“Before I was born,” Taliesin started, “my mother gave birth to a son who could be only described as hideous. I don’t know the details, and the whole issue is strange because, as I keep telling you, looks are not terribly important to our people. But from what I understand, he was not just unattractive. As a newborn, he may have been half man, half animal. People mentioned a wild boar’s snout and the teeth of a saber-toothed tiger. No pictures were left from that time since my mother destroyed all the sketches, and there were many – everyone around her who could draw even a little bit wanted to sketch the baby to show their friends.”

“Why would anyone want to sketch the poor little thing? It’s cruel and abusive!” cried Donna.

“It was no...

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