The Strange History and Legend of the Moran Moor
Extract Thirteen. Rumors and Myths
Any sailor worth his salt, particularly one who had served aboard as many a variety of Windjammer as Julian was quite capable of turning his hand to all manner of tasks, including carpentry, construction, rope and basket work, cooking, hunting and of course fishing. A more than average student of the art of harpooning, trained to a professional level of proficiency by his recently departed friend and mentor Aqantie’wit it took but a modicum of adjustment for water refraction to turn his skill with the spear into a more than adequate daily source of fresh protein from the abundant shoals to be found in lake and stream.
Adequate shelter, even against the heaviest of downpours was easily supplied by the naturally water-resistant branches of the multifarious indigenous conifers so populous at every corner. Julien soon learned the art of raising a temporary cover utilizing interwoven limbs almost momentarily, a shelter that when raised at evening time and then broken down in the morning was both practical, concealing and virtually undetectable.. His necessaries he learned to stash according to his needs, wood working tools near his source of good lumber, his heavier fishing and trapping nets within easy reach of points of harvest.
Pride of his possessions were a small pottery drinking vessel and bowl, a gift from his sweetheart before her departure. These he carried in a small basket woven from the malleable growth of the multitudinous reeds than dotted much of the water’s edges. These two precious gifts, his spear, an iron headed trade pipe and hatchet combination and any number of pig stickers were his only constant companions.
Two Moons was in the third trimester of confinement when the first rumors about the strange sightings of unidentified humanoids started to equally excite and perplex the many coastal lodges and longhouses scattered intermittently along the Puget sound. Most inhabitants considered the reports to be nothing more than mistaken bear sightings, for a bear pushing through heavy forested ground would often rise up like a man upon their hind legs to garner a better view of any intrusion. A number of the more spiritually traditional tribal members would point to the myths of the strange, shy and peace-loving humanoid creatures than were well known to inhabit those deeply forested regions unsuited for humans. Quite naturally Two Moons and her closest and most trusted companions loudly voiced their hearty agreement with the latter suggestions of magical and unearthly creatures, even suggesting they may well had witnessed some sign of one such mystical beasts presence during their recent sojourn in the islands.
Daily Abstract Thoughts 