Audience - Euphausia

[holyspirits]

Comments

[trifocal]

Oh.

[ facing her quickly: ] I think your hair is very lovely and your knowledge of concepts unfamiliar to me is vast and impressive.

[ just. getting that out there before this memshare starts.

You see villagers gathered before their chief, clamouring for action. There are intruders on the island, they say. Sanctists, come to steal the divine relics. They must be put to death. The chief tries to calm them, explaining that the outsiders have done no harm, but they will not be placated. This is but the latest in a series of disasters.

They are right. It is time to perform the ritual.

( ... also, if you notice little floating particles in the air? You can 100% see them. They are everywhere. ) ]

[hotfixer]

[ just as quickly even though she doesn't have to follow the rule: ] Your hair is so nice too, and I'd love to learn more about your world since that's what's unfamiliar to me.

[ and then she gets exactly that in the form of this memory. hey! she recognizes this scenario! neat... except. except last time it was just 'meet face to face' with the deity. not be sacrificed? hewwo? ]

What does sacrifice mean, in this context?

[ maybe it's a. a metaphor. perhaps. ]

[trifocal]

[ a metaphor? in this canon? never. ]

... It is as it sounds.

To offer one's life to the Dragon God in a ritual of appeasement, that its wrath be stayed and the island be saved.

[hotfixer]

Why didn't you mention that before?

[ she doesn't sound offended but more like she has hurt feelings which is insane because they've spoken like five times. ]

[trifocal]

I... am aware of how outsiders view the ritual. They see it as barbaric, as indicative of a people who do not value life. It's not true, of course, but most mustari choose not to disclose many of the details of our faith with other tribes.

[hotfixer]

[ you know what that's fair she can't say she doesn't kind of think that. but she is thinking more on an individual level, so: ]

I think people would just be more upset that someone they care for is being sacrificed. Sometimes these kinds of things are necessary. [ so is it barbaric or not. don't worry about it. ]

But they're sad.

[trifocal]

[ ah... ]

... I think that my brother must have felt that way.

For what it is worth... I did not complete the ritual as planned.

[hotfixer]

[ she's like 'well kind of good but also you're dead anyway' ]

What went wrong?

[trifocal]

When I arrived at the altar, there was something else there. A creature I did not recognize as my god.

... A human.

[hotfixer]

Why were they there? Were they always there? What about the dragon?

[trifocal]

It latched itself onto the dragon, like a parasite...

I think that it must have been there for as long as the rite of sacrifice was practiced. For centuries.

[hotfixer]

What is the consequence of that? Does it harm the dragon? Is that why your island was in such a state of upheaval?

[ the longer she thinks about it the more she's like. actually i can't discredit that magic and human sacrifices are real and work in other worlds. who even knows.

also she's too rude to stop blurting out every question she has i'm sorry. ]

[trifocal]

It did seem to leave the Dragon God in a frenzied, violent state... but I believe the calamities were because of the human itself. Because it was a source of corrupted magla that spread to the land, bringing disease and desolation with it.

[hotfixer]

Were you able to fix the problem?

[ kill? the human? ]

[trifocal]

Yes. We were able to slay the human and free our god, so that it could at last return to its sacred vessel.

[hotfixer]

And then you don't need to be sacrificed?

[trifocal]

[ a nod. ]

Nor shall anyone else. I believe we have been mistaken about the truth of our traditions. The priestess is to give her life in service, not sacrifice.

[hotfixer]

That's a really unfortunate mistake to have made.

[ too lightly... ]

But I'm glad it got cleared up.

[trifocal]

... As am I. I was able to find a greater purpose, instead.

And... I am glad that I was able to return to my brother.

[hotfixer]

What did you do with the rest of your life?

[ your greater purpose. ]

[trifocal]

Once the village was saved, I decided to set forth to travel the lands beyond the island.

If I am to protect the island, ignorance will only be a burden. So I wish to learn more about the world and its people, so that I can use that knowledge to help build a better future for the mustari.

Although... those plans were cut short mere days after I made landfall.

[hotfixer]

Is that when you died?

[trifocal]

... Yes.

I met an unfathomably cruel man, and though I usually would not consider such a thing, I resolved to kill him. But I was inexperienced, and I was bested.

[hotfixer]

Do you plan to go back and try again?

[trifocal]

I must.