THREE HUNDRED: Small News at the Pitcherhouse
Next Chapter: June 19 (approximate)
Author Note: It felt really special to type the chapter number for this one. I love that I get to share this story. Thank you for enjoying Alden with me.
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“Moshk, you bank stalker, I’ll have half your thoughts and all your voice for the small news!” The speaker was dressed in an open-backed shirt that was gradually shifting colors to match the sky’s march toward night. She dropped a cylinder as long as her forearm on the table next to Moshk’s but went to sit at his, turning a chair so that her feet in their silver and gold sandals could stick out toward the pavilion’s edge. “They were just telling us Esh-erdi passed earlier, playing with that terackerin he got for his nieces.”
She pointed a ring-adorned finger behind her toward the group she’d arrived with. One man and three women were standing at the back of the pavilion talking to the people preparing the night’s food and drink. The flyer they’d arrived in was being loaded with a delivery for someone else.
“He’s here,” Moshk confirmed.
“And Lind-otta?”
“City.”
“And the human?”
“What do you need a bank stalker’s gossip for, Dazm, if you’ve already heard it all from others?”
“So he has brought a human! The betting was on some surprise coming back with them as a souvenir from Earth. I was hoping for a date palm, or something musical for this place. Maybe an elephant, just for a day. I’d like to see one in person, but I wouldn’t want the creature to be much inconvenienced.”
“You should just go to Earth yourself with a list like that. And what are you all doing here at our pitcherhouse dressed for a reveler’s night? You’ll make your neighbors feel dull.”
“The plan was to have a reveler’s night in Wathe for Kayda. She’s home from working the line on Tympeh. One week in the house with her loving mother worrying over her was too much. I’m taking her out to prove I can be fun instead of fussy.” She looked back at one of the women she’d come with. “But as we were dressing, she started reminiscing about this old place like it was the fondest part of her childhood instead of somewhere she complained about if we brought her twice in ten days. So here we are instead to start our night, and you’re welcome to compliment us all more.”
“I’ll compliment everything about Hn’tyon Kayda, especially her patience with someone as difficult as you,” Moshk joked. “But what is there to compliment you on?”
“Are Esh-erdi and Lind-otta home for a while now?” Dazm asked, only huffing at the gibe. “The last I heard was about that issue with Anesidora. I don’t keep up as well as I should.”
“They’re still assigned to Earth. Half duty, half pleasure at this point. They’re back here for quick business and a family visit. And for the human, I think. Esh wants to give the boy a treat. A pleasant trip to soothe his nerves after all he’s been through is the sense I have of it.”
“What’s this?” Dazm asked. “The human’s not an Avowed helping with something?”
“Oh no.” Moshk shook his head. “Not that at all.”
At the table beside them, Dazm’s group was pulling out chairs and setting down drinks. They each carried cylinders like the one she had brought, all decorated differently. The man opened his and tipped it over, allowing brightly colored game pieces to spill out.
“It’s that human boy you might have heard about,” said Moshk. “The one the Quaternary found on Moon Thegund. Only thirteen or fourteen. An Avowed for mere days before he was trapped there with an even younger child. Nearly pulverized by Hn’tyon Alis-art’h’s power since she didn’t know he was there.”
Dazm gasped. “I had heard the story, naturally, but not that part.”
“From what I understand, if the Quaternary’s first meal that day hadn’t been a leisurely one, both children would’ve been buried alive as they ran to her for help. It’s luck that they weren’t, but I don’t think good luck finds that human as often as bad considering what happened to him when he made it back home. You might not have heard that part at all? It’s to do with the und’hs, but it’s hard to run across an und’h who wants to talk about another und’h’s personal issues. One of their most promising young people couldn’t bring herself to choose the highest path and couldn’t trust herself to live as a votary, and she skipped over the other options to join the ordinary class and work on Anesidora.”
He looked down at an arriving boat.
“I know who you’re talking about,” Dazm said, lowering her voice. “Very talented. Very. And Zeridee-und’h was such a sweet girl. I’d feel better about her eschewing wizardry if she hadn’t gone to be a pretend votary in a pretend Rapport like that. It’s too close to what she could’ve been to be the right step down.”
Moshk turned a flabbergasted face back toward her. “Are you calling Anesidora a Rapport? They’re nothing alike!”
“Of course they aren’t! But serving a country of Avowed, serving a community of knights…it’s as votarylike a position as a girl who gave up on being a part of our world could find, don’t you think?”
“I don’t,” said Moshk.
“Well, I do, and it’s sad. What’s the news about her?”
“She almost died somehow in that Anesidora disaster. The details are unclear to me for now, but she was with the Quaternary’s human. Esh and Lind-otta saved both of them!”
“Not the same human!”
“The same.” Moshk reached for his cup and cradled it in both hands. “So Esh took an interest in the boy, and now he’s here for a day of healing rest. He was learning to direct the terackerin earlier, and he went to see the rocks with my daughter’s little class. They’re coming back this way now…ay, actually that’s them in the distance! Looks like they’re dropping one of the poythe family’s children off at their dock.”
Dazm and Moshk both stood and leaned to see better down the river toward the group of figures on top of the terackerin. A couple of the people who’d arrived with Dazm stepped over to look, too.
“Poor Ryeh-b’t,” one of them said. “What a fear-filled introduction he’s had to magic and our kind!”
“That’s truth. But he couldn’t have met better than Esh. He seems all fun, but he’s dearly kind. I once saw him try to modify a potion to save a lacefin that had been struck by an oar.”
“Does a lacefin that’s been struck by an oar need saving?” Dazm asked. “Don’t they tend to wake up and swim off after a bit?”
