A Vardaman Easter Egg

Log Info

• Title: A Vardaman Easter Egg
• Emitter: Ashes
• Characters: Ashes, Zofija
• Place: A15: Vardaman Temple
• Time: Thursday, April 14, 2022, 10:11 PM
• Summary: Ashes is sitting outside the Vardaman Temple, watching the lights of Alexandria and contemplating a Vulture's egg. Zofija arrives and asks if she can join and Ashes doesn't object. She inquires why Ashes has the Egg, and the Mourner explains the chick inside is dead, and it makes the egg a strangely appropriate symbol for a Vardaman version of the Spring and New Life celebrations that will start soon. This leads into a conversation about how the witch that raised Ashes wanted to use her as new vessel and failed. Zofija speaks about her sister, who died at Stonetalon, of one of the war diseases. Ashes says she's familiar with those, having helped out at DEVA station, and also that she can tell no body she touched was related to Zofija. Elyanna is mentioned as someone who might know more, having witnessed Stonetalon.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=<* A15: Vardaman Temple *>=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

The Vardamite temple is a solemn affair. Composed of carved blocks of basalt, it looks as if the whole thing were set into a scooped-out chunk of the mountain. Braziers and torches, despite the presence of more modern conveniences, are the main source of light. The basalt columns and blocks are engraved with prayers for the dead from hundreds of cultures and dozens of races. Some are works of master carvers, still others are little more than the work of desperate or sorrowful petitioners, quick prayers lovingly scratched into an empty space.

An outdoor altar is littered with offerings, as are the steps and even ground surrounding the front of the temple. These offerings are frequently collected or cleaned away by serious-faced Mourners, or Mourner-acolytes, while Serriel's Lancers guard the front doors. As ever, the sound of monks in perpetual chant can be heard as a low background noise as they go about their somber business.

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Ashes        5'11"    177 Lb     Hobgoblin         Female    A somber arvec in grey clothes with a skull face.
Zofija       5'8"     225 Lb     Hobgoblin         Female    A well-dressed Arvek-Nar with a big hammer.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

Ashes is sitting outside the temple. Near enough that petitioners and those in need can find her and approach, far enough from the altar and the black basalt it is clear she's not actively on duty, and perhaps not the primary priestess at the moment.

She sits in the shade. Her parasol jammed into a small fissure and angling out over her. A breeze blows from the west, and while it is overcast and the stars are hidden, there is a good view down the mountain. The lights of the city mark the streets, making it seem a glittering jewel.

In her hand, she holds an egg, rolling it about her palm. Chippen is curled around her throat, and Dunny seems asleep on her shoulder.

The day is on its way out, but there is still work to be done, or at least, returned from. For business in the nobility district, the mountain road made a good return path. One which another Arvek-nar was making use of. much more pale than before, though not as much as before, marching steadily on down the path. Stopping near the many steps, she decides to ascend to where the Vardaman temple was, an exercise which left her more than a bit out of breath.

She turns to see Ashes sitting nearby, which makes her stop and collect her breath quickly, before she walks over. "Good evening Ashlee, good to see you. Figured I'd stop by to see if you were around, glad I did." The cavalier greets. "Ah, if it's a good time to see you now, that is. Don't want to bother your familiar's sleeping, or anything you're doing."

"Vespers is over." The ashen Arvec says, with a glance towards the temple. Her words maintain their even pace and lack of inflection, "Some mourners come at night, but not many."

Her hands cup around the egg she's holding, she looks up at the other hobgoblin, turns to glance down the mountain, then back. The breeze ruffles her hair, a little, the strands are thick and tend to bunch. They aren't dreadlocks or braided, but have a similar heaviness. "I'm not doing anything."

"Where's Screech?"

"Ah, right, they ended around this time." Zofi nods, following the glance, before returning to regard the cleric with a step off to the side. "A break and time to relax is always a good thing, yeah? Do you mind if I don't do anything here with you? If you don't mind the company, that is." She asks, before pausing to process the question. The cavalier sighs, and a small frown comes to her face. "Resting up, healing. They'll be alright, but they took a nasty arrow to their neck in some training. Sorry, I wanted to take you out flying, but they probably won't have their strength back to carry two people for a bit."

Ashlee nods. Chippen uncoils enough to raise his head and look at Zofija, then returns to pretending to be jewelry. He's a great pretender. He's walked a lot of miles around her neck. She offers, "I can do something for him."

