I finally asked Tora’Sor why Krista’Mil keeps eating such odd stuff despite having good food provided each night. Tora’Sor explained that it has something to do with where Krista’Mil lived as a young child, a remote land where they had to eat in such a manner to survive. Because of the remote location, the Sisterhood of Jadela’Mar discovered and started training her at an older age than usual. That is why they never managed to get her to stop the strange habit. Knowing this does make her habit more understandable, but I’d hardly call it more tolerable. Tora’Sor says I need to learn to live with it.
The weather was somewhat wet today as we rode across the prairie. It keeps the ants from coming out, but it’s also miserable for us if we can’t keep our spirits up. To get some conversation going, I asked Krista’Mil to tell of the place where she came from. It was an interesting tale of houses built in trees to keep the inhabitants safe from whatever beasts lived on the forest floor. She never actually gave a name for the place. Perhaps someday I will consider asking her about that.
I saw my first jeket today. These large cats, immortalized by many illustrations and fables of their ferociousness, usually shy away from human presence. Their hide is usually green or tan with gray spots so it can hide in the flora of the savannahs. There are rumors of a blue-skinned jeket, but I doubt those are true. Their physiology is very different from other animals. Their primary method of hunting is to jump on their prey from far away, so with three knees on each rear leg, the beast is very successful with this method. The ancient tale of Turos the Mighty tells of him encountering jekets with the warning to keep his back to the sun so he would know when they attacked. These cats hunt facing the sun. That way, when they jump, their shadow will be behind them, and not give them away. Most prey will never see them coming until it’s too late. I hope the belief that they avoid human presence holds true. Jekets would be one of the hardest animals to fight.