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OooOOoo hear that wind, Liz? It must be rattling every inch of your little trailer home. Probably sounds like a tin can full of pennies rattling down a potholed road. Anyhoo

PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

CHAPTER XV
SOLA TELLS ME HER STORY
When consciousness returned, and, as I soon learned, I was down but a moment, I sprang quickly to my feet searching for my sword, and there I found it, buried to the hilt in the green breast of Zad, who lay stone dead upon the ochre moss of the ancient sea bottom. As I regained my full senses I found his weapon piercing my left breast, but only through the flesh and muscles which cover my ribs, entering near the center of my chest and coming out below the shoulder. As I had lunged I had turned so that his sword merely passed beneath the muscles, inflicting a painful but not dangerous wound.

Removing the blade from my body I also regained my own, and turning my back upon his ugly carcass, I moved, sick, sore, and disgusted, toward the chariots which bore my retinue and my belongings. A murmur of Martian applause greeted me, but I cared not for it.

Bleeding and weak I reached my women, who, accustomed to such happenings, dressed my wounds, applying the wonderful healing and remedial agents which make only the most instantaneous of death blows fatal. Give a Martian woman a chance and death must take a back seat. They soon had me patched up so that, except for weakness from loss of blood and a little soreness around the wound, I suffered no great distress from this thrust which, under earthly treatment, undoubtedly would have put me flat on my back for days.

As soon as they were through with me I hastened to the chariot of Dejah Thoris, where I found my poor Sola with her chest swathed in bandages, but apparently little the worse for her encounter with Sarkoja, whose dagger it seemed had struck the edge of one of Sola’s metal breast ornaments and, thus deflected, had inflicted but a slight flesh wound.

As I approached I found Dejah Thoris lying prone upon her silks and furs, her lithe form wracked with sobs. She did not notice my presence, nor did she hear me speaking with Sola, who was standing a short distance from the vehicle.

“Is she injured?” I asked of Sola, indicating Dejah Thoris by an inclination of my head.

“No,” she answered, “she thinks that you are dead.”

“And that her grandmother’s cat may now have no one to polish its teeth?” I queried, smiling.

“I think you wrong her, John Carter,” said Sola. “I do not understand either her ways or yours, but I am sure the granddaughter of ten thousand jeddaks would never grieve like this over any who held but the highest claim upon her affections. They are a proud race, but they are just, as are all Barsoomians, and you must have hurt or wronged her grievously that she will not admit your existence living, though she mourns you dead.

“Tears are a strange sight upon Barsoom,” she continued, “and so it is difficult for me to interpret them. I have seen but two people weep in all my life, other than Dejah Thoris; one wept from sorrow, the other from baffled rage. The first was my mother, years ago before they killed her; the other was Sarkoja, when they dragged her from me today.”

“Your mother!” I exclaimed, “but, Sola, you could not have known your mother, child.”

“But I did. And my father also,” she added. “If you would like to hear the strange and un-Barsoomian story come to the chariot tonight, John Carter, and I will tell you that of which I have never spoken in all my life before. And now the signal has been given to resume the march, you must go.”

“I will come tonight, Sola,” I promised. “Be sure to tell Dejah Thoris I am alive and well. I shall not force myself upon her, and be sure that you do not let her know I saw her tears. If she would speak with me I but await her command.”

Sola mounted the chariot, which was swinging into its place in line, and I hastened to my waiting thoat and galloped to my station beside Tars Tarkas at the rear of the column.

We made a most imposing and awe-inspiring spectacle as we strung out across the yellow landscape; the two hundred and fifty ornate and brightly colored chariots, preceded by an advance guard of some two hundred mounted warriors and chieftains riding five abreast and one hundred yards apart, and followed by a like number in the same formation, with a score or more of flankers on either side; the fifty extra mastodons, or heavy draught animals, known as zitidars, and the five or six hundred extra thoats of the warriors running loose within the hollow square formed by the surrounding warriors. The gleaming metal and jewels of the gorgeous ornaments of the men and women, duplicated in the trappings of the zitidars and thoats, and interspersed with the flashing colors of magnificent silks and furs and feathers, lent a barbaric splendor to the caravan which would have turned an East Indian potentate green with envy.
 
PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

The enormous broad tires of the chariots and the padded feet of the animals brought forth no sound from the moss-covered sea bottom; and so we moved in utter silence, like some huge phantasmagoria, except when the stillness was broken by the guttural growling of a goaded zitidar, or the squealing of fighting thoats. The green Martians converse but little, and then usually in monosyllables, low and like the faint rumbling of distant thunder.

We traversed a trackless waste of moss which, bending to the pressure of broad tire or padded foot, rose up again behind us, leaving no sign that we had passed. We might indeed have been the wraiths of the departed dead upon the dead sea of that dying planet for all the sound or sign we made in passing. It was the first march of a large body of men and animals I had ever witnessed which raised no dust and left no spoor; for there is no dust upon Mars except in the cultivated districts during the winter months, and even then the absence of high winds renders it almost unnoticeable.

We camped that night at the foot of the hills we had been approaching for two days and which marked the southern boundary of this particular sea. Our animals had been two days without drink, nor had they had water for nearly two months, not since shortly after leaving Thark; but, as Tars Tarkas explained to me, they require but little and can live almost indefinitely upon the moss which covers Barsoom, and which, he told me, holds in its tiny stems sufficient moisture to meet the limited demands of the animals.

After partaking of my evening meal of cheese-like food and vegetable milk I sought out Sola, whom I found working by the light of a torch upon some of Tars Tarkas’ trappings. She looked up at my approach, her face lighting with pleasure and with welcome.

“I am glad you came,” she said; “Dejah Thoris sleeps and I am lonely. Mine own people do not care for me, John Carter; I am too unlike them. It is a sad fate, since I must live my life amongst them, and I often wish that I were a true green Martian woman, without love and without hope; but I have known love and so I am lost.

“I promised to tell you my story, or rather the story of my parents. From what I have learned of you and the ways of your people I am sure that the tale will not seem strange to you, but among green Martians it has no parallel within the memory of the oldest living Thark, nor do our legends hold many similar tales.

“My mother was rather small, in fact too small to be allowed the responsibilities of maternity, as our chieftains breed principally for size. She was also less cold and cruel than most green Martian women, and caring little for their society, she often roamed the deserted avenues of Thark alone, or went and sat among the wild flowers that deck the nearby hills, thinking thoughts and wishing wishes which I believe I alone among Tharkian women today may understand, for am I not the child of my mother?

“And there among the hills she met a young warrior, whose duty it was to guard the feeding zitidars and thoats and see that they roamed not beyond the hills. They spoke at first only of such things as interest a community of Tharks, but gradually, as they came to meet more often, and, as was now quite evident to both, no longer by chance, they talked about themselves, their likes, their ambitions and their hopes. She trusted him and told him of the awful repugnance she felt for the cruelties of their kind, for the hideous, loveless lives they must ever lead, and then she waited for the storm of denunciation to break from his cold, hard lips; but instead he took her in his arms and kissed her.

“They kept their love a secret for six long years. She, my mother, was of the retinue of the great Tal Hajus, while her lover was a simple warrior, wearing only his own metal. Had their defection from the traditions of the Tharks been discovered both would have paid the penalty in the great arena before Tal Hajus and the assembled hordes.

“The egg from which I came was hidden beneath a great glass vessel upon the highest and most inaccessible of the partially ruined towers of ancient Thark. Once each year my mother visited it for the five long years it lay there in the process of incubation. She dared not come oftener, for in the mighty guilt of her conscience she feared that her every move was watched. During this period my father gained great distinction as a warrior and had taken the metal from several chieftains. His love for my mother had never diminished, and his own ambition in life was to reach a point where he might wrest the metal from Tal Hajus himself, and thus, as ruler of the Tharks, be free to claim her as his own, as well as, by the might of his power, protect the child which otherwise would be quickly dispatched should the truth become known.

“It was a wild dream, that of wresting the metal from Tal Hajus in five short years, but his advance was rapid, and he soon stood high in the councils of Thark. But one day the chance was lost forever, in so far as it could come in time to save his loved ones, for he was ordered away upon a long expedition to the ice-clad south, to make war upon the natives there and despoil them of their furs, for such is the manner of the green Barsoomian; he does not labor for what he can wrest in battle from others.
 
PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

“He was gone for four years, and when he returned all had been over for three; for about a year after his departure, and shortly before the time for the return of an expedition which had gone forth to fetch the fruits of a community incubator, the egg had hatched. Thereafter my mother continued to keep me in the old tower, visiting me nightly and lavishing upon me the love the community life would have robbed us both of. She hoped, upon the return of the expedition from the incubator, to mix me with the other young assigned to the quarters of Tal Hajus, and thus escape the fate which would surely follow discovery of her sin against the ancient traditions of the green men.

“She taught me rapidly the language and customs of my kind, and one night she told me the story I have told to you up to this point, impressing upon me the necessity for absolute secrecy and the great caution I must exercise after she had placed me with the other young Tharks to permit no one to guess that I was further advanced in education than they, nor by any sign to divulge in the presence of others my affection for her, or my knowledge of my parentage; and then drawing me close to her she whispered in my ear the name of my father.

“And then a light flashed out upon the darkness of the tower chamber, and there stood Sarkoja, her gleaming, baleful eyes fixed in a frenzy of loathing and contempt upon my mother. The torrent of hatred and abuse she poured out upon her turned my young heart cold in terror. That she had heard the entire story was apparent, and that she had suspected something wrong from my mother’s long nightly absences from her quarters accounted for her presence there on that fateful night.

“One thing she had not heard, nor did she know, the whispered name of my father. This was apparent from her repeated demands upon my mother to disclose the name of her partner in sin, but no amount of abuse or threats could wring this from her, and to save me from needless torture she lied, for she told Sarkoja that she alone knew nor would she ever tell her child.

“With final imprecations, Sarkoja hastened away to Tal Hajus to report her discovery, and while she was gone my mother, wrapping me in the silks and furs of her night coverings, so that I was scarcely noticeable, descended to the streets and ran wildly away toward the outskirts of the city, in the direction which led to the far south, out toward the man whose protection she might not claim, but on whose face she wished to look once more before she died.

“As we neared the city’s southern extremity a sound came to us from across the mossy flat, from the direction of the only pass through the hills which led to the gates, the pass by which caravans from either north or south or east or west would enter the city. The sounds we heard were the squealing of thoats and the grumbling of zitidars, with the occasional clank of arms which announced the approach of a body of warriors. The thought uppermost in her mind was that it was my father returned from his expedition, but the cunning of the Thark held her from headlong and precipitate flight to greet him.

“Retreating into the shadows of a doorway she awaited the coming of the cavalcade which shortly entered the avenue, breaking its formation and thronging the thoroughfare from wall to wall. As the head of the procession passed us the lesser moon swung clear of the overhanging roofs and lit up the scene with all the brilliancy of her wondrous light. My mother shrank further back into the friendly shadows, and from her hiding place saw that the expedition was not that of my father, but the returning caravan bearing the young Tharks. Instantly her plan was formed, and as a great chariot swung close to our hiding place she slipped stealthily in upon the trailing tailboard, crouching low in the shadow of the high side, straining me to her bosom in a frenzy of love.

“She knew, what I did not, that never again after that night would she hold me to her breast, nor was it likely we would ever look upon each other’s face again. In the confusion of the plaza she mixed me with the other children, whose guardians during the journey were now free to relinquish their responsibility. We were herded together into a great room, fed by women who had not accompanied the expedition, and the next day we were parceled out among the retinues of the chieftains.

“I never saw my mother after that night. She was imprisoned by Tal Hajus, and every effort, including the most horrible and shameful torture, was brought to bear upon her to wring from her lips the name of my father; but she remained steadfast and loyal, dying at last amidst the laughter of Tal Hajus and his chieftains during some awful torture she was undergoing.

“I learned afterwards that she told them that she had killed me to save me from a like fate at their hands, and that she had thrown my body to the white apes. Sarkoja alone disbelieved her, and I feel to this day that she suspects my true origin, but does not dare expose me, at the present, at all events, because she also guesses, I am sure, the identity of my father.

“When he returned from his expedition and learned the story of my mother’s fate I was present as Tal Hajus told him; but never by the quiver of a muscle did he betray the slightest emotion; only he did not laugh as Tal Hajus gleefully described her death struggles. From that moment on he was the cruelest of the cruel, and I am awaiting the day when he shall win the goal of his ambition, and feel the carcass of Tal Hajus beneath his foot, for I am as sure that he but waits the opportunity to wreak a terrible vengeance, and that his great love is as strong in his breast as when it first transfigured him nearly forty years ago, as I am that we sit here upon the edge of a world-old ocean while sensible people sleep, John Carter.”
 
PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

“And your father, Sola, is he with us now?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied, “but he does not know me for what I am, nor does he know who betrayed my mother to Tal Hajus. I alone know my father’s name, and only I and Tal Hajus and Sarkoja know that it was she who carried the tale that brought death and torture upon her he loved.”

We sat silent for a few moments, she wrapped in the gloomy thoughts of her terrible past, and I in pity for the poor creatures whom the heartless, senseless customs of their race had doomed to loveless lives of cruelty and of hate. Presently she spoke.

“John Carter, if ever a real man walked the cold, dead bosom of Barsoom you are one. I know that I can trust you, and because the knowledge may someday help you or him or Dejah Thoris or myself, I am going to tell you the name of my father, nor place any restrictions or conditions upon your tongue. When the time comes, speak the truth if it seems best to you. I trust you because I know that you are not cursed with the terrible trait of absolute and unswerving truthfulness, that you could lie like one of your own Virginia gentlemen if a lie would save others from sorrow or suffering. My father’s name is Tars Tarkas.”
 
In a very few minutes a ghoul returned breathless to say that the moon-beasts and almost-humans were landing on the outside of the more easterly of the rugged grey headlands, and ascending by hidden paths and ledges which a goat could scarcely tread in safety. Almost immediately afterward the galley was sighted again through the flume-like strait, but only for a second. Then, a few moments later, a second messenger panted down from aloft to say that another party was landing on the other headland; both being much more numerous than the size of the galley would seem to allow for. The ship itself, moving slowly with only one sparsely manned tier of oars, soon hove in sight betwixt the cliffs, and lay to in the foetid harbour as if to watch the coming fray and stand by for any possible use.

By this time Carter and Pickman had divided the ghouls into three parties, one to meet each of the two invading columns and one to remain in the town. The first two at once scrambled up the rocks in their respective directions, while the third was subdivided into a land party and a sea party. The sea party, commanded by Carter, boarded the anchored galley and rowed out to meet the undermanned galley of the newcomers; whereat the latter retreated through the strait to the open sea. Carter did not at once pursue it, for he knew he might be needed more acutely near the town.

Meanwhile the frightful detachments of the moon-beasts and almost-humans had lumbered up to the top of the headlands and were shockingly silhouetted on either side against the grey twilight sky. The thin hellish flutes of the invaders had now begun to whine, and the general effect of those hybrid, half-amorphous processions was as nauseating as the actual odour given off by the toad-like lunar blasphemies. Then the two parties of the ghouls swarmed into sight and joined the silhouetted panorama. Javelins began to fly from both sides, and the swelling meeps of the ghouls and the bestial howls of the almost-humans gradually joined the hellish whine of the flutes to form a frantick and indescribable chaos of daemon cacophony. Now and then bodies fell from the narrow ridges of the headlands into the sea outside or the harbour inside, in the latter case being sucked quickly under by certain submarine lurkers whose presence was indicated only by prodigious bubbles.

For half an hour this dual battle raged in the sky, till upon the west cliff the invaders were completely annihilated. On the east cliff, however, where the leader of the moon-beast party appeared to be present, the ghouls had not fared so well; and were slowly retreating to the slopes of the pinnacle proper. Pickman had quickly ordered reinforcements for this front from the party in the town, and these had helped greatly in the earlier stages of the combat. Then, when the western battle was over, the victorious survivors hastened across to the aid of their hard-pressed fellows; turning the tide and forcing the invaders back again along the narrow ridge of the headland. The almost-humans were by this time all slain, but the last of the toad-like horrors fought desperately with the great spears clutched in their powerful and disgusting paws. The time for javelins was now nearly past, and the fight became a hand-to-hand contest of what few spearmen could meet upon that narrow ridge.

