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nebris[all dialog is approximate]
The Consu home world is one fifth larger than Earth and has half again its gravity. Humans would find visually stunning, but physically uncomfortable, not just because of the gravity, but because the place is loud enough to make one's ears bleed. As some humans have noted, the Consu language 'sounds like freight trains fucking'. Let it be noted that their language fits in perfectly with their ecology.
They called this world The Place Where We Shall Stand. As with most of the rest of our narrative, we shall dismiss any attempts to relate that in Consu. It is not however the world of their origin. They abandoned that planet so long ago that, except for a handful of scholars, even they have forgotten where it was, 'was' being the operative word. When they finally found a star system that exactly suited their purposes – an M-Class star with a K-Class brown dwarf companion – their stripped their actual home world of what they wanted and broke the thing down for raw materials.
The Consu are a deeply deeply religious race, but are almost completely free of what humans would call sentimentality. The CDF Cultural Assessment Division classifies them [tentatively] as 'logical psychopaths'. And CDF/CAD had not a clue as to most of the above information.
One thing that the CDF knows – as does every other race that has dealt with Consu – is that they used that brown dwarf to erect a force field around the entire start system. Consu technology, like their language, seems near incomprehensible to humans.
One Consu word humans could utter, if they knew it, is Skeeel. It is the colloquial name for a great and rare delicacy, The Fat Juicy Ground Borer With The Tasty Pink Skin. We'll skip the full Consu name for that as well. Skeeel is a cross between a pig and a grub and usually around four to six kilos. To eat Skeeel, first its upper spine is severed by the diner's razor talon forearm – the sound it makes when this happens is where the name of the dish comes from – which paralyzes it and renders it comatose. The skin is then peeled and deep fried separately while its fatty viscera are consumed raw with a dipping sauce.
The primary delight of Skeeel is deep frying its skin. This is a complex social ritual, close to sacred in nature. A Skeeeling takes place at a large round table with a deep wok-like bowl of hot oil in the center. The 'place setting' of each diner is clearly delineated and held as if it were conquered territory.
The most senior Consu present, usually the host, fries his skin first and then each Consu, in descending order of status, until the most junior. This is considered good hosting as the oil is seasoned with each skin. Then the order is reversed for the next batch and so on. At least a half dozen of these delicacies are eaten by each Consu in a single meal.
While all this is proceeding, servants bring beverages, condiments and side dishes throughout the meal, which is eaten in silence, punctuated only by grunts of pleasure and what passes for flatulence among the Consu. The latter could cause respiratory arrest for a number of races.
Nine Consu Elders have gathered for a meal. Sixteen places at the table. Plate faced down at empty seats.
They toast the last Elder to go on his Death Journey and down to business.
First Elder, Second Elder, etc
Humans are called Small Green Squeakers and The Conclave is called The Gaggle. John Perry is known as Two Shot Killer.
Consu laughter is like chainsaws cutting sheet metal
The Egglayers are worn out and dying. The End of The Breeding Cycle is at hand. The Time of Sleep is coming. The deviants and criminals have been mostly killed off. The Caretakers are gathering.
Consu females are massive stupid egg layers. Rumors that they were once just like males are considered blasphemy and repeating them carries a death sentence.
The Curse of Self. Humans ruined the Obin. “What we now get to examine is how this Perfect Creation of ours fully rejected its Perfection and then made an immature human egglayer into its SacredRulerDeity for something its parent did.” The word came out as HOOGMAAANN. “The evidence at hand that we have made some incorrect conclusions is brutally clear.” That the First Elder used the human's own Name for themselves was a shocking elevation of their status.
The Consu 'discuss matters' regarding Redemption, 'human allies', etc.
'they have finally put their warrior class in charge'
'but their new Leadership Lottery Winner is an egglayer!'
'they are not us, and this egglayer has faced us in battle twice and survived. That is sufficient'
Fifth Elder laughed bitterly, a sound like a chainsaw ripping through sheet metal. “I'm glad my Death Journey approaches. I have no stomach to deal with any of this heresy.” He up ended his goblet, held it out for a servant to refill, then drank half of that in one swig. Fifth Elder would likely sleep on the Skeeeling chamber floor that evening.
a single Consu Rotation is about seventeen Standard Months.
