And in to the third day... [Day 145]

[bastionmods]

Who: Everyone
Open: Open
When: Day 145
Where: All over the Bastion
What: Day 3 of the festival
Format: Any
Warnings: None


Day 3 - Day of Pleasure and Purpose

The next lamp appears in the Bastion, this time with mirrors on one side. And of course a certain Ura gets to light it.

Oddly enough, there seem to be roses everywhere in the Bastion, almost completely obscuring any of the previous decorations. They're still there, just... buried. Behind bushes, next to vases, under mounds of rose petals. You can't escape it! They won't do anything bad to you, of course, but you might start finding rose petals in your hair, in your pockets, or lingering on your clothes as the day goes by. Mirrors also join the decorations, but besides that, all reflective surfaces (windows and mirrors) will suddenly have clearer reflections, and be decorated in rose borders. Unfortunately this means looking through actual windows will be a mite difficult as you'll see reflections more than you'll see the other side of them.

Today will also be a day of blindfold games! Guess the object! Guess how many are in this box! Place this thing in that thing! All without looking! Prizes will be given out to those who get through these blindfold games - another charm for your bracelet, and maybe two or three shards per win.

Along with these games, there's one big challenge in the center of the Bastion - a giant thorny maze. Should you brave this mess, you'll find twists, turns, awkward corners and areas just barely big enough to walk through. However if you make it to the center, you'll be rewarded with a rose ring. And not just any rose ring. This thing is special! It will allow a user to call upon rose thorn vines that will attack an enemy at will. It is restricted to three times a day on the Skyway, but it will come in very handy, especially for those with no real defensive or offensive capabilities. (That said, if your character manages to get this item and doesn't need it for whatever reason, please be kind and give it to some one who can.)

As day winds in to night, another torch appears, this time with roses. Roses going wild on this lamp. It makes it a little difficult to light, though. And oddly enough, near the gear symbol on this lamp... the roses seem to be withered. Huh.

Dinner gives way in to a sort of "desert" for the evening, a huge selection of cookies in various flavors on tables all over the place, along with tubs of rose petal ice cream that don't seem to melt no matter how long they stay out.

But those cookies are not just any cookies - they are hollow ones. They're backed with a thin indented line down the center of them, and snapping them at this point will reveal that there is paper tucked inside. It will give advice to your character that is shockingly accurate to this person, some how. Regardless of who gets it, the advice will be pertinent to them and really only them. From there you'll be encouraged to take a second piece of paper, write your fears, weaknesses or secrets that you don't wish to tell anyone yet wish to get off your chest and then drop them in a strange mirror-decorated box sitting near the monument. If you do so, you'll find yourself oddly sleeping easier tonight...

This night closes out the same as the previous ones, with stories for the children as the adults relax in to the wee hours of the morning.

Comments

Re: Rose Labyrinth

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn is on a thoroughly enjoyable leisurely stroll through the maze made up of her name. Able to sense the next couple turnings without any conscious effort, she can at least avoid any immediate dead ends. The plant mage has had to be a little stern with the bushes herself, as they try to lean in toward her. As she once told Briar, rose vines must really like him to leave a scar so deep.

In fact, if anyone wants to find her talking to the roses, there is ample opportunity. "I don't have spare sets of robes here, and I'll thank you to keep your thorns out of this one. You're very excitable for roses so large, but I suppose that's what happens when you spring up overnight. How did you grow that way? You don't seem weakened by it."

A wave of calming green magic follows her words, soothing the plants back into their proper neat lines, but they can't explain quite how they grew. It comes as no surprise. Plants see the world very differently.

[blackblooded]

Crona's scratched up, black blood scabbing quickly along each tear in the skin. But thorns aren't enough to keep Crona from moving forward. The burst of green magic makes Crona freeze, and then cautiously move backward through the maze, looking for the source.

[earthandpine]

The roses tell Rosethorn someone's coming before she actually rounds the corner and catches sight Crona. The blood gets a frown, even before she's close enough to tell what color it is. "The thorns got you?" She beckons Crona toward her. "Let me see."

Rosethorn left most of her medicines at home, but the small belt pouch at her hip at least has anything necessary for a few small cuts. Not that Crona really needs it, as Rosethorn will notice when she sees how quickly things are healing.

[blackblooded]

A step back, a little bit concerned. "I... it's fine. I don't need help with scratches."

Then another step forward. Crona's curious.

[earthandpine]

"Are you sure? I make medicines, and I have a couple of the most basic ones here." She taps the pouch at her side.

Rosethorn will be nice to Crona. Between the scratches and the fact that usually she has to say something intimidating before people react this way to her, Rosethorn suppose the occasion warrants it. She hasn't threatened to hang Crona by the ankles in a well or anything of the sort, so the hesitation comes as a surprise.

