Closed Dealing with the Heat

[Amunet]

64th day, summer, 515 a.v.
17th bell
Endrykas: Shimmerstone Pavilion

The heat was unbearable. The River Flower was beset by those afflicted of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The healing tent was strained and overflowing. Amunet mitigated what she could by managing those in her pavilion and those close by. One thing she had suggested that the crafters of the ruby clan pavilions were loathed to do was to not do any work between the eleventh bell and the eighteenth bell. Working during the night was also suggested as it was cooler. The word cooler being relative to the continued heat wave they are suffering.

Some thought it’s the God’s way of punishing frivolousness and wastefulness. Amunet wasn’t entirely sure that was it as the Drykas people tended to be thrifty. There was superstition and there was practical reasoning. It was possible for both to be in one mind, but most fall to one side or the other in times like this. Members of the family was scattered on their pallets. The whole city was quiet. The animals didn’t even make noise as they were under what shade they could get that provided relief from the sun beating down from them. Most of the water rations went to the animals.

The red head had cloth pants and just her under garment on. Less clothing, the better. She went to the nearby tent where her father’s family was laying out the heat to check on her little brother, looking at him, placing a hand on the side of his cheek then his torso to check his body heat. The creative girl opened certain key tent flaps half way to allow any breeze in though it tended to be hot. Moving air was better than nothing. The girl went back to her tent to work on a soup so it’s ready by evening and reasonably cooled. The additional water and salt would be good for everyone. The vegetables she cut up rather chunky and course. The carrots and turnips she left with their skins on. Potatoes she did peel. The greens were wilted in this heat. After being picked they didn’t keep their lush condition for long. These greens she cut the ends off and then she cut them in large chunks and tossed them into the water.

Once all of the vegetables were in the water, it was then well salted. The girl just let it sit and come to a boil. That left the flat bread to make but that will only take moments to make that dough and use the flat pan to cook it with. Once the water was at a boil she stirred it keeping an eye on the fire underneath. Honestly it seemed there was little difference between standing by the fire and standing to the side.

The sweat was pouring off of her as she measured the buckwheat flour, lard and a little salt. This didn’t need that much water either. It was cheap, made plenty and was efficient with resources as the course ground grains water and salt melded with the lard to produce the dough. Using the fleshy part of her thumb to bring the dough up and then pluck it with her right hand. This was rolled between her palms and set to the side. Once all the dough was in small balls lined up, she stirred the soup.

[Amunet]

The cooking rock set up had two rocks with a reasonably flat edge on top and a flat rock across the top. The fire was set underneath. This produced a cookable surface for many things Amunet needed. Her fire was recessed into the ground and banked with smaller rocks to stabilize the fire and if she needed to bank the coals she could. The soup was cooking steadily and smelled about ready. The girl then took the cooking pot off of the fire and onto the side. No one wanted hot soup on a screaming hot day. The flat rock was tested to see if it was hot enough to make the flat bread. Amunet would use her hands to flatten out the dough ball, once it was at the size she could get her thumbs and knuckles in there to work out just a little more she put it to the fire. This was repeated several times till there were no more dough balls. There was now a small stack of flat breads ready for the evening meal and some to put to the side for breakfast and possibly midday meal.

The girl was well sweated as she sat down in the shade of her tent taking a drink of the water she was allowed to get. The girl swished her mouth a bit as she went to check on Shetanae and make sure she had plenty of water and under shade. Amunet raised one side of the tent for her mare to have the said shade. It wasn’t like she was sharing her tent. Any droppings she would clean up and place to the side to fully dispose of when the sun went down. In looking at the water level for the mare, it should be enough till evening. The water was lukewarm but it was all that was there. The girl sighed and patted the mare as she resumed her half-doze as most of the animals did when it was this hot. Animals were smart like that.

The girl sat down and picked a journal to sketch an herb she was writing the properties on. The sketch was on a shy blue flowered herb. The small strokes the sketching took shape as the leaves were longish which caused it to blend into the grass, till it bloomed. The flower was the most medicinal. The girl wrote of the locations she knew it to grow in. She wrote about when she noticed it bloomed and the properties she used it in. This blue flower was called borage. The seed could be made into an oil that is useful for skin issues. A tincture of the flower itself that was good as a diuretic and it induced sweating if you was purging a sickness. It can be used to help calm a person in combination with others. The girl had heard it helped the elderly memory but this was a rumor at this point.

The leaves made a tasty addition to spring greens. Amunet would jot household uses as well as medicinal and other uses. She was adamant of taking a holistic way as the whole of the environment was healing not just the medicinal qualities. You can fix the body, but if you don’t fix the cause, they will just be back for more. This was all written down in the pages before her with the drawing.

[Amunet]

The girl took her time with the sketch and writing the details as she pondered the heat and her people. She closed the book with many pages yet to be filled. The girl looked out at the front of her tent as it seemed the sun was starting its decline. By the shadow it seemed to be closer to the nineteenth bell yet it was still screaming hot. The girl furrowed her brow as she went outside of her tent and looked up into the sky. The Gods worked on a different time clock that was for a certainty. What would hold to cause the wind and storm god to grant his chosen people the grace of his storms and with it the rains?

The girl looked around as the family was still laying down not willing to move. It greatly hampered crafting efforts so they have enough to sell before the city moves again. Sylrias trade in the summer was often a telling point of their economy. If they did well, it would see the family well into the winter season. The girl again looked up into the blue expanse that mirrored in the similar color of her own eyes. The girl put a hand out to the sky and beseeched the great storm god. She did so without fear and without shame.

