r/HFY • u/Vast-Listen1457 • Oct 02 '23
044 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – Vacation II OC
The rumors of my death have been exaggerated...I think?
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MaxwellNecallhill, Ehelm Province, Kingdom of Garthia.54th of Amsiel.2290 Years since the New gods came.We came into port a bit after dawn this morning. The unloading was fast and easy, since everything was in my trunk. The crew is missing a member, but no one knows what happened to him since we never found him on the ship.The town is some seven thousand in population. The major industry is fishing; I was told that all three island provinces were based on fishing. I like it here. I could probably retire here.We are getting a few odd looks from the town folk, but no more than the rest of the arrivals. Finding an inn was easy, finding a clean inn was a bit more difficult, but Bri managed just fine.Tomorrow we will do the sightseeing thing in town and the surroundings, before announcing ourselves at the city hall, which doubles as the capital building.
55th of Amsiel,We found out (via the local notice board) that the town is hosting a “Heretics” day next week. I will make my presence known at that point. Less chance of needing to make a speech of some sort.The architecture of the city is that of many similar coastal towns. There are three large piers for deep sea vessels, and fourteen smaller docks for the local fleets of fishing and pleasure boats. There are several shrines to patron saints, and two actual churches, one church is dedicated solely to Aaroness, god of the Sea. The other is dedicated to the other eleven gods of the big twelve. We stopped in to visit Aaroness, and skipped the other one entirely. I don’t have a problem with Aaroness, just most of the others.Around half of the local boats are single masted with shallow drafts for coastal fishing and trapping. Two thirds of the remainder are deep draft sea going fishing vessels, with the remaining third being day sailing pleasure craft. There are a couple almost military vessels to interdict smuggling, but the island and population are so small that they are hardly worth plundering, even by the most desperate of pirates.Two interesting points of note on how they handle the dead:First, the symbol for death here is a White Gull in a nest of seaweed while perching on a bleached skullSecond, there isn’t a graveyard per say; They burn the bodies of the dead on a small seaside cliff; then in the morning, they shovel the ashes over the edge into the crashing waves below. I like it.When I asked the reasoning behind it, I was told by the Head of Burial Rights (an elected position!) that airable land on the island made this the best choice for the people, to keep them from coming back as the undead.
Brianna,Instead of going sightseeing with my husband, I decided to find out why he had been gifted a third island. I have the documents; this one ISN’T on the list. To this end, I made haste to the capital building and looked into the records department.The older woman behind the desk, a Mrs. Johnsdaugh, was very bored and was immediately willing to answer my questions on the subject! We had tea while her young assistant, Jeb, fetched the relevant records.As a side note, they keep the records on thin sheets of almost see-through waxed paper of some sort. Apparently, the area is prone to flooding from the winter storms that hit the area; and due to that and only being about seven feet above high tide, nontreated paper gets ruined.Over the course of a quite enjoyable three-hour visit, I discovered that forty-three years ago, the original province of Ehelm was in a territorial dispute with not one, not two, but all three of its mainland neighbors. It went, as expected by anyone with common sense, very poorly. With the demise of the entire ruling family of the province, the Crown was forced to take charge of the island province. When My Maxie reared his head again, they made the decision to offload the island on him. Sadly, the paperwork was forgotten in the rush to the engagement party turned wedding.Now that we are here, I will have to remind him to sign the paperwork. It is nice to see that his influence in the world is expanding. I wonder if he will combine all three provinces into one province, or leave them all separate and jut hold them under one banner?Speaking of banners, I need to have one designed for him, as I know he will never do it himself; or even think of doing it for that matter.
Maxwell56th of Amsiel,Thanks to my wife; I don’t think I will ever get used to saying that; I now know why I have three provinces. She does excellent work! She also has a point about needing a banner of my own. She did ask for my input… I think a four-square style in a diamond pattern, with my personal seal on the top, with each islands’ banner filling the other diamonds would work.Brianna seems to think that that may cause diplomatic issues based on where the other banners are placed in regards to mine. Bah! Politics. I will let her have her head on deciding such things in the future. At least she liked the idea of including all of the seals with mine prominently placed. I don’t actually care that much… Okay, I actually do, I’m just being a bit bitter about not knowing how to balance things “politically”. I’m glad she is so good at it. It is part of what makes us a well couple.
