Completed Moratorium

[Izuyanai]

48th of Summer, 516AV The early morning light dusted shadows across the beach and awakened the creatures of the jungle. A chorus of morning greetings from birds hailed down from the trees as well as an unidentifiable call that echoed from deep within the jungle. As far as Izuyanai could tell, there were no other ravens in the vicinity. No hoarse croak cut through the trees to signal that there was a being sharing even the smallest of her characteristics. All in all, it was the start of another wild and peaceful day by the settlement of Syka, an unexplored opportunity for the quick thinking and deadly for those who fell behind. Izuyanai strolled along the cobbled path with the sea breeze in her hair and a book in her hand. More specifically, it was a recipe book. She had bought it from among the messy piled in the Bizzare, fishing out one that she thought would best suit her needs in the tropical climate. Until her shop was completed, she intended to explore the land and get her bearings. Izuyanai needed to know where everything was and where she should obtain her supplies. There was the mercantile, however, unlike the bustling markets of Lhavit, Syka only had all the materials she needed on the best of days and almost none on others. If she wished to have any sort of steady source, it would be best to rely on the island itself until a more stable trade and industry was established. Everything was so different from Kalea, that it brought to question what the rest of the world looked like. To one side of the path, the channel shimmered and to the other, a dense jungle encroached, extending leafy tendrils but providing cool shade from the sun. Looking all around, Izuyanai could not see very many people up and about. No doubt the earliest were just getting out of bed and trying to find breakfast. When the Bird of Paradise was manned properly, the people of Syka would have one less thing to worry about. Prepared meals throughout the day. Not to mention plenty of drinks to enjoy with the beautiful scenery. Izuyanai was sure she would be kept busy the whole while she was here. Boots clicking on the cobbled road, Izuyanai continued along the beach. The winding path eventually led to a secluded portion of the seaside where Izuyanai could see some strange objects in the distance. They seemed to be hanging down from the trees with ropes or vines. Many of them were different shapes and sizes, though they all swayed slightly over the sand and waters. Nearing them revealed a whole host of swings rocking gently in the breeze. Some were crude benches hung on ropes while others were intricately woven baskets suspended over the clear waters. Izuyanai strolled near to a particularly comfortable looking woven swing. It looked like a circular bird’s nest that hung over the shallow waves. Someone had definitely taken the time to craft and set up these interesting seats. Intrigued and not seeing why she should resist the urge to crawl inside, Izuyanai tugged off her boots and splashed into the waves until she was standing right next to the creation. Izuyanai gave a gentle push to the swing and it swayed rhythmically from the sturdy rope connected to the funny looking trees along the beaches of Syka. The basket creaked only slightly, and the raven deemed it would be sturdy enough to hold up her weight. Steadying the swing with one hand, the Kelvic placed her book inside the chair and tucked her foot up to enter the basket. It was a strange but very relaxing sensation to be suspended above the waves. Glancing over to some of the other swing seats revealed that with some of them, it was possible to swing out and leap straight into the sea. Vaguely thinking that it would be amusing to see someone thrown in the great blue pond, Izuyanai swished her foot down to the water and let the recipe book fall open on her lap as she leaned into the back of the chair. With the occasional breeze swaying her basket along with the others, the raven guessed that she was in for a very comfortable reading session.

[Izuyanai]

