Wet Plot, Honestly

The land

Open sea, 5521 m deep; within sight of a shore; warm tropical sea.

Cover

open sea

Depth

5521 m

Relief

flat ground

The sea

at sea

Climate

warm tropical sea

The patch

about 1.85 km north to south and 1.85 km across; 1,853 m north to south, 1,852 m east to west, 3.43 km²

Centre

1.9583°N 168.2250°W

What the land offers a builder

Of this land: timber, reed, sand, shell, coral, hide, bone, cloth, rope, glass, water. The land allows: stilts, afloat, spanning.

Now

Heavy rain and warm here, 16:18 local, the rains, as always.

The wild

Animals here this month: whale (migrating), shark (feeding), sea turtle (feeding), dolphin (feeding), tuna (passing), reef fish (feeding).

This season: a whale passage.

The lay of the land

• The high dune (dune): a crescent ridge of wind-packed sand shifting at the crest
• The shingle shore (shore): a long tide line of wet shingle, shells, and stranded wrack

What stands here

THE RAFT HALL — on the high dune. House-sized, about 6 m. Timber, reed, sand. Afloat.
"A wide timber raft lashed with reed, a low cabin roof and hearth stone amidships"
A roof of reed atop the top: pitched low to shed rain and heavy gusts. A hearth of sand inside the centre: set with flat stones to hold the embers through the night. A doorway of timber facing the south: fitted with a heavy latch on the leeward side. A storage rack of timber along the north side, hung with dry provisions, cordage, and spare gear.
Of this land: timber, reed, sand.

THE OUTRIGGER BOAT — beside the shingle shore. Small, about 4 m. Timber, rope, bronze. Afloat.
"A narrow timber hull with rope spars and a lantern bracket at the bow"
A mast of timber atop the middle: stepped in a lashing block for running before the wind. A net rack of rope along the edge: coiled with weighted lines and floats. A bow lantern of bronze at the front: shrouded against salt spray for night watches.
Of this land: timber, rope. Carried here: bronze.

The story, as Alden Vance tells it

Of the place

• North Drift was laid out by Alden Vance, who marked the high dune first and set the raft hall to face out of the prevailing weather.

Of the people

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the raft hall and share the first meal at the hearth with any traveller who crosses the high dune. (heard when a people lives here)
• Before winter sets in they check the lashings and stones of the outrigger boat and sing the names of the first four who came. (heard when a people lives here)

The people

THE PEOPLE OF WET PLOT, HONESTLY — fishers and sea hunters, settled, in hearth households.
Names from their own tongue. They hold the sea sacred.
They keep: boats sung in; burial in the water; the first-catch feast; shared catch; songs at the water.
They like timber, rope, cod, and the water. They dislike storm, fog, and stone. Open to strangers.
Their words: hearth havivu, river or sea hapoleapo, winter or the rains noavinouvii, the dead itomao, home oweloute, stranger liukate, feast peelo, child hupineto, old one wiaheituimu, the place Itipere, the beast voopiwaupu, the sky meanoumou.
Founders: four. Lore: 2 lines.

Ways

fishing, sea hunting

Settlement

settled

Kinship

hearth households

Marriage

either

Naming

given names

To strangers

open

They hold sacred

the sea

They keep

boats sung in; burial in the water; the first-catch feast; shared catch; songs at the water

They like

timber, rope, cod and the water

They dislike

storm, fog and stone

Founders

4

Counted

4 named folk, a household of 0, 0 born here, 0 died here

Founded

6 November 2026

Their words

hearth havivu, river or sea hapoleapo, winter or the rains noavinouvii, the dead itomao, home oweloute, stranger liukate, feast peelo, child hupineto, old one wiaheituimu, the place Itipere, the beast voopiwaupu, the sky meanoumou.

Their lore

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the raft hall and share the first meal at the hearth with any traveller who crosses the high dune.
• Before winter sets in they check the lashings and stones of the outrigger boat and sing the names of the first four who came.

Named folk

The chronicle

Every line is a record the land wrote; the names in quotes are the owner's words. What the chronicle does not say did not happen.

Year 1

The annals: 1 founders; 2 passage; 1 people founded; 2 swarm; 1 ways changed.

• The rains, as always, the first year of Wet Plot, Honestly: reef fish thick in the air over the spot at dusk.
• The rains, as always, the first year of Wet Plot, Honestly: the ways of the people changed: name. kept
• The rains, as always, the first year of North Drift: whale passed through North Drift, migrating.
• The rains, as always, the first year of North Drift: a swarm of reef fish at dusk over the spot.
• The rains, as always, the first year of North Drift: whale passed through North Drift, migrating.
• The rains, as always, the first year of North Drift: four came to North Drift and lit the hearth. The net-mender "Okone", the boatwright "Kuliwei", the fire-keeper "Uvino", the lamp-lighter "Iruevonu". kept
• The rains, as always, the first year of North Drift: Alden Vance called a people to North Drift: the people of North Drift. kept

Here now

the net-mender "Okone" (folk) · the boatwright "Kuliwei" (folk) · the fire-keeper "Uvino" (folk) · the lamp-lighter "Iruevonu" (folk)