Written By Kritr
April 23, 2022, 8:11 p.m.(7/9/1017 AR)
This is a story I heard in the very far North. They do not have much to write with in the Everwinter, so these stories are passed down through their spoken traditions. It may not resemble the original telling much at all, and it may not have any meaning at all beyond an interesting story.
A Fox and a Rabbit loved each other very much. Some say that this is not the natural order of things, and they may be right, but that is the sort of love these two had for each other. It upset the natural order of things. But though their life was long and full of love, there are enemies that love cannot defeat. In a space of time, the Rabbit died and the fox grieved.
After a long period of grieving, Fox too grew old. His mind dwelt in the younger, less painful days of his youth, before he had met rabbit. These days were filled with snow, and life was only the hunt and the struggle for survival. He knew not love, nor did he know the pain of love in these memories, but that which is loved cannot ever truly be forgotten.
Fox, now approaching his twilight years, spending less and less of them in full command of his faculties, sought out a Siren. The siren then was only a little mad, and her song did not kill, it only summoned forth memories of the past so perfectly that they could step from one to the next like turning the page of a book.
To his surprise, when the Fox met the siren, she bowed to him and stilled her song. She called the fox the ‘Changer of Worlds’ and when asked gladly agreed to show Fox the memories of Rabbit that he had forgotten. The green fields in which they had married. The city they had lived in. The sun that had shone on them. And it was in the middle of these memories that Fox tricked the siren. He blew sand into her eyes and grasping her tail he held on as she darted away from him into the very time of those memories, like stepping from one page in a book to the next.
When the Siren learned she had been tricked, she was very angry with Fox. She told him that even the Changer of Worlds had no right to meddle with time itself. She warned him that there could not be two Foxes in one time, and that one or the other must fade away. Fox bared his teeth and swore an oath that he would tear out his own throat if it meant living the life he had loved with Rabbit one more time.
But the Siren sang a song. It was a beautiful song that captured not just the brightest parts of Fox’s memories of Rabbit, but also the low. The times when they could not find fuel for a fire to warm them. When the sun did not shine and floods threatened. When food was short and tempers were shorter. Times when Fox and Rabbit were not happy. When they were angry at each other. And the Siren sang about how the love of Fox and Rabbit transcended those troubles. Fox understood Siren’s meaning and relented. He knew that to relive the choices he had made in the past with Rabbit would be to second guess those choices, to dishonor them.
So Fox let himself fade away, and returned to his own time, to his frail, senile body. Lying there on the beach with Siren, the Fox uttered the words: “I wish…” But the Siren did not let him finish that sentence, interrupting him. She said to Fox:
“Do not wish. Wishes are terrible things. When you wish something into existence, it changes only that thing. All the other things that already existed must fit in around that thing. A wish is the pretense that someone can only love one thing, and when they choose that thing above all else, everything else does not matter and will fit in around the edges. But it is not possible to have only one love and forget the rest, because that which is loved cannot be forgotten. Besides, your wish would not have saved her.”
Old and weak, senile and dazed, the Fox was still cunning enough to hear what the Siren left unsaid. He leapt upon the Siren’s tail again and startled her back into the past, his resolve renewed.
“So she can be saved…”
That is the first half of the story. I think I will return to the Everwinter and try to find the second half of the story.
A Fox and a Rabbit loved each other very much. Some say that this is not the natural order of things, and they may be right, but that is the sort of love these two had for each other. It upset the natural order of things. But though their life was long and full of love, there are enemies that love cannot defeat. In a space of time, the Rabbit died and the fox grieved.
After a long period of grieving, Fox too grew old. His mind dwelt in the younger, less painful days of his youth, before he had met rabbit. These days were filled with snow, and life was only the hunt and the struggle for survival. He knew not love, nor did he know the pain of love in these memories, but that which is loved cannot ever truly be forgotten.
