Taking Root (Open Event)

[Aegis]

Vhalar 66, 718

The sun was rising over Yaralon. There had been no rain this day, but there were many clouds in the sky. The light was streaming through in pockets, highlighting small sections of the massive city of mercenaries. The Yari often congregated around such areas, looking to the skies smiling, awaiting their return, signaling the return to clear nights and good hunting. For while Yaralon is blessed with heavy rains, they do tend to tire of them at the end of the Wet Season.

One such pocket of sunshine fell upon the center of the now defunct Mud Burho. The former neighborhood was notorious for becoming nearly unlivable during the rainy season, though did seem to attract many potters and other clay workers. But this last rainy season had flooded it so much that everyone moved out, abandoning the homes to the elements.

As so many have, another Burho had fallen. It was not uncommon, though the Mud Burho was the largest to date for it to occur. Some still believed they'd be able to return to it once the dry season took hold, but many wrote it off, some even stating that it must be cursed.

But on this day, the Mud Burho, near the center of Yaralon, was receiving much unexpected attention. Every plant in the city, whether potted or in the ground proper could be seen leaning toward the Mud Burho, and the sunlight above it. Every forest based animal, be it a tamed pet or work animal or simply had the luck of being in the city could feel a draw toward the Mud Burho, and would insist on making the trek there to the best of their ability. Finally, every Tunawa, Sev'ryn, and those marked by Moseke could feel the call to venture there as well, an insistent nagging, a constant tug. Not one of malevolence but rather, one of calm, satisfied pleasure.

For those that arrived at the edges of the Mud Burho, they would find a massive swamp of sticky, deep mud, deeper than most men stood tall, surrounded by a moat of brown water. Houses were mostly submerged, a few grass roofs visible. Tunawa, Sev'ryn, and animals of all sort were standing around all the edges of the Burho, staring in at the spot of sunlight. The tug could be felt, but the stigma of this Burho weighed on many, and none dared attempt to venture through the mud, muck, and water to break the taboo.

Especially with knowledge of what also lived in that mud.

!	Message from: Aegis
	Open to all, though especially those who are Tunawa, have Sev'ryn blood, or are marked by Moseke.

[Silv]

"One page after another . . ."

For so long, Silv had only judged the passage of the seasons by "warm" and "cold". Here in Yaralon, however, she had learned that "wet" and "dry" were the preferred determinants. It was a jarring system given that the concept of precipitation could be unpredictable at the best of times, but the Yari seemed comfortable with such a fickle mistress. If they could live with it . . . well, Silv could too. Especially when it was dry out. She preferred the dry.

The city was bustling in this reprieve, moving to and fro on routes that changed too frequently for the Eidisi to keep up with. Like eroded ruts on a hillside. Streets, even entire neighborhoods, seemed to populate and depopulate at regular intervals in this city, which made passage difficult for one unused to such adaption. It didn't help that each new burho looked a lot like the last one, though given time she might come to learn the minute subtleties that distinguished the areas from one another. For now, she wandered in perpetuum, boxed in by shanties and huts, alive and dead beneath the sunlight.

Silv noted as she turned down a random thoroughfare, she noticed a small crowd of Yari huddled together, whispering in a foreign tongue that Silv did not recognize. They even had a Tunawa companion, who sat with feet dangling on the shoulder of one of the women in the group. The Eidisi prepared to move around the group, but before she could, they started off with a purpose. Probably against her better judgment, Silv decided to follow the group. If there was one thing she had learned since coming to the city, it was that the crowds often knew where the most interesting events were. And even if their destination was of a more personal level, Silv would not feel like she wasted any time by tailing them; at the very least, she might've seen a little more of the city. If they became offended by their new shadow, she thankfully had her sword with her to defend herself.

Of course, Silv hoped it never came to that. She always hoped it never came to that.

[Rabu]

Rain never bothered Rabu, water was one of the essential sources of life that the tunawa were taught to cherish. It fed the roots in the soil and washed the body clean after a hard day. There was however such thing as too much of a good thing and the constant downpour and overcast skies had begun to chip away at his energy and state of mind. Rabu was normally an early riser but the sun stopped shinning through his tent to free him from Emea’s embrace. The Tunawa often woke up late feeling like he hadn’t slept at all. Daily activities were a struggle and even his donkey Gogo had fallen ill during this time.

