The Festival Continues [Day 144]

[bastionmods]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 144
Where: all over the Bastion
What: Day 2 of the festival because that other post filled up fast
Format: any
Warnings: none

Day 2 - Day of Hope and Bravery

Once again, at midnight, another torch arrives - this time with a horse along with the gear and bullshead. As before, they are list by Zulf. Some of the other decorations fade out, to be replaced by Yudrig or Lemaign-specific decorations like horseshoes, saddles, hammers and plants made of colored metal. This will continue to happen throughout the festival, with new decorations overshadowing old ones, but the old ones still remaining here and there.

During the previous day, conversations with a any of the NPCs (or the recently arrived Uras) will bring up the topic of the second day of the festival. Should you care to listen, you'll learn that they use the very early morning of this day to make wishes, wishes that you must think in to a horseshoe that will be left on the side of your home that faces where the "sun" would be rising (the closest approximation to "east").

Speaking of horses! There seems to be a pen with stallions! Unlike Pyth, one must ride one of these stallions and try to stay on it as long as they can while it bucks and jumps about wildly. Good luck to whoever can manage this, it is not an easy task at all! Only one person can win Yudrig's favor, because at the end of the day the stallions will all take off back to... wherever they came from. The person that manages to stay the longest, though, will win a lovely pair of Yudrig boots, and will gain a single very fast horse for the Bastion to keep.

Along with the horses, there will also be races! Three legged races, races while balancing odd objects on spoons, so many races! Most of these are for the kids to make up for the lack of kid-focused things from the day before, but adults are encouraged to help and participate.

Incidentally, respect is also given to those considered soldiers. Be it by their own mental thinking ("I am a soldier for justice/I am a protector, etc") or by their actual title (this includes exorcists, exorcists in training, rebel leaders, etc) but they will be honored on this day for their bravery, comittment and efforts. The same goes for masons. There will be a table set up with charms for the bracelets, specifically hammer shaped ones - everyone is welcome to take one, but anyone who isn't of this persausion may find them too heavy to wear. The charm can be removed, though, but remember to keep the bracelet!

With that in mind, about midday the center of the Bastion will be cleared and people will be asked if they would like to participate in a game of "Defend Lemaign". It's basically Capture the Flag, but with a singular goal in mind - only one team has a "flag" (actually a small hammer statue) and that team must defend it from the other team. Teams can be any size, but once that statue is grabbed and brought to the other side, OR the timer runs out with Lemaign still within his "temple" the game is over. This will continue throughout the afternoon.

When evening falls again, the second torch for the day will appear to be lit, this one decorated with hammers as well as the standard gear and bull. The day begins to wind down, though there are once again other things to do - this time an entire area dedicated to various sizes of building blocks ranging from small to huge. Go nuts, build what you want, show off your creations! And keep them, they will come in handy later! This is not just for kids, even if it seems like it.

There's also jousting taking place. Nothing as dangerous as true jousting - just wooden horses on tracks that have to be manually pushed along (so be sure to take a willing friend with yout) and padded poles that strike padded armor. Winners will find more charms for those bracelets that were given out as their prize, and five shards per win.

Also, something to keep in mind: Since the day is focused around bravery quite a bit, anyone who shows off a particularly awesome show of bravery (be it personal like asking someone out that you like, facing a mild fear and not running away from it, or something even more spectacular) you will inexplicably find your entire room decorated with horseshoes. Horseshoes everywhere. Why? Yudrig, that's why.

And anyone who visits Lemagin's shrine, for whatever reason, will find themselves inexplicably hit with a wave of optimism. Just for the day, though.

This night winds down much the same as before, and again the children are encouraged to sleep outside while lulled to sleep by tales of Yudrig and Lemagin's adventures.

Comments

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn leans over to examine the charms on the table. She picks up one of them and turns it over in her hands rather than sliding it immediately onto her bracelet. Using a small tendril of her own magic to feel for any power within the charm itself, Rosethorn muses quietly, "A hammer? I'm certainly not a smith mage, nor a fire temple dedicate."

She may not realize the significance of the charm yet.

[fuckthemancers]

"While smiths certainly send their prayers to Lemaign the most, he has more to him as a God than that."

Zulf is on the other side of the table, since having calmed down from his own little 'episode' and now simply nearby. He sends a smile to the older woman, although it's more for politeness' sake than anything. "Many soldiers would pray to him, the Masons of Caelondia most of all. They even used hammers, although I suppose it was also a practical use with all their work on the Rippling Walls."

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn's lips visibly tighten, and, unlike Zulf, she doesn't trouble herself with politeness. "I'm not a soldier," she snaps at him.

It's true, but only just barely. She does hate fighting, healing and feeding her preferred means of offering aid. Even so, Rosethorn was preparing for war before she arrived here. She has ripped men to pieces with killer thorns in defense of her temple or of innocent people. Soldier isn't her vocation, but that doesn't mean she can shirk necessity.

And if what she's been told is true, there was a larger threat than the Yanjingyi armies, one she never saw coming. Both sides lost the war, and the mountains and temples are gone now along with everything else of her own world.

