The Shrell District is a large city on the planet Eel. It is located on a continent that dominates much of the northern hemisphere. Shrell District is located in the southern region of the continent and enjoys temperate weather that isn’t prone to the extremes of the north and equatorial regions, and many natives of the area have a short coating of brown and white fur with a thick collar of hair at their shoulders. Shrell District is the civilization’s most ancient city, believed to be the site of the earliest appearance of the Eeling species before they spread the planet Eel over millennia. There are nine continents on Eel, the largest and the smallest are located in the northern hemisphere, and the Eeling have settled the entire planet. The terrain of the continents is very rocky as most land of Eel is made up of the Great Red Mountain chain that appears on every continent. There are other, smaller chains of mountain on the planet, easily distinguishable by color, and the surface of Eel from the air is a stunning view of the multicolored terrain that is dominated by red, with prominent bands of brown and yellow in the north, blue and violet along the equatorial center, and green and yellow in the south. Districts of Eel seem to have formed within the borders created by the colors of the land and even in areas dominated by the Red Mountains, there are color variations of the terrain due to the mineral composition of the area that create District lines within large sections of red areas.
Even though Shrell District is not the capital or center of Eeling civilization, it is an important historical site and it is the location of the planet’s most prestigious academic and historical institution, the Shrell Institute of Universal Knowledge. Shrell District, along with Lubose and Tetah Districts, is part of the Deep Red Tri-State, or DR Tri-State, an area that is filled with museums, historical sites, and landmarks that are important to the history of the Eeling. The red color of Tri-State topography is the deepest shade of red on the planet and it is believed that the Red Mountains there have the least mineral impurities.
Lubose District is by far the most technologically advanced city on the planet and it is home to the first site from which the Eeling launched into space. Lubose District is a completely wired city, similar to the entire planet of Oin, where operations like lawn maintenance, trash pick up, even transportation, are regulated and monitored by sophisticated artificial intelligence.
Tetah District is the opposite of Lubose, and is home to the descendants of early cultures of Eeling who have preserved the ancient customs of the species. Among them are the famed Kazi, who practice an ancient religion that makes them veritable magicians. This religion is practiced in some variation by every native inhabitant of Eel who observes religion. Some view the ancient religion and its gods, Ife and Osu, as the cause of all bad things that happen, others as the source of goodness and miracles, and as the face of the religion, the treatment of the Kazi by the general population is dictated by beliefs either positive or negative that generally dominate a district.
Recently at the Shrell Institute of Universal Knowledge, First Professor Nazrhul was overseeing the museum-like installation that was changed regularly and greeted visitors of the institute when they entered its doors. The Institute is like a mansion-sized museum, university, research center, and hospital all rolled into one and it has other buildings that make up a loose campus over several acres of a giant plateau in the mountainous terrain. It is difficult to travel the planet Eel without flying vehicles, and everything on Eel, including clothing, is equipped with jet boosters that allow even the average Eeling to fly over considerable distance, but up to a limited altitude.
Professor Nazrhul’s exhibit in the Institute lobby is a part of an effort by the Senate of Icosa to legitimize the ancient practices of the Kazi among the public that feared them. Nazrhul is an Icosa Senator as the 1st Professor of the Institute, and his jurisdiction of representation covers the entire DR Tri-State. Despite Nazrhul’s seat as Senator, Tetah District has an unofficial leader in Kazi Quail, who is the most respected member of the Kazi Veil, who are like the official clergy of the Ife-Osu religion. In order to gain the trust of the inhabitants of Tetah District, Nazrhul spent a lot of time there and chose Kazi Quail as his Deputy Senator. He has lobbied hard on behalf of the Kazi Veil to the Senate and he decried the acts of violence against them that were common in the DR Tri-State, and even more common in other states around the globe. The history of the Kazi, the real history, has been conflated with myth and legend, and leaders of other states in far off continents often scapegoated the powerful Kazi when crops failed or when livestock died. And the majority of the planet was willing to fear the Kazi who could do extraordinary things like heal the sick, walk on water, breathe underwater, change objects from one thing into another, and even fly. For some, it is jealousy of the Kazi abilities, for others, it is genuine fear of corrupt Kazi who could conquer the planet and enslave all of eel-kind if they wanted. There has never been a documented case of corrupt Kazi, but the possibility alone made some hate them and the Gods who empowered them.