As fury and recklessness increased, the number falling into the sea became very great. Those striking the harbour met nameless extinction from the unseen bubblers, but of those striking the open sea some were able to swim to the foot of the cliffs and land on tidal rocks, while the hovering galley of the enemy rescued several moon-beasts. The cliffs were unscalable except where the monsters had debarked, so that none of the ghouls on the rocks could rejoin their battle-line. Some were killed by javelins from the hostile galley or from the moon-beasts above, but a few survived to be rescued. When the security of the land parties seemed assured, Carter’s galley sallied forth between the headlands and drove the hostile ship far out to sea; pausing to rescue such ghouls as were on the rocks or still swimming in the ocean. Several moon-beasts washed on rocks or reefs were speedily put out of the way.

Finally, the moon-beasts’ galley being safely in the distance and the invading land army concentrated in one place, Carter landed a considerable force on the eastern headland in the enemy’s rear; after which the fight was short-lived indeed. Attacked from both sides, the noisome flounderers were rapidly cut to pieces or pushed into the sea, till by evening the ghoulish chiefs agreed that the island was again clear of them. The hostile galley, meanwhile, had disappeared; and it was decided that the evil jagged rock had better be evacuated before any overwhelming horde of lunar horrors might be assembled and brought against the victors.

So by night Pickman and Carter assembled all the ghouls and counted them with care, finding that over a fourth had been lost in the day’s battles. The wounded were placed on bunks in the galley, for Pickman always discouraged the old ghoulish custom of killing and eating one’s own wounded, and the able-bodied troops were assigned to the oars or to such other places as they might most usefully fill. Under the low phosphorescent clouds of night the galley sailed, and Carter was not sorry to be departing from that island of unwholesome secrets, whose lightless domed hall with its bottomless well and repellent bronze door lingered restlessly in his fancy. Dawn found the ship in sight of Sarkomand’s ruined quays of basalt, where a few night-gaunt sentries still waited, squatting like black horned gargoyles on the broken columns and crumbling sphinxes of that fearful city which lived and died before the years of man.

The ghouls made camp amongst the fallen stones of Sarkomand, despatching a messenger for enough night-gaunts to serve them as steeds. Pickman and the other chiefs were effusive in their gratitude for the aid Carter had lent them; and Carter now began to feel that his plans were indeed maturing well, and that he would be able to command the help of these fearsome allies not only in quitting this part of dreamland, but in pursuing his ultimate quest for the gods atop unknown Kadath, and the marvellous sunset city they so strangely withheld from his slumbers. Accordingly he spoke of these things to the ghoulish leaders; telling what he knew of the cold waste wherein Kadath stands and of the monstrous shantaks and the mountains carven into double-headed images which guard it. He spoke of the fear of shantaks for night-gaunts, and of how the vast hippocephalic birds fly screaming from the black burrows high up on the gaunt grey peaks that divide Inganok from hateful Leng. He spoke, too, of the things he had learnt concerning night-gaunts from the frescoes in the windowless monastery of the high-priest not to be described; how even the Great Ones fear them, and how their ruler is not the crawling chaos Nyarlathotep at all, but hoary and immemorial Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss.

All these things Carter glibbered to the assembled ghouls, and presently outlined that request which he had in mind, and which he did not think extravagant considering the services he had so lately rendered the rubbery, dog-like lopers. He wished very much, he said, for the services of enough night-gaunts to bear him safely through the air past the realm of shantaks and carven mountains, and up into the cold waste beyond the returning tracks of any other mortal. He desired to fly to the onyx castle atop unknown Kadath in the cold waste to plead with the Great Ones for the sunset city they denied him, and felt sure that the night-gaunts could take him thither without trouble; high above the perils of the plain, and over the hideous double heads of those carven sentinel mountains that squat eternally in the grey dusk. For the horned and faceless creatures there could be no danger from aught of earth, since the Great Ones themselves dread them. And even were unexpected things to come from the Other Gods, who are prone to oversee the affairs of earth’s milder gods, the night-gaunts need not fear; for the outer hells are indifferent matters to such silent and slippery flyers as own not Nyarlathotep for their master, but bow only to potent and archaic Nodens.

A flock of ten or fifteen night-gaunts, Carter glibbered, would surely be enough to keep any combination of shantaks at a distance; though perhaps it might be well to have some ghouls in the party to manage the creatures, their ways being better known to their ghoulish allies than to men. The party could land him at some convenient point within whatever walls that fabulous onyx citadel might have, waiting in the shadows for his return or his signal whilst he ventured inside the castle to give prayer to the gods of earth. If any ghouls chose to escort him into the throne-room of the Great Ones, he would be thankful, for their presence would add weight and importance to his plea. He would not, however, insist upon this but merely wished transportation to and from the castle atop unknown Kadath; the final journey being either to the marvellous sunset city itself, in case the gods proved favourable, or back to the earthward Gate of Deeper Slumber in the enchanted wood in case his prayers were fruitless.

Whilst Carter was speaking all the ghouls listened with great attention, and as the moments advanced the sky became black with clouds of those night-gaunts for which messengers had been sent. The winged horrors settled in a semicircle around the ghoulish army, waiting respectfully as the dog-like chieftains considered the wish of the earthly traveller. The ghoul that was Pickman glibbered gravely with its fellows, and in the end Carter was offered far more than he had at most expected. As he had aided the ghouls in their conquest of the moon-beasts, so would they aid him in his daring voyage to realms whence none had ever returned; lending him not merely a few of their allied night-gaunts, but their entire army as they encamped, veteran fighting ghouls and newly assembled night-gaunts alike, save only a small garrison for the captured black galley and such spoils as had come from the jagged rock in the sea. They would set out through the air whenever he might wish, and once arrived on Kadath a suitable train of ghouls would attend him in state as he placed his petition before earth’s gods in their onyx castle.

Moved by a gratitude and satisfaction beyond words, Carter made plans with the ghoulish leaders for his audacious voyage. The army would fly high, they decided, over hideous Leng with its nameless monastery and wicked stone villages; stopping only at the vast grey peaks to confer with the shantak-frightening night-gaunts whose burrows honeycombed their summits. They would then, according to what advice they might receive from those denizens, choose their final course; approaching unknown Kadath either through the desert of carven mountains north of Inganok, or through the more northerly reaches of repulsive Leng itself. Dog-like and soulless as they are, the ghouls and night-gaunts had no dread of what those untrodden deserts might reveal; nor did they feel any deterring awe at the thought of Kadath towering lone with its onyx castle of mystery.

About midday the ghouls and night-gaunts prepared for flight, each ghoul selecting a suitable pair of horned steeds to bear him. Carter was placed well up toward the head of the column beside Pickman, and in front of the whole a double line of riderless night-gaunts was provided as a vanguard. At a brisk meep from Pickman the whole shocking army rose in a nightmare cloud above the broken columns and crumbling sphinxes of primordial Sarkomand; higher and higher, till even the great basalt cliff behind the town was cleared, and the cold, sterile table-land of Leng’s outskirts laid open to sight. Still higher flew the black host, till even this table-land grew small beneath them; and as they worked northward over the windswept plateau of horror Carter saw once again with a shudder the circle of crude monoliths and the squat windowless building which he knew held that frightful silken-masked blasphemy from whose clutches he had so narrowly escaped. This time no descent was made as the army swept bat-like over the sterile landscape, passing the feeble fires of the unwholesome stone villages at a great altitude, and pausing not at all to mark the morbid twistings of the hooved, horned almost-humans that dance and pipe eternally therein. Once they saw a shantak-bird flying low over the plain, but when it saw them it screamed noxiously and flapped off to the north in grotesque panic.

At dusk they reached the jagged grey peaks that form the barrier of Inganok, and hovered about those strange caves near the summits which Carter recalled as so frightful to the shantaks. At the insistent meeping of the ghoulish leaders there issued forth from each lofty burrow a stream of horned black flyers; with which the ghouls and night-gaunts of the party conferred at length by means of ugly gestures. It soon became clear that the best course would be that over the cold waste north of Inganok, for Leng’s northward reaches are full of unseen pitfalls that even the night-gaunts dislike; abysmal influences centring in certain white hemispherical buildings on curious knolls, which common folklore associates unpleasantly with the Other Gods and their crawling chaos Nyarlathotep.

Of Kadath the flutterers of the peaks knew almost nothing, save that there must be some mighty marvel toward the north, over which the shantaks and the carven mountains stand guard. They hinted at rumoured abnormalities of proportion in those trackless leagues beyond, and recalled vague whispers of a realm where night broods eternally; but of definite data they had nothing to give. So Carter and his party thanked them kindly; and, crossing the topmost granite pinnacles to the skies of Inganok, dropped below the level of the phosphorescent night clouds and beheld in the distance those terrible squatting gargoyles that were mountains till some titan hand carved fright into their virgin rock.