“We shall say that one needed it because it didn’t survive the potion,” said Moshk. “And when the terackerin stops here to deliver my daughter, we shall treat the human Esh has brought with soft voices and no alarming spells. In one of his messages to me earlier, he said he’d invited the human on this soothing trip to prepare him for a minor secrecy tattoo, so even something like that fills the boy with such trepidation that Esh goes to these lengths.”
“The child is traumatized,” said a wizard sitting two tables over, who had been pretending not to listen in until now.
“Is he seeing a mind healer?”
“That Porti-loth went with Esh-erdi and Lind-otta, but does he know humans well enough?”
“His name is Alden.”
“I’m sure it was Porti-loth.”
“I mean the human’s name!”
“He may not even speak to us. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
A third of the people under the pavilion were now watching for Esh-erdi’s terackerin and its alien passenger, either outright or through a subtle eye.
Porti-loth’s name had caught Moshk’s attention, and he turned to Dazm again. “A date palm is some Earth tree according to the translation. If you were hoping for one of those, you should really see what Esh has had planted recently. When that healer was curing the boy of his physical injuries, he—”
Shushing hisses came from three different directions.
“They’re close now! Don’t let them hear you, Moshk.”
“You said ‘soft voices’ yourself.”
The watchers were overeager. The terackerin Ploomp was in no hurry. Everyone had to wait through an awkward, self-commanded silence while Esh-erdi, Alden Ryeh-b’t, and the three children came toward them.
Finally, the human was giving the animal docking instructions in a cautiously enunciated voice. The watchers all smiled gently down on him.
Esh-erdi was listening to something his nieces were telling him about their day as Moshk’s daughter climbed the ladder up from the water to her father. And then the nieces were climbing up as well. There was a barely noticeable stir through the crowd. Esh-erdi must be stopping here for longer than they’d expected. Would the human brave the ladder, too?
He did! Though it looked not much at all like bravery. More like a tall, not-quite-Artonan youth in a rush to get up to where they stood. When he was among them, he looked around.
A couple of people started to welcome him, but Dazm’s daughter Kayda swooped ahead of them.
“Hello,” she said softly. “Welcome to the pitcherhouse on Wathe’s Ribbon. We’re glad you’re here. If there’s anything you need or anything causing you discomfort, please say so.”
The human boy nodded at her. “Thanks. I’m here to eat and drink one of everything that won’t hurt me, as long as it isn’t made of animals. Do I order from you, or do I go over to the counter back there?”
The knight, dressed for her revelry instead of in her uniform, shot both eyes in different directions, looking for advice, before saying. “Most…most people would ask at the counter. But I did say I’d help. So, I could get you…”
“No sweat,” the human said mysteriously. “Except the literal kind from me. Sorry. I mean thank you for telling me. I’m here to do the pitcherhouse, so I’ll order the way most people would.”
He marched a few steps toward the counter, then stopped and turned back around. “The erdis are planning to have my leftovers, but should I get anything for anyone else? I can carry a lot.”
“Why…do you think the erdis will only consume what you’ve left?” Kayda asked
“Because they said they were just going to eat and drink everything I don’t like or can’t have much of. So that I don’t feel bad about wasting it.”
“I see. My sausage bread should be ready,” Kayda said.
“I’ll bring it for you. What’s your name?”
“H…Kayda.”
Everyone who’d been paying attention to the interaction was now staring at her.
“Hello, Hakayda. I’m Alden,” he said brightly.
“It’s just Kayda! I misspoke.”
“All right. Kayda.”
“Kayda-lin, I mean!”
“Kayda-lin,” Alden repeated. “Got it.”
He waited a moment more, perhaps for her to change her name again, then nodded and strode off to the counter.
The knight looked around. “I couldn’t figure out what to do with my title in the middle of all that. I think perhaps someone gave us a wrong impression of Alden Ryeh-b’t.”
“Who might that have been?” Esh-erdi asked, beaming at them. “And what was the impression to make you all quietly watch my fellow knight impersonate a waiter?”
Everyone looked at Moshk.
******
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Alden was going to do the pitcherhouse.
He hadn’t intended to before meeting Zakithee-und’h. He did intend to after. He’d told Esh-erdi, and kept telling himself, that it was for his notes. But he watched the riverside pavilion growing larger as Ploomp swam toward it, and what he felt was something like an urge to burst through a wall into the real Rapport III. Not exactly the calm social analysis that was his stated goal.
I’m just going to do the local pitcherhouse. I’ll challenge my own comfort zone, not other peoples’. I’m still Esh-erdi’s guest.
He turned to his host. “It’s really okay that I want to stop here, isn’t it? This doesn’t interfere with your plans for the morning…the night?”
“I brought you here because I hoped you’d enjoy it. Take whatever you like from our beautiful home,” Esh-erdi said grandly.
“Not Ploomp!” said Droon.
“Ploomp is ours!” Brim shouted at the same time, throwing herself forward to sprawl across the terackerin’s blue back like a possessive starfish.
“Don’t worry. I know who Ploomp belongs to,” Alden assured the twins, his eyes going to the pitcherhouse again.
I’ll take everything I can from there. Someone who wants to build home shouldn’t be too shy around the pre-existing walls and the neighbors.
While he was parking Ploomp, he decided that a person challenging his comfort zone by doing the pitcherhouse right also shouldn’t be intimidated by wizards watching him from above with weird smiles on their faces. It was strange to have an audience while he climbed a ladder, but maybe they’d all consumed something from the more intoxicating section of this place’s menu.
I’m here to get to know you, not judge you. I hope you’re all cool. Some Rapport residents might not like to hang out with Avowed. Eventually, I’ll have to find the ones who do and make the rest learn to put up with me.
He thought Stuart would approve of this attitude and his efforts.
I’ll send him pictures to show him I’m working on it.
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Stu knelt amid the students who filled LeafSong’s largest insight chamber, listening to an instructor he’d never met before today explain the principles that had led her to create a method for intensifying emotions through a fan-cast spell.
