Lerruva Ilkrain clung with his back to the stalactite, making not a sound as he eased into a crenellation in the side of the hanging rock, maintaining his position with his metal-sheathed Enkidukai claws. His triangular ears swivelled forward like satellites to catch the conversation taking place thirty meters away with crystal clear clarity.
\"Trade with the Nolthrir is going as expected. Soon, we hope to control eighty percent of seventh and eighth plane* exports. It depends on Vigesimi Ol\'Karn\'s cooperation. And with a little pressure,\" the voice paused, and the ominous sound of a knife scraped along rock cascaded through the cavern.
(*Author\'s note: planes are levels or grades. See
Yliakum)
\"With a little pressure, as I was saying, I\'m sure Vigesimi Ol\'Karn can be convinced to give us access to the exclusive Nolthrir channels.\"
Lerruva\'s pulse quickened as he realized the profits that a monopoly on the Nolthrir trading planes would reap. He closed his eyes and concentrated on memorizing the conversation, slowing his beating heart. His breathing slowed to a crawl, and he grew detached from his physical body. Only his sense of hearing was important.
A new voice broke the Diabolo\'s smug speech with an irritating whine. The Ynnwn, the Diaboli\'s half-breed cousins, were known for allying with their Diaboli blood rather than their elven heritage. The speaker had obviously chosen to follow his Diabolo half.
\"But what if the Octarchs find out about this? They\'d put an end to our monopoly, and likely our lives, rather quickly.\"
Once more the Diabolo\'s voice rang out, slightly annoyed and condescending. Lerruva realized that the speaker was female, which cut search possibilities in half.
\"As I said, pressure, properly applied, can work wonders. Physics is a wonderful thing, Diaboli-get.\"
The hidden Enkidukai could hear the Ynnwn\'s rib cage creak slightly as he drew in a sharp breath at the insult. He had begun a trance, and was no longer a thinking being. He was one with the rocks, cavewind, and scuttling creatures around him. He merely bore witness to and remembered what was being said.
A nasally pitched voice interrupted what might have become a fight. It sounded human, but not quite. As if the larynx was placed higher up, or right behind the nasal cavity. Xacha, Lerruva\'s subconscious mind whispered sleepily.
\"I feel an uneasiness in this section of Yliakum. Something can hear us.\"
\"Oh, it\'s just a jek-ra scorpion triggering your mystical senses, oh revered shaman,\" the Diabolo taunted. Still, she grew silent afterwards.
\"Nevertheless.\" The Xacha began a low chant that completely contradicted his earlier nasal voice.
Lerruva, somewhere in his mind, worried. But his was a tiny voice against the harmony of the rock.
A slight pressure formed like a bubble against his mind. He felt/saw it affecting the scorpions, sleeping pterosaurs, rats, mice and small creatures throughout the cavern. They awoke and huddled deeper into their crevices. The very rock itself complained as if it itched. Except for the Kran, very few of the species within the Yliakum knew that the earth had its own will, a deep inner-conscience. But the invading mind was not searching for them.
The mind-bubble grew larger, seeking sentience to push itself into and devour. Lerruva\'s worry trickled outward and joined the earth\'s mild feeling of itchiness.
But where Lerruva was, the Xacha sorceror could see only an oddly shaped rock, and even that smoothed into the stalactite with a second mental check.
Any other carbon-based sentience would have been detected. No other enkidukai, no Xacha or Ylian could have escaped without at least some trace.
Lerruva left only doubts in the Xacha\'s mind.
\"We\'d best go. I feel great unease,\" the Xacha intoned, spooked by his seemingly false alarm.
An enkidukai with mental abilities was one in a million. An enkidukai with inherent mental abilities, which need not be taught at all to be used effectively, was ten times rarer. And an enkidukai who had inherent mental abilities, had been half raised by Kran and taught to be one with the rock, was, in the history of Yliakum and the world, a first.
Lerruva Ilkrain was that first.
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So what do you think of the beginning of my story? I haven\'t actually played Planeshift (and I dare to write about it! I feel like I\'m cheating somehow) so I need to know my mistakes*, such as those having to do with skills, magic, or races. Actually, I could use a few suggestions for the enkidukai main character\'s name*2.
*(If you bring up any mistakes, I will ignore them, saying the game is still in development and it\'s impossible to say with certainty what the game will really be like. I guess I just like the setting and the races.)
*2(If you make a suggestion for the name I will really listen. Really.)