The book she had obtained was little more than a scribbled journal of some citizen recording their own cooking ventures. Likely they were an apprentice or something of the sort, someone beginning to learn the art of cooking themselves. Some of the pages were already crinkled and well-worn as if it had been flipped through countless times in the past. Izuyanai had bought this particular book during her stay in Alvadas while she was waiting for the ship to Riverfall. When she had been making her purchase, she had tried to imagine the materials she would be able to work with in Syka. It would have been a shame if the cook book was useless due to conflicting ingredients and regions. Therefore, the raven had planned ahead and chosen a work that detailed marine creatures and various soups. Izuyanai had supposed that there would be a healthy amount of fish, as the settlement was right beside the sea. Indeed, many settlers in Syka were fishermen who owned small boats and sailed out to return with their day’s catch. The Syka River seemed to host a variety of life as well and it was not uncommon to see settlers heading off with fishing poles over their shoulders. Now that she had spent a few days roaming about, the Kelvic also noted the large variety of fruit in the vicinity. Here in Syka, the trees were laden with an abundance of tropical fruit as well as plenty of vegetation. Izuyanai couldn’t even identify all of them, and yet, from the few pieces of fruit she had been offered by generous residents, she could assume that there were even more delicacies waiting to be discovered. In Lhavit, the meat came from hunting in the mountains and the vegetables from the green houses on Sharai Peak. They grew what fruits they could and imported the rest. Izuyanai herself had only worked with the materials provided in the Scholar’s Demise and that in itself had been limited. Here she could explore as freely as she wished. That was, as long as no one got poisoned, and that could be readily prevented by her Auristics. Swinging her foot and setting the basket into motion, Izuyanai began reading the very first few pages of the book. They seemed to contain what must have been the writer's very first time in cooking fish. The old pages were dotted with dripping ink and here and there, a few errors were crossed out. The writer did seem to succeed in drawing a rough sketch as well and Izuyanai had the funny feeling that they may as well have taken up an interested in the arts as well. Apparently, preparing fish for human consumption entailed numerous tedious steps of cleaning and gutting. As a Kelvic, Izuyanai sometimes wondered at the many ways humans would add their hand in various skills. It was all made to seem so important and unnecessary. After all, any meat eating Kelvic that had been given raw fish would have no qualms about digging in right away. Scaling involved scraping the surface of the fish with a knife. The descriptions detailed the process of moving the knife from the tail of the creature to the head, until the transparent film started to flake off. As it was, the next step seemed to call for a little more knowledge. To gut the fish, the journal instructed that one should slit the fish along their stomachs and remove their entrails. To Izuyanai, it seemed that some knowledge on fish anatomy would be helpful during this step. It must be difficult to know exactly where and how deeply to cut. At least not until after a few tries.

[Izuyanai]

Thinking that she would need to contract a fisherman, Izuyanai swung silently for a few moments until something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It was a black, no dark brown object that tossed about in the waves not far from where the raven was seated. It looked roughly circular as it rolled in the sea foam. Every time the wave rushed toward the shore, the object wavered and bobbed along the current, coming closer and closer before finally scraping against the sand. Curious, Izuyanai unfolded out of her place in the comfortable nest and let her bare feet hit the sea water. She splashed over to the oddity and looked it over carefully. As she neared it, the thing looked more and more like an oversized seed. It couldn't be part of a wreckage as in the vast area before her, nothing else dotted the expanse of the sea. If there had been a major storm off shore that had taken down a ship, the raven expected there to be far more debris than this single curiosity. Izuyanai lifted the thing out of the water and turned it about in her hand as she stood in the swirling tide. The thing was heavier than expected and it seemed to be part of a plant. Perhaps a seed, if her earlier assumption was correct. Yet, Izuyanai had never seen anything like it before. The surface was quite solid, and it certainly wasn't anything like the soft skinned fruits lining the trees of the jungle. Clearing her mind after her relaxing stupor, Izuyanai stoked her magic and focused her Auristics on the strange object in her hands. At first, the magic told her what she had already confirmed. The surface was relatively solid and there were many imperfections throughout. Her Auristics brought to light other physical properties before sinking past the surface underneath the what was visible. There was nothing to be detected, which surprised Izuyanai. It was difficult to say for sure, however, it didn't come across as empty. The inside was hollowed out and had a slight space between the walls of what the raven now confirmed to be the outer shell. Though she couldn't control her magic well enough to see past the physical barrier, there was a certain feeling that reminded her of the jungle. It was a sense that encouraged her to look behind her at the dense trees lining the beach. The feeling was vague, but Izuyanai hesitantly concluded that this was indeed some kind of fruit or seed.

