I made a breakthrough, alright, and so did my wife! We couldn’t be happier.
The only thing was that Emberstone Farm disappeared. The portals leading to it have become inactive.
I’m not panicking. I’m sure it will reappear soon.
People expected the Lady of the West to issue a royal proclamation, but she instead sent unofficial word to the effect of: “Divinity has descended upon our land; behave yourselves!”
Everyone is busy gathering the gold and silver apples that appeared at the same time as the god's birth. They grew on every tree in every village, but not in the wild. No one with any sense needed the scholars to tell them that these were the fabled Apples of Awakening and Abundance, second in importance only to the Peaches of Immortality.
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I unearthed my copy of the Investiture of the Gods and displayed the page that mentioned the mythical fruit in the town office's main hall. These legendary fruits were said to grow in a sacred garden in the westernmost island of the world, tended to by the “clear-voiced daughters of the morning” and “beautifully-haired sons of the evening.”
They taste exactly like normal apples, but we’re hoping that eating them will bless us with good fortune, good health, and long life.
There were, of course, quite a few quarrels over the ownership of the apples, especially the ones that appeared on common land. Two neighbors in a nearby village almost came to blows over the fruit that grew on a branch of a tree that hung over the other person’s property, but their mayor resolved the issue by telling them that violence and discord would negate the positive benefits of the fruit, and they agreed to split the bounty in half.
People are holding Apple-themed banquets, and all of the households I know are busy making apple jams, jellies, and preserves.
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Author's Note:
- Investiture of the Gods is a famous text -
- This - “clear-voiced daughters of the morning” and “beautifully-haired sons of the evening” - are epithets from poetry -
- Advanced chapters on my Patreon!
- Thank you very much for reading.
- Please let me know if there are any errors.