Hello, light

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies The sun was sinking towards the horizon by the time Maea found the shrine. While she had not been looking for it, she stopped to pray none the less. It was ingrained in her, this need to show respect and pay homage to the beings that had shaped her world, her home and her very existence. More than just motion however, there was true reverence and love in the small gifts she picked from her packs to set before the shrine. Not just form, though she knew plenty of those too - the little rituals and prayers, hymns and chants taught by her elders. Bowing her head in respect, she thought of the things she had done since her last visit. The people she had met, mistakes she had made. Lessons learned and realizations brought on, hopes and wishes. Old wounds slowly scabbing over, leaving her able to look at the future with clearer eyes. New hope. "Hello," she said quietly into the air, mentioning no names as she couldn't tell what gods might be worshipped here, beyond the ones she knew of. "This is a beautiful shrine. I don't know who might be listening, but I honor you, and have come to pay my respects." Maea did not expect a reply. She never did. Though she hoped for it, though she longed to see one deity in particular again - thank you for your gifts, Ludo, they are ever appreciated - it would not put her down too much if none showed. Halo was too intriguing, too full of new things to admire and explore. Moping about... well, there simply wasn't time for it here.

"It has been some time, sweetling." Ludo's voice echoed like a arctic breeze across the shrine, causing the candles to quiver but not go out. Never go out, not in Halo. The masked deity drifted down upon Maea and her offerings, a rag reaching out to tickle at the mortal, blank mask seeming somehow happy, somehow pleased. "You are very far from where you started." A comment on her physical location, or something more? Who could tell, really? LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies Her heart nearly skipped a beat at the reply. For a moment, she was back at the Temple shrine, desperate and afraid, so very lonely in the LongNight spent so far away from her family. Back then, she had not known who it was that spoke to her from the dark shadows, but the voice had been soothing to her frayed nerves all the same. Now, Maea looked up at Ludo with a wide smile, so happy that her hands felt completely numb. She laughed at the touch of the otherwordly cloth, so foreign and yet so very real; and something inside her chest eased. A knot that loosened, ever so slightly, flooding her with warmth. "It still feels like I'm walking on a treadmill, unable to get anywhere" she replied, "but I try to move on. There are so many people there to help me up again when I stumble, now. So much have changed... It's hard to keep up at times." Her gaze roamed the ghostly form, savoring this rare chance to take in the mask, the rags, the very presence of the Herald. She had seen Ludo a number of times, but could never quite get used to it. Feared a little that she would, so that the impact every new appearance had on her might wear off... but she doubted that would ever happen. Being able to speak to a god was still very much a dream, and an insanely happy one in this case. "I missed you, Ludo," the girl admitted, smiling up at her god. "Are you well? Is the world outside as you remember?" She assumed it had existed long before the barrier, and while they had shared that particular prison for a fraction of time... it must have been harder on the deities by far to endure such extended captivity.

"The world has opened up - so too should your horizons," Ludo said with a gentle nod, gazing down upon the pale girl in an arguably paler land. The masked deity settled upon the shrine, somehow not affecting the candles (nor the candles affecting it) as it regarded Maea. "Change is inevitable, though. We either move with it or we are carried away by it." Pretty words, all of them - including that she had missed it. Things were rarely so familiar with the god. "It is the same and different at the same time," it said slowly. Three hundred years was not long, but it was not short either. "What might I do for you?" LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies She nodded her agreement, feeling the current of that change all too well. Maea was doing her best to keep her head above that raging river, ride along and use it to help her change the parts of herself that dragged her down, that she wasn't content with. It was a difficult thing, a process only just started... but it certainly made for interesting times. "I was rather wondering if there was anything I could do for you?" the little woman replied, grateful though she was of the question. While she could think of many things she might wish for or desire, none of them were really beyond her ability to reach for on her own. She could see clearly with the eyes Ludo had given her, and did not want for warmth even in a place that was always cold, also thanks to the herald. The only things she could think to desire beyond that... were trust, and acceptance. And how did you ask for that? It was something to be earned, in her mind, not just given away. "I would be happy to be of service to the old Gods, to you, however I can." ---- Hoping for a quest or task of some kind, tho anything from Aspirations would be fun! {Invalid Thread}

For a moment Ludo hovered, rags quivering, as if unable to comprehend the question. If mortals needed nothing from a god, able to fulfil their tasks and ambitions on their own merit, why would a deity need assistance in return? Ludo seemed to shrug. "The world is open, souls flow to Mort, and his daughter Delphia takes care of those in the Greatwood... ah, there is something then, perhaps." Twirling in the air, revealing for a second the flickering candles it had covered up, Ludo's mask seemed to smile. "Within the Greatwood there is a place with my name. The Fae bury their dead there - but there is a creature that roams the woods, and can cause much trouble for souls attempting to reach their final rest. Find Delphia, the daughter of Mort. Together, go to Ludo's Woods and frighten this creature off for a time." LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies The pause was long enough for Maea to take notice. Her head tilted as she watched Ludo, a slight frown of concern deepening between her brows. Had she said something wrong? Was it rude of her to ask for a job, rather than some trinket or question answered? Certainly she could have come up with something that the god could help her with, but... Would Ludo build her a house to live in? Make her strong and smart enough to face monsters and riddles? Give her the confidence she so craved, or make her friends rely on her for help and comfort? Those things were her most pressing needs and desires, and it would feel churlish of her to run to the gods with such simple things. As if they were her personal helpers rather than powerful beings with far more important things to do. Maea just couldn't bring herself to, much too respectful of the fact that just a visit from Ludo was a gift. Wasn't she abandoned, after all? Yet here it was, asking what she needed. It's presence in her life was gift enough. For the rest? She was supposed to learn to stand on her own two feet... right? Listening carefully as the herald spoke again, the doubts subsided somewhat and settled in the back of her mind. This task was more than helpful, it was exactly the kind of thing she craved right now. A job, something to test herself against, a scale to weigh herself with and measure her abilities on. That she would be able to meet a daughter of Mort in doing so was a boon in itself, and more than she had hoped for. "Thank you so much, Ludo! I will do this, I'll show you that I can," she beamed, proud like a child given their first errand. Breathing deeply, she tried to contain the excitement, running the task over her mind time and again so that she would not forget. "I won't let you down." Sometimes, what the mortal needed was just to feel needed, too.

Buoyant and fluttering in the face of Maea's joy, Ludo seemed, at least, to be pleased with itself for offering a suitable task. Reaching out, it gave her a pat of the head with a shred of its rags, mask bobbing in a nod. "I believe it sweetling. Return to me once you have shown the creature that it ought not to bother the souls of the Greatwood. Until then, I trust you will stay warm in Halo." Of course it was cheekily joking, knowing well that she possessed a shawl that it had provided her, and that so long as she wore it, the cold could not get close. That done, the deity whipped up and up and away from the shrine, melting into the darkness and the snow beyond. {Ludo out!} LUDO Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own

Maea Big dreamers shoot for open skies Laughing at the joke she nodded her assent - she would seek them out again when the task was complete - and with no small amount of regret Maea watched Ludo go. The touch on her hair lingered long after the candles had seized fluttering, and she savored it in peaceful quiet for as long as it lasted. After a time though, the girl sighed, and turned to leave. Though she was indeed both warm and snug within the folds of the shawl, her soul felt a little colder, somehow. Like one might after withdrawing from a fond embrace, or going home alone after an evening spent in the pleasant company of friends. A little lonely. A touch wistful, even with the knowledge that there would be more fun to come. ---- {Fin!}