The Flint Knappers - Chronicles [Episode #5]

Name: Newman Smith
Mission Date: d+331

To the east of my homestead is a large lake with a chain of small islands on the far side. I spotted it a few months after arriving but exploring there hadn't been much of a priority until I made the fish traps. The rivers nearby weren't really deep enough to use the traps so I hoped to make a trek to the lake and see what kind of luck I would have there.

I expected the journey to take about a full day to get there so I packed accordingly. I was glad that my Vanara friend Angada had agreed to come along. As we set off I smiled as I felt the once familiar "road trip!" sensation. I've always liked a good journey. Good journeys make for good stories. I kept joking with Angada saying "road trip man! high five" and then letting my hand hang in the air. I knew he didn't get it but I was having fun with it. So, off we went and after a rather uneventful slog through the valley we arrived at the lake shore just before dark.

The next morning I used the coals from the fire we lit the previous evening to cook breakfast. We had awoken just before dawn and both sat in silence just admiring the beauty of the sunrise reflecting on the lake as our breakfast was cooking away. I know how important the mornings are for the Vanara and basking in the natural wonder of the lake I began to understand why.

After a light breakfast I started scouting a few good spots to set out the fish traps. It didn't take long to place them all but some of the spots were a little hard to reach from the shore. I decided that some kind of boat would be really handy and started scouting for materials. I settled on making a dug out type canoe with outriggers made from bundled reeds. It would take several days for us to burn out the seating area but we were having such a good time with our adventure we didn't mind at all. After three days of building we set our new baby in the water for her maiden voyage.

As I was pushing away from the shore I motioned for Angada to hop in only to be reminded of their fear of water. They can't swim at all and never go in above their waist line. I felt embarrassed for not remembering this as my friend was shaking his head and backing away from the shore line. From his perspective I had just taken a rather sudden departure and he was visibly distressed. I paddled back to shore and commenced to pleading with him to come with me. It took almost ten minutes to convince him that he would be safe in the canoe. With the outriggers it would be perfectly stable for getting in and out.

Once we were paddling along I could see my friends demeanor relax and after while I could tell he was enjoying himself. I had been looking at the small islands off in the distance all morning and thought the canoe was more than up for a journey of that distance. She was holding steady and Angada had even helped with the paddling for a while. I looked at the nearest of the islands and pointed in a "let's go" motion. My friend was clearly uneasy at first but after a moment his spirit of adventure took over and he nodded in agreement. We took turns rowing and arrived after about 4 hours.

We had no problem landing on the shore but immediately met a thick wall of undergrowth. There weren't even any visible game trails and it took us a while to find a spot that would allow ingress. We hacked our way to the center of the island with no reason to expect to find anything more than endless vegetation. Much to my surprise we came across something extremely interesting.

There in the middle of the island was the remains of what was likely a temple of some kind. All that remained were stumps of stone columns arranged in nested circles and a sarcophagus in the center. The columns had been arranged in a way that reminded me of Stonehenge. The sarcophagus was made of a lovely slate blue stone with marbled streaks of gold. On top was a likeness of a beautiful human female! She was resting in a beatific pose and the sense I got of the place was that it was built out of a great reverence for her. The only marking on the grave was a single inscription found on one side. It appeared to be Sanskrit so I had no idea what it meant but I made a charcoal impression so I could perhaps inform Vijay. He would be able to tell if it were anything recognizable. I hope to one day find out what "--S-ta--" means.

As I was making sketches I noticed Angada had knelt down and had his head bowed. He kept saying "seeta...seeta..." reverently but later when I asked him about it he only conveyed a blanket sense of respect. I couldn't get any more than that out of him. I didn't want to disturb the grave but there was a lovely treasure held in the hands of the figure on top of the sarcophagus. It was a remarkable jade flute that was held in both hands on her chest. It was probably an item of great value to the person entombed here. After a sincere thank you I took it from her hands and cleaned it carefully. It was in remarkable condition and I was excited at the idea of learning how to play it.

We didn't want to spend the night on the island so we decided to head back to camp. On our way back to the canoe we came across of group of large monkeys in the canopy above us. They got very aggressive when they saw me and began a vociferous display of territorial posturing. As I was trying to decide if there was cause for concern they saw Angada behind me and immediately ceased their outburst. They all began making submissive gestures and were quiet as we passed. I can only assume they considered my friend their "Alpha". If he hadn't been there it could have gotten ugly.

After a tiring trip back across the lake we were nearing the shore near our camp site when we spotted something large moving in the water. I got a little worried when the canoe was shoved to one side by whatever it was. It wasn't afraid of us and I had to wonder what would come next. I focused on paddling and as soon as we landed both my friend and I eagerly jumped ashore. No sooner than we managed to get out of the canoe a large gnarly looking fish surfaced and with a spinning motion of it's tail knocked the canoe loose from the shore. As it drifted slowly with the wind away from us this creature continued to bash it until the outriggers broke loose. With a final shove she was capsized and the creature disappeared back into the murky depths. It was sad to see our humble canoe destroyed but it had done it's job and we returned to find the fish traps had done their job as well. We packed the fish with snow in the amphorae carried on our backs and started the long journey home.

We arrived tired and dirty just before dark and were greeted by everyone in the village. You should have seen the surprised looks when we showed off our catch. That evening we carried on making music around the camp fire later than usual. The flute had a beautiful sound and a special surprise in it's utility. It was like the standard recorder flute you learn to play as child but it had a special resonance chamber with a small round stone inside. It was like a ball whistle your PE coach would use. While playing you could produce a normal smooth note as with a typical flute but with a burst of air you engaged the secondary chamber producing a much louder trilling sound of the same note. The result was a sort of catchy percussion effect combined with a wind instrument. We played into the night as we feasted on the fresh fish. The Vanara combined their usual percussion and grunting harmonies with the flute to produce a wholly new kind of music. It was a great time and everyone agreed we would return to the lake for more fish. I jokingly told them we were going to need a bigger boat.

To be continued...

---