Navola

by Paolo Bacigalupi

slip-speak

my father, Devonaci di Regulai,

And one day, I touched it.

The Regulai name was old, stretching back to the time before Amo, and over time it had become proud.

In our earliest days, the Regulai were simple wool merchants, trading with the villagers and herdsmen of the mountainous Romiglia and then hauling that wool out of the wilds to sell to Navola’s loom guild.

scriveri, numerari, and abacassi,

guidance for numerari on the rules of exchange and the Laws of Leggus.

merchants, peasants, archinomi, and vianomae

honor.” He sucked his teeth thoughtfully. “Tuotto lavoro degli scriveri,” he said. “Tuotto lavoro degli numerari.”

I know you like the legends of the old gods. Are they true? Does it matter if they are true? Or does it only matter that they inspire a true feeling in you?”

But in Navola, as in life, there are many mysteries. There are things that will affect your life that you will never see. There are alliances you may never know of, there are cards you may not have expected existed, for the seventy-seven of the deck can be altered with the shrouded cards. There are plots and plans, and, above all, there is the player, sitting before you, and he or she will tell you many things, if you read them. If you watch them closely.”

“If you see the players clearly, you may know their cards without ever seeing the suit or count, for the face of the player reflects all.”

Emeralds before cockroaches!