Episode 25
Travelling Light E025S01 Transcript
H.R. Owen
Hello friends, Hero here. Thank you so much for your patience over our extended break, I am delighted to back with you all! I'm also delighted to introduce this week's trailer. Tranthologies is a trans anthology podcast, as you might expect from that title, where every episode is written by a trans writer. Stay tuned to the end of the episode to hear the trailer, including a snippet from the episode I appeared in last season. It was rather good. You can also find more information in the show notes.
[Title music: rhythmic electronic folk.]
H.R. Owen
Travelling Light: Episode Twenty Five.
[The music fades out.]
The Traveller
7th Lailo 850
To the community at Emerraine, who carry the Light.
I should start, I suppose, with an apology. I have been neglecting you, my dearest friends. I hope my silence did not cause any great consternation. I did think of writing often, but whenever I sat down to it, I could not find the words.
[laughing dryly] It is not as if I have been having any great adventures since my last missive. Life aboard the Tola has been much reduced in the wake of our- [sighs] In the wake of my error in judgement during the exchange on Koom.
Hesje's assessment of the ship's finances proved depressingly accurate. Without the proceeds from the sale, we are all but grounded.
Wolph and Aman hit upon the idea of taking shipping contracts as the most likely source of immediate income. Their family has long been established in the space-faring industry, with connections in all manner of trades. A deft tug upon these ties, and we had our foot in the door.
It is a strange sight, seeing merchants' crates stacked high in the corridors, the refectory, the observation deck, really anywhere they will fit. Their brute utilitarianism stands in such stark contrast to the opulence of the Tola's decoration. It is as if a cathedral were suddenly to become a warehouse, with the saints and prophets looking on in horror from their niches.
The morning after our return to the Tola, Aman called all hands to the common room. There, with excruciating composure, she laid out the situation for the others.
Óli was probably the most shaken by these revelations. It was the first they heard of the crew's... extracurricular activities... and they were quite angry with me for failing to inform them of the situation They have calmed down since, thank the Light. They have a way of making their disapproval known that is really quite excruciating.
Wolph was more confused at my involvement in the deal than upset at my, uh. W-well. My summary destruction of the expedition's finances. [laughs weakly, and sighs] He gave me a hearty slap between the shoulder blades as we left the meeting which I assume was intended affectionately, though it nearly sent me sprawling.
I was back in Annaliese's good books in time for dinner that night. Good old Annaliese! Duytren, though, was fairly fuming for about a week and a half. My actions at the sale have, I think, damaged her reputation somewhat. Certainly she has not been able to shake up any alternative buyers for us.
Hesje is altogether too sweet to hold a grudge, of course, but do not worry on their account. It appears Aman has taken it upon herself to hold enough grudge for the both of them. She has barely looked at me since Koom.
Tsabec, on the other hand, did not start to resent me until it became clear that they would, in fact, be expected to help load the ship whenever we took on cargo. But as soon as they are allowed a sit down and a cup of tea, they forgive me all over again. Usually. [clears throat]
The days we are in dock are my favourites. There is always something to do, and a good reason for doing it, and I go to bed those nights with an aching body but a quiet mind.
The Tola's limited capacity, however, means we must necessarily miss out on the more lucrative, long-haul contracts. We are a research vessel, after all, not a merchant ship. We simply cannot carry enough cargo to cover the cost of the fuel we'd need to take us out system.
So we are stuck here, in the same system we arrived in almost a month ago and had intended to leave after mere days.
Koom is the only inhabited planet in the system. I have already written to you about the sad loss of life upon its moon, Anuar. The moon of Nimidol is also populated, and there are two stations to complete the portrait.
Haulsdree Station is a research facility and is supplied by municipal services. We have nothing to do with it, but we have visited Manacier Station a number of times, on business for this supplier or that.
These, then, are our limits. We ping back and forth from Koom to Manacier to Nimidol and back again, never quite earning enough to fill our tanks and fly out into the wider galaxy.
I suppose I cannot complain. My task of reporting upon the galaxy to you all can be as well done here as anywhere else. It is the others I feel for.
Our journey to Kerrin is in disarray and, unlike me, they cannot continue their work while we are delayed. Even if Annaliese wished to study the flowers of Koom or Duytren to explore the textile history of the people of Nimidol, there is neither time nor money to support them.
There is even talk of selling some of the laboratory equipment. I pray it will not come to that. I have heard of some extra work to be had – some shifts at the Nimidol fish market for anyone who wants them. Or perhaps we will find something else to sell, something more palatable than the ship's fixtures.
I must stay hopeful. It is the only thing I can do. Hopeful, and alert to any kind of assistance I might give. All will come right in the end.
[The click of a data stick being inserted into a drive that whirs as it reads]
The Traveller
Entry LA85007-1: The singing crystals of Elbutin and their significance in local culture.
Key words: Elbutin; geology; natural world; Nimidol; rites of passage; singing crystals.
Notes:
Some scant miles from the principle port of Nimidol, tucked away in a fold of the land, there is a cavern. The cavern has no name for itself, despite having been a site of pilgrimage for the past several centuries – perhaps even millennia.
