Celyn Sends Wine to His Sister
Celyn’s intent, once he gets a box of winebottles that he is happy with (which he is a bit picky about), is to send a) the box of bottles, b) the bolt of fabric, and c) a letter to his sister, who is a vintner at the Clawyn winery (not in charge, but no longer a junior, I imagine by this point in time; she’s in her mid thirties now, as my notes have her as a decade older than Celyn, who just turned 24 in the early spring).
This is, among other things, an attempt to prank his sister, and he has secured Viepuck’s help in getting the letter into appropriate Sembaran formal language, which I am not going to fuss too hard about, but consider this competently done in the mode and register of a class Celyn very much is not, given Viepuck has a brain full of legal language and the borrow knowledge spell. (I discussed this briefly with Chris a while back.) It is also relevant to the Garden.
Celyn is not worrying about his handwriting for this because Sembaran and Tyrwinghan use different scripts (according to your deep dive on linguistics a while back), but he is writing it himself because it makes everything funnier and sometimes a chaotic man’s gotta be a gremlin. Basically he wants to drop some clues that it’s him writing the letter without saying so directly and then see what happens.
The cloth he’s sending is a shade of green that is particularly well-suited to the hair color and complexion of the sort of flaming redhead that his sister is, in a textile that is of reasonable quality and good wear, the sort of thing that would be notable but not wholly out of place for a very well-off villager, particularly one who might like a show piece of clothing for conducting business with the posh. (This is in fact one of the clues.)
The letter goes something like:
To the attention of Blodwen of Clawyn, of the Clawyn winery, greetings:
Having presided over the opening of the new glassworks in Asineau, I present to you for the possible usage of the winery this crate demonstrating our product’s quality. I would be most interested in purchasing three (3) amphorae of Clawyn wine, ideally of the [some specific] varietal, though I understand that production is quite well set for the season and the varietal may only be available in subsequent years. Should you be interested in making trade for further glassware, our factor is Catherine de Brune of the town of Cleenseau, who has chosen to lend the de Brune family’s extensive trade network to support our wares.
I offer you personally this fabric, which I believe to be well-suited to your needs, and as a personal request ask that you secure some number of live plants to help establish the gardens under development in the Asineau manor. [List of things attached, mostly that are a selection of medicinal herbs native to Tyrwingha and not Aveil, but also sufficient grapevines to set up a nice arbor (he proposes 14 as a plausible number, and prefers a varietal that’s a better eating grape than wine grape to make clear he’s not trying to set up competition) and 7 or 9 rowan saplings.]
I am additionally aware that many of these, including the vines and saplings, are best planted in the spring season, and will be happy to receive them at a more opportune time for their growth if, in your best judgement, it would be better to wait.
I appreciate the consideration you will give my request for purchase, in anticipation of similar purchases in future years, and your attention to the personal matter.
Earnestly awaiting your response,
Holly
Lord’s Consort in Asineau, Barony of Aveil, Sembara
(Next he encounters Catherine de Brune he will let her know that if she gets someone putting out feelers for glassware from Clawyn that’s his sister and he would appreciate negotiations being appropriately generous with the familial connection.)