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+---- Thread: [Open] As I lulled and lingered (/showthread.php?tid=5034)
[Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 02-14-2021
This time of year was always a quiet time of reflection in the Feverlands. While the endless croaking and humming of the swamp never stopped, the darkness acted like a blanket over the trees, making the entire place just that bit more mysterious and still. Mildew liked to take the chance to refresh, to think on the past seasons and shed any old, unuseful energy.
The tar pits were an annual visit. A lantern on her hip, she deftly stepped around the perimeter of the bubbling black puddles, feet resting expertly on logs and stones as she got to where she wanted to be: a large rock jutting out over the pits that she could sit on, to watch them move. Just before she sat down, Mildew saw a bone rise up from the tar; she took it in her hands, holding it as she sat.
Closing her eyes, she whispered words she knew well, though they were a secret from anyone else, and held out her hands, the bone dangling over the tar. With a final, authoritative word she let it drop, the sucking sound of it falling back into the tar the cue for her to open her eyes and lean back, taking a breath and expelling the years failures and misery.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 02-25-2021
Ariala had never seen a tar pit before -- or a swamp like the Feverlands, for that matter. She hung in the sky overhead, watching the thick liquid bubble with some fascination. Why did it do that? Was it hot, like the springs was more familiar with? What would it feel like if she touched it? Unfamiliar with such things, she had no clue what a bad idea that would be. Still, she wasn't about to try it -- until she saw a human form standing at the tar pits' edge. Arialla watched the woman's ritual from the sky, not wishing to interrupt her, but when she seemed finished, the bone dumped back into the pit, Arialla decided that a conversation might not go amiss. Maybe she could find out more about this place. So she landed behind Mildew, taking on her human form.
[say]"Hello,"[/say] she called: she'd landed a good 15 feet away, not wishing to startle the stranger or get into her personal space. [say]"Do you have time to talk?"[/say]
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 02-25-2021
Mildew's eyes caught the bird flying down and she was already ready to greet it if it weren't human; the transformation was a surprise, not necessarily a good or bad one. Gracefully she stood on the edge of the rock ledge and turned to look over the newcomer. She was sweet looking, young (though to Mildew, most humans were young) and polite. A good start.
[say]"Of course, dear."[/say] Her ritual was finished and even for Mildew, the dark of Longnight could be lonely. [say]"What is it you want to talk to me about? Walk with me and I'll make you some tea."[/say] It wasn't really an offer, more of a statement of what was going to happen; the short but commanding witch walking down the rough rock surface and around the edges of the tar pits, knowing exactly where to step.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 02-26-2021
Arialla accepted the stranger's air of authority easily, following where Mildew bade her, though lagging behind a bit as she moved with caution on unsure footing. She'd wondered what the tar pits would feel like, but now that she was close to them, she very much did not want to fall in. She tried to pay attention to where Mildew had stepped, and to the ground in general, to avoid a spill.
[say]"Thank you,"[/say] she said as she walked: for the tea, in advance, and for Mildew's time. [say]"I was wondering about this place. I've never seen anything like it -- I never even visited swamps, at home. Were you performing some sort of ritual?"[/say]
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 03-01-2021
Mildew smiled as the mortal showed the proper respect and looked back to make sure it was seen, her feet still moving and picking out the right spots even without her attention on it. Once she was around the tar pits she stepped up onto a rock and crouched, pulled out a very worn and dirty rag that she used to wipe any tar off of her feet; this was offered to Arialla, though she wouldn't insist.
[say]"I was."[/say] She answered to the question, continuing to walk into the swamp, dipping between trees. Mildew considered just leaving it there, but decided to be kind to the human and explained herself. [say]"This is a time of leaving the old and adopting the new. I was putting the old to rest. You have to, if you want to move on and change."[/say] Pausing with her arm up holding a twisted branch she was using to balance, Mildew glanced back at Arialla. [say]"Do you like change?"[/say]
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 03-02-2021
Arialla accepted the rag and wiped her feet as well, figuring that if this woman, who knew the environment here so much better than she did, thought it was a good idea, she ought to as well. She could tell that the other woman was evaluating her, and every tale she'd ever heard said it was a good idea to be polite and attentive to wise women in the wilderness -- best not to offend them.
