Turks & Plots

The land

Gently rolling ground under open grass steppe, 3 m up; brooks and springs in the folds of the ground; on the coast; hot, with a wet season and a dry season.

Cover

open grass steppe

Elevation

3 m

Relief

gently rolling ground

Fresh water

brooks and springs in the folds of the ground

The sea

on the coast

Climate

hot, with a wet season and a dry season

The patch

about 1.85 km north to south and 1.72 km across; 1,853 m north to south, 1,721 m east to west, 3.19 km²

Centre

21.8083°N 72.1583°W

What the land offers a builder

Of this land: timber, reed, earth, turf, stone, sand, shell, coral, hide, bone, cloth, rope, glass, fire. Of the region: brick, tile, marble, slate, bronze, iron, gold, water. The land allows: ground, stilts, spanning.

Now

Heat and warm here, 21:50 local, the dry season, full dark, tide high.

The wild

Animals here this month: puma (feeding), white-tailed deer (rutting), whale (migrating), shark (feeding), sea turtle (feeding), giant anteater (feeding).

This season: the birds passing.

The lay of the land

• The low knoll (knoll): a rounded rise with a clear view across the surrounding patch
• The north hill (hill): a broad shoulder of high ground dry underfoot after rain

What stands here

THE TIMBER HUT — on the low knoll. House-sized, about 6 m. Timber, reed, stone. On the ground.
"A stout timber hut roofed with reed, set low out of the wind with a central hearth"
A roof of reed atop the top: pitched low to shed rain and heavy gusts. A hearth of stone 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, stone.

THE STOREHOUSE — beside the north hill. Small, about 4 m. Timber, slate. On the ground.
"A tight-walled timber storehouse raised clear of the damp with a slate roof"
A roof of slate atop the top: weighted with flat stones against high winds. A shelves of timber inside the inside: lined with dry bins for winter stores.
Of this land: timber. Of the region: slate.

The story, as L. Vance tells it

Of the place

• Outer Spit Hold was laid out by Lucian Vance, who marked the low knoll first and set the timber hut to face out of the prevailing weather.

Of the people

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the timber hut and share the first meal at the hearth with any traveller who crosses the low knoll. (heard when a people lives here)
• Before winter sets in they check the lashings and stones of the storehouse and sing the names of the first four who came. (heard when a people lives here)

The people

THE PEOPLE OF TURKS & PLOTS — fishers, salt and shell gatherers, and gardeners, settled, in long houses.
Names from their own tongue. They hold the sea sacred.
They keep: boats sung in; the first-catch feast; burial in the water; hospitality to strangers; songs at the water.
They like coral, shell, reef fish, and bamboo. They dislike storm, frost, and stone. Open to strangers.
Their words: hearth korawalo, river or sea karomula, winter or the rains maewenea, the dead orauri, home tueta, stranger voanava, feast pemuka, child mivou, old one heme, the place Pueweuvui, the beast haokinike, the sky viapoiwewoi.
Founders: four. Lore: 2 lines.

Ways

fishing, salt and shell gathering, gardening

Settlement

settled

Kinship

long houses

Marriage

either

Naming

given names

To strangers

open

They hold sacred

the sea

They keep

boats sung in; the first-catch feast; burial in the water; hospitality to strangers; songs at the water

They like

coral, shell, reef fish and bamboo

They dislike

storm, frost and stone

Founders

4

Counted

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

Founded

9 November 2026

Their words

hearth korawalo, river or sea karomula, winter or the rains maewenea, the dead orauri, home tueta, stranger voanava, feast pemuka, child mivou, old one heme, the place Pueweuvui, the beast haokinike, the sky viapoiwewoi.

Their lore

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the timber hut and share the first meal at the hearth with any traveller who crosses the low knoll.
• Before winter sets in they check the lashings and stones of the storehouse 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 first roof; 1 founders; 1 people founded; 1 ways changed.

• The dry season, the first year of Turks & Plots: the first roof went up at Turks & Plots: the timber hut. kept
• The dry season, the first year of Turks & Plots: the ways of the people changed: name. kept
• The dry season, the first year of Outer Spit Hold: four came to Outer Spit Hold and lit the hearth. The net-mender "Wuenupomi", the fire-keeper "Wuume", the keeper of the store "Tiwupa", the keeper of the shrine "Morola". kept
• The dry season, the first year of Outer Spit Hold: Lucian Vance called a people to Outer Spit Hold: the people of Outer Spit Hold. kept

Here now

the net-mender "Wuenupomi" (folk) · the fire-keeper "Wuume" (folk) · the keeper of the store "Tiwupa" (folk) · the keeper of the shrine "Morola" (folk)