(no subject)

Since it has been quite a while since i've posted any of Melpomene's Daughter, it's time you had something new to read. Accordingly, i'm starting on a new short story for your reading pleasure. I'm not going to serialize this one in the same weekly basis as the novella, but it'll run quite a lot shorter- i'd be shocked if it went over twenty pages. This will likely be all of it you see until it's complete and posted on my website, so consider this a bit of a teaser.

It's an original story, but draws elements from traditional folklore- most specifically the Orkneyjar- the tales of Orkney and the Shetland Islands; and borrows a little of the general flow from Charles de Lint's stories. Without further ado, then, i give you "The Outsiders"

It had been generations since there were Outsiders who had touched the grounds of an t-Eilean Sidhennach, and in the way my people feel the touch of aging, that has indeed been a long time. It's not that our island is particularly remote, or difficult to reach, just that it doesn't show up on human maps, no matter how carefully they're drawn, and accordingly, few adventurers think to look for it, and by not doing so, they miss it completely.

Suddenly, though, there was not one Outsider, but two in our midst. As the Lorebearer of our people, this is quite the momentous occasion which merits recording. It is unclear which of the Outsiders reached our shores first, or from whence they came. Not having borne witness to either arrival, I can at best relay that information which has come to me, so, dear reader, I beg leave if the details I can provide you are insufficient. In some places it may be possible to speculate, but these are mere guesses at best.

The first appears to have been a fisherman who had the misfortune of having his boat wrecked in a storm. Fortunately for him, he was a fisherman, and not a sealer, for he was found by a selkie, and had the blood of her kin been about him, his life may not have lasted long enough to merit recording. He did not reach the main island immediately, but remained at Innishselkie for some time, although word of him came quickly to me, and to those others who have need of knowing such things.

It is unclear exactly how the second came to the island- from the tale as it has come to me, it is almost as if she were deliberately a walker between the worlds, but such things are almost unknown in the outer world these days. What is known is that she was wandering in a wooded area in the northeast of the island when she stumbled over one of the Green Men who had been tending to some of the mosses and lichens which grew there which have medicinal uses amongst the various of our peoples. It is reasonably certain that she did not intend to walk between the worlds and arrive in ours, and having done so completely by accident has been rather a shock.

Now that both are here, there is significant discussion among the people of Fairie regarding what should be done with them. Were the woman who arrived here one who deliberately sought to come here, it might be possible that she could return, and possibly even that she could manage to take the wayward sailor with her as well.

Nevertheless, there is some support for keeping both here, and not solely to continue to hide our presence from others of humankind. Aerdwynna, the selkie who discovered him reserves her option to claim mate-right with him, and seems to have elevated her status amongst her folk to near legendary levels, and it is likely that many of the other selkie women would trade their own mates for this Outlander given the opportunity. None the less, he has made an ally of the Thane of Innishselkie, who says that he sees a common spirit between his folk and the newcomer, and even the savage merfolk seem to have taken a liking to him.

The woman seems to have a natural interest in the woods, and moves as lightly through the growth now as if she had been born there. Greumach relates that this was most decidedly not the case upon her discovery, and the wood nymphs barely attempted to suppress their laughter as he related how awkward her movements once were.