She nodded at Mildew's description of her ritual, pausing to consider the question. [say]"I have trouble with change, sometimes. I've been through some wonderful changes, but some hard ones too. Sometimes I still struggle to put the old to rest."[/say]
Specifically, she was thinking of her transition to Caido, of the home she still mourned sometimes. Maybe some sort of ritual farewell would help, actually.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 03-06-2021
Mildew continued to walk, knowing the way through trees and rushes like a laid out road. If Arialla was paying attention, she might have noticed the way that bugs and animals jumped out of the way as if from respect for the woman, though some seemed to go the other way, boldly jumping onto her feet, caterpillars and beetles on her legs for a ride: none of this seemed to bother Mildew, who didn't even look down at it.
[say]"A lot of mortals do struggle with it. You'll get there, dear."[/say] She assured, leaning down to jump over a ledge and into a muddy clearly that actually seemed to have a path through it, ancient wooden slats marking out a way through that she followed. [say]"Everything seems so big when you've only lived...ah..."[/say] Mildew glanced back and looked Arialla over. [say]"..twenty years?"[/say] After over five centuries, nothing was surprising anymore.
A small plume of smoke was visible above the trees before them now, and as they approached Mildew's home more signs were appearing. A fence, an archway, baskets to collect leaves and berries and buckets of water. All moss and plant covered, all a part of the environment even as things that had been added later.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 03-07-2021
Arialla was paying attention, as it happened -- she didn't pick up on everything, but she could tell the creatures were reacting to Mildew differently than they were to her, or would to any normal person. And then there was the way Mildew said "mortals" as if she wasn't one. At home, it would have been considered unwise -- if not positively asking for a smiting -- to demand an exact accounting of a strange immortal's nature, so Arialla just noted this fact as a reason to be extra polite.
[say]"I'm twenty-two,"[/say] she said instead, nodding at Mildew's comment -- both the one about her age and the one about mortals struggling with change. [say]"I've certainly gotten better at adjusting. When I first arrived here, I ... Well, I've learned to cope. Not that it's not hard sometimes, but dwelling on the past won't bring it back."[/say]
This last sentence came out with a bit of regret, but not as much as once might have accompanied it. If you'd asked Arialla a year ago if she'd change the path of fate given the chance, if she'd make it so that she never came to Caido, she would have said yes. But since becoming an Attuned ... She never would have learned to fly at home.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 03-09-2021
[say]"Learning, or rather, being willing to learn, is the most important part."[/say] Mildew nodded; she had often wondered how well those Outlanders she had heard of had adapted, since she'd been made aware of the idea. It wouldn't be hard to imagine them banding together in small communities dedicated to nostalgia and old Worlds, but it seemed for the most part that had been avoided.
While she despised the circumstances that had brought them to Caido, she had sympathy for the displaced souls and admired their strength in continuing.
Reaching the door of her modest hut, wooden with moss and plants growing up every inch, Mildew held it open for Arialla to enter after her. There was already a kettle on a fire stove in the middle of the room, the wonky tin chimney wrapped in leaves forming the centerpiece of the space. Bottles and hundreds of dried plants and other spell ingredients lined the walls; Mildew went to check the kettle then sat on one of the many intricately detailed blankets on the floor. [say]"Not quite ready yet. Do sit, dear. Tell me about where you came from, if you would."[/say]
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 03-10-2021
Arialla nodded, pleased by Mildew's approval -- and the outlook that aligned with her own. She might not have come to Caido willingly, she might have struggled at first, but her ability to adjust to that which she'd never imagined she'd experienced showed strength ... right?
She entered Mildew's home carefully, respectfully, not wanting to damage or dirty anything -- even if a ruder individual might have said that everything was already dirty. It would be especially bad, Arialla imagined, to knock over any of the many bottles of spell ingredients, or the tea kettle.
