Second chances
Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,764
MP: 1897
#1
MaeA
It was really not her intention to be obnoxious. Maea had never made a habit of bothering the gods with everything that happened in her life, nor would she persist in begging for attention when it was unwanted. It was merely habit that made her glance into the shrine as she passed outside, and coincidence that she found several of the candles to be knocked over, wax splattered across the surface of the stone.

Frowning at the mess, the slender young woman made a beeline towards it, and was soon busying herself with cleaning up. Humming softly at herself as she worked, Maea contemplated the difference between this space and the nature shrine by the Oasis. Were the gods more likely to answer a prayer in one space or another, or was it more a preference of the devout that saw one in more use than the other? Generally she preferred the one outdoors; it was far more private, without prying eyes to see or hear what went on in case one was granted an audience.

Though, as she thought back to the last time she prayed, Maea couldn't say it had really helped her any. The silence had been just as pointed as always, confirming nothing but the truth of her usual reality. Abandoned.

Sighing softly, she righted the last of the candles, lit it and bowed her head in respect for a moment. Answer or no, it would not change anything; she had always prayed and would keep doing so, humbly and without demands. Only a quiet hope.


(Rewriting because odd told me to)
you're so cold, but you feel alive.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Admin Offline
Change author:
Posts: 536 | Total: 3,208
MP: 0
#2
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

There was so much heartache in the pale child, and yet Ludo had no interest, for once, in playing games with her. It was tethered against its will to an upstart, a non-deity, and though it possessed its mask it did not possess it, in that sense of the word.

So it was with a languid, shared sort of exhaustion that it drifted down in answer to a prayer that may or may not have been intended for it. Should Maea's eyes open, she would find herself nose to nose with a porcelain mask whilst a slip of a rag tickled at her ear.

"You have seen much for one with sight so poor," it remarked in a voice little more than a whisper. "What is it you pray for? Hope? What is hope, in a world as cruel and isolated as this one? Is it living one more Longheat? Or is it not having to survive another Deepfrost?"

Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,764
MP: 1897
#3
MaeA
Breath catching in her throat at the whispered voice, Maea looked up. It was all she could do not to scream at her failing eyes caught sigh of the entity before her, too vividly real to be a figment of her imagination and get so unreal that she felt a strong need to pinch herself, just to make sure she had not fallen asleep.

But no. Maea could never have dreamed this. It was too fantastic to her practical mind, too much of an honor when she had always considered herself unworthy.

"Surviving, is what I usually pray for" she replied, voice shaking slightly as she faced the porcelain mask. The rags tickled against her skin and the woman shuddered, in fear or awe; she wasn't sure which. Probably a bit of both.

"Living is enough of a miracle. Or... it used to be. Lately though, I've begun to hope for other things. To change, make things better..."

This world... is dying. Jigano's words were haunting her just as much as the nightmares about her family, alone and afraid on the longest night. It made her want to do something. Learn things, help those around her, help herself.

"I have become greedy" she admitted, rueful and not without regret. It har been easier when another sunrise har been enough to make her happy.
you're so cold, but you feel alive.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Admin Offline
Change author:
Posts: 536 | Total: 3,208
MP: 0
#4
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

Survival? Regardless of Maea's state of eyesight, she might have sworn that there was a smile upon the porcelain mask. But of course that was impossible, right? Ludo drifted back to hover before the girl, rags writhing lazily about it as it heard her out. "Is it greedy," it mused, "to strive for better? Is that greed or is it ambition?" Probably the former. It had become greedy, too, and Ludo had paid for its insolence in that way.

"You are a careful sort of soul," Ludo remarked, nudging at one of the candles she had stood back up - it flickered to life the second the fabric touched to it. "Then again I suppose you have to be. If you pray for survival, though, then you have it. LongNight is over."

Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,764
MP: 1897
#5
MaeA
Maea nodded thoughtfully. Or perhaps nervously, as her heart kept racing under Ludo's unseen gaze. The suggestion of a smile about the mouth of the mask made her shiver, hot and cold before the amusement - or approval? - it conveyed. As she couldn't think what it was in her words that had brought in on however, the girl did not linger over it. Did not dare to, lest she missed something the whispers said, and answered poorly. This audience was a blessing and an honor; the last thing the Abandoned girl wanted was to give offense by not paying attention.

"Yes, Long Night is over" Maea agreed. "And I did indeed survive... though some days I wish I did not, or that I had prayed more for my family to survive." The pain of that loss and that guilt was not likely to ever leave, not entirely. But done was done and gone was gone. She did not wish Isla's fate upon her brother or his children, not even after meeting the woman turned unicorn and seeing how she was not unhappy. In a way it was easier to consider her family dead and gone, rather than missing or kidnapped or changed beyond recognition. She thought she could make peace with their loss, eventually, as long as it was final.

Perhaps that made her selfish too, not just greedy. Those were flaws she were not proud of, but compared to others the could live with them. They were consequences of living after all, a price to pay forlife and something to work on.

The fear of living a life in darkness was harder to endure. Because though she was taking steps to try and help herself, there was so much she had to learn and so little time. With every passning day her vision deteriorated, and it would soon reach a point where no spectacles would really help.

