Who: wanda and others When: november-december Where: solvunn, nocwich, horizon What: catch-all for both months! closed and open prompts within. Warnings: none at the moment, will mark as needed.
[ Even though small her smile warms her features. Some of the Summoned are blessed or cursed with others from their own world. He wonders if this person who makes her smile is someone from home, or someone she was drawn to here. Either way, he nods in an approving kind of way. It's good. ]
I made a friend in Thorne. [ Jack. His own smile goes wry. ] Nothing I say seems to faze him.
[ Some months ago he couldn't imagine having a friend like that.
He closes his eyes, lifting his face toward sun so that he can feel the warmth of it on his skin. In Thorne the days are getting shorter in these months, the light fading faster. ]
I worry, though. About him, and some of the others. [ Tilting his head to look at her with a slight frown. This is a thought that is unescapable, a heavy anchor back to reality. Libertas was months ago now, but the aftermath still hangs heavily. ] Not all of them are prepared for what a war will bring.
[perhaps that is a blessing amidst the mystery the sometimes frustrating stay they suffer while here; to find others who are like-minded, or who are willing to set aside preconceptions and prejudice. wanda knows things would have been a lot more different for her if she hadn't found matt.
(or if he hadn't found her?)
to know that someone won't be afraid or fazed by the things they say and do— it's incredibly nuanced and welcome.
though kyle brings up a point that she has worried about before. war hangs over them all like a pendulum, swinging ever lower onto them. when will it strike, they don't know, but beyond the when, it's definitely the concern for others that have not had experience in this kind of situation before that is the biggest point of worry.]
We can only hope it doesn't come to pass. That those who are familiar with war will be able to protect and guide those who aren't.
[blessedly—]
The majority of the Summoned are familiar with something like war, at least.
[ He nods. That's true. Jack has experienced... not war like this, but something frightening and bizarre. He has powers that will protect him to some degree, unconsciously. But then there's Wilhelm, who he's only just begun teaching self-defense, and whose magic is blocked by what Kahlil has to assume is fear and guilt.
Those like Wilhelm will need to be protected. With Solvunn's current neutrality, it's unfortunate that there's no easy way to smuggle the boy across the borders.
But then, Solvunn has its own dangers - ]
You mentioned the shrines and blood offerings. [ And disappearances. He frowns to himself. ] Have you witnessed those rituals?
[knowing wilhelm, wanda doubts he would want to be in solvunn at all. they've been lucky to have summoned who don't mind the place and how little it provides in terms of entertainment or an otherwise busy city life, but wanda is fully aware that it is not everyone else's cup of tea.
neutrality, anyway, is but a concept. while wanda knows that the council means it when they mentioned their intended neutrality, only time will really tell how the variables around it all will change.
the children are currently standing, looking upward and wondering if they could climb a tree for whatever envisioning of fun they're wrapping their heads around.]
I've participated in them myself.
[drawing the shawl closer to herself, wanda knows that not everyone takes 'oh yeah we cut a guy's arm off' as the most casual thing, so— she doesn't mention it, yet.]
There is real magic in those shrines. I'm afraid the people of Solvunn still keep to their secrets. Recent events have made them... more cautious towards us.
[ Rousma is the first to scrabble up the tree, the pointy ends of her fingers good for digging into the bark for purchase. She perches on the lower branches, calling out to the other two.
Kahlil watches them for a second, seemingly unfazed by her admission. ]
It's been the same reaction to us in Thorne. [ Strangers treat them with a little more caution than they might have before the omens swept through the land. ]
They have no use for gods or old rituals there, though. High magic is a relic. [ A pause, then: ] I don't doubt there's power within those shrines and offerings. Similar practices were more common in my world. Blood could be used for many different purposes, some sacred and some blasphemous. Bone, too. Not always from the willing.
[ He glances at Rousma again, something sad in his expression. ]
The priests and sisters kept their practices well-guarded. I don't doubt that there's more to these rituals in Solvunn than they're telling you. You're outsiders, and non-believers.
[wanda is aware that not everyone might take too kindly to the fact that she and others have participated in these kinds of rituals. it's been upsetting to the few people she's talked to about the details of it.
however—
one cannot expect something without sacrifice. that seems to be the way of things in solvunn, and perhaps wanda has found herself leaning into it quite a bit more than she initially expected, especially considering that all her life has been one sacrifice after another with nothing to show for it; the thought that something could be attained from it? it feels redeeming, in some twisted way.]
The gods have 'chosen' us, though. We are but part of their will, and no one has openly defied this notion. They don't expect us to believe, just that we do our part within the commune.
[—is she defending the place? she definitely stands somewhere in the middle.]
[ He goes quiet for a moment after her response, frowning to himself. Then: ]
I'd be interested in anything you might hear. But - and I say this from experience, be careful with the fanatical.
[ The ones like him. They might believe the gods have chosen them, but for what purpose? they have kept to themselves beyond the vaguest of explanations. It may seem silly for him to tell her of all people to use caution, she is far more powerful than most of the Summoned here. It's the unknown that worries him, though.
He leans forward a little, hands clasped between his knees. ]
What do you believe?
