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Greetings from Europa!

My village has been seeing increased Denpa activity ever since Kubus and Veron began their pilgrimage, as everyone is keen to keep track of their progress.

The last report we’ve received was that the children of Rezter had reached Svalegos, a swampy region in which their egami, who is carrying the uz cu’nal containing their father’s corpse, cannot cross easily. While there is no damage threat to Rezter’s physical body, as the uz cu’nal can preserve it indefinitely without loss of integrity, I’m sure the children want to send their father’s spirit on its way to rejoin the universe as soon as possible. And though Kubus and Veron did not actively seek help in crossing the wet and spongy marsh, nearby villagers have taken up the act of gathering stones to build a narrow walkway to aid the egami across.

In other news, today is a very special day on Europa, the Alum’Vedca, or the day marking the new solar cycle of Peace and Maturity, a tribute to the era when Europans evolved from their primitive prey state. As they are a race fascinated with storytelling, I’m sure you can imagine all the proud reenactments that have occurred today, each family putting their own personal spin on the act of evolving into a higher life form. My family did as well, but I didn’t participate, despite Jampi’s persistent urging for me to evolve with him. Although I’m sure the villagers wouldn’t have minded, it felt a little disrespectful to me. I am happy to learn and participate in all aspects of their way of life, but I never lose sight of the fact that I am an outsider, and that at any given moment I might unintentionally offend someone in an act of cultural appropriation. I doubt this would ever happen, as I’ve said, they are a kind and generous people, who would most likely rejoice in my participation. It’s just some of that human baggage that I can’t seem to shake off, which makes me err on the side of caution.

The Alum’Vedca celebration did bring a bit of fortune my way, as Meis’lo, a relative of my wife, traveled to our village to share the day with us. As the oldest living Europan and witness to the Sel’Tab attack on Nes’Tim, I wanted to pick his brain in hopes of getting some background information and perhaps a few leads in my investigation into Rezter’s murder.

Inquisitive by nature, Meis’lo was more than happy to assist me, and he had access to information that none of the Denpa were aware of. It turned out that Rezter wasn’t the first mysterious death to occur in Dery’Ylok Prefecture. A female Europan with arcek markings painted around her neck, who was referred to as Klanea, which translated as unknown to us, or stranger, had been found with a similar blow to the head as Rezter, but her death was classified as agvann, or the will of Nes’Tim, an accident, as she was located at the bottom of a steep cliff, and was assumed to have fallen from a great height.

The urge in me to get to the bottom of this is stronger than ever now, which means I need to take a trip to Dery’Ylok Prefecture, and the only thing standing in my way, is somehow explaining the entire situation to my wife, and getting her permission to let me go.

Until next broadcast, this is Captain Edwards, signing off.

To be continued…

Text and Audio ©2014 & 2021 Rhyan Scorpio-Rhys

Glossary of Terms

• Abogzons – Gynecological engineers.
• Agvann – Translation: The will of Nes’Tim; an accident.
• Alum’Vedca – The day marking the new solar cycle of Peace and Maturity; a tribute to the era when Europans evolved from their primitive prey state.
• Arcek – A spiritual theologian
• Bokloryn – An unrepayable debt; an act that places the receiver in a lifetime contract of servitude.
• Cu’nal – A biological storage unit.
• Denpa – An envoy equipped with an audiographic memory that can store and recall spoken messages at will in the same voice, tone and inflection of the original person who spoke it, who travels from village to village to deliver messages from other communities both near and far.
• Egami – A docile mineral-based creatures primarily used for family transportation due to the fact they are virtually inexhaustible.
• Gates of Juh’holl – Europan afterlife; where souls are released from the flesh to become stardust and rejoin the universe.
• Ipu llqr mwyll xfrr – Abogzon credo meaning “success or death”; satisfaction guaranteed.
• Isogoles – Europan monthly day of pay.
• Jbwqnadb – Europan spelling of lemonade.
• Klanea – Translation: unknown to us; stranger.
• Meis’lo – The only surviving witness to the murder of  the prophet Nes’Tim.
• Micdow yl – The vessels of new life; children.
• Nes’Tim – The most revered spiritual prophet on Europa, slain by a heretic tribe who call themselves Sel’Tab.
• Pwyll – Europa’s highest mountain.
• Qik’climajh – Depending on its usage in a sentence, denotes either the act of telling a story, or the storyteller themselves.
• Sel’Tab – A heretic tribe responsible for the death of the prophet Nes’Tim.
• Shig’umfu – “Interesting world of another”; a documentary qik’climajh in which neighbors tell the story of a person’s life as learned from casual conversations.
• Spo – Food.
• Uz Cu’nal – A biological storage unit used primarily for food preservation.
• Uz – An unspeakable sexual act; a derogatory term; an insult.