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15th Day in the 4th of Ründ’s Months, Dry Season, in the 29th Year of King Bornidin the Young’s Reign, 126th Reckoned Year
Kingdom, Oullman, Cleave and Keep.
All were happy as could be.
Till the Shot heard from the Strait.
Now all are sinking with deadweights.
Kingdom, Oullman, Cleave and Keep.
All are sinking in the deep.
Don’t look down or watch your feet.
Kingdom, Oullman, Cleave and Keep
From ‘Kingdom, Oullman, Cleave and Keep’ Common Children’s Rhyme, Author Unknown in the 97th Reckoned Year
Dinner is announced by the high-pitched ringing of Bor’s bell. Petsune arrives in line just behind Chapel. Chapel turns to hand Petsune a plate but sees that he has one already. “I hope you didn’t steal that from Bor’s kitchen. We’ll be eating Petsune stew tomorrow.”
“Ah, no. I wouldn’t dare. The Big Man traded for it from the Good Lend.”
“Oh? Well, that’s good. He’s a thoughtful man.”
“Yes, he is, I was rather surprised.”
“Yeah? Well, he may be big, and he may not harbor much love toward the churches, but he is a genuinely kind man. I was rather surprised he likes you, but like I said, he’s a good man.”
The crew devours the incredible food Bor cooked up. It is allegedly some fancy dish from the Oullman. There are a few slices of snub-nosed gipp sautéed in something sweet, with thin grapple slices, all atop a slice of sweet bread. It’s without a doubt the best meal Petsune has ever had. When Pet looks over at Bor, he is beaming with pride at the delicious creation. Petsune offers his extreme thanks alongside the rest of the crew, and as he does every meal now, he offers to do the washing.
Chapel and Petsune tackle the cleanup. “So, Captain, I don’t believe you ever said where you met Bor?”
“Didn’t I? No, suppose I didn’t. Well, it’s a funny story actually. He was the personal Bor to Fellpost HelBenledore up in Broadfell, but apparently the Fellpost wasn’t as appreciative as our Bor would’ve liked. I heard he corrected the Fellpost on his manners and then HelBenledore had him cast out.”
“Oh wow. He’s lucky he wasn’t executed for something like that.”
“Yeah. But, anyway, when I came across Bor, he was berating some poor cook in a tavern. I showed him the ship and he said something about it being a ‘vessel worthy of his talents’ and that was that.”
“I pity whoever he was belittling…”
The two of them continue washing and cleaning up. Bungle and Tussle are gnawing away contentedly on some leftover gipp, just outside the kitchen doors. After they finish washing everything and carefully placing it back in Bor’s designated locations, Chapel speaks, “Oh, I wanted to say thanks. I’m not sure what you said to the General, but he does seem to be doing better.”
“Of course, I’m happy to engage in priestly duties. Tar did mention something I didn’t know about you.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Well, I recited a poem from this book I read once when I was in the Sanctum. It’s called Musings of the Hollow Trees. Anyway, he had said you collect sayings from the Hollow Trees, that you seek them out even.”
Chapel's face changes into a look Petsune knows well, the fond memory of a lost thing. Pet gives him the silence, allowing him to speak in his own time. “My mother wrote that book, Musings of the Hollow Trees…”
“Oh, wow. Really? I had no idea. Why didn’t she list herself as the author?”
“She believed the Hollow Trees should receive all the credit. Thought of herself as merely a messenger, I suppose. She sailed with my father, long before I was born, following him from naval outpost to naval outpost. She developed her own hobbies and passions along the way, to keep busy, I guess. She encountered at least three Hollow Trees that she had longer talks with, and I guess at some point, she started writing things down.”
“She sounds brilliant… I’m sure she was a wonderful person.”
Chapel looks upward at unseen things. “Yeah, I’m sure she was… She was the first person to realize that every Hollow Tree’s name is a palindrome: the same front and back.”
Petsune considers this revelation, thinking of the names listed in the Musings. “You know, I never even realized that… hah I spent hours copying out the text once while I was in the Sanctum, and I never even noticed.”
Chapel continues to stare deep into the past, until snapping back and looking to Pet. “Yeah… So, now I collect the sayings of Hollow Trees. It’s a way of keeping her with me, I guess. Even named the ship after one of the sayings she wrote in her book.”
“Ah, yes, I think I do remember that one. The Painful Lady.”
“Yeah, pretty sure it’s Saint Vésh’s title in the Cleave. But I doubt anyone else in Dintash is aware of that.”
“Huh… That’s interesting. I don’t know that I would have made the connection either. It sounds plausible though, each Saint has a few titles used to speak of them: Saint Delód, Lady of Currents; Saint Wōde, The Hand that Holds; and Saint Ründ, The Only Unbent. Those are the main ones.”
“Yeah, Painful Lady fits right in there.”
They each grab a door and close the foredeck kitchen. Petsune follows Chapel up the steps to the bow of the ship. Bor is leaned against a railing smoking a rather elegantly formed pipe. He nods, first to Chapel then to Pet, then he turns to look out at the yawning horizon. The small sun is nearly set, casting a dim purple hue over everything. Chapel and Petsune find elbow room on the starboard railing, while Bor leans on the portside. Chapel leans over the prow and tosses some leftover sweet bread out onto the dull, crepuscular surface of the water.
