From MAILER-DAEMON Thu Jun 8 13:18:16 2000 Date: 08 Jun 2000 13:18:16 -0700 From: Mail System Internal Data Subject: DON'T DELETE THIS MESSAGE -- FOLDER INTERNAL DATA Message-ID: <960495496@darkwing.uoregon.edu> X-IMAP: 0960495495 0000000001 Status: RO This text is part of the internal format of your mail folder, and is not a real message. It is created automatically by the mail system software. If deleted, important folder data will be lost, and it will be re-created with the data reset to initial values. From hutch@eyrie.stanford.edu Wed Jun 21 02:02:01 1995 Date: 19 Jun 1995 02:25:33 -0500 From: Steve Hutchison Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.creative Subject: [CrossRoads] FurEarth:Distant Shores 1: Letters Home Status: O X-Status: X-Keywords: X-UID: 1 OSSROADS CROSSWORL FUREARTH THREE NE ROSSROADS CRO ORLD FUR EE ET ONE CRO CROS ORLDS FUREARTH ET NE CRO CROSSWORL FUR HREE NE CRO CRO WORL FUR ET NE ROSSROADS CRO ORLD FUR EE ET .. NE OSSROADS CRO RLDS FUR ETHREE .. NE This is a story from a CrossWorld, a place on the far side of the Crossroads. This is the story of a young wolf on the FurEarth and his visit to strange and foreign lands. Distant Shores Letters Home By: Bryan Chaney based on the FurEarth world by Steve Hutchison and Fox Cutter '95 June 01 Dear Mom and Dad, Sorry I haven't written sooner, but between all that has been going on and how much you know I hate writing letters, I kept putting it off. Well after two months here in Tokio, I had a rest day, so I decided to FINALLY write. Yes, a lot has happened since the ship pulled out of King Pier in S'attel in Feburary. The six weeks on the ship is probably the longest period in my life. Fortunately there was a WeatherWorker on the ship so we made good time and the seas remained mostly calm. But you can only play shogi (that is Nipponese chess that I learned from Professor Kental; I lose most of time still) and cards only so many times. It got so bad I asked the captain, a coyote originally from Sands Of Dego, if there was anything I could do to help. He placed me in the galley, helping the cook. Well, at least I know the right way to peel vegatables. I was also able to practice my Nipponese more. There was never a more welcome sight then when I saw the resident sea dragon swimming outside of Tokio Bay. Later on the afternoon of March 15th, we pulled into docks and I was greeted by Professor Kentaro. He's a bear like you two, but he's not like any bear I've seen before. His fur is a light cinnamon brown all over with a white patch just under his chin. While we were talking, and finding out about each other, he mentioned he is originally from Sendai, which is a virtual city-state in the Tohoku region north of Tokio. That might explain why his Nipponese was so hard (and still is on occasion) for me to understand. We walked from Shinagawa Pier to his home near K.O. University, where I'm staying now. I was so worn out and excited from my traveling, I don't remember much of that evening (maybe it's because I also drank a couple bottles of beer; hey they offered it and I couldn't very well turn it down now could I?). What I do remember is I met Professor Kentaro's lovely wife, Yukiko, a very matronly tanuki. In case you're wondering what a tanuki is they look kind of like a cross between a raccoon and a badger, but with little more reddish fur. It's a little scary that my 5 foot 11 inches towers over most Nipponese, and I'm considered short of average for wolves. I think I'm even taller than Professor Kentaro. But I guess if your father is 7 feet tall, your perspective is a little skewed. Anyways, over the following week, Professor Kentaro, Yukiko, and Yuan, a female student from Xian who is also studying with Professor Kentaro, and I went to the various sights around Tokio. The first place we went to was the Imperial Palace and the goverment buildings. Professor Kentaro explained that while Tokio nominally controls the entire Japanese archepelago from Okinawa to Sakarin, in truth they only control the Kanto Plain from the Fuji-san ash flats up to Nikko and Utsunomiya, about a 100 mile stretch along the eastern coast of Nippon. The only real rival for power is Osaka, which basically controls the Kansai, far to the south. Still, Tokio has the slightly smaller cities of Yokohama, Kawasaki and Chiba under its control and about 2 million people under it's jursidiction, and it's probably the largest city left in the world. Or one of them at least. To the north, there is just Sendai and Sapporo left with the rest being wild lands. To the south of the ash flats, with the exception of Osaka are scattered city-states. Ah, the people! You know I've never really liked crowds, but it seems everywhere you go are crowds of people. Lots of tanuki, kitsune (foxes; you know me and foxes, rivalry), rabbits, cats (with their curiously shortened tails), even the occasional dog, bear, mouse, and deer, but not a single wolf, it seems like. As a result, combined with my height, I kind of stand out. It's frustrating at times. But I'm going off again. I guess that's why I failed the theoretical magic class. The Imperial Palace somehow survived the series of earthquakes that rocked Nippon in the middle of the last century. The way I understand it, most of the buildings, especially