Vanilor
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The characters

Vanillin and her companions

One small explorer and four friends. Each companion is a crop that grows beside the vanilla on our farm.

The explorer

Vanillin

Vanillin grew up at the edge of the jungle hearing the same bedtime story: somewhere past the monsoon is a valley called Vanilor, where the rarest vanilla in the world grows. One morning she packs a lantern and a map that stops halfway, and leaves. She is not brave in the loud way. She is brave in the way that keeps walking.

Likes
Warm rice pudding, asking why, maps with blank corners
Afraid of
Arriving somewhere after it has closed
On the farm
Vanilla. A climbing orchid. Each flower opens for one morning and is pollinated by hand.

The companions

Four friends, four crops

  • The turmeric warrior

    Khamin

    Khamin guards a crossing that nobody uses any more, and is delighted when somebody finally does. Everything about Khamin is golden, including the temper, which is short, and the heart, which is not.

    Likes
    Shouting encouragement, second helpings, a well-kept leaf
    Afraid of
    Being useful to nobody
    On the farm
    Turmeric. Covers the shaded ground between the vines and keeps the soil from drying out.

  • The lemongrass scout

    Takrai

    Takrai finds Vanillin lost on her first night and decides, without saying so, that she is now his responsibility. He reads trails the way other people read books and trusts his nose more than any map.

    Likes
    High ground, quiet mornings, being right about directions
    Afraid of
    Noise, mostly Khamin
    On the farm
    Lemongrass. Lines the edges of the plot. Its roots hold the soil in place when the rains come.

  • The cacao elder

    Elder Koko

    Elder Koko keeps a library of maps that all disagree with each other. He knows more about Vanilor than he lets on and believes the best answers arrive when you stop asking for them.

    Likes
    Tea, long pauses, proverbs nobody asked for
    Afraid of
    Hurrying
    On the farm
    Cacao. Likes the same shade and damp air as vanilla, so the two share the understorey.

  • The black pepper trickster

    Prik

    Prik turns up whenever things are going too smoothly. He lies about small things and tells the truth about big ones, which makes him the most useful liar in the jungle.

    Likes
    Shortcuts, other people’s snacks, winning arguments
    Afraid of
    Being ignored
    On the farm
    Black pepper. Another climbing vine. It grows up the same kind of support trees as the vanilla.

Episode 1 is being drawn

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