Dilettante's

Among the first settlers of Lhazolpot'a was a young female gnome whose only interest was clothing. Her name was Let'ei. She spent the entire time on the ship to the Bloody Coast asking people about their clothing. She asked about what they were wearing and had in their luggage. Let'ei wanted to know about the materials, designer or crafter, and where they were purchased for every scrap of clothing everyone wore.

When the ship wrecked on the artificial landmass which would become Lhazolpot'a many people had only the clothes on their back. Those few who were able to keep extra clothing were hounded by their counterparts to use them for sails. Let'ei had saved an entire trunk of clothing and did not want to have to give it up. She wandered deep into the morass, alone and occasionally floating on her chest of clothes, where she came upon a colossal spider. Let'ei stood still, hoping the arachnid would not see her. After a long time, she realized the abdomen was not moving and its legs were covered in seaweed and other flotsam. She approached the front of the spider and saw of the eight eyes one was milky in color and the other seven were hollow indentations. Using the left pedipalp, so as not to have to cross in front of its fangs, Lette ascended onto the spiders back. It was colossal, like the goliath spiders from the jungles she had lived near before her journey. Not truly concerned about the vermin's origins or even if it was a goliath spider or some aquatic relative, Let'ei claimed the corpse as hers.

Let'ei began harvesting seaweed from around the carapace but not knowing anything about constructing buildings did not get far before others found her. They argued that she needed to give up the contents of her trunk for the good of all. Being now highly annoyed at trying to build upon her spider, she offered them trade terms. Whoever helped her build on her spider would be able to take clothing from her chest. While many in the group scolded her for being frivolous, greedy, or worse, one male walked quickly to the pedipalp and, calling to her, said, “I am a spider-sage and I know a bit about building. If you let me come up and study the spider you have claimed, and agree to my building designs to help preserve the specimen for others to study in the future, I will allow you to keep all the contents of your chest.” The crowd quickly started yelling at him too. “This is possibly a great find. A colossal new species. If it is an aquatic spider there will be more in these oceans, of this size or larger, something that sailors should be aware of.”

“Do your study. Do your building. We will be back if we need the contents of her chest,” the leader of the crowd said. They left without further incident.

“May I ascend?” he inquired to Let'ei with a grin.

“You may,” she said with a blush and a curtsey.

“Exactly what kind of domicile are you looking for?” he asked as he ascended.

“A small house and a shop to sell clothing, Mister . . . ?”

“My name is Gtadafh. And yours?” he asked extending his hand.

“Let'ei,” she said shaking it.

They set about making a home upon the spiders’ smaller opisthosoma and a shop upon the carapace of the cephalothorax. Gtadafh insisted she learn and use the proper terminology. They still live there together.

The house and shop walls were made of woven seaweed. The roof was made of the same with extra-large leaves placed over the weave like shingles. The frame had come from the legs of the spider, which Gtadafh had painstakingly dug out of the morass. Three were used in full for the eves and the brace of the roof. Three others were divided in half to form the vertical supports of the walls. The final two were used by Gtadafh to make a small laboratory between the pedipalps as Let'ei would not let him keep the living specimens he found in the morass in her house.

The thirty-five-foot-long opisthosoma was shaped like the bow of a ship, wider by the cephalothorax and coming to a point at the spinnerets. The house was a modest affair. Three small bedrooms and an eat in kitchen.

The shop was built upon the forty-foot-long and thirty-foot-wide cephalothorax. The pedipalps remained and are the ramps to get to the front doors of the shop. Clothing is sorted on lines hung from between the eves. Accessories are hung on hooks in the woven walls.

In multicolored letters of cloth, across the front of the woven seaweed building, above both doors, is the name DILETTANTE’S. This is the term for the outfit favored by most gnomes, a mismatched set of whatever they think is “superior” in terms of boots, pants or skirts, shirt, gloves, and numerous other accessories that are rife with pockets. Since Lhazolpot'a is constantly on the move, sometimes in tropical oceans, sometimes temperate, and sometimes even cold what is considered a superior garment of clothing changes frequently. Let'ei will exchange clothing for garments she has in her store on a regular basis. She will also exchange clothing for food to keep herself, Gtadafh, and their two children fed.

The elder son, Coutufritter, took a liking to weaving when he helped his father build the laboratory. He has since made himself a loom and weaves fabric from sheep wool and, when he can, angora.  He then takes the fabric and sews it into clothing, usually custom made for buyers.

Their young daughter, Eep, does not show any interest in clothing. She normally wears a shapeless sack dress and runs around barefoot with a sheep that follows her everywhere. When Eep was being birthed, the sheep wandered into the bedroom. It refused to leave even with Let'ei, the midwife, and Gtadafh shouting at it. Coutufritter came in and tried to chase the animal out but it remained in the room, evading him. When Eep finally emerged into the hands of Gtadafh, the sheep ambled up and began cleaning the infant with its tongue. Nobody is certain what to make of it all yet, especially the fact that the sheep has already lived thrice as long as usual.