Dimar: Lost Waters
(you can order a paperback copy or ebook here)

Table of Contents

Intro
Prolog

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33

Glossary
Dimar terms
Arrallin terms

Map

Glossary and Resources - Dimar: Lost Waters

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Arrallin Species Profile, Arrallin Glossary, Dimar Species Profile, Dimar Glossary, Map

Arrallin Species Profile

Arralla had 2 billion Arallakeeni at Contact.
Arrallins left by the end of the Unwilling War: 50 million

These were split between 4,000 hives the size of San Francisco (Proper). Each hive has 50-100 breeding pairs, which produce approximately 100 kits per year. There is generally one or two breeding pairs per province in a Hive, but there are sometimes as many as 5 in a single province.

Approximately 250,000 Arallakeeni are produced by each hive each generation (40 years).
Life span
Alpha: 100 years
Beta (Keeni): 80 years
Life span on Earth
Alpha: 75 years
Beta: 35 years

Physical statistics

Diminutive Terms used for Arrallins and Arrallakeeni on Earth:
Lupines, Felines, Fuzzies, Furries, Keeni (for only the non-alphas)

Alphas
Height: 6'5" approximately (Both males and females)

Physical Features:
Canine in appearance, along the lines of a wolf. Two eyes, two pointed ears, with large lobes connecting down the sides of the head, one nose set on the end of a long muzzle. Generally walk on all fours, but do have a two-legged gait, and a five-legged gait that uses the tail. Tail is prehensile.

Hands:
They have opposable thumbs on both forepaws, and four toes that curl under (pads on knuckles.) Each finger or toe has a long claw (non retractable.)

Coat:
Alphas always have some kind of striking stripe pattern (black, dark gray or brown), a thick mane and a very long bushy tail that ends in a tuft. Their undercoat can range from dark charcoal gray to white, with all colors of tan, orange, brown, rust, or tawny
golden. The stripes can vary in width from 5" to as thin as 1/4", giving some Alphas the appearance of being dark with light stripes. The mane may be a separate color from the coat, but the stripes are constant throughout the coat.

Eyes: Golden yellow or golden-green (Alphas only.)

Breeding:
Each Alpha has eight functioning mammary glands (both males and females.) Apart from that, males are males, and females are females. These glands do not store fat, like human breasts, so they generally lay flat under the coat unless the Alpha is raising kits at the time. Male Alphas carry fat stores on their backs for milk production. Females tend to have it more evenly distributed.

Females can produce 20-30 kits per litter three times a year.

Pairs mate for life, until the death of one member of the pair. They can then remate.

Arallakeeni (Non breeding Arrallins)

Average Height: 5'3"
Physical Appearance:
Canine in appearance, along the lines of a wolf. Two eyes, two ears, one nose set on the end of a long muzzle. With Keeni, the muzzle can also be short. Generally walk on
all fours, but do have a two legged gait, and a five legged gait that uses the tail.

Hands:
They have opposable thumbs on both forepaws, and four toes that curl under (pads on knuckles.) Each finger or toe has a long claw (non retractable.)

Coat:
Arallakeeni have a wide variation in coats. They can have stripes, splotches, calico patterns, flea-bitten speckles, dapples, and any combination of these. Aggressive betas tend to have more striping than less aggressive ones, but this is not a rule.
Unlike alphas, Arallakeeni have even coats - no manes, and usually thinly coated tails (no tufts). One type of northern Arrallakeeni have long foxlike tails, but they don't have tail tufts at the end. Their undercoat can range from dark charcoal gray to white, with all colors of tan, orange, brown, rust, or tawny golden.

Eyes: Black, Brown, Tan, Blue, Blue Green, Dark Green, Gray, Violet, Hazel, Orange. Never yellow, golden or gold-green.

Breeding:
Arallakeeni do not breed, but do parent young. Each has 2 functioning mammary glands which react to the presence of a kit and an Alpha. A kit is usually given to a single Arallakeeni or set of parenting Arrallakeeni a week or so after birth in an Introduction ceremony.

Arrallin Definitions and Terms

Alphas - The dominant breeding pairs of Arrallins are referred to on Earth as Alphas. Arrallakeeni (non breeding Arrallins) are referred to as Betas.

