It's the last day of Takotta, 2070th year of the
Volcanic Era. I'm here with Zimmira, a
water handler from Ralcondray and formerly the colony's
Dancinglight--which is not the same as our
Dancinglight--but even though she's retired, she still has an important role. She is the intermediary between the islanders and the deeps-dweller, which is the subject of our interview today. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Zimmira.
I'm glad to help.
My interest is because of this piece from the
starter guide. As you pointed out to me earlier, it's fifteen years out of date and written on the basis of an old Tiderider log entry that does no more than hint at the deeps-dweller's existence.
Didn't we already talk about this?
It's a description technique. Sometimes I publish the transcripts, and if I don't give proper background at the beginning of a piece it won't make sense to someone who doesn't know its context.
[The Dancinglight is] unusually excited about something living in bay, neither edible nor dangerous. Can't give comprehensible description--whatever it is sticks to sea bed, doesn't swim, might be one or more than one, can't see or hear, but knows we're here?! Claims it/they gave permission for the venture, and insists on coming back with spec fleet to "continue exchange of thoughts". Odd duck.— Luraun, Grand Adventure first logbook
I see. So I should err on the side of telling you things you already know?
That would be good, but I don't think you can in this case since I don't know any more than whoever wrote this. For instance, this confusion over whether the deeps-dweller is single or multiple. Would you clarify?
*pause* That's...actually very difficult. I'd say it makes the most sense to speak about it in the singular, but it's made of a multitude of living things.
(I was briefly speechless.) I am sorry, I thought I was starting with a simple question.
The question's simple. It's the deeps-dweller that's not. The things it's made of are somewhere between a tree and an animal. They grow in the ground at the bottom of the bay, like the log suggests, but they can move their own bodies to some degree. They don't think at all, but the deeps-dweller as a whole is the most intelligent being I've ever interacted with.
(Speechless again.) I'm having a terrible time picturing this.
Have you seen birds' nests, the kind made of woven sticks? It's a bit like that, but with less weaving. And, of course, much larger. The entire clump is as wide as an offshoot plaza. There must be thousands of the tree-animals in it.
And each one of them is the size of a tree?
Sorry, not the size of trees, I meant just the general shape and look. They're most like fanleaf trees, with scale-like bark and no branches. Even their tops are similar, if you can imagine fanleaf trees popping their crowns in and out of their trunks, only these crowns are more like delicate white flowers. But they're much smaller. Individually, I don't think they're any taller than I am, and their trunks are…mmm… (Zimmira circled a thumb and finger around her wrist.) No thicker than this, that's my best guess.
How do they survive at the bottom of the bay? There's no sun and there's nothing to eat.
It's the minerals around them. Their flower-crowns take it from the water and their roots pull it from the ground. And the curious thing is that they don't use the minerals directly; they're feeding something else that lives inside each tree-animal.
woah. this is super intriguing. thanks for sharing! <3
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There's still a lot more to the deeps-dweller, and I'm hoping that a fitting character prompt will come up during Summer Camp. If not, I'll just extend the interview afterwards.