New Caledonia
“Oh my, you gave me a start!”, as Jedzea jumps in her chair as she looks up from the documents that she is working on and sees Count Tiberius Magnus standing in front of her desk in her little study in the “Cedars”. The bookshelves are full of books, scrolls and ledgers. He looks down at the small woman and says with a mischievous grin, “You are behind in your taxes, Ms. Jedzea”. “Really, Count, you MUST be joking?” Jedzea says with a curious face. “We To’resk, pride ourselves on making sure ALL contracts are taken care of.” “Yes, Yes, I just kidding”, he says, “but I am incredibly curious on what you are working on?” “I don’t think I have seen these before?” “You probably have not as they really are quite uninteresting EXCEPT for these two.” She pats a large an oversize book of parchments and another large journal. Both of them look extremely old but the leather has been well taken care of and there are gold leaf embellishments on the covers. She picks up the oversized book and opens up the pages gently.
“This book is our birth records all the way back seven generations to when we first arrived here in the Conclave.” “I just recently started a new one with the new paper we have from paper mill downstream.” “The paper isn’t as fragile as the bamboo parchment”. “We took refuge here in the Conclave under your Great Great Granddad; Count Cato Magnus”. The hordes of Xeilias had pushed us out of our old lands and destroyed our villages but under Cato, we found this lovely valley and made home of “New Caledonia”. Cato didn’t let the “world” know of the impending danger of Xeilias but that was why he pushed his son so hard. We didn’t know how long it would be till they got here but we knew they would come. Though we did not fight on the front lines with your brave soldiers during the “War of the Many Banners, we did run supply runs for the armies and we “disrupted” theirs. “Did you know the “Cedars” even was a field hospital at one time?” “We also knew a lot of the backwater tributaries around here and were able to get information to King about their troop movements.” “We can be incredibly quiet when we need to be.”
“There are many stories in our history of your Granddad Cato, he was a diplomat extraordinaire, a philosopher and an eloquent orator.” “I think we even have a number of his speeches in the “New Caledonia Journal”. “It tells of when he came and joined us for our celebration of the Courtship of Mann Mann and Terra.”
“You have yet to come to one of these celebrations; I will have to have one of the boys fetch you for the next one!” She looks over at the Count with a playful grin.
“Supposedly Cato spent many hours on the patio here, contemplating the next course of action to make the county grow and prosper and how to make ready for Xeilias’s Army.” “The “Cedars” was a second home to him.” “It is no wonder; we do LOVE to debate things.” There are even some incredible drawings done in here from my Great great Aunt of the Wedding of Cato.” Jedzea thumbs through the pages and finds the drawing. “Here it is!” “That looks like the arch in your gardens, doesn’t it?” “It is covered with wisteria and white climbing roses”
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“It has been ages that I have been in your garden, is the arch still covered that way?” “I bet it smells just divine when they are in bloom.” “It tells that the Tsuiri’s brought a large soup Tureen elaborately painted with gold leaf of Ne’ran and Mydra love story, and crates filled with turtles to fill the pond with the recipe for To’resk Turtle Soup.” “Some things NEVER change, we love good food!”
“So the book goes on to have snippets of your family’s reign and how “New Caledonia” has grown and the women and men in my family that have made it happen.” “Because we picked this valley that is right in the
Borders of the three terrains, this has always been a cross road and we have built the township square to take care of the amount of travelers and traders that come through here. We opened our homes to those travelers and the homes grew into Inns, the fields around here are a quiet resting area for livestock and superb for certain types of agri and aqua culture. “Take our wild rice and our cranberries for example”. “Pheasants hide in the brush and the water – well what is a day without a fish or two?”
”A little to the north there are great fields for the sheep that we use their wool for our clothing and then the bamboo around here we are able to shred to make linen out of here at the “House of the Weaver’s”. We import silk from the Kypiqs and get cotton and flax from the Neran nearby.”
“Down the road on either side is a Barony, so we are well protected and they serve as our guards to keep the peace here and traders can travel the roads in relative safety.”
“The House of the Weaver’s has their very own history which is on the shelf over there.” She points to the shelf but that is a story for another time. “I need to get back to work.” With that Jedzea stands up and closes the book, “Let’s go get a warm cup of tea”. The two exit from the study and head into the dining room of the Inn.
Want to know more?? Excited about the story?? Come join me any time at the “Cedar’s Inn” in the Duchy of Aritaur. We ALWAYS have fine food and a beverage to share!
Jedzea Tsuiri – Mayor of New Caledonia and owner of the “Cedar’s Inn”
