Spinning Compass Network

I have slept better this past week than I have in very many years, thanks to the kashapti of this station. I feel ready to ask if anyone might want to learn Kordalan, the language of my people? It seems a good thing to share with anyone who is willing.

Those of you who said to me that you would stand at my side if a doorway opens - as things are you would be in danger if you were there without a word of Kordalan and you were separated from me, and that happens easily on a battlefield, or even at the encampments these days. I would give you uniforms for the Avtel Letyara'i but that might do more harm than good if you are clearly not Kordalan.

That is not the main reason, though. I would like to teach anyone who wants to learn. Perhaps someday I will be able to take you to Kordala at peace.

If you have children, what are their names?

If you don't have children, what would you name them if you did?

You can say why if you want, but you don't have to. I'm curious what people do in other places.

I am sorry that I woke some of you before. It is a long time since I have been here, or written in this language, and I did not realise what had happened to me.

I was back in Kordala for more than two years, and very much changed.

I do not think much time passed on this side, but you must tell me if there is anything I have missed. I will carry on with the teaching of magic, for those who wish it. I also want to begin a class, or at least a group, for battle magic if there is anybody who needs to keep their skills from fading.

I have had some time to reflect, lately, and I would like to ask for your help.

My name is Katarin. Some of you know that Kordala, my homeland was invaded by our enemies, and that they wrought complete devastation. My friends know that I was one of those who fought back, even after it seemed everything was lost, because we should never surrender to those who hate us and would destroy us.

What most of you do not know is that to my knowledge I am the last of the Tavehi line, and that means that I should be in the palace, in the seat of my cousin who was ensi. I was there when they slaughtered my family, but they drew the line at little girls, and they put me in prison instead. I escaped, and lived for years under a false name, as a village girl.

I find now that I am very unprepared for the future I would like to see. If we had victory the day after my return, I would not know what to do with it. I would sit as a symbol while Ellak Temarin or someone like him ruled Kordala.

Perhaps there is a reason I am here. I have been to some of the classes, and learnt that there is much wisdom in this place. Now I think I need something more.

I need someone to tell me how to improve the weapons we have, and how better to use magic at war. I need someone who understands how to take back a city, not just pick off patrolmen and blow up ships and burn supplies. In the village I was a novelty - ah, little Kati from the auxiliary has the command because everyone who should have it by right is dead or gone - but I need to return with the knowledge and the techniques that will make the difference. So I can tell Ellak Temarin that I am taking command at Amrilat, where we are strongest, and not have him laugh in my face. He knows my true name. And so then I can lead Kordala to victory.

And then I need someone who knows what to do in peace, so that when we have driven the occupiers out, Kordala can return to the glory it deserves. There must be new treaties, and new laws.

I ask this in friendship, and nobody is obliged to help me who does not agree with my cause or does not think it a good use of his or her time here.

[Message filtered to Alexander, Rawdon, Miguel, Arcturus and Bruno]

[N.B. Backdated to several hours after the conclusion of this. Unless otherwise marked, all replies are visible to all of them, not just Katarin - that way the guys can interact with each other too if we want.]

Please tell me that all is well!

It is not so bad as I thought. I cannot write, I am speaking to my phone now, but I will not lose my arm, and by Asharai I will heal and not fall to the wound fever.

You must visit me, all of you, even if you avoid one another in your feuding. The pain - the pain is bad, but I must bear it, because I have seen too many half-drowned in taishel-syrup and never the same in the mind after their bodies healed. The medics here are too quick to press for these things! I am not so damaged to be left to that!

Tell me you are reading this and you are not hurt, and nothing worse came of this. You are all blameless to me. It happened because it was seen to happen, and we are all powerless before the magic that underpins the world.

Tomorrow's scouts activity will be learning morse code. Robert Langdon is going to join us, because he has some crazy memory trick for it, and he's going to show us some other codes and ciphers we can use to write top secret messages.

Don't worry if your kid can't read / write yet, we'll use a buddy system.

If it goes well, we can create some coded 'clues' for a big scavenger hunt next week.

I don't know if I should complain about this or not, but my toddler likes to take naps just when she starts to get really fun to be around. She fell asleep while she was showing off how she could make animal noises but for the wrong animals. Bunnies roar, did you know bunnies roar? Adorable. But now she's napping and I have nothing else to entertain me. No, I don't sleep. So instead of causing trouble to keep myself busy I'm gonna open up some questions to all of you. Sounds fun, right?

