The treasure hunt for the Statue Box of Kezei

Loheta, the distant land on a large northern continent that South Juteans reached in the late 19th century didn’t turn out to be exactly as the legend depicting it as a pastoral paradise had claimed it to be. But the country has its own share of legends that captured the curiosity of the seafarers and also later visitors.

As the idea of Loheta as a mystical country hence persisted on the South Jutean cultural imagination, ideas about it eventually spread to neighboring countries on their small home continent of Ystel, and a number of people became particularly fascinated by the legendary great and valuable artifacts said to be hidden or lost in Loheta.

Soon, the Society Instructing Treasure Hunters (SITH), an academic society in Gfiewistan, providing libraries, lectures and language lessons for self-declared adventurers, took a particular interest in what was widely seen as the crown-jewel of Lohetan treasures: the Statue Box of Kezei, said to be carrying an  statue made of jade, gold and brass depicting the Sky Legendary, one of the main deities in Loheta, standing on a pedestal made of marble.

But it wasn’t just the materials that made the statue so valuable and sought after. It is the only object depicting the gaze of Feza or Holy Mother, the main deity of the Kezei region, unlike most of Loheta, where the Sky Legendary is seen as an immortal peacock phoenix with fiery rainbow colors.

The gaze of Feza, usually described as a black-haired woman wearing red and pink robes adorned with various regalia, is said to either blind the owner, or grant them immense spiritual powers, if they have the necessary rigorous mental training and right attitude. As a result, other depictions of her usually show her faceless.

There was just one problem: there are no records of the statue ever existing, and the only evidence for it are rumors, as the last person who is said to have hold it in their hands died 70 years ago. This didn’t stop the SITH from sponsoring a trip to the far-away country, however,

A ship with Gfiewish and South Jutean treasure hunter plus a Lufasan priest interested in studying the power of other deities soon set sail, but managed to get lost in a storm along the way and arrived much later at the coastal harbor of Gollisad in Loheta than intended, when winter had set in and made the journey to remote regions such as Kezei more difficult, with many of the trade routes connecting the country suspended until the beginning of spring.

After weeks of waiting, the adventurer group finally reached Kezei, but found itself among the biggest unrest in the history of Loheta, with locals objecting to the lavish spending and heavy-handed rule of the regional octarch, one of the eight members of Loheta’s governing council.

However, this also made more people sympathetic to the quest of the treasure seeking Ystelians, who otherwise might have decried it as sacrilege, as meeting the gaze of the Feza is only allowed for religious leaders. As this position is also always taken up by the octarchs, and with the regional octarch having their authority questioned, some people suggested the statue could serve as a test for the local sovereign and if necessary help find their true religious leader.

Lake Katakata: The Lake of Rage

While the crater lake Unese Kuu in South Jute inspired various myths in Loheta and later became a popular topic in local literature, Lake Katakata in Loheta did the same for South Jute. Its frequent high and violent waves that have led to it locally also being called the Lake of Rage provoked a great deal of interest, as waves have a central position in South Jutean mythology.

This was further compounded by the myth and persisting rumor that a red-colored sea serpent was supposed to live in the depths of it. Just like some Lohetans suspected Legendaries behind the crater lake in South Jute, many of the Ystelian visitors assumed that this lake would be home to a lake spirit with great power that could hold the secret to the question of how best to live in harmony with waves and tune into their moments to on one side reduce their threat to boats and ships, and on the other side understand their energy to be able to get closer to understanding the fundamental nature of creation.

But it was also the otherwise very peaceful and quiet surroundings of the lake that attracted many South Juteans to it, as a landscape with no villages and only few farms, with most of the shore being covered instead by a large forest, was oddly reminiscent of their homeland outside the capital of Laina. Yet the vegetation and the animal life was all the same strangely different, with oaks and beeches, daffodils and violets.

It so quickly became a popular destination for tourists and other visitors from South Jute, but also from other parts of Ystel, especially among Lufasan cryotozoologists hoping to catch a photo of the beast of the lake which they also regarded as a lake spirit, but one that is the embodiment of the lake trying to protect itself. With Lufasa not having any large lakes on its own and nearby Gfiewistan not having such legends associated with its own, this drew many visitors.

To Catch A Spirit: Rice and its spiritual applications in Loheta and Lufasa

In Lohetan traditions, a small coastal country in the southwest of the big northern continent of Miraria, rice serves many important functions. It’s the staple grain of the country, and while as a chiefly pastoral society it relies more on milk and meat than an agricultural society would, it nonetheless accompanies all meals, steamed, fried, turned into noodles or cakes.

