seeds underfoot, roots further below

Mildew

She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?

The Barrows was an ideal place to visit in Deepfrost, a quiet and reflective season; Mildew's bare feet pressed down softly on the grass-covered knolls, her eyes carefully watching over the burial mounds as she was careful to stay at the edge of the area. She had no idea how true rumours of lost souls were, but she had always been superstitious enough to be cautious.

Normally Mildew would scavenge and pick whatever plants she could from the Wilds, using it's bounty for her own life, in turn regrowing and caring - but not here. These were sacred grounds. She sat gently, skirt gathered underneath herself on the edge of a hill and called out to any of the nearby creatures. Beetles, small field mice, birds, any of them were welcome to come and sit with her, on her lap or shoulders, in her hair.

Once her companions had gathered, she closed her eyes and began to hum a soft tune for them. Some old harvesting song that had fallen out of favour with the mortals some hundred years ago; the lyrics didn't matter but the melody was enough to make her smile and lean back, swaying a little and simply enjoying being where she was with creature company.

She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?

and still she bloomed

Phoebe was...well. Lost. Very.

Trying to find things for Frey was proving a bit more difficult for the young demigoddess than she had thought, if in part because maps were so hard to come by, especially for the wilds. But she needed to get ingredients if she was ever to satisfy her patron's specifications for the baby garden.

That was how she stumbled upon a creature covered Mildew in the Barrows - desperately trying to find her way to the Mourn and failing miserably. Thankfully sturdy boots on her feet and good traveling clothes kept her from being too uncomfortable on her never ending trek. Not to mention the contentedly sleeping, bow-tied seer cat curled around her neck and pink dragon at her heel. It was the dragon though that would cause the greatest disturbance, roaring loud and proud at the other demigoddess in obnoxious greeting. Or warning. Take your pick.

Phoebe winced, not sure she would have approached the clearly content woman in such a manner - or at all given their lack luster introduction a season prior. "Sorry, Mildew. Pim is...not discrete." she said softly, hoping some of her friends had decided to stay despite the dragonling's cries. "I um...you wouldn't happen to know the way to the Mourn would you?" she asked.

Phoebe

in the way she was meant to

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Mildew

She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?

Mildew heard the footsteps and was well aware of Phoebe's presence before she was too close, but some of the creatures that had made home in her skirts and hair were not so fortunate. Several beetles and frogs scurried off, making displeased squeaks and chitters to her. Gently, she held out her arms to the floor to let those that wished to dismount before she stood up, which is when she looked to Phoebe.

"He most certainly is not. But dragons rarely are." She commented, with a faint smile. It was hardly the first dragon she'd come across and Mildew was far more forgiving of animals than she was of people.

Watching as one blue-black beetle made its way up her wrist and onto her finger, she nodded in response to Phoebe's question. "It's south from here, darling, though you've come quite too far up. What do you want there? I feel I must warn you the spirits that lay there won't be as kind about Pim's ...outbursts as I am."

She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?

and still she bloomed

Phoebe watched in silence as the woman took her time standing and situating herself with the animal friends that had chosen to stay once more. It was...a bit off putting. She was accustomed to receiving a response right away when she spoke to someone - not because she was important but because generally that was how conversations and interactions seemed to work. But Mildew was clearly on her own timeline. "No, I suppose they aren't." she said in agreement.

But of course, finding that she had indeed been going much further north than she had wanted caused her shoulders to slump. Of course she had made a wrong turn somewhere. Adventuring clearly did not come naturally to her. "I need to collect some soil from there for a quest for Frey." she said with a soft sigh. And apparently she was no closer to getting it than she had been when she had started her journey that morning. The warning caused her worry as well, and the Nightingale glanced down at the pink dragon, who seemed not to care that his roar might disturb some spirits.

Phoebe

in the way she was meant to

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Mildew

She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?

When you were as old as Mildew, things like being polite had a tendency to fall to the wayside, as your own time and ways became more and more set in stone and normal. Also...when you'd spent so much time talking to mostly bugs and birds because all the humans were stuck in a bubble or too scared to come into your swamp...you forgot some things about conversation.

