Solo Strata, Seas and Sky: A Sykan Tapestry V.2

[Selene Curare]

Spring 75th 520AV

Selene had thought long and hard about the jungle themed divider. It had been an easy design choice in theory. Lines. Lines of different widths. To represent that strata of the jungle. All in green to imitate the tunnel of green that it typically felt like. With lines of bright reds, yellows and oranges for the colourful fruits Sykans harvested. What Selene had struggled with was what technique to use to create that effect. She had learned from the ocean themed weave that tucking lines of colours in, as was the case with the silver in the cerulean sea colour, lost a lot of its vibrancy and she had liked the geometric shapes of the sea design and wanted to ensure that this design was similarly geometric and sharp. Eventually she had dropped that idea and settled on a weave that would be thinner and lacy. That way, whomever was behind the divider would cast a silhouette through it, assuming there was light behind them, and they would look more like the translucent beauty of leaves.

Fortunately, the technique didn’t require any measuring like the ocean weave had which would simplify the project since the basket weave she planned to use required her to make use of the much slower needle method than using the shuttles. This project would have bands of tabby woven colour, which would be solid and opaque while the mixed green coloured bands would be basket woven and slightly translucent since it was a looser weave.

Pelly was just tucking her breast away from feeding Crane and placed the Svefra calf over her shoulder to burp him. They had been discussing the house and commiserating about how strange the house felt. Pelly found it far too still and heavy and the Sym found the conflict between the open concept airiness and the amount of furniture oddly paradoxical.

“To me, the idea of permanent settlements is a fundamental part of Symenestran identity. We’ve had to resettle so many times that the city we surround ourselves with has become an important part of our identity. I mean, Kalinor is a sprawling set of caverns that are mostly empty, it goes to show when it was built what we thought about ourselves and where we would end up. It’s one of the reasons I came to Syka. How can so many cultures come together? What would the infrastructure be like? What would the community be like?” Selene explained as she worked on wrapping the next piece of thread.

“For us, the Suvan Sea, a sea that lies in the middle of Mizahar, and anywhere the sea touches is our world. We don’t settle in permanent settlements or established cities because our community is our home. Some people misunderstand us and think the Svefra are like every other settled community – just that our cities float so to speak. But, that isn’t the case, our community is each other. It’s the reason I can settle in Syka until your baby is born and has someone to care for her.” Pelly had always wondered how Selene seemed to know the gender of her child, but had never dared to pry into her certainty. Truth was, Selene didn’t know, she just didn’t allow for the possibility that she could have a son.

“There are Svefra here, Marino is here, and I will always be a part of my community whether I’m on land or the sea – settlement is only as permanent as the permanence of the community and the sense of belonging.” She elaborated as Crane blew spittle bubbles on her lips.

While it rang true to Selene, she still felt that Pelly wasn’t understanding the serenity of being surrounded structures that represented your community.
“I think with us, there are so few and we are not welcome anywhere except in Kalinor.”

“And Skya,” Pelly corrected.

“And Syka,” Selene agreed, grateful for the welcoming warm embrace of the jungle village.

“So, I think perhaps the threat we feel outside our city from non-Sym translates to an importance in settlement. It seems like there are many settlers that make their homes tents on the beach when they first arrive here. Besides being pregnant, and needing a comfortable surface to rest my aching back, I can’t imagine not having a place to call my own.”

Pelly nodded and looked down at Crane, “I feel at home as long as I’m with those I love. Like Crane. Like you. Don’t you think that depending on a roof over your head, or belongings around you, is limiting? I mean – this place could be lost in an accidental fire or flood and then you wouldn’t feel at home?”

“I would certainly feel like something was lost. It brings me comfort. Place matters.” Selene rebutted.

“Of course place matters, but you’re talking about geographical place mattering. For Svefra, place is an inner space that comes from this amorphous creature that is community. You don’t need a structure for that place to exist. For instance, our pods are not made up of a static registry of individuals but vary depending on marriage, frequent deaths and births, and members who choose to remain in cities or settlements for longer than the majority of their pod chooses to. We pass boats on to those need them and move onto bigger boats when our families grow and none of these boats are truly ours, but belong to the community and whomever is using the item at the moment.”

Word Count: 915

[Selene Curare]

Spring 75th 520AV

She left a long gap at the top to allow enough thread space at the beginning to fix the fabric around a wooden pole that would sit in the frame of the divider, before she started working on threading any of the material. On one side of the loom the warp she had made was left on a single nail, such that the thread wasn’t looped around the nail, this was where she had tied off the thread at the end of creating the warp. She would start on the other side where the threads were matched in couplets around the nail. Like a couple holding hands, Selene thought pleasantly, imagining the threads hugging each other. I don’t want my thread to come between them.