But no less important is for the population its use in various rites. As a symbol of soil fertility, fields and meadows are sprinkled every year at the beginning of the farming season with rice grains, to encourage plant growth and hence a good harvest and enough grass for cattle to feed on.

Rice is also used in shrines. Fragrant steamed rice is meant to signal good-will and respect for the deities of Loheta, the Legendaries. It is placed on altars when piping hot and removed when cold and then used in ritual dishes that have the colors of one of the two main deities, depending on which one is meant to be appeased.

Turmeric, carrots and cattle blood are added to the rice to make Heaven and Sky, a bright dish in yellow, orange and red that represents the Sky Legendary, a peacock-like phoenix that carries all the colors of the rainbow, but predominantly has the colors of the sunset. The turmeric also symbolize the sun, the home of the deity, carrots the sweetness that is a peaceful life under celestial protection, and the blood life in general and the ability of the Legendary to revive the dead. Parsley is often added as garnish, or kale added as a side to represent vegetation.

Bilberries and red cabbage are added to the rice to make Sea Power, lending the dish various blue hues that are meant to call to mind the Sea Legendary, a blue-silvery large winged lizard living in the sea. The name references the terrifying, unpredictable strength this deity has, which can make any travel far away from the coast a dangerous undertaking.

The dish is then eaten by the shrine guard on behalf of the village or urban neighborhood, which, if the Legendaries are satisified, is meant to transfer some of their strengths to the community.

When Loheta encountered South Jutean adventurers in the late 19th century, rice eventually found its way to the southernmost continent of the world, the land of Ystel.

There, it became first known as exotic grain, expensive but a favored choice by those who could afford it due to its neutral taste and soft texture which  compliments almost every dish. After the industrial revolution of the early 20th century and growing wealth, it became a more widely eaten dish, still enjoying considerable popularity due to its association with the mystical country of Loheta in the far northwest.

But it wasn’t just the grain itself that made the long journey across four seas, many traditions and myths traveled alongside it, either by seafarers who were enthusiastic about Lohetan culture or merchants seeking to use them to promote their good. However, in the process the original rites and spiritual associations were distorted and adapted to the local culture.

And so Ystel developed its own beliefs and traditions associated with rice. First, Lufasan cryptozoologists heard of the relation between rice and mythical beings, and so began to place a bowl of cooked rice in the open landscape in the hope of attracting river spirits, such as The Catcher in the Reeds and various cryptids. Later, this approach spread to other people in the countryside who sought to appease the spirits that way, and after this, it became popular with wealthier households as well to show their religiousness and/or hospitality towards the supernatural.

Finally, it became a symbol of animal friends in general, as a bowl of boiled rice shifted to symbolize a welcoming attitude not just towards spirits and cryptids, but animals in general. Establishments such as restaurants and hotels, but also private homes would put a bowl of boiled rice, or later a photo of it in their window or in front of it to show they had no problems with pets, and the symbol of boiled rice is now omnipresent in tourist guides, maps and signs and universally understood in the country.

Meteor Motivates Modern Myth-Making; Mostly Maritime Mainspring

The first contact between Loheta and South Jute in the late 19th century, two small coastal countries on opposite side ends of the world, did not just lead to technological transfer, such as South Jute adopting chopsticks and a new type of mill, or food exchanges, such as buckwheat appearing in Loheta. There was also a lot of cultural exchanges when it came to stories, myths and legends.

Chief among them was the legend of Loheta that had depicted it as a pastoral paradise brought by the South Juteans, but who were then confronted with the more ambiguous reality. But they also brought many other tales from home, and through their experiences in the country and conversations with locals, first via interpreters, new legends emerged in their place.

Some of those who had traveled so far to find a paradise decided to locate it in the past or the future, something that can return or is yet to come. Other ones preferred to see it in the friendly welcomes they had overwhelmingly received by the Lohetans, and the little things that brought them together, such as quiet moments over a glass of milk and rice cakes.

When the silence was broken, it was often because one side wanted to tell stories about their country or inquire about the other one. Many Lohetans grew increasingly interested in the strange land where these people had come from that had developed such an interest in them. It was hidden behind many seas and sounded in some ways downright alien. It had no rulers, not even one, while Loheta had eight of them, one for every castle in the country. It had a stream ten times as strong as any Lohetan river and a city that had more inhabitants than the entire country.

But above all, they were fascinated by the Unese Kuu, Sky Grave, called site. South Juteans talked about a gigantic stone that had been kicked down to earth by “sky waves” alongside a burning stick and hit the land long ago causing a big explosion that left behind a lake filled with strange water.

