Pampahn:
This is the 11th in a series of pieces on characters and places
featured in Joinings: A Seared Sky.
This background information, isn’t covered in the book, but should enhance the
reading experience. For some of my people, there’ll be a character drawing,
supplied by Alice Taylor, maybe a video interview, and accompanying script. I
may do short pieces of fiction, deepening knowledge of certain minor characters
as well.
For the places, I may use sections of the map, to indicate location,
along with a description of the place, as I see it, and, where appropriate,
links with characters. Perhaps I’ll indicate the way of life there with a short
anecdote or story.
I won’t reveal any of the main story, either as already published or as
written in the series, merely enhance readers’ enjoyment of the trilogy by
providing more information. I hope this will give pleasure to those who’ve
bought the book and, perhaps, persuade others to take that step.
Pronunciation hints:
Pampahn – pam-parn.
Muhnilahm – murn-ill-arm.
Aklon-Dji – ak-lon-djy
(think of the Dj sound in the name of tennis player, Djokovic.
Phildrad – fill-drad.
Lasdilyss – lass-dill-iss.
Kaz-Ca-Porlesah –
kazz-ka-por-laze-ar.
Names are pronounced
phonetically. But this is my take on them; how I hear them in my head. You may
pronounce them as you wish, of course; reading is, after all, active rather
than passive.
Pampahn, a little isolated
and a bit backward, is one of the Followers’ settlements on the island of
Muhnilahm. It’s home to Phildrad, Lasdilyss and Kaz-Ca-Porlesah, amongst others
in the trilogy. Lying toward the south of the island, it’s bordered by a shallow
lake to the west, extensive marshland to the north and mountains to the south.
Due east, some leagues distant, lies the Southern Ocean. The nearest settlement
to the infamous Point, it’s home to a Village Priestess with a soft spot for
the island’s most wanted criminal, the Renegade, Aklon-Dji. Kaz-Ca-Porlesah
risks a great deal to befriend this handsome folk hero, but he’s even more at
risk in this dangerous relationship.
Phildrad fishes from a
coracle on the lake and has developed some pretty unusual recipes to make the
food as tasty as he can. In fact, he has a reputation as something of a wonder
as far as food preparation is concerned, though he is otherwise considered a
rather dull chap. His wife, Lasdilyss, is a pretty woman who devotes far too much
of her time to Phildrad’s ungrateful bedridden parents. She is also a sometime
lover of Aklon-Dji and a member of his Few.
The houses, in common with
most on the island, are built with wooden frames filled in with mud baked and
hardened by the sun. They’re painted with oil-based pigments of various colours
(mostly natural browns, ochres, and dull yellows), which help keep the rain
off. Thatched with reed or with long leaves from the many trees, they generally
consist of sleeping areas for the adult couple, separate quarters for any
children, and a living area that serves as kitchen, dining and relaxing area.
This is a tropical environment, so the windows are open but often shaded by
woven blinds. Internal walls are made of woven pliant branches, so light and
movement tends to seep through from one room to another.
External doors tend to
be made of rough wooden planks hinged and fastened with metal parts. Internal
doors are wicker, like the internal walls. Floors are bare earth, trodden flat
and hard by occupation.
Furniture is basic, wooden
framed and undecorated in the main. Beds consist of fabric (usually linen) bags
filled with down, dry moss, straw or any combination of these, often confined
in a wooden frame on the floor. A blanket or covering is rarely actually needed
but these are usually made from woven cotton of the spun yarn made from the
fleece of a sheep-like wild goat that roams the island.
Household utensils include
such items as canvas buckets, cups made from horn and earthenware crockery made
by specialist potters. Eating implements are metal, again forged by specialist
smiths. Tallow candles and vegetable oil lamps provide illumination after dark.
