EVENT | ALL HALLOWED REDUX - RITUALISM

[cherrywood]

Characters: Any affected by the ghosting and Losses, their sponsors and nosy observers anyone else who feels like tagging along.
Date: January 11-12
Location: Keeliai
Situation: A moonlight ritual designed to restore lost balance and return Losses and unwanted gains back to a neutral state.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

The kedan messengers who had originally brought the information to the various Foreigners who'd been affected will return to those same suites on Friday evening. They will let them know to arrive with their sponsors at a quiet field area just to the south of Palace grounds on Saturday at sundown so that the "cleansing" can begin. They don't need to bring anything to aid in the ritual itself though it's advised that they might consider having a spare change of clothes on hand.

The next evening is bright and clear as though the weather itself wishes success upon this strange endeavor. The Foreigners making their way to the field as instructed by their kedan guides will find a large area cleared of snow, right down to the grass and dozens of round pools constructed of what appear to be interlocking stone blocks, so carefully and precisely arranged that they're able to hold water without leaking despite not using any standard mortar or sealant. Each pool stands about three feet tall and is filled three quarters of the way full of water which shimmers in the moonlight, bearing a very similar sheen that people will remember from the iridescent paint.

Does this bode well? Only time will tell.

---

OOC Information

See the OOC plotting post for event details and this post for assorted subheaders outlining various parts of the plot. If your character wants to learn more about the rituals or ask Milyn questions, she will be tagging in the Case Studies thread. Otherwise, feel free to use general affected kedan and their respective sponsors under normal rules for players writing NPC interactions. Feel free to start your own thread header if none suit, or make your own logs for various threadings... this is just for a central post for the event. Any questions can be directed HERE. Thank you!

RESETTING THE STAGE
Pre-Ritual Mingling | Strike the Balance | Case Studies | Greeting the New Day

Comments

Case Studies

[cherrywood]

When it seems as though the various groups of kedan and Foreigners are underway, Milyn begins to move about the area. She has a clipboard and is taking notes of all the trios, asking them questions about how they ended up with whatever mishap brought them to tonight's ritual. For the Foreigners, she asks some general questions about what they experienced while being ghosted and is especially interested in their Losses, probing for as much detail as they are willing to give. In return, she is open to giving more information on these rituals and their history with the kedan.

She also inquires as to whether those affected by the ghosting are willing to part with a few harmless blood and hair samples. "The iridescent paint has kedan DNA in its making," she will explain if asked. "This is to ensure that it wasn't been introduced to your bodies as a contaminate," she'll add. If people seem unwilling to volunteer such samples, she smiles and nods, making a note in her book and advising them if they change their mind they can find her at her residence before moving on.

[strategisch]

Well. This is curious. Armin was extremely unsure about the ritual as a whole, but wanted to avoid becoming blind again enough that he pushed that aside his misgivings and decided to take part in it. Now as he climbs out of the pool, he watches as the strange fluid slithers through his fingers and slips off his wet clothes and wonders if he did the right thing.

He's putting his boots back on as Milyn makes her way over to his group.

"Are you entirely certain this is safe?" He asks her, understandably suspicious when asked for medical samples, "take whatever you like, of course... I'm only concerned. That procedure was very odd."

[cherrywood]

"Oh yes," Milyn smiles, nodding emphatically. "It's quite a regular thing for us kedan! Everyone needs a little helping hand in getting back to even keel, hm?"

She holds out a small towel so Armin can dry his hands and such and produces a small container and a pair of scissors, giving him an appreciative look for agreeing. "Is it?" she asked as she very carefully snipped a bit of his hair and then withdrew a needle from her bag for a blood sample.

"Don't you have any rituals that your people do, even if the results aren't measurably tangible?"

[strategisch]

"Thank you," Armin mumbles, taking the towel from her. He's never had a sample of hair taken from him before, although back in the day, other trainees would often joke that they would take a lock from him into battle as a favor for good luck.

"Nothing this complex," he admits as he dries his hands, and then helpfully rolls up his sleeve for her, "sometimes people pray for various things, but I've never taken part. I don't believe in it... At least, I didn't at the time. After coming here, my opinion about such things has changed a little."

[cherrywood]

Milyn patted his arm in thanks for his cooperation and then tapped his forearm, searching for a vein. It only took her a moment and then she inserted the needle smoothly so that he would barely feel a pinch-- she was obviously practiced at this despite her youthful appearance.

"Oh you're a good lad, thank you," she said as she capped the needle, labelled it and placed it safely into her bag. "And this is a little bit like a prayer, isn't it?"

[strategisch]

"Maybe," he admits, "but when someone prays in my world, nothing answers."

