Just Another Day

At sunrise the Sylvans were invited to join Yaj for morning meditation and a light breakfast. Shanku had the easiest time performing the stances due to her various combat training sessions. Hilael and Katari struggled a little, and Ina was quite clumsy and tired by the end of it. Breakfast consisted of rice cakes, dumplings, yogurt, and coffee. Shanku politely asked for water, much to her companions bewilderment, and then she and Yaj's family were quite amused seeing the other Sylvan's reaction to having good, stout coffee for the first time. Yaj lead his somewhat twitchy students to the temple after breakfast to begin teaching them the lost art of kurach form shifting. They were brought to an outer chamber and Yaj began to search for the necessary book as Shanku and Ina looked around curiously. Katari and Hilael stood closer to the doorway. The spicy smell of the incense filled the temple, and the morning prayers and chants of the Skihva monks and initiates echoed through the halls.

"This is amazing!" Ina exclaimed. "Look at all these carvings. They're kind of like a fancier version of the shrines back home."

"The positions of the morning meditation weren't that much different than what Da taught me how to do either," Shanku noted. "Why were these people forgotten? We have so much in common with them."

"Except for the food," Ina shuddered. "A little warning about the coffee would have been nice."

"Just maintaining tradition," Shanku teased. "I wasn't warned the first time I was given some, and I downed a whole bitter cup in one gulp. Oo, did I pay for that one!"

When Yaj had found the book he needed, he ushered the young kurach around him, and carefully opened it and laid it on a stand. It was many sheets of birch bark that had been bound together and tied around with a string.

"Now, this is not the original. It has been safely stored as the precious artifact it is. All the original illustrations and markings are carefully copied every few hundred years into a new book so our feathered friends may achieve the direction they seek," Yaj explained.

"But what do you get out of it?" Ina asked.

"Pardon?" Yaj asked.

"Kurach come here, stay in your buildings, eat your food, and you teach them things. What do they do for you in return?" Ina asked. "It doesn't seem like a fair trade, even if Stob rescued the village from werewolves who-knows-how-long ago."

"Usually they exchange knowledge for labor," Yaj shrugged. "They fly to the high branches to retrieve fruits we would have great difficulty reaching, they protect us from the tigers, panthers, and bears who threaten the village, and when we are in need of their services, we can send a messenger to those in Mruha to aid us."

"So what should we do to repay you for this then?" Shanku asked. "We're Sylvan, not one of the desert kind that live in your village or the rest of Bhadarukia. Our people are too far away to be of any real help if you are threatened by enemies."

"Sometimes it is a greater reward to help those in need than to expect something in return," Yaj nodded. "It is in our holy laws to help others."

"If it makes you happy then," Shanku grinned. "But we'd be glad to do what we could if you needed something from us."

"Perhaps you could tell your people about us," Yaj suggested. "We are a small, humble village of little influence in the kingdom, often forgotten by the others. If we appeared to have some measure of power, such as trade and commerce with outsiders they are unaware of, the emperor may see to having a road built to our village, and it would be easier for our scholars to travel to the larger cities and be educated by better schools. We could have better medicines for our children."

"That's fair," Shanku nodded. "Don't y'all think so?"

"Sounds fair to me," Katari agreed. "I'm sure we have a few things more we could offer as well, like wine and wool."

"Shall we begin, then?" Yaj asked. The Sylvans consented, and he opened to the first page. "The first of Stob's notes is, of course, on what he calls the goblin form, as it was originally granted by the fae to combat the goblin threats. He believed it instead to be a curse and it was what drove him here to begin with. It is the embodiment of hatred, anger, and selfishness, and usually is accompanied by death and destruction. Which of you have managed this?"

Shanku sheepishly raised her hand.

"What was your experience with it?"

"Well, sir," Shanku began uneasily. "At the time, I was a sailor. Pirates attacked our ship, killed my crew, and took me hostage. I was asked to join their crew, and I refused to unless I was given the one who had killed some of my dearest friends. During the fight, I shifted for the first time, and killed him. The captain tried to force me to shift during many raids, but I resisted it, and finally he sent some of the crew to assassinate me, so I shifted again, killed them with the help of a jungle cat, and fled. Later I found the Highland kurach, who considered the goblin form a mark of control and chose to stay in the form all the time, and they taught me how to master it."

"Sadly, for many, their story is the same. Hurt. Betrayal. Vengeance. Now, how do these Highland master the form?"

"By triggering the will to live," Shanku replied. "They convince you that they will kill you if you don't shift, so you assume the form to protect yourself, and they keep triggering it and having you hold it as long as possible until you're as calm and clear-headed with it as this form. Similar to how the Prairie kurach teach others to become human, except they trigger curiosity."

