Tales of Dinotopia

The History of Setna

Great Gallows, Deep Lake, Dinotopia Year 1986 CE, Month 4

Setna was a mere 4 years old. Still young, and in 8 more years he would reach maturity, Setna was indeed having fun in his young life. Setna was a young Dilophosaurus, and was “8 Father’s Sauropolian Dilophosaurus.” This was such a long title to be given, but belonging to a royal family, it was the true name of Setna’s generation. It simply meant Setna was the eighth generation of a Dilophosaurus family founded in the country’s capital of Sauropolis.

Setna belonged to a family that had a long history of being scribes. Setna’s great grandfather, Ombos, was a royal scribe at the National Library in Sauropolis during the late 1930’s. Ombos was among the most successful of the Sauropolian family, simply because he worked for the national government. Ombos was not only a scribe, but a politician and archaeologist as well. In 1944, he discovered a lost city somewhere in the Rainy Basin. This was purely by accident, as Ombos was supposed to be traveling to Treetown for business, near Deep Lake up north (Ombos lived in Sauropolis).

The 5th generation Dilophosaur made records and drawings of the city, calling it Paleopolis. It was a mediocre name, simply meaning “ancient city” in Attic Greek. However, the drawings and data of Paleopolis were soon lost in the family’s history. Ombos had never told anyone about what he had down with his documents. The location of Paleopolis in the Rainy Basin was never known either, so chances of ever finding it again were slim, if any.

This was what Setna wanted to find. He wanted to rediscover this ancient city. Yet he knew little of what Ombos’s personality was like. So he asked his father Eumaelus.

“Well. He died 4 years before I was born, but your grandfather Tobianis always told me stories of him when I was young. He often described Ombos as being a saurian of secrecy. He was a great successful saurian, yes. About being a trustful saurian, not so sure. Ombos was extremely intelligent; He could speak Modern and Classical Dintopian, Attic Greek, Latin, Spanish, French and 14 saurian languages. He was greatly involved with politics when not working as a scribe for the National Library. He was also an archaeologist, trying to discover this island’s lost history. And yes, he discovered the ancient ruins of Paleopolis as well.

“These were the things that made Ombos powerful. He had wisdom and knowledge, but one thing he did not have was manners. He always hid things from other people and saurians. He did not always follow the Code of Dinotopia and thus, he got himself in a lot of trouble. He was only able to keep his jobs because he was a good friend of the mayor in Sauropolis, and because of his royal lineage. Why he never told anyone of his documents is unsure. Ombos could have simply been greedy. Maybe he did not want to ruin his reputation, or he did not want to send us on a wild goose chase. What I am saying Setna, is we will never know.

Days passed since Setna had asked his question to his father. Setna had been at home, studying his Ceratosaurian.

“So,” said Maressa, his saurian teacher, “Rr’nar is “I have come” in English, “Je suis venu” in French, “Skren’ee” in Ceratopsian, and so on. Do you understand?”

Setna nodded.

“I expect you to know these five verbs by tomorrow Setna. That way, you will be fluent in Ceratosaurian by next year. You of course, being a Ceratosaurian should already know how to speak this language. It’s not your fault though. Well, have a nice day.”

Maressa left the cottage. Of course, being a Dryosaurus herself, she left quite quickly.

Great Gallows had a population of less than 200. Half the population was human, the other half being saurian. The young humans and saurians enjoyed playing with each other. They played games like tag, mancala, and a game called “all or nothing,” where kids and young saurians would take turns spinning a four sided top, and either would take or subtract stones. The game was originally invented in Waterfall City, probably around the 14th century.

Setna enjoyed playing with all his friends in the outcrop of the settlement. Why the town was called “Great Gallows” was unknown. As the word “gallows” had to with a boat. The best guess was that the settlement’s founder, Jacob O’Conner, was indeed a sailor. He had sailed all over Deep Lake with his Compsognathus friend, Light Breeze.

Jacob no longer lived in Great Gallows, since his death 3 years ago at the age of 89. Light Breeze was killed in a Tyrannosaurus raid while traveling on a convoy in the Rainy Basin. The land surrounding Deep Lake was fertile and lush. It was practically a giant marsh surrounding the lake. It was a beautiful land, to live out in the country away from the big cities.

Setna’s family no longer lived in Sauropolis. It was Eumaelus who proprosed moving to Great Gallows after Setna was born. He remembered little of Sauropolis, if anything at all. His father came to Great Gallows because he was going to retire in a few years.

“You, my son, will make an excellent scribe.”

That was what Eumaelus had told Setna years ago. Eumaelus was now 30 years old, and his life expectancy would not last much longer. Most Dilophosaurus lived 40 years or less, and that was the case for all members of Setna’s family. His grandfathers and grandmothers would live only to 35 or less, although a few lived to be 37 or 38 years of age. And Eumaelus was nearing that age, that decomposing age. Parents would have hatchlings late in their years, and die when the hatchlings were young.

