#Lore24 – Entry #81 – Fantasy Month #21 – The Kerryn Animal

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:

I’m beginning to sense a theme forming with Mother’s topics…

A fairly common tome found throughout the Empire and likely beyond, there are nonetheless several variations of “The Kerryn Animal” worth mentioning when discussing the text.  Written during the early years of the Empire, most modern scholars attribute authorship of the original text to arcanist, scholar, and slave-trainer Balishar Azarah Ninurta-apal-Ekur.  The original, and later “traditional” versions of the text basically serve as the basis for the Empire’s kerryn enslavement policies and practices.  Though filled with what I would consider highly questionable conclusions about the nature of kerryn anatomy and physiology, the text nonetheless has quite firmly established the idea in the minds of Imperial citizens that kerryns are dangerous if not properly bred into subservience and are naturally quite amorous and inherently sexual creatures.  Descriptions of proper methods of training kerryns for their roles as loyal servants of their “betters” consume most of the text’s pages, many of which are still performed to this day.  Later “traditional” versions of the text have been expanded with descriptions of the established standard training methods all kerryns must undertake within the Empire, focusing on subservience to Imperial citizens in all matters, proper behaviors socially and privately, proper breeding recommendations, and the “Hundred Affectations”, the ways Kerryns are trained to pose themselves so as to show their loyalty, submissiveness, and general attractiveness of body. 

Though your average citizen would hesitate to say such a thing, I have practiced some of the Hundred Affectations at Mother’s insistence and found them to be quite helpful in enhancing my flexibility and agility.  Some of these I practice regularly, in fact, for they are very similar to the dances I have likewise practiced during the development of my dervish-like sword style.

Back to the topic at hand, though.  Later versions of The Kerryn Animal would delve much more deeply into the eroticism of the Kerryn slave experience rather than the mundane and vaguely philosophical topics of the “traditional” versions.  Without giving it too much thought, I can think of no fewer than a dozen variations of the text by just as many authors throughout the centuries who have penned highly erotic tales surrounding the core teachings of the original.  In essence, these “erotic” versions of The Kerryn Animal are highly idealized and meant to not only titillate the reader, but also firmly reinforce the nature of Kerryn enslavement as a perfectly normal aspect of life within the Empire.  Some variations of these are told from the perspective of the slave owner as they train a particularly favored slave or slaves, while others are told from the perspective of the slaves themselves, focusing heavily upon descriptions of the slave training through a first-person viewpoint, most often with them learning to appreciate their masters and worship the very ground they walk upon.  It is rather obvious that some of the passages in these texts were written by slaves themselves, though no such credit was given, of course.

A handful of even more scandalous versions of The Kerryn Animal exist as well, though these are held as quite problematic within the Empire, as they portray situations that would serve to undermine the very foundations of Kerryn enslavement.  Or at least, that is what some particularly vocal and influential individuals have espoused throughout history; as it stands, these texts have yet to cause the collapse of the Empire.  These particular variations flip the roles, envisioning a world where the kerryns are still in control with the aid of their demonic allies, and have enslaved humanity and the other races and have them undergo the same methods of training.  The texts in which a kerryn slave takes on a dominant role and puts their masters through the training they have undergone as part of an erotic roleplay scenario are much less problematic and seem to be quite popular given the number of them in the archives.  Though it’s not something I tend to think about, I have little doubt that this kind of power exchange fantasy is quite common behind closed doors.  Being a mostly silent observer while I’m visiting town or when tending a human master and their kerryn slave who visit the Library, I’ve seen hints of such things from time to time, so if even I can pick up on it, then it can’t be that well-guarded a secret.