Walking the countryside
"Yucca, over in that patch," Gaja explains over her shoulder as she gestures toward a mess of sharp leaves and billowing white flowers. "The petals cook up well, and quickly, but take the middles out first. The pollen is disgusting. Lot of water in the roots, too, but you have to pulp them for it."
Gaja had spent nearly a full day on the ark when they returned, only leaving once to trade for a young goat. Really, she'd even kept to Szkarik's pen the great bulk of her time on the ark. The goat had only screamed for half a minute, at least. When she emerged again, it was mounted, and the to-do on the docks was exceptional. Monstrous arthropods were hardly a routine part of Vissian life, and she wasn't exactly heeding right-of-way. It didn't matter. The customs officers certainly weren't going to chance obstructing her, and no one else had the arms to try it. A brief stop by the inn where their crew had berthed, and she was on her way with her protêge riding behind.
She'd been pointing out the plants and animals she recognized as they traveled inland and explaining as much as she could about their value, both to humans and to each other. It kept her talking almost non-stop: the area was enough like her home, and near enough to it, that she seemed to have something to say about every living thing they passed. Sarnai may have already understood the life of nomadic herders, but she was getting an extensive education in the details of living that way here.
"Dates. But those seem better known," she says as they ride near one of the more expansive plantations. The clusters of fruit are small and green still, not ready for harvest, and the trunk had been tapped for sap. "I'm not sure about the bladders hanging from the trees, though. Maybe an offering for a better harvest? It's not going to help them with all this salt air blowing in and no hills to turn it into rain."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:16, Wed 05 Dec 2018.