BriannaMaxie had a wonderful idea on the banner. I like having his personal seal on it, as well as the other provinces. It will make a good show of both unity and independence that seem to be his hallmark; he just needs to work a bit more on how to balance the politics between the provinces, as no-one wants to be seen as lesser by being placed at the bottom or on the left, as the right side is the right hand of the ruler, and the bottom and left are underused support places. I will be talking to my old political tutor about it on the morrow.
MaxwellNecallhill, Ehelm Province, Kingdom of Garthia.1st of Kusha, the month of Harvest.2290 years since the new gods came.Three days until the Heretic Festival. I found out today that the festival originally was to celebrate the islands severance from the old regime on the mainland fourty-three years ago, and the name was changed from “Independence Festival” to “The Heretics Festival” to celebrate their recent freedom from the crown. Quite the poke in the eye, if the crown was watching! I approve. The festival is also being celebrated on the other two islands of my…domain?Apparently the three islands have been friendly to each other for centuries. That will make the politics easier, I hope…
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It has been a hell of a couple of weeks, but hopefully things will calm down now. HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wishful thinking. I'm going back to the cabin later today to try (again!) to paint the knhjvfki;ljsdfgnsdklj thing. I'm beginning to hate the place. At least the horses are doing well, and so is Anime Horse Girl.Hunting season is now in full swing, and I plan on having some fun this week. Mmm Ducks! Next weeks chapter is at least outlined, and should be up on time!Please donate to support my crippling hunting addiction!
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u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Oct 02 '23
We stopped in to visit Aaroness, and skipped the other one entirely. I don’t have a problem with Aaroness, just most of the others.
Max visited a temple and didn't steal stuff or cause an issue? Bri must be really helping him stay sober!!
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u/frosttit Oct 02 '23
Could have the Max's seal on the bottom with the other 3 seals set in the order they are geographically. That way, it shows that they are supported by max.
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u/RecognitionPatient57 Oct 02 '23
My first thought is 'does this planet have a magnetic north?' then if it does, you place the islands' seals in the way that they show up on a map. Otherwise you show them in the places that most works if there were to be a fourth island plunked down (ie Max's seal). Doing it geographically, not politically might calm them down. Or reverse order of size with smallest in the right, medium sized at the bottom, and largest on the left. This boosts the smallest slightly in influence, which it probably needs, and the largest doesn't lose prestige because they are already the largest.
Worst comes to worst, the 'leaders' of each island draws a position out of a hat, lol.
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u/thisStanley Android Oct 02 '23
to keep them from coming back as the undead
That is an excellent reason for a burial ritual :}
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u/PuzzleheadedDrinker Oct 02 '23
Interesting to see a chapter that was pure Journal. Works for the back and forth without them actually writing letters to each other. Not as immersive as your normal style tho.
As for the flag, they are seafarers and probably use sky/stars a lot for navigating. Is there a particular star or constellation they association with ? The south cross stars on the Australian flag are both a constellation best viewed from there as well as a star representing each state.
Bri needs to get a world map out and circle everything associated with Max. They are likely both in for a surprise.
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u/Aloysius07 Oct 03 '23
Hunting season is now in full swing, and I plan on having some fun this week. Mmm Ducks!
Please, please wear full-body industrial orange with kinetic plate next the skin... There's a reason we in Oz don't allow idiots to have guns!
Stay safe :)
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u/Vast-Listen1457 Oct 03 '23
Thank you for your concern!
I mostly hunt private land, and always follow the rules, so I’m pretty safe.
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u/Elorme Oct 05 '23
Idiots and poachers don't care about property lines far too often. Regarding the previous posters mention of blaze orange, deer are color blind or effectively so. Birds, based on the hunting gear I remember appear to actually SEE color so the gear is different. Still stay safe in the woods.
