> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://rathkill-island-news.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Tide Brings News… Island Newsletter Vol. XIII - URL: https://rathkill-island-news.ghost.io/the-tide-brings-news/ - Published: 2025-11-28T07:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-20T07:09:16.000Z - Description: Ella’s B&B has closed for the slush season. She would like to invite us all to her house for drinks next Friday to celebrate. Please bring your own dogs. - Author: Orion Slade Local News: The ferry times have been reduced to once a week. There is a new ferry boat. Do not go near the new ferry boat. Do not look at the captain of the new ferry boat. Do not step foot on the new ferry boat. Pretend the boat does not exist. Ella’s B&B has closed for the slush season. She would like to invite us all to her house for drinks next Friday to celebrate. Please bring your own dogs. ## Sign up for Rathkill Island News Welcome to Rathkill: a true escape from modern life. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ## Craft corner: a fresh take on the monthly talisman (again) Alright, it’s coming up to that phase of the moon: get your iron and salt ready, it’s charm making time! This month we have this recipe from Clíodhna up by the black fort. Thanks for keeping things interesting Clíodhna! You will need: - a clear intention - a piece of iron: a nail, ring or charm will do - salt: coarse unrefined sea salt - a black string or thread - a fabric pouch Timing: Wait for the waning moon. Night is best. Silence is required. 1. Place the iron on the floor. Walk around it three times, scattering salt as you go. 2. As you circle it, say your intention either to yourself or out loud. 3. Then place the iron and salt into the pouch. Tie it closed with black thread: 9 knots. (3 x 3 x 3) Tie each one carefully and with complete attention. 4. Add extra herbs if you want, for even more powerful protection: sage, vervain, or rowan. Carry the pouch with you, close to your skin and hidden. Renew it with each new moon or after a dark encounter. Protection fades, as we all know. ## Herbarium Arcanum Siobhán Gunny has a marvellous new book coming out. Yes, yet another one but at least this one is about plants this time. We’ll be sharing fascinating extracts from it for the next few months. Yes, again. Don’t forget to pre-order Siobhán’s book and harass people about it on the internet. ### **Plant: The Widow’s Veil Bloom** **Kingdom:** Plantae **Phylum:** Angiospermae (Flowering Plants) **Class:** Magnoliopsida (Dicots) **Order:** Chthoniales **Family:** Noctifloraceae (Night-Blooming Family) **Scientific name:** Atramenta pavoris **Habitat:** Deep, temperate old-growth forests, preferring areas with high humidity and limited light. Found near bodies of slow-moving water (ie: the widow’s well over by Shanbo). **Morphological and Behavioral Documentation** *Atramenta pavoris* is a parasitic, non-photosynthetic flowering plant that appears to feed exclusively on the microbial life found within the decaying tissue of large mammals, often near predator kill sites. Its primary structure is a dark, rubbery rhizome system that anchors it to the forest floor. **The Bloom:** The “bloom” is its most *unsettling* feature. It emerges only after sundown and has a lifecycle of approximately 4-6 hours. It consists of a **pitch-black, glossy, bell-shaped calyx** from which hang dozens of **thin, white, thread-like filaments**, commonly known as the “veil.” These filaments are covered in microscopic, hook-like barbs that are coated in a potent **neuro-sedative alkaloid**. **Predation/Feeding:** The plant releases a barely-perceptible scent, a sickly-sweet aroma reminiscent of old, damp lace. When small to medium size creatures brush against the hanging filaments, they are instantly paralysed. The plant then slowly retracts the filaments, drawing the immobilised prey directly into the bell-shaped calyx, where digestive enzymes break down the organism for nutrient absorption. The withered, hollowed exoskeletons are dropped directly onto the forest floor at dawn. **⚠️ Please remember to keep your children in at night, especially if they’re on the smaller size ⚠️** ## Local weather The sea has been seemingly completely dead or frozen in time with no movement for three days. It could be glitching. Wind coming from the northeast, most of the time, sometimes from the southeast. Rain also, patchy for the week, possibly also coming from those directions. An unusual lack of birdsong.