"But I've prayed for other things lately, as I said" she whispered, nervous that voicing her desires might somehow be rude, or obnoxious. "For light, and the chance to see the next Long Night, and all the Days to come. Terrible as it is. With all the horror, and sadness, and all the joys too. I just... really would like to see what it means to survive, and live."

But perhaps that was too bold.
you're so cold, but you feel alive.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Admin Offline
Change author:
Posts: 536 | Total: 3,208
MP: 0
#6
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

"LongNight is savage, and like a hungry beast it knows only how to take. Your prayers may not have reached their intended ears, even had you done more," Ludo said simply, hovering about the candle flame now as if entranced by its light.

Speaking of which, the mask tilted up as she spoke about seeing, about experiencing more, and Ludo grew quiet. Contemplative, almost.

"There is a price for all things, sweetling," it said. "You would see. I can give you that gift. But as I say... a price. Are you willing to pay it, I wonder?"

Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,764
MP: 1897
#7
MaeA
Maea grew very still, barely breathing at the gods reply. The faint hope she had nourished flared up quite suddenly, a painful thing that was all the more precious because it was so fragile. Rarely did she allow herself to hang in to such breakable things, but now, maybe now was the time to risk it, to brave the consequences and pay the...

The price. Yes. There was that.

Of course it would not be for free. In Caido nothing came freely, at least not in this part that she had grown up in, and especially not when dealing with the gods. So she had heard, and thus she was not really surprised. There was a pause, a silence as Maea considered carefully. Some things she would not pay for, but the chance to see? To behold the world clearly and without filter, in all it's terrible beauty? Was she willing to do whatever Ludo asked of her to obtain such a gift?

Putting it that way, it was really rather simple.

"Yes" she replied, and bowed her head in respectful acceptance. "Whatever is in my power to do or give, I will."

Whatever it was, Maea was sure it would be worth it.
you're so cold, but you feel alive.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Admin Offline
Change author:
Posts: 536 | Total: 3,208
MP: 0
#8
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

Yes. It was all Ludo needed and it was all it had asked for. It surged up, hovering some distance above the candles and other offerings now, blank mask gazing down at Maea as if trying to make its measure of her.

"There is a festival in the middle of Flowerbirth, known as Fiat Lux," it said. "A time of rebirth and rejuvination. As you might understand, I am a rather unwelcome there. Still, I would attend." It stared hard at Maea, as if that would convey its meaning.

"Through you, I would attend. Allow me to be your eyes for this occasion. Trust in me to do that, and you shall see clearly for the rest of your life." And then some.

Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,764
MP: 1897
#9
MaeA
It was not like any request Maea had braced herself for, or expected. She gaped in surprise at the masked figure, stunned and relieved and a bit.. well, concerned to tell the truth, because she had no idea what it might be like to let the deity use her like that. But almost immediately a smile spread over her lips, because the idea of Ludo simply wanting to participate in the festival was so sweet, so wistfully endearing that she would not have been able to refuse even if she wanted to.

Not that she did.

"I would be honored" she said, and meant it. "My eyes are yours. Thank you for this chance! From the bottom of my heart, thank you!"

Excitement bubbled up within, and if Maea vad been of a less conservative spirit she might have tried to hug the masked figure. Perhaps it was fortunate that she restrained herself...
you're so cold, but you feel alive.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Spooky Rags


Age: 7 | Height: | Race: Attuned | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: - Strg: - Dext: - Endr: - Luck: - Int:
Played by: Admin Offline
Change author:
Posts: 536 | Total: 3,208
MP: 0
#10
ludo

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own

"No, sweetling. Thank you." Ludo's mask ducked as if it were offering her a nod of gratitude, and all at once the rest of the candles in the shrine would flicker to life, perfectly in sync. The rest of the platform, too, would be tidied up, just as Maea had been doing herself. Ludo swirled up in a swathe of darkness and shadow, before swooping lazily overhead.

As it did so, it brushed a tendril of fabric across the Abandoned's face. "I look forward to attending the festival with you. Afterwards, you shall see better than you ever have. Until then, farewell."

Maea Valair
Hollowed Grounds Ambassador / Loreseeker

Age: 29 | Height: 156 cm / 5'1 ft | Race: Ancient | Nationality: Natural | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 22 - Dext: 22 - Endr: 25 - Luck: 20 - Int:
Played by: Chan Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,023 | Total: 5,764
MP: 1897
#11
MaeA
"Farewell. Until next time."

For some time after Ludo disappeared the young woman merely sat by the shrine, basking in the light of the candles and the turmoil of thoughts left behind by the divine visitor. To her eyes the candles looked like a hazy blur of fireglow, framed by a veil of darkness that had slowly eaten away at her field of vision. Maea tried to remember what it had been like before it started, but found the memories faded and unclear.

Not for much longer however. Fiat Lux was just around the corner, and with a sudden grin Maea got to her feet, blev out the candles and left. She had much to do still, qnd suddenly she found herself looking forward to the festival again, like she had before the Long Night ended.

She had a feeling that this year, it would truly be a day to remember.



(End)
you're so cold, but you feel alive.
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


RPG-D