Arralla - The homeworld of the Arrallin species, found by Earth early in it's Gate Program.

Arrallakeeni - The Beta members of the Arrallin species refer to themselves as Arrallakeeni. Keeni is a diminutive affectionate term.

Arrallins - Both Alpha and Beta members of the Arrallin species are referred to as Arrallins by humans, however the term Arrallin is only used to refer to Alphas in Arrallin society.

Arrallakeeni - The Beta members of the Arrallin species refer to themselves as Arrallakeeni. Keeni is a diminutive affectionate term.

Furries, Fuzzies, Lupines - Derogatory term for Arrallins.

Ir'est - First Mate in Arrallin naval terms

Ir'mora - Chief engineer in Arrallin naval terms

Schnu - Arrallin expression, equivalent to ‘Heh’ or ‘Yeah’. (It’s more of a snort than a word)

Introduction Ceremony - This is a special day when Arrallin Alphas transfer kits (baby Arrallins/Arrallakeeni) to their new parents. It usually occurs when the kits are between 4 weeks and 8 weeks old. It's the equivalent of when wolves open their dens to let the pups out to play with the rest of the pack for the first time.

Details:

The families with new kits remain at the royal complex for another month or so, and usually stay a month or two before the introduction ceremony too, to receive enough of the pheremone to begin lactating. They are allowed to help with the den cleaning and babysitting duties under the watchful control of the court Keeni before the introduction ceremony. This also gives the Arrallins a chance to see how the parents are with the kits before they make the assignments and decide which kit goes with whom. The kits are too young to be aware or have any kind of a parental preference, and like humans, the Keeni parents-to-be are almost always so happy to be adopting that they don't have a preference for kits either.

The Arrallins have spent the last 6 weeks to 2 months cooped up in the den room of the Hive building. (This room is usually in the basement, but can vary depending on the location of the hive. If it was in a swampy area prone to flooding, it might be the highest room in the building..it's always in the safest place -- the heart of the hive complex.)

The day before the ceremony, the great hall or meeting place of the royal complex is scrubbed down and festooned as you might imagine with banners of all the Arrallin and Arrallakeeni families' coats of arms, flowers, table cloths and runners, etc. The kits are washed up and wrapped in receiving blankets,and the Arrallins also get much needed relaxing baths, as do all the court. The Arrallins dress in their court finery (chains of state, carrying traditional symbols of hive leadership - carved staves, etc.). Alpha kits remain with the Arrallin royals to be trained to one day run a Hive of their own. Their receiving blanket is red, to set them apart from the other kits, who are usually swaddled in white or light pastel blankets.

The Arrallins process to the dias at the end of the hall, followed by two rows of courtiers carrying one kit each. If there is an Alpha kit, the female Arrallin carries him/her. Some speeches are made, and one by one, each family is called up to receive their new child. The name of the child (chosen by the Keeni parents) is announced by the Arrallins, and the kit is transferred to them.

After the introductions are made, the hive parties long into the night. The kits are snuggled away in cribs in the evening, and the parents may choose to stay with them, or go back to the festivities, leaving the kit under the watchful eye of a babysitter (usually another member of their immediate family). More rambunctious kits with daring parents are sometimes kept in front-carry pouches carried by their new parents if things aren't too rowdy.

Arrallin Gestation and Misc Baby Info

Gestation is about 4 Earth months long - usually between 100 and 130 days. (If food is good, the litter will come sooner.) Arrallin Alphas can have anywhere from 1 to 30 kits. If it's the Alpha female's first litter, she'll probably have a small one. Probably between 8-18 kits, but once she gets 'up to speed', she'll regularly produce between 20-30 kits 3 times a year.

Child Care is tough when there aren't alot of Keeni in her royal court, because they are interim wet-nurses. Basically, the alphas have 8 nipples each, and can easy nurse 16 kits. They can even handle as much as 20-25 themselves as a pair (but they won't be happy...) Keeni have 2 nipples each, and immediately produce milk with the birth of the kits (since they're in closest contact iwth the Alphas). These Court Keeni generally don't adopt the kits permanently, but act as food source backup for the exhausted Alphas. A court usually consists of 5-12 Keeni who act as royal advisors as well as wet-nurse-aides to the Alphas.

