Grandpa Lars' Hollow

The land

Gently rolling ground under broadleaf forest that turns in autumn, 220 m up; brooks and springs in the folds of the ground; far from any sea; warm and humid, no dry season.

Cover

broadleaf forest that turns in autumn

Elevation

220 m

Relief

gently rolling ground

Fresh water

brooks and springs in the folds of the ground

The sea

far from any sea

Climate

warm and humid, no dry season

The patch

about 1.85 km north to south and 1.47 km across; 1,853 m north to south, 1,467 m east to west, 2.72 km²

Centre

37.6417°N 89.9250°W

What the land offers a builder

Of this land: timber, living plant, earth, stone, hide, bone, cloth, rope, fire. The land allows: ground, stilts, canopy.

Now

Clear and cool here, 21:44 local, late autumn, full dark.

The wild

Animals here this month: brown bear (denning), puma (feeding), wolf (passing), elk (migrating), white-tailed deer (rutting), black bear (denning).

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 HOUSE — on the low knoll. House-sized, about 6 m. Timber, living plant, stone. On the ground.
"A stout timber house roofed with living plant, set low out of the wind with a central hearth"
A roof of living plant 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, living plant, stone.

THE WATCH POST — beside the north hill. Small, about 4 m. Timber, rope, bronze. On the ground.
"A four-post timber frame with a planked platform and a bronze beacon pan"
A ladder of timber against the south side, lashed with stout rungs up to the deck. A beacon pan of bronze atop the top: filled with dry pitch wood for dark nights.
Of this land: timber, rope. Carried here: bronze.

The story, as kbakke tells it

Of the place

• Lower Hollow was laid out by Kirsten Bakke, who marked the low knoll first and set the timber house to face out of the prevailing weather.

Of the people

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the timber house 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 watch post and sing the names of the first four who came. (heard when a people lives here)

The people

THE PEOPLE OF GRANDPA LARS' HOLLOW — gardeners, hunters, and gatherers, settled, in hearth households.
Names from their own tongue; one child in three carries a dead one's name. They hold the dead sacred.
They keep: ancestor stones; the harvest feast; burial in a mound; names from the dead; winter stories.
They like timber, turf, boar, and dawn. They dislike heat, sand, and storm. Wary to strangers.
Their words: hearth oufgibol, river or sea mitheigous, winter or the rains seilgur, the dead mesur, home thanuneg, stranger soudufgei, feast soubur, child mudlur, old one wirguneir, the place Bigladbiw, the beast irfad, the sky feismumlou.
Founders: four. Lore: 2 lines.

Ways

gardening, hunting, gathering

Settlement

settled

Kinship

hearth households

Marriage

either

Naming

inherited from the dead

To strangers

wary

They hold sacred

the dead

They keep

ancestor stones; the harvest feast; burial in a mound; names from the dead; winter stories

They like

timber, turf, boar and dawn

They dislike

heat, sand and storm

Founders

4

Counted

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

Founded

6 November 2026

Their words

hearth oufgibol, river or sea mitheigous, winter or the rains seilgur, the dead mesur, home thanuneg, stranger soudufgei, feast soubur, child mudlur, old one wirguneir, the place Bigladbiw, the beast irfad, the sky feismumlou.

Their lore

• They keep a dry stack of fuel beside the timber house 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 watch post 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: 2 den found; 1 founders; 2 passage; 1 people founded; 2 rut heard; 1 ways changed.

• Late autumn, the first year of Grandpa Lars' Hollow: the ways of the people changed: name. kept
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: a brown bear den under the spot.
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: elk passed through Lower Hollow, migrating.
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: wild boar heard at the rut from the low knoll.
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: a brown bear den under the spot.
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: elk passed through Lower Hollow, migrating.
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: four came to Lower Hollow and lit the hearth. The net-mender "Miburir", the fire-keeper "Eiwmeildor", the watcher "Neron", the lamp-lighter "Ouththosol". kept
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: wild boar heard at the rut from the low knoll.
• Late autumn, the first year of Lower Hollow: Kirsten Bakke called a people to Lower Hollow: the people of Lower Hollow. kept

Here now

the net-mender "Miburir" (folk) · the fire-keeper "Eiwmeildor" (folk) · the watcher "Neron" (folk) · the lamp-lighter "Ouththosol" (folk)