Paksworld

A very productive morning, in which I’ve learned things about Andressat I didn’t know before (can the proud,  stuffy little man really be so sneaky?  Well…there’s a reason Andressat is still independent after all these centuries) and also had the crisis/climax of Arvid’s situation with the rockfolk.   It gets rather Poe-ish.   And Simyits, god of chance and luck, is perhaps not the god you want to call on, when what you need is real help, right here, right now.  The two-faced trickster has a very unhelpful sense of humor.

About 2300 words so far today, which pushes me well over 123,000.   Since I want to know what the kteknik will do next, I intend to push on a bit, sore hands or no.

LATE ADDENDUM:  busy day at the computer, even with nap: the total count is now 125,368.  Couldn’t stop until I found out if Arvid made it out alive or not.

SECOND LATE ADDENDUM:   Kteknik gnomes are more law-abiding than most humans, even thought they’re criminals to other gnomes.   They usually try to abide by gnomish law (there are insane gnomes who don’t, but most.)    Gnomish rules on responsibility are as rigid as the rest of the Law.    The National Rifle Association (which has often found creative ways to excuse hunters who kill non-hunters in their own yards) would have conniptions at the level of responsibility gnomes apply.   If someone is injured with your weapon, it is at least partly your responsibility–least, if it was stolen (but still some, because you should have prevented its theft) , more if it was borrowed with permission but you thought for a harmless purpose, and still more if it was borrowed with your permission and you knew was likely to be used to injure a particular person, and most (at two levels) if you were using it yourself.   Illegal intent to injure is the more serious, but carelessness (the gnomes have no other explanation for what we call accidents) is still a serious crime.

So if you’re a gnome and you’ve been drugged unconscious and someone has nearly killed you by withdrawing your power, and that someone injures a third party with your blade…it’s still partly your fault and you have to make amends.  Even if you’re a kteknik exiled from your own princedom.   The honor of gnomes, and the survival of the Law, is at stake.