Then, after eight or so weeks (depends on hive), individuals or mated pairs of Keeni who have been living in the Royal Chambers for the last few weeks to start milk production, adopt the kits and take them to their own houses as their permanent children.

Child Care for Arrallins is interesting. The young are born with spotted coats and downy fur, with eyes closed and deaf, and without teeth. It takes a month and half usually for all the kits' eyes to open and for them to develop hearing. Another five or so months for teeth to appear. I based the Arrallins a bit on cats -- who have an interesting 'replacement' for diapers. Cats actually have to lick their babies to stimulate them to go to the bathroom, and then eat the results. However, I think this is a bit too gross -- dealing with dirty diapers every day has made me rethink using this with Arrallins...I wouldn't want to roleplay that on a game. ;) So, instead, they do still have to stimulate the babies to get them to go, but have diapers for them, or some kind of receptacle for the waste. This is much easier than human babies, because you can always know when the baby's going to go, because you cause it. If an Arrallin parent waits to long to help the little guy go, though...It's explosively bad (and leads to a very fussy, and messy, kit!) Arrallins and Keeni place the kits in a special tub and stimulate them to go to the bathroom with washclothes- probably 8-12 times a day for the first month, and then 6 times a day after that until about the age of 4-5 months (when they're mobile, and can 'use the litterbox' :) )

Kits are mobile by about 4-5 months (crawling on all 4s, or using a 5 legged gait involving the tail). They're like puppies - trying to eat everything. This is when the adults can start them on solid food. After 2-3 months of nursing and eating solids, the kits can generally wean (around 7-8 months old earth time). They don't try their two legged gait until they're around a year old, but they will be very handy (and mouthy) early on, experimenting with gripping and manipulating objects, just like a human baby, but faster developing. The tail is prehensile, too, so they may start to try to climb or hang on it, or pick things up with it.

Dimar Species Profile

Dimar are divided into two main species groups: warbreed and peacebreed.

Physical Characteristics
All known Dimar are hexpedal (six-limbed), with two forelegs, two wings, and two hindlegs. The main body of a dimar is very much like that of a dog or cat, with long forelegs, ending in graceful six-toed paws (four central fingers, and a thumb to either side.) The hind legs are well muscled, like a cat's, for leaping, and also have six toes: four central toes for propulsion, and two thumbtoes for hanging from vertical surfaces or branches.

All Dimar have a long graceful tail, and almost all dimar tails end in a tail-blade or spade of some kind. All dimar have fur, even if it's only a few tufts in the ears. All dimar have long necks, very much like that of a heron or a python.

In both subspecies, the Dimar face consists of a long camel-like or reptilian snout with large eyes. These eyes are overshadowed by expressive, pliable muscular brows which provide shade, protection and expression for the Dimar. Extending from the rear of each brow are two horns. Horn configurations can vary widely from Dimar to Dimar, but the textures generally found are: striated (like tree-bark), smooth (like metal), spiral-texture (like a seashell or unicorn/narwhal horn), ridged, or bumpy. Below the horns are two fairly long ears, equine in shape. However, unlike horse ears, they do not stand upright, but tend to lay along the skull and neck of the dimar for aerodynamics. A dimar can flip his ears forward and up like a horse to get a better sound picture of an area, but most of the time this isn't necessary.

Dimar are hot-blooded animals. They regulate their own body temperature internally and do not require prolonged periods of exposure to heat or cold to moderate their internal processes. However, most members of the species do enjoy a long snooze in the sun, or a cool dip in a pool on a hot day.

Feeding
Dimar are omnivors, eating pretty much all animals native to dimar (and a few that came from Earth) as well as many plants. Due to years of wars and genetic tinkering, they are impervious to most food-borne illnesses native to the planet. A large two-lobed liver provides a strong filter for poisons in the foods they eat as well. Despite the amazing ability to digest just about anything safely, dimar are picky eaters, and have a tendency to be quite gourmet in their tastes. Just because they can eat something doesn't mean they like it.

