Annotated Raven's Children - Issue #1: Page 19
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Due to that pesky voiced/unvoiced consonant thing (plus some vowel differences):
Sainet = Jained
Shema = Jemer
Kundasan = Gundasan
Kahali = Kheheli
So this is slowly spinning out of control as everyone's different agendas collide. Ronin Kheheli genuinely wants to clean up the mess that his people started, but he sucks at diplomacy (which is actually one of the main reasons why he's been put in charge of a fort in the middle of nowhere - far enough away from the homeland that he can't screw up anything important) and he's operating under the (tragically naive) assumption that if he just explains the problem, it'll clear things right up. Meanwhile, translator Jained pretty much hates everyone involved (the people who enslaved him and the people who started the whole mess in the first place), so while he's not actively trying to screw anyone over, he's also not going out of his way to volunteer information (like, say, Deneko actually being fluent in Kheheli's language and therefore understanding every word he says). Deneko & co. showed up to what they think is a regular trade meeting, like they've had with Kheheli's people a hundred times before, except Kheheli is trying to call the whole thing off. And one of the slaves for sale is Jained and Jemer's sister, whom they haven't seen since they were all little kids.
What could possibly go wrong?
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