20th of Vhalar, Arc 717
From Victor Amielle's diary:
I first encountered one of those strange creatures that the islanders call ‚dinili‘ earlier that season, quite by chance. I have to admit, I was a bit scared back then as the creature was at least the size of a pony, but it did not seem to be interested in me at all. It only had eyes for the succulent grass that grew on the meadow where I stood. I made a decision then – to catch a dinili and put it on a ship that is bound for Lysoria. It has been a while since I have sent Stefan more than a letter. If he does not receive an impressive gift soon, he will probably begin to wonder if I have been exaggerating about my success and my skill as a researcher - and I cannot allow that to happen!
The book that was lying on Victor’s desk that stood in front of the small window of his room near the university was thick, bound in brown leather and titled “The Fauna of Scalvoris”. On the cover was a picture of a bizarre creature that looked like a cross between a white tiger and an owl or a similar kind of bird. Victor had already found out that it was called a ‘pantheon’ – a name that did not make any sense to him. He had learned that ‘pantheon’ was the term for the set of gods belonging to a particular religion, and there was nothing divine about that creature in his opinion, no matter how unique its appearance was. Was its name a homonym then – a word that was spelled alike, but had a different meaning? Or had the person that had discovered the pantheons of Scalvoris simply been uneducated and thought that the word sounded cool?
He pondered the question for a few moments, but eventually dismissed it as inconsequential in the long run and leafed through the book in front of him instead until he had found the chapter that he had been looking for. He realized that he could probably just have bought a Dinili and lied to his brother about where he had gotten it from, but he almost never took the easy way out. To catch a Dinili as he had planned he needed to research it first in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises though. It would not do if the animal that he believed to be a harmless herbivore suddenly decided to attack him and tried to take a bite out of him!
“Dinili”, he read. “are herbivorous four-legged creatures that can be found almost anywhere on Scalvoris. They are born in litters of up to ten, and they are comparatively small at birth, but they grow at an enormous rate until they have reached the size of a small pony. Dinili are docile, easily trained and unlikely to ever lose their temper. For that reason they are a popular family animal and a favourite with the farmers of the island. Their armored back forms a natural saddle. Some races, such as the Ithecal, drill holes into it in order to improve it. The Dinili do not seem to feel any pain from that. Dinili live for approximately twenty arcs and remain strong and in good health for the better part of that time.”
Beneath the text was a picture of a Dinili which looked almost as bizarre as a pantheon in his opinion. He tried to picture himself sitting on its back and riding it as one would normally ride a horse, but failed miserably. The Dinili would attract a fair amount of attention in Lysoria where such creatures did not exist though, and that was what was important. The rich and famous of Lysoria would probably talk about it for seasons to come!
I first encountered one of those strange creatures that the islanders call ‚dinili‘ earlier that season, quite by chance. I have to admit, I was a bit scared back then as the creature was at least the size of a pony, but it did not seem to be interested in me at all. It only had eyes for the succulent grass that grew on the meadow where I stood. I made a decision then – to catch a dinili and put it on a ship that is bound for Lysoria. It has been a while since I have sent Stefan more than a letter. If he does not receive an impressive gift soon, he will probably begin to wonder if I have been exaggerating about my success and my skill as a researcher - and I cannot allow that to happen!
The book that was lying on Victor’s desk that stood in front of the small window of his room near the university was thick, bound in brown leather and titled “The Fauna of Scalvoris”. On the cover was a picture of a bizarre creature that looked like a cross between a white tiger and an owl or a similar kind of bird. Victor had already found out that it was called a ‘pantheon’ – a name that did not make any sense to him. He had learned that ‘pantheon’ was the term for the set of gods belonging to a particular religion, and there was nothing divine about that creature in his opinion, no matter how unique its appearance was. Was its name a homonym then – a word that was spelled alike, but had a different meaning? Or had the person that had discovered the pantheons of Scalvoris simply been uneducated and thought that the word sounded cool?
He pondered the question for a few moments, but eventually dismissed it as inconsequential in the long run and leafed through the book in front of him instead until he had found the chapter that he had been looking for. He realized that he could probably just have bought a Dinili and lied to his brother about where he had gotten it from, but he almost never took the easy way out. To catch a Dinili as he had planned he needed to research it first in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises though. It would not do if the animal that he believed to be a harmless herbivore suddenly decided to attack him and tried to take a bite out of him!
“Dinili”, he read. “are herbivorous four-legged creatures that can be found almost anywhere on Scalvoris. They are born in litters of up to ten, and they are comparatively small at birth, but they grow at an enormous rate until they have reached the size of a small pony. Dinili are docile, easily trained and unlikely to ever lose their temper. For that reason they are a popular family animal and a favourite with the farmers of the island. Their armored back forms a natural saddle. Some races, such as the Ithecal, drill holes into it in order to improve it. The Dinili do not seem to feel any pain from that. Dinili live for approximately twenty arcs and remain strong and in good health for the better part of that time.”
Beneath the text was a picture of a Dinili which looked almost as bizarre as a pantheon in his opinion. He tried to picture himself sitting on its back and riding it as one would normally ride a horse, but failed miserably. The Dinili would attract a fair amount of attention in Lysoria where such creatures did not exist though, and that was what was important. The rich and famous of Lysoria would probably talk about it for seasons to come!
