a pool of tarry material that traps the victim. Oddly, unlike its cousin the amberdrop, the stink-flower does not consume the insects or birds that it traps. The stink-flower lives in a symbiotic relationship with crustaceanlike creatures that lurk in the long splits in the trunk. The crustaceans exude a chemical that allows them to walk in the tarry vessels of the flowers without becoming stuck. They eat the prey caught there, then return to their homes in the trunk. The stink-flower gets sustenance from the droppings (quite malodorous themselves) of the crustaceans, which fall into the earth around the trunk of the tree. While the stink-flower is not a pleasant neighbor, the tar (odorless itself) has uses for creating watertight and flexible seals.
Sweetmelon A sprawling ground vine with large, thick-veined leaves. The sweetmelon produces brilliant white blossoms in the early summer, and large varicolored melons in the fall, the meat of which is sweet and juicy. Sweetmelons must be picked before they become too ripe, however, for the juice ferments inside the melon quickly. Wildlife eating too-ripe or rotting sweetmelons have been found intoxicated and sick.
Tartberry A prickly vine with bright yellow leaves and a red fruit. Growing on sandy hillsides, the tartberry forms thick, nearly impenetrable brambles. The fruit is marginally edible, though extremely sour even when fully ripe.
Thorn-vine A vine whose main trunks, when injured, drip a thin, viscous oily sap that dries quickly to seal the cut. The thorn is nearly leafless, the entire surface chlorophyll-filled. The thorn-vine produces long, daggerlike namesake thorns, which make a formidable hedge. The sap has found several uses, including medical ones.
Toothworms More accurately, “toothed worms.” These are earth-boring carnivorous worms about twenty-five to fifty centimeters in length, whose mouths are ridged with tiny, spiny teeth. Blind, a toothworm turned up in a shovelful of dirt will bite at anything radiating heat. The bite is painful, as the toothworm injects a small amount of poison into its victim. The bite could be potentially fatal to infants, though not to adults.
Tree-leaper Lemurlike, tree-dwelling marsupials inhabiting the western portions of the northern continent of Mictlan. Tree-leapers live in communal groups, are extremely territorial, and will defend their nesting trees against much larger intruders, such as humans. A lone tree-leaper is no match for a human, but the swarming attack of a tribe of them can be dangerous.
Verrechat A small, catlike marsupial with transparent or lightly tinted skin and muscles. Sometimes domesticated.
White-bean A semidomesticated bush which yields pale-colored beans in bunches of six to ten. The bean is sweet, with meaty kernels.
Whitewood A tall tree with heart-shaped leaves with three to five lobes, light purple above and hairy underneath. The outer layer of cream-colored bark peels away to reveal wood that is nearly white. The hard, coarse-grained wood is used for furniture, boxes, and woodenware. The fruits of the whitewood are a string of three or four “buttonballs.”
Wizard Literally, “winged lizard.” Tree-dwelling lizards with scaly feathers and a large flap of loose skin running the length of their bodies. A large, mutated forefinger nearly half the body length of the wizard is attached to this flap—when extended, this wing allows the wizard to fly short distances. This is true flight, not merely gliding. There are several species of wizard, each with characteristic patterns, with the adults varying in size from ten centimeters to over a meter. The Blue Wizards are particularly gregarious and form large colonies, which may number up to several hundred members.