And all Fadomai's children left except Azurah. And Fadomai said, "To you, my favored daughter, Fadomai leaves her greatest gift. To you Fadomai leaves her secrets." And Fadomai told her favored daughter three things.

And Fadomai said, "When Nirni is filled with her children, take one of them and change them. Make the fastest, cleverest, most beautiful people, and call them Khajiit.

And Fadomai said, "The Khajiit must be the best climbers, for if Masser and Secunda fail, they must climb Khenarthi's breath to set the moons back in their courses."

And Fadomai said, "The Khajiit must be the best deceivers, for they must always hide their nature from the children of Ahnurr."

And Fadomai said, "The Khajiit must be the best survivors, for Nirni will be jealous, and she will make the sands harsh and the forests unforgiving, and the Khajiit will always be hungry and at war with Nirni."

- Words of Clan Mother Ahnissi to her favored daughter

Prologue: A Mother's Thoughts

The fresh, warm night air is thick and humid, as rain pours down from the heavens, drenching Nirni in endless waves of torrent. The sounds pattering on the roofs of every house beckons to be heard by its occupants, whose ears flick and twitch obligingly to its tune, as they wish naught to hear it. It is not uncommon for nights such as these to pass, for after all, is this not a rainforest? The wooden palaces and stone roads only serve to deceive a sense of urban stagnancy, but in truth this land and the people within it are as free and wild as the nature around us, in this most southern reaches of the homeland of my people, in the city of Torval, in Elsweyr, in the 98th year of the Fourth Era. Here it is that the Mane, Rid-Rawl'vah - the spiritual leader of our kind - lives and guides us, and we listen to his words, for he has yet to lead us astray.

A reminder to this one shows itself in the puddles donning the stone roads below her open window, a reflection of the graceful moonlight of a full Jone and Jode hanging beyond the clouds in the night sky. The phase of the Senche will soon be over, and for the shortest time, the rare occurrence of the rise of the Third Moon will be upon us on the 17th of Last Seed, and a future Mane will be at its heels to follow, yet still inside the womb of a lucky soon-to-be mother somewhere, a child with a great destiny will be born.

But this one is already lucky, for she is the happy mother of her blessed daughter and the wife of the cat she is not sure she could ever live without. Tatanja could ask for nothing more, and still feel guilty for being given so much by the gods, for others are not so lucky. Too many. Ah, Khinashi...my daughter, so young, so innocent, but ever so eager to be like her father, to see the wide world with her own eyes. She does not know the harsh truths of the world around her, the cruelties that her fellow mortals that share this world can be capable of. She does not know the pain they can bring, to both the body and the heart. To her these horrors only exist inside the books she clings her claws so tightly to, they may as well be only myths and stories to read of times long past, something that could never come to pass in reality.

Yet the truth is far more sad - the enemies of the world will never truly sleep, merely rest between their onslaughts, when they are called upon again by their dark masters to sow endless destruction. It is a sadness to know that some day, even my little daughter's eyes will be open to this truth, and the image she has of the world now will be shattered to pieces. Harder for this one to accept, then, is that like her father, this revelation of the truth will only push her to try and restore it, for as there will always be enemies who wish to bring only pain and suffering to the world, there will always be heroes who rise to save it. It is an honorable path, but a dangerous one, and one many perish on. Hardest to accept is that should she choose to take such a path, then she, too, could perish...my sweet, young, innocent Khinashi. This one cannot comprehend the grief and sadness she would forever feel if she would ever lose her.

"Mother?"

My daughter's voice breaks me from my thoughts, and I continue to tug and twist as I braid her lengthy mane, coiling it about her head as she prefers, in a wrap at the back.

"Yes, Ma'nashi? What is it?"

Khinashi has far passed the age to be called as such, two months shy of fifteen years on Nirni now, no? But to this one she will always be Ma'nashi, and she has ceased to protest this fact.

"Khinashi was thinking, about the Festival of the Third Moon, this one will be able to go to it, yes? To participate, and watch the m-the performers?"