This was one of the university’s coveted Innovations in Magic lectures. The students in attendance were mostly above fourth year, with only a few individuals from each lower cohort chosen to benefit from direct instruction in this chamber where the instructor’s own conversance with her new spell would transfer to them more easily.
The spell was excellent. Though it was no faster than prominent methods currently being used, it was easier to vary the effect, and it was more subtle in its ability to insinuate itself through the subject’s automatic resistance to influence. Only moderately more subtle, but that kind of subtlety was valued by people who wanted to occasionally cast this sort of thing instead of becoming experts in this type of magic. The fan spell would be useless to the likes of Healer Yenu, but to the average wizard, it offered something unique.
And it wasn’t irrelevant, in the university’s eyes, that it was going to have visual appeal. Almost the whole casting would be done with the fan held in a pocket or stationary outside it, and then at the end a single sweep of it toward the target might be used to turn a faint smile into laughter.
For a few years, it would be a spell that caught attention and marked the caster as a LeafSong-trained wizard, elevating the school’s reputation along the way.
Which was why the insight chamber had been opened and students had been selected with care. There were several hundred present, only a fraction of those who would have fought to be here if given the opportunity. Stu sat between Jel-nor and Amantha from his year. They were the only two here he knew well enough to speak to regularly.
Eeaner was probably adhered to the outside of the chamber door, trying to gain insight through the wood.
He’d been buzzing incessantly since yesterday afternoon when they’d arrived at their student house to find the delicately engraved five-leaf fan waiting in a case on their balcony. The lovely black fan was Stu’s invitation to this lesson and a good enough casting tool that he was unlikely to want a better one unless fans became a particular favorite in the future.
Eeaner might consider it even more unfair if he knew the truth.
Stu would be able to perform the spell after this training concluded, so it wasn’t entirely wasted on him. But a student who’d had unexcused absences in the past year should have been banned from this kind of enrichment, and he’d had several recently. The university just assumed he’d been away because he was still serving Emban.
He could hardly tell them otherwise without making the perceived slight to his instructors worse.
I was serving the one who wants to walk with me, our steps landing together until our journey ends. That’s even more proper. I will feel no shame about temporary deceptions made necessary by the imperfections of society.
He would also not feel shame about setting his eyerings to show him Alden’s messages. In the insight chamber, they were supposed to be turned off. Even if a relative died or your student house burned down, surely the problem could wait and benefit from the better wizard you would be after you’d been taught by a master in here.
That rule doesn’t account for being the only wizard who knows there is a human pursuing the path of highest onus. Things beyond imagining could happen to my friend.
Stu should have been focusing on the final step of his own choosing season right now, as Alden had correctly insisted. But his contemplations kept turning into questions about Alden’s status that had him looking for the most recently updated versions of Earth’s internet and, simultaneously, for historical information about non-Artonan knights. The latter seemed not to have lived happily enough to ease Stu’s concerns. And there were groups of humans who vomited anti-wizard vitriol into one another’s mouths and mistook it for food.
Ro-den had become sufficiently Earth-famous during his time on the planet for those groups to make drawings of him tied to a pole and set on fire, which was a too-recent human way of punishing other humans who were suspected of magical ability.
What if one of the hundred and twelve people who’d given that image their love, as indicated by the symbol for a heart at the bottom, lived on Anesidora and Alden accidentally revealed his auriad to them?
Things beyond imagining could happen. But that’s unlikely. He probably won’t even send a message. With my eyerings turned on, I can give both halves of my attention to this spell.
A proper student in every way.
He placed each finger of his left hand against the shallow dimples that indicated their correct spot on his new fan when it was in the closed position and touched those points with his authority, ordering the possibility of what he was and what he might soon demand to pool there.
Alden would be able to feel this as Stu did one day. Stu would make sure of it. Even if they were only brothers on their path without that deepest of bonds.
He loves magic. As much as I do. When he advances enough, I’ll teach him this spell.
But would it really feel the same? Exactly the same, even when one’s self was bound to the purpose of a skill?
Stu’s next few breaths came too fast. That was rude. He might distract the people near him.
He had so many spells he wanted to share with Alden. Every day, every class, and every memory brought another one.
And I want to see him cast Burrow of the Raintail. A spell nobody else I know casts, his own to master. I’ll stitch its name onto a housecoat or pezyva for him when he learns it, since the studding on his knight’s uniform should be done by the best instead of me.
They hadn’t even spoken of that spell as much as they would need to before Alden committed to learning it, but already, Stu imagined that success.
Isn’t the insight chamber supposed to keep my thoughts in better order than this?
When he was a knight, the school would invite him to every opportunity in this chamber, whether he was a good enough student or not.
But sometimes instead of casting…many times…I will only be able to listen.
And now his breath was rudely coming to a halt, caught on grief.
Is grief for something that hasn’t happened to me yet a sign that I’ve found the confidence I must have?
Does Alden grieve for himself like this? Or is it different since he didn’t have this same before-time?
That thought held him for a thousand of the instructor’s words. Maybe he was a terrible student, and Eeaner-ket did deserve the fan more.
He forced himself back into the rightly receptive state. Casting better than Jel-nor was a petty motivation, but he turned to it. She’d behaved even worse than him during the mishnen error, and she was insufficiently sorry about it.
He fell back into the instructor’s talk and was beginning to think he understood where the explanation would eventually lead. To fan anger or joy like a flame, first perceive how the subject hungers for it, then we—
A message arrived from Alden. A picture. Stu stared at it.
That is Esh-erdi. And a river. Different from mine and mother’s. And that…is a terackerin. Rapport III. Why is Alden with Hn’tyon Esh-erdi in Rapport III?
They looked happy. It was all right. There was no word other than, “Hi.”
Letting the image speak for itself is a fine way of communicating. I’m not distracted, since he’s obviously well.