Fox, now approaching his twilight years, spending less and less of them in full command of his faculties, sought out a Siren. The siren then was only a little mad, and her song did not kill, it only summoned forth memories of the past so perfectly that they could step from one to the next like turning the page of a book.
To his surprise, when the Fox met the siren, she bowed to him and stilled her song. She called the fox the ‘Changer of Worlds’ and when asked gladly agreed to show Fox the memories of Rabbit that he had forgotten. The green fields in which they had married. The city they had lived in. The sun that had shone on them. And it was in the middle of these memories that Fox tricked the siren. He blew sand into her eyes and grasping her tail he held on as she darted away from him into the very time of those memories, like stepping from one page in a book to the next.
When the Siren learned she had been tricked, she was very angry with Fox. She told him that even the Changer of Worlds had no right to meddle with time itself. She warned him that there could not be two Foxes in one time, and that one or the other must fade away. Fox bared his teeth and swore an oath that he would tear out his own throat if it meant living the life he had loved with Rabbit one more time.
But the Siren sang a song. It was a beautiful song that captured not just the brightest parts of Fox’s memories of Rabbit, but also the low. The times when they could not find fuel for a fire to warm them. When the sun did not shine and floods threatened. When food was short and tempers were shorter. Times when Fox and Rabbit were not happy. When they were angry at each other. And the Siren sang about how the love of Fox and Rabbit transcended those troubles. Fox understood Siren’s meaning and relented. He knew that to relive the choices he had made in the past with Rabbit would be to second guess those choices, to dishonor them.
So Fox let himself fade away, and returned to his own time, to his frail, senile body. Lying there on the beach with Siren, the Fox uttered the words: “I wish…” But the Siren did not let him finish that sentence, interrupting him. She said to Fox:
“Do not wish. Wishes are terrible things. When you wish something into existence, it changes only that thing. All the other things that already existed must fit in around that thing. A wish is the pretense that someone can only love one thing, and when they choose that thing above all else, everything else does not matter and will fit in around the edges. But it is not possible to have only one love and forget the rest, because that which is loved cannot be forgotten. Besides, your wish would not have saved her.”
Old and weak, senile and dazed, the Fox was still cunning enough to hear what the Siren left unsaid. He leapt upon the Siren’s tail again and startled her back into the past, his resolve renewed.
“So she can be saved…”
That is the first half of the story. I think I will return to the Everwinter and try to find the second half of the story.
Written By Kritr
March 20, 2022, 9:42 p.m.(4/25/1017 AR)
The Harvest is a cluster of stars that is visible all year long in Arx. In Clearlake, it only appears in the spring, and is a sign that the yearly harvest is nearly ready. It is strange, but I realized that we have thirteen constellations in Clearlake. That is unlikely to be a coincidence.
Written By Kritr
Aug. 23, 2020, 8:29 p.m.(11/22/1013 AR)
Losing oneself in work is the best remedy for mushy thoughts. Even better when failing the work could be harmful to your health. When you have almost no spare time for thinking about certainty, the time you can spend in thought tends to be crystal clear, unwasted on what may be, or what was, only what is next.
Written By Kritr
Aug. 12, 2020, 3:36 p.m.(10/28/1013 AR)
When you visit someone else's dream their fears do not become your fears, their hopes do not become your hopes. It is like watching children play acting. You listen, you enjoy, you may even hope for a happy ending, but it is is all play.
Still. It is disappointing when the dream ends.
Still. It is disappointing when the dream ends.
Written By Kritr
March 21, 2020, 3:11 p.m.(12/20/1012 AR)
This is a story the Children of the Moon tell. I do not speak for it's truth, only that the Children believe it:
Walking woman was born in the between times. When the sun never set, but neither did it rise. So half the sky was dark and half the sky was bright. During these times the Children of the Sun and Moon met together where this world meets the next. It is unusual for children to be born in the between times. It means, always, that they are the child of two suns, or the child of two moons. Not that there is anything wrong with that either, as far as I can tell.
