Fanged God's Cat's-paw
Author's note: Much of this story is based upon the writing of Paul Chafe's Destiny's Forge, a Man-Kzin war novel based upon Larry Niven's Known Space series (Niven is one of my favorite authors and Paul Chafe's work is the most detailed about the Kzin Homeworld). Originally this was going to be apart of a memory flashback in the story Girl's night out II (chapter 13) based upon the phrase "Scream and leap". But it became far too serious, and long, for that story.
Interestingly, I've found that there is almost no Larry Niven Fan Fiction, a state of affairs I find most unsatisfactory. Although the Man-Kzin war series consists of a large number of author other then Mr. Niven playing with the Kzin so one might suppose that Kzin Fan Fiction is actually in print. Oh, and when Kitty first saw the teleporting disks in limbo she called then Niven stepping disks, proof that Claremont read Niven, so you should give it a shot. I tend to think most man-cat creatures in fiction trace back to Niven.
So… I guess I get to create a story that is somewhat unique in fandom. This story takes place after Cat's Cradle, a time when Illyana was lost in despair and was kind of extra crazy. However, I'm not sure when it takes place in the Kzin timeline, it may be after the first Man/Kzin war, it may be before or… I think it is way before (the Kzin empire was sub light speed and existed for many thousands of years before encountering Human).
Dedicated to Larry Niven and Paul Chafe.
Part 1a: Intro to Kzin (Mostly from Wikipedia)
Here is a Kzinti overview so as to better make sense of this story. The Kzinti (singular Kzin) are a very warlike and bloodthirsty race of cat-like aliens in Larry Niven's Known Space series and the Man-Kzin war series by other authors.
The Kzin civilization was at an iron-age technological level when an alien race called the Jotoki landed and made stealthy first contact with a tribe of primitive hunter/gatherer Kzinti. The Jotoki were interstellar merchants looking for a species they could use as mercenaries. Once the Jotoki had taught the Kzinti how to use high-technology weapons and other devices (including spacecraft), the Kzin rebelled and made their former masters into slaves, as well as the occasional meal. The crest of the Riit (Royal) family appears to be a bite mark, but is in fact a dentate leaf, with the words "From mercenary to master" written around it in Kzinti script.
Kzin society is extremely male dominated. The leader of the race is called the Patriarch, which is a hereditary title. The Kzinti call themselves "Heroes" or the "Heroes Race" and because they believe themselves to be "heroes", their society places a very high value on "acting Heroic" and behaving in a heroic fashion. Kzin honor, called strakh, is similar in many ways to the samurai code of Bushido. Strakh serves as almost a sort of currency or favor system, since they do not use money in their culture. For example, if the Patriarch gets meat from a seller's market stand, the seller gains considerable strakh, which will bring honor to the seller allowing him to get better customers, in turn leading to more strakh, giving the seller a higher status within the community. Such status allows him to then acquire better things as the purveyors of such things are honored to provide them.
Once Kzinti gained access to genetic-manipulation technology, they started manipulating themselves in order to bring out the most "heroic" qualities and recede undesired ones. To this end, because females are not valued except as bearers of children, the male-dominated Kzin society bred (most of) their own females into sub-sapience.
Kzinti are often described as anthropomorphic tigers, but there are significant and visible differences. Kzinti are larger than humans, standing around 8 feet tall and weighing around 500 pounds. These tiger-sized bipeds have large membranous ears, a barrel-chested torso with a flexible spine, and large fangs and claws. One human gave an apt description of Kzin as "eight feet of death".
Unlike some popularly depicted anthropomorphic animals, Kzinti stand on two legs like humans do; they do not have digitigrade or "backward-bending" legs. Their hands end in three fingers and an opposable thumb, all with long retractable claws. Kzinti are covered with a thick coat of long fur that comes in various combinations of orange, yellow, and black. Full black coats are rare.
Kzinti tails are naked and are similar in appearance to a rat's tail, and their noses are black; one common human derogatory insult of a Kzin is Rat-cat due to the tail. Kzinti ears have fur only on the outside of the ear and only about halfway up the ear itself, usually appear pink, and are shaped liked a segment of a Chinese parasol (or cocktail umbrella; they are also sometimes described as "bat-winged"); they can fold back flat against the head for protection during a fight. It is common that a Kzin have a loop of ears taken from those they have killed.