But then he recalled how Alden had an urge to tell Esh-erdi all or part of the truth. To stop hiding his true self and gain the approval and the companionship of other knights that he so clearly deserved.
He agreed not to yet. We talked about how it was too soon and not the best idea right now.
He searched the image for any indication that Alden was saying more than “hi.” Or that he was vulnerable to making sudden revelations.
It’s just a terackerin ride. It’s nice.
He wouldn’t tell Esh-erdi that without warning me. He’s very responsible.
Stu smiled at the picture to put it out of his thoughts. And was successful, eventually.
Some time later, he held his fan in the open position against his chest. He was starting to anticipate the moment when the instructor would allow them to practice a cast on themselves, when he received another message from the person he hoped would not be burned to death or subjected to suffering by an imperfect society.
The hand with the fan jerked involuntarily. Stu almost cut his chin with the edge of it.
Why does he have eleven different beverages in one hand? Is that piditsoo? That’s a piditsoo bowl. Humans can have that? And those other things! If he drinks all of those he’ll piss green in public and think his own auriad is for flossing his teeth!
It was only after much examination that he was able to stop himself from running out of the lesson.
Alden was only showing off his skill. Eleven glasses, bottles, and sipper bowls in one hand. They were all stuck together, preserved so that he could carry them to the people at the tables around him.
Almost certainly that, Stu thought with relief loosening his body. He’s been a waiter before. He must have offered. Esh-erdi wouldn’t let people force him to perform tricks with his skill, and he’s smiling.
Once again, the message was, “Hi.”
He’s sharing his weekend trip to Rapport III with me. That’s good. I hope they’re all being welcoming to him. The glass of hahmp juice with ice in it must be his own. He likes ice.
Stu ignored Jel-nor’s questioning eye and resettled on his cushion.
I did tell Alden I’d be fine with him telling Esh-erdi.
But he definitely knows he should warn me first. All is well.
******
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Alden showed off his ability to carry food and drinks in ridiculous ways, to the delight of the children present. In addition to Esh-erdi’s nieces and Moshk’s daughter, a family of seven had just arrived from a nearby house to pick up food for their second meal. They’d brought a pitcher with them and filled it with bundlefruit wine from the barrel on the counter.
After he’d finished entertaining the youngest members of the crowd, Alden took his drinks and put them on the table beside a tasting dipper he’d been given. He’d take a taste from each drink, using either the small side of the dipper or the minuscule side of the dipper depending on what he was trying. Esh-erdi claimed to be able to consume all the rest. Bets were being made about whether or not he would.
Moshk was sharing his riverside table with Alden and the erdis. Kayda-lin was at the next one over, eating a triangle of bread stuffed with sausage.
“So you’ve become friends with Stu-art’h?” Moshk asked.
Alden had reintroduced himself that way a few minutes ago, after deciding there was too much of a feeling in the air that he was someone here solely because Esh-erdi was a charitable person. Somehow, Esh-erdi bashing a fish with lacy fins in the head with an oar was similar to him inviting Alden on a trip?
Anyway, Alden had clarified that he was here to learn about the Rapport for his own reasons, too. He was Stu’s friend. He wanted to know about the Rapports that were, broadly, Stu’s home.
He’s still saying ‘friend’ like he suspects I used the wrong word, Alden thought, looking over the bite-sized snacks waiting in front of him, reciting their names in his head and adding details to the notes. Kol—paste that smells like cheesy mushrooms. Sessetimack—pickled water plant roots.
“I’m his friend,” he said firmly. “And we both want our friendship to be lifelong.”
“He’s saying the same thing Jeneth-art’h’s son does,” Esh-erdi added, leaning around Alden’s side to set down a bowl of smoldering grit that must be edible somehow. “So there’s no need for you to doubt it, Moshk. Alden, you might want to take Kayda-lin’s seat…when she has to go back to work serving tables. They’re playing a game you’d be good at. It’s not a favorite in the frozen forest of our first Rapport, so Stu-art’h may have been deprived of the opportunity to learn it. You could teach him.”
Alden stopped examining his hoard of pitcherhouse goodies and peered at Esh-erdi.
“Is Kayda-lin a knight?”
“I just confirmed for you that she usually serves tables!” Esh-erdi protested, while Moshk and the woman in the clothes that were color-shifting both made small noises.
“That’s why I just realized she must be a knight! You said it with too much funny-mean in your voice!”
Half of the people under the roof chortled or laughed outright.
Alden hastily turned and bowed to the other knight, who was blushing and nodding at him in acknowledgment. “Should I call you Hn’tyon Kayda-lin?”
“Not since I somehow lost my own title trying to introduce myself,” she said. “At least not for tonight. The pitcherhouse is as casual as a place can be. I love it here. Do you want to learn to play Three-fingered Thief?”
Alden looked at all the colorful game pieces. He’d seen the man at the table catching some of them as they bounced off discs in front of each player.
“I have enhanced hands,” he said. “If it’s a speed game… ”
“Then we won’t feel like we’re treating an amateur unfairly! I’m Dazm—Kayda’s mother and her votary when she allows it. Come sit next to me when you want to try. I always win.”
“I’ll do that,” said Alden. “Thank you!”
But first a sip of piditsoo with the minuscule end of the dipper. And another picture for Stuart. Alden selected the bowl that held the odorless drink and held it up for the photo, giving Stuart a thumbs up to show him how well everything was going.
******
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Notes:
*Stuart can receive messages from Alden but can't reply without the tablet that makes his own messages look like they come from Evul. That tablet is at the siblinghold.
*Ploomp is glad they stopped at the pitcherhouse. People throw her snacks that are better than orange peels.
Comments (180)
A thought for making "bank stalker" read easier: Instead of "bank stalker", why not "bank-stalker"? That way it's more likely to be read as "bank-STALKER" as intended instead of "BANK-stalker".