Seeing Phoebe's shoulders slump, she frowned and looked off in the direction of Mourn. "If it's for Frey, I can guide you there dear...but what could you need soil for? You'll have to be careful where you take it from. Again, the spirits...they can be awfully picky." Personally, if she was ever to die, Mildew was fine for her body to be compost or whatever else people desired, but those memorialised at Mourn were very precise about how their remains and shrines were kept.

She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?

and still she bloomed

"Kittenssssss Piped up Branbast from his perch in response to Mildew's question. Phoebe just sighed. That was about as clear as the mud she needed to procure.

"Frey has tasked me with aiding them in preserving life during the war." Phoebe started, to give a bit of context. "If enough people die though, it is quite possible that forced procreation would come up. It did in the world I was born in under similar circumstances." Generally, when explaining her task, here was where Phoebe would mention how Frey would find that offensive...but Mildew was a demigoddess of Frey after all. Certainly she didn't need to be told that. "So I am making a garden that grows infants from DNA taken from any two people, male or female. I'm a midwife by training so I can care for them if their parents don't or can't raise them." she finished.

"If you could guide me to the Mourn I would greatly appreciate it. It is one of the last things I need." she said with a small smile.

Phoebe

in the way she was meant to

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Mildew

She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?

Mildew's eyebrows rose slowly throughout the explanation of what Phoebe intended to do. If it was a mission from Frey, she wouldn't refuse to assist in it, but it was certainly weird. Maybe it was about time she got to see her old herald, because to Mildew this sounded like nothing the Frey she had once known would have wanted.

"The midwife deals with the birth part, doesn't she? Why would you raise the children after? Find other people for that, dear. Don't want to put it all on yourself." Was all she said, casually waving a hand around as she spoke. There were other concerns too, but it wasn't her place to raise them.

The thought of a baby-producing garden popping up in the middle of the solemn land of mourn did make her smile bewilderedly; how would the quiet dead feel about that? "This way. Did Frey say it would have to be in Mourn? It just seems an odd place, that's all. If I were to pick somewhere for babies to come from in the Wilds, it would be the Oerwoud."

She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?

and still she bloomed

"That is a misconception." Phoebe said. "Midwives assist with the pre-natal and post-natal care of both mother and child. It isn't terribly unusual. Though if there are a lot of little starts I probably will need help." she admitted. She was only one person after all. Too many babies all at once could easily overwhelm her. Perhaps she would have to mention this to Frey. Surely they could think of ways to ensure each little start got the nurturing it needed.

Phoebe and Pim followed the other demigoddess as she set off towards the Mourn. "Oh no, I just need soil from the Mourn as one of the ingredients they need to help make the garden. I also got some from the tar pits, seeds from a fruit in the Oerwoud, and water from different places too." she said. And in regards to the Oerwoud..."I considered there, but I am also considering Meadowreach. Since predators aren't common it seemed a fairly safe place to have such a garden." she said with a small smile, hoping to get some sort of acknowledgement or approval from her fellow demigoddess.

Phoebe

in the way she was meant to

Code blatantly stolen from the fantastical, wonderful Odd

Mildew

She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?

"Oh...hm." Mildew really couldn't think of many things she would want less than continually looking after babies brought forth from a garden, but she supposed they all had to serve Frey in different ways. "So...what will you do if there isn't a decrease in births and population? After all, if you listen to some of those on well, our side, I suppose, they seem quite confident they can eliminate the Ascended and be done with it in a matter of weeks."

That aside, it was a relief to hear she wasn't planning to put this project in Mourn. "You've been on quite the journey. You're probably right that Meadowreach is better - it's the old fashioned part of me that thinks they ought to be born somewhere dangerous and wild." Start their trials from the very first, grow them strong; she huffed out a quiet laugh to herself. "Do you have many people willing to give their...whatever you'll need from them, for this?"

They began to head into Mourn, the way well-trod and known to Mildew.

{FIN-TBC in Mourn}

She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?