Event: Arrogance is in Everything I Do

[morrowmods]

arrogance is in everything I do

a cold wind | devotion | beautiful things | ooc notes

if you think my winter is cold

A Cold Wind For the last several weeks, the village has been blessed by visions of the future and of the gourd-creatures that came to visit at night. But that all appears to be taperiong off entirely. Townsfolks disposed of the carved pumpkins once they started to spoil, and the monsters subsided accordingly. For now, at least.

Since then, the temperature has been steadily dropping. The standard novitiate robes increasingly feel thin against the elements, though those who have achieved higher levels will find thicker outerwear provided to them, progressively ornate in accordance with rank. Some of the veterans who refuse to pledge to a higher rank try to spread word of places outside of town where beasts can be hunted for their pelts, though the native townsfolk all advise against following the suggestions of "those rascal vandals," if asked. They insist that nothing good lives out there.

But there does seem to be a bonus for those brave enough to venture out into the verdant patch between the graveyard and the monastery, a boon to those seeking a bit of extra warmth, a protein other than the stews and soups usually offered, or just a new adventure. Though they aren't always visible, a patient hunter might notice a faint scratching sound just before a patch of soil unsettles itself. That small warning is all they'll have before a thorn-pelted creature digs its way up from underground and bounds onto the grassy knoll. They are enormous beasts, standing at more than half the height of an average man. They also seem to be more earthen than a traditional Dire Wolf, with pelts that appear far more akin to vines and branches than traditional canines. But those that slay such massive beasts will find that their skin can be pruned down into a coat as well as any normal wolf pelt. The meat cooks up just as well, if the taste is a bit gamey. At the very least, it's an animal that provides its own garnish.

opulent and imperial

Devotion The Devotion ceremony this lunar cycle focuses on revering the gifts received from the Old Ones. Ornamentation is the order of the day, and the church officials have spared nothing in their elaborate decoration of the devotional space. The hall is opulent, dazzling in the precious metals and gemstones draped over nearly every surface. Even the masks issued to devotees are gold and silver, often encrusted with heavy stones. Some revelers wearing robes of higher ranks are also wearing ornate neckpieces to allow for additional support to prevent their heads from bowing under the weight of their personal decorations.

The speeches this month explain the connection. Out of all the riches and finery that the Old Ones have brought to Revelbrooke, none are more precious than the pilgrims from other worlds. They are the true vessels of the will of the Old Ones, destined to bring their village into a new era. And for this proof of Devotion, they pray in thanks and appreciation for these gifts, which the town will watch over and polish until even the most rebellious novitiates have accepted the Old Ones into their hearts.

As silly as the intelligible portion of the sermon might sound, something feels strange when the elders slip into chanting in the tongue of the Old Ones. The travelers from other worlds will begin to feel an odd sort of rigidity settle over them. Perhaps at first it feels like the urge to sit up a little straighter, or to speak more formally than they normally would. But somehow, by the end of the sermons, all this finery makes much more sense. Of course this celebration is for them. Why isn't every Devotion dedicated to them? They are the gifts from beyond the stars, aren't they? It's high time that they are recognized for what they are.

This air of nobility will remain with them for the remainder of the evening, as even the sloppiest fishmonger novitiate is careful to use every utensil for its intended purpose and sip drinks with a pinky out. Surely everyone will remain polite and full of decorum, lest the festivities end with a proper midnight duel. Proper swords would be provided in such a case, but the church officials would really prefer that conflicts not go quite that far...

Unfortunately for those who skipped the Devotion ceremony, the attendees will return to their homes still carrying themselves with an overblown arrogance that they won't start to shake until they've gotten a good night's sleep. Hopefully there aren't any peas under their mattresses to keep them awake and cranky until their pretty princess needs are met.

rich in keepsakes

Beautiful Things Normally, the Devotion is easily discarded with no real outward indication that one was in attendance. But this time, there is no hiding that one went to hear the elders speak, regardless of how they feel about the experience when they return to their senses. From the moment they wake after their post-Devotion cooldown, they'll find an ostentatious gemstone embedded in their foreheads. Likewise, their robes will be encrusted with matching stones, marking them as precious and delicate, the blessing of the Old Ones. Trying to remove the head-stones will prove itself a dangerous endeavor: the skin around the stone feels more like a smooth, hard porcelain, and is apt to crack before it will yield the glittering mark.

For the first few days, it might just exist as a gaudy annoyance. But over time, that hard feeling spreads, leaving a sense of being hollowed out somehow. If they're the type to study their religious texts, they might find themselves losing focus mid-verse and instead begin whispering in a tongue they haven't learned yet, manifesting the moaning, slurping sounds that pledge themselves to be an empty vessel for the Old Ones to use. The fits are temporary, and can be interrupted by an onlooker, but engaging in such prayer will make their gemstone take on a faint glow, giving the rest of their face a gaunt and sunken-eyed look in comparison.

