Lost Potential
For Safrin; God Quest Reward Hand-In
Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

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#1
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

I am handing in Bastien's level 3 God Item Quest reward!



As much fun as shepherding peoples emotions in the bar was (it wasn't, unless it was Rexanna) Bastien needed a break. He'd felt unable to leave for a long while because of the constant pounding at the door of people who needed help, but...an hour without any visitors passed and he decided to risk it. Just a simple walk up to the temple, that was all. Just to clear his head.

The fact that he brought a strong bottle of spirits had little to do with it.

He passed the shrine without thought at first, focused more on the odd...dirt? Coming through the door and the strange clear smudges on the stone. There was blood, too. Clearly the temple had seen a lot of LongNight tragedies of it's own recently. For a while he sat on a chair near the back, drank and stared at the marks, trying to imagine a story to fit them. Every so often he would scratch at the golden mark on his neck, still finding it's smooth cold texture felt odd in his skin.

Then suddenly, he stood up and began to walk towards the shrine. He didn't even really know why, other than that things were chaotic and wrong and there had only been one place in this world he'd felt truly relaxed. Where he hadn't been putting on a show.

He knelt before the shrine.

Now, Bastien wasn't stupid. He had worked out by now his missing items were probably taken by Safrin herself who had overheard his...words for her last time he'd been here. But he didn't find in him the usual desire to charm his way past any blame. As with Phoebe he...wanted to actually apologise, to learn.

Was this what it meant to grow as a person? He didn't like it. But here he was.

Dipping his head, he spoke: "Signora. If you are there. I know I can be...ah...irritable. Sometimes. ...A lot of the time. If things do not go my way. And I said something last time I was here that I highly regret. And...I see now, as I said to Phoebe, that my church was misguided. I just...no. I should not justify. I will just say. I apologise. Truly. If there is anything I could do to make it up to you...perhaps just leave you alone. Tell me."





















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#2


SAFRIN

There was no fanfare of starlight, no dusky brilliance to herald her arrival. The temple was silent and dark with only the flickering of low flames to aid with visibility.

With a somberness that was not her normal style, Safrin appeared. Cloaked in a world of black, even her eyes appeared like pinpoints of unfilled space.

"Thank you for your apology." She said simply, unpainted lips hardly moving. She stood by the altar, leaning against it wearily. LongNight was not a time for the goddess to be about. This time in the season was as fixed and eternal as anything else, but it was when she was at her weakest.

When she mattered least.

Seeing this tawdry man calling to her was like lemon juice on a paper cut, but still she came. His words were softer this time, and regardless of whether or not he meant them, she selfishly wanted to hear them just the same.

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#3
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

Safrin did not appear resplendant in stars this time; she was shrouded in a mournful darkness like a widow. Bastien regarded her carefully, unsure what to make of the new appearance and her soft speech. This was a new territory. They both seemed beaten down, defeated. Possibly a little more equal...?

"You are welcome, stella. But...tell me it is not my mistake that have made you don such dark clothing? I did not think myself powerful enough over your emotions to control them so." He smiled gently to make his tone playful.

"What is on your mind?" It felt odd to be starting a conversation with a Goddess, but the air this time was different, somehow a little more mundane.





















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#4


SAFRIN

"You don't." Safrin snapped, revealing sharpened teeth. Had they always been like that? Her face was a mask of passive displeasure. That Bastien even joked that he had such pull over her should have made her laugh. Today though, it only made her bitter and annoyed. He was nothing, and members of his own little group were dying mercilessly in the dark, and yet still he thought she wore black for him.

"Death." She spat blandly, her eyes now an impregnable depth of blackness.

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#5
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

Ok, so that joke had been misguided. He nodded and accepted the chiding, not wanting to lose anything else precious this time (could Goddesses take his balls?). If she was a student in his old halls he would have told her to lose the attitude and have some wine, but...

He sighed and tried again to interact with the prickly Goddess. "There is a lot of death here right now, indeed. Have you lost somebody, Signora? I did not know this night would be so deadly. I think a lot of us will need the time to mourn."





