She looks upwards at the starless sky, "I can fly with a spell. A gryphon would be a nice change." She looks at the bench, nods again, "You can if you want."

Zofija offers a small wave to the centipede before it goes back to wrapping around Ashlee's neck. The cavalier nods, and she stretches, which makes Zofi wince slightly, before she sits down next to the mourner. "Course I want to, it's nice getting to know you, Ash." She grunts. "Yeah, well,Screech isn't much of a flier yet, their adult flight feathers haven't fledged in just yet, it'd be more of a controlled descent really. Still, it's a lot of fun, different from magic. Hard to describe really, but it's a nice feeling."

"I appreciate the offer, there was a paladin who healed up the worst of it, but Screech needs rest, too, and a fair bit of it. Still, if you think you could help, I wouldn't turn it down, be a fool to."

Zofi glances to the mourner's hands, and one brow raises. "So, figured I'd ask after I knew if you'd let me sit here with you. What are you doing with the egg? I'm curious, is all."

"I'm thinking about it." Ashlee opens her hands, revealing an egg that is roughly chicken sized. Her lips move a little, making the teeth of her skull marking shift strangely. She doesn't say anything immediately.

"It's from one of the Temple's Birds' nests, up there." She gestures along the mountain path, at an area with some scrub. "Tomorrow is the start of the spring new life celebration. The egg is one of the symbols."

She looks down at her palms, "This one is dead. The mother abandoned the nest. It's appropriate." As a Vardaman symbol, life and death at the same time in the balance.

"It's like me." Her gaze drifts off towards the lights of Alexandria, and she stares.

"New life celebration? Those are always nice. Wouldn't mind going to see to them with you, when you aren't taking part running them." Zofi sighs. Though she turns to listen and her gaze turns down. "Poor little thing, didn't get a chance. Hope it'll get a good shot again." She says quietly, closing her eyes just a moment. Only to open them after a moment, so she could turn and look to Ashes again. "Like you? How so?" She asks. "You being a vardaman cleric, or something else?"

"I was stillborn." Ashlee says, without any change in her voice. "Nan Mochtrath wanted a dead baby to use as a new body. I came back to life unexpectedly."

She shifts the egg from one palm to the other, "This one won't."

Her head shakes slightly, "Mourners don't officially take part in the New Life celebrations. We make people uncomfortable."

"You were, ah... shit, Ash. That's pretty awful, but, I'm glad that you're here. Nice to get to know you, you know? And you do a lot of good around the temple." Zofi offers with a smile that quickly falters as something crosses her mind. "Nan Mochtrath? That was your- the person who raised you, right? I don't even know what to make of that." She states quickly, a growl growing in her voice. "To try to take advantage of someone they raised like that, it goes against every thought of decency in my mind. I'm glad your safe, though. I can't imagine what it would be like to learn and go through that, I'm just, sorry, Ash."

"It's ok." The ashen Arvec says, "She did and she died. She tried the ritual later and my ghost friends told me how to break it."

She stares at the egg. "I went from town to town. They thought I was crazy. The temple found me. I joined the military, then I left."

Through out it all her voice remains void of emotion, "Ghosts are everywhere, and they're usually very sad. I can help them."

"So they aren't around to bother you again. That's good." Zofija sighs. The cavalier stops, and looks to the mourner, raising her hand slowly to place on one of Ashes' shoulders. "I don't know about ghosts, but if they helped you to stop that, then that's good in my book."

Zofija pulled out a pouch from her bag, familiar, filled with dried insects and dried fruits that she sets on her leg. "You aren't crazy though. That's kind of you, though. If you can help them, it sounds like it's worth your time. What keeps them here? And not in the gray halls, I mean."

"They're stuck." Ashlee says, raising her head and cupping her hands over the egg again. The dead chick unable to ever free itself. "Strong emotions keep them. Their will becomes dark.

"Sometimes they don't know." Her head turns towards Alexandria again, "A lot of people died a couple years ago so quickly they they haunted their houses. One in the Jade Isles turned into an ice spirit, mourning her husband. He was killed by his brother."

Her clothes ruffle without her moving, and she squirms a little. A white lizard emerges from her wrist when the bag of bugs is brought out.

"So they can't move on, or don't want to. That's hard, I can imagine emotions taking over one's thoughts if left unchecked. Especially harsh ones, like revenge and frustration. I'm glad you can help them though, Ash. Though, I can't say I know what goes into making a ghost happy, or helping them move on."

