-Conrad-
“I suppose I am about as ready as I am going to be. Lead on”
Ruufarrl nodded and opened the door, letting in a gentle breeze that smelled faintly of spice or incense, Conrad wasn’t entirely sure which.
The group that stood waiting for them consisted of four guards, two adult Ruulothi and two young Ruulothi. It was the first time that Conrad had seen both a Ruulothi cub and a Ruulothi female. As they approached the two groups of Ruulothi broke out into an emotionally charged discourse in their own language. Conrad took the opportunity to quietly observe them closer.
The cubs looked like little more than smaller versions of the adults, which was to be expected as that was the norm across the vast majority of known species. They stood next to and, in the young male’s case, slightly behind what must be their parents in the center of the formation.
Those two adults looked to be the Heads of the House, Naarviix and her husband/mate. Now that he was seeing Ruulothi females he noticed that the differences were small and subtle, outside of one very obvious difference common to mammalian creatures. The female’s ears looked to be rounder than the male’s ears, but on closer inspection they instead simply did not have the extended tuft at the peak of the ear.
Naarviix was slightly larger than her mate, and of a sable-rust coloring rather than the bolder reds and blacks he had become accustomed to seeing. Her daughter appeared to share her coloring, though if this was due to genetics or an attribute of females in general, he had no way of knowing.
In terms of general physical build and features, they were nearly identical to the males, though the two females stood and moved in a slightly different manner, likely due to a difference in their hip structures, much like human females.
Finally, was the most obvious difference. Both females wore coverings across their chest. The younger appeared to do so as a matter of course and civility, while Naarviix had very clear, recognizable, and identifiable breasts to cover.
“There must be a biological advantage for walking bipedal creatures to develop in this way. Probably as it makes transport and care of young easier than if their nurturing organs were in their abdomen like on four legged animals. Given that even now we really know nothing of our progenitor evolutions beyond ‘Primate derived’ and ‘possibly aquatic in origin’ it makes me wonder if we went through a period when becoming bipedal where that changed for us out of evolutionary convenience.”
He was shaken from his thoughts when Ruufarrl called for him. He looked up to see his mentor with a smirk on his face, “Observe, Naarviix, I told you that he was like you. Always getting lost in thought and staring off into the winds.”
“I see indeed, Uncle.”
Naarviix’s voice was softer and smoother than those of the males he had met, and was a higher pitch, but not as significantly as humans were.
“What exactly was it that distracted you so much, Mr. Conrad?” Her voice was sweet, but direct.
Conrad had a brief heart attack at her words. “Shit! Was I staring! Wait, no. I couldn’t have been. I had to look up at Ruufarrl, so I must have default to staring at the ground… Oh thank God.”
Panic attack averted, he collected himself and decided to be honest, but shorthanded. “Evolution.”
Ruufarrl tilted his head in, knowing that he was likely making the inevitable comparisons between their species and worlds as it was a conversation that had come up multiple times already. But Naarviix did not relent so easily.
“Truly? An odd subject to get distracted by during a potentially pivotal meeting. Tell me, if this is where your mind rests now, what do you see in Ruulothi evolution? How did we come about?”
Conrad looked about him as he considered. He looked to the sky and turned to look out into the distance at the forest and their architecture. He reflected on what he knew about the Ruulothi Culture and Customs and what little bit Ruufarrl had told him about the environment of their home world on the trip over.
“You came from Arboreal Cats of some sort. Being predatory your fur came to take on the colors of your surroundings, and your claws remained strong in order to facilitate climbing and living in the trees. Given your eventual size, it is likely that you lived in the lower root sections more than the canopies, which not only made it easier to reach the ground to hunt, but to reach the other resources that you needed. This is also supported by the way your arms articulate and are more limited in motion in comparison to my own. Rather than swing through the branches, you climbed on the lower exposed roots. It also means you likely evolved opposable thumbs before you became bipedal. Due in part to your predatory natures, but also due to the limited availability of natural resources like water due to your weather, you became a warrior species so that you could hold onto the necessities by any means. This led to tribal and clan social structures necessitated by the need to band together for survival. Practices which still persist to this day.