They don't cook quite as much as humans do, but they do like to marinade their foods with various herbs and flavors to add variety. Warbreed dimar are particularly fond of hunting, as it improves their war skills. Peacebreeds tend to slaughter their herds in an organized fashion to maximize the preservation of the freshness of the meat over time.

They do use cups for drinking, and plates or large round trough-pedestals for serving food. They also have knives and other utensils for serving food. However, these aren't always used - there is no taboo on Dimar for using your hands or your mouth to eat directly. An individual is allowed to use whatever works best for them, providing it doesn't inconvenience other diners. For instance, it would be bad form for a dimar to bring a live morrak into a room and slaughter it on the table, as it would make a mess, noise and disturb other diners.

Breeding
All Dimar lay eggs. The usual clutch is 1 to 2 eggs. About 20% of fertile layings result in only 1 egg being produced, or the second egg not being viable. Many couples forgo mating in order to provide infertile eggs for the production of lita sacks used to carry Water to defend the barryd against fires.

All Dimar mate in a way very similar to mammals or birds on Earth. Courtship and pre-coital activity is long and complex, consiting of dances to impress a mate, and other dances and caresses to cement the bond. Dimar do not mate for life, and different partners in different breeding seasons is common. However, there are those pairs that are monogamous as well. A few warbreed families mate in flight, but most mate in the privacy of their homes or in other safe spaces. Dimar are as varied and versatile in their mating habits as humans. If it works, they'll use it.

Males
All male Dimar have the usual penis and testicles of male animals common to Earth. However, unlike Earth animals, Dimar do not urinate through this system. It is completely separate from the urinary tract, which actually empties into a cloaca pouch along with feces, to be discharged as a watery mass. The male sex organs are located in front of the tail vent (or anus/cloaca), in between the rear legs. Both male and female dimar do not use urine to mark territory. Instead, the rub the sides of their faces or special glands on their eblows and heels on surfaces to mark them with scent.

Females
All female Dimar lay eggs via a duct under the tail in front of the tail vent. This mating tract is completely separate from both the urinary and anal tracts, and is tightly sealed closed by muscles to keep it free of any bacteria. The female must exert quite a bit of force to open the tract to accept a male, and must be conscious to do so. She also must be conscious and work hard to lay her eggs when they're ready for transfer to a nest or pouch. It is as difficult as human labor in some respects. Although mammalian in many respects, Dimar do not lactate.

Eggs and Incubation
During times of peace, these eggs are usually incubated in an artificially warmed nest within the Barryd home of the dimar for a period of five months. In the case of warbreed dimar and peacebreed groups in cold climates, the eggs are cared for in a large crèche - a central protected room in the barryd where all parents bring their eggs to be warmed and guarded. They take shifts watching and turning the eggs. The eggs in this situation tend to synch up and hatch within 5 days of each other. Each parent knows which eggs are theirs, and which offspring, by smell, and immediately stow their children away in their pouches after they hatch. Dimar will adopt each others' children, but only if the original parents of the eggs have died.

The Dimar Pouch
However, for unsettled times or travel, dimar have evolved a system for tending eggs and young hatchlings. Between the shoulderblades, on all Dimar, males and females, there is a pouch. This pouch is lined with downy fur, and is very strongly muscled to create a rigid casing around the passenger if protection is needed during a fall. Most of the time, the pouch will softly carry its contents with a gentle hold. The only 'live births' that occur are when an egg hatches when being carried inside a Dimar pouch.

Communication
All dimar possess the ability to Mind-Speak. This is a telepathic mind-to-mind exchange of both words (symbolic communication) and images (exact visual communication). It is easier to broadcast words over a distance than pictures. All of an individual's mind-speaking has a particular flavor, voice or signature pattern that identifies the source of the message. Only a master mind-speaker can disguise their signature. Mind-to-mind communications, especially pictorial ones, are very specific and filtered by the experience of the broadcaster, which creates a very clear, almost indelible signature. Word communications are more easily disguised.