"I just, I pray that my sister isn't stuck here." She adds at mention of the mass deaths recently. "And that those from then can find peace. That, and so those in the city can rest without concern. I'll be honest, I didn't think much about what was after before. Just a vague hope that it would be alright."

The somber mood is broken by a quiet chuckle as she sees the familiar lizard. She pulls open the bag, and pulls out a large cricket and slice of dried strawberry, which she holds out to the lizard, just barely in reach, only to pull away slightly. "Good to see you, Carbuncle. Hope you're keeping well too, and keeping Ash company."

"Listening." Ashlee says, "and Vardama's rituals."

Her head turns and she stares at Zofija. Carbuncle, doesn't make any reply. He does grab the cricket, crunching into it, and holding it in his mouth. He moves to Ash's leg, and starts to break it down to eat it.

"The Grey Halls, judgement, moving on to reward. Some get stuck there too." She keeps staring, her eyes deep in the dark sockets of her skull face. "I let ghosts possess me. I can deliver messages for them."

"Listening, makes sense. They've still got business, they need it to be known, that makes sense." The arvek-nar cavalier grunts. The stare of the mourner is met with a smile from Zofija. "And you can help them. Possession sounds, not sure really, but if it's safe for you, and can help them, then that's good. Sounds like you've got quite the gift, Ash, I just happen to be somewhat stronger than most. " She chuckles. "Something the matter?"

>Crrrnch< Carbuncle finishes the cricket and takes the piece of fruit.

Ashlee shakes her head, "No. Nothing is the matter." She shrugs a little, "Possession hurts, but it's fine."

"What happened to your sister?"

"That's good, I thought I might have something in my teeth." Zofi snorts. "Just was wondering why you were staring at me is all, not that I mind. Still trying to understand you better."

"If you're okay with it, I understand. Just don't push yourself too hard with any possessions like that, if you can help it Ash. I wouldn't want to see you getting hurt."

The cavalier grows quiet again, filling the science with pulling out another cricket to set down in front of the lizard. "She passed, less than a year ago. I, I don't know for certain, wish I did. Officially it was fighting with Bludgun troops in Stonetalon, but apparently, the rumors are that someone fabricated an infectious organism which indiscriminately targeted everyone in the area."

"And it was someone who was from Blar, if you can believe it. Just, completely betrayed by the idiots in charge." She continues, growing a touch angry with a low growl to her voice, and ears folding low.

The Mourner nods slowly. "There were two. One that made people cowards, another that made them fall asleep. Some were brought to Alexandria. I collected the bodies from the quarantine camp at the way-station."

"Elyanna went there." Her head lowers, "She doesn't want to talk about it still."

"Bludgun and Blar." Her voice, as always, remains flat, no emotion, no hurry.

"Whichever it was, neither is good." Zofi sighs. "And a bad way to go. I don't think she came to Alexandria, and if she did, well, she was one of the bodies you needed to take away from the camp. I just got a letter in the mail telling me what happened."

"I won't press her to talk if I see her, but it would be good to know more. Let her know someone related to it might want to talk to her about it, if she's willing. As for Bludgun and Blar? I'm not sure anymore. I thought we were on the right side of things, but seeing our own indiscriminately killing people like that, and risking killing so many more by the disease, I'm not sure anymore."

"Okay." Ashlee says, reaching out to touch Zofija. The contact is unsettling, an odd numbness to it. The Mourner holds her hand there for a moment, then withdraws it. "You aren't related to anyone I handled from the camp."

She sits there, unmoving. "I need to go inside." She stands, picking up her lizard and pulling her parasol from the wall.

Her owl wakes up, "WhooOoOoooOooo?"

"It's Zofija." She pats the owlette on his head and walks off. She's several steps away before she remembers some of her pamphlet's advice. She turns and stares back at Zofija, "Bye. See you later."

Zofija blinks as the hand touches her, and she realizes how long she had left her arm on Ashes' shoulder, which is quickly retracted to sit awkwardly in her lap. The cavalier nods at the statement. "Hm? Oh, right, still business at the temple here, of course. Sorry for keeping you, Ash."

Zofija closes up the bag she had, and puts it away. "Yeah, Zofija." She agrees, unfazed by the cleric already walking off. "Good to see you Ashlee, and hope to see you later too. Thanks for letting me not do anything with you, it was nice."

The Mourner nods, and resumes, vanishing into the Temple. Down the mountain, it's late and lights are going out, making the city match the sky.