After about a week, the gemstone-marked are nearly untouchable. The townsfolk are kind enough to send extra portions and blankets since so many of them report feeling unwell, but none of it seems to help with the feeling of hollowness. Moreover, the mark seems to have left them afflicted with a physical fragility as well. The threat of skin cracking around the gemstone is very real now, and has spread throughout their entire bodies. Even though they can move normally enough, their bodies have grown almost glasslike in durability. A bad fall could shatter a person's leg into pieces too small to set back together, and a simple game of tag could quickly turn lethal. But that too is the will of the Old Ones. Their pretty vessels are not built for roughhousing. Perhaps they are best left on a shelf until this too passes.

ooc notes

With apologies for the holiday-related delay on this post, please enjoy our event to carry us from late November into the start of December.

What's that I hear? You wanted to murder a giant wolf? Well have some stats for it, if that's the sort of thing you find helpful when threading out combat.

It seemed like a few folks were interested in having some deaths facilitated, so there might also need to be some parameters about that fragility curse in the back third of the event. Essentially, people affected with gemstones will slowly find their bodies taking on the properties of fine china, with all the risks that material normally entails. After a certain point left to player discretion, they are literally breakable. If someone with an advanced case is injured enough to break, there will be no blood or internal organs damaged; they're literally hollow with nothing inside of them. If you want to play out a broken/damaged limb or small injury that's put back together with some krazy glue and desperation, it will heal after the event but leave scars along the repaired lines. It's up to you if a completely broken body creates an immediate death or if the head can keep functioning independently until the event naturally wears off, at which point the broken person-pieces will become a pile of gore that needs to be scooped up. In cases of resurrection, the church officials will also take shards of broken novitiates and restore them within the normal death/rebirth timeframe.

Happy RPing! See you in a few weeks when the next TDM rolls around.

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Comments

[nethereseorb]

Gale was the sort that he usually felt better when he talked things over with someone. Normally that would be Tara, however Tara was not here-- and he highly doubted she would (unless he managed to get his familiar spell back, which was also.. at the moment, negligible.) but he did manage to lift his tea to his mouth to take a drink, some of the stronger herbs as could be obtained at the market.

It appeared that the apothecary stocked quite a few fairly good teas.

"Ah, well it appears that Astarion went to that Devotional, and he has been insufferable-- and we may have exchanged heated words." there was much in the way of what was loaded between the two men and it was probably hard to tell if they were friends or enemies.. or a casual combination of both. The answer was even more complicated.

[wovensecrets]

The herbs here weren't too familiar, but the warmth of the drink alone would be pleasing enough even to hold the cup up close for a bit to breathe in the light steam.

Still, that was concerning news. Astarion... she'd also agreed to help watch his back, but it wasn't like that could keep him from making a choice, if someone thought they'd have to attend.

"An argument...?" Hm. She gives her tea a stir. "The sermons have a way of getting into people's heads, right? Maybe a few days will make it... less complicated to approach."

[nethereseorb]

"I cannot make decisions for him, but I did take a bit of umbrage to the fact that he thought that I was not playing the 'game' appropriately by not attending; what he does not realize that I am not too fond of games, I've played them before, and with gods to boot-- I am none to fond."

Elder gods, gods. It was same story, different pantheon.

"Have you noticed anything negative about not attending the devotional?"

[wovensecrets]

She takes a sip for a moment to consider.

"Other than the vague sense of disdain for not being as 'precious' as the others... but who knows if something might happen?"

Hard to feel too good about not having anything bad happen just because it felt so suspicious. Less easy to consider was the nature of this 'fight' he was describing. There was something relatable in it, if she dug under the surface.

"Ehh... maybe he had just wanted to have trusted company along when he went, so the best way to not feel so bad about being tricked on your own is... to just be mad at the person who didn't go along with it as well."

Maybe a little too relatable, but she tries not to think about that.

[nethereseorb]

Kaori had a valid point which he had not precisely considered. Despite having a little bit of pride where some matters were considered, there was no pride when it came to people he considered friends.. and possibly loved ones. He was not going to focus on the whole 'loving Astarion' thing right now.

Safer to leave that one in a box and look at it some other time.

"I suppose I was not as understanding as likely he required." and he should apologize about it even if he did not relish the idea of Astarion being all 'gloating' about it; nevermind the fact that when he went to apologize would invariably be when Astarion shattered into fragments. "Astarion and I are diametric opposites and so it is hard for us to understand each other at times."

