Текст книги "Angel with the Sword"

Автор книги: C. J. Cherryh

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There are, more formally, two other styles of shirt, both designed to be tucked in, one wide-sleeved, by convention, with the collar open to the third button—often worn with a bright scarf somewhere about the person; such shirts are frequently of bright colors or of patterns; a second type with more conservative but still generous sleeves, serves as an undergarment for a sweater; or if made of silk, frequently has lace cuffs and lace up the front, concealing the buttons. (It is a peculiar circumstance that Merovingians wear very little of the lace for which their craftspeople are famous, though it is a staple of Nev Hettek fashion—in Merovingen it is mostly used in table linen and curtaining, except for a very few fine pieces.) This more tailored shirt is worn in society in those seasons where a coat is re quired; and that in Merovingen means a tailored waistlength coat with lightly padded shoulders; or more rarely, a kind of frock coat appropriate even for the most formal occasions. For daytime wear any fashionable footwear is acceptable; for evening wear the trousers must be long and the footwear light pumps which currently have a moderate heel.

All of this keeps the clothing industry in Merovingen quite busy: fashion can be set in an evening by the tiniest change by the governor's tailor, who naturally makes such changes minute but frequent, and who in the case of the current governor has an elegant but aging client whose figure needs increasing flattery: thus go the cycles of style in Merovingen, from the daring and experimental to the conservative and more concealing in periods dictated by the aging and eventual replacement of the chief trend-setter.

Additional garments are the poncho worn by the canalers and by the poorest of the poor, often manufactured out of a blanket or tarp which has had a number of years of service. Finer ones are made of oiled wool or canvas and have some water repellent qualities.

A variety of cloaks are common among the middle and upper classes, ranging from utilitarian oiled wool to very fine grades of wool which are light and flowing.

Clothing is a fairly accurate indication of social class and, among the working classes, often an indicator of occupation. There are few uniforms: the notable exception is the uniform of the local police or militia. (See: Uniforms and Blacklegs)

Uniforms and Blacklegs

The uniform of the police or militia (in many cities the terms are interchangeable) in Merovingen, Nev Hettek, and traditionally throughout the Det Valley, is a brown waistlength coat over a black shirt, brown trousers down to the knee, and black stockings and black, lowcut shoes– hence the name blacklegs.

Originally this was the militia which during the Scouring saw to guerrilla operations and food procurement. The uniform (and the tradition and rules on which modern police departments are organized) arose during the Re-establishment when there was some inter-human conflict and a need to protect citizens against banditry. It was based on what was actually worn in the hills—knee length trousers were less readily soaked in dewy grass; and boots or even socks and shoes were a luxury in those hard days. The knee socks and the uniformity of color arrived when Calendree of Nev Hettek organized the first formal militia/ police force and swept down the Det clearing the region of bandits and establishing local defense regions.

The militia was not well-equipped: the black socks were cheaper than bootleather and the brown uniform in those days was of every shade and every fabric, the accompanying weaponry whatever the individual militia member could come up with on his or her own. Joining the militia in those days was a way to eat regularly. It remains such: the blacklegs enjoy a good salary, and still purchase their own uniforms and weapons, which are now dictated by statute, except in the small towns, where the militia may consist of a handful of individuals who are far less formal; or in villages, which may have a single officer who deals with the local characters more by force of personality than by force of arms, and whose uniform is a matter of his or her own discretion.

The equipment of the modern police is regulation: usual on the street is a rapier and a stick and a pair of handcuffs. Guns exist but are brought out only on certain occasions: public executions, state funerals, and in times of unrest. Guns have a certain ceremonial mystique, partly due to fear of the gun and partly due to fear of the sharrh; and even more attributable to the dread of cult violence. That police go armed is a public and solemn reminder of authority of last resort.

Weaponry

There are no restrictions on carrying weapons in Merovingen, and likewise in most settlements and cities throughout Merovin: it was an armed populace who formed the cities, a good portion of the Det Valley's citizens in particular arc Adventist and believe with religious passion mat they may have to take up weapons on the Day of Retribution (See: Religions), so they would resist disarmament with armed force. So might some Janes. In fact, there are not many citizens of Merovin who would agree to be disarmed, whatever their religion, since some are nervous about the sharrh, some are nervous about the thieves, some about the law, some about fanatics, and many others are just not willing to give up any advantage to their survival should there be a second Scouring.

There are: guns, mostly revolvers; some antique muzzle-loaders from the Scouring; some rifles; occasional explosives. Swords, mostly of the style of the terrestrial epee, rapier, or occasionally cutlass; and knives that range from the stiletto to the shortsword, depending on locale and opportunity. The art of fence is one-handed or two-handed (rapier and main-gauche in some cities, the devotees of which do travel). The reason for the reinvention of the sword as a weapon is the same reason as other low-tech options: ease of production, silence, and the general fear among the populace of all persuasions that the sharrh might intervene if the tech level should grow too ambitious. Swords and daggers have popular acceptance because they are "nonprovocative" weapons, with reference to the sharrh.

