House of Still Water

Content Warning This article references drowning and death of loved ones.

Picking an item for the House of Still Water was one of the hardest things I've done. To go through his belongings, his dusk watching me as I look for the perfect thing to represent him. The love of my life, who I'd never see again. I've never cried so much in my life. I almost gave up, but I'm glad I didn't. Adding his favorite sweater to the House, tucking it into a drawer with so many others... it helped. I'm not the only one who's gone through this. I just wish I'd be the last.
— From a widow's journal

Record of the Past

In the center of Su-mehr Qiamp stands what appears to be an average house. One of its outer corners is reinforced with stone, and etched into it are lines and dates. Inside the house is a collection of objects, from frying pans to children's toys, each with a name and year engraved or stitched into them. No one uses them. No one lives here. No one even owns the items within. Because the former owners are now deceased. This is the House of Still Water. A monument to past floods and memorial to those who lost their lives to them.

Monument

Dams, levees, runoff channels, and flood barriers all aim to keep water levels in the city low. However, the river is not a force that can be tamed, and every flood season brings new challenges with it. The stone corner on the House marks the water level reached each year. It's evidence that even after years of low levels, a worse one comes eventually.

Memorial

Those who lose their lives to the floods can't always be laid to rest. The river's current often takes the body with it. For an alternative closure, next of kin can choose a single item to represent their lost loved one to donate to the House. The deceased's name and year of death are put onto the object, and the item is placed where it belongs in the House.

Information

Located in

Su-mehr Qiamp

Built

350 years ago

Purpose

Monument and memorial

Trivia

Grasswater and water clocks are among the most common items given to the House. Qiampian culture sees the flow of water as the flow of time. The name, "Still Water", refers both to still waters that pool after a flood as well as time stopping in memory of those lost.

- Dusk Spirit - When the living aren't ready to say goodbye, the deceased may linger. Their memories take incorporeal form as a dusk spirit.

- Mehr River - The river is the lifeblood of the city being travel and trade, but its annual flooding can be catastrophic and deadly.

- Festival of Halinn - Items are committed to the House in a ritual during the Festival of Halinn, which takes place after the worst of the floods.

Entry for Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2025

Answering: "A symbolic building"

Visit Those2Nerds's Competition Page Check all other answers to this prompt Competition Homepage

All work is copyright Rin Garnett 2025, all rights reserved. Background image by Dawn Hudson with edits by Rin Garnett. This is a short-term project for Summer Camp 2025. If you're interested in more of my work, check out wow that's a lot of stars.

Cover image: by Rin Garnett using assets from Karen Arnold and Maria Gandolfo

Metadata

Article template

Building / Landmark

World

Su-mehr Qiamp

Comments

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Master mezzopatricia

Jul 11, 2025 00:02 by Patricia

This is really, really lovely. It seems like such an organic and poignant thing for a culture that's used to this kind of disaster to build.

Grandmaster Those2Nerds

Aug 3, 2025 12:51 by Rin Garnett

Thank you so much ❤

⭐ Cause problems in wow that's a lot of stars
✏️ Take a WA unofficial survey
⛱️ Vacation with ghosts in Su-mehr Qiamp

Grandmaster Keon Croucher

Jul 11, 2025 10:57 by Keon Croucher

It needs not much words to establish the importance and symbolic...one might even argue necessity, of such a structure. I like the approach to be straight forward, to lay it out to simply be absorbed, and understood up front like this. Grief and loss are not subtle, though they can be complex, they are never subtle. So you wouldn't expect a structure like this to be subtle in its symbolism and meaning. Well written Rin.

Keon Croucher, Chronicler of the Age of Revitalization

Councilor of the Inner Sanctum Serukis

Jul 12, 2025 23:33 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

Aww, this is so beautiful and poignant. The prose at the beginning made me tear up.

Emy x
Explore Etrea | Summer Camp 2025

House of Still Water

Record of the Past

Monument

Memorial

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Trivia

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Entry for Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2025

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