Author notes

Ch. 2 - Pg. 20

KimLuster

on Jan. 28, 2018

Yes, Rhiaan is a bit childish, even bratty, but she has her charms, and she will grow (probably too soon for her taste)!

Okay, the Praestarii thing… back in the early nineties (yeah, I know…) we use to play the table top game Vampire: the Masquerade. Per the game world setup, Vampires (being immortal and with vast powers) find accumulating monetary wealth ridiculously easy, so much so that in their society, money and possessions really don't have a meaningful impact with trading, positions of power, etc…

No, the coin of commerce amongst the Vampires was a system of oaths, boons, favors. Basically, they kept careful, meticulous track of anything and everything they ever did for another vampire, and it was understood that the recipient of the act must pay it back at some point, in some way. Nothing was done for nothing - altruism didn't really exists. And the web of favors and boons became complex indeed, but a Vampire was really only considered rich should she be owed a lot more than she owed out…

Anyway, I found the concept utterly fascinating, and this Praestarii thing is certainly inspired by it. The main difference is the kai-pact, and a certain emergent awareness of who owes who, thus, the people in this world don't have to keep mental records of all the favors owed! It's sorta intuitive…

And the s'sorriim. Pretty much everything worn by these everyone is living material shaped by s'sorriim. If something looks like fur, it really isn't… Anyway…

And I just discovered I overwrote many of my buffer pages for this story, so I'm very ill this morning…

Sigh… Life and Good Dreams!