Notes from Sandrenno of Ferania, Bitrani Ambassador to Lannamer in ~725 R – the paper has been chewed at, leaving us only some of his thoughts.
As found in the Lannamer Museum under “Bitrani and Calenyena Relations.”
[text obscured]
does not grow here with the ease that it grows at home, and thus they must find substitutes, poor as they are. I recommend any posted here to have a strong stomach and an iron constitution, or one will soon grow sick of parsnips and parsnips.
Their sweets, however – and they love sweets – are a curious and yet delicious [text obscured].
In short, be prepared and bring a supply of edible food with you.
Clothing
These people but an almost-superstitious amount of weight on their clothing, and thus, any ambassador here will have to pay close attention to every piece of garb they wear, no matter how it goes against the grain of our plain Bitrani souls.
And yet, even paying attention, we will stand out – they care which side your tunic is buttoned on, where we wear ours buttoned down the center. They care what colors are showing – or how many, or in what order.
Showing, you ask? Yes. They wear layer after layer after layer here – needed in their winters, but I do not know how they handle it in summer – and the fancier the dress, the more wealthy the person, the more the lower layers show and the more elaborate they are.
In addition to the tunics themselves, the accessories speak their own language. To begin with, there are bracelets that their “Bevvai” wear (nobody will explain to me what a “Bevvai” is), bangles that appear to lock on, patterned in the gods’ colors and run through with more sira than any piece of jewelry [text obscured]
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I think you’ve added even more things to ask about. 😛 So, what’s a “Bevvai”?
*grins* you know, I /worked/ at doing that with this piece. A Bevvai is… well, it’s the people wearing those bracelets. It’s an interpersonal relationship between a higher-ranked and lower-ranked person.
The person, or the relationship? Any inter-rank relationship, or only some? …
First one: good question. Second one – only very specific relationships. It’s a trust thing.
I hope this becomes at least somewhat clear in the novel!
If I ever finish the silly thing!!
If there are other priorities, there are other priorities …
Thank you. <3 But it's not other priorities as much as it is… ~handwave~ nerves, I guess. I can't make the middle bits of plot flow nicely.
Would it be better for you to fight with the thing that’s thwarting you, or to shelve it for a while and move on to something you have inspiration for?
Well, I *have* shelved it for a bit, but I keep having the urge to start from the beginning & re-write it again, rather than ever getting to the end.
Do you have ideas for a re-write that you think would make the middle work better? Would it be taking time away from other things you (also) want to prioritize?
I don’t know. *small flail* Or, rather, I keep writing and ending up way off plan. I think I need to finish, THEN go back and fix the middle. But mew.
Mew! <reassuring purrring>