The Place
The Sting Crags is a crag of bare stone, and the crag stands 400 m above the valley, and the crag runs 2 km from peak to peak, and the stone keeps the sting and the charge. The stone is grey where the wind has cut it, and the grey is the crag's way of saying the sting is kept. The surface of the crag is scored with the marks of the claw, and the marks run 1 m deep in the stone, and the marks are black where the claw has gone deep, and the black is the crag's only ink. The bronze shimmer of the stone glows faintly in the dark, and the shimmer is the crag's only light, and the shimmer is the crag's way of keeping the night. The Nest is the largest of the peaks, and the nest runs 60 m wide, and the nest is where the Manticores keep their charge, and the keeping is the crag's only word. The Sting Wall is the lowest of the rock, and the wall runs 300 m along the base, and the wall is where the sting stands, and the standing is the crag's only defense. The air of the crag is a constant hum, and the hum is the crag's only voice. This is the place where the sting is the only honest word, and the keeping is the crag's only harvest.
How They Live
The Manticores keep the crag in the stone, and the crag is not a house but a sting, and the sting is kept in the charge. The manticores do not build, because the crag was cut before the current charge, and the charge only keeps it, and the keeping is the charge's only work. The crag was cut by the first sting, and the cutting is the crag's only building, and the building is what the stone keeps. Light comes from the bronze shimmer of the stone, which glows faintly in the dark, and the shimmer is the only light the crag has, and the shimmer is the crag's way of keeping the night. Food is the crag itself: the large game of the valley, the sting that is kept, the charge that is stood, and the word that keeps the weapon honest. The standing of the charge is the crag's only eating, and the eating is the crag's way of keeping the hunger. Water is drawn from the springs of the valley, and the water is carried up in vessels of stone, and the carrying is the crag's only trade. In the warm months the hum runs full, and the running is the crag's way of keeping the year. In the cold months the hum runs thin, and the running-thin is the crag's way of keeping the sting. The day is measured by the sting, which is also the calendar, because the crag is the only clock the word needs.
People
Home of the Manticores, whose crag is counted by sting. There are three charges in the crag, and the three are the crag's only population, and the population is kept in the stone. Each charge keeps a line of its own claw marks, and the line is the charge's only house, and the house is what the stone keeps. The oldest charge keeps the Nest, and the keeping is the charge's only rank, and the rank is what the nest keeps. No flying thing is welcome on the crag, and the not-being-welcome is the crag's only law, and the law is what the stone keeps. A trader who stands on the Sting Wall is already in the charge's path, and the path is the crag's only welcome, and the welcome is what the wall keeps. A human trader calls it the Sting Crags, because the air of the crag sounds like a thing about to strike, and the striking is the trader's only word.
In Stories
The place where the sting is the only honest word, and the word is the charge, and the charge is the sting, and the sting is the end. The Manticores keep the charge of the crag, and the charge is the crag's only word, and the word is what the stone keeps. The sting of the crag is the sting of the claw, and the claw is the only weapon that never rests, and the resting is what the wall keeps.