Nututik
A resident of Jeintelle involved in the work of funneling refugees out of the Chatcaavan Empire.
Appearance and Personality
A delicately drawn four-armed Chatcaavan, tall for a female, with a silver mane streaked in pale bronze waves. Luminous pink eyes. Wealthy enough to wear clothing embroidered with pearls and to wear jewelry (pink gemstones, frequently). Named for "the clear sight possible only when flying high over the ground."[1]
Nututik loved both art and the alien cultures she encountered through it, and was devoted to the "good works" she and Jasmine were doing. "It is a question I ask myself often. How strange it is that I am abetting the criminal behavior of another species, because it helps members of my own... who are fleeing the injustice of my own. And if I am correct, my alien skysister is also breaking her own laws to help me, so she would be censured by her own species... [...] And she is aided by a third species, who is also breaking some laws of his people. Possibly. I can only conclude we serve a higher purpose. One that is above the law."[1]
Biography
One of the most consistent commissioners and brokers for manuscripts and artwork in Jeintelle, Nututik worked with Jasmine Foster on the world of Sharsenne. She was also one of hteir most consistent providers of refugees: "I really do like the art. And I sell it to others who are intrigued by it. But I am grateful to the Living Air that my interest in art allowed me to find someone who could help me help the less fortunate among my people. Everyone should live as I do, valued and free."[1]
With the help of Zafiil and Seledor, she and Jasmine helped shuttle forty refugees out of the Empire, the largest number they'd ever taken in one swath. Nututik tells Seledor: "There is profit in this for you. You will make friends in this endeavor who will be able to help you seek others like you. We are rescuing slaves from deeper behind the border, where a rare find like one of your species would be sent if captured. No border lord would be allowed to keep an exotic... nor would he want to, if he could use it to curry favor with a more powerful male."[2]
He and Zafiil agreed to help, and the mission was successfully. Unfortunately, it was also sufficiently notable to cause the authorities to burn down Jasmine's chapterhouse and put them on their trail. Jasmine and Seledor together pulled them off Zafiil's trail, allowing her to escape.
Family
- Two sons and one daughter, all reared on Sharsenne. One son joined the Navy; the other stayed on Sharsenne with his sister and continued his mother's work.
Timeline
- At the time she meets Zafiil (in around 175 BA), she is nearing middle age for a Chatcaavan female, probably around 130 years old.
- She dies not even twenty years later, killed by an angry Chatcaavan contingent that finally discovered her involvement in the refugee rescue, at around 150 years old, around 195 BA.
Trivia
- Knew Universal and spoke it with 'very little accent'
Story Mentions
- Zafiil