Your Obedient Servant


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#1
Ingrid
Ingrid approached the shrine slowly, willing her mind to be silent as she knelt to the ground before the holy masterpiece. Removing her mittens so that she could clasp her fingers together in prayer, she inhaled deeply and began to recite a hymn — a short ode to the Old Gods that she found in a book during her time here in Halo.

"For the continued survival of those in Halo, I thank you. For the life and the body I now have, I thank you. For the safe passage of the fallen, I thank you," she whispered, closing her eyes.

"I offer myself up to you, the Ancient and Divine, as your mortal servant. Whatever you would have me do, I shall make it my purpose. I ask only for some small guidance in my effort to best follow you, and yet perhaps even that is too much."

((OOC: Ingrid seeks an audience with any one of the old gods or herald gods. Not necessarily looking for a God Quest, here. Mostly praying for general conversational guidance from any Old God/associated deity.))
PR



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#2


Appearing like a breath of starlight, a warm breeze stirred around the priestess as Safrin stepped through a curtain of midnight and into the chilling interior of the shrine. Physically flawless, her almond-shaped eyes deep with cosmic possibility, the goddess smiled with ruby-red lips as she placed a hand upon Ingrid's shoulder. At once all the candles in the area sparkled with light; not flame, but a deep and warm energy just the same like tiny points of starlight.

"Too much? Never think it, precious one." She cooed, her voice like a flickering flame on a cold winter's night. Coils of dark hair flowed down her shoulders as Safrin knelt aside the mortal, a porcelain-white finger reaching out to stroke Ingrid's cheek.

Safrin


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#3
Ingrid
She felt her body relax into the warmth that filled the temple, and as Safrin stepped into the open, Ingrid's vision grew blurry with tears. Ingrid knew this starlight. It marked her soul. The pull of the memory became the pull of the portal, and black smoke filled the air with the smell of death. For the millionth time, Ingrid watched the last remnants of the Moon's spirit wink out of existence. This starlight was almost too much to bear.

She was jolted back to the present when Safrin placed a hand on her shoulder. Aloof and haughty, the Moon would never have touched her. No, this was not her Moon, but Safrin had answered her prayer.

"Too much? Never think it, precious one."

As the candles sparkled with the goddess's presence, their light cast a shadow of meaning: these stars were Safrin's stars, and at long last, they would be beautiful again. Ingrid felt a rush of gratitude towards the goddess. "I am yours to command," she said, her tone laying bare every inch of the humbleness and wonder she felt.
PR



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#4


“Command? Never think it, sweet one.” The goddess sang softly. Her eyes, like galactic pinpoints that held within them all knowledge of creatuions past, closed for a moment as ruby-red and perfectly painted lips turned up in a smile. “Tell me priestess...I see in your mind another. I see lilac and ghost-white feathers. I see obsidian, cliffs that drop down into the sea...I see one with pure white eyes who yet holds pieces of you...I would hear of this other goddess of the stars.”

And so, as if the roles were reversed, the goddess sat upon the stone steps, drawing her knees towards her chest and giving Ingrid an imploring and interested nod to continue.

Safrin


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#5
Ingrid
Ingrid's eyes widened in awe as the Goddess pulled The World's Edge from pieces of her thoughts. The Lady of Stars looks through my chest and sees my heart, Ingrid marveled, her respect for Safrin only growing. And then she panicked.

She can read thoughts!
Don't.
Think.
About.
Dicks.
...shit. I mean heck!


Ingrid's mind raced to every vulgar and unpleasant place she bid it not to.

Just focus on the Moon and start talking, she told herself, hoping the goddess would forgive her.

"The lady you see in my heart is Helovia's Moon," Ingrid explained, wondering if the goddess already knew of her world from her memories. "She was the patron of my herd and home, all full of ancient wisdom. I don't think anything like her exists here, but the best way I can phrase it is that she was a unicorn with the wings of a great owl and the tail of a lion. She was very graceful, too. She had a long, arched neck and a dainty face, and when I was a horse, next to her I looked like a fat donkey," Ingrid said, grinning.

"She had elder brothers, the Sun, the Earth and the Spark, and they each had their own herd to patron. But my lady was the most cunning of the four. She was known for her silver tongue as much as she was for controlling the wind and dark, and her pure white eyes were completely unreadable... I remember seeing them once and thinking I'd offended her somehow.

