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Commonly known as Deadmans Fingers by the Inartans it was known as Green Fleece by the Charoda who equated its usefulness with the usefulness of fleece to the humans. It was meant humorously but was beyond the ability of so young a girl as Una to understand.
The seaweed accumulated along the beaches in Thunder Bay in thick braids. Like long underwater ladders. They could bridge meters and made large pools and stacks when caught on shore.
Una sat beside her mother watching as her fingers nimbly worked through the long tendrils drawing apart the clumps. Her childish fingers worked less efficiently through the seaweed fumbling as she drew out the larger pieces of shell and garbage. She would then hand it to her mother who would work out the smaller pieces, beyond her own skill. The hours went by agonizingly slowly as they went through each tendril picking out shells and prying clumps apart.
Each piece was laid across the rocky outcrop on which they rested, water splashing out across their legs and arms keeping them deliciously moist but gentle enough not to destroy the work before them. Una grumbled as she worked, it was a duty her and her sisters cycled through each moon and one of the most loathed chores. It made every part of you stink and the seaweed got caught beneath your finger nails irritatingly, it made your muscles ache and took several days to make the amount of paper her mother needed to sell.
There was little paper in the mountainous city, most was imported but some was made by her mother. The paper itself was difficult to deal and write on with Inartan implements and thus was typically bought only for paper in painters notebooks. Because of its waxy surface it made it one of the few papers that would allow for erasing.
"I'll start the fire while you finish up." Her mother announced as she rose stretching her aching muscles. Una nodded without glancing upward combing through the long tendrils and adding more to the hefty bundle. They had begun the process well before dawn and as the sun rose brilliantly hot above them they were just beginning the second step of the process.x
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Spring 14th, 503 AV
Commonly known as Deadmans Fingers by the Inartans it was known as Green Fleece by the Charoda who equated its usefulness with the usefulness of fleece to the humans. It was meant humorously but was beyond the ability of so young a girl as Una to understand.
The seaweed accumulated along the beaches in Thunder Bay in thick braids. Like long underwater ladders. They could bridge meters and made large pools and stacks when caught on shore.
Una sat beside her mother watching as her fingers nimbly worked through the long tendrils drawing apart the clumps. Her childish fingers worked less efficiently through the seaweed fumbling as she drew out the larger pieces of shell and garbage. She would then hand it to her mother who would work out the smaller pieces, beyond her own skill. The hours went by agonizingly slowly as they went through each tendril picking out shells and prying clumps apart.
Each piece was laid across the rocky outcrop on which they rested, water splashing out across their legs and arms keeping them deliciously moist but gentle enough not to destroy the work before them. Una grumbled as she worked, it was a duty her and her sisters cycled through each moon and one of the most loathed chores. It made every part of you stink and the seaweed got caught beneath your finger nails irritatingly, it made your muscles ache and took several days to make the amount of paper her mother needed to sell.
There was little paper in the mountainous city, most was imported but some was made by her mother. The paper itself was difficult to deal and write on with Inartan implements and thus was typically bought only for paper in painters notebooks. Because of its waxy surface it made it one of the few papers that would allow for erasing.
"I'll start the fire while you finish up." Her mother announced as she rose stretching her aching muscles. Una nodded without glancing upward combing through the long tendrils and adding more to the hefty bundle. They had begun the process well before dawn and as the sun rose brilliantly hot above them they were just beginning the second step of the process.
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