The Consu home world is one fifth larger than Earth and has half again its gravity. Humans would find visually stunning, but physically uncomfortable, not just because of the gravity, but because the place is loud enough to make one's ears bleed. As some humans have noted, the Consu language 'sounds like freight trains fucking'. Let it be noted that their language fits in perfectly with their ecology.
They called this world The Place Where We Shall Stand. As with most of the rest of our narrative, we shall dismiss any attempts to relate that in Consu. It is not however the world of their origin. They abandoned that planet so long ago that, except for a handful of scholars, even they have forgotten where it was, 'was' being the operative word. When they finally found a star system that exactly suited their purposes – an M-Class star with a K-Class brown dwarf companion – their stripped their actual home world of what they wanted and broke the thing down for raw materials.
The Consu are a deeply deeply religious race, but are almost completely free of what humans would call sentimentality. The CDF Cultural Assessment Division classifies them [tentatively] as 'logical psychopaths'. And CDF/CAD had not a clue as to most of the above information.
One thing that the CDF knows – as does every other race that has dealt with Consu – is that they used that brown dwarf to erect a force field around the entire start system. Consu technology, like their language, seems near incomprehensible to humans.
One Consu word humans could utter, if they knew it, is Skeeel. It is the colloquial name for a great and rare delicacy, The Fat Juicy Ground Borer With The Tasty Pink Skin. We'll skip the full Consu name for that as well. Skeeel is a cross between a pig and a grub and usually around four to six kilos. To eat Skeeel, first its upper spine is severed by the diner's razor talon forearm – the sound it makes when this happens is where the name of the dish comes from – which paralyzes it and renders it comatose. The skin is then peeled and deep fried separately while its fatty viscera are consumed raw with a dipping sauce.
The primary delight of Skeeel is deep frying its skin. This is a complex social ritual, close to sacred in nature. A Skeeeling takes place at a large round table with a deep wok-like bowl of hot oil in the center. The 'place setting' of each diner is clearly delineated and held as if it were conquered territory.
The most senior Consu present, usually the host, fries his skin first and then each Consu, in descending order of status, until the most junior. This is considered good hosting as the oil is seasoned with each skin. Then the order is reversed for the next batch and so on. At least a half dozen of these delicacies are eaten by each Consu in a single meal.
While all this is proceeding, servants bring beverages, condiments and side dishes throughout the meal, which is eaten in silence, punctuated only by grunts of pleasure and what passes for flatulence among the Consu. The latter could cause respiratory arrest for a number of races.
Nine Consu Elders have gathered for a meal. Sixteen places at the table. Plate faced down at empty seats.
They toast the last Elder to go on his Death Journey and down to business.
First Elder, Second Elder, etc
Humans are called Small Green Squeakers and The Conclave is called The Gaggle. John Perry is known as Two Shot Killer.
Consu laughter is like chainsaws cutting sheet metal
The Egglayers are worn out and dying. The End of The Breeding Cycle is at hand. The Time of Sleep is coming. The deviants and criminals have been mostly killed off. The Caretakers are gathering.
Consu females are massive stupid egg layers. Rumors that they were once just like males are considered blasphemy and repeating them carries a death sentence.
The Curse of Self. Humans ruined the Obin. “What we now get to examine is how this Perfect Creation of ours fully rejected its Perfection and then made an immature human egglayer into its SacredRulerDeity for something its parent did.” The word came out as HOOGMAAANN. “The evidence at hand that we have made some incorrect conclusions is brutally clear.” That the First Elder used the human's own Name for themselves was a shocking elevation of their status.
The Consu 'discuss matters' regarding Redemption, 'human allies', etc.
'they have finally put their warrior class in charge'
'but their new Leadership Lottery Winner is an egglayer!'
'they are not us, and this egglayer has faced us in battle twice and survived. That is sufficient'
Fifth Elder laughed bitterly, a sound like a chainsaw ripping through sheet metal. “I'm glad my Death Journey approaches. I have no stomach to deal with any of this heresy.” He up ended his goblet, held it out for a servant to refill, then drank half of that in one swig. Fifth Elder would likely sleep on the Skeeeling chamber floor that evening.
a single Consu Rotation is about seventeen Standard Months.
