Tuesday Tunes: Marry Me

While driving to work today, I got to thinking about one of my characters and the particular situation he has gotten himself into when this song came on the radio. He is in love with another young warrior and wants to marry her but a marriage between them is highly unlikely. Unbeknowst to my character, the young warrior is engaged to marry another man from her world. You see, Naqabashi warriors only marry from their own race. And even more than that, they only marry from the Naqaban warrior clans. I feel bad, because she really does like him and thinks very highly of him, but being proud and bound by honor and duty,she will reject him if he ever gets up the nerve to ask her. And at this point, he is building up that courage.

No Secrets. No Lies. Part Two (an interview)

Interview Part One:

Interview Part two:

Q: What does it mean to be telepathic on your world?

A: It is our form of communication. It means to have a complete understanding and to be one with my sisters

Q: Is there any kind of privacy when it comes to mind reading and communication? A: We have no need of privacy, only respect and honor.

Q: Is it difficult not having private thoughts?

A: No. I have nothing to hide. But I can see how a being such as your self would find it difficult, and would need to hide and protect yourself and your weak and feeble desires. But we have overcome those desires of greed, lust, envy and power. We Naqabashi are masters of our Hakana, our being, and therefore have no need for secrecy. We have evolved.

Q: So, it hasn’t always been this way for the Naqabashi?

A: No. We were once like you and the land dwellers of Naqaba. We did not understand our abilities; we were feared by non-telepaths and often used it against each other for our own gains.

Q: Then what changed?

No Secrets. No Lies. Part One (an interview)

Character Interview: Nusa

Place: Spaceship Hablas

Q: What is your name?

A: I am Nusa, daughter of Hidana

Q: Where are you from?

A: My home Naqaba. I was born and raised in Sky City.

Q: Did you go to school? Can you read and write?

A: Hai, all young Naqabashi go to school. I can read and write in the ancient language as well as the Naqaban language.

Q: What is your rank?

A: I am a warrior guard.

Q: What are some of your duties?

A: I patrol the sky cities and the valleys, I join the elite guards and warriors on various space missions, and I am an apprentice to elite guard, Zurana.

Q: What is a typical day like on your home world?

Character Clue: Nusa

Illustration and Writing Copyright © 2011 SN Taylor, All Rights Reserved

Naqabashi Warrior: Nusa

I’m no human, but even I know it is rude to sneak up behind someone and spy on her. Yes. I am talking to you there, peeking from around the door, hiding behind your wall of silence and cloak of secrecy. Come in. You have many thoughts on your mind and unless you spit them out of your human mouth, they will remain a loud turbulent storm crashing about in your head and mine. You have no idea how annoying that is for my kind and me. While you may not recognize the sensation of your roaming untrained thoughts, it is a cause of great mental disturbance for us. Yes, human, I am telepathic. I can read your thoughts, feelings and emotions even as you stand there behind the door. What am I? What rock do you live under? Have you not heard of my kind? Really, your inferior intellect is most taxing! There is not a warrior or space faring traveler who has not heard of the Naqabashi. Our battles are most historic and memorable, well; at least for us they are, we have lost nearly none. Stop trembling, and do come in. I’m not going to tear you apart, despite what may be rumored about us, Naqabashi are not THAT violent, unless of course you give us a reason. Be quick before I change my mind. I have never trusted humans, but you are different.

Check out Nusa's profile.

Character Music

I have been spending a lot of time trying to develop one of my characters in my novel. In my attempt to get to know her, hear her voice, I have learned a lot about her personality, her history, and culture. Like many writers, I sometimes like to listen to music while I write. I find that it helps me block out other noises around the house like the tv, computer, phone and etc. I was listening to Yanni one day while writing about this particular character, Nusa from the Naqabashi clan. One of the instruments playing was a duduk, an Armenian instrument. It was really pretty. It somehow fit in with the mood of the writing, the personality of my character, and the topic being discussed. So I looked around for other songs similar to Yanni's and came across this cd. I chose three songs that I felt represented my character's situation:

Nare nare

Araksi artassouken

Nusrat's allap

Although all of the songs were really nice, most just were not what I needed for Nusa.

What music or song would best define your character?

No Secrets. No Lies. Part One

Photo taken from this site

Life in a Telepathic Society

What would life be like in a society where your thoughts and feelings were an open book for all to read? Where nothing is kept secret and concealing was a sin beyond any forgiveness? Would you feel free, safe, hindered or confined? What kind of laws would govern such a society, where lies are unheard of and crimes are but few and frivolous? Would there even be a need for laws? I would say yes, wouldn't you? You see every society needs laws to govern it, to run smoothly, to maintain order and stability and to avoid civil unrest and anarchy. Even the most ideal and utopian worlds would crumble without defined rules and regulations.

Take the sky communities of Naqaba. Their cities are high in the sky protected by atmospheric cloud fields. They are home to the Naqabashi clans; tribes of bold, fearless winged female warriors who were once members of the traveling nomads who crashed onto the planet many centuries ago. A severe mutation from the Naqaban atmosphere caused them to transform into the creatures they are today. Though they appear alien to their Naqaban land dwelling relatives, they still have unique humanoid features that allow them to still inter-marry and interbreed with the male dwellers. Twice the size of an average female, they stand over seven and half feet with a wing span of over four feet. The Naqabashi are vicious when provoked. Five sharp talons grace each hand strong enough to rip through flesh and crush the skull of any beast or man. They are the Amazonian warriors of their galaxy, feared and for the most part, avoided at all cost. Brutality wasn't the only thing the Naqabashi acquired from their mutation; they inherited telepathic abilities. Telepathy allows a telepathist to communicate to one another by means other than speaking with their mouths or hands. They are also capable of reading and interpreting the thoughts and feelings of other telepathists and non-telepathists. This alone gives the Naqabashi a greater advantage over their enemies.

Despite their brute size and fierce nature, they run a highly efficient and self-sustaining community. Their cities are filled with peace, harmony and vibrancy. While every Naqabashi is considered equal to one another, a well-defined hierarchy of authority is observed . A queen warrior is counseled by a group of elder Naqabashi warrior priestesses from each sky community. Naqabashi elite guards protect the cities and train future warriors. Newly crowned Naqabashi guard the low grounds and serve as apprentices to elite guards. Young Naqabashi grow the food and tend to the livestock while injured or pregnant Naqabashi produce the weapons used by the Naqabashi warriors. The elderly Naqabashi who can no longer fight or fly spend their final days in peace, teaching and grooming the young. Every Naqabashi has a role in her society. The laws of their world are instilled at birth. Every Naqabashi toddler can recite the laws by heart when her babbling thoughts become coherent and intelligible. While they have many laws and rules to regulate their society, one motto stands above all else, "NO SECRETS. NO LIES." This motto alone will prove why even in utopian societies, every one needs some sort of rule or regulation to retain law and order.

Next week, we will rendezvous with Nusa, a Naqabashi warrior currently traveling aboard the ship, Hablas. She will enlighten us more on what life is really like in a telepathic society.

Until then......... What kind of laws do you think govern a telepathic society?

Copyright © 2011 SN Taylor, All Rights Reserved