Kzinti speak in a hissing language called the Hero's Tongue, which in its written form resembles commas and periods.
Kzinti cubs are tested by the Black Priests (who are the all black furred). Females are tested for intelligence; the ones who flunk their tests by revealing too high an intelligence are killed. Males are tested for telepathy; the ones who exhibit telepathic ability are forced into addiction of a drug derived from the lymph of an animal called a sthondat. Sthondat lymph extract significantly increases telepathic ability, but it is addictive, and is toxic with long use, causing muscle atrophy and thinning fur. The black-fur gene and the telepath gene are exclusive; no completely black-furred Kzin is telepathic, and all such cubs are taken by the Black Priests and raised within their cult (although some are expelled).
Telepaths are tolerated by the warrior class due to the specialized use of their skill, otherwise they endure a low-caste position in society, just above the status of slaves, with the occasional slave being considered of a higher social status. Telepaths rarely, if ever, earn a name, and are legally forbidden to breed.
Most Kzin females (singular Kzinrret, plural Kzinrretti) are sub-sapient, with a vocabulary of fewer than a hundred word/sounds and primarily instinct-driven behavior, and are treated as chattel by males (singular Kzintosh, plural Kzintoshi although Kzin and Kzinti are also used as females are not counted). This was not always the case: archaic Kzinrretti were sapient until the Kzin used Jotoki biotechnology to drive them to their current state while boosting the martial prowess of the males. Kzin society explains this by stating that the Fanged God removed the Kzinrretti souls as punishment for an attempted rebellion against him shortly after he created the Kzinti. Even by the period of the novels, certain bloodlines still produce sentient females, as do some, but not all, supposed primitive tribes on Homeworld. These tribes, long isolated from the Patriarchy, avoided the genetic modifications.
Homeworld has two types of Kzinti societies. One is technical and lives in the cities and on estates, the others live in the wilderness and are considered savages by the technical Kzin. Much of homewold is still wilderness so the so call primitives actually control a great deal of the plant's surface (which is larger then earth with a higher gravity and smaller oceans so a great deal of land mass).
The Kzinti are the first on-going alien contact that humanity has met within the Known Space universe. The first contact with humanity ends the human golden era of peace, where even history has been rewritten in a non-violent whitewash; organized violence was virtually eliminated, being reduced to roughly 1 in 1000 people, and interpersonal violence was unknown, except occasional outbursts in the asteroid belt where both medical and psychological care were spread thinly
Kzintoshi (cubs) are born without names, which they must earn through valorous deeds. They are originally known by their relation to their father when they are kittens. After maturity, they are known by their rank or occupation. A Kzin who has performed a great deed will be granted a partial name by a superior; a further, greater deed earns a full name, the second of which is the family name. In rare instances, a sufficiently illustrious accomplishment will earn a nameless one a full name in one fell swoop.
An exception to this rule seems to accrue to the members of the Riit family, who have held the office of Kzinti Patriarch for uncounted generations. These appear to earn names upon reaching adulthood. However, in the 2006 novel Destiny's Forge by author Paul Chafe, the heir apparent to the Riit throne, "Pouncer", does not receive a name until it is earned by deed. (Under normal circumstances Pouncer would have received his Name automatically; however, in his position after the death of his father, earning his Name traditionally was essential to establishing his strakh as the heir to the Patriarchy.)
Only those Heroes who have earned at least a partial name are allowed to breed. An example of a Kzin's naming transition would be:
Birth description: Third-Son of Khral-Hrag
Occupation description: Weapons-Technician
Partial name: Frep-Technician
Full name: Frep-Hrag
At one point a human by the name of Louis Wu, while visiting the Kzin Homeworld, after all of the wars, was given access to the Kzinti Patriarch's game preserve. In it he was confronted by a young Kzin and his father. When the youngster asked "Are they good to eat?" Louis Wu responded with a grin (baring of the teeth is Kzin challenge to battle) and the older Kzin responded "No". Wu muses that the Kzin have learned that it would be safer for the young Kzin to eat arsenic than a human being (suffice it to say that us monkey boys are very inventive in war).
