The wild roshi

Out in Weraldaz the roshi go about their own lives. They eat what the plants drop — figs and berries, cones and lichen, mussels at the water's edge — and what is left rots and is cleared by the ants, who carry it off into the ground, and the ground feeds the plants again. Some are hunted and some hunt; a hunter that overtakes what it is after has it. Two of a kind that are fed and well find each other and court, and leave their seeds in the grass: some sit on them and see off anything that comes near, and some lay and leave, and their seeds are as likely to be eaten as to hatch.

How they meet you

Each meets a stranger in its own way, as it was born: it is in the blood, from its parents, and no two are quite alike. Most are shy — some keep a few steps out of reach, and some run, and of those some can be outrun and some only cornered. Some are calm, and let you walk right up. A few are fierce, and come for you. Stand beside one and it can be met; a fierce one will not wait to be. More are shy than calm, and few indeed are fierce — six in ten, a third, one in twenty, or near enough, and the land keeps it so: when the hunters are many the runners are few, and soon the hunters go hungry; when seeds lie thick, more is eaten; when the scraps pile up, the ants work harder. Nothing stays out of true for long.

The folk, by kind

Pibbi

• Field Pibbi — Everywhere, and never where you are. Eats seeds, lays many, leaves them all. It runs from you. The Meadow, the Yard, the Tip, the Shallows.
• Burrow Pibbi — Digs, and sits by its hole with its seed in it. Backs away; won’t go far. It keeps out of reach. The Meadow, the Bonefields, the Shelf.
• Clover Pibbi — Grazes the clover and lets the world walk past. It minds its own business. The Meadow, the Yard.
• Stormtuft Pibbi (not often seen) — Comes out when the weather turns, crackling, and goes with it. It runs from you. The Shelf, the Meadow.

Leafi

• Leafi — Goes where the fruit is, in company; keeps a few steps out of reach. It keeps out of reach. The Overgrowth, the Meadow.
• Bramble Leafi — Thorny, slow and unbothered. Sits on its seed, and it is not for moving. It minds its own business. The Overgrowth, the Meadow, the Shallows.
• Canopy Leafi — Quick as a dropped fig. Eats other people’s seeds, given half a chance. It runs from you. The Overgrowth.
• Thistle Leafi — Lives on what the dry ground grows, and is gone before you are close. It runs from you. The Meadow, the Bonefields, the Tip.

Woolli

• Woolli — Walks the snow in a slow line, eating what others left. Minds its own seed. It minds its own business. The Drift, the Shelf.
• Lichen Woolli — Scrapes the lichen off the stones, and edges away from anyone. It keeps out of reach. The Drift.
• Ridge Woolli (not often seen) — Big as a cart, and as easily moved. Don’t stand where it means to walk. It minds its own business. The Shelf, the Drift.

Finni

• Finni — Lives on mussels and lays in the water, then forgets where. It keeps out of reach. The Sunken Halls, the Shallows, the depths below the Halls.
• Reed Finni — Stands in the reeds chewing reeds. Has never been in a hurry. It minds its own business. The Shallows, the Sunken Halls.
• Pike Finni (not often seen) — Lies still in the shallows, then doesn’t. Eats seeds, eats Finni, eats anything smaller. It comes for you. The Shallows, the Sunken Halls.
• Pale Finni — Born in the dark and white with it. Flees a lantern like a fish. It runs from you. The depths below the Halls.

Toothi

• Toothi — Hunts what runs and guards what it lays. Remembers a face. It comes for you. The Bonefields.
• Dune Toothi (not often seen) — Lies flat in the sand and sprints. Can’t keep it up; doesn’t need to. It comes for you. The Bonefields.
• Scrub Toothi — Follows the hunters for what they leave, and the seeds nobody is watching. It minds its own business. The Bonefields, the Tip.
• Snowfang Toothi (not often seen) — White in the winter, grey in the thaw, and hungry in both. It comes for you. The Drift, the Shelf.

Sooti

• Sooti — Eats the inedible, cheerfully. The Tip would be a mountain without it. It minds its own business. The Tip, the Yard.
• Ash Sooti — Small and grey and into everything, seeds most of all. It keeps out of reach. The Tip, the Bonefields, the Yard.
• Muck Sooti — Wallows. Heavy enough that being sat on is the danger. It minds its own business. The Tip, the Shallows.

Wingi

• Wingi — Lifts as one, lands as one, and never where you can reach. It runs from you. The Shelf, the Overgrowth, the Meadow.
• Cliff Wingi — Nests on the ledges and sits tight. Walks off sideways when you come. It runs from you. The Shelf.
• Shrike Wingi (not often seen) — Takes the small ones on the wing, and a seed if it’s there. It comes for you. The Shelf, the Meadow, the Tip.

Glimi

• Reed Glimi — Breeds in the reeds below the weir. The Hollow’s nights are its light. It keeps out of reach. The Shallows, the Sunken Halls.
• Lantern Glimi (not often seen) — Glows over the mushrooms it eats, and over its seed, and doesn’t mind you. It minds its own business. The Sunken Halls.
• Gloom Glimi (not often seen) — A darkness with eyes in it. Hunts by night, and you are what it hunts. It comes for you. The Sunken Halls, the Overgrowth, the Tip.

The beasts

Never tamed. Some are hunted, for their meat and their pelts; some are let be by custom; one or two nobody bothers with at all.

• Scutter — A long-eared runner of the grass. The pot’s commonest guest. It runs from you. The Meadow, the Shelf, the Bonefields, the Yard.
• Fellbuck — Stands at the edge of things on long legs, and is over the hill when you look again. It runs from you. The Shelf, the Drift, the Meadow, the Overgrowth.
• Bristleback — Roots about and lets you be — until you don’t let it be. It minds its own business. The Overgrowth, the Bonefields, the Tip.
• Tussock hen — Clucks in the long grass and eats whatever seed it finds, its own excepted. It keeps out of reach. The Meadow, the Shallows, the Yard.
• Snow grouse — White in winter, speckled in summer, and still there when you nearly step on it. It keeps out of reach. The Drift, the Shelf.
• Rockcrab — Sidles over the stones eating what the tide and the Tip leave. It minds its own business. The Shallows, the Sunken Halls, the Tip.
• Mudwallow (not often seen) — Lies in the warm water like an island. Nobody hunts one; it carries the river’s luck. It minds its own business. The Shallows. Nobody touches one: the marsh folk say it carries the river’s luck.
• Shellback (not often seen) — Old as the Halls, some of them, and nobody would dream of it. It minds its own business. The Sunken Halls, the Shallows. Nobody touches one: they are as old as the Halls.
• Midden rat — Lives off the Tip and the seeds nobody guards. Nobody eats one, and nobody misses one. It runs from you. The Tip, the Yard, the Bonefields.
• Duskhound (not often seen) — Runs in a pack at dusk, and runs down what it runs after. It comes for you. The Drift, the Shelf, the Meadow.
• Scrubcat (not often seen) — Spotted, low, and patient in the scrub. Fast for as long as it needs to be. It comes for you. The Bonefields, the Overgrowth, the Tip.
• Gravehawk (not often seen) — Turns over the Bonefields all day. Drops on anything small, and some things not. It comes for you. The Shelf, the Bonefields.

Some are seldom seen at all, and the people who say they have seen one are not always believed.

See also

Roshi · Weraldaz · the Plot