There are rumors of Old Weapons, but rumors of this kind have never proved valid.

There are also poisons, garrotes, and various martial arts, particularly among Adventists and Janes, and the Sword of God in particular.

The river and canal and sea-craft of Merovin have an array of tools and implements readily turned to mayhem: barrel– and boathooks are particularly deadly; there are also knives, martin spikes and belaying pins, cutlasses and occasional firearms, and now and again a springloading grenade launcher that substitutes for cannon. The "grenade" may be anything from a firebomb to real explosives on a variety of fuses.

Government

The Governor lives in in the Signeury (original spelling: Signeurie), which is a large fortified isle on the Grand Canal. His position is sometimes hereditary, often usurped, often won by political connivance, assassination, coup or other upheaval, including the bribery of the keeper of the Seal, who once forged a will.

Sentences are carried out inside the Justiciary, and occasionally at the Hanging Bridge, which is not named for its architecture. The blacklegs are the officers of the Signeury and are its police: they carry guns. See: Weaponry. The court is in the Signeury, executions in the Justiciary, with rare exceptions.

Over all is the governor; and directly responsible to him are the Keeper of the Seal and the Astronomer.

Responsible primarily through the Keeper of the Seal to the governor are the heads of house and the Chief Justi-ciar, who heads the Justiciary. Likewise the heads of the trade associations are responsible through the Keeper of the Seal; but the harbormaster is independently responsible to the governor and to the Astronomer.

The Justiciar has under his or her authority the Executor, who runs the prison; the council justiciar, or parliamentarian and legal aide to the council; and the advocate justiciar, who is the attorney general; likewise the Justiciar is over the chief of records of the Council; and of course, all functions within the Justiciary.

The Priest of the Revenant College is a religious figure not responsible to any of the above but supporting them in their offices and through the services of the College, nota bly the keeping of relics and records, advising on cleric law, and investigating instances of Provocation. Directly under the Priest is the Advocate of the College, the legal arm; and the Librarian, who is the archivist. All operations within the College rest under Priestly authority.

The Chief Militiar (Mi-LI-ti-ahr) is responsible to governor and council, and governs the militia, commonly called the blacklegs. He or she is therefore both military and police chief; and has some independent functions in crisis. Beneath the Chief Militiar are the Chief Armorer, in charge of weapons and quartermastery; the chief of works, who is the chief civil and military engineer (the chief of works also reports to and from the harbormaster and the astronomer); and there is finally the legal arm, the Advocate Militiar, who handles military justice.

The legislative branch is headed by the chief councillor, who is chosen from among the Council; which is in turn composed of the heads of houses and trades and whatever other interests have been voted a seat.

Either governor or council may invoke the Chief Militiar, whose responsibility is only to the Governor or the Council, but not to the Chief Councillor.

Heads of houses may appeal to the Governor and own position within the Council.

The Chief Councillor is elected biennially from and by the Council.

The Chief Militiar is appointed by the Council and approved each five years, though it is usually de factoappointment for life.

The Governor chooses his own successor but the succession must have the approval of the Council, the Chief Militiar, and the Astronomer. The Governor holds office for life or until resignation or impeachment, the latter of which must originate in Council and command an 80 percent majority vote of both Council and Militia rank and file.

No document of law is official without the Seal; the Keeper of the Seal is de factovice-governor, and functions for the governor in many capacities.

Merovan Boats

Sea-going

The sea freighters are by and large sail-craft with diesel engines which they use sparingly. The most common routes are coastal, up and down the Chattalen or the settlements of Canbera and Savajen; a few cross the Cape of Storms to Wold; and a great variety of craft ply the the Inner Sea of Wold. The Falkenaers are the most daring seafarers of Merovingen and Falkenaer ships carry a great deal of freight and most of the passengers willing to commit themselves to sea travel. The rocky isles of the Falkenaers are only the port-of-convenience for these sailors, the focus of loyalty. Falkenaer crews are born to their ships and may live birth to death never having set eyes on the Falken Isles, to which, nevertheless the Falkenaers maintain a staunch devotion.

The Praesi of Wold South and the Jakkinin of Sirene are noted also among sea-farers: but the livelihood of the Praesi is fishing, and their months-long voyages return to their home ports.

Navigation on the Sundance south of the Chattalen is rare, except for coastal craft. The southern Sundance is given to contrary winds and typhoons.