When rain drops no longer could be heard beating down on his tent and beams of light shone through the clouds, the tunawa felt a great relief wash over him. Like many others in the city he smiled up at the sky with the feeling that things were about to get better. However another feeling began to grow with in his soul that he didn’t understand. It started with an itch on his mark of Sevrath and drew into a compulsion to seek something out. What this something could be was unknown but Rabu felt almost a Parental instinct to protect it.

Gogo the donkey was thankfully feeling better so Rabu let him pull their cart as he led them both to find the source of the mysterious force. As they made their journey through the streets they would stumble upon other tunawa and Sev’ryn people traveling in small packs in the same direction. Stranger still was the animals that came out of the woodwork against their natural instincts to travel along the same path. By the time Rabu arrived at the source of the calling, he had massed a small herd of rabbits around him.

Among his kind he stuck out like a tree amongst a field of flowers. Not only was he twice their size but he had brightly coloured bark and a second set of "ears" sticking from the top of his head. Due to a curse the dooglewogs bestowed on him a day prior, Rabu was also dressed like a fool. One pant leg was loose and went down to his ankle, while the other was tight and stopped just above his knee. The tunawa’s sleeves shared the same contradiction, with one long and tight while the other flared out like a woman’s skirt. Several miss-matched designs covered his garment, making the poor tunawa an eyesore to look at.

Even with Rabu’s eye catching appearance, No one payed him attention and like them Rabu couldn’t keep his eyes off the small lake of mud and water. More than anything the tunawa wanted to dive into the fitly water and care for whatever had called him to this place but he knew he couldn’t. Instead, Rabu closed his eyes and chanted to Moseke in his native tongue for her to protect the strange entity with her power and wisdom.

[Cervantez]

☠ Vhalar 66, 718 ☠
☠ Mood: Intrigued
☠ Current Thought: What's this doing here?
☠ Current Theme:Bury Me Low
☠ Attire: Current Outfit

☠ Adorned in his armor, Cervantez made his way to the temple dedicated to the immortal of conquest herself. It was at the temple of Raskalarn that many warriors, sellswords, and mercenaries gathered to try and impress the immortal warrior. Cervantez was there however for one thing, and that was to get stronger.

To him it was just another trial, training, learning more of his magic, and trying to survive the best way he knew how. Yet before he could arrive there, something else caught his attention. The whisper was faint, but he could hear it, thinking the effects of the Ghost Burho still afflicted him. But it wasn't the same this time, no this was different, this however felt direr.

Not resisting the urge he allowed that nagging whisper to guide him, his footsteps marching in rhythm to the many animals he could see gravitating to the same place. He could see many in shock and awe of the forbidden place, abandoned and inhabitable. There he found himself standing, with many others trying to figure out why he had come to a place such as this.

He couldn't place it, but the energy in the air felt.......like home, the sun kissing his skin, the plants all seeming to edge in this direction, the heard of animals both wild and domestic all converging on this very spot. As much as he wanted to enjoy this feeling, his inquisitive nature was fighting to investigate. The flaming orbs of his eyes looked around and took in what he was seeing. ☠

"Speech"

[Aetu]

Aetu clambered out of her tent and stepped out onto the grass. She missed living in a house, but she’d made the choice to live in a tent to gather up the money to buy the materials needed to travel around and fulfil contracts. A2 bent down to put on her boots and noticed the strangest thing. All the grass seemed to be leaning in the same direction. Even when she pulled her feet of the ground, the grass slowly realigned itself to point with the rest of the grass. “This is weird,” she thought as she pulled on her two katana and looked around.

It didn’t take long to notice that all plants seemed to point in the same direction, not just the grass. There was only one thing to do in such a situation: follow the trail. After walking around for a while Aetu eventually found herself at the edge of the mud burho. She was standing in a circle amongst animals and Tunawa alike. It looked like everyone wanted to walk into the swamp but they knew better. Not quite sure what was going on, Aetu looked around and searched for someone to question.

A colorful Tunawa (Rabu) caught her eye, so she’d walk over and ask, “Any idea what’s going on here?” She wondered if there was some kind of nature related event going on here that the Tunawa could sense. Had the grass not pointed her in the right direction Aetu would have never known that anything was even happening, afterall.