These mind-waves are broadcast and received not via the dimar's ears, but actually via the horns, which act as antennae. Each horn encases thousands of broadcasting and receptive cells, tuned to the communications frequencies of the electromagnetic field of Dimar, referred to as the Wind. It is excruciatingly painful to have a horn broken or altered. Changes or repairs to horns are always done with great care and under heavy painkillers and sedation, as this is the equivalent of brain surgery for a dimar.

Distinguishing Features between Warbreed and Peacebreed Dimar

The warbreed and peacebreed dimar differ in several ways:

Horns
All warbreed dimar have brachiated (branched) horns, with spikes emerging from the main horn at intervals. Some warbreed dimar also have horns rising from their brows. These alterations were made during the Barryd Wars to allow the warbreed dimar to directly interface with their warships. They drove their ships via psi broadcasts through their horns, and these additional spikes provided different sub-channels for controlling weapons systems, or even different divisions and other ships within their squadron.

Peacebreeds have the natural non-brachiated horns, which only allows them to interface with the most basic functions of a dimar warship (unless they or the ship has been specially altered to fit them.) This ensured that the peacebreed, or slave dimar, were unable to use the warbreed ships against their opressors.

Tail-blade
All warbreed dimar have at least one tail blade, and have a thicker, stronger tail than peacebreed dimar. It is used as a weapon in many territorial dances, mating dances or in battle.

Some peace breeds are lacking this chitinous protrusion entirely but most have a smaller, single tail-spade as is naturally found on the species.

Scales
All warbreed dimar have scales year-round. Most warbreeds have a thick fur under their scales, but some do not, and use subcutaneous fat for warmth.

Peacebreed dimar only have scales during the fire season, in order to protect their fur from the heat of the fires that annually ravage the mainland.

Eyes
Some warbreed dimar naturally have cat-like eyes, rather than birdlike/human eyes. This gives them night vision, but the trade off is that they don't see color or detail quite as well.

All peacebreeds have human-like eyes (but with better long distance viewing), but they do not work well in the dark.

Alterations made with the Water can give any dimar a hybrid eye structure that has the clarity of a hawk eye, the night vision of a cat eye, but the with color and detail reception of a human or bird eye. This is one of the most popular Water alterations dimar will choose to have done to themselves.

Dimar Definitions and Terms

Acolytes - Acolytes are aids to the Great Mother or Father of a Barryd. They specialize in monitoring the Barryd plant-collective itself, and coordinating the efforts of the other arts in a barryd. They're essentially upper management, but they actually are effective (unlike most Earth upper management). See section on Acolytes below.

Arnas - These are the academies and universities where Arts and Crafts are taught. Everything from textiles to animal husbandry to music to trade and economics are taught in various Arnas. Every Barryd has several Arnas, but one particular Craft or Art usually comes to the fore in older Barryds and becomes associated with it. For example, Cal

Barryd - A collection of plants and animals all working on concert to provide a stable self-sustaining ecosystem that supports all. Barryds tend to evolve into large cities over the course of thousands of years.

Barryd Types (Designations) - not all are listed. More will be added as Dimar evolves.

Ela - Farming study. Ela barryds focus on food production for trade, and often evolve as sub-barryds within a larger barryd of another type.

Cal - Planetary Defense. This is basically war arts, but with a focus on defending the planet as a whole from outside invaders. For political reasons, it was not given the designation Mul.

Mul - War arts. This is the study of ceremonial combats and combat dances through full scale Barryd warfare. It has Ela, Telkai and other divisions. (Multai is sub-class of Mul arts, a form of extreme wrestling, created by Ian Munro and described in his wonderful short story. Click here!)

Mir - Animal Breeding. Mir barryds focus on selective breeding of animals to produce new, stronger breeds, as well as maintaining large herds for sale or trade. They do work with Tel barryds on occaision, but prefer a ‘back to basics’ old style of animal husbandry to all that new fangled Water technology. The more extreme Mir barryds are equivalent to the Amish in America.

Olu - Arts and Crafts. These barryds focus on the creation of artwork, goods, performances and entertainment. They tend to be small, idyllic places, and are often chosen as retirement or vacation spots for Dimar who are not strongly connected with their central barryds. They also tend to be centers of wealth on Dimar because of their heavy Guild influence and surplus of tradeable goods.