Nazrhul hoped to change the perception, to show all of Eel that the Kazi are the guardians of the planet against things that the military and various police forces could not comprehend.
The installation in the Institute lobby highlighted the story of the Kazi Dipfaz, the Bald, who was born hairless, which is very strange for an Eeling born in the northern hemisphere. Kazi Dipfaz was ridiculed in her youth and often chose to study alone, and she advanced quickly in her training. She became the leader of the Kazi Veil just as the hostile Fhetatians arrived, intent on ruling the planet in continuation of an ancient monarchy. The various Senates of the planet led by the Icosa Senate do have a formidable planetary defense alliance that is very capable militarily, but the hostile Fhetatian contingent did not attack with conventional weapons and all of the impressive bombs that the Eeling civilization had developed were powerless against the dozen or so ships of their attackers. The Fhetatian attackers were practitioners of the ancient Ife-Osu religion and they were able to turn many of the weapons against them into harmless fireworks that they clapped at with amusement. The Kazi Veil led by Dipfaz were able to stop the hostile Fhetatians and she stripped them of their powers. If not for her, the planet Eel would be very different today.
Nazrhul and his workers had organized physical objects in the lobby that were arranged to recreate the famous scenes of Dipfaz battling the leader of the hostile Fhetatians, and there was a large screen background that curved and allowed visitors to walk through the physical scenes while video and audio played behind them. He stood inside of the large space created by the curved monitor and admired the most prominent statue of Dipfaz. She was red because most statues are carved in red stone, and the sculpture was tall. She looked thin without hair, but her eyes were big and fierce. Her nose was tilted up, big ears back, and she had a lot of dignity in the traditional robes of the Kazi. Dipfaz seemed to float, the sculptor had created realistic folds in the robes to replicate traditional Kazi attire that is made of a very delicate material like silk.
Nazrhul was happy that the installation was completed and he was eager for the doors of the Institute to open to the public. It is a large space and the doors of the entrance are heavy slabs of wood that two workers push open from each side. The main building of the Institute serves as the doorway to the larger campus that includes one of the nicest parks in the Tri-State. Many Eeling see the Institute’s entrance installation and it was the first time in its history that it featured the Kazi. It was usually reserved for well-known Senators of history who ushered in peace or prosperity for large populations.
When he tore himself away from the glorious statue of Dipfaz, Nazrhul went to his office that was in the main building of the Institute close to the entrance. His office is part library, part surveillance room; two walls were shelves with books and a big desk in front of one wall, and the other two walls were monitors that showed footage from the cameras around the building. It was one large screen on each wall that he could segment to show as many of the cameras as he chose. He put the footage from the entrance on the entire wall in front of his desk to watch the public reaction to his work.
It wasn’t his normal function to design the entrance installation, there is a department that he delegates to. But that installation was important to him, his alliance with Kazi Quail was important to him and he recognized the usefulness of the Kazi to the average Eeling if they could overcome their fear.
Nazrhul watched as the doors were opened and the visitors filtered through. Some walked the length of the curved screen and considered the installations thoughtfully, some walked past the whole thing completely unaware or uninterested. Then he noticed something. A furry woman in tight fitting athletic gear speaking frantically into a communicator on her wrist. He couldn’t hear her, and people walked calmly past her. But there was something about her. She ended her call and Nazrhul watched her looking at the large statute that some posed with for 3-D laser replicas. She paced around the curve of the installation alone and then she stopped again to stare at the statute.
Nazrhul realized that he had been watching the woman for some time and he wondered why she lingered so long. Maybe she was really affected by what she’d learned and Nazrhul wanted to speak with her.
He ran down the stairs to the first floor on all fours and he looked around for the woman. He was noticed by some visitors who were admirers and they approached him to say hello, but Nazrhul politely waved and evaded them long enough to spot the furry woman from the camera. She was with others and they all looked like the average joggers who enjoyed exercising in the park.
Nazrhul slowly made his way over to the woman and he could hear that she was addressing a crowd that formed in front of her. Occasionally, the crowd would yell in response to her words. He wasn’t close enough to hear anything. He could only see as the Eeling of the crowd produced weapons, guns that shot bullets, and fired on the installation.