[ He's asked others this before. Why they believe they were chosen, whether they believe in being chosen at all. ]
[wanda appreciates his advice about being careful with the fanatical. she is pretty certain that she and those in solvunn who have been there longest can handle themselves just fine, should the tides turn. however, there really is no telling how things could pan out.
there is certainty in that concern, then.
as he turns the question towards her, wanda is somewhat at a loss. she's repeated the beliefs of others before, taking them as her own—their being more informed, and all that. she's been adamant about trying to figure out what she does believe, because of her magic being a conduit for probability manipulation, so it is hardly something she likes to simply just express.]
We are here because we are powerful, aren't we? In our own worlds. Or because we have come face to face with something that tests our mettle. It's easy to think I was chosen for my magic, much like others have.
[her magic, chaos, that which can achieve spontaneous creation and is infinite and unlimited.]
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no subject
I made a friend in Thorne. [ Jack. His own smile goes wry. ] Nothing I say seems to faze him.
[ Some months ago he couldn't imagine having a friend like that.
He closes his eyes, lifting his face toward sun so that he can feel the warmth of it on his skin. In Thorne the days are getting shorter in these months, the light fading faster. ]
I worry, though. About him, and some of the others. [ Tilting his head to look at her with a slight frown. This is a thought that is unescapable, a heavy anchor back to reality. Libertas was months ago now, but the aftermath still hangs heavily. ] Not all of them are prepared for what a war will bring.
[ Not the way she understands what it's like. ]
no subject
(or if he hadn't found her?)
to know that someone won't be afraid or fazed by the things they say and do— it's incredibly nuanced and welcome.
though kyle brings up a point that she has worried about before. war hangs over them all like a pendulum, swinging ever lower onto them. when will it strike, they don't know, but beyond the when, it's definitely the concern for others that have not had experience in this kind of situation before that is the biggest point of worry.]
We can only hope it doesn't come to pass. That those who are familiar with war will be able to protect and guide those who aren't.
[blessedly—]
The majority of the Summoned are familiar with something like war, at least.
no subject
Those like Wilhelm will need to be protected. With Solvunn's current neutrality, it's unfortunate that there's no easy way to smuggle the boy across the borders.
But then, Solvunn has its own dangers - ]
You mentioned the shrines and blood offerings. [ And disappearances. He frowns to himself. ] Have you witnessed those rituals?
no subject
neutrality, anyway, is but a concept. while wanda knows that the council means it when they mentioned their intended neutrality, only time will really tell how the variables around it all will change.
the children are currently standing, looking upward and wondering if they could climb a tree for whatever envisioning of fun they're wrapping their heads around.]
I've participated in them myself.
[drawing the shawl closer to herself, wanda knows that not everyone takes 'oh yeah we cut a guy's arm off' as the most casual thing, so— she doesn't mention it, yet.]
There is real magic in those shrines. I'm afraid the people of Solvunn still keep to their secrets. Recent events have made them... more cautious towards us.
no subject
Kahlil watches them for a second, seemingly unfazed by her admission. ]
It's been the same reaction to us in Thorne. [ Strangers treat them with a little more caution than they might have before the omens swept through the land. ]
They have no use for gods or old rituals there, though. High magic is a relic. [ A pause, then: ] I don't doubt there's power within those shrines and offerings. Similar practices were more common in my world. Blood could be used for many different purposes, some sacred and some blasphemous. Bone, too. Not always from the willing.
[ He glances at Rousma again, something sad in his expression. ]
The priests and sisters kept their practices well-guarded. I don't doubt that there's more to these rituals in Solvunn than they're telling you. You're outsiders, and non-believers.
no subject
however—
one cannot expect something without sacrifice. that seems to be the way of things in solvunn, and perhaps wanda has found herself leaning into it quite a bit more than she initially expected, especially considering that all her life has been one sacrifice after another with nothing to show for it; the thought that something could be attained from it? it feels redeeming, in some twisted way.]
The gods have 'chosen' us, though. We are but part of their will, and no one has openly defied this notion. They don't expect us to believe, just that we do our part within the commune.
[—is she defending the place? she definitely stands somewhere in the middle.]
I could ask around. See what I find.
no subject
I'd be interested in anything you might hear. But - and I say this from experience, be careful with the fanatical.
[ The ones like him. They might believe the gods have chosen them, but for what purpose? they have kept to themselves beyond the vaguest of explanations. It may seem silly for him to tell her of all people to use caution, she is far more powerful than most of the Summoned here. It's the unknown that worries him, though.
He leans forward a little, hands clasped between his knees. ]
What do you believe?
[ He's asked others this before. Why they believe they were chosen, whether they believe in being chosen at all. ]
no subject
there is certainty in that concern, then.
as he turns the question towards her, wanda is somewhat at a loss. she's repeated the beliefs of others before, taking them as her own—their being more informed, and all that. she's been adamant about trying to figure out what she does believe, because of her magic being a conduit for probability manipulation, so it is hardly something she likes to simply just express.]
We are here because we are powerful, aren't we? In our own worlds. Or because we have come face to face with something that tests our mettle. It's easy to think I was chosen for my magic, much like others have.
[her magic, chaos, that which can achieve spontaneous creation and is infinite and unlimited.]
—perhaps we are here to find purpose again.