Soulless Forest Altar
11-02-2022, 05:15 AM
Aoife was surprised to return to the lands here to find patches of autumn everywhere. She'd been travelling for a bit, learning new songs and building instruments and had picked up a few things for her family members in trade. One thing she had kept for herself, a couple sets of silver bangles that she wore now on her forelegs that chimed with a soft tone as she walked, like even while she traveled she was making music. She loved them. She was keeping her eyes open for some bells to add to her gear to add to the effect, but she wanted something that would compliment the quiet bangles rather than overwhelm them, so she hadn't found anything just yet.
What she had found was a forbidding looking three headed statue, with many wolves making offerings to it. Aoife, who wasn't particularly religious, had nonetheless been raised with both her parents' beliefs, and the statue gave her pause. It raised some faint resonance within her father's belief system, his belief in the interconnectedness of all things. How they were all one, despite being separate, like the three wolves in one represented by the statue. How death also gave life, how everything was a cycle like the one shown on the statue's faces. She found herself not able to simply walk past. Instead, while her companions waited for her, she rummaged in her packs to find something suitable for offering. She brought out the lap harp she'd made, and nodded. Music allowed one to live past death, in a way, and brought everyone together. She thought it would be a good offering. But... it didn't seem quite personal enough. Not enough of a sacrifice. She made these all the time, after all.
After a moment of agonized consideration, she sighed and took a string of rawhide from the pack, and removed a bangle from each foreleg. She strung them onto the rawhide strap, then with her agile paws she tied it to the harp so that they swung and sang together as they rattled. She hated to give up something so important to her, but it was, she felt, important. The sets she had left chimed together with the ones she was giving up as she carried the instrument and bangles up to the altar and set them down. She gave the familiars a faintly uncertain grin, before she backed away and set out again.
What she had found was a forbidding looking three headed statue, with many wolves making offerings to it. Aoife, who wasn't particularly religious, had nonetheless been raised with both her parents' beliefs, and the statue gave her pause. It raised some faint resonance within her father's belief system, his belief in the interconnectedness of all things. How they were all one, despite being separate, like the three wolves in one represented by the statue. How death also gave life, how everything was a cycle like the one shown on the statue's faces. She found herself not able to simply walk past. Instead, while her companions waited for her, she rummaged in her packs to find something suitable for offering. She brought out the lap harp she'd made, and nodded. Music allowed one to live past death, in a way, and brought everyone together. She thought it would be a good offering. But... it didn't seem quite personal enough. Not enough of a sacrifice. She made these all the time, after all.
After a moment of agonized consideration, she sighed and took a string of rawhide from the pack, and removed a bangle from each foreleg. She strung them onto the rawhide strap, then with her agile paws she tied it to the harp so that they swung and sang together as they rattled. She hated to give up something so important to her, but it was, she felt, important. The sets she had left chimed together with the ones she was giving up as she carried the instrument and bangles up to the altar and set them down. She gave the familiars a faintly uncertain grin, before she backed away and set out again.
NPC:
Where for others the ever-present soft buzz of fireflies might be discomforting, the sounds from their wings to your ear are distinctly.. Musical. One by one they step out and take flight from the statue’s deep set skeletal sockets, dotting the air around you like inky black stars upon the sky.
The sound they produce is rhythmic and beautiful, reminiscent of life, death, and bittersweet farewells. With each note their ability to absorb light intensifies and strangely, you can distinguish by sight which bug is singing each sweet sound. The serenade continues for many moments, dwindling into a sound soft and slow by the song’s end, fireflies blinking mystically out of existence as their final note is played and the experience comes to a close.
The silence creeps back to the forest and with it the memory of Death’s song begins to slowly fade. When you turn your gaze back to the altar, nothing remains there to decorate its smooth marble surface. From the crowd of familiars, one raven separates from its conspiracy to land upon the stone. Its obsidian beak is chipped, its feathers torn in places. The bird, it seems, has had a rough life here - perhaps as a result of its unique mutation? Whatever the reason, he seems to want to follow you and opens his beak to sing you a short and haunting song, seeking to prove his worth.
Before you go, something draws you to glance up and meet the stoney gaze upon each of the three-headed statue’s faces. A keen observer might notice a distinct change in the expression of each as they look upon the intricate carving, where each of the cerberus’ maws have appeared to curve up into a toothy grin. A clump of thick fog dances behind the statue’s rear, converging onto its stone tail and wagging three times before dispersing back into mist.
You have received:
Boosted Companion Pass
If applied to a raven, this pass will give it a unique obsidian beak.
Staff: note when claimed
Where for others the ever-present soft buzz of fireflies might be discomforting, the sounds from their wings to your ear are distinctly.. Musical. One by one they step out and take flight from the statue’s deep set skeletal sockets, dotting the air around you like inky black stars upon the sky.
The sound they produce is rhythmic and beautiful, reminiscent of life, death, and bittersweet farewells. With each note their ability to absorb light intensifies and strangely, you can distinguish by sight which bug is singing each sweet sound. The serenade continues for many moments, dwindling into a sound soft and slow by the song’s end, fireflies blinking mystically out of existence as their final note is played and the experience comes to a close.
The silence creeps back to the forest and with it the memory of Death’s song begins to slowly fade. When you turn your gaze back to the altar, nothing remains there to decorate its smooth marble surface. From the crowd of familiars, one raven separates from its conspiracy to land upon the stone. Its obsidian beak is chipped, its feathers torn in places. The bird, it seems, has had a rough life here - perhaps as a result of its unique mutation? Whatever the reason, he seems to want to follow you and opens his beak to sing you a short and haunting song, seeking to prove his worth.
Before you go, something draws you to glance up and meet the stoney gaze upon each of the three-headed statue’s faces. A keen observer might notice a distinct change in the expression of each as they look upon the intricate carving, where each of the cerberus’ maws have appeared to curve up into a toothy grin. A clump of thick fog dances behind the statue’s rear, converging onto its stone tail and wagging three times before dispersing back into mist.
You have received:
Boosted Companion Pass
If applied to a raven, this pass will give it a unique obsidian beak.
Staff: note when claimed
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