Backdated to bone-flower clock liminal

[wolvering]

Tho—

[The would-be mental shout cuts off before the first syllable is even finished. There’s a brief pause, and then Pod’s actual voice comes back, and it’s all filtered away from baby Rose.]

Those spineless, mealy-mouthed, Hornet-hoofed, pustulant offspring of asps and dark mages! They can’t claim me! I belong to Kerras. I don’t—

Argh! Goddess curse them to never find rest nor hearth.

Comments

[awitchdidit]

I came here bearing a mark myself, and they simply put on another one. We are, however, only as "claimed" as we allow ourselves to be.

[wolvering]

I'm certainly not going to follow them!

[There's a long-ish pause.]

But what if their mark interferes and makes Kerras abandon me?

[awitchdidit]

Hm. I don't know Kerras. What are they like?

[wolvering]

Kerras of the Golden Antlers is the Great Stag and god of all beasts wild and tame, from the great Truedragons of the northern mountains, to the meekest mouse. He claims Beast Healers as well, and bestows on us the gifts we use to heal, and in turn we swear fealty to him.

Kerras is swift and powerful, but patient. We Beast Healers have as our charges all animals at his command, but part of that is understanding the order of the world. If a Healer interferes and heals a deer instead of letting the wolf pack take it down, the wolves will starve, and so on. ...It isn't always easy to do that, but!

That's part of why we Beast Healers all have a brother-in-fur. We help them, but they help us. They are a bridge between our human hearts and the sometimes harder lives of beasts. And other things, but I've wandered in my description a bit!

[awitchdidit]

Oh, don't apologize, he sounds wonderful! And I sincerely doubt such a wise and patient patron would forsake you because another claimed you against your will. A wild horse might be corralled, branded, even broken, but it would still be his, wouldn't it?

[wolvering]

Of course, although if it was a particularly cruel breaking, Kerras might curse the human that did it.

[She makes a little happy sound, and her tone of voice goes darkly satisfied.]

You don't think Kerras might curse the Trumps, do you? I'm not sure if his power reaches this far direct, though...

[awitchdidit]

Well...you serve him, don't you? Since you're here, that means a part of his power is too.

I'm not going to tell you to make yourself a curse on the Trumps, but you go do what you believe in...

[wolvering]

I'm a Healer; I don't know anything about curses.

...but I wonder if I could get people to build a shrine and make offerings if that'd bring more of his power here. They'd have to be honestly made offerings, though... Hmm!

[awitchdidit]

I will give you any aid I can in building this shrine, although by now I doubt any god less greedy than a demon would actually believe me if I made an offering to them. Even aside from the potential for disrupting this neat little game, I'm always glad to learn about other Travelers' cultures.

[wolvering]

I think Kerras would know if you were sincere about it. And really? Kerras's shrines are tricky compared to some other gods because they aren't exactly buildings...

[awitchdidit]

I enjoy a challenge. What are we talking about here, a druid grove? Standing stones?

[wolvering]

What's a druid?

[She doesn't really pause before she starts explaining though.]

But yes, groves and things. All the Holts where we Beast Healers have our chapterhouses also have a shrine to Kerras. Most of the shrines are simple, even if a noble provides the gold for a new one. They're never in cities, of course, but many farmers will take dropped antlers from a stag and carve Kerras's symbol into them, and then hang those at the door of their stables for offerings and prayers. Not a shrine, but I'm sure Kerras hears their prayers.

[awitchdidit]

I wonder how all this would work in a world that's intentionally reconstructed every week or two...what counts as natural, there? Or animals, for that matter, since half the time they're invisible and the other half they're made out of crockery or something.

[It's a puzzle, and Beatrice likes puzzles even more than she likes magic.]

[wolvering]

I’m… not really sure, actually! I’d like to say that Kerras would recognize and reward the effort, but we’re so far from home, maybe it wouldn’t be strong enough to catch his attention.

I know people can make things, though, so can anyone make trees?

[awitchdidit]

That's actually a very good question...trees are objects, but they're living objects. Unless I just made branches of dead wood, but would those count...?

[wolvering]

They might. Antlers are usually 'dead' in that sense, because they aren't connected to the stag that grew them anymore!

Is it possible to make a live tree though? Or even a live flower!

[awitchdidit]

An adult tree is probably out of reach, unless maybe it was part of a "room". Something smaller, though...well, we won't know until we try!