1630, Sea Season, Fertility Week
Context
At the house in Boldhome, after session 6-25 (Prax Harder).
Events
A week after she set off, Berra returns to the house in Boldhome, with the sword Torch, Lord Eril’s old sword Alum, and a spare sword rather more suited in length to her left hand than the iron one. She also brings a bundle attached to Followed.
Being a Lady she should come in through the front door. She brings in the bundle, a wrapped cloth longer and possibly heavier than she is, through the back door. “Scuse me… sorry… uh… lemme just turn…”
There is a clattering in the kitchen.
Varanis pokes her head in. “That sounds like Berra!” Seeing the Humakti’s burden and the cook’s full hands, she hurries over. “Let me help.”
Berra says, “Just take the front end? Then I can close the door.” She shrugs the weight forward for Varanis.
Stepping up, Varanis takes one end of the wrapped bundle from Berra.
It is big, and there is a lot inside it. “I was in Wilmskirk and there are a lot of Praxians there, and I thought I’d get some things,” the Humakti explains. “Um, for the wall.”
Her friend breaks into a huge grin. “There were? You did?” But the grin falters. “That will make Maalira happy, I’m sure. And Rajar. And the rest of our Praxian friends.”
“Well, it’s just a few things. But part of it’s some of that netting like Maalira has. I mean, Erhehta. I don’t know why I said Maalira. It goes on the wall to put things in.” Berra gestures Varanis towards the middle of the big room.
A small orange alynx peers up at them from a basket by the hearth in the big room. It stands and stretches before jumping out to go sniff at Berra’s legs.
“That’s Cleli,” Varanis says when the alynx makes an odd little whirring noise. “She chases mice. Apparently there’ve been more this winter than usual.”
Berra steps carefully as she avoids the cat and puts down her end of the burden with an oof and a clatter. “Hello Cleli,” she says absently. “I ended up buying most of the insides of a bison tent, but I think there’s some other stuff as well. I ended up with a dagger-axe at one point.”
“Like Surraki’s?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t get that on the bison, though, so I swapped it for a bow and some stone arrow-heads in a clay pot.” Berra starts unrolling her goodies. The cloth wrap is Wilmskirk wool, a double layer that will make cloaks and blankets for a small woman for next winter. The contents are an extraordinary mix of weapons, tools, decorations, weavings, carvings, tat, gee-gaws, and real Praxian gear complete with grime and probably a story too. It is all wrapped in the promised netting, which looks like it is made of bast, tough enough to be packed and unpacked repeatedly. It is stained with different colours of ochre.
“This is an impressive haul!” Varanis declares.
“Yeah. It… might be more than I thought now I look at it. But it should all fit on the short wall up there.” Berra moves a mat of woven reeds that will take up a good bit of space, and looks under it. “Does that look like jerky to you?”
The little alynx pounces on something that looks suspiciously like a rattle or drumstick, complete with feathers.
“Maybe?”
“Well, anyhow. I got this.” Berra looks proud. “I think we can fix the netting to the wall and put most things on that?”
‘Most things’ includes a lot of weaponry that is heavy on wood and stone with an emphasis on ‘heavy’. It also includes mats and wall hangings, and a lot of things that do not get tucked neatly behind netting like Erhehta’s herb collection is.
“We’ll hang the netting there,” Varanis says, pointing to the largest stretch of empty wall. “And they we can see how best to place the rest.”
“I was thinking up at the end.” Berra looks to the shorter wall by the stairs. “But let’s get it unrolled and see?” She starts on that, getting ochre on her hands.
