The Travels of Anadrasata Nearabhigan: Day 35

[rix_scaedu]

Here we are!  Anadrasata is almost at her destination, surrounded by the locals and an unfamiliar language, working her way through different ways of doing things, and she hasn't left the ship yet.

I realised while I was converting Anadrasata's birthday into the Cuoahtimollon calendar that I made a mistake when I first calculated the Long Count date.  Essentially I used an Excel spreadsheet, arbitrarily picked a start point for the long count calendar, worked out the elapsed number of days, and figured out the date from there.  Except it must have been fairly late at night because the multiplier I had to convert years to days had four figures to the left of the decimal point.  My original start date was picked to be a little extreme, but it's now so far out there that it really would be incredible if an oral tradition, like a hymn, had survived that long.  Given that I already have these dates on a live post, I decided that doubts about the accuracy of the long count's start are canon within the setting.  The following is from a statement on the subject by a highly respected Cuoahtimollon authority:

“...The calculations underlying the selection of the start point of the long count were performed well before the Age of Cataclysms befell our ancestors and the original documents containing them, like so many other precious things, were lost to us during that calamity.  It is often suggested that those who performed and checked those calculations may have mistaken which stellar cycle the hymn referred to, despite the use of planets and comets to identify the year.  Theories supporting that suggestion include that the calculators mistook single appearance comets for identified repeating comets [Cerny & Fialova (6.11.2.0.5.6.13)], and that the calculators were unaware of the sheer amount of astronomical debris in our solar disc [Oliha (6.11.0.4.19.2)].  Another relevant theory is that our solar disc may be subject to repeated injections of extra-solar astronomical debris [Muleti & Birinni (6.11.2.1.7.19.12) and Birinni (6.11.2.1.8.1.0)], thus making it unclear whether comet and meteorite orbits within our solar disc can be relied upon to have long term stability...”

From "A Statement on the Calculation of the Long Count Calendar from the Cuoahtimollon Worshipful Fellowship of Astronomers, 6.11.2.1.8.1.18".

This piece runs to 1,433 words and I hope that you enjoy it.

Index Page.

Rhoinday, 16 Naisen, 1893 C.E.
Khemaas, 3 Sajibu, 2157 T.M.L.
9 Oztotl, 19 Kiauitl, 6.11.2.1.8.2.11

Dear Journal,

I had breakfast this morning with Prince Osbalzir and Baron Fulcvin.  Because of their particular relationship they do not have plans.  I suspect that Prince Osbalzir has plans/makes decisions and then Baron Fulcvin follows along after him.  I am certain that Baron Fulcvin looks forward to going home, because he misses Ostravic and his family not because he dislikes anything about his current post, but I did wonder where Prince Osbalzir considers home to be, given that he has never been to Ostravic.

I wished them a safe and pleasant stay in Zapohtitan, they wished me the same for my stay in Tlemutsiko, and then I went for my walk around the promenade deck.  From the rear of the ship I could still see the four sea-lapped volcanoes of the chain and the gap that is where Ringbreaker, the volcano that broke the Circle Mountains, stands.  In daylight, at this distance, I couldn't see any lava glow and there was no smoke.  [One of the of the other names for Ringbreaker is Tlakatlopostekininaxitlasti, "The One who broke the Ring" and I don't know if Ringbreaker is a translation of that or if it is a translation of Ringbreaker.]

More future tenses today in my primer, and I tried to understand between intentional, implacable, and inevitable.  It is perhaps unfortunate that the implacable mode(?) of the future tense most closely resembles the Imperial future tense.

Mr Aguilayeitlalli sat with me at lunch and introduced me to the Red Thread sisters, Teicuih and Xocoh.  They aren't sisters by birth but priestesses.  These are their names in religion and they serve an aspect of the Lord of the Dawn, whose proper name I can't say properly and have no idea how to spell.  The sisters, like Mr Aguilayeitlalli are travelling beyond Tlemutsiko, and I gather that they might be quite important.  (They are travelling first class and Xocoh said that their travel was arranged for them, so I would think that they are not the equivalent of a parish priest.)

I excused myself after lunch, took my walk around the promenade deck, and then went with my embroidery to the balcony parlor.  As Miss Flame predicted, those ladies who were in the balcony parlor yesterday afternoon were quite friendly today and we managed some polite exchanges and admired each other's handiwork.  I was able to ask some simple questions about the fleece some of them were spinning.  It come from and animal called a p-akeri, which seems to be a bit bigger than a sheep, and is bred for its pretty colours.  There were four ladies using drop spindles this afternoon and each of them had a different coloured fleece.  I exchanged compliments with several other embroiderers and admired the featherwork that several other ladies were doing.

