Dashi Opiatmasin
Dashi came to Larchblossom Ranch when they got old enough to have to decide if they were going to train up as church clergy or not. Their mentor felt that Dashi should go experience life away from the mountain for three years before making any permanent decisions, because up until then Dashi had always let current events blow them along like a leaf in the autumn skies.
Wong agreed to foster his young cousin for a few years. Wong remembers Dashi's parents before the avalanche took them; they were kind folks who made maple candy for every family get-together.
And anyway, maybe a summer or two will help Dashi's growing lungs build up some strength?
The ranchers at Larchblossom began to suspect this past spring that the troubles had crossed a line into something truly bad. They met up with Miss Jazlean over at Ayrshire Farm to talk it over.
Miss Jazlean recommended that they stock up for a siege and go hermit, actually. She said it was getting bad over on the farmer side, too, but the problem was spread out too wide to tackle.
Mystery and Justice Mullins reluctantly volunteered that Mystery could go, hat in hand, on to the Alfredo House and let Big Lui coax her into working for him a while. Just to even up a tough season, belike. She could hint around that the "Violet Nose" over at Juniper Flail Ranch has started to crop up on the Larchblossom herds.
Ghost Harrell put a stop to that whole idea. She pointed out that Big Lui would investigate, that Big Lui has never been a stupid man even when he had a damfool notion.
Dashi eventually suggested that they could go to the domestic staff at Alfredo House and ask about some short term kitchen work. Dashi could lean on the whole "fragile snowbell" stereotype, claim that they cannot tolerate much more of this heat out on the range, but they want to earn their keep.
And for "proof" of their trouble with summers in Oatman Canyon, they could show their Band of Wintertide hat.
It was worth the attempt, anyway. The Herd swarmed down on Larchblossom Ranch two nights later. Dashi thinks that Wong and Nishat probably died while they were trying to buy Dashi and the Raven time to flee. From then until today, Dashi was in the Suncup Barn at Whippetal Ranch, mucking out stalls because at least that keeps them away from the fires. Shortly after breakfast on the 13th of Grolm, four of the Hell Woolies herded Dashi away from the rest of the prisoners. A ranch hand's whip, already frayed, became the leather straps with which the Woollies tied Dashi's arms snugly wrapped around torso. Dashi got shoved into a hay cart. Two of the Woollies immediately climbed onto the cart bed also, ready to apply weapons if Dashi tries to wiggle loose. Four anxious, underfed Lapir from the Bicchieri Caravan got hitched to that cart, and the whole mess set out across Whippetal Ranch toward Sarsparilla Barn. This can't be good!
Working as a kitchen maid should be good for some information gathering; is this a truth agreed?And it worked. Every night, Dashi woke up two hours before dawn. They rode over to Alfredo House, came in the kitchen entrance, went down to the cellar and stoked up the furnace, came back up to the kitchen to get griddle cakes a-frying and coffee a-percolating. They finished scrubbing all of the previous night's cookware and dishes while household residents ate. From then, they tidied up the breakfast, handled any chores that the domestic servants of the house indicated, and wandered about a bit "looking for more I can clean up". They never hurried, never pried anywhere that might raise an alarm. Dashi worked at a comfortable pace through early afternoon, when they retrieved their hat from the icebox and moseyed off home to the stonework Opiatmasin home on Larchblossom ranch. They took a short nap, met with the Larchblossom ranchers at the evening meal to give a full report, then went back to bed until it was time to start over again. They picked up several hints, but nothing powerful ... until the day a calf trotted by the western kitchen window. The calf had a mark all around the top of its head that looked like a brand in the style of a crown. That was peculiar. The calf was doing his trotting entirely on his hind legs. Dashi froze in terror, staring. They did not manage to pretend to have seen nothing at all when Mr. Padmore, the household cook, came into the kitchen from having served lunch.
Oh, my poor dear!Mr. Padmore thought intently for several minutes. Finally he took the washrag away from Dashi. "Go home and stay there," he instructed. "Do not return here. Do it immediately. As soon as you are over the first hill eastward, you go as fast as your mule will trot. And this is important: leave your hat here, my dear." Obviously Dashi objected to leaving their hat. "I do not mean for you to give it away or abandon it," Mr. Padmore said. "But it is valuable to more than the Alfredo Brothers, now, that your hat chills the icebox so well. And it will work as long as you are alive. Yes? Good. So," he said firmly, "it is to everyone's benefit if you are let be. Go home, child, where you are out of sight and out of temptation. Be a quiet little suslik. Do not get a replacement hat until you are far beyond the grasslands. I will leave the right hints in the right places."
It was worth the attempt, anyway. The Herd swarmed down on Larchblossom Ranch two nights later. Dashi thinks that Wong and Nishat probably died while they were trying to buy Dashi and the Raven time to flee. From then until today, Dashi was in the Suncup Barn at Whippetal Ranch, mucking out stalls because at least that keeps them away from the fires. Shortly after breakfast on the 13th of Grolm, four of the Hell Woolies herded Dashi away from the rest of the prisoners. A ranch hand's whip, already frayed, became the leather straps with which the Woollies tied Dashi's arms snugly wrapped around torso. Dashi got shoved into a hay cart. Two of the Woollies immediately climbed onto the cart bed also, ready to apply weapons if Dashi tries to wiggle loose. Four anxious, underfed Lapir from the Bicchieri Caravan got hitched to that cart, and the whole mess set out across Whippetal Ranch toward Sarsparilla Barn. This can't be good!
Mental characteristics
Gender Identity
Dashi feels that it's too early in life to figure out anything as important as "what's my gender" when they have not yet even settled on minor matters like "what's my favorite color".
Mental Trauma
If Dashi had any expectation of a future longer than a handful of hours, Dashi would be grieving wholeheartedly. This is the second time in young Dashi's life that their family has died just beyond Dashi's sight.
Social
Family Ties
- much older cousin Wong Opiatmasin who may be deceased
- Wong's wife Nishat Opiatmasin who may be deceased
Current Location
Species
Ethnicity
Children
Current Residence
Gender
neutral
Hair
formerly sleek calderiana purple, now a tangled and dirty mess
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
sunburnt, normally granite gray
Height
5'2"
Weight
72
Related Plots
- Fa'lain
- Fa'lain Omat
- Common
- Noru (only the most basic phrases)
