#i guess its epistolary format november too

[viiioca]

day 1: water

From the journal of Estelle de Laussienne, 23rd of the 3rd Astral Moon, 1 7A.E. The children -- "spawnlings" -- are born finless and gill-less, as Novv explains it; without dry land, their young handle water in the lungs about as well as ours do. Limsa Lominsa has historically (and characteristically) denied them the dignity of their spawning grounds, but the Calamity has disposed of what little holdings they had, and thus a matter of concern evolves into a matter of survival. A people might tolerate any sort of prolonged abuse if it is bearable enough, but to be deprived of a future is an invitation to violence. Leviathan comes to trade children for children: some drown so others breathe. I wonder if the sahagin living down in their ocean cities will have a name for me, for this very specific crime against them -- or if I will just be "shorewalker," no different than the rest.

[roevember 2023 prompt by boreal tempest & roe fizzlebeef]