Ha, already up on RR, never mind!
Third person perspective? :D 'While he was parking Ploomp, he decided that a person challenging his comfort zone by doing the pitcherhouse right also shouldn’t be intimidated by wizards watching him from above with weird smiles on their faces.' XD 'but maybe they’d all consumed something from the more intoxicating section of this place’s menu.' HAHAHA 'That’s even more proper. I will feel no shame about temporary deceptions made necessary by the imperfections of society.' >:) 'Ro-den had become sufficiently Earth-famous during his time on the planet for those groups to make drawings of him tied to a pole and set on fire' Ha 'which was a too-recent human way of punishing other humans who were suspected of magical ability. ' Oof 'Isn’t the insight chamber supposed to keep my thoughts in better order than this?' >:) 'Casting better than Jel-nor was a petty motivation, but he turned to it.' Ha 'when he received another message from the person he hoped would not be burned to death or subjected to suffering by an imperfect society.' Mmmm 'He’d take a taste from each drink, using either the small side of the dipper or the minuscule side of the dipper depending on what he was trying.' :) '“Not since I somehow lost my own title trying to introduce myself' >:) Thank you for the chapter :D 🎊 CONGRATULATIONS ON 300 CHAPTERS :D 🎊
I keep imagining what Alden's comments would be if he knew Stu was still spelunking in the human internet without consulting him for context! It might make Alden a little worried about being kidnapped and tied to a stake and set on fire by his fellow humans, come to think of it, but surely he could arrange an emergency button thing with Stu to come rescue him if that happened.
Im the actual printed novels do the author notes get added at the bottom like footnotes?
Footnotes with author comments are definitely A Thing with some books!
Wish there was some way for Alden to get out of the new contract(s). Hopefully he calls on Stu to vouch or advise and Stu puts a stop to it. Or perhaps Esh will br e as it later once he knows the truth... or the tattooing is haunted because of the gremlin... Thanks Slyca for keeping my imagination running wild for this story!
I absolutely ADORE the opening section. The small town/ close community aspect, mostly gossip but also catching up, and reconnecting with people and teasing each other.
I also laughed at Kayda's exchange with Alden, fun stuff. Thanks for sharing this amazing story with us!
Next chapter will be the launch of a Boe novella, it takes lots of time to get him right, as he is secretly an alien.
Is he also secretly immortal? Maybe he's even got a bit of a big head? Because I think I've seen his face on Dr. Who... 😉
Huh, would be interesting if Zeridee ends up as Aldens votary... very unusual and non-standard, but well, he is that.
Considering the themes of self determination within the story (Alden and Stu), this would need to be handled very delicately. She has given no indication so far that she wants to be a wizard, let alone a votary.
Happy approx day!
Something about this chapter makes me think that Stuart needs someone to talk to about Alden, so he doesn't need to do all his planning alone. He feels so much responsibility for their future.
True! That could be a very useful purpose for Esh and Lind to fulfill! Neat idea.
When it comes to the matadero contract, Esh might be in for a surprise if the Gremlin has objections…
Getting excited!
Let it cooook
Sleyca, you word smith, I'll have half your mind and all your words for the next chapter!
Next chapter predictions in haiku, or otherwise? Five-fingered Alden Wins hearts, loses oranges Delights in learning
Stu rushes to rapport 3 in a panic because he's worried about what drunk Alden might do
Edit suggestions: typos, grammar, style, misc. Feel free to ignore. - “Why…do you think the erdis will only consume what you’ve left?” Kayda asked -> [missing period at end of sentence] - not other peoples’. -> people's - and Eeanor-ket did deserve the fan more -> Eeaner-ket - I’m Dazm. Kayda’s mother and her votary when she allows it. -> mother, and [unless she's implying Kayda doesn't always allow her to be her mother, either]
Moshk’s small talk from this day will be unrivaled by any other bank stalker’s. None has small talk as profound as his.
I'm not sure how well Alden is going to take the news of getting a new contract so soon after being released from a particularly (and to a certain extent unintentionally) nasty contract. Regardless of how benign the source and content of his new secrecy contract.
He already knows that's happening, Esh said so at the start of 298, hes mostly fine with it, or at least resigned to the inevitability of it. I'm thinking that its going to turn out to be an entirely non-issue because hes already spent 2 months practicing the same kind of secrecy it will enforce.
Felicitations on leveling up to 300! Surely a hyperbole by now. I've truly enjoyed this story. Had to resubscribe for a bit to say congrats on the milestone.
“he said he’d invited the human on this soothing trip to prepare him for a minor secrecy tattoo” Is there any chance Alden will finagle things so there’s some reciprocity in the secrecy tattoo? An agreement for Esh to also keep his secrets, so he could tell Esh about his wizardliness with less risk?
If I were Alden, I'd ask if Esh could teach Lute how to break his own contract. If it were humanly-possible, Lute sure would enjoy getting loose from it. EDIT: To be clear, if this can't be taught to a human, Esh should agree to break Lute's tramp-stamp contract.
What a delightful chapter for 300! Congrats, Sleyca!!!
Congratulations! I don't think any story has ever held my attention for so long. I still look forward to every chapter, and I still love every one.
It occurs to me that fancasting would probably be useful for Alden. The single elegant motion would be easy to fake as either a skill impression or spell. Plus, party fans seem rabbity to me.
True, but it's a Swayish spell. As in, if it ever comes out at any point among humans that Alden is casting this spell, no matter how he got it, he will be ostracized with all the other Sways and Swayish sorts. Humans are NOT COMFORTABLE with mental manipulation of any kind. And Alden is unlikely to be comfortable with using it. He admits to being gut-scared of Sways himself, even if he tries to treat them like people. I honestly think it's one of the most interesting unexplored cultural differences between humans and Artonans that the latter are much more comfortable with mental manipulation. I hope that gets talked about at some point.
