stones of farspeech (12 jan)

[barberian]

(While her companions may be comfortable addressing the network as a whole, Yasha has never put out this kind of call before. She's a little hesitant in her speech, and it definitely sounds like she went over what she was going to say before she picked up her stone of farspeech to do it for real. She's doing her best.)

... Hello.

I wanted to ask something about gardening.

Where do I find dirt? There is a lot of sand around, but I cannot find dirt. I would like to have a lot of it.

Thank you.

(There's the sound of muffled fumbling with the stone, and then another, faint addition right before she finds the off button:)

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[postictal]

You could always request it from the Storyteller, if you need it for...you know, gardening.

[This is actually not the strangest thing he's heard about someone looking for. Shockingly.]

...is that what you need it for?

[barberian]

(A slight pause.)

... That is what I said in my original message, yes.

Though I didn't know I could ask the Storyteller for dirt.

[postictal]

Pays to double-check around here.

You can ask them for pretty much anything. There's dirt around, further in the jungle, but if you ask them for it you'd better find some way to move it on your own.

[barberian]

What, the Storyteller doesn't do delivery?

(She's making a joke... but her tone remains as impassive as always. Classic Yasha.)

Where can I find the jungle?

[postictal]

It's on the mainland. I mean, once you're off the beach, it's...

[There's a pause, perhaps one in which his frown is audible.]

How much of this place have you explored?

[barberian]

Not much. I haven't been here long.

(And a lot has been going on, in that time. She's been too preoccupied with that to travel.)

Is it close by?

[postictal]

[He kinda wants to know how long is not long for her.]

The jungle is on Ensō, so yeah. I'd say it's pretty close by.

[barberian]

Oh.

(Really close, then. Yasha abruptly feels ridiculous, and clears her throat into the silence.)

Well... thank you for the help.

[postictal]

[Well now he just feels bad. There's a pause, and then - ]

Certain parts of the jungle look like they used to be repurposed for farmland. Like someone there used to grow crops there or something. That'd probably be your best bet.

[barberian]

Okay.

(Dirt? Solved. She has a lock down, on the dirt. Now:)

Nobody would mind if I took clippings from around the island?

[postictal]

I doubt it. If you need pointers, I ran into a few patches of land like that back when we were still scoping the place out.

[barberian]

What 'place'?

(The lack of detail is a little annoying, but she's trying not to give that away, as he is giving her advice.)

[postictal]

Ensō.

[He bites back the urge to comment on what other place would it be - patience has become something of a necessity.]

The monkey compound has some soil that was used for farming. Long as you don't take any of the soil that people are actually using, there should be plenty to go around.

[barberian]

Ensō isn't small.

(Okay, okay. She's getting something a little more concrete now. The monkey compound sounds like the perfect starting point; the sound of her voice is a little muffled when she next speaks, as she's clearly picked up the stone and is walking, carrying it along with her.)

I'll check there first, in that case. Thank you. (And she's going to go ahead and switch the stone off before he can reply to that; she likes the directness of the messaging system. Much easier to end a conversation when she doesn't have to awkwardly walk away afterward.)

[postictal]

[Any response he might have is lost in the silence, but - well, whatever. That's fine. He lets it be lost.]

[She'll probably figure it out.]