Alternate Universe Cartoon for: October 26th, 2001 C.E.
A
Day in the life of Rulia Genkimaru, Wiccan Faction Healer
"OK, so what's life like for members of the Wiccan Faction on Gryrnu?" -A lot of people
For the lowest level of Wiccan worker, we see Grihilain Fuoren Of Pembletown as he gets up to begin a day of bootmaking, hatmaking, and running his shop. First Grihilain must check in with his local Wiccan Circle and sign the triplicate work statement forms, join in the daily prayer to the Goddess, and perhaps participate in the weekly Circle Meeting if there is one. The it is back to his shop for a day's labor. Using pig leather, renderfiber (made from rendered and processed pig and rat hair mixed with chicken feather proteins in a special process) for stitching, and metal parts purchased from the Alchemist metal workers, Grihilain carefully makes the finest clothing he can. Every bit of material is used carefully, and measurements are exacting because leather and fibers are expensive and precious. During the day, Grihilain may sell some of his creations, accept a special clothing project, or do repairs on clothing brought in to his shop. For lunch, Grihilain may eat a simple meal prepared in his quarters above his shop, or, if he has made decent money for that week, eat in a local restaurant. Work continues until evening, when dinner and tea, and Vlax, lead into bed and sleep.
For the medium level worker, let's follow the day of Ylla Uxfa, a Wiccan Faction Pig Farmer from Ponsbury-On-The-Mere. Rising early. Ylla feeds and waters, and cares for her pigs. Ylla is very proud of her pigs, and as tradition requires, has named each one. When the time comes that a pig must be slaughtered for meat, Ylla asks for its forgiveness, feeds the pig its favorite treat, and dispatches it instantly. Pig farmers on Gryrnu are trained carefully in 'gifting' animals with instant and painless deaths. Every tiny part of the pig is used. Even the hair on the skin of the pig is carefully separated to be sold. Not a single particle of any Red Life animal on Gryrnu is ever wasted. All the farm animals of Gryrnu (Pigs, Rats, Crickets, Bees and Chickens) are revered in a way that is quite unique...for survival itself depends on these animals. All are treated with extreme respect, however they eventually end up.
Because farmers are considered so important, they have special privileges and dispensations that no other member of Gryrnese society enjoys. They do not have to check in every day with a central authority to sign for work, and they are accorded quite radical latitude in their actions in general. Occasionally this can get out of hand, as we once saw with a group of such farmers that were charged with growing tea. Tea is a very special crop, and we will return to it.
After Ylla is sure her piggies are doing well, she then allows herself to have her lunch, which may consist of special and delicate rice balls with plum, cricket, or honey and pork centers, and tea, or even a bowl of the finest rice noodles and savory soup, prepared by her housekeeper. If she feels her animals are especially contented, she may venture to a restaurant and have an elaborate meal. Farmers are well paid on Gryrnu, and well respected.
In the afternoon, Ylla will tend to her crickets, which she raises as a side-line, and tend again to her beloved piggies, taking them for a walk, massaging their muscles, and bathing them before their dinner. In the evening, as the Sun Orb Ashun sets and the Moon Orb Velu rises, Ylla will retire to her own dinner, prepared by her housekeeper, and then, after tea with Vlax, to bed.
For the high level Wiccan, medicine is the calling of choice, and here we begin the day of Rulia Genkimaru, a Wiccan Faction Healer in Gyranfryll Wabe. Rulia first checks in with her Wiccan Circle, signs the appropriate forms, and joins the daily prayer, before going to work. Rulia is not at the highest level of her profession, and so works in the Gyranfryll Community Wiccan Clinic North, sister facility to the clinic in southern Gyranfryll. The clinic is not terribly large, but it is very clean and very beautiful, so Rulia on the whole is grateful to be there. Sometimes, though, she cannot help but dream of being an independent healer, with her own private House Of Healing, fame, fortune, and the ear of the Council....especially on busy days when there are a lot of patients.
Today is a busy day for Rulia, not only are there two women having babies, but a local Alchemist Research Mill has been having some sort of internal dispute going on, and there are several patients with apparently self-inflicted wounds. While Rulia does not know much about the doings of the Alchemist Faction, she has come to the conclusion that the work they do is very stressful. Later, a child is brought in with Vlax deficiency, and the emergency is treated with well-rehearsed care. The child survives, but Rulia is determined to initiate a serious follow up with the parents to see how such a thing could be allowed to happen! Next a local farmer brings in an injured Bosom Sow. Wiccan healers treat animals side-by-side with human patients, because all life is sacred under Gryrnese Wiccan law. The Bosom Sow is a prize pig, famed for having the largest breasts of any pig in Gyranfryll, as well as the greatest milk production. Apparently, while being walked, the poor animal suffered the sudden unsnapping of its breast restraints while negotiating a climb up some steps. The poor prize piggie is treated with salves and bandages to sooth her abraded nipples.