I met her when our herd's Seer, an elder scholar with whom the Moon shared pieces of the future, called to her. That night, my goddess was chiding and aloof and absolutely magnificent, and she spoke mostly in riddles. But then, she told us plainly to use our minds. 'Think rationally. Emotions cloud judgement,' she said. I try my best.

I know there were some who thought she was a cruel god, even within my herd. I'm not even sure her fellow gods could tell what she was up to... But of all the gods, only the Moon welcomed everyone equally. The World's Edge would take you in, feed you and shelter you, no matter what you looked like, and that was thanks to the Moon,"
Ingrid paused. This next part would be difficult, given the escape of the new gods. But Ingrid spoke of her lady in the past tense for a reason, and it was only fair that Safrin should know why.

"A defeated 'god' from a place called The Rift tricked the people of my land into aiding his uprising and building him a body out of bones. He used his power to destroy Helovia and everything in it. To grant us safe passage through the portal, the gods, my lady, made the ultimate sacrifice, and her body dissolved into starlight so we could escape unharmed. They bound a piece of themselves to us. The ones with Helovian magic were able to keep it, but I wonder if they left a tangible mark on all of our souls...

So you see, she was not a cruel god. She loved us, and I love her still. I hope you don't think it's irreverent that I saw her starlight in yours, Lady Safrin. Starlight reminds me why I commit myself to the ancient ones of this land. I serve you now."
PR



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#6


What the goddess saw in the Priestess’ mind—all the nasty and foul turns that it was wont to make as soon as her spotlight shone upon it—only made Safrin smile knowingly. Though tawdry and lewd thoughts were more up Frey’s alley than hers, still it was these unique traits of the mortals that made them so fascinating to her, and as tiresome as it could be sometimes, it always kept her coming back for more.

And so though phallic imagery flashed through Safrin’s mind, Ingrid wasn’t immediately killed for it.

Listening as the woman spoke, Safrin couldn’t help but hear her own story woven into the echoes of what she was hearing and not because the two characters were written by the same person. Though lone woman. Misunderstood. Labeled as dark and nefarious because of veiled intentions. An uprising. A sacrifice. A loyalty often questioned and often hard to endure.


Chuckling at the mention of donkeys and owl-wings, Safrin smiled with an indulgent shrug. “You know...were your soul to be attuned to my own, you could possess wings like that. Could find yourself in the body of a unicorn if you so chose...” Tempting the accepted was commonplace after all, but even so, Safrin dangled the offer with a smile.

As Ingrid mentioned the mark upon her soul, for a moment Safrin drew in a sharp breath, hugging her knees against herself more tightly. Some might have thought it was because she was jealous (because honestly, when wasn’t she?) but flickers of sadness would quickly chase away those thoughts should the priestess be having them. “I do not know much about how the Voice calls souls to her from other worlds...but if your goddess put a mark upon you, let us hope that she did it in a secret place that the Voice could not erase when she pulled you here.”

So saying, Safrin frowned sadly as she shook her head. “I think it is right and true that you love her still. That you would speak so freely of her even now, to me, in this place.” After all, Safrin had indeed killed for far less than a sparkle of jealousy.

Safrin


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#7
Ingrid

“You know... were your soul to be attuned to my own, you could possess wings like that. Could find yourself in the body of a unicorn if you so chose...”

Perhaps the Goddess was speaking figuratively, but even so, Ingrid didn't want to be a unicorn if she had to sever her ties to the Gods.

"My Lady, your kindness knows no bounds, but there is nothing better you could give me than your presence. I do not seek to possess any power, but I do have a question, if you'll hear it: before the ascended were created, was it common for the Accepted that served you to become the Attuned?" Ingrid could feel the tug of her channeling on her soul. Why would the Goddess want her to give that up except to keep her from joining the ascended? Would becoming Attuned truly bring her spirit closer to Safrin's?

Then, as Safrin's emotion radiated through her mind, guilt settled in Ingrid's stomach: I made her sad, didn't I? But Ingrid couldn't hide her shock when she heard what Safrin said next. "The voice brought me here? Touched my soul?" Her guilt was replaced by fear. Why would the voice want her in Caido? And could the false deity have really removed any mark of the Moon?