“Zulrav, great god of wind and storms. We need your rains to come down to grace the sea of grass and your people with its grace. The people need the relief and the creatures need the substance that the rains provide. Fill the lakes and streams with the life giving waters of the storms. Let me impart one more thing great Zulrav.”

The girl shifted her weight as the winds seem to pick up on their own as if her voice invoked something. Her eyes blazed with the life’s fire that was totally Amunet as her svelt voice launched into the following words:

In a breath of resistance
Fluttering beats of desperation
Crumbling stairs and stumbling stones
Within howling hallowed worlds
Their reaches insurmountable

Fathoms of the lost
From the outer depths within the shell
Within the folds, the carapace lies sleeping
Phantom gossamer waves ebb out
And the heart stutters, starts

Straining for a rhythm as another wave arrives
The beat renewed with its reassurance
Presence pressing into the core
Peeling the layers
Just as the beat stumbles

The waves wash over, seeping
As the heart crumbles
The pin prick of hope glimmers
And the pieces come together
Renewed and reborn

“May the rains bring the rebirth and renewal to our sacred sea of grass. “ The girl bowed her head and returned to her tent. The girl sat down hard. There were those that pondered her words and wondered how such words came from one as wild and errant as the wayward woman-child, Amunet.

[Amunet]

Amunet sighed and fetched her bowl to get some of the soup. It had no protein but she didn’t need her body heated up any more than it is now. Meat tended to cause the body to sweat while its digesting she noticed. Dipping the flat bread into the ample broth, she enjoyed the fruit of the meal. The girl ate slowly as she watched the people of her clan around her start to be active. While she ate in small bites as she was in no hurry, she started writing more.

The sun was well down and the redhead was ambushed by a little person. Drak her six year old brother pounced her with a dramatic aha. Putting her book to the side as well as the ink and quill carefully giving him an impish smile before her arms darted and grabbed the boy and put him in her lap and tickled his stomach mercilessly for a few ticks. “gotcha indeed. “

They laughed as the sun went down and lanterns were lit here and there, finally the lanterns in the family tent were lit that she could see. Her and the boy talked of small things. The things a child would ask.

“Ami why is it so hot?” The boy would ask.

“Well I'm not sure why the sun is so hot, but we could pray for the gods to make it rain?” She said honestly.

“Was that what you was doing, sis?” The boy asked with wide eyes.

The hair slowly shook up and down as the breeze picked up a little washing a little of the heat away. “Yes, that was exactly what I was doing. “

The boy nodded. “maybe I should pray, too. “ The serious expression the six year old attempted looked more comical, but Amunet didn’t laugh.

“It's worth a shot. The gods are listening even if some do not think so. “ Amunet’s soft and bright smile at the youngest Shimmerstone. Her hand ruffled his hair. Her father came out from the back of the tent smiling at his daughter and son. “Come on Drak we have hides to clean.” The boy made a face but got up to go and scrape hide.

[Amunet]

65th day, summer, 515 a.v.
7th bell

The thunder woke her up. Her red head looked up to the expanse of blue and saw darkened clouds. There was a gasp that escaped as she went out into the open with nothing more than her under garments as the first drop landed on her shoulder, then her head, then her hand. The flood gates opened as her palm opened up and looked at the sky as it started to pour rain. Amunet started laughing as she spun around and around in the pouring rain that washed away the heat.

The mercurial girl even did a dance in the rain starting to splash around like an insane nut. Hey if the storm and wind god was going to pour buckets she was going to bathe in it. So she did as the staccato jig kept going. Her father came out as she was doing this looking at her as if she lost her mind. Amunet wasted no time in hooking his arm and circling around with him in the dance of joy she was doing at the blessing pouring down. Soon others of the family were coming out as they joined in the dance under the morning rain that did not stop.

The girl laughed and smiled and let the cool waters pelting down on her pour over her endlessly. Others came out in the rain as the exaltation of joy started going through the city in a slow wave. Most forgot her words of her prayer. Others did not. Amunet had one thing to say to the sky.

“Thank you, Zulrav.” It was simple, heartfelt and her soul was poured into those three words.

[Tribal]

G R A D E S!

Amunet

Experience

• Childcare: 1
• Observation: 3
• Cooking: 2
• Wilderness Survival, Plains: 1
• Drawing: 1
• Endurance: 1
• Socialisation: 2
• Logic: 1

Lore

• Drykas: A thrifty race
• Cooking: Using salt to flavour food
• Cooking: Flat bread
• Wilderness Survival: Finding shade on hot days
• Herbalism: Borage for oils and skin issues
• Endrykas trades with Syliras in the summer
• Praying to the gods for rain
• Logic: The gods are always listening
• Observation: The sound of thunder

Notes

Well done! You have completed a seasonal challenge:

Ω Pray for rain.

I didn't quite understand the use of the pictures? With very little skill in Cooking, dough for flatbread should be more of a struggle for this PC. It also seems strange that she would prepare a hot meal on such a scorching day. The same goes for drawing, at zero skill points she would be lucky to sketch a circle. Just make sure you don't overplay her skills, struggle is good; it leaves room for improvement as she develops as a character. Enjoy the rewards and be sure to edit your grading request!