Lohetans had trouble really understanding it, but didn’t want to embarrass their conversation partners by asking for too many details and show their ignorance. So they imagined it to be similar to their own myths, which has two main deities regularly in conflict, a rainbow phoenix referred to as the Sky Legendary with the ability to both burn any living being to ash and raise it from the dead again, which was in frequent conflict with the Sea Legendary, a far more destructive being that had to be kept in check to prevent chaos in the world.

So as far as they understood, Unese Kuu was a lake forged by the skies themselves, when South Jute’s local Sky Legendary had challenged the local Sea Legendary to a battle to put an end to the latter’s episodes of destruction and won it. The victorious deity used the skull of their vanquished opponent to create a tool that could undo the damage caused, but on the first use broke this celestial hammer and the skull fell from the sky onto earth alongside its burning handle and both shattered on impact, the former leaving behind a huge crater that became a lake as the Sea Legendary’s power, locked in the skull, dissipated and became water. And that the spirit of the deity still remained in the water, waiting to be reawakened one day.

Some people on both sides took their interest in myths or the history of either country further, and eventually study groups and societies were set up and academic exchange would be added to the kinds of exchanges happening between the two countries. But the mythological exchange would be the one more known to most people, as Unese Kuu became a frequent subject of modern Lohetan literature, as the symbol of a foreign, more dangerous world.

Pictured: Boat mill in Loheta

Boat mills: reliable renewable energy anywhere, anytime

Milling was traditionally a very labor-intensive process in South Jute and much of Ystel, as it was usually done manually with grindstones. Windmills were unknown until the industrial revolution brought in new technologies and experties from overseas, and among watermills only undershot ones were known. These had been invented in Gfiewistan in prehistoric times, but due to the remoteness of most rural South Jutean communities only featured in those with regular contact to Gfiewish towns as well as the capital Laina, which were located alongside the largest river of Ystel, the Ersaj.

Undershot watermills also have several problems inherent to them. They were reliant on the flow speed of the river they were located at, and could not be operated if following heavy rains or periods of drought the water level of a river was higher or lower than usual. This was particularly common in larger rivers, such as the Ersaj, where the wheels of water mills would often have to stand still as a result. Furthermore, they could not be built at or near the seacoast and use up valuable riverside real estate in towns, limiting their number. As a result, even settlements with water mills would often result to manual grinding, especially during times of foreign rule.

This changed with the contact between South Jute and Loheta at the end of the 19th century, shortly after the country had become independent again. This contact not only meant regular trade and visits, but also led to technology exchanges, one of the most apparent results of this was the appearance of boat mills on South Jutean coasts and rivers.

They had been in use in Loheta for more than a millennia by the time they reached Ystel, and were valued for working at any water level and being able to be easily relocated alongside rivers, as unlike conventional watermills such floating mills rose and sunk with the water level of a river. They also could be relocated to wherever the water was flowing the fastest or flour was needed the most, while freeing up space at river shores.

Usually they consisted of two hulls with a huge, powerful water wheel in the middle, up to five meters in diameter, continuously delivering the equivalent power of up to five horses almost every day regardless of weather. The only time they couldn’t operate was during freezing temperatures and heavy storms, with them needing to be brought onto land or into sheds to not risk having them unmoor and damage themselves and objects in their surroundings.

The flour was then shipped via smaller boats to its final location, or with boat mills moored near the riverside, simply carried ashore with the help of a bridge, on the back of workers or pack animals. 

When this idea was brought home to South Jute, boat mills were constructed alongside the Bay of Laina and across the Ersaj and many smaller rivers, providing various villages with a more convenient, far less labor-intensive and reliable source of e.g. millet flour, one of the staple flours of the country.

Laina and some riverside villages remained the exception, as about the same time they had started to use bridge mills, building on the existing water mill, moving the water wheels to below arched bridges where they would run at higher speeds, and several wheels could be operated side by side, lowered and raised as needed. This model allowed the use of riverside territory for other purposes, while still keeping the mills inside the city to keep transport distances safe and short, not to mention subject to local tax authorities.

To not block river traffic on what was the most important trade artery of the continent, the middle arches were kept free and most milling wheels could be moved out of the water entirely and disappear into the mill built on top of the bridge. The idea soon spread up the river to towns in Gfiewistan, but as it  required a large streams and high, arched bridges to operate effectively they were not cost-effective for the many smaller villages of South Jute, which continued to use boat mills.

Pictured: Bridge mill in Weishriew, around 1900

Although some mills of these two types have been replaced by windmills and mills powered by electricity, both remain in use today as they are seen as clean, more sustainable options that work with nature, rather than against it, as opposed to e.g. hydroelectric dams or fossil fuel power stations do. The former take up massive amount of space, flooding a lot of land, harming ecosystems and blocking river traffic, while the latter are very polluting and require permanent costly imports.