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#6


SAFRIN

Safrin's gaze turned as cold as the farthest reaches of space, her stare intense and full of agony.

"I am a keeper of life Bastien." His name, once honey on his lips now fell like lead to the ground. "I feel the lose of all life keenly." She added, her hostility sharp and obvious.

Everyone who died was one that she had lost. Only one had been saved. Sweet Aoife. But even that small victory was not enough to make Bastien's insufferable attitude charming.

"You should have known." She added darkly. "The warnings have been all around. Notices posted, measures taken. Did you think those within the bubble were simply making a big deal of nothing?"

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#7
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

It seemed no matter what he said, Safrin was going to be irritated. He considered making a comment about a woman scorned, but...Bastien felt that wouldn't go down well. Instead he just stayed quiet for a moment, nodded, smiled. He wanted to ask how she and Vi could be life too, but...questions likely wouldn't be welcome either.

"It appears I am destined to cause you pain with my every word, doesn't it?" He commented wryly, shifting back to sit with his hands behind him. This felt like an unwinnable game, all of his pieces off the board while Safrin refused to play at all. But he had been in these situations before, in art negotiations and in Noble's bedrooms. He'd always worked it out.

"I genuinely wish to assist you if I can, Safrin. Is there not anything that would help with your current state? Nothing I could do? I understand the loss of life is monumental, but you must go through this every year. Is there not something to help?" He needed to do something to get back into her good (or at least neutral) books. It had been easier with mortals because he had known what they had wanted. With Safrin it was a mystery so the first hurdle was getting a request from her at all.





















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#8


SAFRIN

"Do not act like your ignorance and rudeness is fate, Bastien." She replied coldly. "You could do well being a great deal more humble. To come here, during this time of death and think so highly of yourself to think that you have influenced my mood? You who would start a church in my name, and yet not even realize that I hold all life sacred? That this of all times, is the very worst for me? And yet here you are."

The deity crossed her arms, looking down upon him with a weary sigh. "Not unless you can speed up time, or grant protection to all who must endure this hellish week." She replied, her voice having dropped to almost a whisper, the anger in her eyes doused.

"Other than that, no Bastien. I see you have begun to make changes to your Church. Frey will be most pleased." She said, souring slightly. "Now, is there something that you wanted? That you called me down here for?"

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
PITTORE - Mythical - Gremlin (Disappearance)
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#9
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

It took every bit of self control he had not to roll his eyes or sigh as yet again one sentence from him brought forth a barrage of criticism from Safrin. Did she have no sense of humour? No joie de vivre? Why could she not shrug and let the whole church thing go? It wasn't like it had been a big deal or anything.

"Hm, well. I have ways to make time pass quicker. " He mentioned but didn't elaborate about what those were. Even Bastien was sensible enough to know his chances of getting into Safrin's starry panties were gone (for now).

She had seen his new venture, then? Bastien smiled wryly and shrugged.  "I am changing because I thought you did not approve. If you do and would give me some notes for a second version...well. I would leap back to the priesthood in a second." He did actually mean this. For all his confidence and apparent freedom moving from idea to idea, a project where he actually knew what he was doing was something he craved.

"I want nothing but to apologise and make it up to you, Safrin."





















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#10


SAFRIN

The goddess raised a brow, the implication of his words certainly not lost on her. Looking down at her fingers, Safrin flexed them before dexterously fanning them out from her palm again. "Bastien .. did you really come here, during this week of all weeks, and imply that not only were you the cause of my troubles, but that sex with you would someone serve as some sort of panacea?" Her voice was calm, but deep. An ocean of gravity ready to crush him.

Her patience was eternal, but even Bastien was testing it.

"Did you think I did not approve because you asked me what I thought? Or did you simply grow bored, pulled in by the allure of something shinier?" As she said this, her eyes flicked to the mark on his neck. "Of all the things I might disapprove of, being marked by that impostor is certainly at the top of the list." She said, her voice still ringing with that deadly stillness.

