Mahogany Trinrose
by
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
plot summary by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Copyright (c) 2000 by Sime~Gen Inc.
At the end of Unto Zeor, Forever, Digen Farris was left legally junct, uncertified to work at his trade - Channeling. Mahogany Trinrose opens with Digen sidelined to head the world's most famous "First Year Camp" -- the school for Channels and Donors in their first year of adulthood. Imrahan, who saved his life at the end of Unto, Zeor Forever, is his permanent Donor.
Digen rescues Halimer Grant from a flood, a Gen whose nager proclaims him a First Order Donor, even though he has lost his Tecton ring and papers in the flood.
Digen's only child, Ercy Farris, who will become a First Order Channel, is about to Changeover -- pathologically late for a Farris Channel. She has a pet project -- growing Mahogany Trinroses -- and a secret dream her father doesn't know about, distilling kerduvon from the flowers -- a mythical drug that can disjunct even a Farris Channel.
He assumes the Tecton has sent Grant in response to Digen's request for a Donor to train Ercy after her Changeover, which he zlins will be soon. It appears to Digen's keen senses that Grant has triggered Ercy's changeover, possibly saving her life. But of course that's impossible.
Digen assigns Imrahan to Ercy for pre-changeover training. Ercy changes over, with full Householding ceremony and vicious politics. Because he's junct, Digen intends to resign as Sectuib the moment Ercy is an adult, leaving the House in her hands. He loses by 6 votes -- Ercy has enemies in the House. Ercy takes her crucial first transfer from a non-Zeor Donor, Halimer Grant, proving her enemy's points.
Enrolled as a student in the channeling school, Ercy throws herself into her lessons, an escape from politics. She also pursues her search for kerduvon. Strange, dangerous accidents and odd events plague the school. Dreams and visions torment Ercy. When she mentions them, she is thought insane. This is an era when "Magic and Devil Worship" is blamed for the Sime~Gen mutation. ESP is lumped with those evils. This society does not recognize a poltergeist.
Ercy experiments with her strange talents with another student. She accidentally burns down the dorm building, and in the ensuing action, Halimer Grant reveals himself.
As we have suspected, he's not a Tecton Donor, was not sent in response to Digen's request for someone for Ercy, but has training from outside the Tecton. He has training in "magic" -- ESP of the highest order, from the School of Rathor, a hidden society. He recognizes Ercy as "The Fully Endowed" -- a prophecied Channel who has all varieties of ESP -- telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, precognition, pyrotics, etc etc.
He uses his training to save her life, but they can't stay here. She must be trained at Rathor.
To save her life, she allows Grant to use kerduvon he makes (without revealing how) from her Mahogany Trinroses, to make her technically junct so she can learn to control her powers. The audacious experiment succeeds, and they leave -- gifting Imrahan and Digen with the leftover Kerduvon and instructions on how to use it on Digen. And it works on him, too, restoring his normal life to him.
THE END
(story continued in RenSime)
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