My daughter turns her head around, ears perking up as she gazes eagerly, expectantly upon me, awaiting a response. It is a question that has been on her mind for some time now, Tatanja can tell. Those bright amber eyes that could light up a moonless night, staring deep into mine, eyes the same of my own. She may have been born under a new Jone and Jode, looking contrarily different to her Ohmes-Raht mother, and she may share the dark stripes of her father lined about her, and the white patches about her muzzle, but her golden eyes and tawny fur make it doubtless from whom she was birthed.

With a final twist and tug of a braid that fell loose from her sudden movement, this one decides to finally greet her question with an answer.

"Hmm...perhaps, my cub, so long as you stay out of trouble until then, yes? Do not think this one has forgotten your forest escapade last week. You could have seriously hurt yourself or Ma'ketra. Senche-Tigers may look like Pahmar but they are not Pahmar, nor Senche. It is with luck that Jahirr had come to help you."

Her face saddens with ears drooping, she tries to turn face but this one pulls her chin back up to meet her eyes, and Tatanja smiles down to her.

"But you were right to save it. They may not be Khajiit but they are living creatures, and no creature deserved to be caught in such a painful trap."

A smile twitches about the edges of her face, but fades away. This one can tell she is having an inner debate with herself. She is such a well-meaning child, and it would do this land well for more to think like her, to treat the lesser cats like peers and show kindness to them, not let hunters into our lands for 'sport'. Even our two-legged kind have started to look down upon those true Khajiit on all fours, as if they were any different than us. These are our families and neighbors, members of our community. All Khajiit should be equal, regardless of form. As it had been, as it should still be.

"This one will not make trouble, she promises."

"It is not the making of trouble this one worries for...but, all right. You, J'shabi and the others can go, I would not want to keep you from this. It is a once in a lifetime event, no? Not something you would want to miss. Just stand clear of the flaming torch jugglers, this one has heard of...accidents having happened before..."

The smile widens on my daughter's face, but is soon replaced with a look of curiosity, or perhaps confusion, this one is about to ask what is on her mind, but she speaks-

"Why is it called the Festival of the Third Moon, anyway? It is just an eclipse of the sun and the two moons, not three, no?"

"Hah, do not let Clan Mother Zalani hear you say that or you would be picking the sugar fields for days! But yes, that is really all it is, but it makes it no less important."

"So why do they not just call it the Festival of the Eclipse?"

"Because it does not sound as good, is that not a good enough reason as any?"

This one smiles, but it is clear she is genuinely curious as to a better answer. She is always so curious.

"But no, no one truly knows why. Some say old moon priests mistook the sun as a third moon in ancient times, while others say there once was a third moon, it is hard to tell the truth from the flavour when dealing with priests, but while the legend changed, the name stayed, the festival stayed, and it is of course when the lunar champions are born, no less different than before."

With her braided mane finished, she rises from the chair she was sitting on and walks over to the window to gaze upon the moonlit sky. It is getting late, and cubs like her should have been in bed hours ago. She had eaten too much moon sugar at dinner tonight - understandable for today was that of the Feast of the Tiger - which has kept her awake longer than she should be, but that would not be an acceptable excuse for much longer.

"It is getting late, kitten, you must sleep now. It has been long enough now that you should be feeling normal again, but if not, you must at least try. Besides, you must get some sleep if you are to be awake for when your father returns tomorrow morning, and this one is sure he will have some news to bring from Dune, if not presents too."

The mention of her father – or perhaps the presents - seems to spark her into action, she smiles and says good night, before bounding off down the hallway and up the stairs with her tail lashing back and forth. It had been about a week since Jo'azha left for Dune to investigate some break-in or other at the temple of the Two Moons Path, and the death of a moon priest shortly after. What a thief could want from that place, this one cannot imagine, for the temple is usually barren for decades until it comes time for a new lunar champion to walk the path and become the Mane.

No matter, it is getting late, and just as Khinashi has made way for bed, the land of dreams beckons to call this one into their grasp as well. The Festival of the Third Moon will begin in three days, and Jo'azha will return tomorrow, it will be nice to share in this celebration with those Tatanja loves dearly, for these moments are the ones she cherishes most, those in the times of peace - when the enemies of the world are still at rest, and the heroes have not yet the need to rise.