Sitting down on a blanket across from Mildew's, Arialla said, [say]"I'd be happy to. I came from a small fishing village on the coast of a great sea, in a land of city-states favored by the gods."[/say]
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 03-15-2021
[say]"Oh, by the sea? I haven't seen the ocean in a very long time."[/say] Mildew remembered Torchline, remembered the shore, but in a distant way, the memories clouded by hundreds of years spent landlocked within her swamp. She was happy there, but there was something in her that missed the majesty of the waves; maybe it would be time for a visit soon.
Idly picking up and tidying cards around the cushion she was sat on (each portraying a symbol and name, some kind of fortune telling apparatus), she deftly shuffled them in her hands, eyes looking up from this work halfway to speak to Arialla again. [say]"What were your Gods like? I sometimes wonder if the Gods in these other worlds are the same as ours here, under different names..."[/say] Mildew couldn't imagine a world out there that wasn't overseen by Frey, Safrin, Vi, Caido...it seemed more feasible that they oversaw hundreds of worlds than it did they were limited to this one.
The tea kettle began to whistle and she leaned over to pull out two chipped cups, made from enamel or some kind of old clay with a metal rim.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 03-17-2021
Arialla nodded. [say]"Yes. I can't imagine spending too long away from the ocean, to be honest -- I moved to Torchline not long after arriving in Caido."[/say]
Watching Mildew shuffle her cards, Arialla considered the question. [say]"In my world we had many gods, far more than we do here. Gods for every aspect of our lives -- the sea, the sky, the stars -- gods for rivers and forests, spirits for trees and springs. I was a priestess of Apollo, one of the greater gods: patron of the sun, music, poetry, healing, and prophecy."[/say]
Tilting her head, she added, [say]"He spoke to me once, blessed me personally. It was incredible ... I still miss worshiping him sometimes, even if I've offered my loyalty to Safrin."[/say]
Arialla accepted the tea gladly: flying out here had been thirsty work.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Mildew - 03-22-2021
[say]"Have you spoken to any of the people that live in it? The ocean, that is."[/say] It had been a long time since Mildew herself had, and she was sure most of the Mer she'd known were now long gone, but it was still nice to think of them. [say]"I used to go swimming with a a lovely Mer in Torchline..."[/say] She laughed lightly at the memory, fingers delicately coming up to cover her mouth; he'd been handsome, with a strong bright tail and a wonderful smile...it had been a long time since she'd seen a mortal half as attractive.
So many Gods sounded like a hassle, but Mildew didn't say so. She still wondered if perhaps what Arialla had seen in her world was actually reflected fragments of Caido, the Gods here splitting themselves up further for another place. [say]"Sun, music, poetry, healing and prophecy? That's a lot of things."[/say] She commented with a smirk, reaching up to grab the kettle and pour out the tea, which had a strong herbal smell; the smoke filled the room with it's aroma, which Mildew breathed in gladly.
[say]"Safrin is a wonderful Goddess. Have you spent much time with her or her followers? I personally pray to Frey most often, but I have respect for Safrin."[/say] Mildew explain as she took the first sip of her own tea.
RE: [Open] As I lulled and lingered - Arialla - 03-23-2021
[say]"I haven't,"[/say] Arialla answered, not without regret. [say]"I know they're around -- we have canals allowing them to move further inland, now -- but I've never actually encountered one. I would like to meet them, though, and I do have an aquatic shift -- we could go swimming together."[/say]
Arialla's dolphin could carry her deep underwater, perhaps even to the merfolk's home, though she was polite enough to wait for an invitation.
[say]"It is a lot of things, especially compared to the gods here,"[/say] Arialla admitted. She didn't really agree with Mildew's theory about the same gods under different names -- Apollo definitely wasn't here, she felt, even under another name. But she was too polite to directly argue. [say]"The greater gods, like Apollo, could have many aspects. Then you'd have lesser gods who might oversee those individual aspects ... sort of like the heralds here. The sun is part of Apollo's domain, for example, but Helios is the charioteer who actually pulled it across the sky."[/say]
Arialla smiled at the thought of Safrin. [say]"I've met her twice ... She was lovely, both times. She made me Attuned ... I haven't met too many of her other followers, though."[/say]