Post by Palustris on Feb 8, 2024 15:44:38 GMT 1
Chapter 1
Glom of the Nith.
Glom was a rather unusual Nithling. As far as anyone, himself included, could see, he had no talent. All the other Nithlings had at least one ability. For example, Glom’s father was a masterworker in metal. Glom’s mother was a carpenter of great skill. His uncle Brom brewed beer, and his aunt Drib made beautifully woven baskets.
Nithlings are natives of a small part of the world. Nith is a place of low rolling hills and green valleys. Its people are peace-loving farmers and gardeners. The trouble for them was that they looked as if they ought to be unpleasant, vicious monsters.
The way they looked had led in the past to some very nasty incidents when Nithlings had gone to visit other parts of the world. Waving any sharp tools they could find, such as rakes and scythes crowds of locals had run after them.Nithlings had decided that since the rest of the world was so unfriendly, they would have nothing to do with it. So for many, many years, no Nithling had ever left Nith.
For the same reason, no outsider had visited Nith for many years either. This suited both sides very well.
There are things one should know about Nithlings. It would be a mistake to ask a Nithling for its full name. The answer would take a long time. Every Nithling’s name was also its ancestry. So Glom’s name began with Glom son og Glim, son of Glog, son of Blim, son of Glom, son of Trop, and so on and so on for hours and hours.
Each time a baby was born, it was named after all its ancestors like that. Boys took their male ancestors names, and girls took their female ancestors' names. The first thing that school-age children in Nith learned was their names. It was very important to the Nithlings to know exactly their names. From the list, they could work out to whom they were related.
If there had been any friendly visitors to Nith and they had known not to ask for names, they would have been invited into a Nithling's home. Nithlings are very hospitable like that. Once inside, the visitor would have been offered a cup of Scooch. All visitors to a Nithlings home were offered a cup of Scooch. It was considered very bad manners not to offer, and even worse manners to refuse.
Everyone drank Scooch. It was made from the roots of the Scooch plant. Once a year, Scooch farmers dug up the plants. The roots were collected. They were boiled in great, big vats until soft and gooey. Then the cooked Scooch roots were drained, laid out in the sun, and left to dry. Once dry, they were ground up into powder and packed into bags ready to be sold. All that was needed was to stir the powder into hot water to make their favourite drink.
Scooch was so important to them that there were lots of sayings about Scooch roots. Someone might be described as being worth their weight in Scooch if they were useful. Or if someone was mistaken as to the value of something, it was said that they found a stone and thought it was a Scooch root. Someone who was not very good at something was said to be unable to make a good cup of Scooch.
Glom had tried to find his talent. He had tried making beer, but it was undrinkable and had to be poured away. He had tried his hand at carpentry. He managed to slice his hand open. He tried making clothes but only managed to stick the needle in himself. He tried basket weaving. It took his mother ages to untangle him from the strands of willow. E tried cooking, but even the Nith Booglehounds, who were supposed to be able to eat anything, turned up their noses at his efforts. It would fill a book with the things he tried to do. Everything he tried went wrong.
As sad as this failure was, it would not have really mattered except that Glom was in love. He wanted to marry Blip, but until he found his talent, he was not allowed to even ask her parents for her hand.
Glom came to a momentous decision. He would leave Nith and go out into the wider world to seek his talent. His parents tried to argue, but as he said, “If I have no talent and I cannot marry Blip, then there is no point staying here in Nith and seeing her all the time.”
He packed his few belongings, a bag of Scooch powder and left.
Glom of the Nith.
Glom was a rather unusual Nithling. As far as anyone, himself included, could see, he had no talent. All the other Nithlings had at least one ability. For example, Glom’s father was a masterworker in metal. Glom’s mother was a carpenter of great skill. His uncle Brom brewed beer, and his aunt Drib made beautifully woven baskets.
Nithlings are natives of a small part of the world. Nith is a place of low rolling hills and green valleys. Its people are peace-loving farmers and gardeners. The trouble for them was that they looked as if they ought to be unpleasant, vicious monsters.
Gnom of Nith.
The way they looked had led in the past to some very nasty incidents when Nithlings had gone to visit other parts of the world. Waving any sharp tools they could find, such as rakes and scythes crowds of locals had run after them.Nithlings had decided that since the rest of the world was so unfriendly, they would have nothing to do with it. So for many, many years, no Nithling had ever left Nith.
For the same reason, no outsider had visited Nith for many years either. This suited both sides very well.
There are things one should know about Nithlings. It would be a mistake to ask a Nithling for its full name. The answer would take a long time. Every Nithling’s name was also its ancestry. So Glom’s name began with Glom son og Glim, son of Glog, son of Blim, son of Glom, son of Trop, and so on and so on for hours and hours.
Each time a baby was born, it was named after all its ancestors like that. Boys took their male ancestors names, and girls took their female ancestors' names. The first thing that school-age children in Nith learned was their names. It was very important to the Nithlings to know exactly their names. From the list, they could work out to whom they were related.
If there had been any friendly visitors to Nith and they had known not to ask for names, they would have been invited into a Nithling's home. Nithlings are very hospitable like that. Once inside, the visitor would have been offered a cup of Scooch. All visitors to a Nithlings home were offered a cup of Scooch. It was considered very bad manners not to offer, and even worse manners to refuse.
Everyone drank Scooch. It was made from the roots of the Scooch plant. Once a year, Scooch farmers dug up the plants. The roots were collected. They were boiled in great, big vats until soft and gooey. Then the cooked Scooch roots were drained, laid out in the sun, and left to dry. Once dry, they were ground up into powder and packed into bags ready to be sold. All that was needed was to stir the powder into hot water to make their favourite drink.
Scooch was so important to them that there were lots of sayings about Scooch roots. Someone might be described as being worth their weight in Scooch if they were useful. Or if someone was mistaken as to the value of something, it was said that they found a stone and thought it was a Scooch root. Someone who was not very good at something was said to be unable to make a good cup of Scooch.
Glom had tried to find his talent. He had tried making beer, but it was undrinkable and had to be poured away. He had tried his hand at carpentry. He managed to slice his hand open. He tried making clothes but only managed to stick the needle in himself. He tried basket weaving. It took his mother ages to untangle him from the strands of willow. E tried cooking, but even the Nith Booglehounds, who were supposed to be able to eat anything, turned up their noses at his efforts. It would fill a book with the things he tried to do. Everything he tried went wrong.
As sad as this failure was, it would not have really mattered except that Glom was in love. He wanted to marry Blip, but until he found his talent, he was not allowed to even ask her parents for her hand.
Glom came to a momentous decision. He would leave Nith and go out into the wider world to seek his talent. His parents tried to argue, but as he said, “If I have no talent and I cannot marry Blip, then there is no point staying here in Nith and seeing her all the time.”
He packed his few belongings, a bag of Scooch powder and left.