Her fingers tighten into a fist around the hammer charm. She'll be more curious about the history of this place soon enough. For a moment, her hand hovers above the table as if she's considering returning the charm. Rosethorn doesn't put it down, though.

[fuckthemancers]

The sudden aggression makes Zulf start somewhat, shoulders tensing as if reading for something and lips thinning. When nothing more comes, his body language eases up slowly and carefully. That was one of the risks of speaking with strangers- you never quite knew what nerve you could strike by foolish accident. "I meant no disrespect," he replies slowly. "You seemed somewhat confused and I know you're not Caelondian." Or Ura, but that was so easy to cross out from the list that he hadn't even bothered to think of it. "Building and protection are also under his domain. Of course, not all feel a connection to him."

[earthandpine]

"No offense was taken," even if yet another curt reply might imply otherwise. It's a sore subject, especially given the war that she avoided only through being brought here.

Rosethorn pauses for a moment and curbs her tongue before replying evenly, "I'm an Earth Temple dedicate. I'd rather be in my garden or making medicines than on a battlefield." Note that she doesn't deny having been on one.

[fuckthemancers]

That makes a bit more sense, although Zulf has a feeling there's a bit more to the explanation than she's explicitly saying. He holds his own tongue however. There's no reason to press, especially when they're still more or less strangers. Goodness knows there's plenty he hasn't told to most of the people here as well...

"I suppose it must be awkward to deal so much with our Gods instead of your own, then," he says. "Caelondia and the Tazal Terminals both shared the same Pantheon, even if our ways of worshiping them were much different. We don't have much experience with others, I suppose."

[earthandpine]

"Living Circle coexists with other religions well enough. It's not the first time I've been in a country where other gods are worshiped." Even in her own house, other gods have been worshiped. Briar and Daja both grew up in other places, with other belief systems. "Our healers and medicine makers offer their services at no charge, so people can come to us even if they don't share our beliefs." Rosethorn is interested in the festival. She's never been unwilling to learn about other customs and religions, even if she doesn't share them.

"I was just... surprised," she puts it the most diplomatic way she can, "to receive the favor of a warrior god when those I'm dedicated to are very different. We have eight gods and goddesses, each pair associated with an element. Most battle mages are Fire Temple dedicates rather than Earth, since Shurri Firesword is the patron of warriors. The earth gods are Mila of the Grain and the Green Man, associated the different types of plant growth, cultivated or wild.

[fuckthemancers]

It's not hard to tell that Zulf is interested in learning more about other Gods as well, fingers pressed together and his head tilted slightly to the side as he listens. Associated with elements instead of concepts... That's different. He gives a nod as she finishes, thinking on it.

"The remaining pairs being water and air, then?" he inquires, just to be certain. "That's fascinating. Some of our own Pantheon could certainly have connections to elements- for example, I do think Lemaign would have a connection to fire but less because he is a warrior and more because he is a smith and builder. His sister Acobi could also fit. For earth, Pyth and Roathus especially are connected to it but it could be said that Hense is as well. Still, those aren't their main aspects, as I said. Many things fall under their domain yet it is for hope and despair that Lemaign is truly born of."

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn is just as interested, listening carefully as Zulf goes through the names of the local gods. Clearly they take an active interest in their land and the people in it, the way gods are said to in Gyongxe. Only a fool would decline the opportunity to learn more. The fact that she's genuinely interested weights the attention she gives, but Rosethorn would listen either way.

Since Zulf seems as intent as she is, Rosethorn gives more detail. Talking about home still makes her miss it, but it's also comfort, of a sort. "Yes, water and air. Our other Fire god is Hakkoi the Smith, so that carries through in both worlds. I noticed some connections when I heard about each of the gods earlier on, but there was no parallel so strong that it drew me to one of your gods in particular." And now he knows which box Rosethorn dropped her cloth into.

"The influence of our gods isn't confined strictly to things that are obviously of their element either. Weaving is in Mila's domain and Shurri deals with law and justice as well as war. Aisaia, the Air goddess, is also patron of intellect and learning, while Yanna, water, is the goddess of healing and love." Rosethorn prays to all of her gods, but her own element's two and Yanna are the most frequent recipients. She's a medicine maker, after all.

"Born of hope and despair? What do you mean by that?"

[fuckthemancers]

With each name and domain, he does his best to make it stay firmly in his mind. Unable to help himself, he also finds himself comparing both pantheons. It's not out of any disrespect. More just... curiosity. What domains would they share, if any? Are any of them similar in personality? So many questions. It's just a matter of finding the right way to word them.

At the question, he gives a slight smile. "It's a reference to the tale of creation. I'll be telling the proper version no doubt throughout the day- I've been asked to tell stories of the Gods if you'd ever like to come and listen. The short version, however... Micia had just lost her second children. They were the first she had tried to birth, you see, the first being Pyth who had been born from the land and Micia's own heart, which are one and the same. When she bore Lemaign and Acobi, she gave them parts of herself so that they would not suffer the same fate. Into Lemaign, she gave the despair she had felt as a grieving mother, the hope that she would see better days and her future children survive, and her own breath."