“Not the same human!” will live on in my heart like the "That's deep." comments.
Does Esh have a Greedy Cup to pour all the leftover drinks in? Or a wine skin version of Stu’s belt pouch of holding? 🎬
Esh could mix all the drinks together in the Greedy Cup and challenge everyone he meets from then on to drink it...
Zeridee “couldn’t trust herself to live as a votary”? What does *that* mean? Is this another hint that wizards sometimes perceive chaos as a form of temptation? Or something else?
Stu's unforgettable description of his family's reaction to his announcement also hints at this. "If one of my grandparents teleported back from the grave, hauling chaos with them like *one who yields to perversion*..." It does seem to imply that chaos has some property which is alluring to some wizards.
Quick question, did I miss an update about older chapters comment sections? Just saw a good amount of the older chapters have been disabled
I vaguely remember something about scam posts being mentioned. So the older ones were probably infested with scam bots? It's unfortunate, I liked to go back and look at older discussions we had every once in a while.
"The details are unclear to me for now..." but Moshk will find out the whole story eventually. No gossip will escape the bank stalker for ever!
Thanks for the chapter, very lovely And thanks to share Alden with us
What would the pitcherhouse folk think if they knew Alden's "first" introduction to magic was his parents dying to a rogue avowed, would they still have been staring at him approach with smiles on their faces? Alden really is resilient.
I think the smiles would be ones of friendly/condescending pity, if they knew that. Though I think his first intro to magic his mom's wordchains. Or, if those don't count as "magic," something at the House of Healing where she worked.
Woooo another gossip chapter! I love the gossip chapters. So much worldbuilding, you learn what is typical and what is not, from the background cast’s perspective
Tosses Ploomp a scotched Kleerm Egg dusted in breakfast spice.
After multiple rereads I just realised that bank stalker likely refers to stalking the riverbank. He watches the comings and goings of everyone and knows everything that's going on like some middle aged auntie who loves gossip too much
That makes more sense than any of my guesses.
I love how clearly I can pick Stu's fretting spiking again as soon as he receives Alden's photo of the *entire* bowl of piditsoo with his thumbs up. Don't worry, Stu! Alden used the miniscule end of the dipper for that one!
And think, he has possibly just tried out a new spell on himself to adjust his emotions! He could panic and run out of the class. Or promise jelnor to try piditsoo at the party he promised him!
Thanks for the chapter! Good for Ploomp lol
I'm surprised no one has mentioned that the spell Stu is learning is strikingly similar to Boe's. Not a fan of Stu's and Aldens constant neurotic overthinking. But it was a cosy an comforting chapter. Hope Ploom gets all the treats!
Not so strikingly, Boe is said to be able to *change* an emotion (like reducing Victor's stress and replacing it with more joyfulness) while this spell only multiplies what's there. I thought of the similarity to Boe's skills and rejected them.
That was a great setup for some hilarious moments. Nice chapter!
That was very beautiful. I hope Esh-erdi is told soon.
I am not sure which was most fun in the chapter… the gossip chain making all the people at the dockside bar worried about scaring Alden… Kayda-lin getting flustered with her intro… Alden showing off his skill for laughs… Stu getting riled up by doom scrolling then getting no explanation updated pics from Alden… Alden calling out Esh for trying to continue a joke at the expense of a fellow knight… all in all this was probably my most favorite chapter in a while. Thank you Sleyca!
Kayda-lin took three tries to get her own name right.
The duo of future knights. "We cast connections!" Elder knight "I cast breaking the ice. Then I cast connections!". At some point the "Quaternary’s rabbit" will be know even before stepping on a planet^^.
“His name is Alden.” “I’m sure it was Porti-loth.” “I mean the human’s name!” This made me smile
The "possessive starfish" also made me smile
The contrast between Alden being treated like a traumatized child as a traumatized child and being unable to change people's views of him on earth compared to Alden being treated like a traumatized child by aliens and immediately showing them he doesn't need to be treated differently than anyone else. Proud of him
I have been using all of my esoteric supernatural abilities to push Alden to reveal to Esh that he is a knight in the next chapter
Stu wants you to stop doing that
TYFTC! I finally caught up on like 70 chapters... now im sad there are no more chapters. im definitely excjted to see where this story is going now that Alden seems to have gotten over Thegund and decided to take the path of highest onus
Stu is desperately texting esh “don’t let him drink that!!!” with 15 artonan doom emojis.
I remember when Alden's friendly little wizard greeting caught lind's attention on aneisadora. I'm excited for the moment he extends that greeting face to face and she makes that connection.
Same! I've been waiting forever!
Is it just me, or is that spell Stu is learning akin to the reverse end of the Peace of mind wordchain? And if so, is it imbalancing the universe and being one of the spells the Palace of Unbreaking condemns?
Sounds way more like Sway abilities.
TFTC!
Tune in next week when Stu desperately tries to message Esh to get him to stop getting his friend drunk.
I forgot he could message Esh directly! That would be hilarious 😂
I love this chapter! It speaks so well to have a chapter of prejudice from a child and then this up- lifting one from adults who are cultured.
Thank you for this absolute treat! Congratulations on 300! Thank you for remembering that Ploomp deserves snacks too! I gave my love to this chapter by tapping on the heart shape:)
The Knights: “oh that poor traumatized rhy-bt, we must be so careful to not break this poor child which Esh-erdi is trying to help.” Esh: “yo check out this cool human I found. Isn’t he awesome?”
> That is Esh-erdi. And a river. Different from mine and mother’s. It hurts that Stu's first thought whenever seeing a river is still to first verify whether it's a hallucination. Beautiful detail.
That line got me! Right in the heart. Dear dear Stu.
Thanks × 300! Great soup!