[blackblooded]

"I-it's just scratches." Crona is cautious, awkward, steping carefully forward like the stranger might attack at any moment.

This is just how Crona is.

"Um... the plants... Do you like them?"

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn grins, biting back a laugh. "I like almost all plants. What about you? I assume you aren't too fond of these particular ones, but most don't grab at anyone who walks by."

[blackblooded]

"I..." how to explain this. "I like roses."

Crona likes thorns.

[earthandpine]

Most people like roses well enough when they're not in a maze of them that's already drawn blood, but Crona's pretty scratched up. "Do you? Even when they're sharp with you?"

[blackblooded]

"That... That's just how they are, you know? They're, um, sharp with people. They can't help it."

Congratulations, Crona, you've gotten the plant mage to like you.

[earthandpine]

She can't quite contain a chuckle at that, since it sounds more like a description of her than of the roses around them. "That's how I feel too. I can't really help liking plants, though, since I have magic that helps them grow."

"What's your name?"

ah yes good

[blackblooded]

The mention of magic gets a half step back, like Crona's worried about an attack. But then (once again), Crona steps forward.

"Um... Like Tris? She has weather magic. It doesn't hurt things."

Magic that doesn't hurt things has been an adjustment for Crona. But there was a question, wasn't there.

"I'm Crona."

[earthandpine]

"Just like Tris, except with plants rather than weather. She's my foster daughter and was one of my students. Magic can hurt people, but only if the person using it makes the decision to use their magic cruelly or irresponsibly." Or if it's necessary because someone else has made that decision. Rosethorn has ripped people apart with thorns, but she isn't about to mention that to an obviously skittish person. It's a tactic reserved for attacking armies and pirate fleets, for defending her home and any innocent people.

She grins broadly before introducing herself, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Crona. I'm Rosethorn. I'm sometimes a little sharp with people too, but I hope you'll forgive me for it like you did the hedges."

[blackblooded]

It could, Crona is entirely aware that if Tris wanted, she could hurt people badly. But it doesn't hurt people just by existing, isn't by nature destructive, and so it is far more acceptable than the magic Crona is accustomed to back home.

"I... I will. Um... I can be sharp too, sometimes."

[earthandpine]

"Most people can. Sometimes we need to be." Rosethorn turns from Crona to face the hedges, hands on her hips. A thorned branch reaches out for her, seeming more as if it wants to touch her than to tangle her up. Rosethorn glares at it, her voice as sharp as any weapons the vines boast. "None of that. You keep your thorns to yourself." Usually she talks to plants silently, but Rosethorn thinks that Crona might appreciate transparency.

It withdraws with obvious reluctance, much more slowly than its initial approach, and Rosethorn carefully rests a hand on it in between the thorns. Her voice is soothing, as if talking to a small child or a pet. "That's much better. I don't want you tearing up anyone else walking your paths. Thorns to yourself applies to everyone, not just me." Who knows if the roses will listen to her. They are tied to a god's power, and Rosethorn would hardly claim that her own gift is on the same level. She can impose discipline on an ordinary garden easily enough. This is something different.

[wayofvoice]

It isn't unusual for there to be many places that Paarthurnax cannot go. It's rarely ever been an actual problem for him. Part of that is admittedly because he's simply never had cause to go elsewhere besides the Throat of the World when Skyrim still thrived. Bastion has been much the same, really. The creatures have mostly hunted in the open, and thus could be hunted themselves. Even when there was the journey to the Mancer Observatory, there were ways to work around his size.

The maze isn't large enough for him, either, but he can still see people traversing it and has already figured out the path there. Typically, he hasn't seen any reason to give hints to the others. That would ruin the point, wouldn't it? When he sees Rosethorn from his place up in the sky where he's circling, he brings himself lower until he can hover just over the spot where she is. He doesn't land- he doubts even large thorns like this could hold his size.

"Drem yol lok. It seems such a maze holds no difficulty for you."

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn notices his approach, but she's still surprised when Paarthurnax stops to address her rather than just inspecting the maze. She shades her eyes with a hand, reminded that she needs to make herself a hat, and calls up to him, "I have plant magic. I can sense the next couple turnings and talk the thorns out of grabbing at me. It helps to avoid dead ends, even if I don't know the full path of the maze yet."

Then she adds with a wry smile, "My name is Rosethorn for a reason."

[wayofvoice]

Paarthurnax's responding chuckle is noticeable by default simply because of his size, but it's deep and low as well. "Then I see it is not only my kind who is named for such reasons. Still it is an interesting magic. The mages of Tamriel did not know of such a thing. That was the realm of the Divine, and Spriggans."

[earthandpine]

"Really? Does Paarthurnax have a meaning in your language?" Because some names don't have much of a meaning, but some are very significant. When Rosethorn and Colin discussed languages, they actually touched on the way Paarthurnax managed to speak certain words that sounded different even though they were clearly a tongue he considered his own. She has a feeling that words are very significant to the dragon.

