It’s directly before the Wanderlores New Year and, as I’m known to do this time of year, I’ve just finished renovating the little wagon I call home—at least while I’m visiting the Wanderlore Groves, which is quite a lot during this season.
The wagon is the traditional intricate affair on the outside. Painted red with various brightly colored accents, it looks just like any traditional vardo.
This is one of the many forms of housing that traditional Wanderlores utilize. Wanderlores, with their community focus, have many public areas for daily rituals such as meals, learning and working. Thus, their personal spaces tend to be smaller and of a less permanent nature than traditional living spaces.
You’ll find a lot of tents, caravans and tiny houses with feet* within the Wanderlore Groves.
The Wanderlores are the descendants of the last humans who left Earth after the great dying.
They stayed when all others had left.
They left only after they came up with a secret plan to restore Earth’s delicate ecology.
With them they brought a powerful magic to transform the technologically founded habitats humans had adopted into eerily Earth-like ones.
They also brought with them a ritualistic concept known as the Great Cycle, which embodied the hopes, dreams and legends of all the peoples who had lived on Earth.
These rituals and traditions were woven into their new lives as a way to remember the ancient Earth as well as a way to keep the new techno-magical worlds—of which they were now a part of—in touch with the flow of the natural world they had left behind.
Of course, in worlds where technology, magic and illusion hold sway there’s always more to things than what meets the eye.
Take the wagon I have just finished renovating. You might think I just touched up the paint on the outside and fixed a few things that had fallen into disrepair. I did, but I also did so much more.
You see, the inside of the wagons, tents and other abodes where the Wanderlores live are not confined to the external footprints they appear to occupy.
Thus, not only are the interiors roomier than the uninitiated might imagine, the actual floor plans can also be rearranged via magic. I can place a sitting area by the stove as cooler weather approaches, I can add more windows in the bedroom as milder weather prevails.
I tell you these things to highlight a little piece of who the Wanderlores are and what they are about.
The Wanderlores believe that simpler is better. They believe that there are many ways to live and just as many ways that family and community can be constructed.
The traditions and rituals that are woven into their lives are sacred as long as they stay productive. They are also changeable, for the Wanderlores know that a society that refuses to change when needed is doomed to fracture apart.
Humans change, situations change, societies change, culture changes. The most important thing to keep in mind, when a lot of changes are happening, are the fundamentals.
When I remodel my humble house that is sometimes my home, I have to remember to reserve those places I need to live, sleep, work, eat and refresh.
When society changes, it’s good to remember that though we all may live in the same country, city or town our actual lives and beliefs are actually much more varied than they may first appear. We have to remember to keep the fundamentals while allowing for the space we each need to thrive.
I won’t paint the exterior of your house to suit me if you don’t interior decorate my living quarters to suit you, but I will invite you for tea, especially now that I have put the finishing touches on my renovations—I did remember the kitchenette this time!
—Jellybean Reds, Creator of Little Creatures
*The feet are whimsical in design and they are symbolic of the Wanderlores’ ethos of not making a permanent mark on the land. The feet are also practical in nature allowing the home to be moved from spot to spot with the seasons, which is what some Wanderlores are want to do.
