乙巳 006: 立秋

[singlemilletgrain]

[video]
[It's time for another Yanese fes -- Hm. Wait.]

Hello, Corsairs.

[The image of Shu has some... alterations from its usual appearance. One arm is in a sling and bandages run up the length of the visible skin.]

It is time to begin the harvest. This year, I humbly request your assistance with this task. I am experiencing some physical limitations at the moment.

[Anyone more than casually familiar with Shu may find this a bit odd, given she is a highly proficient healer.]

If you are willing, please stop by the fields in Vault at your convenience. ...I will feed you, of course.

[harvest 1]
[After running through the general idea of how to operate the oxen and the thresher, Shu gently encourages you to go ahead with a pat on the back. It probably goes fairly well at first. Perhaps even for a significant length of time. ...And then, for some reason, one of the plants you run the thresher over explodes???, violently spooking the oxen until you find yourself directing two runaway beasts headed straight into the cavern wall of the Vault.]

Oh, dear. I forgot I was growing those Bomb Plants... Ah, please do aim away from the wall.

[She sounds very calm about this despite that you're headed for rocky death.]

[harvest 2]
[Both you and Shu are holding a sickle. Shu demonstrates the correct hand motion for you to mimic, after which she gives an approving nod.]

In Dahuang, we sing during the harvest times to make the work go faster. ~ Ti oh oh, bei lok ho ~ ...

Here, teach me a song from your world and we shall reap the wheat together.

[harvest 3]
[Where is the ultra fancy feast?? As Shu brings out the food, it is perhaps a little disappointing that it is a simple meal of rice gruel and vegetables. Perhaps it is her injury. But perhaps not? She explains as she doles out a bowl.]

Please, have a seat and take a break.

This is the traditional meal the farmers eat at lunchtime. It is nutritious and hearty, made from the same crops you are harvesting right this moment. Let us share this time together. Tell me, how did you fare on this last mission?

Comments

harvest 2

[spacetogrow]

[Ilphyl knows how to use a sickle as a weapon, so there is that, but less for the harvest. Still, it is a useful skill to learn.]

I don't know many harvest songs from home. I didn't spend much time among farmers on the surface. And... my family didn't grow their own food.

[Ilphyl shifts uncomfortably; another reminder that they had grown up in a place more like the Empire, and not anywhere near the bottom. While Elisund wasn't so prosperous as to rely on enslaved laborers for agriculture -- the majority of the drow who lived there were peasant farmers -- there was the sense among drow that basic labor like farming and herding was reserved for those who didn't have any alternatives. Which was... well, farming was hard labor, but it was also how everyone, even non-farmers, got fed, so it felt like it should be respected work to Ilphyl, the way spinning and weaving were.]

Most of what I know are hymns. Or lullabies. Or tavern songs. A few ballads.

[singlemilletgrain]

Oh, it is of no importance. In truth, it is more of an excuse to hear more about your culture and your home. Perhaps you may sing or hum to me anything you like.

[Shu is pleased that she does not have to demonstrate the use of the implement, and the two of them have already made some fairly good progress together in the fields.]

[spacetogrow]

Well, I mean, my patron god does have a tradition where we sing at sunset about what we're feeling. Or play an instrument. I find that easier. Feelings can be hard to put into words.

There are actual formal songs as well, but sometimes just singing is nice.

[singlemilletgrain]

Well. I am afraid I do not have an instrument with me. But if you would like to do either of those things, I will accompany as best as I can.

Or if the idea does not suit you, we may work alongside some idle chatter as well.

[spacetogrow]

Either is fine with me. It does remind me that when I go back home, I should learn some work songs. Though they'd probably be sea shanties, not farming songs, since I live in a city on the coast.

[singlemilletgrain]

Oh -- please, decide as you wish. After all... I shall be harvesting for many days yet. I should not mind whatever you choose.

[Shu's work is slow, at the moment, owing to her injuries, but steady. One has the sense that she has the capability to bend here day and night for as many hours as it will take until all the fields are cleared.]

I thought you lived underground, Ilphyl.

[spacetogrow]

I was born there, and grew up there, but... well, a few decades ago, I left.

[Ran away was more apt, but it made Ilphyl sound much younger.]

My mentor found me, took me up to the surface, and I've been exploring that since. I'm... well, I'd like to eventually go back, but not alone.

[singlemilletgrain]

Ah. Not alone?

[She blinks for a moment at that.]

Oh - are you searching for... a partner? That is very standard for one of your age. [she has no idea how old ilphyl is. to her, everyone is young.] Do you have... qualifications you are searching for?

[spacetogrow]

[Ilphly had been more thinking in terms of friends and allies, but... they are immediately distracted.

What? I mean, not actively. I have crushes on people, but I get those a lot.

[Not quite true; They get them a lot now; Ilphyl growing up noticed when people were attractive but... well, everything was complicated and terrifying.]

[singlemilletgrain]

[don't mind her she's just an itinerant busybody]

A lot?

[A faint smile plays at her lips.]

My. But you must try to act upon them at some time. We are never promised the future, after all. Only in the present do you have a chance to control your fate.

[spacetogrow]

People here are very nice. And interesting. And I don't always know what to say about... well, romance stuff. Especially if I don't know what they would think is normal or expected.

[singlemilletgrain]

That is very common, too.

[She nods, her smile still bright.]

Yet you may find that it is not so much of a barrier once you begin. It feels challenging for all - not just yourself. When you find someone who interests you that way, it is best to simply ask if they, too, might be interested.

[Shu literally has zero personal experience with this. And yet she has seen thousands of years of courtships.]

[spacetogrow]

Yes, well... maybe next time the opportunity comes up.

[singlemilletgrain]

[And with another knowing smile, Shu will stop pestering Ilphyl. They spend the remainder of the time harvesting and working in quiet symphony.]