Neska
| Neska | |
|---|---|
| English gloss | cat (granary hunter) (translation, not identification) |
| Role | Wild |
| Where found | Granaries, docks, warehouses; the Gyrska line in every home and on every ship |
| Size | Small, long-bodied |
| Kept / wild | Kept; engineered |
| Used for | Killing Chirska; the Gyrska for company |
| Lexicon | Neska |
The Neska is long-bodied and spotted, with a ringed tail longer than the rest of it, low to the ground, sinuous, and built to follow prey into any hole rather than wait at the mouth. It climbs easily, keeps high, and is noticed only when it wants to be. It is kept in granaries, docks, warehouses, and other large fixed buildings where it has room to be alone, and it attaches to the place, not the owner. It is not a companion and nobody claims otherwise. It is the reason a city's stores are not eaten by Chirska; a city without Neska has a Chirska problem, and every keeper knows it.
The Gyrska
The household and ship line of the Neska, and probably the most common pet in the world. After nine centuries of the friendly ones being kept and fed, it is almost a different animal: smaller, shorter-faced, soft-coated and usually white with patches of color, curl-tailed, and with a great deal to say. It seeks people out and sleeps on them; it attaches to people rather than places, the exact opposite of what it was made for. It still hunts in play and brings its catch as gifts. Every ship carries Gyrska rather than Neska — a ship is a floating house, and a Neska confined to one would make its misery known. The ship's Gyrska belongs to the whole crew, knows everyone aboard, and inspects any new hand thoroughly; the crew takes its assessment seriously. Crews trade and gift young Gyrska between vessels.