in the old downtown area (now underwater), survived the first one. It was the second and the third ones that did them in. All about the same strength. That was about the same time as Fuji-san started to spew ash again. It must have taken a lot to calm the Earth Dwellers. As a result, the moat has become an part of the Sumidagawa, the local main river, no longer walled in. The place has lots of history, streaching back more than 600 years. That is what I'm working on now, trying to write a history of the world before the Change. Sometimes when I look at the old books with the pictures of humans, sometimes I'm struck that I don't see anyone with fur. How could they have stood it? Anyways, back to the area around the Palace. Now, it is largely a museum as there hasn't been an emperor since the Disappearences. Some beautiful artwork and architechure has been preserved there. I wish I had the means the Old Ones had of reproducing pictures of places called "photographs". Then again, I wouldn't mind having many things but if it means all the bad things like poisoning the Earth goes along with it, I'll do without. Even today in Tokio, there is so much concrete and asphalt, even though there are also now large streches of grass and wood lands and much that is left is broken, that I don't how anybody could have stood it for long. On the other paw, the government district was bustling. We even looked on to a session of the Gikai, the local legislative body. Covering such a large administrative district is quiet difficult and times the various legislators were yelling, shouting and howling making their points. Imagine the S'attel board meeting multiplied about 20 times. All in all quiet interesting. The following day, we went to Shinjuku. By and large this is the heart of Tokio. It's quite far from K.O. and the older part of Tokio. Along the way, we were able to see most of the rest of Tokio. To this day, there are still places that you can't get into due to so much rubble from the earthquakes. Rumour is though, that there are people living in there, scavenging what artifacts they can find and selling them in the little carts that are everywhere in the streets. Just to the south of Shinjuku, there are two large parks. The larger of the two, Yoyogi Koen, every Sunday is filled with people and musicians playing all sorts of music. About a couple weeks ago I had the chance to go over there. I was even able to pick up a couple more songs and taught a couple songs I knew. My guitar playing is nowhere close to some of these people but I had a good time. Back to my first visit. We first visited the old Shinjuku Station. When the trains still ran, this was the largest station in all of Nippon. Now it is one of the largest collection of shops I've ever seen. Goods from all over Nippon and the world were made available for a price. I was tempted to buy an old silver disk which writing indicating it was for a Beatles album (one of my favorite writers from that era), maybe to commemorate it? Anyway, it cost more gold than I've had in my whole life. The rest of Shinjuku is a bustling district, alive with lantern light and wizard light after dark. Professor Kentaro said that Shinjuku was the only part of Tokio that never really closed down. Just the brief look I had, I could believe it. Pretty much after that, I settled down into a routine. About 6 or 7 in the morning I would get up, Yukiko would make me breakfast, usually rice, a soft boiled egg (no matter how many times I insist I want it hard boiled), and some fruit juice or tea. Then I would go to the library at K.O. and try to find books or write some from the books I have or discuss with Professor Kentaro any problems. Sometimes, I'll talk with Yuan about a certain point. She's a panda, black ears, muzzle, arms and legs, white elsewhere, and she's also working on a historical research paper, but of a different era. Then I would return home around 6 or 7 in evening for dinner, usually consisting of fish or shellfish prepared various ways; raw, fried, grilled, in soup stock. In addition would be some rice and maybe some vegatables, whatever is in season. I guess you making me eat my broccoli all those years ago is starting to pay off. Eating was a bit tricky at first, because I had to get used to using hashi. They are two long tapered sticks that you use to eat with. Professor Kental had some but I never used them that much. I guess I should have practiced before I left. Now I can at least eat the rice without losing too much. After dinner, I would do a little pleasure reading (not all the books that I find are heavy historical texts) or something else, like practice my music. Then just before going to bed, I will jump into the ofuro. It is nothing like baths back home. First of all you wash yourself outside the deep square tub. I usually heat the tub with that little heat cantrip I picked up. That way I don't have to mess with the smoke from the fire. After cleaning up, you enter the water, which is as hot as you can stand. Very relaxing. The only problem is I usually leave a lot of hairs on the surface (stupid shedding problem). I have to skim the surface before the next person can get in. And after I dry off, I'm usually fuzzy all over for the next hour or so. Oh well. I suppose you are wondering