There they squatted, in a hellish half-circle, their legs on the desert sand and their mitres piercing the luminous clouds; sinister, wolf-like, and double-headed, with faces of fury and right hands raised, dully and malignly watching the rim of man’s world and guarding with horror the reaches of a cold northern world that is not man’s. From their hideous laps rose evil shantaks of elephantine bulk, but these all fled with insane titters as the vanguard of night-gaunts was sighted in the misty sky. Northward above those gargoyle mountains the army flew, and over leagues of dim desert where never a landmark rose. Less and less luminous grew the clouds, till at length Carter could see only blackness around him; but never did the winged steeds falter, bred as they were in earth’s blackest crypts, and seeing not with any eyes, but with the whole dank surface of their slippery forms. On and on they flew, past winds of dubious scent and sounds of dubious import; ever in thickest darkness, and covering such prodigious spaces that Carter wondered whether or not they could still be within earth’s dreamland.

Then suddenly the clouds thinned and the stars shone spectrally above. All below was still black, but those pallid beacons in the sky seemed alive with a meaning and directiveness they had never possessed elsewhere. It was not that the figures of the constellations were different, but that the same familiar shapes now revealed a significance they had formerly failed to make plain. Everything focussed toward the north; every curve and asterism of the glittering sky became part of a vast design whose function was to hurry first the eye and then the whole observer onward to some secret and terrible goal of convergence beyond the frozen waste that stretched endlessly ahead. Carter looked toward the east where the great ridge of barrier peaks had towered along all the length of Inganok, and saw against the stars a jagged silhouette which told of its continued presence. It was more broken now, with yawning clefts and fantastically erratic pinnacles; and Carter studied closely the suggestive turns and inclinations of that grotesque outline, which seemed to share with the stars some subtle northward urge.
 
General:
- Added a shortcut to change the backdrop color for sprite extraction.
- Fixed QuickSave 0-9 slot shortcuts not working.
- Allow "Address:byte" form for cheat inputs.
- Fixed ZIP files not being closed after patch search.
- Various memmap fixes to allow unofficial mappings.
- Added usage of ImGui to draw things on top of the screen instead of inside.

Win32:
- Fixed AVI not recording audio.
- Fixed framerate throttling in turbo mode (now works during AVI recording).
- Fixed interlaced output speed being double.
- Fixed command line arguments not working.
- Fixed WaveOut device name display for names longer than 31 characters.
- Fixed Bank+/- hotkey saving.
- Added hotkeys for aspect ratio, cheat edit/search.
- Added multiselect for cheat edit dialog.

Gtk:
- Fixed config file location to never put files directly in $HOME and obey
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME.
- Updated translations from JakeSmarter and StanleyKid-22.

Mac:
- Added a new cheat finder.
- Added MultiCart support back.
- Create a blank window when starting the program, so the global menu change
doesn't go unnoticed.

Snes9x 1.62
- Fixed SA1 division with negative dividend again. (Atari2)
- Fixed timing on several instructions. (pi1541)
- MSU1 audio with no loop point will not repeat from start.
- Modernized some old memory-related code.
- Fixed a desynchronization in interlaced modes and reporting.
- Remove SA1 access to WRAM.
- Added second set of registers between S-DSP and S-SMP. Fixes
PAL version of Virtual Bart.

Gtk + Windows:
- Added a Vulkan graphics output method. Similar to OpenGL, this
can use libretro's slang shaders.
- Changed the automatic frame skip throttle to take place immediately
before showing the frame, making VRR work better.
- Add menu item to clear recent files entries.
- Add fixed window size changes up to 10x.

Windows:
- Improved the shader parameters dialog with sliders and resize.
- Allow disabling adding registry entries. Deletes any existing
entries when the option is disabled.

Gtk:
- Switched to CMake for build system. Removed meson.
- Fixed some keys not working with modifiers. (Gutawer)
- Removed graphics options most people won't understand or need.
- Improved wayland support. Handle fractional DPI properly.

Snes9x 1.61
- Restructured tile.cpp tile renderer from heavy macros into C++
templates, significantly lowering compile time. (yoffy)
- MichaelBuckley provided a brand new MacOS port that is completely
rewritten based on newer, supported APIs.
- Fixed an out-of-bound memory access in sound DSP. (Sour, byuu)
- Revert default SFX2 clock speed increase.
- Added a render position hack. Fixes glitches in several games.
- Allow an SRAM mapping up to 128KB.

Win32:
- Apply turbo mode volume when rewinding.
- Added menu entry to load oops files, and an option to confirm before
saving or loading states.
- Fixed sound volume resetting when sound reinitializes.
- Added a save-state preview dialog.
- Added save banks for up to 100 states
- Added support for relative-style save slots
- Fixed blargg rf filter.
- Show command line options on -h and /?

Gtk:
- Added an option to show time. (taimoorgit)
- Use a submodule for glslang, because it doesn't guarantee API stability.
- Switched to GTK's C++ interface, gtkmm3. This effectively drops
GTK+ 2.0 support.
- Joysticks can now be hotplugged. (jraby)

Unix:
- Added audio output threading. (yoffy)
- Added screensaver prevention on joystick use. (greg-kennedy)
- Fix YUY2 conversion. (greg-kennedy)
- Add alsa output support. (cjacker)
- Add I420 conversion. (cjacker)

Snes9x 1.60
- Fixed subscreen blending with master brightness < 100%.
- Fixed NMI timing when toggling enable bit. Fixes Chou Aniki--hack removed.
- Reverted an IPL map optimization that misses a weird edge case that caused
The Great Battle III to lock up.
- Clamp MSU1 addition to max amplitude instead of wrapping. Proper MSU1 tracks
will not be affected by this.
- Save mipmap_input parameter with customized GLSL and slang shaders.
- Actually use mipmap_input parameter.
- Optimized subscreen math with help from Dwedit.
- Revert to measured APU clock speed instead of nominal speed. Fixes An
American Tail.
- Fixed broken BPS patch support. (ArtiiP)
- Fixed MSU1 track restarting on load state.

Win32:
- Changed window flags to allow NVIDIA cards to auto-enable exclusive
fullscreen mode in OpenGL.
- Added a hidden option "DWMSync" that allows OpenGL to sync to the window
manager while in windowed or borderless windowed mode.
- The automatic frame skip option no longer limits to 59.94Hz.
- Fixed bad icon scaling.
- Added a hacks dialog to enable settings for older hacks to run.

libretro:
- Added ability to use Satellaview data in same directory as ROM.
- Fixed deviation from proper libretro spec.
- Added option to use the software NTSC filter. (stellarporter)

GTK:
- Added icons to the entries to clear binding assignments.
- Fixed overlap in xBRZ multithreading.
- Changed glFenceSync option to an OML_sync option that works better.
- Fixed accumulation of partial pixel data on mouse motion when we update the
mouse position more than once per frame.
- Allow one key to be bound to many controller buttons on the same controller.
- Force menu and button icons.
- Add the view menu to right-click when SNES mouse isn't used.
- Remove unused status bar option.
- Startup background can be changed in snes9x.conf.
- Improved PortAudio driver.

Unix:
- Fixed sound output that broke with APU refactor.

Snes9x 1.59.2
- Fix out-of-bounds access on APU memory.

Snes9x 1.59.1
- Fix sound core breakage.

Snes9x 1.59
- Count clock cycles to synchronize SA1 with S-CPU properly. Based mostly on
work by Vitor Vilela.
- Only allow instant IRQ when toggling IRQ. Fixes WWF - Wrestlemania.
- Refactored APU output code to buffer less on the client side. Removed 8-bit,
Mono, and Reverse Stereo options.
- Consistently handle interlacing when we skip frames.
- Changed APU clock to reflect nominal values for original hardware.
- Fix C4 square instruction regression.

Win32:
- Don't display Joypad 2 pressed keys if disabled.
- Add support for libretro ".slang" shaders to OpenGL driver.
- Removed glitch-prone DirectSound audio driver in favor of a generic Wave Out
driver.
- Moved sound sync to drivers to be more reactive. This makes sound sync and
dynamic resampling work more reliably.
- Cleaned up dialog boxes to be more consistently spaced.
- Fixed TVMode filter in Direct3D and OpenGL modes.
- Fixed an interaction slowdown with OpenGL and Blargg NTSC filters.

libretro:
- Fix multiline cheats.