I loved this chapter so much, thank you for the chapter
300 chapters. 300 chances to appreciate a beautifully told story. Thank you Sleyca.
I like the symmetry of Stu stressing about Alden when he should be paying attention in class. How many times has Alden spaced during a lesson, instead thinking about Stu's upcoming affixation?
The note at the end are so good. Now Ploomp look cute. 300 chapter of Alden is such a milestone, good job Sleyca.
This is a very slice-of-life chapter in this slice-of-life story. And it’s just so nice.
what a delightful chapter! the slow pace is really perfect for moments like these. I'm so glad Esh is getting his wish of Alden distracting Stu hehe
These chapters are great build up for when Alden’s secret becomes more wide spread
I'm worried about Stu's reaction if Alden shares some of his important truths with Esh.
"Why does he have eleven different beverages in one hand? Is that piditsoo? That’s a piditsoo bowl. Humans can have that? And those other things! If he drinks all of those he’ll piss green in public and think his own auriad is for flossing his teeth!" Esh has claimed he'll finish everything that Alden leaves. Are we about to see a drunk Esh?!
Lind-otta: Alden, you were supposed to look after my Esh, not get him drunk.
Is it just me or is a spell that intensifies emotions a baaaad idea for Stu right now? He’s already stressing about Alden. How intense would that spell make it? What will he do in response?!
I think it intensifies other people's emotions, not your own.
I love this chapter :)
Poor Stu! I can only imagine his face and thoughts as Alden keeps sending him pictures of him trying all the drinks while he desperately tries to concentrate on the lesson and convince himself that Alden wouldn't tell Esh anything without warning him.
I keep picturing Stu getting more and more wound up. The moment that lesson ends he'll flee at speed to teleport either straight to Rapport III or home so he can get Evul to call Alden
Congratulations on 300 and thank you for sharing Alden with us, Sleyca!
I'm glad Ploomp is getting better snacks than orange peels. I'm not a fan of snacking on them directly either, even if I'm a fan of oranges in general, and peels as flavour in things.
Man the lacefin story is tragic. Esh unintentionally killed a being he was trying to save and heal. It would have been better to leave the poor animal alone. He's so intertwined with his skill that he can't help but cause cracks.
Just a Idea. Tablet is Evul's. So she she can watch all that is happening with it like Alden can do his homework on his interface or tablet itself, or how Stu spied Alden's spell search on his own. Can't she...
She probably could with the tablet that's hers but I don't think that she would. Not unless she believed them to be in real trouble. But the tablet with all the spells was Stu's not Evuls so she can't see that one.
Game night at the Pitcherhouse! I'm so glad Alden's social bravery is being rewarded with neighbors of Esh curious to meet him and get to know him. Dazm and her hynton daughter Kayla-lin seem like fun; Alden may have more trouble than he expects with the gameplay now that he's imbibed a miniscule amount of piditsoo - or he may find his inhibitions so loosened that his thoughts don't get in the way of his hands acting. Interesting to learn more of Zeridee's backstory, at least as understood by local gossip outside her family. Feeling vindicated that she is in fact considered very talented by her people, and that at least one of her neighbors thinks Zeridee's choice to serve on Anesidora is picking a Rapports-like place to serve in a votary-like role. The (live? feed of the) city Alden saw in her room at Matadero was likely the Rapports III city.
To me, this seems to be a setup for Alden telling Esh. While Stu might feel a little hurt if that happens without being consulted further, this chapter shows that Alden needs someone else to take on the burden of his secret. Stu has everything he had hoped for now, but he still cannot prioritise himself, which he totally should right before his binding. If Esh knows and supports Alden, Stu can finally focus on himself, which will help him realise that he is ready to go to his binding. Then we get to the soul bonding
Alden is florida man of earth
This chapter made my smile so much! Justice for Ploomp, Ploomp wants real and not orange food
Thank you for 300 chapters of this amazing story Sleyca. I hope to be here for 300 more and beyond :)
Loved literally all the interactions here. My god this is peak!
Thank you for the story; Deer Sleyca.
Love the way some Earth-like absurdities stand out in this story. Like tooth floss - historically a new thing on Earth but apparently well established among Artonans. Or the way orange peels are an aquired taste - both for my child self when I first tasted orange peel jam, and for Ploomp.
Soup has been simmering for 300 chapters. I wonder if it’ll be done in another 300.
This was gold. Laughing so hard throughout it.
I loved this chapter so much! Thank you 😊 Esh and Stu and Alden and more!
Good old Ploomp.
Congrats for chapter 300 !!! What a journey <3 Possessive starfish...
What spell was Burrow of the Raintail again? I can't remember which it was.
When Stu was being sneaky and trying to find out what skill Alden had he gave him a list of spells that he would be able to cast one day if they were similar to his skill. The list was on his tablet and Stu watched the recording with his eye rings to find out what spell Alden liked. Burrow of the Raintail was a ward that could protect cities even if he wasn't in them if I remember right
I … I think almost anything would taste better than the naturally grown packaging for an orange.
The naturally grown packaging for oranges is in lots of recipies.
300 bowls of soup. It's been a while since those first few chapters, but I'm still hungry 😭
It's like subtraction stew from the Phantom Tollbooth; smells and tastes wonderful, but every bowl you eat makes you hungrier!
I see Stuart has discovered the most dangerous and insidious invention of Earth: doomscrolling.
What a delightful chapter
Sleyca, you never miss. Thank you for brightening my week like you always do.
Happy 300! Will Esherdi be drunk enough to doubt himself, should Alden's authority get a bit too lively during the secrecy contract formation? :D And one question: Is it now the Burrow of the Stormtail or the Raintail?
Hole of the Drizzletail
this chapter is why I'm evenly more firmly hooked on this story at chapter 300 than I was when I started it. Three hundred chapters and it's still able to be fresh and funny and new. Congratulations on the milestone! Thank you for a brilliant story.