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#11
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

He did not comment on Safrin's disdain for his sexual offer. Bastien did wonder if she truly meant it, though. From what he knew (and he knew this for sure) he was an attractive man with a good skillset in the bedroom and she was a star goddess whom needed a bit of stress relief. It was a simple equation. Certain it was only pride stopping her from taking him up on it, he let the rejection roll off his shoulders.

She brought up the encounter he'd had with the strange golden child and he touched his neck. The smooth moon was more noticeable than he'd thought, clearly.

"I did not ask for the mark, Signora. It was placed upon me without my knowledge. I actually went to the forest looking for you." This was a partial truth. He had gone into the forest prepared to meet any Gods, including but not limited to Safrin. Still, he stood more chance of appearing sympathetic if he had been surprised than if he had been looking for an opportunity.

"...Why do you call her an impostor?"





















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#12


SAFRIN

"You are not an accomplished liar, Bastien." Safrin replies easily, flowing out from her place within the shadows and seemingly gliding towards him, her movements are that smooth. "You called for whoever was at that Shrine. You brought fruit and even spoke aloud that you knew such things were not required with me." She replied curtly. "As for not having asked for it, I have not seen her leave such a mark in centuries. Surely a man such as yourself knows that there are plenty of ways to ask for things which do not require words." The goddess added, her eyes pinpoints of starlight.

"Because she is." Safrin hissed suddenly, the sharpened spikes of her teeth becoming obvious as she snarled with displeasure. Quickly her features slotted themselves back into a mask of perfection as she tore her eyes away. "A child playing god. A child who understands nothing of what she has unleashed on the world, all under the guise of perfection. She is why we are all here, trapped in this place. Her insolence and ambition that would have ruined the world otherwise. " With a sneer, she dropped her eyes back to Bastien. "She is no god. She is a child grown so ignorant that we have been placed here while she is on time-out."

Bastien De Rosieres
the Dionysian
Ambassador for the Hollowed Grounds / Artist

Age: 41 | Height: 6' 2" | Race: Ascended | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 5 - Strg: 20 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 20 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#13
Bastien
That old celestial circus
With teeth and fingernails I'll carve a place, you'll see.

She caught him out easily in his lie and Bastien could only shrug with a smile that covered his sudden anxiousness. It occurred to him, properly for the first time, that what he was doing could be actually dangerous for him. Safrin's anger so far was familiar to him, things he'd seen in grumpy enough mortals, but...it could be much more. She had the power to kill a man at her fingertips, he was sure.

"...I see." Was all he had to say in response to her telling him of The Voice. He had little to do with the information. The personal fights of the Gods had little to do with him until he had accomplished his eventual goal of becoming one.

With little else to say or ask but not wanting to offend her again, Bastien stayed blissfully quiet for a moment, waiting to see if he would be dismissed.





















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#14


SAFRIN

"You asked if there was something you could do for me Bastien, and there is."

Slinking down from her place near the shrine, Safrin moved to stand before him. Her hands found the sides of his face, and for a moment she looked upon him with an adoring smile. The goddess' gaze softly searched his face, before her pale lips widened in a smile.

"Humble yourself Bastien. You are not quite so charming as you seem to think, nor is your cock the magical wand you believe it to be." She whispered into his ear, her breath warm and the aura of her power all around him. "Be humble until the end of Flowerbirth, and you shall be rewarded handsomely. If at anytime you find the task too great...you need only call out to me with a prayer to make it all stop, and I will.

Though know that you will have forever lost my favour. Do this, and be redeemed. Fail, and be nothing."
That said, Safrin would disappear and Bastien...

Well. Bastien would be changed.



Bastien has been transformed into an aged old man! He has liver-spots on his face, his eyes are covered with cataracts, his hair is very thin. He walks with a limp, suffers from ED (except when he's in the brothel of course), and is subject to any number of age-related ailments.

If he can make it through until the end of Flowerbirth, he will be rewarded! If not ... well. Saffy probably doesn't hold grudges.



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