Schlock Mercenary: July 14, 2018

Note: The astute reader may have noticed the similarity in the names of Commodore Thlumira and Greatmother Kathlumira. Those names have their roots in the base-12 numerology threaded throughout the original Fobott'r language. "Kathlumira" is comprised of the numbers "kath," "lum," and "mira," which are 5, 4, and 11 respectively. Lum (4) is the number of arms a Fobott'r has. Kath (5) represents the "fifth limb," which would be the head. "Mira" (11 base 10) is the last numeral before 12 (or 10 in base 12), and represents beauty or magic. "Kathlumira", then, can literally be read as "head, arms, beauty" but is more correctly interpreted to mean "Contemplating the beauty of familial embrace."

"Thlumira" might be read as a short form for this, but the "Th" at the beginning is ambiguous. It might have come from "kath," but it might also have come from "peth", which is the number of legs a Fobott'r has, and which implies movement; maybe running, maybe running away. Context is everything.

Most Fobott'r speak Galstandard West, though, so while names like "Magala" and "Pethmatoko" might have originally meant "The power of secrets" and "stride with power into battle," to the modern, cosmopolitan Fobott'r they're just collections of syllables which sound nice and traditional.

Except for the name "Kathlumira." A Fobott'r like Peri will hear that name in much the same way that a 20th-century Italian grandmother would hear the phrase "The Pope is coming to dinner."