[Kisaik]

Kisaik held his arms out as Slate plodded along through the outskirts of the Mud Burho. The sunlight fell on his blackened bark, the green marbling the bark reflected the light. He was just enjoying this moment.

Sure, he felt the tug toward the center of the Burho. But why tire his legs when his cat seemed so intent to take him there itself? Besides, it seemed all the city began to incline toward that inexorably alluring, and inexplicably magnetic center of the city. His eyelids were closed, until he could hear all around him, the sounds of activity. Then he opened them, and nearly fell off of Slate in surprise at what he saw. Crowds of Tunawa, Sev'ryn, and many others gathered at the edge of a bog that had accumulated in the center of the Mud Burho. All around, the potted plants and vegetation surrounding reached for the center of the Burho.

"Well, consider my curiosity piqued, Slate. What have we here?" He said, patting the cat behind the ear. He grabbed his crosse out from where it was resting atop the cat's saddle. As Slate approached the edge of the waters, Kisaik reached down with the crosse, trying to scoop up some of the mud to examine. While he did this, Slate pawed the waters with her feet, mewling and yowling intermittently.

Once his crosse snagged some of the earth from the mud, he placed it inside the pocket of his cloak, and hopped off of the cat to get a better look at those murky waters. He crawled on his knees to the edge of the water, cautiously curious about what might live beneath the surface. This done, he ventured to cup his hands, taking some of the water into his palms and bringing it to his lips to drink, trying to detect a difference in flavor from the regular rainwater that fell during the wet season.

[Thysbae]

There were many places in Yaralon that the mortal born had found to be a curiosity. Maybe it had to do with how little of the world he knew to begin with, but there was something strange in the configuration of the city that he had yet to really grasp. The one thing he could understand was the rain. The long downpour of the past few trials had kept him indoors and driven his not-quite-nannies up the walls. If they couldn't handle it, how had his mother? The answer might have been more obvious to an outsider, but to Thysbae, there was only more confusion as he watched the people around him pray for the sun under their breaths.

However, they did not last as long as the rain did. Thysbae found himself headed to work with his cloak drawn over his head to shield him from the rain the trial before and he hadn't left the hut since. It was the old woman who'd shaken him awake that morning to see to the flowers. But it was he who pointed out the oddity of them. "Why are they bending that way?" They were pointed in a direction other than the sun close to them. The old woman scowled, and looked in the same direction the flowers were pointed. Without saying a word, she shoved a small, dying potted plant in his hands and hurried him out the door.

"Follow it." Her instructions given, she turned back to her work and left him standing there. At least it wasn't raining anymore. Thysbae did as he was told and followed the general direction the flower was pointing without debate. It was a very vague direction but the flower soon wasn't his only guide. People and animals alike walked before him, headed the same way. Brows furrowed, he took it as a sign.

The crowd came to an abrupt stop just before what he could only describe as a town submerged in water. It wasn't submerged so much as on its way to drowning. Not a single one dared to step forward and he wondered why that was. Was there something in the water? Something in the dirt? There were many times that Thysbae might gleefully say he'd had a bad idea, and this would probably fall in line with that. Testing the water himself was one thing, but he did so happen to have a potted plant in his hands. It was already on its way to dying, so what would be the harm in giving it a dip in the water?

Lowering the clay pot in slowly, he tried to avoid putting too much of his hands in the water as he watched and waited.

Speech | Thought

[Aegis]

Date

Even though many had arrived, that nagging pull never ceased. In the distance, some mud began to form upwards. It shaped into humanoid legs, curvy hips and bust, and finally a head. The mud being began walking toward the congregated group, the details of her form growing. As she walked, stones floated up in the mud for her to step on, sinking once again after she'd left it. Her skin was dark like the Sev'ryn's, like the mod she'd come from. Her hair, darker still. Her form was one that could only be described as motherly. And in spite of being naked, there was no air of sexuality emanating from her. She was a woman in nature, nature in a woman.

She made no introductions of herself to the group, now standing before them. If they couldn't figure out that she was Moseke, so be it. She was no teacher. "Thank you for coming, to witness the birth of one of my children. It is so kind of you. I do hope he is strong enough to be born into this lovely community." She turned, gesturing to the mud all around her. "Please, come."