about the living arrangements. The house I live in is about a 20 minute walk from the university, dating from sometime in the late 20th century. About half the house is like what you are use to, furniture, wooden floors with small carpets, a combination kitchen and dining area. But there is one central area and the bedrooms covered with tatami, a woven rice straw mat. Also, you have to remove your sandals at the door and you can't wear them inside. Sometime I forget, but Yukiko always gently reminds me. The bedrooms don't have beds but you take out futon, a sleeping pad really, and sleep on the floor. I've gotten use to it by now. Also inside there are no swinging doors, except to the toilet, just sliding doors or curtains. Well the place is so narrow I can see why. Outside is a nice garden which I can see from my window. Maybe what brought on the Change was that humans forgot to keep in touch with Nature. I know I feel so much better when I'm around green and living things than all the concrete. About the only other highlight over the last couple months was there was a rumor that Gojira was spotted over the old downtown area, but there wasn't any damage. He is suppose to be this large reptile that rises out of the sea every once and awhile. I didn't hear a thing other then the occasional low tremble of an earthquake but those are constant and you learn to ignore them (up to certain level) after awhile. Getting that time of year now when the local fey folk make their presence more known. You have to be careful around dusk not to do anything offensive to them or they do things like cause ink to spill on papers (that already happened to me once) or tear holes in the shoji, the paper covered sliding doors. Well, I don't really have anything more to say. I miss all of you. I should be back sometime in Feburary of next year. I'll leave here just after New Year's. Give my love to Cat and Shel and their cubs. Hope Shauna makes it through Choosing all right. I'll try to write sooner but don't count on it. Your Son, Wilford **** '95 Jun 01 Dear Professor Kental, Are you healthy? The weather here is starting to turn to rain. I'm doing fine. Forgive me for not writing sooner but I've been very busy with researching and settling in. Thank you for recommending me to Professor Kentaro. He is just as kind as you said. He has helped me a lot in trying to find resources and work out inconsistancies in various texts. He even got me access to some of the more rare books. The collection of books is nowhere the size of Swallow Library at the University of S'attel, but they do have more books relative to my subject, which I finally decided would be the post World War II era between 1945 and 1973. That is such a strange and wonderous time in Nipponese history, very similiar in many respects to the rebuilding after the earthquakes in the 2050's. It is all quite interesting if sometimes some of the vocabualary is a bit confusing, in both English and Nipponese books I've been able to find. Fortunately, Professor Kentaro has been able to help me as much as he can. So far I have about 20 pages written, but I'm working on it just about every day. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it by the time I return. Your Student, Wil ***** '95 Jun 01 Dear Andii, I miss you so much. I'm sorry I didn't write earlier but I've been busy. That night we spent together before I left was very special to me. I had always heard cats were very amourous but...wow! Don't worry dear, I'll be back before you know it. Just wait for me! You are first girlfriend I've had for any length of time and you remain very special to me. Don't let the distance (or my lack of writing) come between us. I think about you every day. I hope you can finish that engineering test for journeyman. If you haven't taken it yet when you recieve this letter, good luck or ganbare! If you have already, well, hope for the best. The last 6 years I've spent studying, I couldn't wait to come to Nippon. But now that I'm here, there are days I hate it and there are days I love it. They do things I can never understand, like the constant bowing. I know it's suppose to be polite but it still annoys me. Or for breakfast, I usually have boiled eggs. That isn't bad (they have the spirit thanked beforehand, of course) but Yukiko, the wife of the Prof I'm staying with keeps cooking them soft, no matter how many times I say I want them hard. Argh! The thing that annoys me the most is all the people. It's bad enough having all the concrete remaining but there are also 1 million people living in Tokio alone not to mention the other cities nearby. It sometimes seems like I'm the only wolf and I wind up being taller than most of them. As a result, I'm quite visible. I don't like it. I feel like I need to get under some cover. Yeah, like I blend. Every once in a while some one will come up to me and try to speak English to me and I quiet politely answer them in Nipponese whatever query they have. You know I'm not that open. It just bugs me. Another thing that has shocked me is the openness of the sex trade. If you think that hookers down by the docks around Pike Market are bad, you haven't see anything. The third night after I arrived here, Prof Kentaro took me to Shinjuku, which is the heart of Tokio these days. After