[wovensecrets]

"Hm, you knew him for some time, right?"

Careful sip. There was something interesting, about having the opportunity to weigh in on something without it being directly tied to herself. Wisdom was not necessarily her strong suit, but she's had enough experience being angry and sometimes just having that be a cover for something else, because it was easier than dealing with the denied issues.

"If he's aware that you both are opposites in such a way as well, then you likely have a way of resolving it, too. Or something else will happen and then suddenly it won't seem as big a deal."

[nethereseorb]

Gale, making every chaotic good choice in the book whereas Astarion was fueled by personal gain. The good of the many for Gale, whereas Astarion operated at the good of himself; it was a bit of a conundrum. The tea was sipped and he closed his eyes. "I know I should be the one to apologize because he likely will not do it himself."

As if Astarion would apologize for anything, but there was a part of Gale that did not want to be the one to make all the sacrifices and of course it did seem like it tied to this situation but also to something deeper. He'd been forced to make so many sacrifices of pride and such for simply existing. "Yes, our story is complicated. We have tadpoles in our brain you see, and that makes turning into Mindflayers an inevitability- so the situations back home is just as complicated as it is here."

[wovensecrets]

The 'many' were of little concern to her; but being too closely tied to a certain individual had also been costly, and she'd hardly had a choice in that matter. It was what made living here so strange, with it's illusion of choice to not follow the crowds and to observe other sorts of individuals without that particular hold over her.

Better to focus on the drama of those around her, for what it was worth. She even pauses in her tea to make sure she had heard him correctly.

"Well, that's... disturbing."

Granted she was unfamiliar with the concept of Mindflayers, but she was familiar enough with a measure of things that might sound odd or perturbing to others.

"He mentioned something similar before, that he was... concerned with the idea of tentacles sprouting from his face. That he hoped that such a thing wouldn't follow him here, if it hadn't come along already. Sounds like you have enough on your plate to worry about."

[nethereseorb]

"Have you ever ever heard of the phrase 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'?" I feel that this is some sort of similar situation. Except whatever lent time we had from our Guardian, the Elder Gods are now the holders-- so I am not worried about tentacles sprouting yet." though from Gale's tone of voice, it felt very much like a concern that may very well pop up further down the line.

It was different to hear Astarion's concerns coming from Kaori and he took another meditative sip of his hot tea. Astarion was a man of worries who tended to push aside those worries with charm and humor, likely also with a bit of chaotic bloodshed.

Which Gale only judged a little.

"We knew what we were getting into with our Guardian, not so much with the Elder Gods."

[wovensecrets]

In fairness, Astarion had also been highly stressed at the time she had encountered him, otherwise she's certain she wouldn't be aware of that much. A sip again, as she listens, and leans back against the counter with an arm crossed.

"Mm. We probably haven't even seen the least that these gods are capable of yet. Or when they'll judge on our 'usefulness' to them. At least you have each other."

[nethereseorb]

Gale would have to think about the 'each other' statment, of the fact that they both were difficult and complicated and their perspectives on life and the sanctity of it was completely off in relation toward each other. And yet, why had he been annoyed at their argument.

Maybe because it was because of the caring that had been begotten from so much that they'd gone through.

"We have been together for a while, traveled together side by side so there stands to reason that we have to have some commonality, but right here and now it is rather hard to see; I should.. ah apologize to him." but gods, it was hard for Gale to apologize and that had everything to do with pride, just as it was likely the same case for the vampire.

[wovensecrets]

Kaori takes another long sip again as he speaks. She certainly knew more about being prideful as well as the price for when an apology might as well fall on deaf ears if it meant anything at all, but it was hard to imagine being in that position all the same.

Even here, the only person she was familiar with from her world was hardly in the same category, with their roles having been so starkly defined that encounters were awkward if they were lucky.

"If you want to, or think he would accept it. Doing it for the sake of doing it might just be annoying."

[nethereseorb]

A wry smile then, at that succinct advice.

Sometimes Gale just needed someone to advise him, he was not always full of wisdom-- especially when it came to matters of friendship and the heart, and especially when there were two individuals full of pride, hurting from so much.

"Thank Kaori.. I will take that to heart." the shadows were starting to lengthen, a sure indication that evening was fast approaching. "I think I will go find him now, and see what we may hash out together." and how he could not even begin to know that it would not turn out well, but that was a tomorrow Gale problem, not a today one.

[wovensecrets]

Oh, is that a little praise being thrown her way? An odd sentiment, but even the tea seems warmer.

"That sounds proactive. No need to have it fester."

She was a fan of taking action, so it was pleasing to see he was now spurred to do so.