She turned, and began walking toward the center of the big mud pit. Tunawa would find stones floating up to provide them stepping stones, Sev'ryn would find the mud beneath their feet hardening into stable dirt, and animals would find swimming in the mud far easier than expected. Moseke led the group near to the center, where she sat down, humming a light song. From all around the mud pit, more people and animals came and sat, forming a loose circle around the center, all sitting upon floating stones.

"Do not be frightened. I come to you for your help, great one."

The mud in the center began to gurgle and boil before a large glob floated up and out of it. It was formless, bulging and rotating, dripping and gurgling. It smelled terrible. "Induk of the mud and earth and stone, I wish to birth my child here. Will you help me?" The giant floating glob of mud vibrated and bristled, it was clearly not happy. It did not seem to speak, or at least not in a way that mortals could understand. But the Tunawa, with their connection to spirits, would feel anger and pain.

"I will let these people speak, for this is their community as well. I understand."

Moseke stood up, turning to the group, talking softly, yet every person would find that they were capable of hearing her perfectly. "The spirit is very upset, for this community was built over the land it has been tasked with protecting since days long since passed. It will not help me to birth my child if not convinced. If you truly believe in the best for this community, for this world, please, speak your piece to the spirit."

With that, Moseke walked away, off to the edge of the mud pit. Clearly she was not welcomed by the mud spirit, so she stood at the border, looking on with the worry that only a mother could wear upon her face.

[Thysbae]

It felt like, almost, he was intruding. Like he wasn't supposed to be privy to what was happening. Despite the mass of people and animals present, he could not shake the feeling that he did not entirely belong there. But there wasn't much he could do about it now. Not as the woman appeared and invited them all forward. He lifted the pot back up and considered taking the invitation on. A single step forward and he was sinking into the mud.

It was a sign. Maybe he was just supposed to witness from a distance. Which was all good and well because the mud seemed to spring to life. Gurgling, bubbling. His grip on the pot tightened, eyes widening. There was a lot of the world he had not seen and this was very quickly reaching the top of the list in his bizarre adventures. Perhaps not as horrific as what he'd experienced on the way into Yaralon, but close enough. It was all the more reason for him to back away from the mud, putting at least three steps worth of distance between he and the start of it.

Thysbae, though, was still very much confused as to what was going on. Birthing? Child? He didn't know much about that. The mud - the spirit, as the woman had called it - wasn't pleased with the idea. Well, children weren't supposed to be born in the mud, right? Maybe it was concerned about the child. Still, there were two sides to this and one side was concerned about the child being born altogether.

"I...don't know much about this place, but children are supposed to be good things. And - and, I'm sure they're sorry about building over you, Mr. Induk, sir. Maybe they didn't know? I didn't. But now I - we - do. So can you pretty please help her? And they won't do it again?" There wasn't much the mortal born could say, or even do, with how little he knew of the place. Just guesses and best wishes. They'd worked for him before; maybe they'd work again. Cradling the potted plant, he looked over to the woman (he was still not sure who she was, but this was obviously someone very important and powerful) with furrowed brows. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help. But why here?"

Speech | Thought

[Aetu]

Aetu had been getting impatient with all this sitting around and staring at a bunch of mud. She had come to the conclusion that maybe someone had gotten stuck inside the mud. She got excited when some naked woman started to rise from the mud and guessed that she was at least partially correct. Someone was in the mud, but she wasn’t stuck. Aetu wasn’t sure which immortal this was, but she was pretty confident that she was one.

After following along a dirt path, Aetu saw an Induk for the first time. Not wanting to seem rude and ignore the immortal’s request, she’d give a shot at reasoning with the blob of mud.

“Oh please,” Aetu addressed the Induk after Thysbae’s plea, “just because you were here first doesn’t make this your land. In these parts we handle our disputes with displays of might. If you want to make things right with our people then make your power be known and settle the score!”

Honestly, Aetu couldn’t care less about birthing a child in the mud. But she could only assume that this thing was had caused this whole area to become unlivable. As far as Aetu was concerned, this Induk was an enemy of the city and needed to be taught who was on top. That, or it could show off the legendary power that Induk were supposed to have and make a permanent claim to this land. She didn’t think it was realistic, or even possible, to negotiate with a spirit.