Anatomical Distinction, or Explore

From the travel journal of Gravenir, philosopher of the Kingdom of Etalibi

Having become lost was more of an inconvenience for me than it was for Ikkrit.
Though my scholarly training was hardly preparation for woodland travel, my
reptilian companion proved quite adept.  I remained quiet as he charted our
course, occasionally stopping to get his bearings or listen for some sound
which I always had trouble detecting.  Though he had assured me that he should
be able to find our adventuring party within the day if he could find a vantage
point, I remained pessimistic about our chances of ever finding a way out of
the forest.  Still, everything that Ikkrit and I had been through together lead
me to trust him, and his life as a hunter in a woodland tribe made him the more
likely of the two of us to find anything.

Eventually we stumbled onto a clearing within which we found a small lake fed
by a river coming from the far side.  It was here that Ikkrit finally allowed
me some rest, and we set up the supplies for a basic camp with which to cook
some game.  This done, he announced his intention to catch fish in the lake and
suggested that we both take the opportunity to bathe since we had been on the
road a while and were worse for wear.  To this I agreed, but because humans
have a great deal more shame than his kind I advised him that we should do so
separately.  With this agreement made he stripped off his hip-bag, which was
attached to the simple loincloth he always wore, and waded into the lake
without his spear before diving in.

As he did this, I took out my journal and graphite-pen and began to record our
progress.  As the majority of the day after we became separated from the party
consisted of walking in the woods, however, this proved insufficient
entertainment, and rather dismal reading, so I instead began to sketch.  Being
able to think of nothing else, I sketched my impression of Ikkrit, keeping in
mind what he had told me about his kind during the ill-fated journey.

As I drew, I found the similarities between totori and men more remarkable than
the differences, which were significant.  I paid special attention to the way
the pattern of stripes on his back gives off a fluid rather than sharp
appearance, and to the crest on the back of his head.  I tried to remember the
significance of this latter anatomical distinction when I came to it.  At rest,
the crest is flattened against the cranium and appears only as a wrinkle of
skin.  When the totori feels threatened, it rises and is engorged with blood,
changing the webbing in color from yellow to orange to indicate danger to
fellows of the tribe.  When the fight-or-flight response is activated, it
engorges further to red: the universal symbol of distress.  This visual method
of communication facilitated the quiet nature of their race, owing to their
status as both predatory hunters but also prey to the dangers of the Deep Wood.
At one point I had asked Ikkrit if the crest ever revealed while it was in its
natural yellow color, but he had only told me, using his race's signature
language of silent gesturing, that this has a different significance.

I heard a splashing sound as Ikkrit emerged from the water carrying several
fish, which were still writhing with the breath of desperate life.  He sank his
teeth into one of them and devoured it, still standing hip-deep in the water so
that he could easily wash it off afterward.  The other fish he brought to the
fire and began to cook over one of my pans, allowing his scales to dry in the
heat.  I observed the behavior of his tail as he assumed a crouching position,
and compared it to the anatomy of the sketch I had done with some
dissatisfaction.

After we had eaten, I showed the sketch to Ikkrit, who gestured approvingly
before switching into spoken word.  "Your art'isst'ic rendition from memory
never sseases t'o amaze me."

"I'm rather disappointed by how I got your tail wrong; I drew it a bit too
inert and not quite connecting right at the hip.  Also I notice now that I look
at you again how certain details, like your webbed fingers and toes, have
escaped my notice up until now; no doubt these are to help you swim.  And also
I got the distribution of the muscles wrong, idealized more for lifting than
for climbing or swimming; as well as your ears and the shape of your feet."

He peered at the image again for a moment thoughtfully.  "The hip iss a lit'le
like a human'ss--though you have not' drawn the but'ockss, I can ssee that' you
have not' fashioned them in a way that' would fassilit'at'e a proper t'ail
sst'ruct'ure."  He stood and turned his back, his tail swishing gently, to
demonstrate.  Unlike a human's, his buttocks indeed formed a fuse rather than
remaining separate, his spine branching out into a tail which tapered to a
near-point at the end.

"Can I feel it?" I asked after plucking up the courage.  When he eyed me
quizzically, I explained that I often get a better visual sense for minute
details when I can handle them with my hands, and after this he nodded his head
in approval.

I laid my hands on either side of the tip of his tail and gently worked my way
up, applying pressure along it as I went.  Unlike the back, where the spine is
very close to the skin, on the tail it is entirely encased in muscle and fat,
making it rather wider than that of a less sturdy race like the cat-people I
often met on merchant vessels.  As I held the muscle in my hands, he flexed it
gently, showing me that it is more graceful than it appears and indeed could be
operated with some precision (albeit not in a prehensile manner) allowing his
kind to balance themselves effectively on perches not unlike a bird.

