One tide-cycle of the waters the kingdom is named for, ticked over on 2026-10-30. The chronicle is the ferryman's: one line a tide, what happened and whether it was worth a fare. The Warden's ledger is kept and not shown — the bell is not counted aloud.
On the water: The Ferrymen's Guild — To cross on any tide, and be owed for it.
On the water: The Crown of the Four Sounds — To hold four islands under one law and one tide-calendar.
The chronicle
- Tide 1 · autumn · neaps · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; berries in every wood; the small birds were in the berries everywhere; a poor fruit year everywhere; the ferry crossed with three aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 2 · autumn · neaps · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 3 · autumn · middling · storm — a storm went through the Sounds; gulls went hungry on every shore; the puffins went hungry; the storm shook the nuts down in every wood; the ferry crossed with one aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 4 · autumn · middling · blowing — gulls on the wolves' kill on Second Island; the ferry crossed empty, and is owed for it.
- Tide 5 · autumn · middling · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 6 · autumn · middling · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 7 · autumn · middling · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; the seals hauled out at low water; the ferry crossed with three aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 8 · autumn · middling · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 9 · autumn · middling · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with two aboard.
- Tide 10 · autumn · springs · storm — a storm went through the Sounds; gulls went hungry on every shore; the puffins went hungry; the storm shook the nuts down in every wood; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 11 · autumn · springs · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with two aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 12 · autumn · springs · blowing — a good catch landed at First Island; gulls went hungry on Second Island; gulls went hungry on Third Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 13 · autumn · springs · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 14 · autumn · springs · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; some gulls went south, and no ferryman looked after them; a pup on the skerries; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 15 · autumn · springs · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with two aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 16 · autumn · springs · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; some gulls went south, and no ferryman looked after them; the ferry crossed with three aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 17 · autumn · middling · blowing — a good catch landed at First Island; gulls went hungry on Second Island; gulls went hungry on Third Island; the ferry crossed with two aboard.
- Tide 18 · autumn · middling · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; gulls came back from the south, and no ferryman asked where from; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 19 · autumn · middling · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 20 · autumn · middling · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with three aboard, two paying in news.
- Tide 21 · autumn · middling · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with three aboard.
- Tide 22 · autumn · middling · blowing — a good catch landed at First Island; gulls on the wolves' kill on Third Island; gulls went hungry on Second Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 23 · autumn · middling · blowing — a good catch landed at First Island; gulls went hungry on Third Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard, one paying in news.
- Tide 24 · autumn · neaps · calm — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with four aboard.
- Tide 25 · autumn · neaps · blowing — a good catch landed at First Island; gulls went hungry on Second Island; gulls went hungry on Third Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
- Tide 26 · autumn · neaps · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with three aboard.
- Tide 27 · autumn · neaps · storm — a storm went through the Sounds; gulls went hungry on every shore; the puffins went hungry; the storm shook the nuts down in every wood; the ferry crossed anyway.
- Tide 28 · autumn · neaps · fresh — a good catch landed at First Island; the ferry crossed with one aboard.
After the cycle
- the Sounds herring 10639 bloom 47
- First Island gulls 114 shellfish 201
- grazing 4300 deer 29 wolves 0 rabbits 179 foxes 4 squirrels 56 cats 12
- goats 8 harriers 0 sparrowhawks 2 dragonflies 5 ponies 8 alpacas 11
- small birds 190 worms 5309 berries 586
- blossom 0 bees 20 fruit 0 fishing eagles 1
- Second Island gulls 87 shellfish 562
- grazing 4079 deer 57 wolves 3 rabbits 172 foxes 5 squirrels 76 cats 0
- goats 14 harriers 3 sparrowhawks 2 dragonflies 5 ponies 0 alpacas 0
- small birds 211 worms 5309 berries 530
- blossom 0 bees 23 fruit 0 fishing eagles 2
- Third Island gulls 68 shellfish 606
- grazing 4065 deer 58 wolves 3 rabbits 166 foxes 4 squirrels 57 cats 0
- goats 16 harriers 3 sparrowhawks 2 dragonflies 5 ponies 0 alpacas 0
- small birds 174 worms 5309 berries 642
- blossom 0 bees 16 fruit 0 fishing eagles 2
- the skerries between Second and Third seals 13 puffins 39
- Fourth Island not simulated here — it keeps its own account
- off the record, somewhere south gulls 3
- The Guild's ledger: 28 crossings, 33 fares in coin, 12 in news, 2 crossed empty and owed for.
- Landed at First Island's quay: 3725 herring.
- Gathered on the shore: 399 shellfish.
Who does what
- grows — what everything else lives on: the bloom, the grazing, the wood, the shore's shellfish beds, the worms in the turf, the berries, the blossom, the fruit
- feeds — on what grows: herring, shellfish, deer, rabbits, squirrels, goats, small birds
- pollinates — and sets the fruit: bees
- hunts — and keeps the feeders in check: seals, wolves, puffins, dragonflies, harriers, sparrowhawks, fishing eagles
- picks up after — the hunters and the tide: gulls, foxes
- is kept — by the Keep, and fed when the hill is bare: cats, ponies, alpacas