One of the reasons humanity is such a dangerous enemy is the psychological blind spot the Kzinti have toward human females. Since the Kzinti have bred intelligence out of their own females, an inexperienced Kzin is sometimes careless enough to leave human females to their own devices, usually with fatal results to that particular Kzin. It has been further described in the novels that a combat-trained human female is a Hero's worst nightmare (Hero being from the technical Kzinti and not the primitive Kzinti). The Kzinti term for any particularly competent human female soldier is "Manrret" (singular) or "Manrretti" (plural), so named out of a sense of gallows humor regarding lethal encounters with same. From the Kzinti point of view a Manrret's stamina, speed, reflexes, pain tolerance, and reasoning capability (enhanced intuition by virtue of increased interconnectedness between the left and right halves of the human female brain) are far superior to a Man's. This gives some Kzin reason for considering each of the genders of humanity to be a separate alien species.
The Kzinti Patriarch is the leader of the Kzin race. As with other facets of the Kzinti culture, natural selection is used to choose the Patriarch through combat. Throughout the range of the Known Space books, the patriarchy is held by the Riit family. The patriarch has a range of privileges including a protected hunting reserve and the authority to assign full names to Kzin who have brought glory or honor to the Kzinti empire. Females of the Riit line are highly sought mates, whereas the surplus surviving males are mostly sent to the outer worlds.
Speaking of natural selection, the massive number of killed Kzin in the Man/Kzin wars has acted as a kind of natural selection to actually increase the average Kzin intelligence and the ability to not resort to violence at the drop of a hat (i.e. the most aggressive ones kept all dieing and never lived to pass on their genes).
Although it is never stated directly, it seems that the Kzinti are on average less intelligent than Humans. Aggressive and territorial, Kzinti have much more need of "elbow room" than do Humans so any Kzin planet has a far smaller population of Kzin. When one Kzin challenges another, they scream and leap. When time permits they frequently perform grooming, such as brushing their fur. The Heroes' Tongue, the Kzinti language, sounds like cats fighting.
Kzinti rarely wear any clothing except for a vest, belt, or a sash, which is worn for the pockets it provides rather than for warmth, style or modesty as Kzinti tend to prefer the covering of their own fur, although some Kzin do like to dress up.
The Kzin Patriarchy follows a unified religion, worshiping a deity known as The Fanged God. Their priesthood is comprised of black furred members of the race, selected at birth. How seriously the individual Kzinti take their religion is uncertain, but it is evident that the priesthood and the belief in The Fanged God do have a large influence on Kzin society as a whole. In fact, according the priesthood, it is The Fanged God who has promised that all other species will be subjugated by the Kzin. This doctrine is sited by the Kzin to justify their conquering and destruction of other cultures, although many began to question the idea after the Patriarchy suffered its first real defeat at the hands of mankind.
The Kzinti are adapted to a diet of raw meat. Cooked meat actually makes Kzinti physically ill, although they are able to consume some plant based matter despite their supposed inhibitions against it. However they are able to tolerate dried meat (i.e. Jerky). Kzin also enjoy the use of various sauces with their meat. Meat that dies terrified tends to taste better to Kzin (stress hormones). Kzin have found that they like Human distilled spirits, usually served warmed, and of course, cream liquors (whisker licking good).
It is uncertain to what extent Kzin cardio-vascular and neurological systems differ from humans except for that their blood comes in two colors. Venous blood is orange while arterial blood is purple; for comparison human blood is blue and red.
The Kzin conquered races:
Pierin - are a rare multi-limbed species that developed on a planet with lower gravity than Earth, thus they spend much time in the air. They have horns on their heads and wide membranous wings. They speak in raspy screeches and atonal clicks. Pierin are described as curious and friendly to the point of being nosy. They were able to develop a small space-faring civilization before being enslaved by the Kzin.