Riverboats

The boats that ply the Det vary from small blunt-bowed barges about 25 feet in length, used by locals, to the big passenger packets, of which the most famous are the Obligationand the Sundancer;triple-decked, hollow-hulled, screw-driven, about 250 feet in length and 30 feet beam to beam, they offer cabin space and deck passage. The ill-fated Det Starwas larger, at 300 feet and 35 feet beam; and relied on sail as well as engines.

The majority of Det freight moves on motor barges, many of which also accept passengers.

The felucs of the Goth River of Nevander are similar, but use a triangular sail.

The smaller waterways of Wold and Megon use craft of similar design but smaller size.

The Boats of Merovingen

Some Det-river craft can come beyond the Harbor, most freight, however is transferred to small canalboats, which are of design too eclectic to set forth here: but the notable types are:

1. THE SKIP: a flat-bottomed, blunt-bowed craft about 5 feet by 22 feet, with a very small inboard engine.

The living arrangement is often a tarp awning set with a couple of poles and guys, but it is not practical to have up while using the pole, which requires a lot of walking back and forth.

The bottom is slatted for water drainage; the rear has a cubbyhole forward of the engine mount under a sort of raised quarterdeck on which the poler can walk. It is common to shelter in this place, though it is tight quarters. The cubby (canalers call it the hidey) is about 5x5 with 1.2 feet of engine wall to the rear and about 1.5' overhead clearance. So there is about 16 feet of free cargo room on the slats to the front plus the deck surface, A good deal of gear is stowed to the sides of the cubby, which makes the centerspace quite tight.

The deck has a shallow rim that keeps things from going overboard and the pole, about 12' long, with the boathook, lies along the rim in a special rack. Other large items are stored in the open and shifted about at need. Ropes and tackle are stored along the sides of the forward well and down in the well, where needed,

The bow is not truly square but rather a blunt rounded affair. This type of boat is the most common craft in Merovingen,

2. The CANALER: about a third larger man the skip, confined to the main waterways and used for heavy cargo.

3. The POLEBOAT: a motorless gondola-like craft, long and slim and used commonly for hire, the taxi of Merovingen.

4. The CATBOAT: catamaran, a boat confined to the bay and usually propelled by paddle or sail, for small fishing and harbor freight.

5. The LONGBOAT: a 10-oar gondola-style craft used for state occasions and funerals.

6. The COASTER: one of the fisher-boats, high-sided and broad of beam for its length. It sails the edge of the Sundance.

7. The FANCYBOAT: a motor launch for the rich, generally used only in the uptown area.

8. The YACHT: a large motor-sail vessel used primarily by the wealthiest for transport either on the river or along the coast.

Canalers Slang

The Ancestors of Merovin were not spacers, but station-dwellers and employees of the founding corporations some of whom were planet-based. The original Merovans were polyglot, with some influence of spacer-culture, with which they worked.

Events combined to break down linguistic conformity: the Scouring and the lack of formal education.

Other factors tended to prevent breakdown: the religions.

And there was the necessity of coping with new professions and new environments, which meant new vocabulary.

Old French, Italian, Turkish, English, Russian, Hindi, German and the Slavic-influenced Union Standard station-speak of Fargone were among the predominant influences.

Add to that the abbreviated grammar and musical lilt of ships peak.

Merovan languages vary considerably, particularly the trade-languages, the languages of profession, which deliberately seek to exclude outsiders to the trade.

An example is the jargon of the Merovingian canalers, which, like many unwritten languages, is highly contextual: one word may have a dozen implications depending on situation and tone of voice.

Ware! Lookout!

Ware hey! Calamity! Alarm!

Ware portWatch boat's left.

Ware starb'dWatch boat's right.

Ware deck! (sometimes just Deck!)Hit the deck.

Scup! Object about to roll overboard.

May be combined with direction, as aft, port, starb'd.

Bow a-port, a-starb'd! Turn left, right.

HinPut the pole on the bottom.

Ya-hinYou put the pole in.

Hey-hinI put the pole in.

HupLift the pole from the bottom.

YossSteady as she goes.

She's a washThere's a washout (hole) here.

Double poleTwo people poling: (starboard poler sets pace and starts call).

Tie-upAny tie made to shore or boat; (2)

a metal tie-ring for mooring.

Night-tieMooring fore and side for stability.

Full-tieSame procedure as night-tie.

Jury-tieA quick tie to one point.

HofOff! Back away!

HawStop! hold it!

Get aslant ofTake objection to; blockade; oppose

Ne(neh) (1) Now. (2) Wait.

Ney(nay) No.

Yey(Expresses agreement, consent ac knowledges an order or request).

Yey and haw(lit. yes and stop) Give yey and haw: tell someone what to do.

Not know hin from hey(lit. not know turn-signal from collison-warning) Varies according to application: (1) of a canaler: he's stupid; (2) of a landsman: he's ignorant.

