Embrace 08: If I Had A Voice I Would Sing

These Flimsy Rituals

c/w: mass protest, violence against protestors, death, natural disaster

"Heat in Embrace wraps close to the skin - saturating, condensation mingling with sweat. There’s a texture to it that I’ve not felt anywhere else. When the sun breaks, it doesn’t tip-toe through dawn. It’s there in its full fury, from moment of first light til its dusk retreat.

That summer the city blistered. The scrimshawers were kept busy repairing cracks in bone; the Trill’s moisture was the only thing that stopped the fleshwood from igniting. Our tempers though were frayed to wicks, ready to catch. Hulling day would be the spark."

~~~

On this day each year, the people of Embrace down their work tools, and instead tend to their homes and streets. A tradition formed in the days following the Ochre Hull's attack, as people refused demands to return to work and instead repaired the rubble of their communities. The day came to be known as Hulling Day.

This year those privileged few who get to vote gather in Marrow Ward. They cast their ballots for the new warden of Holm, the ward that Atrium officially belongs to. They chose between the incumbent, Tomer Lorving - favoured by nim Daker and nim Callad - and Parsib nim Corvanus, nim Shif's proxy candidate.

Sick of their disenfranchisement, the people of Atrium are on the march. Though they know it's a hollow act, they're going to vote in a warden of their own.

~~ PEOPLE ~~

Lena Fisher: The self-declared Tether of Rialla’s Harbour. A former sailor turned radical priest, who teaches a doctrine focused on community.

Nilkat: A former factory mechanic, turned revolutionary. A member of the Ginnels and our story’s narrator.

Topaz: Ivar's trusty companion. Somewhere between a bat and a labrador.

~~ FACTIONS ~~

People's Ward of Atrium: An old neighbourhood near the docks, once home to wholesale markets and cafes. It has declared itself its own ward, erecting barricades to keep the city’s officials out.

Ginnels: A broad revolutionary network, formed by the workers of Calvary Ward.

Syndics: Clerks and government officials aligned with nim Shif. Embroiled in extortion, corruption and conspiracy.

~~ PLACES ~~

Arrad Chambers: Part of Embrace's civic infrastructure. Here clerks and bureaucrats sign away the city's future.

Holm Ward: Traditionally Embrace's dock district. People here tend to make their living from the boats that dock in the harbour.
~~~

Episode title from Fever Ray's If I Had A Heart

~~~

Follow the show on twitter @flimsyrituals

Find our website at flimsyrituals.com

Chat to us on Discord

~~~

Hosted by Adam Dixon. Starring Ryan Evans and Thryn Henderson.

Produced by Thryn Henderson

Series art by Ben Swinden

Music taken from Kai Engel’s Satin