"Good, good," Yaj nodded. "The Islanders have learned to do similar. It is hard for us provoke the goblin form safely, and it is generally very unpleasant for all involved. Have you three managed this yet?"

Katari, Hilael, and Ina all shook their heads. "Among our people, it is frowned upon, because for many hundred years magic has been considered taboo, and shifting forms was not allowed, despite the fact the northern tribe often did so freely so they could raid surrounding people," Katari explained.

"Oh, dear," Yaj said worriedly. "Yes, I think it most prudent if your people were to remember us again and seek us out. We could help them with that. We will see about getting you three comfortable with the goblin form. It will not be pleasant, but I guess it never is." He then turned the page. "Here is Stob's observations on controlling it. He would venture out into the jungle alone and infuriate himself for months until he was able to control himself around us. He would practice the meditations to condition his mind, and then join us in the morning while in that form."

"How do you plan to teach us to use it and change for the first time?" Katari asked cautiously.

"I do not know. This is something kurach have always handled themselves," Yaj replied with his brow furrowed. "I have never heard of a way to call for it that didn't involve harm, and it is not in our nature, or laws, to harm others without good cause, not even for educational purposes as this. Perhaps some of our kurach residents would be willing to help you with this."

"I wonder..." Shanku began. "What are Stob's notes on becoming human?"

"Let me see," Yaj replied and turned the page. "Ah, yes, he wrote that form of man came from intellectual pursuits, heavy concentration, and social cooperations. Have you learned to do this?"

"Yes, we learned how just before coming here. The kurach on the prairie routinely assume the human form to keep from being hunted by soldiers in Wynfall," Katari explained. "We visited them before going to Port Tephras and sailing to Mruha to keep down on friction."

"I originally cheated," Shanku giggled. "I met them many years ago, and it was time for the cubs to learn how to do it. Me and another cub joined hands and combined our abilities to help each other do it the first time. Kind of why I was curious if Stob had discovered that. I was wondering if it might can be done with the goblin form."

"That is an interesting idea," Yaj said. "I haven't heard of cooperative shifting before. Yes, we should try that. I will make a note of it to be added to the book."

"How do you add new material to the book?" Ina asked.

"First, we must get permission from the kurach here. There are a few scribes who decide if there are changes to be made to their manuscripts."

"Out of curiosity, why are you the one teaching us, and not them?" Shanku asked as she laid back one of her ears.

"It is their belief that since we aided Stob long ago in mastering the four forms that we are more capable of teaching it to their children than they are," Yaj explained.

"Ah," Shanku replied. I wonder why? The Highland and Arctic managed just fine, and I think they're oblivious to this little village. Probably of Stob too.

"Now, the next page," Yaj continued. "After Stob was cursed to become a man and man alone, he focused on trying to become an animal again, but instead he arrived at the form you are currently in, which now seems to be the default form for your kind. I assume you know the secret of obtaining it then is that of simple carnal desires, such as food, affection, and play."

"A desire to feel the wind," Shanku said wistfully.

"The warmth of the sun in my fur," Katari added.

"The subtle smells of all the flowers and grasses," Ina crooned.

"To get away faster," Hilael said flatly.

"That works too," Yaj nodded. "Now, the final form, which can only be attained by starting from the goblin form," Yaj said as he turned the pages. "As it is the original form, it comes from the purest of desires. Simplicity, loyalty, bravery, kindness, and being at peace with one's self. Many struggle to achieve this, and sadly we have many leave who are never able to do it."

"The Arctic kurach have a rule that those who have not ascended to the final form are not allowed to marry those who have," Shanku said softly. "It's also a closely guarded secret on how to do it. A damsel I knew changed the first time while rescuing me from a yeti, but when I asked her how, she said it was something that had to be learned alone. The Prairie folk even guard it as part of their most sacred rituals."

"I hear it is very difficult, and also very personal," Yaj replied. "We do not judge those who only manage the man and goblin forms. Some may go past it later in life, so we focus on teaching them the discipline needed to maintain and hopefully succeed someday."

"Such a terrible place to be stuck at," Ina shuddered. "Not to mention all the extra grooming to do with all that fur!"

"There is quite an excessive amount of shedding," Yaj laughed. "Come, let us break for lunch. We will resume later this afternoon during the rains."

The Sylvans followed him back to his house where the women had prepared a heavily seasoned soup of potatoes, peas, and lentils with a flat bread. Afterward, they were dismissed and allowed to explore the village.