As technology progressed you no longer needed to compete for necessary resources and slowly started to band yourselves together into one people to prevent the destruction of resources in war. Your architecture takes on the look of hunting blinds built into your great trees, and from what I can see here your civilization seems to be all put together with a reverence and respect to the world around you. Rather than conquering your world and thriving in spite of it, you learned to live supported by it and each other. Which probably also points to either a lack or rarity of true predatory threats outside of yourselves.”
He ended by tilting his head and looking Naarviix straight in the eyes. The reactions among those with her, even the normally stoic guards, was one of surprise. Naarviix’s eyes widened and she sniffed as she settled back. She looked at Ruufarrl suspiciously.
“Did you coach him?”
Her uncle snorted in amusement, “Not at all. But I do recall mentioning that he was a quick study.”
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She narrowed her eyes at him some more, then smiled widely and began to laugh happily.
“Uncle, you do bring me such wonderful gifts.” She clapped her hands together as she leaned towards Conrad, “Oh, this is going to be so much fun! Please, Mr. Conrad, this is my mate Huurnsul and my children Riinjaal and Luviix. Welcome to our home, and welcome to Ruuloth. Please forgive our rudeness earlier. It has been a long time since we last saw my uncle and I am afraid that we let our emotions get the better of us.”
Conrad smiled back at her, both glad that he had not done anything improper himself and in response to her naturally bubbly nature and concern, “There is no need at all to apologize, I understand completely.”
“Thank you. Please, let us get you both inside and settled, then we can talk more before lunch is prepared. I suspect that you will both be need to sleep early, yes?” While she spoke, Conrad saw that her mate was quietly translating the conversations for their children. He had originally thought he was the quiet type, but then realized that he had his hands full making sure the children weren’t neglected as the conversation was conducted in GalStan.
Ruufarrl nodded, “Indeed. We are currently running over on our normal night schedule.”
“Well, I suppose that I will have to keep myself in check a little longer then.” Naarviix seemed to pout a bit. “But I am expecting you two to give me in depth details on everything that you have experienced.”
She turned and gave Conrad another grin, “Especially from you, Matron Slayer. Ah, which reminds me.” She stopped and faced Conrad directly before crossing her arms and bowing to him, “Thank you for saving this ratty old Feral’s life, so that he may return home again.”
“Naarviix…” Ruufarrl sighed, “Language.”
“What, are you denying it?”
Ruufarrl tilted his head briefly, “No, but there are children present.”
“They have not yet learned GalStan, so there is no need to worry, unless someone is translating everything?” She turned and looked pointedly at her mate.
Huurnsul laughed at her, his voice a rich bass, “Relax Naarvi, I do not have a death wish.”
Naarviix turned to give Ruufarrl a triumphant look, “See, it is just fine.”
He simply shook his head and chuckled at her antics. “I see very little has changed in my time away.” He gave her a soft smile in return, “I am glad.”
She sniffed imperiously, “You should be.”
Naarviix continued to lead them through the manor, finally stopping at the end of a hall with a number of doors. She pointed out two of them as she turned to her guests, “These are the rooms that we have prepared for you. Please get unpacked and comfortable. Lunch will be in the Hall in another thirty minutes. Uncle, I assume you remember where it is?”
“Of course.”
Ruufarrl’s response was simple, on the surface at least. But Conrad could see that his face promised retribution for the implied slight on his age and mental state.
She merely smirked at him as she turned and collected her family, speaking softly to them in their natural language. She nodded at her mate and they ushered the cubs down the hall.
Conrad turned to Ruufarrl once they were gone, “Well, she is certainly outspoken and says what is on her mind.”