GTK+:
- Switch from autotools to Meson build system.
- Readd glFinish option as alternative to glFenceSync.
- Fix size fallthrough with xBRZ filter.
- Fix loading of key bindings with spaces in them and modifier keys used alone.
- Add support for libretro ".slang" shaders to OpenGL driver.
- Use a cleaner onscreen font.
- Trap errors to allow OpenGL <= 2.1 to run again.
- Break display settings up to make it easier to access hardware accel section.


Snes9x 1.58
- Move the LICENSE file to the base directory and use a stub
in all the source files referring to it.
- Adjust Chou Aniki timing hack.
- Use 1-based numbering when displaying pressed keys.
- Hide controller port if disabled when displaying keys.
- Fix movie playback. (OV2, BearOso)

libretro:
- Fix interlaced modes when overscan crop is enabled.
- Allow overriding -flto. (orbea)

GTK+:
- Use shared snes_ntsc implementation.
- Remove extra LGPL licensing to avoid confusion.
- Don't translate config file entries. Fixes breakage on
non-C languages.
- Fix issue where config file doesn't contain all configurable
entries.
- Remove config options for Netplay, Joystick, and JMA. SDL 2.0
is now mandatory.
- Updated gettext and removed intltool. update-po should now catch
all translatable strings.
- If available, reduce input lag option will now use fences instead
of glFinish to prevent hogging the CPU.
- Onscreen text can be variable width and will show up in some more
cases now.

Win32:
- Add audio device selection (XAudio2 only)

Snes9x 1.57
- Various seta010 emulation fixes. (kps501)
- Pass blargg OAM tests with proper write behavior. (BearOso)
- Prevent interlacing in BG modes 1-4. (BearOso)
- Corrected IRQ and NMI emulation to allow more games to
work properly. (BearOso, OV2)
- Use 1 instead of 0 for initial PPU left window coordinate,
fixing garbage in left column of pixels in some games. (turhope)
- Added interpolation option hack for DSP. (kps501, mudlord,
BearOso)
- Added sprite-tile limit disabling hack. (Tatsuya79)
- Added libretro's fast snapshot support. (OV2)
- Add overclocking hack that increases IPC (retrotalker)
- Fix controller initialization issues preventing some games
from using multitap. (retrotalker)
- Proper write behavior for register $2122. (BearOso)
- Fix transparency issue with Star Fox asteroids. (redguy, BearOso)
- Increase SuperFX speed to more accurately represent
hardware, and fix bugs with Stunt Race FX and Yoshi's
Island. (BearOso)
- Resize viewport on state load. (retrotalker)
- Many fixes to variables not saved or saved incorrectly in
save states. (Dwedit)
- Pass decimal tests in blargg's math test ROMs. (BearOso)
- Remove memory leak in loadzip.cpp. (bonimy)
- Fix screen size not reverting when overscan is turned on
then off mid-frame. (BearOso)

Win32:
- Include DirectDraw libraries and compile with DirectDraw
support by default. (OV2)
- Add a link to DirectX installer in error message displayed
when the needed DirectX libraries can't be found. (OV2)
- Save window position when exiting via menu (OV2)
- Make custom ROM dialog resizable. (OV2)
- Fix various cheat dialog issues. (OV2)
- Remove d3d9x DLL dependency by using DirectXMath. (OV2)
- Remove rarely-used HLSL shader option. (OV2)
- Add InitialSnapshotFilename support. (BearOso)
- Disable BG toggle keys by default. (BearOso)
- Proper centering and cropping for overscanned and
regular height modes. (OV2)
- Remove ability to disable the SNES's hires modes. (OV2)
- Added a Super Famicom-style icon resource to the EXE. (BearOso)

MacOS:
- Partial support for new cheats format. (OV2)
- Fix MacOS build. (marconett)
- Set default for new config options. (tmkk)
- Fix compilation on Mac OS Mojave (meepingsnesroms)

libretro:
- Massive update of libretro code to latest downstream. (fr500, kps501,
OV2, twinaphex,
BearOso,
hiddenasbestos,
m4xw, kxyxz,
claudiuslollarius)

GTK+:
- Use datarootdir instead of datadir on install. (orbea)
- Fix --with-system-zip configure flag. (BearOso)
- Draw interlaced fields when ready. (BearOso)
- Initial Wayland support. (remicalixte)
- Allow XV only in X11. (BearOso)
- Add Wayland support via EGL. (BearOso)
- Significant rewrite of OpenGL driver to support newer
standards. This won't work on cards < OpenGL ~1.5. (BearOso)
- Changed frameskip option to speed throttling option with
simpler, but more relevant methods of speed control. (BearOso)
- Add support for relative-style save slots. (ichigo-0, BearOso)
- Remove XML config file format in favor of one more like
Win32. Make joystick bindings and more options human-
readable and editable. (BearOso)
- Try more device nodes when initializing OSS. (BearOso)

Snes9x 1.56.2
- Fixed IRQ corner case that caused Umihara Kawase's water
to cover the whole screen. (BearOso)
- Adjusted IRQ timing slightly. Fixes Dragon Ball Z - Super
Butouden 2. (BearOso)
- Clear WAI when IRQLine is active. Fixes Top Gear 3000. (BearOso)
- Fix reading the wrong tile data in mosaic drawing. Gets
rid of glitch at top of FF6 battle transitions. (BearOso)
- Break a specific opcode into cycles. Fixes Little Magic. (BearOso)
- Win32: Don't mix garbage into the last line with NTSC
filter. (OV2)
- Win32: Allow disabling scanlines in NTSC filter. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Added an undo load state option. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Fixed compilation on big-endian systems. (OV2)
- Win32, GTK+: Added integer scaling option. (BearOso)
- GTK+, Unix: Preserve current joypad state when rewinding. (BearOso)

Snes9x 1.56.1
- Automatic input rate now only works for close multiples (BearOso)
of 60Hz.
- Win32: Cheats are now shown in the correct order in the (BearOso)
list view.
- GTK+: Check for version greater than 3.22 when using GTK+ (BearOso)
3.
- GTK+: Don't resize code and description field in GTK+ 2. (BearOso)

Snes9x 1.56
- Increased the speed of SA1 emulation to match hardware (BearOso)
more closely.
- Fixed negative SA1 division (BearOso, Jonas Quinn)
- Changed the location where we poll input to potentially (Brunnis, BearOso)
reduce lag.
- Fixed the interlace fields being swapped after skipping (BearOso)
frames.
- More updates for BS-X support. (LuigiBlood)
- Updated xBRZ to version 1.6. (zenju, OV2)
- Added a DMA timing hack for rpgone's Koryu no Mimi (OV2)
translation.
- Updated HDMA to not update indirect addresses until after (BearOso)
transfers are completed.
- Improved cheats support. This stores cheats in a human- (BearOso, OV2)
readable and editable format as gamename.cht. Cheats are
converted from the old format on load. They can be added
in many different formats, but they will convert to the
simple address=condition?byte format.
Also, now included is mightymo's cheat database, and the
ability to match a game and automatically load cheats
from it.
- Don't reset a pending NMI on vblank end. Fixes Super (furrykef)
Punch-Out.
- Redo NMI timing. Fixes Secret of Evermore (PAL). (BearOso)
- Test for transparency before dithering on SuperFX. This (RedGuy(yyy))
fixes some graphical artifacts in Star Fox.
- Change some of the SDD1 guesswork mapping. Fixes a Tales (BearOso)
of Phantasia hack.
- Return PPU1 MDR for reads of $2137 instead of CPU MDR. (BearOso)
Fixes Mario's Time Machine graphical glitch.
- Memset less memory for sprite calculations. (Nebuleon)
- Don't spuriously update register 14 when running SuperFX. (BearOso)
Fixes graphical glitches in Doom.
- Added a SuperFX clock modifier variable. (BearOso)
- Write CPU MDR during some DMA and HDMA transfers. Fixes (BearOso)
Speedy Gonzales and Funaki Masakatsu Hybrid Wrestler.
- Calculate next IRQ time in advance instead of continously (BearOso, OV2)
checking for it.
- Added some IRQ timing quirks. Fixes at least Marko's (BearOso, OV2)
Magic Football.
- Fixed wrong tile selection in offset-per-tile mode. (BearOso)
- Advance the VRAM pointer even if VRAM writes at the time (kps501)
are invalid.
- Return 0x80 instead of 0xff in DSP1 simulation. Fixes (kps501)
Powerfest '94 Mario Kart.
- Initialize controllers on reset. Fixes Looney Tunes (kps501)
B-Ball multitap.
- Attached APU instruction tracer and made some additions (BearOso)
to debugging output.
- Fix line doubling in interlaced mode. (kps501)
- Added support for M.A.C.S. rifle peripheral. (kps501)
- Fixed a bug where the MSU1 channels were reversed. (qwertymodo)
- Win32: Added dynamic rate control support for XAudio2 (OV2)
- Win32: Added different volume level configuration for (OV2)
regular and turbo speed.
- Win32: Added option to disable EPX scaling for messages (OV2)
- Win32: Improve multi-rom loading. (OV2)
- Win32: Add libpng and zlib dependencies as submodules for (qwertymodo, OV2)
easier compiling from source.
- Win32: Fixed icon registration. (OV2)
- Win32: Better support for running while unfocused. (OV2)
- Win32: Changed icon. (BearOso)
- Win32: Report hidpi support. (BearOso)
- Win32: Added mute hotkey and hotkeys for saving/loading (OV2)
from file.
- Win32: Disabled hotplugging in favor of a menu option to (OV2)
reconfigure joysticks.
- Win32: Added a reduce input lag option. (BearOso)
- Win32: Added ability to use GLSLP shaders with OpenGL, (OV2)
including a dialog to tweak custom parameters.
- GTK+: Added dynamic rate control support for audio to (BearOso)
reduce buffer overflows and underflows.
- GTK+: Increased SDL requirement to version 2.0. This (BearOso)
improves joystick compatibility.
- GTK+: Improved GTK+ 3.0 support and made it the default. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Added ability to start from a snapshot on the (julien2512)
command line.
- GTK+: Added automatic input rate handling. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Use 16-bit 5-6-5 pixel format for better colors. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Now disables the compositor in fullscreen mode. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Changed icon. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Require libepoxy for OpenGL support. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Add full compatibility with GLSLP shaders, with a (BearOso)
parameters dialog to configure them.
- Unix: Add xinerama support and window position hints. (Francesco149)

