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.

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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

[doc_holi]

Holiday stiffened a bit from the small, sharp cut, but didn't jump or let out any sounds. She didn't want to spook the kid, after all.

However, she did watch quite closely as Balthazar worked his magic. She wasn't sure what she expected, but something like that wasn't it. "You are well practiced," she said in shock, only barely noting the glow of the water to signify its completion.

Rebecca, once she had blinked back to reality, offered a little smile to Bakura. "Not so bad, right?"

[denyamenti]

Bakura nodded rapidly as though glad that the wound had been taken care of so easily, though the thief made a mental note to look into Balthazar at a later date. "I've never seen anything like that before," he said, shaking his head wonderingly.

"Ah, but! I don't want to get off topic. One truth and one lie, that should be easy! Let's see now... a truth. Well, this city is definitely nothing like Domino! I confess I've been treating the whole thing rather like an adventure..."

Which, in the strictest sense, was true and so the water glowed briefly before going dark again.

[knewtoomuch]

"Call it a gift. Just born with it."

Which was true. All angels were technically born with that innate ability. He would have to wait until another situation to see if that would still go as well as it had here. It had worked here and this is where it really mattered. He noted the glow in the water before smiling at the both of them.

"Almost like a fancy lie detector. And treating it like an adventure is definitely something I feel as well in a place like this."

But for him, he had to think of a lie. It should not be all that tough to begin with. He told them something on his mind before which was a fact. He shrugged his shoulders. Well, he was never shy about his age.

"I'm only as old as I look right now."

The immediate glow was telling enough that it had been a success. It was simple lie. He was so old that he forgot what age he actually was.

[doc_holi]

An adventure. It was either that or maybe a very lucid dream that she didn't know if she wanted to be woken up from. That was a whole other topic, though. For now, she smiled to Bakura's admission. "It's hard to think of this as anything but an adventure sometimes."

Holiday rubbed the skin that Balthazar had healed, marveling at such a useful gift. "If it helps, that lie counts for me right now, too." He was definitely becoming more and more interesting as this went on.

Then the next part gave her pause... "A possession and debt, right? How's that going to work?" She thought ahead to the next bits of their little puzzle, too. Everything was beginning to get more interesting...

[denyamenti]

"I think it's best to take it literally," Bakura said. "I think one of us has to give you something."

[knewtoomuch]

Balthazar nodded with a smile. Indeed he found them to be quite interesting to him at the moment as well. They could all get more acquainted another time. This was not exactly a meet-and-greet type of gathering. As for giving a possession, he was not really sure what he could offer...hmm.

He reached inside of his jacket and pulled out the standard blade that all angels were given. He held it out towards Holiday.

"If you promise to give this back at some point soon, I'll tell you a little about it."

It was an interesting move on his part, but...he did not have a bad feeling about handing it to her.

[doc_holi]

Well, they had taken the wound and balm thing literally and that had worked, so she wasn't in any place to refute that idea again. Though, she hadn't expected to be handed a... weapon? It was a blade, but unlike any sort she's seen before and that's saying something.

Holiday smiled and took the sword from him. "I'll treasure it, until I give it back after all of this." She did take a second to examine it closer while the water glowed around them, but looked back to Bakura again quickly enough.

"A debt... I suppose that means you're to owe me something later on?"

[denyamenti]

"I don't mind that!" Bakura said brightly, accepting the statement and then looking expectantly at the water. When it did not glow however, he seemed puzzled. "Oh, goodness. Maybe you have to say what it is..."

[knewtoomuch]

Balthazar smiled back.

"I appreciate that."

Now it was the other's turn. He watched the water with anticipation. There was not anything he could do after he had just given Holiday what he did. This kind of magic or whatever it was happens to be unlike anything he has really seen before.

[doc_holi]

She frowned at the water, definitely not happy with finding a road block in all of this. The instructions were already quite vague to begin with. What sort of debt could she ask for? Did it have to be something important? ... Some sort of favor. Hmm.

After a bit of thinking, Holiday looked back to him curiously. "We can get lunch one day. My treat. I don't mind paying so long as you're willing to accompany me." A few of her friends had left and making new friends would be really nice, all things considered.

[denyamenti]

"I'd like that very much, Doctor Holiday," he agreed and abruptly, the water glowed again. "Ah, that seems to have done it. Now we're onto... one joy and one sorrow? This ritual does certainly call for some subjective things..."

[knewtoomuch]

Well, that was indeed a relief for that to have worked. He was afraid that they would be stuck here all day. As for the next part of this little ritual, he was not certain what they were meant to do. Was it a feeling they had to procure or simply sharing one of their own instances?

"Hmmm...show-and-tell or...I'm not really a fan of all of this. I'm open to suggestions. We're so close to being done."

This certainly was an odd way of getting to know others though. He almost has to wonder if the creation of this entire process was meant for just that.

[doc_holi]

They were close to being done. Not that she wasn't enjoying quality time and everything, but Holiday would greatly appreciate being... generally healthy again.

"Show and tell?" She thought on that for a moment. "I suppose if you each shared one that you've experienced, it'll cause the emotions. Cover all bases, maybe?"

Everyone at Providence called her a bleeding heart, anyway, so it wasn't like she didn't understand empathy.

[denyamenti]

"I think perhaps it's because we're all strangers," Bakura replied sheepishly to Balthazar's observation. "Perhaps this is something usually undertaken by friends or family? In any case, ah... a joy."

Like the previous set, the thief now had to find something that overlapped with his host in order to maintain his cover and still make the magic water work. At this point, he was belatedly reconsidering this offer to help, as it was becoming an annoyance. Next time, he vowed, he'd get a little more information about what would be involved.

"Do we have to give one of each?" he asked instead, stalling for time.

[knewtoomuch]

"That would be my guess....which is going to make this difficult."

Balthazar was still REALLY not appreciating the whole sharing thing and he was getting the distinct impression that the two of them were becoming increasingly more restless over it. Bloody hell if this task could not be made more difficult! He was not sure what was going to end up working for any of this. He just kind of threw that suggestion on the table. It couldn't hurt to try, but sharing information that was unnecessary was...this was getting repetitive.

Okay okay...think! A joy...

"A joy first and a sorrow second...well...I always found a great deal of joy over having free will. Where I come from, that sort of thing is...looking down upon. The ability to go anywhere and explore for myself has, well, I'm sure it's something you all can agree on in being free from the burdens of home."

A pause and he shrugged.

"That would also be a sorrow is being separated in my opinion. Never getting to finish what I started...."

A bit generalized, but maybe it would suffice.

[doc_holi]

Holiday frowned while Balthazar glided over the details of his story, trying to piece it together with the other very few things she had learned about him. She could definitely relate on some level, as Providence basically owned her when they took her sister into custody, but this seemed to be on a deeper level and she wasn't sure she liked that.

It took a moment after the water glowed for her to come back into the real world again. Right, he gave both a joy and a sorrow, so- Rebecca looked to her hands and the ends of her hair, still in the same state as before.

"I think we... still need another sorrow." She didn't like that either. Rebecca frowned again to him, sympathetically, but there would be time to talk more later if he would like when he took his weapon back. For now, she glanced to Bakura. "We're almost done, at least."

[denyamenti]

Bakura would have blown out a frustrated breath if it weren't breaking character, but the wording of this made it easy to skirt very close to a truth insofar as it was for both he and Ryou.

"I lost my family when I was quite young," he said, not quite biting off the last word. For Ryou, his mother and sister... and for Bakura himself, his entire village.

The water glowed.