It's a long boat trip, with not much to do. And though Suula promised to tell a story, it takes some days until she seems recovered from the Underdark enough to tell anything. Still, it's a long, humid day, something about Nihmri's words strikes a chord... and she starts speaking.
"It probably is. i've seen a city pretty much ruled by Faith... grew up in one. Arabellans all love the Smiling Lady. Biggest temple in the city. Worked with all the merchant guilds that rule the place. Auguries, blessings, every caravan trip and every new deal got one if it wanted to be lucky. So much gold coming in, coming out. Hey Slade, you'd love it. You really would."
She falls silent, and perhaps that would be it. But something, a bump in the waves, an especially pregnant silence, a need to make her point more clearly... who knows? Whatever it is, she keeps speaking.
"I was supposed to be like her," Suula admitted, indicating her sister. "Following Father's footsteps in the priesthood. You were gold, to them. I never had the same shine, did I? Can't tell you why. Maybe you all have an idea." She snorts at the group. "Whatever. The coin would flip and it would come down with her head up every time. I learned to keep my head down after a while, and be quiet. People didn't like to hear me talk."
"Maybe I never really bought it. Maybe I just saw a bit too much behind the curtain. The hard looks some of those merchants gave one another, in private. The... the desperate way some would tip money into the donation collections after sermons. I said the same prayers, attended the same ceremonies, but it just all seemed so empty. We were a business, sis, selling hope. I know you don't see it that way, but that's what it looked like to me."
She snorts, shaking her head.
"This old man, with this... stupid white wig, I remember he smelled - he took my wrist and he pulled me to the other side of the room and when I saw what was there I was so shocked I stopped fighting, because it was an altar to the Maiden of Misfortune. A pretty simple one, but that's what it was. Two big black antlers above a wooden table, with a book, a bowl and a candle on it."
"I pulled away from him then, and maybe I should have run? But, I didn't... I called him out, denounced him, I did, this... silly teenager with her empty faith doing Tymora's work, casting out the unbeliever. And the old bastard just smiles, and says he can hear it's just words from me, and he's got nothing to be afraid of. And damn, I think. He's right. But I don't let it go. I demand to know where he gets off, worshipping a 'wrong god' like the Maid in a happy city like Arabel."
"He said things, things I think... I'd always known. Faith is... used, by millions of people to... well, to give away the important parts of their lives. Everyone looks for the favour of the Gods but it's the determined, those who live without faith, or at least alongside it, who rise to the top. So many trust to luck but they shouldn't trust to anything. They should plan, they should prepare, they should do all they can to live, but they should know that it can all be swept away in a moment."
Suula speaks these words, intones them, with a solemn respect. "All there is, is misfortune - and having the strength to live on through it."
She considers this, before shaking her head. "I was still a good girl back then. Sort of." She manages a flicker of a smile, before it fades. "I told him he was wrong, that the Gods see all, that Tymora watches over us. Mother and Father would have been proud. So he told me, if I believed in faith and luck so much, I should test it. He gave me a dare - to steal from one of the collections, and to see what happens. And then he opened a door, and ushered me out, and that was that."
She pauses a little, as if unsure how to tell the rest... or unwilling to do so. She avoids the eyes of those around her - especially Amathain, Pius and Toric. But she seems to have made a decision, and she determinedly rides it out.
"It took a few days. Oh, those days. Screwing up my courage. I thought Tymora herself would splash down into the Temple and denounce me, burn me with holy fire - or at the least, that someone would see me, and shout. It would hurt our parents to hear of it - at least, it'd be a scandal. I was so..." she waves a hand, trying to find words. "Twisted up. But one day, as a sermon ended and we passed around the collection... at the end of a pew, the last man I passed just suddenly started coughing. And I thought, this is it. And I stepped away from him as if in surprise, and while everyone was looking at him, I palmed a few coins away."
She stares off, some of the energy in her face that had built up with telling the story now draining away. She sighs, and looks at her sister. "And nothing happened, nothing. Nothing... and that's how it started."
