singlemilletgrain: (Ready)
[personal profile] singlemilletgrain posting in [community profile] vivala
♪ Ti o o beh lok ho
Ah gung nag gia di tau beh gut o ♪


1: Seeds [Early September]
In a conical hat and durable overalls, she checks her setup, knots the ropes attaching the plow one last time, and gives her docile oxen an affectionate pat between the horns.

"He Sheng. Xiao Man. Let's do a good job today."

As she guides her oxen through the underground fields of Vault, she gazes upwards at the jagged, rocky ceiling of the Vault settlement and briefly contemplates with a faint frown. There was no way that the plants in these fields were getting all the sunlight they needed to grow properly. But she had ideas. For now, she could just be thankful she wouldn't get too sweaty.

Supremely self-unconscious, it isn't long in the day before she is comfortable enough to start idly singing, her clear and vibrant voice ringing out through the vast fields even as she works.

♪ Gut ah gut gut ah gut
gut diu ji bui suan liu go ♪
♪ yi ya he to jin jia cu bi


2: Light [Mid September]
Some weirdos are on 50 foot tall scaffolding doing something to the ceiling of the Vault. Below, two oxen meander around in circles, occasionally lowing in faint concern. The plowed and sown fields are growing miraculously quickly. September was the wrong month to sow wheat altogether, and yet an acre of rapidly growing buds are sprouting up as far as the eye can see.

Currently, Shu is clinging to the roof of the cavern in an enormously precarious situation, her tail wrapped around the scaffolding to keep her secure as she drills something into the rock. A young man near her is holding some blueprints and a whole heap of strange looking materials.

"The real problem is the unpredictability. Our efforts will go to waste if the equipment is damaged by a stray blast. If only we could find a way to protect the above-ground harvesting system... Ah! Tch, I dropped it. Well, let's take a break. Thank you for your time today."

The man gives a curt nod before descending the ladder while Shu sits cross-legged on her giant scaffold in the middle of a field and muses.

3: Harvest [Late September]
There is no possible way this field could already be yielding dividends. And yet it is, and Shu is patiently, single-handedly cutting down her crops that reach higher than her head, still hum-singing her song. The oxen now are familiar sights around Vault as Shu takes a ride on one whenever she needs to get anywhere particularly distant with groceries or other deliveries. They don't help, but they are cute, which is emotional help. This matters significantly more.

Anyone who approaches will be met with a beckoning hand or a distant call, depending on how far away they are.

"Hello! You are the help I advertised for?"

Regardless of the answer, a burlap sack and a sickle are thrust into their hands, because it is clear Shu is not listening. "Start here with me, and I'll show you what to do."

Ti o o, o o...

Date: 2024-09-18 03:16 am (UTC)
spacetogrow: (annoyed)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Not as much as they should. People pushed to the edges often have to do a lot of unpleasant things to survive, which isn't good for good neighbors. Last year, some friends and I got attacked by orc bandits, and once we got them to surrender, we found out they mostly wanted food and things to sell for food. A friend of mine is nobility, and she helped get them set up with food for the winter, and the supplies for farming, and I offered to teach them if they needed it."

Ilphyl is very proud of that.

"But, yeah. Corellon created both the other elf gods and the first elves. Originally, they... we were all capable of changing shape, and so you had people and gods called to the sea, or the forests, or whatever. Corellon fell for one of the other gods, Araushnee, and he started spending more time as a male sun elf to go with her preference to be a female dark elf. They had twin children, Vhaeraun and Eilistraee, and a younger one, Vandria Gilmadrith."

Ilphyl does make a warding gesture at Araushnee's name. This is another world, and the god doesn't use that name any more, but they don't want to draw her attention.

"This is where the stories split, depending on whose followers you ask. Everyone agrees that Araushnee turned against Corellon, because she wanted something different for elves than he did, but it depends on whether you think it was a good thing. But she was the one who had elves take fixed forms, and when it was clear Corellon didn't agree with her about what they wanted for us, she also planned to help Gruumsh kill Corellon so she could be the chief god of the elves. Vhaeraun was willing to help her, and she tricked Eilistraee into playing a part."