[Izuyanai]

If she couldn't see past the outer shell, then the logical thing to do was manually crack it open. However, the thing in her hand did seem quite solid. If anything could crack the object, it would be on the shore. So Izuyanai splashed back past her previous seat, pausing briefly to collect the recipe book that she had left behind. She stepped onto the beach where her boots were and wandered about on the shore with hands full of the book and her new curiosity, until she found a suitable stone half buried in the sand. The Kelvic placed the book in relative safety and hefted the seed in her hands to find a good grip. She swung the round object onto the stone with some hesitation, as she didn't know how much pressure should be applied. After all, though Izuyanai was interested to investigate the fruit's innards she was wary of completely destroying her precious new find. The thing did not crack open as she had hoped and Izuyanai was left with a seed that was slightly scratched and dented on one side. She could try again, but the raven had thought of a much more accurate procedure. Catching ahold of her receding magic, Izuyanai trained the focus on the seed once more. This time, she ignored its intriguing insides and guided her magic along the surface of the shell with more concentration and attentiveness. Her thoughts were that if she could find a weak spot or a groove, the seed might open without having to utterly destroy the outer shell. Calming her breathing and closing her eyes, Izuyanai let her Auristics needle into the object. It was after some time that she noticed an equator of weak spots circling around the middle of the seed. Pleased with her discovery, Izuyanai raised the seed once more and began to tap it firmly against the stone, completing a full circle when the thing finally cracked open. It was shocking to find out that the insides were in sharp contrast to the dull exterior of the shell. The interior was a milky white and well stocked with what seemed to be water. Finally able to see the internal structure of the seed, Izuyanai pried with her Auristics, curious to see if the material inside was at all edible. Her magic did pick up a strange taste. It was sweet but very earthy, as well. The food was certainly nothing like the fruits in Lhavit nor the ones she had tasted in Syka so far. However, as she did not detect any of the ill effects poison, Izuyanai held one half of the fruit up and took a small bite. Nibbling on the inner fruit did confirm her earlier test. The thing was quite sweet and had a soft, rich texture. However, she still didn't know the name of this mysterious delicacy.

[Izuyanai]

Izuyanai snatched up the recipe book and made her way back to the Commons. She was hoping to check in on her shop, as well as get a few answers about the local flora. Some of the earlier settlers had to know much about what grew in these parts. The Commons where those who had awoken were loitering about, discussing plans for the day ahead was an excellent place to conduct a little research. Looping back around on the cobbled path, Izuyanai eventually came under the relaxing shade of the large platform. Climbing the stairs, she looked about, finding a suitable group to join. Strolling over, the raven sidled into the conversation, directing everyone's attention to her before inquiring about her earlier discovery. The question earned her funny looks from the older residents who had already gotten used to the local environment, but at least one kindly elaborated. "That'd be a coconut, miss. Makes for good eating. You should ask...what was her name? Ms. Uta. She'd know more about it than me. There's a whole lot of undiscovered flora around here. I heard old Tony's getting the Isuas Grove set up." The group went on to chatter about the different projects everyone around the settlement were working on and enthusiastically pitched their own progress. Izuyanai herself mused this new discovery while listening to the settlers with her cheek propped up against her hand. Everything was new, but that wasn't an unusual case for a Kelvic like her. Izuyanai would learn more and more about the world as she searched for her true goal.

[Gossamer]

The Fates Have Spoken
Here is your thread grade!

Character: Izuyanai
Experience Awarded: Observation +5, Research +1, Auristics +2, Scavenging +1
Lores Awarded: Swing Beach: Location, Fish: How to scale one via book instructions, Auristics: Finding weakness in Coconuts, Coconut: Delicious inside - Both water and Meaty Fruit

Notes: Careful, Auristics isn’t a learn all thing. For example, it cannot detect if an item is edible or poisonous. Nice exploratory thread. Gave you some mores for it and some more observations. Glad you learned the name of the coconut. That would have been awkward otherwise.

As always PM me if you have issues.