Merovan Sea Life

The Merovan oceans cover a great portion of the globe and abound with life both bathic and free-swimming. Some of the creatures are legendary, such as the many-armed Kra-ken, alleged to inhabit the deeps of the Sundance. Others are merely rare, such as the seaflower, which spreads jelly-like polychrome veils over a good three meters of surface.

Certain areas such as the Falken Isles and the Wold Sea and the Black Sea support major fishing industries.

The Det estuary is heavily reliant on fish but does not export much in the way of fish products. Known in Merovingen are, of sea fish caught by Merovingian coasters:

The whitetail: a slender, silver fish with a notable white streamer flowing from its topmost tail fin: delicate of flavor, rare, and expensive. Rarely tops five kilos in weight.

The silverbit. a prolific breeder and common foodfish with a rich, oily flavor. About a handspan in length and caught by trawling in great abundance.

The sailfin: a green to silver cartilaginous-skeletoned fish two to three meters in length, caught by hook. The meat is flavorful but has a toxin requiring care in the preparation.

The sea eel: as the name implies, an eel-like creature with impressive teeth, brown to black in color, edible, but difficult to take. Top size is two meters, top weight 13 kilos.

The whale: a slender-bodied, large mammal with a catlike face and numerous teeth. General color is ink black. It is forbidden to hunt this creature, which occurs primarily in antarctic waters, but in some seasons ventures to the equator. It is predatory toward other sea mammals and fishes. It is not known to attack humans. Top size, reported 100 meters. Weight unknown.

The sherk: a quick-moving, primitive fish known to travel in schools. Up to 15 meters long, but most specimans are from two to five meters, and a known hazard to fishermen. The sherk will attack anything less than its own size. Its general color is green to black. The meat is palatable if heavily seasoned.

Estuary

An estuary fish travels freely between salt and fresh water. The Det River has a wide variety of such fish perhaps due to the complex nature of its estuary, which ranges from still, almost stagnant shallows, to deep harbor.

Notable are:

The freshwater eel: brown to black and about a meter or less in length, flourishing in the worst water. A food staple among the poor.

The razorfin: a voracious, spiny, needle-toothed fish needing careful handling. Top weight is 5 kilos. It is lively on the line and a destroyer of nets. A good food fish with a white, delicate meat.

The yellowbelly: a mild toxin in the fins and a painful bite makes this fish another difficult one to handle. Sometimes taken in nets, it tops 10 kilos and provides a bland if pleasant meat.

The prickleback: bony, with a good assortment of spiny fins which lay fiat until grasped. A fat, toothless bottom-feeder of about 3 to 6 kilos, excellent food fish if properly filleted.

The fathead: a big bottomfeeder with a conspicuous fleshy prominence above the eyes, toothless but voracious and omnivorous. It may top 30 kilos and tends out to sea past its first few years, where it grows above 100 kilos in weight.

The redfin: named for its beautiful red-orange tail and dorsal fins, this small fish (about two handspans in length at maximum) is an excellent but troublesome foodfish. Its bite is notoriously painful.

The deathangel: most beautiful of estuary fish, with trailing fins of black on a yellow and silver body, the deathangel is aptly named. The three banner-spines and the ventral spine carry a toxin so lethal and so long-lasting that the dried spine of a deathangel can kill a victim weeks afterward, if the poison sac at the ventral side of the spine is intact. If the spines and the internal glands are removed, the deathangel, about a kilo of platter-shaped fish, is delicious and mildly intoxicating, though overindulgence can lead to toxic reaction. In a few sensitive individuals this reaction comes much sooner, and one fatality from the meat alone has been recorded in Merovingen.

Merovingian Music

Music on Merovin has the same roots as language, [see Language] both ethnic and popular. It is also influenced by the spacer-chanteys, which are both ethnic and varied, and which are a ship's living history.

Some songs survived the Scouring; others are hero ballads out of the Scouring and the Re-establishment [QV] which relate tales of the resistance and the rebuilding.

There are love songs and a rich and varied liturgical music; marches and work-songs and working sea-chanteys and popular dirties which come and go by fashion, many of which are disguisedly political.

Principle instruments are: the horn, a brass, lip-modulated instrument of increasingly complex shapes and tones.

The drum: drummers are a popular holiday street entertainment; and drums also signal executions and solemn occasion.

The gitar: a stringed, long-necked instrument

The sither: another variety of gitar but much larger, having drone-strings and a round sounding-chamber: this instrument is Merovan in origin, by extensive modification of a Terran instrument. Common in the Chattalen, and known in the north and in Nevander, it plays often in accompaniment to drums and chimes.

The harp: a vertical stringed instrument of ancient origins, reproduced on Merovin in imitation of traditional description.

Chimes: all sorts of bells.