Lunch, this day, is skipped, because a town guard has just come in, injured by a hunting Shining Grey Leapscutter, a five-legged crystal beast that sometimes comes in from the desert seeking the metallic salts found in Red Life. The Leapscutter is no longer a threat to the guard, but bleeding is. A large gash must be dealt with as any other emergency must be dealt with. After surgery, the guard is deemed stable and likely to survive, though Rulia still frets that she may have left a small chip of crystal from the monster still embedded in the guard's thigh. Rulia is momentarily frustrated that her tools and traditional techniques are not more advanced than they are...but innovation is strictly not allowed.
As the day comes to a close, after a dinner in a nice restaurant, Rulia settles in to the rather massive amount of paperwork that is demanded of nearly every occupation on Gryrnu. For Rulia, it is a quiet time, unless interrupted by an emergency, and after such a busy day, she is often grateful for such uneventful work. Then it is home to Vlax, and tea, and bed.
One thing it might be worthwhile to note is that although medical problems from broken bones to poisoning to midwifery, surgery, and even Vlax-related problems might occur, bacterial or viral infection is virtually unknown. Occasionally mysterious rashes or inflammations can occur, and there are very rare records of single individuals perishing from inexplicable illnesses, the worries we have on earth with microbiological illness are all but absent. This is not because of some strange quality of the Tryslmaistan universe that prevents plagues, but rather that the same harshness that makes all Red and Green life require constant infusions of Vlax to survive, also takes a toll on bacteria and viral reproduction and growth. It is for this reason that there is no wine or beer on Gryrnu, because yeast has become extinct. Breads are all unleavened, obviously, and cheeses are plain and relatively dull. However, all the horrors of microbial sickness are absent, and even surgery can be done in the open air with little risk at all. The few microbes that exist, mostly bacteria of the gut that help to digest food, are unknown by the humans, as they are not allowed to construct microscopes to see them.
At last, for the elite ranks of Wiccan society, we can turn to Thilia Lilinffylst herself, Head of the Wiccan Seat on the Council, and indeed, now the Head of the Council of Gryrnu itself. Resident in a huge mansion in the finest district of the effective capitol city of Gyranfryll Wabe, Thilia, possessed of the ultimate position of power within Gryrnese society, leads a surprisingly quiet life. Where one would expect her to be constantly bombarded with requests and demands and matters to attend to, we find that she begins her day quietly, sipping tea in her garden, nibbling rice wafers with chicken spread, and enjoying a bowl of Koi soup. Her morning she spends catching up on reports and documents, before heading to the vast halls of Moon Pond Academy. Here, Thilia attends to a few matters relevant to the school, and then often descends into the gargantuan underground chambers of the campus for...certain other matters of ...research...assisted by certain other hand-picked specialists from both Factions.
Lunch is a leisurely affair, usually at the nearby fine restaurant 'Memories Of Myrmil', easily the premiere dining experience in all of Gyranfryll Wabe. Thilia loves dining.
Thilia spends the rest of her day puttering about her garden, reading books, playing Taasen (she is a two time Taasen grand master, and currently holds the Crystal Cup), and swimming in the pool on her estate. Occasionally she is drawn away on secret matters of state, sometimes for months, often travelling all the way across the Central Sea to the wonderful Off-Limits Colony Project where she is said to oversee the construction of all of the fresh, sparkling, palatial new cities that all Gryrnese can one day hope to move to, once they are completed.
At night, Thilia sips her tea and Vlax, but is said to stay up late into the night, writing furiously a document that she shows to no one. Finally, sleep takes her, and thus ends the day of the most powerful person on Gryrnu.
Finally, we make mention of the matter of tea. The tea plant, Camellia Sinensis, is a carefully guarded secret of the Witch Faction of Gryrnu. One of the primary sources of both power, and money for the Wiccan Faction as a whole, the existence of the tea plant is kept hidden from most Gryrnese, indeed even from the majority of the Wiccan Faction itself! Carefully cultivated in secret, hidden, walled gardens that have been constructed on the edges of the Human-occupied land, tea plants are never allowed to grow into full trees, for fear of being seen. The areas that the tea-gardens are located in are considered no-flying zones as well, with terrible, fatal penalties for breaking the law.
A special and select branch of the Wiccan Faction is devoted purely to the cultivation, processing and packaging of tea, an entire self-contained industry answerable only to the three heads of the Governmental Council of Gryrnu itself. These people are employed for life, and can never leave the occupation of growing tea once admitted.
To the public, tea is believed to be created, either from some clever blending of basil, dandelions, rare crystal life, and cone tree leaves, or by some arcane Goddess-given magic powers that only specially gifted Witches can wield. A few rare souls occasionally claim that they have heard of the existence of a fifteenth form of Red-Green life, but they are quickly silenced. For the Witches of Gryrnu, tea is power, and wealth, and life.