As a result, the mills are popular with local environmental groups as much as with the general population, who view them as public heritage, and businesses, who see them as profitable and reliable if properly maintained. Upgraded boat and bridge mills, often now outfitted with steel wheels, can grind up to ten tons of flour in 24 hours, enough to feed approximately 25,000 people. A country as South Jute with about a million inhabitants only needed about 40 of them to sustain itself, and that is not counting flour ground by other mills or imported from other countries, thus reducing the dependency on and amount of electricity that needs to be imported or generated from other sources.

Image sources

Top image: Peter Willi Buck, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Paradise sticks: How chopsticks traveled to South Jute

Unlike almost all other countries in Ystel and even neighboring regions, South Jute and the neighboring lands use chopsticks, especially to eat noodles and pasta. While the origin isn’t entirely settled, in the case of South Jute they are said to have come from Loheta. Loheta is a small coastal country with a predominantly traditional pastoral way of life on a northern continent far away from Ystel, the southernmost continent of the world.

How chopsticks made such a long journey is subject of a popular myth that lacks corroborating evidence, but also could not be disproved. It goes as follows: Centuries ago, sailors from a empire near Loheta end up in the small country, according to the legend due to a storm that forced them to land in Gollisad, now the only big city in the country, then a small fishing village.

While their ships awaited repair, and with nothing much to do in a small settlement where they did not understand the language well, the sailors traveled across the country and realized how sparsely populated it was, and noted the absence of pollution from industry, threats by bandits or the hecticness so characteristic of much urban life they had known at home. Instead, they encountered solitary farms and small villages with people whose daily rhythm was long and constant, but also slow-paced and meditative, tending to cattle and working in rice fields.

The seemingly idyllic nature of life in this country impressed them deeply, and once they had reached their homeland again, they began telling everyone about their experiences. The myth of the legendary Loheta slowly spread through the land and later across the wider region in the large northern continent, until reaching one of those countries that much later would become an empire that first erected a small colonial outpost on the tropical island of Jute in the 19th century. From there, they spread their influence even further south, until they reached the Ystelian mainland, shortly after the foreign rule by another overseas empire had collapsed there.

The ensuing trade and general cultural exchange brought many new foods to Ystel, such as a number of vegetables (carrots, turnips, parsnips, celery), citrus fruits, but also grains such as oats. Pasta was one of the dishes introduced by these overseas merchants, but remained unpopular due to the required grains being costly to import, hard to grow in the Ystelian soil and pasta being difficult to eat in the traditional way, employing pancakes and an eating knife.

However, these heralds of a far away empire not only liked to boast about their “exotic” foods, but also their literary tradition. Loheta, as the location of a legendary paradise of peace and tranquility, had become entirely mysticized and stories about it increasingly embellished or entirely based on speculation. The idea of a land that in some ways resembled South Jute in how small and secluded it historically had been, in other ways seemed to be the complete opposite to the very urban nature of South Jute caught the interest of some sailors in South Jute, especially those looking for an adventure now that their land had become independent again. Particularly appealing was Loheta’s supposed peacefulness, and its economy and lifestyle rooted in tradition, unobstructed by colonization by empires, something a large amount of South Juteans desired to return to after a long period of foreign rule that had seen them forced to work on large construction works and naval exercises.

A problem was that Loheta’s name had become obscured in these legends. While the modern-day country of Loheta was obscure, but certainly known to some academics and widely traveled seafarers, the connection to the mythical paradise was no longer apparent. As a result, many ventures failed to reach any land remotely resembling the descriptions they had heard of, until a group of literary experts, a merchant who had frequently visited the region surrounding Loheta, and experienced sailors managed to locate it using the sparse hints mentioned in the text. Even then, it took them months until they had reached their location and the merchant was very surprised to be seeing familiar landscapes.

While the team had to admit that the legend had exaggerated a lot and that life was not much more pleasant in Loheta than at home, using the merchant as interpreter they managed to bond with the local population over their similar cultural affinities while being fascinated by their differences, especially the urban-rural contrast. Rice, chopsticks as well as beautifully carved stones depicting local mythological beings were brought back to South Jute alongside new stories of the legendary paradise were brought back and permanent trade relations soon followed. Chopsticks could be used for noodles and pasta, which as a result both experienced a surge in popularity, especially noodles from local ingredients and rice, which had the benefit of being associated with a famous and desirable place. The mutual fascination between Loheta and South Jute continues to this day and is reflected in many literary and visual works as well as the frequent trips undertaken by both sides to visit each other.