I love my husband Esh and his inability to be subtle
I love that Alden knows and is comfortable enough with your husband to call him out on his joke!
Congratz on 300! This was an absolute treat of a chapter to drop for it too. Everyone being absolute sweethearts ❤️
Ooh that's the good stuff
Stuart just jinxed himself. Now Alden will definitely tell Esherdi and Stuart will know how Boe feels all the time.
The first step in the Boe-Stu friendship; worry and frustration over Alden's safety.
something that im quite interested in is what a pitcher house looks like architecturally. Or even broader: Artonan architecture in general. It's fun to imagine, I suppose so far they don't give me the vibe of Brutalists or Baron Harkonnen levels of inhuman monumentality, but perhaps something organic and close to nature? I'm imagining something like Terunobu Fujimori's strange and eccentric museums and tea houses or Javier Senosiain's El Nido de Quetzalcoatl in Mexico city. I'm glad Sleyca is careful and sparing with how space is described though because there is a ton of worldbuilding that goes into how space is used and so far its been in some important moments where it does happen to get described
Reading your comment made me realize I just assigned the pitcherhouse an architectural style of a large open air bar covered balcony overlooking coastal wetlands with tall reed type grasses. The room felt relaxed and quietly beachy - of the type that is more of a local hangout instead of a touristy one. The space in my mind was definitely more earthy than I expect it would be in Rapport III.
this was such a jovial chapter, it's quite interesting that we got two perspective shifts with Alden's own right in the middle. I love reading the little nuances of Artonan ettiquette here, it's so well done!
Grats on 300! Also can't help but chortle over the fact that of COURSE Stu gets invites to super selective spell club events, and can basically expect to be invited back time after time, well past when he can actually appreciate them 😅.
He periodically can't appreciate them, because after a binding he both can't and won't want to cast since his authority is both bound and sensitive.
Stu is worried in precisely the same way Boe was before Alden told Stu.
Only difference is that Boe had ZERO illusions about Alden's reckless nature and Stuart is still deluded about it.
I am going to require Ploomp updates throughout this entire arc at this point. Ploomp updates are a critical resource I did not yet know I lacked
When we move on to other arcs I want random Ploomp updates.
I read this with a big smile on my face. Thank you for the chapter!
So um, this is awkward. After that first section, I was SO SAD TO BE BACK TO ALDEN AND STU. LIKE WTF, ALDEN IS BECOMING A LOCAL LEGEND AND IM CRYING WITH JOY AT HOW EVERYONE IS FREAKING OUT
I would freak out too if my waiter held the tray with my drinks upside down with one hand without spilling a drop! Oh wait....you mean the other thing...😆😉
Alden should really ask Esh to help Stu be able to directly talk to him
Happy 300th!
Oh, now I'm wondering, will Alden ask Esh for a tattoo that goes both ways, as a way to tell him about himself? Congratulations on the 300 🥳
I have a feeling it wouldn't work on Esh, not for what Alden has to tell him. Esh's oath when he became a knight would probably trump it if he thought it was something that could cause issues. Telling him just about Bearer could probably be covered though
Such a good chapter! As usual I just wish it would be longer, not by much of course, just three to four times longer then now.
That wasn’t probably one of the most wholesome multiple POV chapters of the whole story. Very nice. Even the reference to being burned at a stake couldn’t overwhelm the wholesome energy lol
Stu, I need you to hurry up and finish your class and join your forever friend Alden on Rapport III.
Report III is Raport 3, not 111. I do not think there are one hundred and eleven Rapports.
Funniest thing I've read in a hot minute, thanks for the lighthearted break! Congrats on 300 chaps!!
Congratulations on chapter 300, Sleyca! Thank you for such a wonderful story. I look forward to all the chapters in the future too.
Desperately in love with the addendum on ploomp and her snacking preferences
> a method for intensifying emotions through a fan-cast spell. Subtweeting about the comments section now, are we?
It would be a very powerful/useful spell if fan was the other meaning. Especially if multiple people could cast it at the same target.
SOUP! yes. Perfect timing :) fantastic chapter :)
This was fun!
It's been an amazing 300 chapters!
I give this chapter my love, as indicated by the symbol for a heart at the bottom.
I’ve never once liked a Patreon post before. Now I have to!
What a delightful chapter! I hope Stu is right and Alden will know to check in with him before telling Esh secrets!
I hope this doesn't blow up in Alden's face. But also... I really do want him to tell Esh
Congratulations on 300 chapters! I've been reading since chapter 59 and it's been such an amazing journey!
I’m sure you didn’t mean it this way but your comment makes it sound like you started the story at chapter 59 instead of 1 haha
Sooooo, odds on Alden getting absolutely plastered and blurting out something about wizardness to Esh? :P
Never drink from the small side of the tasting dipper that which you should drink from the miniscule side of the tasting dipper.
I wonder what Stu would say if he knew that Jel-nor gave Alden drug gum in a failed flirting attempt at the Leafsong party!
Suddenly burning the drawing of other might not be a bad idea
thank you for 300 chapters of peak writing
Ahhhhhh how’d it go buy so fast! 300 more bowls of soup please.
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Yay. New possible Knight acquaintance. I liked Esh politely but ruthlessly making sure they all knew that Alden and the youngest son of the Primary were friends in the full Artonan meaning of the word.
Stu on social media encountering people fantasizing about a witch hunt. oh my.
get off the internet Stu T-T
The tension, it builds
Congrats on 300!!!! 🥳
here's to the next hundred chapters!
:D
Right as I started reading(a chapter of this story) to dad... Something to look forward to!
Happy 300th chapter!!!!
Oh mah gawd ah’ve’d three hundrid bowls o’ soup an’ ah’m still hungreeeeeeee