Circle of Magic 1-Chapter 2

 Unfortunately, due to a combination of school and band, I have not been able to update till now. In case you feel this explanation is not compatible with the dashing swashbuckler you believe me to be, then the truth is that my computer exploded every time it saw my face, and when i fixed it it inexplicably was stuck only able to play portal 2 and facebook games. It was odd, to say the least.

 So far in Sandry's book: Children were abandoned various places, and a Deus Ex Machina Man showed up to save them so often that the author had to make him a seer.

  Now Deus Ex Machina Man Niko the seer has rescued Sandry from her cellar at the end of the last chapter, and in the magical time break between said chapters Sandry has had a few weeks to recover and traveled another couple of weeks to her uncle's house. Sandry's uncle, Duke Vedris, is ruler of Emelan, the country where the majority of the story takes place. According to the map at the front of the book, Emelan is about the size of the US, Which is a rather large leap as there is no way to judge scale and the entire world is joined together in a Pangea-like mass.

Pangea

I have no idea what this world is called, but Emelan is the one with the peninsula

Now, I have to ask, do titles work like that? I mean, this is a ruler in charge of a place about he size of a large country or a slightly smaller continent, and he's only a duke?

Anyways, the duke is perfectly fine with Sandry living there, as he is the kindest and most benevolent of dukes, as evidenced by how little finery he wears, but he is worried that Sandry will be bored. Because his wife is dead and there aren't any children around or parties to go to. Yeah. Niko suggests sending Sandry to the place where all the people in his court send their children, which so happens to be the Temple Briar was sent to and the Other temple Tris was sent to. So Sandry agrees to go to this place away from the only family she's got left, and the kind benevolent duke sends her off with a wave and the feeling that he has done right by Sandry.

Daja is also once again among her people! Luckily for her, they welcome her back with open arms, tearfully reminiscing about her lost famil- No, they totally glare at her menacingly and make dire proclamations about her fate. Her fate to be eternally shunned by her own people. Because she was (un)lucky enough to be the only survivor.

Quote time!

"Prepare yourself for the worst," advised Niko, his eyes kind. "You know they regard lone survivors as the worst kind of luck"

"As in the days when we first carried fire, weaving, and metal to the Non-Traders, the kaqs," said the chief judge, a man, "so it is now. Daja Kisubo, lone survivor of disaster, we declare you to be outcast, the worst kind of bad luck, trangshi. ..."

What.

Where in the world did the caption button go? That was such a useful button....

Okay, so apparently the justification for this is that bad luck is the swine flu/zombie virus, and it leaves some victims just alive enough to make it to your well-fortified/sanitized camp, babble about all the dead left behind, and hide their affliction just long enough to infect people/turn into a zombie and attack everyone else.

Well, Ethnic Minorities don't put up with that 28 days later shit, so apparently survivors of great traumatizing tragedy are to be furthermore traumatized. Therefore, these mentally scarred people are given a nice stick to proclaim their new status to all Ethnic Minorities who happen to see them, a little speech about fate, and a swift kick in the rear out of their homeland, remaining family, and entire way of life. I don't say entire way of life lightly, considering these.... *sigh* ....Trangshi..... are given a nice, plain little walking stick, which they are never, ever to cover in any sort of decoration. Not a big deal, 'till you find out that covering these sticks in pictographs depicting their life story is a huge part of Ethnic Minorities' culture! If an Ethnic Minority sees one of these sticks, they will actively shun the person carrying it, and deny their very existence.

Things which are never considered:

• Defying culture and putting decorations on the stick anyways ( There's no way for these guys to actually enforce that rule)
• Pretending not to be an Ethnic Minority and interacting with them anyways
• NOT TAKING A BLOODY SIX-FOOT WALKING STICK EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

Niko is perturbed at their refusal to go against thousands of years of tradition and culture, and vows to take Daja to the Other Temple, aka "Winding Circle".