Answer whatever you feel comfortable answering:
1) Do you have any phobias? What are they?
2) What is the weirdest place where you kissed?
3) Have you ever bribed someone?
4) What are you most likely to get arrested for?
5) Would you rather stay young forever and never meet the love of your life or grow old with the love of your life?
6) Pick one: Babies dressed as animals or animals dressed as humans?
7) Pick one: Owe money or owe a favor?
8) Pick one: Share food or don’t share food?
9) Pick one: Time machine or magic wand?
10) Pick one: Painful truth or comforting lie?

Time for some exciting reminder messages about all kinds of exciting things.

( School )

( Genetic Database )

( Obstacle Course )

( Cut to a (fake) Sketch dump )

[Everyone is sent a link to this - it's web page style, more static than the regular network posts]

In the village of Privkat, before the dark times, the elders would teach the young people about magic. They learned how to shape it, and how to use it. By the time I arrived there, the practice had stopped. The magic we learnt was in secret, and was limited, and then there was none at all. I missed this part of learning. I see that there are many here with many types of magic.

This is what I propose. Once every seven days, on your Sunday for felicity, at [big open space on the station] we will gather and at least one among our number will tell the others about their magic. We will sit in a great circle and listen, as we would in Privkat.

Who is willing to take a turn? You do not have to be an elder, and it does not matter if nobody else here has the same talents that you do. You can demonstrate something practical and teach it to others who can learn, or you can tell us about the origins of your magic and how it works, or tell us about the history of your people and what magic has meant to them.

Everyone is welcome to join us and to listen, so long as they are respectful of others.

If you would like to speak more than once, and teach us different things, you can. If you would like a regular time to teach, you can have that. If you are interested, please tell me your name and each topic you would like to share with us, and I will organise the meetings accordingly.

by the hand of Katarin Tavehi, aboard the Star Station

The calendar on my homeland is different but I have taken the calendar that is used here and tried to map our sacred days and holidays onto it so I can observe them. By that calendar, tomorrow is the Day for Boys, when we celebrate the boys in our families and those we know and hope for good things for them.

There is a traditional gift. It is a little pouch with a silver tivar coin and two small items. They are a surprise for when the pouch is opened, but one is red and that symbolises the changes that will happen in the boy's life as he grows older, the things he will learn and how he will grow. The other is blue, and that is for constancy. The things that will stay the same, like his love for his family and his country.

I have been around the station and gathered things to make some pouches, and I will be at [location] tomorrow with them for any boy who would like one. I know that it is probably not a tradition that anyone here shares, but I wanted to mark it, and you are welcome even if you have never heard of it before. In Kordala boys become men when they are sixteen, but if you are from another planet with a shorter calendar or your people grow more slowly, you can have one even if you are older.

There is a Day for Girls too but that is later in the year, so please tell your sisters to be patient!

The portal closes today. I have returned willingly to the station. We have achieved everything I hoped and more.

Thank you, truly, to all of you. I am not very skilled at articulating my emotions, but I will never forget what you have done.

If anyone would care to join me for a drink later, I’ll be at Bryn’s from around 8pm.

[Backdated to early December, in reference to this.]

Is there a festival-day approaching? It all looks very cheerful. We used to decorate the city for the Elemental Days, before the war. It reminds me of that, although it's not really the same. I didn't know that there was an official faith of the Station.

As you must know, once Brenna (and any other prisoners) are released from custody, Bryn is rounding up a group to take the police by force. I believe there is also a man to be held accountable for his actions.

I know the authorities of this time, and they will not take this lightly. Although they will clearly know their assailants are not Parisians, they will want to make a show of force, and from past experience I believe this will be military action against the abaisse.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their help so far, and also to say that anyone who wishes to avoid conflict may leave this place safely now. What you have done for my people will not be forgotten.

I told Bryn that I did not wish for the people here to suffer. I have since remembered that they are already suffering. I have been so insistent that the people rise on their own, that I failed to see the wonderful opportunity presented by the door. They can rise for themselves, but it need not be alone.

Whoever of you will stay and fight back with me, it would be my absolute honour to stand with you.

I should introduce myself properly, now that I am sure the dangers of my homeland have not followed me here. My name is Katarin, I am sixteen years old, and I am from Kordala, a once-great land which now suffers under foreign occupation. It seems safe to tell you that the Delvonian invaders killed my family. The ruler of Kordala was my cousin, and to my knowledge I am the last survivor of the Tavehi line - but I was fighting to free my homeland, not to rule over it.

I know that there are many people with many talents here, and so I make this request. I have an iron band at my wrist that I cannot remove. The enemy's doing, because they wished to prevent both our religious rites and our use of magic against them. I think it will take someone without magic to remove it without suffering harm. Might anyone help?