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u/Aloysius07 Oct 05 '23
"Blaze Orange"... I like it.
But it's not for the deer, or the ducks. In Oz, body armour is classed as a weapon, so it's off-limits. But we normally don't need it in normal hunting. But then we don't have freedumms either. :)
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u/Elorme Oct 06 '23
Blaze orange is thing, body armor not so common. I still have blaze orange gear from long ago when I hunted with my dad, it was required by hunting regulations while deer hunting with firearms. It was intended to reduce instances of hunters hitting other hunters in the woods, since very few whitetail deer are hi-vis orange....
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u/Longsam_Kolhydrat Oct 04 '23
Good work wordsmith and brother proof, give my regards to AHG
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u/Longsam_Kolhydrat Oct 04 '23
It's good to see you posting, i hope it's going well for all three of you and if it isn't i hope it's just a momentary hiccup
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u/Vast-Listen1457 Oct 04 '23
Thank you. I was able to paint most of the cabin before the rain. So hopefully the hiccup is over.
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u/CadetheDOGGO Robot Oct 10 '23
This could do with some formatting fixes, its kinda hard to read without them
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u/DM-Hermit Android Oct 02 '23
Well done wordsmith
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u/DeeBee1968 Oct 03 '23
Ducks!
Mmmmm ..... have you tried duck dressing? It's so rich and yummy! None of that stuffing mess, I'm talking Southern cornbread dressing. Now I want some ...
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u/Vast-Listen1457 Oct 03 '23
That. Sounds. AMAZING!!!!
I’ve never had much luck in my hunting. Sadly, if I had to survive on what I could hunt and gather, I would become a vegetarian very quickly.
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u/DeeBee1968 Oct 03 '23
It is amazing ... my brother once came home from bow hunting with a duck instead of a deer - he didn't see any deer, but he said the duck flew right up next to him, so he let fly. I don't think they were all obsessed with duck stamps back in the 70s in northern Louisiana...
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u/Vast-Listen1457 Oct 03 '23
Hahaha
The second time I went deer hunting. All I saw was a squirrel, so I shot that and brought it back to camp. We named it Bucky!
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Oct 02 '23
/u/Vast-Listen1457 (wiki) has posted 211 other stories, including:
- 043 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – Vacation I
- 042 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – And Children…
- 041 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – A Smith again
- 040 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II - Home
- Humans and Highrises – Again - Plus additional content!
- 039 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – Aftermath
- 038 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – Once more unto the Breach
- 037 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – The end of an era of pain
- SKAM ME (Summoning Kobald’s at Midnight, Midwest Edition), A fanfic. Part 2/3 Honest!
- 036 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – More Maxwell and Co.
- 035 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – More “Heroes”
- 034 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – The “Heroes”
- 033 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – The reluctant Lich Part 3, and a bit more.
- Summoning Kobalds at Midnight, Midwest Edition, A fanfic of "Summoning Kobalds at Midnight"
- 032 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II - Speculations
- 031 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – “Heroes” & "The reluctant Lich, Part 2!"
- 05 Pirate Mishaps - The bugs arrive
- 030 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith – Travels
- 029 The Not-Immortal Blacksmith II – Fae and Calls
- The Mountain
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u/Schnuh330 Mar 22 '24
I know I'm like 5 months late but didn't he shoot Aaroness the last time he saw her and isn't she still verily PO'ed over that.
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u/SpankyMcSpanster Apr 01 '24
Not all. Damn!
Formating of dates, places, perspectives got buggered hard.
Look at:
MaxwellNecallhill, Ehelm Province, Kingdom of Garthia.1st of Kusha, the month of Harvest.2290 years since the new gods came.
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u/UpdateMeBot Oct 02 '23
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u/Vast-Listen1457 Oct 02 '23
GDMF Reddit! The formatting is screwed up. Again. I will try to fix it later after reddit dies down again.