She casts her eyes downward, though there's something hard in them now. "The old man was gone when I went back. But his book was still there, and his bowl. I took them. Seemed only fair. It all made sense then. There's no 'evil', and those who think to follow it are fools. It's just bad things happening to people - sometimes, 'good' people. There's no backbone to this 'great struggle'. Even the Gods are caught in the same trap. Everyone's just trying to stay afloat. Good 'luck' for you is so often bad 'luck' for someone else. All there is, is misfortune."
Somewhere, a storm is heard across the sky, and the boat bucks a little upon the river as rain begins to fall.
Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
Moderator:Lazybones
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
*Amathain sits and listens quietly before making any remark*
"An interesting tale. I must ask you though, does this path you have chosen make you content then? more happy, fulfilled or complete? To me it does not seem so, your nature is at odds with that of your patron. While you might occasionally flout law and order whether because of convenience or plain rebelliousness, you lack the true cruelty and malice of one dedicated to a goddess like the maid of misrule."
"It's not for me to tell you whom or whom not to worship, but it does seem like you were born into a city where you didn't fit and by default, and with a little misguidance ,you choose the polar opposite of the status quo. There are more than two deities that one might follow. You might find one that makes you happy rather than bitter."
"An interesting tale. I must ask you though, does this path you have chosen make you content then? more happy, fulfilled or complete? To me it does not seem so, your nature is at odds with that of your patron. While you might occasionally flout law and order whether because of convenience or plain rebelliousness, you lack the true cruelty and malice of one dedicated to a goddess like the maid of misrule."
"It's not for me to tell you whom or whom not to worship, but it does seem like you were born into a city where you didn't fit and by default, and with a little misguidance ,you choose the polar opposite of the status quo. There are more than two deities that one might follow. You might find one that makes you happy rather than bitter."
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
Shanni says nothing at all while her sister is speaking. Nothing to interupt, nothing to deter, simply fiddles with the charm around her neck and looks increasingly saddened. She shakes he head slightly at both the accusations of favour and the self critical elements of her sister's story, but lets it play out to the end. Even allowing Amathain his response. When it was done she look up and meets her sister's eyes once more.
"You know my opinion and it hasn't changed, you were fooled into this. Stolen by her advocate, an intervention to score a point." She sighed deeply. "Mom said it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last, but because we are ... part of a whole it just made it easier and probably more important. But I still don't know why you have never been able to see that what you experienced is no different to how I think."
"It's never been what you were seeing," the young cleric continued, "it's always been the direction you were looking from. I never did anything special, I just aimed for what I wanted and meant it. Tried my hardest to get it in my own way. If I failed then," she shrugged, "it was because I really didn't try hard enough. Want whatever it was hard enough. The Lady doesn't smile if you don't try. Mom and dad never thought more of me, you just thought you did and they knew it. That's why they told me to look out for you, even though you won't accept it. Not because they didn't love you, but because they did. Because they thought they needed to protect you more."
"Even the stealing from the collection plate," Shanni looks directly at her sister. "You wanted that to work, wanted to be right, wanted to prove the point. You took a big risk to get it and you succeeded. That's my Lady's work not the one you think it to be." Her voice becomes more earnest, perhaps pleading. "It's her work, she has something in mind for you yet." Her voice became resigned and she shook her head.
"Not that it matters if you can't see it," she shrugs a little again in resignation, "it's only going to change when you can accept that yourself."
"You know my opinion and it hasn't changed, you were fooled into this. Stolen by her advocate, an intervention to score a point." She sighed deeply. "Mom said it wasn't the first time and it won't be the last, but because we are ... part of a whole it just made it easier and probably more important. But I still don't know why you have never been able to see that what you experienced is no different to how I think."
"It's never been what you were seeing," the young cleric continued, "it's always been the direction you were looking from. I never did anything special, I just aimed for what I wanted and meant it. Tried my hardest to get it in my own way. If I failed then," she shrugged, "it was because I really didn't try hard enough. Want whatever it was hard enough. The Lady doesn't smile if you don't try. Mom and dad never thought more of me, you just thought you did and they knew it. That's why they told me to look out for you, even though you won't accept it. Not because they didn't love you, but because they did. Because they thought they needed to protect you more."