Snes9x 1.55
- Added support for the MSU-1 coprocessor. (qwertymodo)
- Added support for MSU-1 distribution pack. (qwertymodo)
- Added support for BS-X Satellaview memory packs and data (LuigiBlood)
files.
- Improved BS-X memory mapping accuracy. (LuigiBlood)
- Fixed APU error causing issues with some games. (byuu, qwertymodo)
- Added option to ignore patch checksums. (qwertymodo)
- Fixed build warnings / undefined behavior. (bonimy)
- Correct pixel placement in hires. (BearOso, OV2)
- Fixed RAM mapping for Light Fantasy. (hex_usr, BearOso)
- Added Circuit USA APU timing hack. (BearOso)
- libretro: Merged some changes from downstream repository. (OV2)
- GTK+: Allow use of XDG config directory. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Add 10th save slot. (YamashitaRen)
- GTK+: Updated Spanish translation. (jristz)
- Win32: Switched to Studio 2017. (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed problems when minimized in d3d. (OV2)
- Win32: Split Patch/Rom directory. (OV2)
- Win32: Simplified compilation by removing or including
some dependencies (included CG headers, completely
removed FMOD and FMOD_EX, moved direct draw to compile
switch) and reworking solution/configurations. (bonimy, OV2)
- Win32: Fixed crash with movie dialog (OV2)
- Win32: Changed hotplugging (OV2)

Snes9x 1.54.1
- GTK+: Properly use --std=c++11 when compiling xBRZ. (BearOso)
- Win32: Save window position when toggling fullscreen. (OV2)
- Win32: Do not assign down-left binding to down-right. (OV2)

Snes9x 1.54
- Changed the S-SMP core module to one written by byuu. (byuu, BearOso)
This has the effect of increased accuracy, fewer
speed hacks, but also regresses a few speed-hack games.
- Improved IRQ emulation in several cases. (OV2)
- Added rewind support. (Themaister, OV2)
- Included libretro port. (OV2, libretro team)
- Added bps soft-patching support (OV2)
- Fixed MMC bank register bit 7, restored 64mbit ExLoRom
map (FuSoYa)
- GTK+, Windows: Added xBRZ filter (Zenju, OV2, nmagre)
- GTK+: Fixed several issues with GTK+3. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Added extra aspect ratio options. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Added option to mute sound when using turbo mode. (BearOso)
- GTK+: Fixed expose handling to reduce overdraw and (BearOso)
improve performance.
- GTK+: Updated and universalized Spanish translation. (jristz)
- Unix: Added Xv support and fixed several bugs. (greg-kennedy)
- Win32: Added CG meta shader support (OV2, Themaister)
- Win32: Added support to detect joypad changes (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed unicode command line parameters,
Fixed controller command line parameters (OV2)
- Win32: Added quit hotkey (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed custom rom dialog (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed various cheat dialog issues (gocha, OV2)
- Win32: Added hotkey for fast forward toggling (gocha)
- Win32: Added drag and drop support for movies (gocha)
- Win32: Fixed blargg filter for regular width hires (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed snapshot loading from unicode paths (OV2)
- Win32: Changed open-with file-association method, should
no longer change explorer icons for otherwise
unassociated extensions; removed legacy extensions (OV2)

Snes9x 1.53

- Rebuilt IRQ handling. (zones)
- Improved overall timings, now Snes9x can handle events in
a opcode a little. (zones)
- Improved screen interlace and sprite interlace supports. (OV2, zones)
- Fixed Hi-Res pixel plotter. (BearOso, zones, OV2)
- Fixed C4 for Mega Man X2's "weapon get" screen. (Jonas Quinn)
- Fixed Super Buster Bros. graphics after reset. (Jonas Quinn)
- Improved SA-1 support. (zones)
- Added SA-1 CC2 support. (Jonas Quinn, byuu)
- Fixed SA-1 NMI override mode. (zones)
- Fixed Dual Orb 2 sound glitch. (byuu)
- New APU timing hack, fixes various games that exhibit
problems with Blargg's SNES_SPC library. (OV2)
- Fixed the problem that echo buffer breaks IPL ROM. (zones, OV2)
- Fixed movie snapshot unfreeze inconsistency. (gocha)
- Faster config file saving. (OV2)
- Fixed BlockInvalidVRAMAccess config file option.
(windows port, unix port and gtk legacy config) (Jonas Quinn)
- Remove POSIX dup and access calls, and rename qword to
fix compilation with Cell SDK. (BearOso)
- Fixed PS3 version save state crash by using heap
allocation for soundsnapshot. (danieldematteis)
- Fixed crash relating to double-closed descriptor. (BearOso)
- Removed CPUShutdown speedhack, DisableHDMA and
DisableIRQ options. (zones)
- Removed remaining outdated asm code. (zones)
- JMA 64 bit support. (kode54, Nach, friedrich.goepel)
- GTK+, Win32, Mac: Added optional Hi-Res blending. (BearOso, OV2, zones)
- GTK+, Win32: Support for bsnes-style XML shaders. (BearOso, OV2)
- Win32: Full unicode support. (OV2)
- Win32: Restored OpenGL mode. (OV2)
- Win32: x64 version. (OV2)
- Win32: HLSL shader support. (mudlord)
- Win32: Win7 jumplist synchronizes with recent roms list. (OV2)
- Win32: Updated menu structure. (OV2)
- Win32: Drag&Drop support for ROMs. (gocha, OV2)
- Win32: Reworked movie-recording with size selection. (gocha, OV2)
- Win32: Restored SPC save option. (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed vsync in DirectDraw. (OV2)
- Win32: Improved window position saving. (OV2)
- Win32: Restored compile with DEBUGGER. (gocha)
- Win32: Fixed various edge-case errors and/or possible
leaks. (Brian Friesen)
- Win32: Config file option to always center image. (OV2)
- Win32: Fixed "Turbo Down mode" hotkey assignment. (gocha)
- Win32: Added and fixed Autofire for D-pad. (gocha)
- Win32: Fixed aggressive soundsync wait. (OV2)
- Win32: Added window size presets. (OV2)
- Mac : Added pause and frame advance functions. (zones)
- Mac : Now you can choose any folder for saving files. (zones)
- Mac : Updated Music Box (mostly internally). (zones)
- Mac : Fixed gliches in open/save dialogs on 10.6. (zones)
- Mac : Fixed display configuration in windowed mode. (zones)
- Unix : Fixed segfault and hang-up with -DNOSOUND. (zones)
- GTK+ : Added ability to set specific folders for SRAM,
patches, snapshots, etc. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Fixed many permissions issues with config folders. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Updated compatibility with latest GTK+ and
GtkBuilder. Added experimental support for GTK+ 3.x. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Updated software output to use cairo and added the
ability to use bilinear-filtering with it. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Fixed issues where cheats wouldn't stay enabled. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Fixed focus issue when there is no window manager. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Fixed X Visual incompatibilities and expose
problems in the Xv and OpenGL outputs. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Fixed vsync with new X Server and NVIDIA drivers. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Added "Reduce input lag" option to OpenGL output. (BearOso)
- GTK+ : Added a visual indication of the expected video
refresh rate for the currently selected sound input rate. (BearOso)

