A Date with Dates Part 1 (Solo)

[Hankley]

Timestamp: Vhalar 1, 720

The day began as it always did, with Hankley doing a walkabout through her property. It was still early morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise in the west, casting bright orange and gold hues over her many date palms. The land she inhabited, her budding food forest, was covered with a blanket of mist, the moisture sticking to the plants and lightly dampening the topsoil. She knew as the sun rose, this would disappear, so she enjoyed it when she could. She loved the feeling of the cooling fog clinging to her skin, a benefit of the magic that dwelled within her. And so, standing just outside the door of her cob house, she simply took in deep breaths, filling her lungs heavily, and feeling as her Qi'ora veins refreshed her, absorbing the water that clung to her so dearly. She was one with the water in the air.

She closed her eyes and could hear the humming, the low, calm voice of the fog. Her master had taught her that this was known as Calling, the ability to hear and be heard by the elements. She stepped forward, moving through the mist, listening as the humming song changed as the water in the air swirled, speeding up, shifting, before slowing back down once more. As she continued forward away from her house, a deep, booming heartbeat of a sound joined in. This was new. Her curiosity was piqued. She was still getting used to this ability, and this new land upon which she'd become the caretaker.

She stepped forward slowly now, calling on more ether from her Defiance spark into her ears and mouth, letting it settle there. Her spark was eager and excited at being able to help, and she felt it giving off vibes reminiscent of a bouncing child going on an adventure. As the defiance tinged ether settled in, she focused more intently on first listening through Calling. The deep heartbeat sound thumbed low, loud, and seemed to be both emanating from below her as well as south of her, and if she focused on it, the humming from the fog faded to the background.

And so she continued forward. The southern sound grew in intensity though the underground reverberation remained the same. Her words tinged with ether, she spoke, "Hello? Where are you?" There was no answer, at least not with words, but there was an intensity in the sound to the south. Continuing forward, her eyes fell on a structure, and she smiled. Of course. Hankley walked up to her well, peering down into it. She could see the surface of the water there, not far down, and she Called out to it. "Why hello there! I should've known it was you! I hope you're doing well today."

It thrummed back at her curiously, and she could feel it speaking from the entirety of the land beneath her feet. It felt like an ocean beneath the soil. She called out to it once more, "Would you mind if I have some water? I want to make sure you're still healthy." It thrummed again, and it felt like an affirmation to Hankley. So she reached out with her ether, tapping into the water of the well as her hand reached down in. She focused on flowing her ether like the water she was reaching out toward. And once they connected, she began pulling the well water back up toward her. It serpentined up toward her, and pooled into her hand. Once she had it cupped, she severed the connection, letting the remaining water splash back down. Calling out once more, "Thank you, my love."

She brought the water to her lips, sipping at it slowly, savoring it. It was clean, sweet, and crisp. Perfection. It was going to be a good day, she could feel it.

WC: 644/644

[Hankley]

Hankley turned from the well, heading eastward across her little slice of heaven. Through the humming fog, she could see the edges of Brach's pen. She smiled as she approached it, sidling up next to the open gate. She had no need to close it, her ox companion was happy as a clam in his pen and would return every evening for his special dinner and dessert. But for now, he was sleeping, so she let him lie, not wishing to disturb him. He was a good ox, making plenty of manure and helping to protect the land. She would need to get him some companions when she could. Though she wasn't exactly sure how to do that. She wasn't worried though, she'd figure it out.

She walked past the pen, walking up to the date palms. They were the reason she'd picked this spot to found her food forest. The palms were densely scattered all around here, and harvesting season was just beginning. She looked way up the spiky trunk at the little fruits and smiled. Today would be a good harvest day. She would sell her produce to caravans that came from Athart in the south, that were enroute toward Nashaki. She preferred to do business this way, so that she didn't need to travel herself, nor worry about being a mage within the walls of Nashaki. She was still illegal way out here, but there were less prying eyes for sure. One day that would change. She was sure of it.