Chapel speaks first, “Most people think Hollow Trees are only sages of parables and poetry, but they actually know a lot more than that.”
Oh? Like what?”
“Well, after I learned about my mother’s interest in the Hollow Trees, I started reading any information I could find about them. Most people get stories or advice or poems from the Trees. There were some that wanted knowledge, which is how I learned about the Vánüm language.”
“Vánüm? I’ve never heard of it…”
“You may have seen it written about as the Elder Tongue, or the Ancient Speech?”
Petsune appears thoughtful. “It doesn’t sound familiar to me…”
“Well, the Hollow Trees say it was the language of the Saints. They spoke words in Vánüm to create Yath, and these words have been passed down throughout history, some still surviving today.”
“Hmm,” Petsune thinks about what each church believes and speaks aloud, “that does make sense. Each of the churches believe in words being spoken to bring about the creation of Yath, they differ in just about everything else though.”
They both laugh lightly in understanding of the churches and their differences. Down at the surface of the now dark water, the glowing shapes of ghost fish begin to emerge from the black depths. Petsune and Chapel watch, mesmerized by the soporific dance of the ghost fish. Petsune continues their conversation, “But what do you mean ‘still surviving’, how can that be?”
“A lot of our own language comes from this forgotten Speech of the Saints; we’ve just lost the meaning and understanding over time.”
Petsune’s eyebrows both climb up his forehead. “Really? Like what?”
“I’ll happily tell you what very little I know, but I only have a few of the words memorized. The rest I have written down in my captain's log. Feel free to check it out whenever you like.”
“Thank you, I will. But isn’t a captain’s log supposed to be used for important things? Like a log of where you’ve been and what you’ve sold and all that?”
“Yes and no. Captains logs often have that stuff, but they are also sort of just a journal the captains keep for themselves.”
“Huh… I never knew that.” Petsune says contemplatively.
“Yeah, I think it’s also to keep record of what happened aboard the ship if it should turn up empty or something suspicious happens.”
“That does make sense. But anyway, what were you saying?” Pet asks.
Chapel recalls, “Uhh — Vánüm.”
“Right.”
“So, let me think here…” Chapel bores holes in the railing with his fixated gaze.
Petsune lazily watches the ghost fish. Towers below, in the pitch-black depths, he thinks he spots the glow of a flashing storm squid, but he doesn’t see it again. Chapel finally perks up with remembrance. “Got it, I remember one. The word is Fē.”
“Fee?”
“Yeah, Fē, and it means sweet, like the flavor. So, a lardfee is just lard from our tongue, and Fē from the Vánüm tongue, meaning sweet lard.”
“Interesting…” Petsune says, “do you remember any others?”
“Actually, that reminds me of an even better example: runnykit.”
“What, like the fish or the game?”
“Well, the game is named after the fish but yeah, the fish. I figured out that the word is two Vánüm words combined: Rün and Ckit —”
“Rune and Kit? Those are Vánüm words?”
“— yeah, Ckit means fast and Rün mea—”
“Let me guess, it means Bending?”
“… Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Saint Ründ, Patron Saint of Bending.”
“Hah! I never even thought about that… Yeah, I guess that fits.”
“So then, for the fish, runnykit: it would mean fast bending. Hmm, they are very fast fish.”
“Very. And think about our sayings too, like ‘he carries a light kit’ —”
“Ahh, yes. It does make a lot of sense, I suppose.”
The minds of Petsune and Chapel are whirring away with their intriguing insights and revelations. The ghost fish glide just below the surface in lazy circles, their salient organs imitating the eternal scream of a drowned sailor. Petsune watches them finish off the final mushy bits of sweet bread and then eerily descend into the darker waters below. The ghost fish make him think of death and dying, and he thinks aloud, “I wonder… if Saint Ründ’s name is Vánüm, I wonder if all of the Saint’s names are? If each name is simply the Vánüm word for what they are the patron of?”
Chapel raises one eyebrow and contemplates the idea, turning it over in his head. “Yeah, that would fit. Ründ, Patron Saint of Bending; Delód, Patron Saint of Changing; Wōde, Patron Saint of Stealing, and… Vésh, Patron Saint of Ending.”
“Hmm… maybe you have some new words to add to your logbook?”
“Maybe. When we find a Hollow Tree, I’ll have to ask.”
Petsune stares blankly up at the moon now high in the sky, a full and luminous pale light. It reflects in skittering lines across the ocean, causing the surface to sparkle like millie juice. Petsune yawns lightly, then speaks to the moon. “I’ve always wanted to meet a Hollow Tree…”
Chapel rises off his elbows and turns for his cabin, “Well, stick with us, Pet, and I’m sure you will.” Chapel waves a hand, and though Petsune can’t see his face, he pictures it winking as it takes the steps off the foredeck. Petsune heads down into the hold where Chapel’s favorite chest has been moved. There are several loud sawing noises emanating from lumpy forms under blankets. It puts Petsune right to sleep.
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