Jotoki - Jotoki resemble large, spindly starfish. They have a torochord (ring-shaped) instead of a notochord, with 5 "self-sections" (apparently semi-independent brains) that operate the Jotok's body cooperatively. The Jotoki begin life as small aquatic swimmers, most of which are eaten by predators; in time, five of the survivors will merge to form one collective organism, which grows into an arboreal adolescent form; the tails become arms, and its fins differentiate into fingers. When it grows large enough, the Jotok imprints itself on an adult (if one is available) and enters a stage of rapid learning and brain growth. A Jotok who desires a family can simply go into the wilderness and "harvest" an adolescent of the proper age (a property that Kzin slavers later exploited). Unimprinted adult Jotoki are considered feral, and regarded as little more than animals. Since the five subunits that make up one Jotok individual are not necessarily genetically related, reproduction does not require sex; a Jotok can simply find a pond and deposit its offspring to begin the cycle again. Before their enslavement, Jotoki operated in groups called "clanpods", as part of their former planet-wide tradeweb. Jotok technological specialties included gravity polarizers, linguistics and biotechnology. They had the ability to force-grow clones to adulthood. The Jotoki were also experts at trade. Their interstellar trade empire was quite developed for its time, but after using Kzin as mercenaries for many years, the Kzinti revolted and conquered the Jotoki. The Jotoki became the slaves and food-animals of the ferocious Kzinti. In "modern" times (i.e. during most of the Known Space stories), Jotoki are a seldom-seen slave race of the Kzinti.
Kdatuno - are a physically large and powerful bipedal species with muscular build, rough scaly skin, retractile claws and thick hides, growing up to eight feet tall. They have no eyes, having evolved on a world which instead drove the development of echolocation (sonar) rather than vision. Kdatuno are one of the few sentient races that can physically intimidate an adult Kzin, and there is at least one mention of them being used as elite Imperial Guards for the Kzinti Patriarch, presumably due to both their great strength and their un-involvement in Kzin imperial court politics.
Whrloo - are meter-tall insectoids with long eyestalks, their homeworld has low gravity with a thick, dense atmosphere. They never saw the stars until they were enslaved by the Kzinti.
The Man-Kzin Wars
The Kzinti were the first alien species encountered by Humans when the Kzin attacked the Earth colony of Wonderland (Alpha Centauri), beginning a series of bloody wars that lasted for two centuries.
A total of five additional Man-Kzin wars take place by the time Beowulf Schaeffer commented "The Kzinti aren't really a threat anymore. They'll always attack before they're ready". With decreasingly impressive logistical and technological advantages, each war results in the confiscation or liberation of one or more colony planets by the humans.
During wartime, and at other times, Kzinti interrogation sometimes makes use of a device called the hot needle of inquiry, which is also used to punish Kzinti who violate their code of honor. And yes, Kzin have a high pain threshold.
Additional notes on the Fanged God
Kzinti mythos has mention of tree dwelling monkeys (called kz'eerkt) as tormentors of hunters. Primates did and do still dwell on Homeworld, and they tend to be a source of frustration when hunting as they hide in trees and throw dung. This is reflected in that certain types of demons are primate based.
There is no devil per say, just the Fanged God, his servants, and those he banishes to the hells. Heaven is kind of a happy hunting ground. Even demons ultimately serve the will of the Fang God, but what he wants is always in question.
Some creatures of Homeworld
Zheerekti - A plant, and judging by the Kzinti reaction to it, the plant contains a substance much like catnip.
Kz'eerkt - Looks and acts very much like a monkey. The flesh is tasty but hard to get (again much like a human). Can be used as a derogatory term.
Kshat - A herbivore capable of digesting offal: An insulting term for one behaving as a kshat (i.e. eater of offal).
Raaairtwo - A large herbivore. 2 meters high at the shoulder, covered in shaggy orange hair, it typically weighs in at about twelve tons. It has the temperament of a rhino, and with the spiked ball on its tail, is well capable of defending itself.
Sthondat - Unfit for kzinti consumption. Sthondats feature in a great many colorful Kzinti insults, and an extract is used by telepaths.
Terrenki - A rather strong, fast animal which fights ferociously when cornered.
Vatach - A creature analogous to an earless Earth rabbit. The meat is reputedly tasty, but the animal is considered too tame for Kzinti sport.
