Event | Summer Jubilee | June 22nd-28th

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL! With special guest appearance by Asti
Date: June 22nd-28th, 2014
Location: Keeliai, all sectors
Situation: To celebrate the six month hatching days of the baby turtles that coincides with the arrival of summer, the kedan are throwing a city wide party! And Asti gifts everyone with a happy dream to make up for the badness plaguing Keeliai lately.
Warnings/Rating: TBA

While the kedan have a complicated and extensive system of writing, a good portion of their folklore is oral tradition and there's one prominent tale that's being told over and over this week. Small variances in the tale do occur from telling to telling but the core of the story goes like this:

Long ago before there were any people in the world, the First Family was made in the sky. Sun, the Mother and Moon, the Father were happy but desired children of their own. They watched all the creatures in the oceans, on the land and in the air and wished they could also have a family but they could not, for they didn't know how and so they were sad. They drifted apart, with Mother the Sun only coming out for part of the time and Father the Moon sometimes disappearing from the sky. Not wanting to see them so saddened, the creatures in all the lands and seas and air gathered together and searched their respective domains for children to give into the sky. From the four corners of the world they came with four children: one for the Dawn, one for the Midday, one for the Dusk and one for the Night. Mother the Sun and Father the Moon were overjoyed! They thanked the creatures of the world and promised they would never again abandon their places in the sky and became the First Family. And for a time, all was well. But Dawn and Midday and Dusk and Night grew older and, as children are wont to do, started asking when they could leave their home in the sky to begin their own families. Their parents were afraid of feeling so alone again if that happened so each year they said, "next year, next year". Eventually the children grew tired of this answer and so, sneaking into the place of the Stars where everything that was known was kept and they cut the end off of Time. The next time that their mother and father went to deny then, the children cried "You cannot say next year, for next year does not exist anymore!" And the Sun and Moon were afraid that if the children went away, then Time would indeed run out and so they agreed that their children could have families of their own, if they stayed and became the Second Family. The children agreed and even today, it is said that they are still waiting for the end of Time to grow back so they can visit other places without everything ending.

OOC INFO & LINKS
Subheaders are for various parts of the event and the rest of the post (not in sub headers) is for general mingling and tagging! Questions relating to the event go HERE.

Adopt-A-Foreigner | The Ritual | Dream A Little Dream | Asti's Blessings | Barbecue | OOC Post

Comments

Midii Une | ota

[unetrustworthy]

It had been so long since she'd even looked at it, Midii had nearly forgotten the tiny, golden crucifix was still in her possession.

Once upon a time, she'd worn it around her neck daily. Her literal cross to bear, carrying with it the memories of her old life and the lives lost because of her. These days, it sat in a small drawer by her bedside. Out of sight, and mostly out of mind.

But not today.

Something close to her heart. That's what was required for this ritual of theirs. Something for her to hold under the water, as if purifying it. Almost like a Baptism. The parallel was too strong for her not to recognize as Midii clasped the crucifix in both hands and held it under.

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon didn't have anything to bathe. He'd heard he could make some kind of substitute, but as yet he hadn't been given any reason to put in the effort. Every kedan to whom he spoke insisted it was worthwhile, and there was one particularly persistent cultist who seemed determined to spread festival-related joy and happiness, but thus far Solomon had resisted.

Until he saw the woman with the small crucifix in her hands, plunging it into the water. Without quite meaning it, he stopped and watched until she had withdrawn it. The action was altogether too much like a baptism for him to escape wondering whether it was for the woman's sake, or someone to whom the cross had belonged before.

A cross. Of all things to purify. Or drown.

"For whose benefit is that?" he asked neutrally. Once upon a time he'd owned a cross like that, when he'd been a boy. Several lifetimes ago.

[unetrustworthy]

She glanced upward, unfamiliar with the voice. The face didn't help much either.

"It's for the ritual." Not quite the answer he might have been looking for, but it was the truth. "They asked me to dip something in water that held meaning. So I did."

[peacefullywreathed]

She was much, much younger than he'd thought from the back, Solomon realised. A teen at most, with that air of maturity only a child in war or adversity can have. He recognised that sort of air. It made his face soften just a touch, not enough to be considered pitying but enough that he was no longer unapproachable.

"What meaning does the crucifix hold for you?" Was she Christian? Or was it valuable to her for some other reason? Perhaps it had belonged to a parent.

[unetrustworthy]

It would not be the first time Midii had been mistaken for older. Nor would it be the last, especially as she was continuing to grow and mature. Even the Captain, one upon a time, had made the off-hand comment about how he would constantly forget she and Nanashii had been mere children at the time.

And speaking of...

"It's a reminder of what I did." She was Christian, yes, but in this one instance, the crucifix's actual meaning held very little in the way of religion beneath outward appearances. "You can't tell, because it was broken a long time ago...but this used to be a transmitter."

