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02/26/01 - Day 6 Dear Mom & Dad, I'm sorry I didn't get to write yesterday. It was one solid thrill ride from when I rolled out of bed at the melcey house to when I crawled into a pile of hay tonight. I only got time on my last day here at Site 3 to scribble out a letter for you on my laptop. I took some directions from Garadian yesterday morning -- breakfast consisted of bacon, eggs, and some excellent home made bread with Faidian honey, which apparently doesn't come from bees. I bade farewell to the melceys and piled into the car, which took me so far from Tower that I couldn't even see it. It made me rather nervous; it was the first time on the planet where I didn't have that huge structure in view. It was even visible from space. The savannah ended and gradually gave way a grassland. It started to get a little wild in places; the road was in good shape, but I never met another soul on my trip going in either direction. Little copses of trees were scattered all over the place and they looked very dark and cool -- inviting in this heat. The grass was green and dotted with bright yellow and white flowers. It reminded me of earth but the smell was subtly different. Site 3 was a group of very tall, cypress-like trees centered around another Faidian style house, this one rather larger, and also with a population of melceys. These remained inside when I arrived, however. There was a stillness about the air that unnerved me and I could hear my own breath and footsteps as I mounted the porch. Remember Delye from the neccos? I've met his match in grumpiness. The man who answered the door had the brightest shock of red hair I've ever seen. I'd seen such like it earlier at Tower and in the melceys, but his had a special quality. He was dressed quite simply, short and muscular, with a pale almost pearly complexion. He introduced himself as Fern and although he seemed pretty cantankerous at first he soon warmed up to his favorite topic, which was the carmors. The carmor is the largest species of dragon on Faidia and among its largest airborne species overall. They are not considered domesticated and are rather a problem at present; their lifestyle clashes with the modern set rules about not eating people and creatures when you're not supposed to. Carmors have very little desire to cooperate with a majority, and places like Site 3 are concentrating on making friends with carmors on an individual basis, adopting their trust and cooperation before exerting any kind of rules or delegations upon them. Fern explained all of this to me quite happily; he seems to enjoy his job here, although I do not think it his primary occupation. He is a Snake, and showed me his animal form -- he's a corn snake, like the ones we have on earth. I'm not sure you two would be exactly in love with the carmors; they scared the bejeezus out of me. I'd never seen such large animals move so quickly and as agressively as these. It was like -- I'm not sure, what you'd expect from going to the Jurassic period. On Earth such a huge animal would be sluggish, but these fellows moved with the ease of the melceys I'd seen the other day despite the vast increase in size. Carmors are very plain creatures; they're not like Chinese dragons, no horns or whiskers or anything, but they have long, clean, beautiful faces and bodies. Their wings could knock you down and they almost create their own tornadoes. It was very quiet when I'd just arrived because the carmors were returning from their feeding grounds. I was safe from them only because Fern was with me; otherwise they might have considered me dessert. Carmors may not appear large from a distance, but up close and personal your mind changes very fast. To my amazement these creatures are also available for people to come and adopt; Fern explained to me that the carmors were having trouble adapting and that the males were beginning to get edgy about the lack of suitable territory and food. The males are very territorial and many of the ones I saw were scarred and beaten up from scuffles with other males. Their food, too, is limited; the Tower is having to supply them with food animals kept in special areas. This is quite different from years ago when all a carmor need do was go looking for food and grab the first thing they came upon. They are reluctant to violate their instincts, but Fern says the transition is starting to be smoother and promise is shown in the hatchlings raised by individuals willing to take them on. The hatchlings are sort of Generation Next; they speak more English and tend not to be as agressive as previous generations. Carmors are a big responsibility to feed and keep housed, but in the end they are as sentient as melceys and neccos and definitely deserving of a continuing niche in Faidia's environment. We don't really have room for a carmie at home, mom, but I still have to send you the papers. They're really very interesting, make sure to read up about them. I've been so busy running around with Fern to meet all the carmies that I haven't had much time to think, and every carmor we met seemed to have a story for me to write down. And I must have used four rolls of film. Such magnificence has to be captured while you can get it. I'm really tired, but this hay is unexpectedly comfortable. We're camping at a little outplace where some of the hermit carmors live. Tomorrow I'll go back to the house and the car and then it's off to Site 4. Love, Gary |
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