Of Sleen and Kaiila

I am not an un scarred boy.. I am not a coward and I am not weak or ill equipped. I am Tuchuk! I am proud! I am favored and strong and I will walk among the people of the first fires because they are the best of the Tuchuk. I am one of the best.. and yet I have come to the realization that there are a few Tuchuk tricks I have yet to learn. I am determined though.. sleen may not be adept at learning a new Master but they can learn new tricks.

But let me back up.. alittle

This sleen pups born in the northern grasses were particularly difficult... I lost two out of eight in Caoh's litter before they dried off and two more looked to be candidates for the cull which is a story of its own entirely. Mena only had three pups which frankly was better than I expected. two male and one female and I thanked the sky for that little gray female. Mena is my fathers best bitch.. brought out of her kennels one last time. A breeding won in a gamble over a vulo egg balanced on end, also another story entirely. She is old, well past her breeding prime, an animal I grew up with and have a great deal of respect for. I did not want to miss an opportunity to own one of her litters. She was bred to Morow, an impressive stud who's breeding is sought after among my clansmen for his heavy bodied strength and large wider set jaw line. Morow is owned by Flynn the Head of the Sleen Handlers Clan and the coveted breeding to Morow, an arrangement between Flynn and my Father Darsohk. Damned if this little bitch wasn't going to make a name for me among the top kennels in my clan!

The smaller male pup from Mena's litter will be traded to my uncle for an unrelated male of excellent breeding. The son of Afton, an excellent sire from the kennels of the former Ubar Karym of the sleen handlers clan. Yes.. it was a lot of years ago.. and a lot of breeding.. but the bloodline was noteworthy and the pup of excellent conformation. The Larger male pup would be traded to Flynn for next seasons breeding of Caho to Morow. That brings me back to where I started. Caho was line bred to her own father and the surviving pups are exceptional animals. That is the gamble with selective line breeding of sleen, you win and you get animals of exceptional quality, traits distilled from one bloodline carefully...however the other option is not pretty.. distilling the flaws in a bloodline leading to the loss of entire litters. You end up with an entire season of wasted work and food and a littler of pups with exceptional defects who usually die at birth. The six pups from Caho's litter still left, two of which will be traded to Cana for my a kaiila. Yes.. Cana has my kaiila.. and I have her sleen and there is nothing more to the story but to wait for the laughter to die down. Except perhaps having two of my sleen given to sons of the former Ubar Ba'atar which is just another notch in my belt. Two more will be traded to Commander Fonce... the price is still to be negotiated but I do have a few ideas in mind.. and the last will be kept in my own kennels.

Cana.. has.. my.. Kaiila...

There is a trick here... I just need to find it.