[peacefullywreathed]

'Transmitter' could mean any number of things. Without knowing the context of the girl's past, there as no way for Solomon to tell precisely what she meant by it. Usually he liked to think he wouldn't care, but he had always been fond of the children in the Temple. He was one of the more approachable clerics as far as they were concerned, and he didn't usually mind being approached, so long as there was a purpose to it.

There weren't any Temple children here, Solomon thought wistfully, and sat on the edge of the fountain. "That could mean many things," he pointed out. "Is it an audio transmitter? Is it a geospatial one?"

Either implied the girl had been a spy. A child-soldier, then. It fit her comportment.

[unetrustworthy]

Well...he was half right.

"If you mean could it send out location coordinates...then yes." Her thumb lightly ran over the cracked part. Where she had it welded back together after Nanashii'd shot it into two pieces. "And it recorded audio. It was how I was able to sent intelligence back to the Alliance liaisons."

[peacefullywreathed]

Definitely a spy. Her people must have been desperate to send a child into such a position. Her clothes weren't in terrible condition, so she had been here a while, but the cross itself had obviously been broken and repaired.

"Who were you fighting?" he asked. "And on whose side did you belong?"

It was a loaded question. People became spies for many, many reasons. Not all of them forced one to choose just one side.

[unetrustworthy]

Not too long ago, Midii would have feared the thought of anybody so much as suspecting. Knowing who she was and what she did...maybe she would be rejected. Maybe they would send her back.

But then Damian had come along. And Miri. And later, others who were able to glean bits and pieces from her. That was how she knew...it didn't matter. Not the way she thought it did. For a girl her age, it felt like a lifetime ago by now. Maybe it was. Regardless, it wasn't a truth she could keep hiding from forever.

Not when it was still a small part of her.

"I wasn't on anybody's side. I just did what I had to do to take care of my family."

[peacefullywreathed]

"If the world is against you, your family is also a side," Solomon pointed out, thinking of his father and the way the English had even turned their own Irish peers against them. "Many would say it's the only right side. A person's family defines them, after all."

[unetrustworthy]

That was...one way of thinking about it, she supposed. From the sounds of it, he wasn't turning away in disgust, either. He almost...approved?

"You don't think I'm a horrible person?"

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon tilted his head. "Why? You were doing what you could for your family to survive. There are those who like to claim one always has a choice, but a choice between tribulation or even death for your family and something that would prevent that isn't much of one. It's easy for someone to judge you harshly when they haven't been in that situation themselves."

He spoke matter-of-factly, not quite gentle--but as someone who knew.

[unetrustworthy]

"And...what if what I did caused people harm? Or worse?"

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon raised an eyebrow. "You were in the middle of a war, that much is apparent. There are no such things as innocence or heroes in war. Anyone who claims so is lying or hopelessly naive."

[unetrustworthy]

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Truly sink in. They were far from a compliment, but they were also the opposite of a condemnation. For that alone, she smiled. Faintly, but it was there.

"Who are you?"

[peacefullywreathed]

"Solomon Wreath." He smiled back and it wasn't his usual sardonic affair, but small and even genuine. "And yourself, young lady?"

[unetrustworthy]

"Midii Une."

[peacefullywreathed]

"A pleasure to meet you, Miss Une." Solomon inclined his head. "How long have you been here in the city?"

[unetrustworthy]

"About a year now." As of July 1st, Keelai time, to be specific. "You?"

[peacefullywreathed]

"Nearly two months." He smiled wryly. "Not nearly as long as most, it seems. Do you believe this ritual will bear fruit?" He nodded toward the fountain. There seemed to be a great many people indulging, though he saw no point of it himself. Maybe they knew something he didn't.

[unetrustworthy]

She took a moment to glance back down at the water. Cool, clear, but also very ordinary. There had been no supernatural indications of anything beyond a symbolic ritual.

"I believe...this place is full of things I'd never seen or understood before."

[peacefullywreathed]

"A wise attitude," Solomon observed, "provided one can keep an open mind about the nature of those things and one's lack of understanding about them, of course." It was a surprisingly insightful comment for a child.

[unetrustworthy]

Insightful, maybe, but also one that came from a year's worth of living in Keelai. She was logical, observant, and trusted her own eyes more than anything else.

"I can see spirits now I couldn't see when I first got here. Is that open enough?"

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon laughed. "Perhaps. Perhaps." She was a curious child, perhaps worth following up on at a later date. For now, Solomon had heard as much as he needed or wanted, or which she seemed inclined to offer, so he got to his feet and bowed shallowly. "Then I hope your faith in the possible is fulfilled on this occasion, my dear."

[unetrustworthy]

She tried to mimic the courtesy, offering something that was a half shallow bow, half courtesy. And all awkward.

"I...thank you. You too. I think."