Southerly Buster

The land

Open sea, 523 m deep; within sight of a shore; frost the year round.

Cover

open sea

Depth

523 m

Relief

gently rolling ground

The sea

at sea

Climate

frost the year round

The patch

about 1.85 km north to south and 0.76 km across; 1,853 m north to south, 761 m east to west, 1.41 km²

Centre

65.7583°S 108.1250°E

What the land offers a builder

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

Now

Snow and cold here, 07:11 local, late spring.

The wild

Animals here this month: polar bear (feeding), orca (feeding), walrus (migrating), seal (moulting), whale (feeding), penguin (nesting).

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 Imogen Hart tells it

Of the place

• Long Floats Hold was laid out by Imogen Hart, 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 SOUTHERLY BUSTER — 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 niuvapuapii, river or sea enoo, winter or the rains otiuvepi, the dead hourao, home vaweetatau, stranger kiputoali, feast ameu, child eha, old one heveo, the place Hiaha, the beast uvahaupu, the sky owo.
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 niuvapuapii, river or sea enoo, winter or the rains otiuvepi, the dead hourao, home vaweetatau, stranger kiputoali, feast ameu, child eha, old one heveo, the place Hiaha, the beast uvahaupu, the sky owo.

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 tracks; 1 ways changed.

• Late spring, the first year of Southerly Buster: fresh whale tracks at the high dune.
• Late spring, the first year of Southerly Buster: the ways of the people changed: name. kept
• Late spring, the first year of Long Floats Hold: walrus passed through Long Floats Hold, migrating.
• Late spring, the first year of Long Floats Hold: whale tracks across the high dune.
• Late spring, the first year of Long Floats Hold: walrus passed through Long Floats Hold, migrating.
• Late spring, the first year of Long Floats Hold: four came to Long Floats Hold and lit the hearth. The net-mender "Ili", the boatwright "Ano", the fire-keeper "Rakaime", the lamp-lighter "Ile". kept
• Late spring, the first year of Long Floats Hold: Imogen Hart called a people to Long Floats Hold: the people of Long Floats Hold. kept

Here now

the net-mender "Ili" (folk) · the boatwright "Ano" (folk) · the fire-keeper "Rakaime" (folk) · the lamp-lighter "Ile" (folk)