She stepped back over to her house, grabbing the back basket and rope she kept just inside the door on a wooden hook. She slipped it over her shoulders, and walked back out and over to the nearest palm, looking straight up into the fronds. She still wasn't so good at this part, but there was a dangerous excitement about it it too. She ran the rope around the base of the spiky palm, then around her waist.

Both ends in each hand, she crossed them over one another. She laid one end in the opposite direction, and fed the other through the curve that was created. She then pulled one the two rope ends and the feeder lines, tightening the square knot behind the small of her back. She leaned back into it, pushing hard, double checking the secured nature of it. She stepped onto one of the large thorn like things that stuck out of the trunk. Using the rope as a point of leverage, she lifted her other foot and stepped higher up the tree. She readied her lower foot now, while also gripping the rope with both hands. She leaned into the tree to get some slack, then swung the rope upward, hooking it on the thorns. Then she stepped up.

She repeated this over and over to climb the tree. When she reached the top, she was huffing and puffing, she was sweaty and her arms and legs were sore. She leaned back in the rope there in the shade of fronds, resting a bit. And while she was there, Hankley looked up into the leaves and smiled. So many dates that were ready for the picking.

After catching her breath, she reached up and began to pluck the little, brown, wrinkled fruits from their perches. She left behind the smooth skinned ones, they weren't ready and tasted horrible. As she picked them, she gently dropped them into the basket on her back. She twisted around the tree, adjusting the rope as she went, popping the soft fruits in her mouth from time to time. She made sure to spit the seeds as far as she could, to give them the best chance to grow themselves.

WC: 625/1269

[Hankley]

Hankley repeated this process for a dozen or so trees until her arms and legs were shaking too much to even attempt to climb another tree. She looked to the sky, suspecting it was a couple of hours after midday. She carried the heavy basket of dates back over to her house, slumping inside as she set it down. She opened a large, clay pot and gently poured the dates inside. She then put the lid back on, keeping the air out to help preserve the dates for longer and slumped down on the cool, dirt floor with a whoosh from her lungs.

After resting that way for a while, she picked herself back up. She stood up, grabbing a tray made from woven reed fibers and walked back over to the clay pot. She opened the pot and grabbed several handfuls of dates, spreading them out in a single layer on the tray. She then took the tray, stepped outside, and reached up, setting the tray on the roof to let the dates get some sun to dry them out. Would take a few days.

She went back inside, grabbed a hand basket, and walked back out to the date palms. Her bare feet moved over the spiky sedges easily, undeterred. She was a desert Qi'ora, so she had extremely tough soles. And as she walked through her palms, she stooped down to pick up fallen dates. Most of these were split, cracked, munched on by ants and other bugs, but she didn't care. She picked these ugly and damaged dates, until her basket was full.

She returned to her house, sitting at her table. And she began to separate fruit from seed. She deposited each of the pits into a small bowl, and the flesh into another. She worked as fast as her fingers could, for she still had many more chores to get to. But this was the most important part of her day, for this slowly growing bowl of date skin and meat, was the dessert that kept Brach coming back every evening.

WC: 347/1616

[Doran]

Hankley:

Knowledge:
Defiance: Ability - Calling
Defiance: Calling - The humming of fog
Defiance: Calling - The deep tones of the well water
Defiance: Calling - Focusing ether into your mouth and ears
Defiance: Pulling a tendril of water from the well
Climbing x1

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: Yes, for Defiance.
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: This is the first Hankley thread that I’ve read, and I have to admit, I loved it. I like how you set the scene at the beginning of the first post, with Hankley doing a walkabout through her property. The description of Hankley using her magic was well-written, and I like how she actually talked to the water – and it responded in a certain way.

When she told the element, “Thank you, my love.”, I couldn’t help but smile. I loved that line!

Hankley’s farm sounds like a lovely place. I wouldn’t have been able to resist eating some of those dates either. You even made the fallen dates that she made a dessert for Brach with sound delicious. I like that Hankley didn’t just throw them away, but used them to feed her ox.

I hope that Brach will indeed get some companions one day!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: I might have added “Endurance” to the list of skills used as Hankley was sweaty and her arms and legs were sore due to climbing the tree, for example.