OBSIDIAN – Tales of Karanga
A New Short Story from Mike McCoy
What if an ancient race has been here since the dawn of time and we found them…by accident?
Mas Gwinyai has been waiting for an eternity. He’s bored with the endless repetition of the life he endures. To pass the time, he tells the compelling history of conflict between the karanga and the scragg. Karanga are the noble caretakers of the garden, working to keep nature in balance. Scragg destroy the garden. They are a murderous breed that knows only war and death.
When a great battle with the scragg leaves Mas and his shipmates in a strange predicament, hope is all that keeps them alive.
As Mas begins another duty cycle, everything suddenly changes. When odd circumstances bring Mas and his shipmates face to face with the scragg for the first time in millennia can old rivalries be set aside?
Will Mas and his friends stop the cycle of war with the scragg and make peace, or is nature a force to powerful to overcome?
OBSIDIAN is an intriguing and thought-provoking tale. It’s a story that takes place in a time long ago and present day. It’s a fantastical view of a world wiped away at the end of an ice age. A story of war and devastating floods clearing the way for modern civilization and a study of cultural bias and misunderstandings that cause endless strife.
Why do we war, kill, and fight?
Are the scragg human and the karanga something more, something different, something lost or somewhere hidden? How do humans treat other humans? How do we react when we stumble upon something we don’t understand? Do we stop and learn when presented with something extraordinary, or do we dissect and destroy it? Can we rise above and be more like them, or are we slaves to our nature?
The karanga character names and many of the words are based on the Shona language. Shona is a Bantu language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe and Karanga is a dialect. I like the sound and tone of the words. I hoped to add depth through language as an aid in developing the characters as an ancient noble people.
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