Annotations, page 5&6
Quick notes for those who like them, though it will all come out in the comic itself eventually:
The fuzzy longtails don't have a species name for themselves; but everyone else calls them Osea. No one pronounces it the same way, but my spellcheck don't care, and it's shorter than writing out "fuzzy things" every time I mention them. So Osea it is after this. They're trooping scavengers, and live in groups of one or more family. Families consist of one sexually mature couple and their offspring. Sexual maturity is another topic for another day, but it's not age based.
Osea are, to oversimplify a bit,mildly empathic, with other sentient beings as well as each other. It's not something that most of them notice most of the time, in the way that understanding symbols isn't something that most humans think about most of the time, even though you're doing it right now. It's just a thing they do, and it mostly doesn't amount to more than a general awareness that other troop members are about and more or less ok. It keeps groups calm and generally affectionate towards each other. But when somebody's really worked up, it can override their individual emotional states to some degree. Panic is pretty contagious.
Kehl aren't leaders,that falls to the breeding pair, especially the mother. They're sort of a cross between counselors and mind cops. They're sensitive enough to pick up more subtle and specific impressions, sometimes at a good distance. Anyone born with that level of sensitivity has to have Kehl training, or they pretty much lose their personal selves in the overload. Those who take to it learn to separate their personal feelings from everyone else's, usually by keeping their own emotions very very stable. They're the ones who generally deal with non-Osea in less isolated tribes, and with disturbed members of the group.
Those who are born hypersensitive, but can't learn that self control fast enough... are a different, and not happy, story.
Mehrn is young, and has pretty good self control, but she hasn't got a handle on the practical end of her duties yet. Taking a crazy guy back to the group's main lair is not smart. Nehn is trying to be nice about this.
The fuzzy longtails don't have a species name for themselves; but everyone else calls them Osea. No one pronounces it the same way, but my spellcheck don't care, and it's shorter than writing out "fuzzy things" every time I mention them. So Osea it is after this. They're trooping scavengers, and live in groups of one or more family. Families consist of one sexually mature couple and their offspring. Sexual maturity is another topic for another day, but it's not age based.
Osea are, to oversimplify a bit,mildly empathic, with other sentient beings as well as each other. It's not something that most of them notice most of the time, in the way that understanding symbols isn't something that most humans think about most of the time, even though you're doing it right now. It's just a thing they do, and it mostly doesn't amount to more than a general awareness that other troop members are about and more or less ok. It keeps groups calm and generally affectionate towards each other. But when somebody's really worked up, it can override their individual emotional states to some degree. Panic is pretty contagious.
Kehl aren't leaders,that falls to the breeding pair, especially the mother. They're sort of a cross between counselors and mind cops. They're sensitive enough to pick up more subtle and specific impressions, sometimes at a good distance. Anyone born with that level of sensitivity has to have Kehl training, or they pretty much lose their personal selves in the overload. Those who take to it learn to separate their personal feelings from everyone else's, usually by keeping their own emotions very very stable. They're the ones who generally deal with non-Osea in less isolated tribes, and with disturbed members of the group.
Those who are born hypersensitive, but can't learn that self control fast enough... are a different, and not happy, story.
Mehrn is young, and has pretty good self control, but she hasn't got a handle on the practical end of her duties yet. Taking a crazy guy back to the group's main lair is not smart. Nehn is trying to be nice about this.