[cherrywood]

"And that is a shame," she said sympathetically. "But I've high hopes for everyone here this evening, so perhaps it's time your luck changed."

[backwordscompatible]

"So...what you're basically saying is that we could have been contaminated?"

She wasn't being glib. She wasn't even being sarcastic. Kedan DNA. And it had been used on her.

That sounded...worth a few questions, at least.

[cherrywood]

"It's possible," Milyn responded with a surprisingly energetic nod. "It's not so strange, really. Some of us have picked up some things from you Foreigners too."

[backwordscompatible]

Sure. Why not?

"Like what?"

[cherrywood]

"Hiccups," the healer replied, with a totally straight face.

[backwordscompatible]

She stared back.

With an equally straight face.

In absolute silence. For roughly ten seconds. Only then she did dare blink.

"...hiccups aren't contagious. You're just messing with me."

[cherrywood]

"They certainly are," Milyn shook his head. "They're just like yawns. Haven't you ever noticed that when someone yawns and you see it, you want to yawn as well?"

[iguanasolution]

"Who would be the one to study the samples though?"

He knows for sure now it doesn't show anything about the gods and his heritage, but the idea of samples still makes him feel a little wary. Not to mention knowing the Kedan have cloning facilities makes it pretty obvious that they have more technology than what they are letting on.

[cherrywood]

"Oh, you poor dear," Milyn says, peering at Frank -- more specifically at his throat as though she could actually see his vocals refusing to cooperate. "Whatever this nasty little glitch did, it got you pretty good didn't it? And I'd be the one looking into it. You're all such a good bunch, I really enjoy your being here on Tu Vishan."

[iguanasolution]

He gives her a little smile, unsure how to feel about what she's saying. Most people seem to just be glad they can understand him, and his friends were sad to see his frustration... but this is the first time someone has actually been sorry for him? And it isn't something he knows how to process yet.

"I'm really glad you guys are helping at all, it's nice of you to let us join this. Is a hair enough for a sample or what is it you need?"

[cherrywood]

If she notices his uncertainty, she doesn't give any indication of it. Instead she opens up the little notebook on her clipboard and writes something down in it, then gives him a smile.

"It's no trouble at all, with everything you're all here to do for us. Now for the samples, I'd really prefer to have both a blood and a hair sample, just a little pinch of one, nothing drastic and you'd hardly feel a thing. I promise I've been doing this longer than it might look but you wouldn't ask a girl her age, right?"

[iguanasolution]

He bites his lower lip. The lady is nice, and sweet- but she'd be the first Kedan he's willingly given his blood to test it too. Foreigners sure, they are trapped here just like he is but this feels like giving the enemy information about himself. Something a son of the war would never do.

Then again, weren't they basically clones? How could they clone him and not know everything about him already?

He holds his arm up, nodding once.

[cherrywood]

She beams prettily at him, obviously pleased that he agreed to her request. From her little medical bag (not so different from the ones used by olden physicians of Earth) she withdraws a clean needle and pushes up Frank's sleeve. A few quick taps to determine his strongest vein and then she slides the tip in; just as she claimed, it feels almost like nothing. It's a very small amount she withdraws and then the needle is capped and stored safely in an unbreakable container before she adds another notation to her book.

Then she puts a little dab of bright yellow gel on the injection spot with her thumb: the kedanese equivalent of a kid's bandaid.

"See? Quick as anything."

Re: Case Studies

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis is rather unwilling to part with hair and skin... if Milyn can even get a skin sample from someone made of stone. But he did have a question. "What did you mean by 'an absence of the spiritual side'?'

[cherrywood]

Milyn very much wants a sample of this stone skin but if he's unwilling to part with it, there's nothing she can do about that.

"Well," she explains patiently. "The way that kedan change their shape, it's not all just a physical process. Not like a muscle to flex," she added for a metaphor. "There's a separate side to it as well, an... imaginative side. Sometimes it goes amiss, as you see in some of the others here."

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis is both a little paranoid and from a world where magic permits cloning. So no strangers asking for skin samples; he's barely willing to tolerate doctors that he approaches.

"That's true for any sort of movement," Zelgadis said. "If I'm using a sword, there's a element of moving my muscles, but I also need to think about what I intend to do and how I might need to move."

[cherrywood]

The kedan woman smiled and nodded. "That's a very apt metaphor for it as well," she agreed. "You sound like you've also spent some time thinking about this."

[gathersnomoss]

"I practice both swordsmanship and sorcery," Zelgadis explained. "Some magic users can be a bit dismissive of things that don't explode."

[cherrywood]

Milyn laughs a bit at the image, though smothers it with one hand as though the giggle is inappropriate for her station.

"I should very much like to see the two combined," she said. "Perhaps one day I'll have the opportunity."