“Hey Setna, come and play with us!”

A young human girl named Elise waved her hand to Setna. Setna moved his 3 meter long body toward where the young saurians and kids were grouping.

“We’re gonna play tag Setna! Play with us!”

“Yes, play!”

Immediately, like a chain reaction all the humans and saurians split.

“You’re the tagger Setna!”

And so Setna was.

The humans ran fast and scattered. The saurians stood more packed together. Setna tried to select one target, and ran after a female Leptoceratops named Amalzeae.

Amalzeae grunted in excitement, the humans giggling and the saurians jittering with laughter.

Suddenly all the running had stopped. Everyone halted where they were at. Something large and massive stood at the outcrop of the tall forest marsh. It was not just one massive body, but more.

Setna raised his neck, a dumbstruck look in his eyes. The humans’ eyes widened, their jaws dropped, and blank stares clouded their faces.

Out of the forest came a pack of lumbering giants. They were Tyrannosaurs, a pack of eight to be certain. All of them were full size, some 12 meters in length. They were all males, because their heads were massive and the small crests over their eyes reddened. Never before had there been Tyrannosaurs in Great Gallows. And often when they came near human and saurian settlements, they were stalking. A hungry pack of Tyrannosaurs could kill 20 or 25 beings at the most, and injure twice as many.

Tyrannosaurs had rarely come out of the Rainy Basin. The basin was their turf, and any land inside of it had to be respected. But when the Tyrannosaurs were not in the basin, they had to respect the lands that man and saurian shared together.

One of the human boys began to scream, and soon a whole chorus of human screams penetrated throughout the entire settlement. The children began to run, and bolted for any available safety. The young saurians panicked, screeched, and ran for their lives. The Tyrannosaurs made a loud roar, in a language Setna could not understand. It was almost like a call of war, like a battle was going to start.

All of the Tyrannosaurs split, and stampeded through the settlement. Humans in their cottages came out to see what all the screaming was, and when they saw the Tyrannosaurs, they either slammed their doors or went running and calling out for their children. The saurians as usual, panicked in not knowing what to do. Some called out for their hatchlings immediately, either in English, Dinotopian, or in their native tongue. Setna could not find his parents among the hysteria. They had abandoned the Romanesque style cottage. Setna heard blood retching screams. One of the Tyrannosaurs caught a young human boy, perhaps 9 or 10 years old of age, and ripped him to shreds. Setna could hear the eerie scream, something that went beyond words of understanding. Blood spilled out all over the Tyrannosaur’s mouth, and the human boy stopped moving after that.

Then there was another Tyrannosaur who cornered two elderly Scutellosaurus, and crushed their ribs by stepping over them and ripping their entrails out. The screams echoed and penetrated throughout the marsh.

Setna was trapped. He wanted to escape, to hide, to run away from this new dark fear. An adult Tyrannosaur noticed Setna, just standing dumbfounded watching the peril around him. The Tyrannosaur advanced towards Setna. Instead of running, Setna stood frozen. The Tyrannosaur towered over his puny body. The Tyrannosaur opened its jaws, revealing its rancid breath. Setna did as any scribe would. He raised both his four fingered hands and said in Dinotopian, “Cum-marré, ses serenee.”

Breathe deep, seek peace.

This time he said it in Tyrannosaur.

“Grar’ranastet.”

Setna dared not to look into the Tyrannosaur’s eyes. He dare not look at the Tyrannosaur at all.

The giant stopped approaching, and then bellowed a sentence.

“Rgn’scribas?”

Are you a scribe?

Setna replied fearfully and nervously.

“Rarn’scribas.”

I am a scribe.

The Tyrannosaur snorted, then bellowed again, and sounded a long roar. The screaming, killing, and hysteria died down.

The 7 Tyrannosaurs met with their leader. They all began to say “Ren’scribas” amongst themselves. He is a scribe.

The leader approached Setna even closer, and stood only 2 to 3 meters away. He then spoke.

“Renesa scribas, grana-resa.”

Listen scribe, we will return.

“Fragn, resaa-rancona.”

Then, we will take over soon.

“Ranastete’grane”

Seek peace, for now.

As quickly as the Tyrannosaurs came, they quickly retreated into the deep marsh surrounding Great Gallows. Two saurians and four humans lay dead and mutilated. No one was injured, but otherwise the 6 beings were dead. Why the Tyrannosaurs had come was unknown. What their motives were was unsure. Children cried and screamed. Saurians screeched. Setna could hear Eumaelus and his mother Agatea calling his name far out in the distance.

“Cum-marré, ponne saise-longevua,” Setna said to himself. “Breathe deep, and let us live longer.”

One thing was known. If Setna had not been a scribe, he would have been dead.