"Even the stealing from the collection plate," Shanni looks directly at her sister. "You wanted that to work, wanted to be right, wanted to prove the point. You took a big risk to get it and you succeeded. That's my Lady's work not the one you think it to be." Her voice becomes more earnest, perhaps pleading. "It's her work, she has something in mind for you yet." Her voice became resigned and she shook her head.
"Not that it matters if you can't see it," she shrugs a little again in resignation, "it's only going to change when you can accept that yourself."
Last edited by Vanya Mia on Fri Aug 19, 2016 3:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
Suula rolls her eyes, looking at the roof of the cabin as she crosses her arms. "And there's my sister, deciding this is her mission, to bring her silly sibling back to the fold... return what was stolen... all I did was listen."
She looks down again, though she avoids Ama's eye. "That was how it started. But there's a few years between me falling into that old room where the old man lived, and now. Maybe another day." She wraps her arms around herself, and that seems that.
She looks down again, though she avoids Ama's eye. "That was how it started. But there's a few years between me falling into that old room where the old man lived, and now. Maybe another day." She wraps her arms around herself, and that seems that.
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
+1950xp for full-party IC posting this week. Nice posts all around.
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
"She didn't ask for your help, now, did she?" Nihmri's eyes were locked on the horizon, her expression thoroughly concealed. She'd fallen uncharacteristically silent when Suula began to tell her tale, but now there was something of an edge to her voice. "When someone chooses to tell you their tale, they are not necessarily inviting you to write the next chapter. Sometimes, they're just asking you to shut up and listen."
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
"If the only people we help are the ones able, or who know they need, to ask for it then it's a poor place to be," Shanni responded. "We're supposed to be the agents of our patrons, and they don't usually send a list of instructions. Making our own minds up based on their teachings is what it's all about. I firmly believe that my Lady has purpose for both of us in this and plan to see what that might be."
"And speaking of patrons yours really needs to tell you to fill yourself in on the nature of families," she continued with a roll of her eyes. "We're sisters, twins, and as I said two parts of a whole from before we were born. In my first memory I was holding her hand. Neither is writing the chapter for the next, but by virtue of that through absence or presence we remain a part of it. And if that means being reflections in more ways than one then that's how it will be. That's just the way it is."
"And speaking of patrons yours really needs to tell you to fill yourself in on the nature of families," she continued with a roll of her eyes. "We're sisters, twins, and as I said two parts of a whole from before we were born. In my first memory I was holding her hand. Neither is writing the chapter for the next, but by virtue of that through absence or presence we remain a part of it. And if that means being reflections in more ways than one then that's how it will be. That's just the way it is."
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
Suula rubs her face, a little worn out by the tale. "She's just doing what she does, Nim. Doing 'what's best'. Don't worry about it."
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
((Server up, usual password but new IP 92.232.62.28:5121 ))
Re: Devotion Campaign Planning and Discussion Thread
The city was big in the eyes of Pius. Well built, with plenty of space. Merchants everywhere selling odd things and the more causal ones. The temple of Helm was facing the palace of the ruler of the city. A bard, helped the group get in after exchanging words with a guard. Inside the building looked gigantic, even bigger than the ancient dwarven halls they had visited. The high priest was there in a room with a big table and plenty of high chairs. Pius who was a man of a few words simply introduced the group as Pius, knight of Helm and friends letting the others introduce themselves...
Later that day they found themselves on the road again. As the day was coming to an end they made camp. Pius decided to scout around with his mount. He did not go far before being ambushed by "spirits", the same creatures who had attacked them in the city while they where with the high priest...
Later that day they found themselves on the road again. As the day was coming to an end they made camp. Pius decided to scout around with his mount. He did not go far before being ambushed by "spirits", the same creatures who had attacked them in the city while they where with the high priest...