Madagascar, Probably

The land

Flat ground under warm broadleaf forest, 756 m up; brooks and springs in the folds of the ground; the sea about 110 km away; mild, with dry winters.

Cover

warm broadleaf forest

Elevation

756 m

Relief

flat ground

Fresh water

brooks and springs in the folds of the ground

The sea

the sea about 110 km away

Climate

mild, with dry winters

The patch

about 1.85 km north to south and 1.77 km across; 1,853 m north to south, 1,767 m east to west, 3.27 km²

Centre

17.5583°S 48.3917°E

What the land offers a builder

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

Now

Clear and warm here, 06:57 local, the wet season.

The wild

Animals here this month: leopard (feeding), buffalo (feeding), bushbuck (calving), baboon (feeding), albatross (feeding), bushpig (calving).

The lay of the land

• The inner grove (grove): a close stand of straight trunks with deep leaf litter below
• The low thicket (thicket): a dense tangle of low branches that turns the cold gusts

What stands here

THE TIMBER HOUSE — on the inner grove. 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 STOREHOUSE — beside the low thicket. Small, about 4 m. Timber, tile. On the ground.
"A tight-walled timber storehouse raised clear of the damp with a tile roof"
A roof of tile 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: tile.

The story, as perrin_asher tells it

Of the place

• Timber Fork was laid out by Perrin Asher, who marked the inner grove 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 inner grove. (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 MADAGASCAR, PROBABLY — gardeners, fishers, and hunters, settled, in hearth households.
Names from their own tongue. They hold the river sacred.
They keep: ancestor stones; the harvest feast; burial in a mound; hospitality to strangers; the first tooth given to the river.
They like timber, frost, red deer, and light rain. They dislike stone, heat, and storm. Open to strangers.
Their words: hearth liwbo, river or sea norbi, winter or the rains fothis, the dead burdethi, home imwoudfub, stranger salamdil, feast sulninwous, child gefudim, old one rerour, the place Athfoul, the beast reimour, the sky wafun.
Founders: four. Lore: 2 lines.

Ways

gardening, fishing, hunting

Settlement

settled

Kinship

hearth households

Marriage

either

Naming

given names

To strangers

open

They hold sacred

the river

They keep

ancestor stones; the harvest feast; burial in a mound; hospitality to strangers; the first tooth given to the river

They like

timber, frost, red deer and light rain

They dislike

stone, heat 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 liwbo, river or sea norbi, winter or the rains fothis, the dead burdethi, home imwoudfub, stranger salamdil, feast sulninwous, child gefudim, old one rerour, the place Athfoul, the beast reimour, the sky wafun.

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 inner grove.
• 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 founders; 1 people founded; 1 ways changed.

• The wet season, the first year of Madagascar, Probably: the ways of the people changed: name. kept
• The wet season, the first year of Timber Fork: four came to Timber Fork and lit the hearth. The net-mender "Ithnuboul", the fire-keeper "Rulgouw", the keeper of the store "Thousor", the keeper of the shrine "Reirmulgeiw". kept
• The wet season, the first year of Timber Fork: Perrin Asher called a people to Timber Fork: the people of Timber Fork. kept

Here now

the net-mender "Ithnuboul" (folk) · the fire-keeper "Rulgouw" (folk) · the keeper of the store "Thousor" (folk) · the keeper of the shrine "Reirmulgeiw" (folk)