Timestamp 57
It was a cloudless evening in the Outpost. The stars were shining bright and Leth's eye was half closed in his monthly blink. There was something about an entire magical city being only a dovecoat away, especially when that dovecoat was no more then 100 feet from one's place of residence. It allowed Wa'Djinnabi to indulge in insomnia, a dangerous affectation considering the hardwork that his profession engendered for sure. But a mind filled with unquiet thoughts and roiling emotions was left with only nightmares should it even manage to find peace in sleep. And so he wandered the streets of the city of Trade and Commerce.
It was into these times and the musings of Leth on his endless race across the sky to meet his love Syna that Djinn the Alchemist, Djinn the Farmer and Djinn the sleepless discovered the Hydroponic gardens. Gardens were not an uncommon thing in the outpost. Most, of course, where private affairs or they were like the Hanging gardens, soil and pot fixtures. However it was the oppressive humidity, the sound of running water and frankly, an otherworldly glow that drew Djinn's eyes and then feet into the garden.
A strange bluish light that rippled across the stone tiles was what caught his eye at first. There was a wall with a gate, naturally so, that contained the light that helped banish the evening gloom. But it was the fact that the garden was open to the public and indeed, he saw people enter as he made his way to the garden. People in ones and twos of all kinds were sparsely dotted among what the alchemist could see of the garden.
Intrigued, he entered and beheld a strange sight. Numerous ponds and channels flowed throughout the space. The humidity and cool air blanketed the place which was surely an oppressive smothering when Syna was the dominate celestial body. The place was a tiered affair with paths going up smooth ramps, which was where his gate put the Eypharian, to a fountain that fed a series of narrow ponds. In those ponds were a great variety of plants that ran the gamut of water plants to plants that had no business living upon the surface of the water. In this highest of tiers of the garden he recognized wheat and barley, a kind of very short stalked corn, cabbage and cauliflower. Each set in these contraptions that let their roots hang into the water and provided structural support. At first he mistook the device as soil in a net, but upon further inspection it was more complicated then that. It was like... a net made from a knot that was knotted into a ball. It was something a seed could germinate into, grow into a stalk and poke its roots out into the flowing pond. And as he looked further into the tiers of the garden, he saw the variety had no end. There were even what looked like trees in the lowest garden.
So overwhelmed by what he saw, he stepped back into the low stone retaining wall. He was about to sit down and take in the garden in its majesty but misjudged the distance, instead of sitting he leaned back too far and realized his mistake. He waved all six arms in the air in a very dignified flail and fell backwards into the pond. Now the pond was not very deep, at least not this particular tier. There was a moment, however, where the farmer was crystallized in time. Energy filled his body, his heart thumped and his brain raced, but time appeared either frozen or moving at a pace that it made no distinction. He looked up into the night sky as his back hit the water, droplets of water were flung into the sky to mimic the dusting of stars above. He had no control over the situation, what happened was the effect of his actions but in this moment, he was a passenger on the river of time.
The back of Djinn's head crashed into the water and cool fluid enveloped him. A strange buoyancy pushed him up after the endless moment of weightlessness. Water pushed down his nose and covered over his eyes. The luminescent fish around him scattered at the strange alien to their underwater world. Something he hadn't even had the presence of mind to remark on, so entranced he was on the impossibility of crops growing on the surface of the water.
Finally, time resumed its normal pace. He was a foot under the water when he had the presence of mind to thrash about and return to the world above. Turned into a bedraggled, sopping wet and sputtering mess he breached the surface and blindly swung around, seeking his way back to dry land. It was the blurry image of... someone that he sought and reached out for help.
Alt text.
It was a cloudless evening in the Outpost. The stars were shining bright and Leth's eye was half closed in his monthly blink. There was something about an entire magical city being only a dovecoat away, especially when that dovecoat was no more then 100 feet from one's place of residence. It allowed Wa'Djinnabi to indulge in insomnia, a dangerous affectation considering the hardwork that his profession engendered for sure. But a mind filled with unquiet thoughts and roiling emotions was left with only nightmares should it even manage to find peace in sleep. And so he wandered the streets of the city of Trade and Commerce.
It was into these times and the musings of Leth on his endless race across the sky to meet his love Syna that Djinn the Alchemist, Djinn the Farmer and Djinn the sleepless discovered the Hydroponic gardens. Gardens were not an uncommon thing in the outpost. Most, of course, where private affairs or they were like the Hanging gardens, soil and pot fixtures. However it was the oppressive humidity, the sound of running water and frankly, an otherworldly glow that drew Djinn's eyes and then feet into the garden.
A strange bluish light that rippled across the stone tiles was what caught his eye at first. There was a wall with a gate, naturally so, that contained the light that helped banish the evening gloom. But it was the fact that the garden was open to the public and indeed, he saw people enter as he made his way to the garden. People in ones and twos of all kinds were sparsely dotted among what the alchemist could see of the garden.
Intrigued, he entered and beheld a strange sight. Numerous ponds and channels flowed throughout the space. The humidity and cool air blanketed the place which was surely an oppressive smothering when Syna was the dominate celestial body. The place was a tiered affair with paths going up smooth ramps, which was where his gate put the Eypharian, to a fountain that fed a series of narrow ponds. In those ponds were a great variety of plants that ran the gamut of water plants to plants that had no business living upon the surface of the water. In this highest of tiers of the garden he recognized wheat and barley, a kind of very short stalked corn, cabbage and cauliflower. Each set in these contraptions that let their roots hang into the water and provided structural support. At first he mistook the device as soil in a net, but upon further inspection it was more complicated then that. It was like... a net made from a knot that was knotted into a ball. It was something a seed could germinate into, grow into a stalk and poke its roots out into the flowing pond. And as he looked further into the tiers of the garden, he saw the variety had no end. There were even what looked like trees in the lowest garden.
So overwhelmed by what he saw, he stepped back into the low stone retaining wall. He was about to sit down and take in the garden in its majesty but misjudged the distance, instead of sitting he leaned back too far and realized his mistake. He waved all six arms in the air in a very dignified flail and fell backwards into the pond. Now the pond was not very deep, at least not this particular tier. There was a moment, however, where the farmer was crystallized in time. Energy filled his body, his heart thumped and his brain raced, but time appeared either frozen or moving at a pace that it made no distinction. He looked up into the night sky as his back hit the water, droplets of water were flung into the sky to mimic the dusting of stars above. He had no control over the situation, what happened was the effect of his actions but in this moment, he was a passenger on the river of time.
The back of Djinn's head crashed into the water and cool fluid enveloped him. A strange buoyancy pushed him up after the endless moment of weightlessness. Water pushed down his nose and covered over his eyes. The luminescent fish around him scattered at the strange alien to their underwater world. Something he hadn't even had the presence of mind to remark on, so entranced he was on the impossibility of crops growing on the surface of the water.
Finally, time resumed its normal pace. He was a foot under the water when he had the presence of mind to thrash about and return to the world above. Turned into a bedraggled, sopping wet and sputtering mess he breached the surface and blindly swung around, seeking his way back to dry land. It was the blurry image of... someone that he sought and reached out for help.
Alt text.
