2024-07-18 - New Languages

Every day Jinth learned more and more about the world outside the darkness. His inner map of it was admittedly incomplete since he could get no information about it outside of glimpses from the minds of those already living there. He knew there was the warmth his egg sat in that changed sides from time to time, that kept him comfortable. He knew there was the sky, where one didn’t have to touch anything beyond filmy wet clouds while speeding along. He knew there were walls annd roofs about the place, but not how they related to the ground and its warmth nor the skies above.

He also knew about the not-dragon minds around him, though he could not hear them as well as the dragons around him. Mostly he saw them already tied to the dragons he eavesdropped on; very seldom did he hear one that was separate from the dragons. So when the Harper came in to talk to Mother he took an interest in him. A rare opportunity to see what an unbounded human mind was like as compared to a bonded mind.

More curious was the big thing he brought with him, that had tons of strings tied to it. What did it do that Mother seemed to want it here? Once the man started plucking the strings Jinth understood part of its purpose - to make a noise that Mother found enjoyable at least. Further investigation led to another discovery. The rhythms seemed to sound like a language, but there were no words to it that he could tell. A further investigation into the Harper’s mind revealed the concentration on plucking the strings in the right order to create sensations in the listeners but nothing like the words he was used to.

A new thing then, to learn. He would have to hear more of this new talking to get the shape of it. If there was more to be had, Jinth was willing to learn it.