Nazrhul watched it in slow motion as the crowd ran away from the gunfire, and as the woman and her group with the guns shot at the large curved screen. He knew they targeted the work he had spent so much time on, and the Eeling caught in the crossfire were unfortunate casualties. He felt the group’s hostility toward the respect being shown to a Kazi with the installation and he would blame himself for the lives lost.
– – –
Kazi Quail knew that something like the attack at the Institute of Universal Knowledge would happen. Not everyone hated the Kazi so violently, but there were enough who feared the power of the Kazi and believed myths that they gained more power as they gained more followers of their ways. This myth is the reason that there are no Kazi or any mention of the Ife-Osu religion in green areas around the globe; the Eeling of green Districts fear the power of the Kazi and they refuse to let Ife-Osu infiltrate their homes. There have been attacks similar to the one at the Institute all over the globe, and Kazi Quail knew that the quest for legitimacy would be hard fought. When 1st Professor Nazrhul first approached him, he warned the newly elected Senator of the violence that would follow if he pursued a campaign to show the Kazi as respectable members of their community who had contributed greatly to Eeling history and prosperity.
Quail waited for a visit from Nazrhul after the attack, and they finally planned to meet after many daylight cycles. Many of the Kazi were insulted by Nazrhul’s delay and they voiced their concerns at their daily meeting in the largest Kazi dōjō of Tetah District, known as the Master Dōjō. The day that Nazrhul traveled to Tetah District, Quail sat cross-legged on the soft floor of the dōjō main room in front of the assembled Kazi. Quail is old, almost two hundred years RET, and the white fur of his body is long. His dark nose and his beady eyes seem to be set into the fur of his face and he has a generally peaceful aura that the Kazi find important for leaders of their Veil.
“This is on him,” Kazi Fandral said. He sat in the cross-legged position but he levitated above the ground. He had not touched the ground in so long that he may have forgotten how to walk.
“Is this really a time for blame?” Quail asked in a soothing tone to counter Fandral’s anger.
“It’s a waste Kazi Quail! You’ve spent so much time with him already, and all it seems to have done is made opposition against us more hostile.” Fandral took deep breaths to calm himself. “We have more urgent matters that need your attention, that’s all I’m saying.”
Quail smiled and the fur around his mouth accentuated it. It cut the tension in the room.
“She is coming and we are well prepared for her arrival,” Quail said. “I know that you are eager to see her, it has been a long time since you were on Earth and she was just a tiny human then.”
“Just born,” Fandral said wistfully. “She is the one the Mountains speak of. They are more eager for her than any of us.”
“And she will arrive soon, but her arrival does not stop our lives.” Quail stood as he spoke. “We are servants of our race, of our planet and its inhabitants, because without this environment, we would not be what we are. We would not know what we know. We owe it to the planet to be it’s defenders, and we cannot do that by force. We must show the people that we are competent leaders. We must live among them. But not while the hatred and misunderstanding is so high. Senator Nazrhul is taking the difficult first step that is required. If we abandon him, if we retreat, then all of Eel is doomed.”
A hush settled over the room. All of the black eyes of the Kazi were on Quail and they knew he was right. The universe is a hostile place and the Kazi are among the most powerful beings in the universe.
There are over two hundred Kazi, and more than two hundred thousand trainees who live permanently in Tetah District. There are more than a thousand Kazi total on the planet, living in all corners of the globe, and all serving their leader Quail and their fellow Kazi. Even if they were feared by some, they still worked covertly for a greater peace on the planet to ensure the safety of Eel that they revered.
There were about fifty Kazi in the dōjō listening to Quail and he hoped they could all sit with Nazrhul when he arrived to discuss their plans for an official response to the public about the incident at the Institute.
But Quail received a call as he stood there and he pointed the communicator on his wrist to broadcast the video as a large hologram. The face of Nazrhul appeared on the screen. His furry, brown face was frantic and the background view changed like he was flying over Tetah District.
“I’m being chased!” he said excitedly. “Please, Quail, I need your help. I’m headed your way ln a jet-bike, but I don’t know if I’ll make it. Please!” And then the video disconnected.
“Should I go save him?” Fandral asked.
“No, we need a show of force. Four of you take jet-bikes to secure Nazrul. Go now, and bring his pursuers here for questioning.”
Four Kazi closest to the door hopped on jet-bikes that formed from large metal rods that lined the walls of the dōjō. They were out the door in a flash and Quail waited at the door of the Master Dōjō for their return.
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