Snes9x 1.52
- IMPORTANT NOTICE: The structure of savestates (also known
as snapshots / freeze files) is incompatible with older
versions! Snes9x 1.52 cannot read the savestates created
by 1.51 or older. (zones)
- Highly acculate SPC700 and S-DSP emulation. (Blargg)
- Replaced APU emulation cores (SPC700 and S-DSP) with
ones provided by Blargg's SNES_SPC library. This renders
savestates incompatible with older versions. (BearOso, zones)
- SPC7110 emulation. (byuu, neviksti)
- Merged bsnes' SPC7110 emulation code. Note that the .rtc
file of Far East of Eden Zero is incompatible with older
versions. (zones)
- Removed graphics pack support. It's no more necessary. (zones)
- Replaced S-RTC emulation code with bsnes' one to keep the
good compatibility of .rtc files between the two
emulators. As a result, Daikaijuu Monogatari 2 now
outputs the .rtc file, and its .srm file is incompatible
with older versions. (zones)
- Added savestate supports for DSP-2, DSP-4, ST-010 and
OBC1. (zones)
- Added UPS support. (byuu)
- Fixed DSP-4 AI problem. (Jonas Quinn)
- Fixed invalid memory accesses in C4 and OBC1 codes. (zones)
- Fixed invalid memory accesses in BSX codes. My mistake. (zones)
- Fixed the read value of $213e, $4210 and $4211. (zones)
- Fixed the writing of word values at the memory boundary. (zones)
- Fixed the bug that the unnecessary SA-1 emulation
continues once any SA-1 games are launched. (zones)
- Removed old color blending codes. (zones)
- Removed too-old Snes96 and ZSNES snapshot support. (zones)
- Updated command-line options. (zones)
- Code cleaning. (zones)
- GTK+ : Added a port of Snes9x to the GTK+ toolkit. (BearOso)
- Unix : Reconstructed and simplified all the contents.
Some features have been removed to be simple, and many
options have changed. GTK+ port is recommended for most
of Linux users. (zones)
- Win32: Now uses snes9x.conf to prevent problems with
modified meaning of settings. (OV2)
- Win32: Removed broken OpenGL mode. (OV2)
- Win32: Removed support for 8bit output. (OV2)
- Win32: Reworked settings dialogues to accomodate the
new APU core and display settings. (OV2)
- Win32: Updated defaults to use D3D and XA2 (better
Vista and Win7 support). (OV2)
- Win32: Direct3D and XAudio2 support. (OV2)
- Win32: Added Blargg's ntsc filter (three presets). (OV2)
- Mac : Fixed corrupted screenshot on Intel Mac. (zones)
- Mac : Fixed sudden abort in QuickTime movie export on
Intel Mac. (zones)
- Mac : Changed sound settings for the new APU core. (zones)
- Mac : Changed the default folder which Snes9x looks for
to 'Application Support' folder. (zones)
- Mac : Changed folder names: 'IPSs' -> 'Patches',
'BIOSs' -> 'BIOSes'. (zones)
- Mac : Added Blargg's ntsc filter. (zones)
- Mac : Internal changes for Leopard and Snow Leopard. (zones)

Snes9x 1.51
- Added DSP1 and SuperFX savestate support. (nitsuja)
- Added screen state GFX to save states. (optional) (nitsuja)
- Fixed desync when loading inconsistent state in playback. (nitsuja)
- When playback reaches a movie's end, recording continues
instead of the movie suddenly closing. (after recording) (nitsuja)
- can now record resets and mouse/superscope/justifier(s) (nitsuja)
- Added same-line-comment support for config files. (nitsuja)
- input display for all controllers (including peripherals) (nitsuja)
- Win32: Now uses .cfg file instead of Windows registry. (nitsuja)
- Win32: open ROM dialog bugfixes and speedup and facelift (nitsuja)
- Win32: option to use standard file open dialog for ROMs (nitsuja)
- Win32: maintain aspect ratio and bilinear filter stretch (nitsuja)
- Win32: optional removal of the dreaded "black bar" (nitsuja)
- Win32: Added EPX,EPX2,EPX3,HQ2X,HQ3X,TV3X,DM3X filters. (nitsuja)
- Win32: Added hires support for Interlace and TV Mode. (nitsuja)
- Win32: text removed from .avi output (optional) (nitsuja)
- Win32: better directory management, customizeable (nitsuja)
- Win32: Screenshot support is back. (nitsuja)
- Win32: Netplay is back (but still not very good). (nitsuja)
- Win32: Made OpenGL Bi-linear an advanced .cfg option. (nitsuja)
- Win32: cheat search improvements (address, watch, SuperFX)(nitsuja)
- Win32: Added non-modal ("active") cheat search option. (nitsuja)
- Win32: new hotkey-config dialog and configurable hotkeys (nitsuja)
- Win32: Fixed joystick config in input dialog. (nitsuja)
- Win32: Fixed hires and extended height .avi output. (nitsuja)
- Win32: various small GUI improvements (nitsuja)
- Win32: Netplay fixes. (nitsuja)
- "Fake Mute" desync workaround option for movies, until
all ports have deterministic sound. (Bisqwit, nitsuja)
- Fix for save state blocks > 999999 bytes. (Bisqwit)
- C4 games now save C4 data in save states. (DeHackEd)
- Unix: Framework for high-speed seeking. Sp
 
PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

CHAPTER XVI
WE PLAN ESCAPE
The remainder of our journey to Thark was uneventful. We were twenty days upon the road, crossing two sea bottoms and passing through or around a number of ruined cities, mostly smaller than Korad. Twice we crossed the famous Martian waterways, or canals, so-called by our earthly astronomers. When we approached these points a warrior would be sent far ahead with a powerful field glass, and if no great body of red Martian troops was in sight we would advance as close as possible without chance of being seen and then camp until dark, when we would slowly approach the cultivated tract, and, locating one of the numerous, broad highways which cross these areas at regular intervals, creep silently and stealthily across to the arid lands upon the other side. It required five hours to make one of these crossings without a single halt, and the other consumed the entire night, so that we were just leaving the confines of the high-walled fields when the sun broke out upon us.

Crossing in the darkness, as we did, I was unable to see but little, except as the nearer moon, in her wild and ceaseless hurtling through the Barsoomian heavens, lit up little patches of the landscape from time to time, disclosing walled fields and low, rambling buildings, presenting much the appearance of earthly farms. There were many trees, methodically arranged, and some of them were of enormous height; there were animals in some of the enclosures, and they announced their presence by terrified squealings and snortings as they scented our queer, wild beasts and wilder human beings.

Only once did I perceive a human being, and that was at the intersection of our crossroad with the wide, white turnpike which cuts each cultivated district longitudinally at its exact center. The fellow must have been sleeping beside the road, for, as I came abreast of him, he raised upon one elbow and after a single glance at the approaching caravan leaped shrieking to his feet and fled madly down the road, scaling a nearby wall with the agility of a scared cat. The Tharks paid him not the slightest attention; they were not out upon the warpath, and the only sign that I had that they had seen him was a quickening of the pace of the caravan as we hastened toward the bordering desert which marked our entrance into the realm of Tal Hajus.

Not once did I have speech with Dejah Thoris, as she sent no word to me that I would be welcome at her chariot, and my foolish pride kept me from making any advances. I verily believe that a man’s way with women is in inverse ratio to his prowess among men. The weakling and the saphead have often great ability to charm the fair sex, while the fighting man who can face a thousand real dangers unafraid, sits hiding in the shadows like some frightened child.

