open || text, video || [ un: daughter-sea]

[seaboard]

TO THE CARE OF: any who may be of good constitution and can transport items.

In regards to the procurement of any and all harvested produce that is yet heretofore unaccounted for in tithes. I care not whether it is meat, berry, vegetable, honey or herb. Any amount of salt, flour, vinegar, cloves and cherry leaves if it may be found.

I have no coin, nor is it my concern. I will preserve the food that is brought to me and give it in return to you. Our larders must be as full as they can before the coming winter and summer.

In exchange, I will teach you to cook, preserve your own food, and gut fish.

- Second-Child, Lady Gilia St. Loe, Daughter-Sea, who presides in the Harbouryards.

[ A little pause, and then the video clicks on afterwards. Of one, frazzled Gilia in a run-down kitchen she's repaired as best she can, if badly. But tucked up in her wimple and veil, as ever, in jarring bright clashing colours. Even if the veil is sliding back from her forehead in her work and curls are attempting to spring out in every direction with their inch of freedom - and one rather large bruise across her cheek that has turned a festering yellow-purple colour of healing, and the smear of butter on her chin.

Busy with, apparently, dicing apart turnips with a cleaving knife that goes thud,thud,thud quickly in smooth, heavy slices. Stops to see the thing is on, it was supposed to light up and make irritating sounds, yes, good - and uses that huge knife to gesture to herself briefly in a sweep. ]

I forgot the size of this city, and that you will have not a wit of knowing me from a plank of wood. I am Lady Gilia. I am out at dawn fishing, but I should be back by mid morn. [ A pause. ] ... If there was peppercorn, of a good price, that could be found... it should be better to taste, later, if that expense is not too great to you. But please do not worry on such luxuries if not.

Comments

un: songbird

[windsongs]

[ Mom did you serious just post a formal letter of intent? ]

do you have somewhere to store everything?
and I don't necessarily have anything I can contribute right now, but I can go to the markets and see what they've got
what should I look for? what keeps best?

[ She considers coming up with a flowery sign off but decides against it. ]

[seaboard]

There are shelves, cupboards, and one sturdy table here. I wish that I had more, a proper cellar and larder, but this is the room that I could find...

I suppose cabbage is always safest, but turnip, carrot, peas, squash, these are also do well. But vinegar - any kind of sour wine, and salt, is always deeply, deeply important.

[windsongs]

salt and vinegar might be a little spendy but I can see what I can do!
I'd be interested to learn about what you do with everything too

we've got stuff that lets you keep things fresh and cool for longer so I'm not really used to having to preserve stuff
it's a good thing you're here to make sure all of us know about this kind of stuff Gilia! ❤️

[seaboard]

That does sound strange. Have you never been snowed in? Unable to pass paths and roads because of ice or snow melt flooding?

[windsongs]

not personally, you'd have to go further north to have that happen
or in the mountains. it can get pretty cold there in the winter!
we don't get a lot of snow in Tokyo (where I'm from) but I wish we did!! ❄️☃️
maybe enough to make a little snowman on a balcony, but not any more than that

[seaboard]

We set children to make snow mice, though I think now that is more to get them out from under their parent's feet for a few hours.

[windsongs]

snow mice!! that sounds adorable!
whenever we would get enough snow my mom and I would build little snow families on our balcony

[seaboard]

They serve Ancient Time, and we say that the mice run to Time and whisper all that passes in the world. So we make the snow mice to hurry them along.

[windsongs]

so they're kind of like little historians telling Ancient Time about everything that's happened?
how do the snow mice make that go quicker>

[seaboard]

The scriptures say that quicker is not exactly it, truthfully, but that all things exist concurrently to Ancient Time, beginning, middle, and end. The Mice inform Time the correct order of which things are meant to occur as they are of the mortal world, and remind the Ancient Power that things most progress in a... line, as opposed to how time perceives to Spirits, which is a spiral.

So the priests have learned, at least.

[windsongs]

[ Wait a minute. ]

spirits perceive time differently in your world?

that makes sense, since I know where I'm from there's usually a distinct difference between the world of mortals and men
and the spiritual world. spirit and spiritual being very vague terms from what I can tell
or I guess maybe different planes would be more accurate? I'm still not 100% on that. I know there's a lot of overlap though but I was still working that out myself before
you know

but time moving at different speeds makes a lot of sense! there are tons of stories from back home that could be explained by something like that!

[seaboard]

Time passes differently for many different creatures of the world. A hound does not concern themselves for the future beyond a few days, but the sharks from the coldest waters live many hundreds of years, longer than any mortal might.

[windsongs]

oh I see what you mean
since they all have different life expectancies, they view time different
that makes sense

[seaboard]

And it applies twice so when applied to a spirit who has no sense of mortal expectancy.

They have almost a... stagnation, to their eternity.

[windsongs]

a stagnation? what do you mean?

[seaboard]

They exist in past and future as concurrent present. So nothing ever... progresses, stops, or begins.

[windsongs]

sounds a little bit like limbo
some people believe that there's a place between heaven and hell, where certain people go after they die

is there some kind of afterlife in your world as well?

[seaboard]

I do not know those place, I am afraid.

The realm of spirits is quite real. Many will accidentally walk into them, I did once when I was younger, when I swam too deep.

When we pass, either our souls go to our spirits, to be reborn in their form, and be part of them, their greatness, the very fabric of life itself. Those unaligned, simply go to the Land-Mother, and what remains of her whole, as the Shadow Dragons.

Some ascend, of course, if their bond was great, their devotion pure, their spirit may feel the greatness of their soul and refashion them to something new. That is, for instance, how mermaids are made. They are nuns, priests and sailors who were especially devoted to the Sea-Father in life, and died at sea.

[windsongs]

that doesn't surprise me. there are groups of people in my world who can't agree what happens after we die, if there are places other than the world we know...
so of course it's different. but that's really cool!
there's really no boundary between your realm and the realm of spirits?

are souls and spirits two different things? how are they different? is it like being one half of the same whole?
and when you say reborn, I assume that's in the spirit realm? or are they reborn in your realm?

oh I see! so instead of going "up" to heaven (the sky) like some people believe, they return to the sea as mermaids!
that makes a lot of sense given what you've told me about you and your home already
mermaids in my world are all thought to be myth. sometimes confused with what I am, but info on that is pretty inconsistent. but I've never met one before so I don't know if there are any on Earth

[seaboard]

How strange...? Can you not just ask your dead yourself?

There is not, no. We mingle freely, perhaps because yes, there is a similarity to the soul and a spirit. Though I am afraid that is a question for scholars far more learned than myself.

What do people confuse you for?

[windsongs]

most people can't communicate with the dead, especially once they've fully moved on
my cousin can and I've heard my great-grandfather could too, but something like that takes training even if you have a talent for it

sorry let me step back a little bit first
do you know what a siren is?

[seaboard]

I suppose when a soul has passed the on, the more difficult they are to talk with, yes.

Oh yes, the bird women of the Illios Coast? Creatures of air and movement, yes?

[windsongs]

oh you have them too! are they only women?
most books only mention women here but they aren't all women
my father was an example of that

[seaboard]

I have only heard of their being women, but not because of any particular reason they could not be men.

[windsongs]

seems pretty weird right? they get horrible reputations and suddenly nope, all women
sounds pretty suspicious if you ask me