Because she was born in the between times, no one knew which path Walking Woman would take, would she be a Child of the Sun or a Child of the Moon? In the end, she followed after her heart and became a hunter. She followed the migrations of the animals, and hunted on the sea and in the snow. She was not a great hunter, but that did not matter, because when the Children reunited during the between times, she was the most beautiful under that light. Many Children courted Walking Woman during the between times, but always she turned them down. Everyone said it was a shame that she did not choose a lover, because her beauty should not die with her but should live on in her children.
When Walking Woman saw her thirty ninth winter, the courtship was especially fierce. Some say that she took a lover, others say that a lover took her. It is impossible to know. Because the morning of her fortieth year began the Children saw Walking Woman get up out of her icehouse and cross to the edge of the world. They saw her walk across the water as if it were solid. They saw her pass beyond the veil between this world and the next. She did not disappear over the edge of the world. Nor did she drown. No footprints in the snow were seen leaving the icehouse. When they dismantled her icehouse at the end of the gathering, they found her body inside, frozen for weeks.
When Children of the Moon approach their fortieth winter, they often will see someone walking ahead of them, following the same herds that they follow. No matter how fast they walk, they cannot catch the Walking Woman. And when they get to the spot where they saw Walking woman, there are no footprints in the snow. Only their own leading to that place.
Walking woman was born in the between times. When the sun never set, but neither did it rise. So half the sky was dark and half the sky was bright. During these times the Children of the Sun and Moon met together where this world meets the next. It is unusual for children to be born in the between times. It means, always, that they are the child of two suns, or the child of two moons. Not that there is anything wrong with that either, as far as I can tell.
Because she was born in the between times, no one knew which path Walking Woman would take, would she be a Child of the Sun or a Child of the Moon? In the end, she followed after her heart and became a hunter. She followed the migrations of the animals, and hunted on the sea and in the snow. She was not a great hunter, but that did not matter, because when the Children reunited during the between times, she was the most beautiful under that light. Many Children courted Walking Woman during the between times, but always she turned them down. Everyone said it was a shame that she did not choose a lover, because her beauty should not die with her but should live on in her children.
When Walking Woman saw her thirty ninth winter, the courtship was especially fierce. Some say that she took a lover, others say that a lover took her. It is impossible to know. Because the morning of her fortieth year began the Children saw Walking Woman get up out of her icehouse and cross to the edge of the world. They saw her walk across the water as if it were solid. They saw her pass beyond the veil between this world and the next. She did not disappear over the edge of the world. Nor did she drown. No footprints in the snow were seen leaving the icehouse. When they dismantled her icehouse at the end of the gathering, they found her body inside, frozen for weeks.
When Children of the Moon approach their fortieth winter, they often will see someone walking ahead of them, following the same herds that they follow. No matter how fast they walk, they cannot catch the Walking Woman. And when they get to the spot where they saw Walking woman, there are no footprints in the snow. Only their own leading to that place.
Written By Kritr
March 20, 2020, 1:22 a.m.(12/16/1012 AR)
So here is the story of how I lost my axe:
It started with a loose stitch on my belt. Loose stitch caused me to loose the metal loop in the snow. Can't find metal in the everwinter, so I replaced it with a bone loop, had the stitching redone. They know their leather up there, so I wasn't worried about the stitching, but metal is stronger than bone. I'd like to see the bone that proves me wrong.
In the Everwinter the seals nest by the thousands, fur pelts like nothing I've ever seen. Ermine, if ermine fur was made entirely of spun clouds and fulfilled dreams. And they aren't afraid of no man. So I climbed in right among them and relaxed for a whole day. Until I saw one of them slip too close to the edge. They don't do any swimming, on account of their fur. So when one of them fell in, I reached in after to fish him out.