Zianyas - A herbivore, and a favored Kzinti food.
Ztirgor - A herd beast used by the Kzinti for freight haulage.
Kzinti Agriculture
There really isn't any, at least for Kzin.
Farms raise food for slaves, and just one guess as to who works the farms (hint, it's not the Kzin). Kzin like meat and preferable wild meat (free range) so most of the land mass is left in a wild state on all Kzin worlds. Kzin being carnivores, have no problem eating their slave races, but the hunt is what Kzin like so there are large hunting preserves. Most slaves are executed by being sent to a game preserve to be hunted.
Notes on the supposed primitive tribes of Homeworld
The tribes are considered primitive, but are actually far more numerous then the city dwellers know. They also understand technology, after all, when a simple hand held device can hold the entire library it is not hard to get educated. Unlike the city dwellers, telepaths are equal members of a tribe. And telepaths are used to create a communications network that the city Kzin know nothing about.
The primitives are also engaged in what they call the long war, as they are attempting to change Kzin society by interbreeding with the Patriarchy, brides are sent as part of tribute to each new Patriarch. The goal being the overthrow of the Black Priests and the ending of the genetic slavery of female Kzin, telepaths, and the subversion of Kzin society by the Black Priests.
Authors Note: Yeah, a bit long winded but I felt that you, the reader, needed these details to understand the following story. I suppose I will be providing additional details as the story moves on.
Part 1b: Lost
Illyana's mind sought to find a solution to her despair. She was not in a healthy state of mind (This was after the story Cat's Cradle). She wanted… she couldn't articulate what she wanted as to remember, to think about it, to recall Cat meant that… She would wake up from a blackout, or worse things (see the story Cat's Cradle).
She focused for a time on trying yet again to free Kitty from the Bullet, but she was again unable to even locate it and… and… she couldn't member what had subsequently happened, other then the rage and a place called Breakworld where she did… something (see the story Scents of Traumas Past).
In blind despair she finally ported after first tying the port to an augury spell.
Ported to a place that might help. An unknown place.
A place that might have resembled something that she could no longer fully recall. A place she had been happy.
Keep in mind that Illyana's definition of happy revolved around Cat and the Cradle, even though she could no longer remember. And violent is a word that describes Illyana quite well. Something she always struggled to hide from Kitty, her brother, the X-Men, and her friends back in the New Mutants.
But now… now she is alone.
Lost.
And no longer feeling like hiding such things.
Part 1c: Homeworld (Kzinti home planet, somewhere in space and time)
"What manor of creature is that?" Whisperer Rock. He (he being the teenage equivalent Kzin, one of the primitives who dwelled in the deep jungles of Homeworld, Rock was his childhood name as he had yet to receive an adult name). "It looks like a Kz'eerkt but unlike any I have ever scented or seen."
His whisperer was just loud enough to be heard by Shadow, a small female Kzinrret, whom he had been hunting with, likewise her name was a childhood name. They were concealed behind a bush as they watched a figure drop from a tree, holding a spear and impale a small zianyas (a tasty herbivore) with the spear. The creature was horned, had a long flowing mane of sun golden hair, a furless red fleshed tail with a bard on the end, oddly the creature was furless with pale skin and clothed in but scraps of leather.
Shadow whispered back. "Since when do Kz'eerkt wear garments, use tools, or have horns? At least it has a tail. And it is a she, I would have thought the mammary glands would have given you a clue. Hrrrr, the horns reminded me of demons."
"Pfff… tales for kits." Was Rock's rejection. "There were but two breasts so I did not take notice. Must be an escaped slave of some new species."
The creature clung to the back of the bucking zianyas with her knees and one arm around the throat as the second arm slit the zianyas' throat with a metal knife.
"Whatever it is, it hunts our lands and takes our prey." Was Shadow's irritated growl. They had been stalking that zianyas.
A nod between the two of them and Shadow moved off to get in position as she could move the most silently. Nobody hunted a Kzin's lands without permission. They would capture or slay the interloper and bring it back for their tribe to examine. Perhaps it would be found to be good eating as well. It appeared to be skilled at hunting, but it was small, so how dangerous could it be?