Grab your fears and hold on tight

Repairing the Peregrine was taking a little longer than Tal had expected, but at least she was repairable. He held onto that thought as he scoured the Port for materials to put his best girl--

er, his second best girl after Alys, that is--

Boreal gave a warning huff at his side--

okay, okay, his third best girl back to rights.

His hunt for rigging rope took him past the shrine and he paused, chewing his lip hard as he waffled on the likelihood of becoming stronger vs. having to do something painful and/or embarrassing. In the end the combination of greed and guilt won out and he dashed back into town for a drink from the Lucky Fountain to bolster his courage and a quick purchase before returning to set his offering next to the old statue alongside his Dagger.

"Hey, Ludo? Guess it's been awhile, huh? Th'poison y'made for my Dagger has been helpin' a lot but... is there any way t'make it, y'know, stronger? If it'd worked faster on that Void Blob maybe it woulda gone down quicker an' been less oozy."

Or maybe if he'd used his brain and realized that the Dagger was the wrong weapon for that particular job there would have been less mess, but po-tay-toe, cucumber.

It didn't stop him from asking, and from arranging the piping hot churros in their paper dish on the altar before hesitantly pulling a small good-luck charm from his pocket, a memento from his aunt who had been his mentor, and placing the carved ivory dog beside the treat.

Boreal was busy with her own tithe of churros behind him, but she looked up as he completed his prayer, scaly tail making a serpentine wag across the boardwalk beneath them as she peered eagerly about for any raggedy bits that might arrive to play.

---

Tal is praying to upgrade the poison on his Dagger!

Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Honed by Nightmares | A curious silvery coating covers the Special Delivery Dagger. Causes extra physical damage at a Basic level.

With so many spirits around you, you attract the attention of the gods when visiting a shrine. Roll with advantage when praying at a shrine. (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of your shrine post).

Lucky Rum Fountain | Blessed by Safrin, this fountain in Kaiholo Port overflows with white rum instead of water. During PQs/PQ+/KQs/Drops/Shrine Visits receive +2 luck in the Kaiholo Port board . (In order to use this, make sure to note the ability at the bottom of each post).

Ludo Alright, listen. Tal knows the score, and he knows what might happen when he comes to Ludo. The god's requests can be anything from altogether reasonable right up to batshit insane, depending on its writer's whims. But he does receive a response. Raggedy bits do indeed arrive to play with Boreal, and further tendrils sequester up the lucky charm, stroking it lovingly before tucking it away into whatever is behind Ludo's robes. Appearing before Tal, it crams the churros into its porcelain mask, which shouldn't work at all, but obviously it does. "A lot of times," it says sagely, "when you stab things, they get oozy. So... I'm not sure a stronger dagger would help." It waves a churro in a rag at the Messenger. "But sure! Let's go hurt something." Tal has received a quest! He must: 1. Stab something with his Special Delivery Dagger. 2. Stab himself with his Special Delivery Dagger. 3. Do something cool while holding the Special Delivery Dagger. (In this context, it must be cool to Ludo, so probably involve cats, pranks, or snacks). 4. Stab himself again with his Special Delivery Dagger.

Boreal chuffed happily, pouncing towards the curls of shadow with playful glee and sugar on her snout. Were churros safe for dragons to eat? To be fair her digestion seemed to handle most things with the sort of ease and panache a human could only dream of, so Tal figured it was probably fine.

It left the courier to cringe (happily?) as the god he had the most complicated relationship with showed up. The churros were accepted with similar gusto to the dragon's and Tal relaxed a fraction as they disappeared... into? under? through?? the mask, relieved that his offering had been accepted. The god's observation was undeniable and the courier's nose wrinkled in thought before he nodded. "Well... yeah, fair enough," he agreed cautiously.

Cautious, because he knew what came next. And while the list started strong - he could find plenty of things to stab - half of the tasks that were listed had him biting his lip against the groan if dismay that threatened to escape.

"Myself? Twice?" he double-checked, because that seemed like the sort of thing one should be awfully certain about before undertaking. Especially given the fact that his Dagger was covered in the very poison he was trying to strengthen. "Uh... like... how hard do I gotta... do th'stabbin'?"

Ludo "That is what I said," Ludo confirms, as if Tal might be a bit deaf, and its mask tilts as if it's about to reach out and go digging in his ears to confirm. Luckily for the courier, Boreal provides a mighty fine distraction, and its rags go flailing about the dragon instead of focusing in on the Accepted. With a shrug - as if it has given it much thought, and Tal is lucky it doesn't adjust the perimeters to stab yourself thrice, honestly - Ludo considers. "Hard enough to draw blood," it decides. "And it has to be a stab, not a poke or a slice or a chop. How else will you understand how good the poison is?" How indeed, Tal.

Tal flinched back, a look of instant regret passing over his face when he thought that the raggedy god might reach for him, but luckily Boreal was there to save her companion from his own folly as she went up onto her hind legs to bat at the wiggling tendrils. Her balance held for about three seconds before she toppled forward in a pounce that almost caught an enticingly squiggly shadow of cloth.

Leaving the courier to take notes on the definition of a 'stab' and just how he should go about it. Glum resignation came over Tal's expression as he reached gingerly for the Dagger as if expecting it to twist and stab him on its own. "Oh... yeah. I guess that makes sense." And if he wanted to complain about the 'twice' part, he wisely swallowed his protest because he could very easily imagine it becoming 'thrice' all on his own. "Th... thanks, Ludo," he managed to get out, even sounding mostly sincere. He'd asked for this, after all, and the Herald of Dreams was doing him a favor. A very painful favor. "I'll get... right to it..." He made his escape in a shameless retreat, leaving Boreal to play with Ludo until the god got bored and went on its way.

~fin~