Date: 2024-09-19 07:39 pm (UTC)
spacetogrow: (annoyed)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"What they wanted for elves," Ilphyl said. "Being carefree, adaptable beings who traveled the planes was what Corellon wanted for us. Araushnee wanted us to be great rulers of civilizations, which meant being the sort of beings that were fixed in form. And, probably, because people with fixed forms need things. If you need to get and keep things like food and water, you think more about what you need to do that," Ilphyl noted. "Even the nobles here are worried someone will try to take away what they have, even if it seems impossible."

Ilphyl sighed. "What the elves chose can't be undone, even for those who later thought better of it. When it was found out that Araushnee tried to kill Corellon, she and Vhaeraun were exiled and she changed her name. She still considered the dark elves 'hers', which affected a lot of our history. It's also why Eilistraee voluntarily exiled herself. Because she knew we'd need her as a counterbalance."

Ilphyl actually sounds reverent for the last sentence.

Date: 2024-09-21 04:11 pm (UTC)
spacetogrow: (dismay)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
Ilphly nodded. "I grew up in a place run by the priestesses of... She who was once Araushnee." Again, Ilphyl avoiding speaking her name, and acting superstitious. "It was... well, the Empire has a lot in common with it."

"When I left and came to the surface, I first spent most of my time with non-elves. My mentor tracked down a community that followed Eilistraee, so I could find a place with dark elves who had a community that was better than the one I grew up in."

Date: 2024-09-23 12:50 am (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Eilistraae or the one I'm not naming?" Ilphyl asked.

Date: 2024-09-24 12:52 am (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Eilistraee is a god of hunting, song and dance, and the light of the moon," Ilphyl said. "She's not the only god of the hunt, and she's not the moon god, or even the god other elves associate with the moon, but plenty of gods are worshiped only by certain cultures. But a god of the hunt can be a patron to druids, like me, as well as clerics, even if it's not common."

Ilphyl is also pretty shy about organized religion in general.

Date: 2024-09-24 02:07 am (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Right. Clerics are between people and gods, but druids are between people and nature, even if our magic is from gods."

Date: 2024-09-24 02:31 am (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
Ilphyl nodded. "We're taught that the first god of magic created the Weave, which lets people use magic. Wizards learn to manipulate the Weave. Some creatures, and people, like sorcerers, can do it on instincts. Elves have a bit of that. Clerics and druids... the god creates the spell, and puts it in our mind when we pray."

Which was comforting, knowing that even in this world, Ilphyl had a thread of connection to their home. The explanation also missed bards, and warlocks, and probably other things.

"You're not an elf, though."

Date: 2024-09-24 02:10 pm (UTC)
spacetogrow: (perturbed)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Why?" Ilphyl asked. "Do people know?"

Date: 2024-09-25 02:19 pm (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
Look, that definitely sounded like something a druid should be trying to contain. Even if some people would accept the price for power, the fact that people weren't getting a choice, and it was killing elves was enough for Ilphyl.

"Can it be contained?"

Date: 2024-09-28 10:51 pm (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
Ilphyl nodded. "I was assuming the elves would have to compromise, if other people rely on having powers, even if it was dangerous. But if it's being made by natural disasters..?"

They assume that's what a calamity is.

Date: 2024-09-30 09:50 pm (UTC)
spacetogrow: (annoyed)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Maybe we can use the portal here. It's a better use than using it to kidnap people."

Date: 2024-10-01 02:03 am (UTC)
spacetogrow: (Default)
From: [personal profile] spacetogrow
"Or send them somewhere else. Maybe somewhere that can be quarantined so they know they aren't bringing their problems to a new world. If they want to go."

Ilphyl shrugged. "Assuming the transport works both ways." They hope so, because they want to go home eventually.

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