The region around the cavern is called Elbutin, and for the most part, when one wishes to speak of the cavern, that is the name one uses. An attendant at the site laughed when I asked whether that might not get confusing.
“There is nothing to be confused with,” they said. “There is no other reason anyone comes to Elbutin!”
The walk to the cavern reminded me a little of climbing the hill at Tautha Serran. The same quiet reverence hung about the place as we made our way from the welcome centre and transit stop towards the cavern mouth.
Upon seeing the mouth itself, my steps faltered. The opening seemed to pulse with light, as if there were some great, silent festival taking place within.
It reminded me of an aurora, the shifting lights changing colour so smoothly as to be almost imperceptible. One moment they were green, and the next I was realising they were pink, with no memory of the transition between the two.
Immediately upon entering, I was bombarded with colour. A river twisted across the cavern floor, a glowing ribbon, sparkling as it ran. And all around, the source of this glow.
Hundreds upon thousands of crystals, huddled together in glittering clusters or thrusting up from the earth in solitary shards; hanging from the rock above our heads and bristling up the walls. I was quite breathless as I walked through, blinking in their brilliance.
But it is not only their spectacular colours that make the crystals of Elbutin remarkable. When touched, the crystals let out a bright, chiming sound known as “singing”.
The crystals are well-protected from collectors and tourists who might wish to bring a piece of Elbutin home with them. I know I would have been sorely tempted!
But the site has seen a rapid increase in visitors in the last two decades, and if everyone were to pocket a piece, there should be nothing left by week's end.
Instead, gathering the crystals is a privilege reserved for local people, who use the practice as a way of marking certain rites of passage. There are three occasions upon which a person might gather a singer, or singing crystal.
When a baby first learns to move about, be that by crawling or walking or scooching upon their bottom, they are brought to the cavern to select their first singer.
Children who are unable to move independently, through disability perhaps, are brought to the cavern whenever they being to express a distinct preference for this over that. What matters is that the child picks the singer for themselves, whether by sound or colour or simply the whim of their little heart.
A person's second singer is chosen upon reaching majority, which is around the age of 17 or so for most species on Nimidol. For many people, these two crystals are the only ones they shall ever gather. However, there is a third possibility. That is, upon dedicating one's life to something or someone.
If this commitment is between two people – and they generally are limited to two dedicatees at a time – then the parties will select their singers together, choosing something that appeals to themselves as an individual and whose voice harmonises with their partner's.
But this commitment might just as properly be made to an idea or a religious belief. In those cases, the dedicatee will fashion their chosen singer into an adornment that reflects the practice or belief as best they can.
They wear this item from that day forth, and the singer's voice rings out as they touch it, in a constant affirmation of their commitment.
These crystals are never given up during a person's life. Even if a relationship dissolves, or a person's faith changes, the crystal remains in the owner's possession until their death.
When that person does finally pass on, their singing crystals are gathered together and brought back to Elbutin at last. There, they are buried, pressed deep into the dark earth, and left to grow and multiply for future generations.
[Title music: rhythmic instrumental folk. It plays throughout the closing credits.]
H.R. Owen
Travelling Light was created by H.R. Owen and Matt McDyre, and is a Monstrous Productions podcast. This episode was written and performed by H.R. Owen.
This week’s entry to the archives was based on an idea by GingerbreadPopSolo, with accompanying artwork available on our social media accounts.
If you've got an idea for an archive entry, we want to hear it. You can send us anything from a one line prompt to a fully written entry through our website, by email, or on social media. For more information, see the show notes.
This episode includes an audience decision. Vote on whether the Traveller should take a shift at the fish market or try their hand as a trader by making a donation at ko-fi.com/monstrousproductions.
You can now join for as little as £1 a month, with all tiers getting access to bonus art, annotated scripts, weekly blogs, and an invitation to the Monstrous Productions Discord server.
This podcast is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The theme tune is by Vinca.
[Fade to silence. The Transthologies trailer begins, music playing throughout]
Announcer: Tranthologies is an anthology podcast written exclusively by trans people! We release an episode every single day of pride month, with stories about trans kids swapping names -
[from To Fly to Starry Skies]
Mars: I guess we can swap.
Daisy: So…you’re Mars now, and I’m Daisy!
Announcer: Nonbinary lesbian knights -
[from Olive Cathedral]
Augustine: You do not, you cannot go back on devotion!
Announcer: Spooky sea horror -
[from The Silence of the Sea]
The Sailor: -and all I could feel was the agony in my lungs, and my body being pulled down, down, down to the ocean floor.
Announcer: Queer retellings of classics -
[from The Captain of Monte Cristo]
Narrator: It takes them over a decade to repair The Monte Cristo, but at long last, they make their escape.
Announcer: And a whole bunch of trans poetry! -
[from Rose Coloured Violets: Volume II]
Freddie: They’ll say surgery saved their life,
But they won’t question why,
Why a necessity,
Can be sold.
Announcer: Tranthologies Season 3 begins on the 1st of June 2024. We hope you come along to see what wonderful stories we have in store for you.
Join us as we continue to celebrate trans lives and trans stories.
But until then, keep being you. Every trans life is sacred and beautiful, and we are so glad to share the world with you.
Trans love, trans joy, trans power.
--END TRANSCRIPT--
