A Rustling Voice

Ythrians, intelligent winged hunters and herders, are less distanced from their natural environment than are human beings. They are feathered and unclothed, wearing only a belt and a pouch, at home in flight. Their society, comprising territorial families loosely associated in choths, has no cities, nations or governments.

"Liaw of The Tarns" sounds like an articulate part of nature, like a pagan deity, although he speaks for a choth called "The Tarns," not literally for a group of mountain lakes!

"'The Khruaths did call for a home guard and for giving the Admiralty broad discretion,' Liaw of The Tarns said in his rustling voice."
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 493.

Rustling like dead leaves in an autumn wind?

"He was old, had frost in his feathers; but he sat huge in his castle, and the screen gave a background image of crags and a glacier." (ibid.)

The frost in his feathers matches the glacier outside. Physically huge in a castle among crags and glaciers, he replies quietly but uncompromisingly to a man who doubts the need for war preparations.

"Liaw sat silent for a space, during which the rest of them heard wind whistling behind him and saw a pair of his grandsons fly past. One bore the naked sword which went from house to house as a summons to war, the other a blast rifle." (p. 494)

We have here some material for an alliterative verse:

"Wind whistling;
"War summoning
"Went the grandsons..."

"The High Wyvan said:..." (ibid.)

(On the previous page, we had learned that Liaw is "...Wyvan of the High Khruath..." (p. 493), the highest ranking Ythrian on Avalon.)

"...'Three choths refused to make their gift. My fellows and I threatened to call Oherran on them. Had they not yielded, we would have done so. We consider the situation to be that grave.'" (ibid.)

That disclosure alters the entire tone of the discussion. The Wyvans would have caused civil war on the eve of international/interstellar war: a deathpride matter. The situation is grave. Doubts are dispelled.