Ruufarrl grunted, “Sometimes a little too much so. She has a great mind, but not the desire to temper her interactions. She wants what she wants and then goes to get it, winds be damned.”
He paused and then smiled, “But that is what makes her unique, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He waved at the rooms and Conrad nodded before turning to his and entering.
It was… Spartan.
There were no decorations, no bookshelves, nor anything else extra. There was only a bed with integrated drawers, a table, terminal and chair, the window and another door that led to a sanitation pod. He had expected this as Ruufarrl had explained that Ruulothi don’t really spring for such things beyond certain very specific considerations unless exorbitantly wealthy, but seeing it still surprised him.
Well, he supposed the lighting was fancy enough. The illumination sconces that came out of the walls reminded him of old candelabras.
Conrad set about prepping his room. He wasn’t yet sure just how long he was going to be here, but it did not make much sense to live out of his bags, so he put his clothing and other items into the drawers. His PT he placed on the table and set it up to charge. He also put his work tools/components down next to the table, ready for easy access or just tinkering in case he got bored.
He looked wistfully at the bed, realizing now just how tired he was. But turned away from it and left the room to meet Ruufarrl.
The hallways of the Manor were a series of interlinked rings that included stairs to different levels, and Conrad realized that they had been given rooms on the outside ring so as to have windows. Something that he presumed to be a gesture of respect.
It actually wasn’t as difficult as he had thought to catch on to the layout. The higher up one went, the more personal the rooms became, with the family rooms being on the highest of floors, and furthest out from the “Trunk” of the building, giving them the best view of their “Territory” and leaving them the furthest from any danger that may come from below.
Ruufarrl led him towards the center of the Manor, then up two flights of stairs and back out to the outer ring, opening a set of double doors at the end of their trek.
The room that he walked into was expansive and grand, the equal to any Great Hall from the annals of Humanity’s history.
The outer wall was a bank of windows, letting in the soft orange sunlight throughout the room. Long polished wood tables that were curved to the profile of the room took up the floor space. Two large fireplaces sat on the inner wall, spaced evenly down the length of it. Above them sat trophies in rows and columns, much like in any hunter’s lodge. Animal heads, captured weapons, at least one that looked to be a Mech arm of some sort, a couple pairs of crossed Clantor claws and various awards ran the length of the inner wall.
This then, wasn’t simply their Feasting Hall or Grand Hall. This was their primary Hall of Attainment. The place where they went to not only show off the prowess of their Clans’ hunters to outsiders, but where they went to share their grand stories, remember their past and, possibly, to commune silently with the spirits of their ancestors. It was equal parts Shrine, Trophy Room, Dining Hall and Meeting Hall.
It was one of the few places that a Ruulothi would pull out all the stops to make as grand as possible. It was also one of two. This was their Public Hall, and the place where they displayed their current House Member’s accomplishments and the Greatest from their Clan’s history. There would be a second in an inner ring where they displayed their historical trophies along all walls.
He was so distracted by the room itself that he missed that his hosts were already sitting at the tables until Ruufarrl stepped past him to greet them. Hoping that he hadn’t come across as rude, he followed quietly behind.
Their conversation was light, mostly just Ruufarrl getting reacquainted with them and proper introductions. It seemed that Naarviix was going easy on them and was holding herself back with the understanding that they were exhausted.
Naarviix explained that she works as a researcher and scholar and tries her best to stay out of the Politics associated with the Clan, something that even she admitted she was ill qualified for given her personality. Huurnsul was a civil engineer and held some responsibility for maintaining and planning the expansions and new construction of the Clan Hold.
Lunch was mostly what Conrad expected. A selection of meats and grains. What surprised him was that they also included some very soft fruits, slightly smaller than apples and with a taste that reminded him of wine.
His interest in the trophy wall had not gone unnoticed, and Naarviix promised to tell him the stories associated with them if he desired. But the stories would be for another day, as she directed them to return to their rooms and sleep.
As soon as he was back in his room Conrad crashed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.