Tel - Engineering Arts. Tel barryds focus on trying new technologies to tame the firestorms on Dimar in the dry season, as well as testing new configurations for the barryd plants for maximum efficiency. Tel artisans tend to enjoy cutting edge technologies. (See Telkai)

Tinar (Tin)- Firefighting Arts. Tinar skills also include precision flying using Wind lift, forcing back fires through Wind channeling and fire planning and control.

(and others...See Craft Conventions list below)

Dimar - The dragonlike species native to Dimar. Dimar is synonymous with 'earth' or ‘truth’ in the thinking of the Dimar.

Mul Dimar - Are a type of Dimar that evolved after years of Barryd wars. They believe they invented what they refer to as 'lesser Dimar' (non-Mul) with Telkai engineering, but both are evolved from the most ancient Dimar, the Dimu, who are long since lost. A majority of Mul Barryds abandoned Dimar for star travel when the Barryd Wars resulted in the destabilization of the ecosystems and atmosphere of Dimar. The non-Mul Dimar at this time had been enslaved and used for production. They were left to die on the planet.

Firescales - Scaled plates that coat a Dimar during the Fire season. The scales are effective heat reflectors, as well as protecting the underfur of the Dimar while fighting fires.

Guilds - Each art has a guild associated if there is a sellable or tradable product produced through the study of the art. Guilds are like for-profit corporations, whereas the Arts tend to have a more religious feel to them. All guilds, regardless of the craft, have one mission: profit. The Arts are more academic in nature.

Leaders - Each Barryd has one Leader, who is the personification of the health of the Barryd-collective as a whole. They're like a thermometer for all the plants and animals that are linked to the Barryd.

Lita - A water carrying sack used by fire patrols for emergency healing of plants, animals or Dimar. It is made from the shells of infertile eggs laid by Dimar of a barryd. Resisting the urge to mate to create litas is considered an honorable sacrifice. Barryd members who do this are rewarded with gifts.

Miruls - Another species of Dimar meat-producing grazers. They're much smaller than morraks (the size of a whitetail deer or there abouts, only shorter) and are easier to herd.

Morraks - Large ox-like animals with long rabbit ears and long tails that end in puffs. They lack horns, but have sharp three toed hooves. These massive creatures are relatively docile by Dimar standards, although their sheer size makes them dangerous to humans and earth animals in most cases. They were not given psi ability, as they are destined to be food. Oolars are used to move them.

Murrkila - Mainland. Mainland is the largest continent of the big 5 on Dimar. Dimar has 5 large land masses and 11 sub-continental islands.

Nila - The monetary unit of non-Mu Dimar. They are large sheets of paper printed with a variety of symbols showing from which Barryd they originate, as well as their value and other features to make them harder to duplicate. Nila also come in a solid form - a sheet of wood or metal with the same impressions made as on the paper version. However, humans and Arrallins find these too difficult to work with.

Numu - tiny lemur-like tree dwellers.

Oolars - These creatures are Dimar pets. They are canine in appearance but are about the size of a large tiger and have a tiger-like tail. They have curving ram horns on their head, and tusks that emerge from the lower jaw. These features are remnants of when they were bred for war thousands of years earlier. They have mild psi abilities to make the easier to control.

War Oolars - This is the Mul version of an Oolar and are about the size of a large horse. They have protective scaling, much like firescales, and more pronounced horns and tusks. They are vicious fighters, adept climbers and have mild psi capabilities that make them easy to control. Some have wings, but most were bred for going into Barryds and slaying refugees hiding in the lower chambers, or for digging up the roots at the interior base of the Barryd to stun it or kill it.

Ranks - Each art or division of a barryd consists of many ranks - there are no set number. Lower ranks are lesser skilled, and are marked with higher numbers. The leaders are Rank 0, and First Rank are usually masters or peers of the leaders of the rank.

stripling - a term for a youngster. In the case of Dimar, approaching the age of it's first flight. (around 4 cycles - 8 years)

The Isle - The largest of 11 sub-continental islands on Dimar. It is considered Mul territory, and sacred ground, and non Mul Dimar regard it as Hades.