Then, remembering that his kind are not ashamed of their naked bodies, I
explored where it connected at the back and near the legs, letting myself
become familiar with this alien anatomical part.  I confess I was somewhat
entranced by how smooth and athletic he was, his muscles forming curves beneath
his smooth swimmer's scales interrupted only by a scar on his upper leg he had
inflicted upon himself while hunting a large feline.  His crest was supported
by a thick spine growing out of the back of his head, and the webbing was
folded slightly to his right in its inert state, its ripples hinting at small
spines underneath this one.  I found the absence of nipples or a navel
particularly interesting, a reminder that his kind are distinctively
non-mammalian.  I was thus shocked when I felt soft skin beneath my fingers,
and I realized that I had wrapped my arms around him.

When he did not protest, and I was too shocked at my own actions to remove my
hands, I continued, and noted again how similar the shape of his body was to a
human's.  This one spot was not covered in scales and indeed was very similar
to a human male, only for differences in color and the thickness of the skin.
I guessed that it must be very sensitive to the touch.

For a moment I thought about how poetic this was, for in order for a male to
show trust he must expose his vulnerabilities to another, to trust someone not
to strike them in the one place that they have not worked to toughness.
I again thought about how comfortable he was when speaking aloud to me, even
though his race only used their spoken language very rarely, replacing it
instead with visual gestures.  All of it seemed revealed to me through a
simple, tactile sensation.  As I felt and explored this unexpected discovery,
he grew harder in my grasp, and I finally managed to withdraw my hands.

"I'm sorry," I finally managed, when I again regained the nerve to speak.

"It' iss quit'e alright'," he intervened.

"No," I said, stubbornly.  "It is shameful.  For an unwed man to touch another
so... and of a different race as well!"

"It' iss nat'ural," he insisted.  "It' iss healthy t'o explore thingss that'
make you happy.  Perhapss it' iss not' sso for your kind, for you are cult'ured
and repressed, while mine live naked in the woodss, at' one with nat'ure rather
than... ssociet'y.  For uss, pleasure iss a treasured gift', and a way of
life... How would you call it'?  A virt'ue?"  He turned, one of his yellow eyes
meeting mine, and for the first time I recognized the way that his lips curl up
in his race's impression of a smile.  "Shall we explore t'ogether?"

As he said this, I noticed the crest upon his head rising and displaying a
brilliant golden webbing.

 ---

CHARACTERS IN THIS FICTION

GRAVENIR is a scholar from Deep Wood Port, the largest city on Forrnif.  His
studies have taken him to strange places before, giving him unique insights in
the fields of alchemy and construction.  He is currently in the employ of the
Etaliban Trading Confederation studying mathematics and comparing notes with
other scholars who visit the Port to trade alchemical reagents.  He has also on
several occasions accompanied merchant caravans and adventuring parties on
trips through Deep Wood Port to King's Seat to study the strange forest of the
elves.  It was in one of these adventuring parties that he met Ikkrit in
service as the squire to a knight.  Gravenir has always harbored a fascination
with this strange race, and he took an interest in Ikkrit in particular, a
totori who (occasionally) speaks the common tongue of Etalibi.  Over the course
of their adventures together he has compiled a series of three volumes on
totori culture with Ikkrit's help, and taught Ikkrit how to read Etaliban
script, and they have been companions ever since.

IKKRIT is a totori, a member of a race of lizard-like people native to the
island of Forrnif and its prominent Deep Wood.  He was once a hunter for his
tribe until he was injured by a powerful magical entity, resulting in a
self-induced exile to protect his village from the possibility of an infectious
disease and learn more about the nature of his injury.  He met Gravenir during
the course of this quest while he was in the employ of a knight, and took
advantage of the scholar's knowledge to become something of a guru himself,
unleashing a curiosity that even he never realized he had.  He speaks with a
distinctive accent, replacing every t sound with an ejective t' and pronouncing
an "s" as a brief hiss.
Unlike men and dwarfs, who arrived at Forrnif by sea, the totori are native to
the island, and naturally adapted to its peculiarities.  They are adept at
climbing trees and swimming through swamps, making them apex predators, but
even they must be careful to remain undetected by the dangers of the Deep Wood,
as predation is a two-way street.  In spite of this, and in spite of their
exile from the other civilized races of Forrnif, they are slowly growing as a
race, and it is thought that as they venture out of their home in the Deep Wood
they may grow as prominent as men or dwarves.  They have a simple, hunter-
gatherer society, but have a civilized written language.  While they do have a
spoken language, this is used very rarely and only within their villages where
they are relatively protected.  Their more common language is made up of a
series of complex gestures, a silent way of speaking brought about by the
necessity of stealth.  Also unique to their species is a natural crest which
gives a visual signal of stress by engorging with blood.  One final
peculiarity: Each totori has two names.  One is given in their own spoken
language, and another in their sign-language.  It is considered a mark of great
trust for a totori to tell its spoken name to outsiders.