"Ambient mages, mages who take their power from a certain aspect of the natural world, are rarer than academic mages, who use inherent power and more prescribed spells. I'm dedicated to Earth gods, but that choice was more a result of my magic than its source. We take new names at the temple. I was Niva before that."

[wayofvoice]

"All names of my kind have meaning. Each portion a word in its own right, and together they craft our name. A name is tied into a dovah's very being. To say it is to call us, no matter how quietly one's voice is. That is why we view mortal beings so strangely, to be able of changing their names with such ease. For new purpose, to try and abandon your history, for great deeds that have been done... That is not something our nature can allow. I was created Paarthurnax, and it suited me well when I was young. Much has changed since then, yet I am still Paarthurnax and always shall be."

A bit of a long explanation for a simple inquiry into the meaning of his name. Still, he finds it important to explain such things. Rosethorn is right in her own guesses, after all. For all their claws and fangs and scales stronger than most armor mortals could craft... It is words that are the most important to dov. He finally explains, voice slow and accepting. "Paar means ambition. Thur is overlord. Nax is cruelty."

As he said. It suited him much more when he was still young and so was the world.

The explanation of magic for her world is fascinating, sounding similar yet different to what both dov and mortals use. "Intriguing. I take it that not all can use magic in your world?"

[earthandpine]

"I still call myself Niva in my head most of the time. My full name was Nivalin Greenhow, so growing things were always implied in it. I don't see anything wrong with choosing a name that fits rather than a name given before we had the chance to grow into ourselves, though. Briar doesn't remember the name he was born, and the name he was given after that was a terrible fit. Briar, his own choice, is much better." Rosethorn is glad her boy had the opportunity to pick a new name rather than always staying Roach, the Thief Lord's chosen name for him.

Rosethorn's eyebrows raise at that definition. Given her interactions with Paarthurnax and everything she's heard from others in the Bastion, it is the last meaning she'd have expected. She declines to comment on that, just vocalizing her previous thoughts. "The name stays even if you've changed so much? For you, words are more solid and permanent than what can be seen and touched."

Shaking her head, Rosethorn confirms the assumption. "No. Academic mages are fairly common, and some ambient mages can use academic magic as well, but many people lack the potential for either."

[wayofvoice]

"How curious... Crona spoke of the differences in his world as well. Magic touches only a select race, and with it a need for destruction. That is what he told me." Paarthurnax doesn't doubt his student. Still, Skyrim also once viewed its magic users in great distrust despite praising it so many years ago. Things change. Those in power cannot always be trusted to give the full truth. He's learned that.

"Magic had the potential to flow through all in Taazokaan, some taking to it better than others but with nothing stopping an aspiring mage except for their own interest and determination." Something occurs to him and his head shifts to the side slightly in thought. "Even for those who find it a more difficult road... They can still be well versed in other things. To understand the magicka in other things and blend them well together can make potions capable of many things. Scholars, as well, may know more than a careless mage of Destruction."

[earthandpine]

Rosethorn shudders slightly at the description of magic in Crona's world. "The only magic we have that inherently requires destruction is unmagic. The opposite of magic, it eats away at power and at anyone it touches. Unmagic is very rare, and I've never encountered any myself. The rest of the time, it's people's selfishness and greed to blame for any destruction." She's seen more than her fill of that. Unlike unmagic, it's terribly common.

"I do agree with you about the importance of really understanding the way magic and the natural world work. I drilled it into my students enough times. I could have all the power in the world and I'd still be a terrible plant mage if I didn't understand both my own power and how plants grow, what weakens them and what makes them thrive." She doesn't have all the power in the world, of course, but Rosethorn does tend to downplay her own strength. She is a great mage, known for her power and her research, and a member of two governing councils of mages. She's also by far the happiest when in her own small garden.

[wayofvoice]

Unmagic... That is an unfamiliar idea. For a moment he ponders if it would have any role in their current predicament. If nothing else, it is worth mentioning to Colin some day. The man seems more at ease with technology, but he also doesn't seem afraid to dabble in other areas.

It's good to hear of another who knows the importance of simple understanding. He nods wisely. "That is the manner in which the Thu'um thrives. If one has not taken in the very idea to their deepest soul, then they cannot ever utilize that word as a Shout. They must know every part of it, from the physical to the conceptual and further."

[earthandpine]

"It also allows for a much more creative use of power. Because I understand my own magic and the plants I work with rather than learning by rote, I've done things that some people would consider impossible. My foster children have done even more." Rosethorn is alive because of one of those. Briar followed her into the life after death when she left him, horrified though she was by the thought that she nearly took her boy with her.

Rosethorn smiles. "There are some things that really are laws of magic and the natural world, but there are a few that people just think, 'That's not how magic works' and never attempt."