Just thirty days after my advent upon Barsoom we entered the ancient city of Thark, from whose long-forgotten people this horde of green men have stolen even their name. The hordes of Thark number some thirty thousand souls, and are divided into twenty-five communities. Each community has its own jed and lesser chieftains, but all are under the rule of Tal Hajus, Jeddak of Thark. Five communities make their headquarters at the city of Thark, and the balance are scattered among other deserted cities of ancient Mars throughout the district claimed by Tal Hajus.

We made our entry into the great central plaza early in the afternoon. There were no enthusiastic friendly greetings for the returned expedition. Those who chanced to be in sight spoke the names of warriors or women with whom they came in direct contact, in the formal greeting of their kind, but when it was discovered that they brought two captives a greater interest was aroused, and Dejah Thoris and I were the centers of inquiring groups.
 
PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

We were soon assigned to new quarters, and the balance of the day was devoted to settling ourselves to the changed conditions. My home now was upon an avenue leading into the plaza from the south, the main artery down which we had marched from the gates of the city. I was at the far end of the square and had an entire building to myself. The same grandeur of architecture which was so noticeable a characteristic of Korad was in evidence here, only, if that were possible, on a larger and richer scale. My quarters would have been suitable for housing the greatest of earthly emperors, but to these queer creatures nothing about a building appealed to them but its size and the enormity of its chambers; the larger the building, the more desirable; and so Tal Hajus occupied what must have been an enormous public building, the largest in the city, but entirely unfitted for residence purposes; the next largest was reserved for Lorquas Ptomel, the next for the jed of a lesser rank, and so on to the bottom of the list of five jeds. The warriors occupied the buildings with the chieftains to whose retinues they belonged; or, if they preferred, sought shelter among any of the thousands of untenanted buildings in their own quarter of town; each community being assigned a certain section of the city. The selection of building had to be made in accordance with these divisions, except in so far as the jeds were concerned, they all occupying edifices which fronted upon the plaza.

When I had finally put my house in order, or rather seen that it had been done, it was nearing sunset, and I hastened out with the intention of locating Sola and her charges, as I had determined upon having speech with Dejah Thoris and trying to impress on her the necessity of our at least patching up a truce until I could find some way of aiding her to escape. I searched in vain until the upper rim of the great red sun was just disappearing behind the horizon and then I spied the ugly head of Woola peering from a second-story window on the opposite side of the very street where I was quartered, but nearer the plaza.

Without waiting for a further invitation I bolted up the winding runway which led to the second floor, and entering a great chamber at the front of the building was greeted by the frenzied Woola, who threw his great carcass upon me, nearly hurling me to the floor; the poor old fellow was so glad to see me that I thought he would devour me, his head split from ear to ear, showing his three rows of tusks in his hobgoblin smile.

Quieting him with a word of command and a caress, I looked hurriedly through the approaching gloom for a sign of Dejah Thoris, and then, not seeing her, I called her name. There was an answering murmur from the far corner of the apartment, and with a couple of quick strides I was standing beside her where she crouched among the furs and silks upon an ancient carved wooden seat. As I waited she rose to her full height and looking me straight in the eye said:

“What would Dotar Sojat, Thark, of Dejah Thoris his captive?”

“Dejah Thoris, I do not know how I have angered you. It was furtherest from my desire to hurt or offend you, whom I had hoped to protect and comfort. Have none of me if it is your will, but that you must aid me in effecting your escape, if such a thing be possible, is not my request, but my command. When you are safe once more at your father’s court you may do with me as you please, but from now on until that day I am your master, and you must obey and aid me.”

She looked at me long and earnestly and I thought that she was softening toward me.

“I understand your words, Dotar Sojat,” she replied, “but you I do not understand. You are a queer mixture of child and man, of brute and noble. I only wish that I might read your heart.”

“Look down at your feet, Dejah Thoris; it lies there now where it has lain since that other night at Korad, and where it will ever lie beating alone for you until death stills it forever.”

She took a little step toward me, her beautiful hands outstretched in a strange, groping gesture.

“What do you mean, John Carter?” she whispered. “What are you saying to me?”

“I am saying what I had promised myself that I would not say to you, at least until you were no longer a captive among the green men; what from your attitude toward me for the past twenty days I had thought never to say to you; I am saying, Dejah Thoris, that I am yours, body and soul, to serve you, to fight for you, and to die for you. Only one thing I ask of you in return, and that is that you make no sign, either of condemnation or of approbation of my words until you are safe among your own people, and that whatever sentiments you harbor toward me they be not influenced or colored by gratitude; whatever I may do to serve you will be prompted solely from selfish motives, since it gives me more pleasure to serve you than not.”
 
PRINCESS OF MARS CONT

“I will respect your wishes, John Carter, because I understand the motives which prompt them, and I accept your service no more willingly than I bow to your authority; your word shall be my law. I have twice wronged you in my thoughts and again I ask your forgiveness.”

Further conversation of a personal nature was prevented by the entrance of Sola, who was much agitated and wholly unlike her usual calm and possessed self.

“That horrible Sarkoja has been before Tal Hajus,” she cried, “and from what I heard upon the plaza there is little hope for either of you.”

“What do they say?” inquired Dejah Thoris.

“That you will be thrown to the wild calots [dogs] in the great arena as soon as the hordes have assembled for the yearly games.”

“Sola,” I said, “you are a Thark, but you hate and loathe the customs of your people as much as we do. Will you not accompany us in one supreme effort to escape? I am sure that Dejah Thoris can offer you a home and protection among her people, and your fate can be no worse among them than it must ever be here.”

“Yes,” cried Dejah Thoris, “come with us, Sola, you will be better off among the red men of Helium than you are here, and I can promise you not only a home with us, but the love and affection your nature craves and which must always be denied you by the customs of your own race. Come with us, Sola; we might go without you, but your fate would be terrible if they thought you had connived to aid us. I know that even that fear would not tempt you to interfere in our escape, but we want you with us, we want you to come to a land of sunshine and happiness, amongst a people who know the meaning of love, of sympathy, and of gratitude. Say that you will, Sola; tell me that you will.”

“The great waterway which leads to Helium is but fifty miles to the south,” murmured Sola, half to herself; “a swift thoat might make it in three hours; and then to Helium it is five hundred miles, most of the way through thinly settled districts. They would know and they would follow us. We might hide among the great trees for a time, but the chances are small indeed for escape. They would follow us to the very gates of Helium, and they would take toll of life at every step; you do not know them.”

“Is there no other way we might reach Helium?” I asked. “Can you not draw me a rough map of the country we must traverse, Dejah Thoris?”

“Yes,” she replied, and taking a great diamond from her hair she drew upon the marble floor the first map of Barsoomian territory I had ever seen. It was crisscrossed in every direction with long straight lines, sometimes running parallel and sometimes converging toward some great circle. The lines, she said, were waterways; the circles, cities; and one far to the northwest of us she pointed out as Helium. There were other cities closer, but she said she feared to enter many of them, as they were not all friendly toward Helium.


She drew upon the marble floor the first map of Barsoomian territory I had ever seen.

Finally, after studying the map carefully in the moonlight which now flooded the room, I pointed out a waterway far to the north of us which also seemed to lead to Helium.

“Does not this pierce your grandfather’s territory?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered, “but it is two hundred miles north of us; it is one of the waterways we crossed on the trip to Thark.”

“They would never suspect that we would try for that distant waterway,” I answered, “and that is why I think that it is the best route for our escape.”

Sola agreed with me, and it was decided that we should leave Thark this same night; just as quickly, in fact, as I could find and saddle my thoats. Sola was to ride one and Dejah Thoris and I the other; each of us carrying sufficient food and drink to last us for two days, since the animals could not be urged too rapidly for so long a distance.

I directed Sola to proceed with Dejah Thoris along one of the less frequented avenues to the southern boundary of the city, where I would overtake them with the thoats as quickly as possible; then, leaving them to gather what food, silks, and furs we were to need, I slipped quietly to the rear of the first floor, and entered the courtyard, where our animals were moving restlessly about, as was their habit, before settling down for the night.

In the shadows of the buildings and out beneath the radiance of the Martian moons moved the great herd of thoats and zitidars, the latter grunting their low gutturals and the former occasionally emitting the sharp squeal which denotes the almost habitual state of rage in which these creatures passed their existence. They were quieter now, owing to the absence of man, but as they scented me they became more restless and their hideous noise increased. It was risky business, this entering a paddock of thoats alone and at night; first, because their increasing noisiness might warn the nearby warriors that something was amiss, and also because for the slightest cause, or for no cause at all some great bull thoat might take it upon himself to lead a charge upon me.
 
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