doing some shopping, around dark we went to find a bar to get something to eat and some beer. By the way, they have some of the best tasting beer here. Not real strong, but has a decent flavor to it. Anyhow, while we looking for a place to drink, the streets were filled with people in carts selling roast potatoes and takoyaki (grilled octopus balls), fortune tellers (paw reading and something called blood type fortunes, what it is I have no idea), storytellers and hawkers getting people trying to get into their shops. Most of the places showed drawings of nude females and a few nude males with signs promising sex. Even occasionally a scantly and alluringly dressed vixen or cat would stand beckoning outside one of these places. Not that I would ever enter one of these places. Not only would you kill me, I'd probably get fleas, too, if not worse. Remember how I used to tease my friend James about being a fox and how we do little things just to see which was better? It just a running gag between us, but seeing all the foxes (or kitsune to be more accurate) here, I keep thing about all the things I used to tease about, like how they all are inherently vain, that sort of thing. I think it's the tail. Of course looking at my tail, it's really not that much to brag about. Not to mention my flat feet. I guess that must come from my parents. shrug. One of things in the old folklore was that the more powerful kitsune had multiple tails. I guess if I ever see a nine-tailed fox, I'll assume he's a Wizard and not bother him. You know me and magic, can bearly do the heat cantrip. Oh well. Not everyone can be a Mage. Of course, I've found somethings I like. One thing I've discovered is manga. It's kind of like the comic illustrated stories they sell down at the bookstore, but the art is of a totally different style, most notable is the consistantly oversized eyes of the characters. Sometime the stories are humourous, sometimes they are serious and I even seen some erotic ones. The manga are sold fairly cheaply in just about every store, printed out on with wood blocks or maybe a hand press on low grade paper and glued together. But some are quite well done and gives me a break from all the real heavy and serious stuff I'm reading and writing all day. And it's quite popular too, with many people reading at least one of the many magazines usually by passing around copies. The more popular stories are performed in the streets by storytellers using illusions. Sometimes the illusionist's version of the story are even better than the manga that it's based on. I'll try to save a copy of one of these manga and show you when I get home. Even when I was digging around in the archives at K.O., I found some old, old manga, so this been around for a long time. A few weeks ago, I wandered over to Yoyogi Park. It was crowded but I still had a good time. You see, every Sunday musicians from all over Tokio gather together and perform for free. I brought my guitar and traded songs with a few people, performing stuff from before the Disappearences. It felt good to be out and have fun for a change. In one respect, Nipponese is the perfect language for shy people, because you have use a lot of hesistant noise and such to get people's attention. There was this one tiger from Indus and we had a long discussion on different types of music. He said he had come to Nippon to see if he could get some work but wound up performing in a strip bar. I think he just wanted to speak English for a while. I know I did. I've working on this history to get my masters for now 2 and half months straight now and I feel like I'm about due for an extended break. I'm starting to lose my focus. I'm sick of having to speak in Japanese all the time. I'm improving my speaking ability greatly, but I still have to think. I don't know. Maybe it's just stress. If nothing else, I need to break routine for a while, go exploring. Maybe I'll ask Professor Kentaro about a trip down south to Osaka. They got the Tokaido Road finally repaired not too long ago. My poor literary skills could never describe Tokio. It's just too big. All the sights of past glories, the crowds of people, the smells... I'll just say that it seems like it is constantly rebuilding. It seems like all along the route to school, there is at least one construction project going on or something is being torn down to make room for something new. I guess even after all this time, Tokio is still bustling. A book I found referred to Tokio as a Phoenix of a city, rising out of the ashes for rebirth. Just as long as I don't choke on the ashes. Never forget that I love you. I will be home before you know it. I'll think of you everyday. I hope you do the same for me. Love, Wil --- This story is copyright 1995 by Bryan Chaney, and is posted to the newsgroups Rec.Arts.Comics.Creative, Alt.Pub.Dragons-Inn, Alt.Fan.Furry, and Spk.Literary. It may be archived as per usual practice from any of those groups, but may not be redistributed or reposted without the permission of the author. Bryan Chaney z9406052@cc.mita.keio.ac.jp bchaney@u.washington.edu wbwolf@u.washington.edu http://weber.u.washington.edu/~wbwolf "If I was a better person, I'd ignore her and go on with my rest of my life... But I'm not." - Slappy Squirrel, Animaniacs, "I Got Yer Can"