Hands of the Soothers – Guardians of the Young

Root Concept

The Soothers are the guardians of Sappho’s most precious inheritance—its children, the Starlings of Sappho. They are the cradle and the chorus of the commune, raising every child in warmth and unity. To be a Soother is to hold the future in one’s arms and feed it with patience, song, and milk.

Role and Responsibility

The Soothers oversee all care for the young—from newborns to adolescents ready to begin their apprenticeships. They manage the Cradle of Communal Care, the great nursery at the heart of Sappho where every Starling begins her life. They plan feeding schedules, organize lessons, and ensure that no child goes untouched or unheard.

Each Soother understands that her work is both sacred and unending. She is nurturer, nurse, teacher, and mother all at once. Her hands deliver comfort, her voice steadies emotion, and her body nourishes the next generation. When a child cries, ten arms reach to comfort; when laughter fills the halls, it is their doing.

Communal Motherhood

In Sappho, no child belongs to one woman. Every Sister is a mother, every mother is a Sister. The Soothers embody this creed by nurturing all children as their own. They teach that to raise one is to raise all, and that the act of feeding, cleaning, and holding a child is both devotion and duty.

Breastfeeding is the highest expression of this belief. The Soothers nurse infants and toddlers with pride and care, ensuring that every Starling receives nourishment and closeness. Mothers’ Milk is revered—handled like treasure, stored and shared as needed. It is often called liquid gold, sustaining both body and bond.

When milk is abundant, it is collected and stored under ritual supervision for those who cannot nurse. The Soothers treat each drop as sacred—a gift of life given freely, never wasted, never sold within the commune.

Education and Growth

Beyond nourishment, Soothers are teachers and mentors. They teach children to read, to count, to craft, and to listen. Storytelling and song guide their lessons, filling young minds with language, history, and the values of the Sister’s Creed. Through gentle structure, they nurture empathy, curiosity, and self-sufficiency.

Older Starlings learn through practice—helping in gardens, sorting supplies, assisting younger children. The Soothers encourage independence wrapped in community, teaching that growth is never solitary.

Spaces of Nurture

The Cradle of Communal Care is bright and warm, filled with soft fabric, handmade toys, and the scent of milk and sunlight. Low cradles line the walls; hammocks sway in the rafters. The air hums with lullabies, laughter, and the gentle rhythm of women at work.

In adjoining chambers, milk is expressed, stored, and tracked with the same diligence given to rations and medicine. Every feeding, every growth milestone is recorded in careful script. Outside, the Learning Gardens provide freedom for play and exploration—education rooted in soil and seasons.

Philosophy of Care

The Soothers believe nourishment is both physical and spiritual. A fed child must also feel safe; a safe child must feel loved. They teach that tenderness is not weakness but discipline—a strength measured in patience and endurance.

Their creed is simple: Feed the hungry, comfort the frightened, teach the willing, and release the grown. They remind the commune daily that life continues not through conquest or labor, but through nurture.

Training and Selection

Soothers are chosen for their empathy, composure, and steady joy. Apprentices train for years—learning childcare, lactation, medicine, and the emotional care of both children and mothers. They are often paired with elder mentors who teach through example rather than command.

The work is demanding but deeply honored. Within Sappho, no role carries more trust.

Relation to the Commune

Though the Soothers hold primary responsibility, every Sister participates in raising the young. Women visit the Cradle, read stories, play games, and offer comfort. Sires, though seldom present, are honored for their contribution but never interfere. The Soothers coordinate this shared parenthood with precision and tenderness.

They are not owners of the children, only caretakers of Sappho’s continuity—proof that the commune’s strength begins in its gentlest hands.

Addendum: The Milk of Sappho

Status and Value
Mothers’ Milk, lovingly called liquid gold, is one of Sappho’s rarest exports. In the wasteland, true nourishment is scarce; few outside settlements can produce milk free of disease or synthetic corruption. The Soothers of the Cradle maintain a steady surplus—collected, purified, and sealed in glass jars embossed with the triskelion seal. Each jar represents health, fertility, and trust.

Preparation and Trade
Milk is cooled in cellars beneath the Cradle of Communal Care, carefully dated and rotated. When caravans prepare for trade, select quantities are offered under supervision of the Soothers and the Overseers’ Council. It is exchanged only for necessities—medicine, metal, tools, or seeds—never for indulgence. Each trade is public, witnessed, and dignified.

Symbolic Meaning
To outsiders, the milk is miracle; to Sappho, it is reciprocity. Its trade reminds the Sisters that generosity does not lessen abundance—it expands it. Every drop that leaves the walls carries the commune’s reputation for life itself.

Ritual Practice
Before export, a circle of Soothers blesses the jars with a soft hum known as the Lullaby of Continuance, said to keep the milk “awake” on its journey. The profits return to the Cradle—funding blankets, books, and medicine—closing the circle between giver and gift.

Tone of Recitation

Read slow and warm, the cadence of a lullaby turned into record-keeping. The voice should sound calm, maternal, and proud—describing the labor that sustains the heart of Sappho.