Then I saw the reason he fell in, a black and white whale had broken off a whole chunk of ice. We fought. Me punching in the water and hanging onto the ice with one hand. Him circling around and coming out of the dark like a ghost. I lost. Punching an orca is like punching a rug hanging on a line. No matter how hard you hit it, it just don't notice. Didn't save the seal either. Whale ignored me entirely.
So there I was with half a seal carcass, and I look down and somewhere in the tussle, the bone loop for my axe was just snapped in half. Must have ended up at the bottom of the Everwinter Sea. It was then I decided the Everwinter had had enough of me. And me enough of the Everwinter.
It started with a loose stitch on my belt. Loose stitch caused me to loose the metal loop in the snow. Can't find metal in the everwinter, so I replaced it with a bone loop, had the stitching redone. They know their leather up there, so I wasn't worried about the stitching, but metal is stronger than bone. I'd like to see the bone that proves me wrong.
In the Everwinter the seals nest by the thousands, fur pelts like nothing I've ever seen. Ermine, if ermine fur was made entirely of spun clouds and fulfilled dreams. And they aren't afraid of no man. So I climbed in right among them and relaxed for a whole day. Until I saw one of them slip too close to the edge. They don't do any swimming, on account of their fur. So when one of them fell in, I reached in after to fish him out.
Then I saw the reason he fell in, a black and white whale had broken off a whole chunk of ice. We fought. Me punching in the water and hanging onto the ice with one hand. Him circling around and coming out of the dark like a ghost. I lost. Punching an orca is like punching a rug hanging on a line. No matter how hard you hit it, it just don't notice. Didn't save the seal either. Whale ignored me entirely.
So there I was with half a seal carcass, and I look down and somewhere in the tussle, the bone loop for my axe was just snapped in half. Must have ended up at the bottom of the Everwinter Sea. It was then I decided the Everwinter had had enough of me. And me enough of the Everwinter.
Written By Kritr
March 15, 2020, 3:40 a.m.(12/7/1012 AR)
Two years in Everwinter. Studying the spirits of the North. Talking to the people that live on the edge of the ice and water. Between this world and the next. I forgot what Arx was like. I forgot what beer tasted like. I FORGOT BEER!
Two years was too long.
Two years was too long.
Written By Kritr
May 12, 2019, 9:52 p.m.(2/4/1011 AR)
It is surprising how many people seem surprised that people want to fix what they broke.
Written By Kritr
Nov. 4, 2018, 10:17 a.m.(12/7/1009 AR)
Do all paths lead to swords or are all paths cleared by the sword?
Written By Kritr
Oct. 19, 2018, 12:50 p.m.(10/22/1009 AR)
I do not understand these southerners. So many are willing to give their opinions, but very few are as eager to hear if their opinion is wanted.
Written By Kritr
Aug. 5, 2018, 11:41 a.m.(4/28/1009 AR)
People have written about the festival we held. it has been good messages but I am not so used to so much writing and reading. we need more candles.
Written By Kritr
July 29, 2018, 8:57 p.m.(4/15/1009 AR)
The people of the Compact are coming to see us as one of them. It is slow progress, but it is progress.
Written By Kritr
July 15, 2018, 11:46 p.m.(3/13/1009 AR)
My family seems to be settling in to our new home. it is good to see that even the most stubborn of us can eventually see reason.
Written By Kritr
July 1, 2018, 9:38 a.m.(2/12/1009 AR)
We have been in the city for nearly a month now and yet to cause an great disturbance. Small steps.
Written By Kritr
June 19, 2018, 8:54 a.m.(1/15/1009 AR)
Our Lodge has been built here in the city along the area known as the Shaman walk. There are even walls inside and a stool to sit on for guests. It is a house, but not yet a Home. Hopefully with time it will become one.
Written By Kritr
June 17, 2018, 10:46 p.m.(1/13/1009 AR)
Scholar's Note: The man was entirely unsure what to do. Gave a recipe for lake trout mostly in Northern Shav.
Please note that the scholars may take some time preparing your journal for others to read.