Telkai - The great hero of Dimar's early Barryd Wars, as well as the study of genetic engineering and form improvement. It is considered an engineering and management branch of the healing arts.

Turaks - An early attempt at Telkai engineering that resulted in a species that failed and died out. Miruls were used as a base for these animals.

Water - A prized tool of all Barryds for growing and healing, the Water is a form of genetic altering material. In earth terms: It's a set of programmable viruses and cell-technology machines that can alter forms and give then a new genetic code, or can take the existing genetic plan and repair the object based on that blueprint. Dimar also has an abundance of regular water (H20). The Water is only found in Barryds or in special carrying sacks called Litas.

Wind - Wind is a form of magnetic field that envelops Dimar. It's very much like Earth's magnetic field, but magnitudes larger and stronger. As Earth hardly has any Wind, so our science was not evolved to sense it.

velvet - A protective, nutrient carrying membrane that covers a young Dimar during its infancy and adolescence. The velvet is lost in a fire-ritual to mark the transition to young-adulthood.

More Details on Dimar
(Special Thanks to the folks of DimarMOO for asking great questions which have helped me flesh out the world in much greater detail)

Dimar Acolyte System:

Acolytes are sub-administrators of the Barryd. It's a bit like being in a Craft or an Art, but since Barryds are so important, it's almost more of a religious position, so it's given the term Acolyte. It has ranks, just like in the crafts, except they are ordered backwards from the crafts...where 1 is the lowest (apprentice) and it goes up to an arbitrary number based on the Arna's number of classes, specialties, etc. With Acolytes, being the Acolyte first is the highest you can be without being the 'Arch (Matriarch/Patriarch/Great Mother/Great Father/Leader) of the Barryd itself.

The number of sub ranks for Acolytes is arbitrary, but it's around 6 for a small barryd and 12 for a full barryd. There can be more than one acolyte per rank...and some ranks might be completely empty -- a barryd may lack a second acolyte, for instance.

Generally, each rank in the Acolyte system corresponds to some administrative task of the barryd.

Acolyte firsts are the personal assistants to the Leader. They need to be just about as well tuned into all the activity of the barryd as the leader him/herself.

Acolyte Seconds deal with the barryd plant itself - overseeing engineering crews and construction, helping planning how the barryd will grow over time and deciding what the barryd can support. This takes a very complete understanding of how the barryd interacts with it's local environment.

Acolyte third level deals with nutrition and trade, bringing materials to the barryd that the plant itself needs to grow.

Forth and fifth deal with crops and farming to keep the animal populations of the barryd fed, and deciding which items can be used for trade or need to be stockpiled.

Sixth level deals with special features of the barryd - the records storage portion of the plant (where simulations are done, histories are kept...it's like the TV/Cable/Computer/Radio portion of the plant).

Seventh deals with Water, another special feature.

Eighth deals with firefighting and military border patrols (keeping the barryd safe) - It's kept low in the heirarchy just because the peacebreeds dislike war arts, but it's so neccesary it's still above 12.

Ninth deals with internal barryd administration, helping assign existing rooms to various residents and working fair housing to meet the needs of residents. (Often, this just means overseeing a free market for the rooms, though. Only extrememly crowded barryds, old barryds that have used up much of their lands, need to do room assignments to keep things fair.)

Tenth deals with the justice system, overseeing individual disputes in the Barryd.

Eleventh oversees the mechanics of trade - kind of like a Chamber of Commerce..since the Arts and Crafts themselves usually do much of the legwork for trade. This is just the official administrative branch that helps things along.

Twelfth acolytes are Jacks of all Trades/Apprentices usually, learning about each level by acting as aides to other Acolytes in other levels.

This system is flexible, though, and can vary by Barryd. Barryds with serious fire problems might move that Rank to 4 or 5, moving down things like herd management and crops. Barryds near Mul barryds might separate War Arts from firefighting because they need serious full time soldiers to keep from losing territory.

