Chapter Twelve, Nixtamal

I actually really like most of this. Obviously the writing needs polishing, and parts need expansion, and I really need to quit adverbs cold turkey before they consume my soul like I'm fourteen years old again, but here it is.

NOTE TO FUTURE SELF: THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU PUT THE COMMENTARY ABOUT CHAPTER DIVISIONS AND SAMBIYA AS A POV CHARACTER.

The downside of writing everything directly as a stream of consciousness, including when things are and aren't working and what things need to be changed, is that if I don't remember the context of the scene I interrupted to make that note, I'll have no idea where to find it. And once it's on paper, it is no longer in my head, so this is a problem. But to continue:

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( My Pen Is Dying And I Was Short On Word Count )

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I don't care anymore! I've realized that even at my best, this is still only a rough draft, and very little of it will ever see the light of day once revision has taken over. So I've stopped trying so hard to make it a good rough draft, and focused more on the primary objective: get everything down, even if it's only in semi-prose form, as quickly as possible before I forget.

Nixtamal Timeline

That's my new title until I get an actual one. It's all symbolic, because Tanwen is like the limestone powder that gets mixed into the homogenous aristocracy to make it function well, instead of being not-very-nutritious. And it represents everyone else because every other major character has a scene in which they are grinding cornmeal. (Also  I just needed something to call it because I've changed the name seven times already so this is what it stays at until I find The One.)

But here's the relevant timeline so far:
September 28th - Nyali and Tsuya are caught stealing a bowl from Dantaidas palace
September 29th - Slanosione helps Nyali in preparation for escaping
September 30th - The Caravan arrives in Dantaidas; Tanwen meets Aisa
                               - Nyali escapes
                               - Tsuya is sold to Tauno
                               - Nyali meets Tanwen and Aisa
October 1st - Tanwen – Fight with Loren
                      - Nyali gets hired in exchange for Tsuya’s eventual freedom
October 3rd - Tanwen – arrives in Oboureon; meets Naike
                      - Nyali – meets Warya and kitchen workers, etc.
October 6th - Nyali – sometime here, Aisa does his testing thing to him
October 9th - Tsuya – The Caravan arrives in Texcoco and meets up with Carriers
                      - Meilen – Andoin Market Riot
October 10th - Tanwen – Coronation and marriage
                      - Tsuya and Meilen – letter gets sent to Tanwen with ransom demands
October 11th, 5172 Tanwen – festivities continue, and the letter from Texcoco arrives

And all of the other Tsuya/Meilen/Sambiya/etc stuff happens in between those two events. These are just the time-relevant events that I need to know right now. My timeline is seven different kinds of fucked. I have no idea where I'm going anymore, and I loooooove it.

Also in case anyone was wondering, Texcoco is just a placeholder name. A lot of these are placeholder names, actually. I have a place called Tikal that the Caravan visits, and the Caravan itself doesn't have a name, either, because I suck at coming up with names without several hours of thought. (Seriously, the last minor character I had to name in a rush, the poor chap is named Shiraneija. Shiraneija I am fourteen years old again, that's it. That is the answer.)