Teicuih and Xocoh joined us when the afternoon refreshments tray arrived. and everyone stood and bowed when they did.  It seemed to me, given the way that the matrons among us acted, that they are the two highest status ladies on board.  I curtsied, but did take notice of how the Cuoahtimollon ladies bowed - arms across their chests and bending mid back above the waist.  [This may be important later.]  We all drank the dark, bitter drink and ate little cakes.  Xocoh asked me what I was embroidering, and I explained that it was tableware for the household I might have one day.  Someone asked if it was a traditional Imperial pattern, and I told them about my shopping expedition in the Kerajaa and produced the embroidery pattern book I had purchased, then my practice napkin.  Someone asked if I would do something similar during my visit to the Confederation, and I asked whether the Confederation had embroidery shops and sold pattern books.  That provoked some laughter when it was translated so that everyone could understand it.  Then someone asked why I wasn't married already.  Things were very quiet until I replied that if anyone had expressed an interest in marrying me, I hadn't been told about it.  Teicuih changed the subject and I ate another little cake.

When I returned to my cabin to dress for dinner there were written disembarkation instructions waiting for me.

At dinner I was seated at the Captain's table again(!), with Mr Aguilayeitlalli and the Red Thread sisters.  Teicuih and Xocoh flanked the Captain, Mr Aguilayeitlalli sat next to Teicuih, and Xocoh was on my right and Mr FiveMirror was next to me.  Xocoh explained that she and Teicuihhad asked that Mr Aguilayeitlalli and I be treat as a group with them for seating purposes and because it would do me no harm to be seen in their company.  [I am certain she meant that as an understatement and not that there are people who would be harmed by being seen in their company.]  Most of her time was occupied by a lively conversation in Coac-htl between her, Teicuih, and the Captain.  Mr FiveMirror is a government official, who speaks excellent Imperial, and when he described his work I remarked, "So, you are like one of our Inspectors?" and he agreed.  I remarked that different people had given me different versions of their names and he said that there were several issues remaining from the Imperial occupation of the eastern althepetl.  I suggested that one of those was our inability to deal with the internal vowels of Coac-htl, and he laughed, then agreed that it was indeed one of the issues.  The lady on the other side of him, his wife I found out later, shot me a warm smile, and then he went into a funny story that a (male) Imperial visitor had generated with his mispronunciations.

After dinner we ladies retired to the balcony parlor and were served kassolht.  I chose not to finish my glass, although I had a little more than last night.  One of the ladies, RainintheNight (it was explained to me that her name in Coac-htl is a play on her birth date), commented on the leftover drink in my glass and asked if I didn't like it.  My response that it was very pleasant but stronger than I am used to, so I am trying not to be drunk in public was taken very well by the rest of the company.  Apparently this aligns with their thoughts on alcohol consumption and drunkenness.  I was asked if I had ever been drunk in public, and I truthfully replied that I had not, but that I had once at a friend's birthday party been given a large glass of what we girls were told was juice and was actually her grandmother's blackberry cordial.  One of her brothers had discovered that he was not too old for physical chastisement.  I do remember that my father went to see his father about it - my friends and I had been twelve going on thirteen.  Someone else had a story about kasoolht being mistaken for water and used to thin a cold soup, and then the gentlemen joined us.

Mr FiveMirror introduced me to his wife, Lady (I think that's right) Kaxtolliehekatl [this means FifteenWind, I am almost certain].  He moved on to speak to Mr Aguilayeitlalli, while RainintheNight joined Lady Kaxtolliehekatl and I.  We spoke about children, Lady Kaxtolliehekatl has three sons and RainintheNight has two nieces, then embroidery, and then my visit to Tlemutsiko.  It quickly became clear that they were interested in finding out who my connections there were, and I completely understood that, so I told them.  I explained that the visit had been arranged between my mother and her aunt, Giltreeada Forbaign.  I was asked if she was related to Ghrus Forbaign and I agreed that I had been told that was her eldest son's name.  Lady Kaxtolliehekatl exclaimed that her husband knew Ghrus through their work and they had recently sent him their condolences on his father's death.  I mentioned my late great-uncle's name, and she agreed that the Ghrus she knows must be my mother's cousin.  When Mr FiveMirror and Mr Aguilayeitlalli joined us, Lady Kaxtolliehekatl told them that I was related to the Forbaigns in Tlemutsiko.  I was at pains to remind everyone that I had not yet met my cousins but it was very pleasant to have that extra layer of connection with the people around me.

I made my excuses a little earlier than usual tonight and came back to my cabin to get as much packing as possible done tonight.

Anadrasata Nearabhigan

Comments

[chanter1944]

I'm reminded, at least a little, of Anne Shirley and raspberry cordial with that roomful of girls being handed alcohol and being led to believe it was juice... but this wasn't a genuine error! That friend's brother had it coming. :P

I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Anadrasata's surname is misspelled in the signature at entry's end.

[rix_scaedu]

I had forgotten about the raspberry cordial!
Thank you for the typo catch!