i have died everyday waiting for you
Mort listened with the patient stillness of someone who had never once rushed a soul. He watched her speak—watched the tears, the flicker of resolve, the way her hands, smudged with soil and sorrow, tried to anchor something as intangible as love to the world of the living.
When she finished, the god smiled—not in delight, but in that deeply knowing, impossibly warm way he had when hearts laid themselves bare before him. The wind stirred his curls, and for a moment the light around him pulsed with something that wasn’t quite joy and wasn’t quite grief, but something older, something vast. "I know," Mort said gently. "I remember how much Shii meant to you. Still means to you." His voice was soft, but there was a weight to it, as though every name spoken at a shrine, every whisper of longing carried through candlelight, echoed in his bones.
He reached into the space between them and, without flourish, cupped his hand as if holding something fragile. "Shii has been well," he murmured, smiling faintly. "Curious, quiet... still as loyal as ever. But to ask for life back from death..." He extended his hand—empty still, save for the quiet promise it held. "If you want to see them again, truly bring them back, then there are things you must gather. Things you must consider."
Maea has been given a quest! She must:
1. In three different threads speak to someone who has died and come back from the dead, asking about their experiences to better underwhat what Shii will be going through
2. Bring water from Frey's Breath and the Eyes of Vi
3. Understand the nature of the will o' wisps by helping them with a task (i.e., helping to guide lost souls, playing a trick on someone, luring someone, etc)
When she finished, the god smiled—not in delight, but in that deeply knowing, impossibly warm way he had when hearts laid themselves bare before him. The wind stirred his curls, and for a moment the light around him pulsed with something that wasn’t quite joy and wasn’t quite grief, but something older, something vast. "I know," Mort said gently. "I remember how much Shii meant to you. Still means to you." His voice was soft, but there was a weight to it, as though every name spoken at a shrine, every whisper of longing carried through candlelight, echoed in his bones.
He reached into the space between them and, without flourish, cupped his hand as if holding something fragile. "Shii has been well," he murmured, smiling faintly. "Curious, quiet... still as loyal as ever. But to ask for life back from death..." He extended his hand—empty still, save for the quiet promise it held. "If you want to see them again, truly bring them back, then there are things you must gather. Things you must consider."
Maea has been given a quest! She must:
1. In three different threads speak to someone who has died and come back from the dead, asking about their experiences to better underwhat what Shii will be going through
2. Bring water from Frey's Breath and the Eyes of Vi
3. Understand the nature of the will o' wisps by helping them with a task (i.e., helping to guide lost souls, playing a trick on someone, luring someone, etc)