Dimar Art and Craft System:

(A snippet from a conversation with Leighton re: Crafts on Dimar)

Well, in terms of crafts...there's a craft on Dimar for anything you can imagine people/Dimar needing, the same way there's a company to provide every good we need these days on Earth. The difference is that Dimar wouldn't call them by their human term...Dimar would have a word or term for each craft.

Just list off the crafts and I'll find the term the Dimar would use to describe it. I have some of them already designated, as Barryds themselves eventually associate themselves with a particular Art or Craft (Telka does Telkai, Mulkol does Mul, war arts) There's a list at the end.

The Crafts aren't organized quite like (some other roleplaying game) crafts, either...there's not a top master for the entire Craft type, although guilds and associations do exist within a particular craft -- like individual corporations. This is the production side of a Craft. The guild masters run the equivalent of stores and factories to sell the goods to the Barryds. It's not medieval, where the crafts are required to provide the good...it's capitalistic. They're really corporations. But, generally, in return for not paying taxes to a particular Barryd, a Guild of a craft located in a barryd will provide a certain amount of it's services to the barryd for low cost or free -- so it does have that medieval 'if the town needs it, it gets it' feeling that the guilds had in medieval times.

The way a particular craft group is set up within a Barryd depends greatly on the individuals in it...every barryd is different..there are as many ways to work things out as you can imagine. Also, there can be more than one craft group of a particular type in each Barryd -- competition is good for quality. :) It's not a rigid system...The Dimar are a very flexible species, much like humans.

Then, there's the 'Arts' part of a particular craft field. The Arnas are the learning halls for various crafts. Arnas are the equivalent of state colleges, usually sponsored by the Barryd in which they're located through the Dimar equivalent of Tax Dollars. :) A Tel Arna teaches Telkai (hmm..but would also be the term of a firefighting Arna...hrm...I gotta redo that).. A Ewl Arna would teach weaving, a Naki Arna would teach music, etc. However, this is just my interpretation of how the Crafts on Dimar work. Dimar is a shared world...which means I'm not the final authority. If someone else has would like to define the crafts another way, they should do that. Dimar is an open book...designed for you to take liberties, so please do! :)

Craft Reference Conventions:

A school dedicated to a particular Craft is an Arna...For example, a Tel Arna, or a Naki Arna. A master or ranking member of a craft (equivalent of a president or VP) is often referred to by the three or four letter prefix for his/her craft (Tel Kirra would be a master or ranking member of Telkai arts...Kinda like 'Mr. or Mrs.')

The Craft Designation list:

Telkai (Tel) is animal/plant genetic engineering (Tel)

Telai (Tela) is firefighting subspecialty of Telkai (hmm..not the best term...I may have to rethink that..it's confusing. Telkai versus Telai...)

Mulkai (Mul) is war arts/combat/weaponsmaking

Ekai (Eka) is healing arts

Elai (Ela) is farming

Mirrai (Mir) is animal breeding

Illai (Illa) is transport/trade

Oluai (Olu) is arts and crafts - not Arts and Crafts...just the production of decorative items (wall hangings, decorations, painting, sculpture - pure esthetic, non functional)

Ewlai (Ewl) is weaving

Nakai (Nak/Naka) is music

MAP OF dimar

The map is not complete. It's missing many mountain ranges and environmental features - especially on the continents that the first book didn't mention in detail. But, think of it this way - that's all the more room for you to make up your own Barryds and Hives! (Oops..I forgot to place the hives on the map too - I'll do that next update.)

Environmental Key Dark Green: Forest/Jungle Bright Green: Farmed areas of Ela Barryds - heavy food production areas. Brown: Mountain ranges Gold: Hot, arid climates - tropical to desert. Yellow lines indicate the equator and arctic and antarctic circles respectively Full white is where the snow never melts. Grey white is where the ice caps come to in winter.

Barryd Color Coding Ela: Light Green - Farming Tel: Bluegreen - Engineering Olu: Blue - Arts and Crafts Eka: Yellow - Healing Ill: Green blue - Trade and Transport Mir: Pink - Animal Breeding Mul: Red - War Undesignated Barryds: White (Ekal, Esida) Not shown yet: Tel: Firefighting Speciality, Arrallin Hive settlements