She threaded the shed stick by taking the rounded pointed end and passing it, down and up, down and up, down and up through the warp. It created a division between every second thread so half rested on top of the stick and half below. As she lifted the shed stick on its end it split the thread like a cock split a woman’s thighs, Selene gulped. don’t think about that, don’t think about him She banished his face from her mind with the decisiveness of a scissor slice…but it bubbled up from her depths again. In Kalinor, weaving had been a respite, and a chance to reflect and look inward. Here, looking inward was a tangle of white hair, woven into her subconscious. The curve his pale lip on the curve of her ear.

Idyllically she fantasized he would see reason. With her sister whispering her beliefs in absentia. Perhaps one day he would come to Syka, and sweep his daughter off her feet and teach her all the things Selene wouldn’t be able to and teach her to bring honour to her people by foregoing the harvest. But, even as she was swept up in the fantasy of it all she knew it for what it was. The thing that had brought them together was their shared zealousness. No one cared about everything with as much passion as she did.

But her zealousness had evolved and funneled itself into a belief that would save her people. His had remained chaotic and he had so resented her attempts to focus his energy in the same direction as hers that he had reactively turned in the opposite direction. He began to believe that breeding outside their race poisoned their bloodlines and women would become strong enough to carry their own children if only they were forced to evolve and become stronger. Selene believed that they had created their own destruction and that their only option was to breed a weaker venomed Symenestra into existence.

He had been beyond jubilant when she had discovered she carried his child and had worshipped at her feet with the glee of it. “Don’t worry my love, you may die in childbirth, but you will give birth to a girl who may yet be even stronger and eventually, your ancestors will save the Symenestra.” She had not been consoled, imagining her daughter doomed to death by her father’s wishes.

“So then the conversation is less about place and more about loss. The only reason you can exist in placelessness with serenity is that you’re more okay with loss than us. Isn’t that sad?” Selene paused at her work to look up at Pelly. The woman’s curled hair was tangled in Crane’s fingers and he was yanking at it while Pelly tried to extricate herself.

Word Count: 596

[Selene Curare]

Spring 75th 520AV

“I think you’re missing what I’m saying Selene.” Selene had never seen Pelly so thoughtful – although perhaps it wasn’t thoughtfulness, she didn’t seem to be giving Selene much consideration and instead was just trying to convince Selene of her point of view.

“Placeless landscapes or peoples are those that have no special relationships to the places in which they are located. We aren’t feeling loss unless one in our community dies or is harmed. You see that in The Nal’lyeo. The Nal’lyeo is this cultural defense mechanism we have – where if anyone injures, discriminates, or offends a Svefra outrageously we will all travel and inhabit the city in large numbers. Our presence can be so loud and disruptive that trade suffers thereby disrupting the city.”

Sure, where a celebration or where effort is placed can indicate what is important to a culture.

Exactly – we gather to support our people. We don’t defend our belongings or cling to our boats when we’ve outgrown them.

Selene nodded slowly.

So what do you think of Syka? It’s largely Svefra – doesn’t that contradict your point?

I don’t think so,” She said dismissively. “There are lots of humans here, it’s quiet, warm, fruitful, laid back and relies on the oceans produce, it’s near the Suvan, so it’s not surprising that so many Svefra will rest here for a while. I don’t speak for all Svefra, but it’s certainly the only settlement I’ve ever contemplated remaining in after my pod leaves. I think once you have a couple Svefra, maybe we feel more at home and it continually attracts more of us. Especially when it’s not full of other laws, rules, and other races overwhelming cultural impression. It feels as Svefran as a settled place could feel. What does Kalinor feel like?

It’s Syka’s shadow, if that makes sense. It’s relatively moist given that the sun doesn’t penetrate it to sap the moisture. It is everything Syka isn’t – it’s perpetual twilight, it is relatively cool and refreshing, and it is elegantly constructed from delicate stalactites and woven rope roads. Homes are sparse, we rarely have more than a table and chairs where we gather, we don’t have the endless assortment of chair types, several tables, a bed, cabinets, etcetera that they had in the bungalow.

But it feels like Syka in that it’s sprawling and relatively uninhabited. Like it’s full of promise and it’s full of ingenuity. We don’t take anything for granted – we have an aqueduct system and fancy wheel system things, I don’t know much about them, to transport people and goods around. But, at least my family, was fairly ritualistic and disciplined. We did the same things every day and did it with the intensity of chased perfection.

Well it doesn’t sound like Syka is all that different, except in the most superficial ways.

Maybe that’s true. I still get homesick though. We have so many old traditions and Syka feels traditionless, like a new wet babe.

Well you could always change that? You could hold a celebration here.

Selene met Pelly’s gaze moistly, “We both know I don’t have the time for that…
plus, I’m not sure it would be right to include humans in something so intimately symenestran,” Selene added, looking at Pelly through her lashes hoping the woman wouldn’t take offense.

But, as usual, the sunshine girl, never took offense.


Word Count: 559