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Duh! Clueless, I tried to figure out this story without looking up the Kinn-lai--assuming you invented them, not realizing they were canon. I also did not even notice that you wrote Avari in the character slot. I clicked on the story because you wrote it. Nothing else mattered to me.

I still want a prequel as well as a continuation. This is fascinating and really gripping worldbuilding. But it assumes that I am brighter/more imaginative than I am.I will be returning to re-read. It is very dense for so few words.

I love the matriarchal society (are there any men at all? there have to be some I presume?) and the introduction of the proto-Hadorians is terribly exciting. I recently, looking for something else, came across an article on Taliska on Tolkien Gateway--learn something new every day--which refers to an unpublished "rather complete grammar and syntax of Taliska." There is still so much we do not yet have general access to. That rather messy article on Tolkien Gateway (still a WIP) is fascinating in itself, but not very clear. Personally I have been rather annoyed at times with how LotR fanfiction handles Adunaic and the Andunaic-derived common speech--if one were dependent upon fanfiction one would believe nobody but scholars knew Sindarin, which, in fact, remained the native language of quite a few people in disparate areas of Gondor. Nevermind me I am insufficiently caffeinated and rambling.

For as little as I know about Tolkien's languages, I do appreciate fanfiction which uses the languages to enrich a story and not simply for atmosphere, but to aid in characterization.

 

 

Not at all clueless! With only the name being known of the Kinn-lai it doesn't make much of a difference here, I guess? Everything else was my invention and I was working on a wordcount limit for the MPTT Yule, so I'm not surprised it felt dense to you. It was a lot to pack into a relatively short space, the problem here really isn't with you or your brightness or imagination! Don't sell yourself short! I'm honoured you read and enjoyed this fic despite the initial misunderstanding! 

>>  (are there any men at all? there have to be some I presume?) 

This made me laugh! I didn't even totally intend to pull a reverse Tolkien here, but yes, there are men among the Kinn-lai (nor are they a matriarchy, they just don't differentiate skills by gender), and I know a good deal about Lomi-nai and Kíta-'in's father that will probably come up if I do write a sequel. As-is, men simply... weren't necessary to the story here. I do have some information on Lomi-nai and Kíta-'in's father that I am planning to include in a potential sequel. 

>> which refers to an unpublished "rather complete grammar and syntax of Taliska."

I know! Last I heard there were some internal disputes among the Tolkien linguists regarding its publication - it seems it's essentially done, but kept hostage by some of those people for personal reasons. This is something I'd love to have access as well, and keep chafing at the fact that it doesn't exist. It would be so great to know more about mannish speech, at the moment it's not even clear which of the Taliskan concepts Tolkien played with it belongs to (Hadorian or Haladin?). 

I'm glad you enjoyed this fic so much, and that my use of language worked for you. Having it only there for decoration never quite rings right with me either, especially not in a fictional world that's essentially built out of language. :)