Finally, Ingrid gave Safrin a sad smile. "Thank you, my Lady." She was silent for a while. "Do you..." she ventured finally, "do you have a favorite flower, Lady Safrin? I could find some and make candles for people to light here."

PR



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#8


Ahhh well. Her tempt was unsuccessful, but that was alright. There were years ahead of Ingrid within which the goddess might bind her soul to the old ways. Raising a brow softly, Safrin nodded. "Of course. It is common now, even. Mort and Vi value choice. Freedom. And so it was that the accepted were made with souls untouched by godly hands as it were. Created by Vi of course and heralded by me, but still at a distance." The goddess shrugged softly from where she sat. "We come to you like the the lost and lonely souls that you are, untethered in this world of magic."

'She did indeed. It is because of her that there are any Outlanders at all." The goddess explained.

Ingrid's question made the deity pause, before she nodded with a soft smile. "Indeed I do, though you won't find any around here. It is called an orchid cactus, with white-violet blooms that only come out when the stars are overhead." There was a land where they grew in number, but it was to the east of Halo, just south of the mountains.

Safrin


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#9
I'm not beaten by this yet

"Mort and Vi value choice. Freedom..."

"Then I want to be what the Gods value, Lady Safrin, and every time I come here to pray, I make my choice," Ingrid replied, returning Safrin's smile. The priestess didn't understand how the Goddess could say she was untethered. Ingrid felt like she was bound to the heavens. So sure, maybe someday the Goddess would tempt her, but it certainly wouldn't be by telling her to give up her deity speed-dial so she could gain 900 pounds and start shedding.

Then the Goddess spoke of the Outlanders. "Then it's awfully kind of you to answer my Outlander prayer. Can anything be done about the voice? I want to help," Ingrid said. She wasn't sure what the Goddess could do with a soldier whose only weapons were juvenile wit and a higher than average alcohol tolerance, but she would be a soldier anyway. She was going to do everything in her power to keep from having to watch another celestial Goddess fall.

So the answer to her question was orchid cactus. She'd have to write that down. "I'll find one. It might... take me a while, but I will."

You can't tell me to regret
PR



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#10


Though Ingrid had turned her down, still Safrin smiled. It was precisely that choice—the ability to keep choosing—that made the accepted so valued. So desired. "And each time I shall ask you." She said with a smile that lit up her face.

"Done?" Safrin replied lightly, her shoulders rising and falling in a shrug. "She was contained as you know, but now? I fear that now that the cage has been open there is no putting her back into it. No doubt she will have planned for such a thing. But for now all we can do is wait and see..." Wait and see if she would try and take over again, or if she'd toe the line as she had been permitted to in the past.

With a sultry smile, Safrin merely nodded with a mysterious smile on her lips. If and when Ingrid did, she'd find ... unique properties about the cactus, to say the least.

Safrin


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#11
I'm not beaten by this yet

"But for now all we can do is wait and see..."

...Lady, what?

Ingrid hadn't expected that answer at all, but the word of a God was the word of a God. She nodded. Maybe the whole being immortal thing helped with the Star Lady's infinite patience, but if Safrin was willing to take a more passive approach to The Voice and her children, Ingrid was happy to oblige. She didn't like getting into fistfights anyway. (And she wasn't a big fan of the "covered in scars" kind of aesthetic, to be honest.)

"Then I guess I have some waiting and seeing to do," she answered with a smile.

Ingrid would absolutely go looking for the flower just as soon as she could because it would please Safrin, and well, what the fuck else was she doing anyway? The priestess often found herself with too much time on her hands.

You can't tell me to regret
PR



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#12


To this, the goddess of the stars merely winked, holding her cards and her secrets quite close to her chest. "Until then...don't forget my offer, mmm? Imagine all that you could see, gliding above. Imagine the wind racing passed you as you gallop across fields of ice..."

So saying Safrin stands, her smile coy and her eyes alight with untold secrets. "Until then..." Disappearing in a warm array of starlight, shadows danced upon the ground far longer than they ought, as if clinging still to the light left in the goddess' wake.


~FIN

Safrin


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