timeskip ;; eachdraidh

[extramural]

THE OUTSIDER COURT Unseelie. TITLE Seaspeaker, Giftgiver. OCCUPATION God. ABLE TO FAST-TRAVEL Yes, to seaside locations at night and for the night only. RESIDENCE IN 2,701 A small ship, Lumina's manse. RESIDENCE IN 2,702 A small ship, Lumina's manse. MAJOR EVENTS THE VOID WALKER During the Roc's deepfreeze, the Outsider obtains a ship. [ ✖ ] HIGHLIGHT Description [ ✖ ] HIGHLIGHT Description [ ✖ ]

PLANS The Outsider will spend the timeskip immersing himself in the ocean culture of the Drabwurld and building his base of worshipers. He may or may not sire a new terrifying race of sea beings with Ceit the Siren. With Caer Scima destroyed, he will move out entirely, moving what few possessions he has to a small ship that can sail both the oceans and rivers. He will spend most of the year traveling on his ship, taking in the sighs of the Drabwurld and attempting to learn more about it. TIMELINE OF EVENTS SPRING IN 2,701 (Mar, Apr, May) MARCH - The new King of Birds, the Roc, brings late snowstorms across the drabwurld; shardbearers must combat its magic to un-freeze each other, natives, and whole areas. The Outsider uses his fire magic nightly, thanks to the gem in the Drowned Crown, to thaw out bits and pieces of the world. During this, he locates a small ship frozen entirely, captain dead and crew gone. After laying the captain's soul to rest, he takes the ship for himself. APRIL- Shardbearers shall be struck at various moments by the sound of harp-playing which inspires distractingly, disablingly intense and wild emotions, but be unable to determine the source! Shardbearers will discover that they can follow the sound only in their dreams to the dream-image of a harp which magically plays itself. Smashing the harp in their dreams will disable the spell which affects their waking moments. Unused to having most emotions, much less strong ones, the Outsider has a difficult time handling this event. He laughs, cries, and lashes out only to become incredibly distressed at his lack of control. A rendezvous with Ceit the Siren leaves him so worn out that he sleeps on his own for the first time in several thousand years, smashing the harp in his dream; still, the experience has marked him. MAY - Golden swans will migrate to the mainland from the southern coast, devouring newly-planted crops and seeds; slaying them turns them into solid gold swan figurines. The Maidenfish and wolfhounds are quite happy to hunt and kill the swans, and the Outsider is quite intrigued by the magic that occurs when they're killed. He collects the figurines and stores them on his boat. SUMMER IN 2,701 (Jun, Jul, Aug) JUNE - Lumina comes for a boat trip; the pair go whale watching. JULY - Whale-watching trip with Lumina ends. AUGUST - Laethann's Festival of Lights is the second week in August, a curious local celebration timed to the arrival of fireflies which will this year mark the induction of the new Oracle; overnight the boats which comprise the Water Market all seem to have vanished, and natives float candles on the river out to sea and let paper lanterns fly, while in the distance the Tower of the Oracle glows golden through day and night. The Outsider visits Leathann, sometimes frolicking as as a whale under the floating lanterns. FALL IN 2,701 (Sept, Oct, Nov) SEPTEMBER - The magical power which allows shardbearers to understand Drabbish and each other goes haywire; affected characters will be heard speaking their native tongue! All their writing, however, will still be seen as Drabbish. Time to learn languages. OCTOBER - October 25-30th: SAMHAIN! Sun does not rise; characters can go wherever they please; Black Shuck makes another appearance; giant party on the Cathraon. The Outsider leaves an offering for the Shuck for the second year in a row. This year the Maidenfish help him with a costume; he arrives shirtless, wearing a necklace of shark teeth and with swirled designs painted over his torso and arms. His mask is made of small shells. NOVEMBER- Inmates from a magical island prison-colony of Laethann have escaped, and some manage to reach the mainland and begin causing havoc! The government of Laethann posts rewards for the return of these criminals, dead or alive. Many are legitimately dangerous mages and sorcerers; others are simply individuals who are debtors to the state and couldn't pay their taxes! Some of the escaped prisoners attempt to take the Outsider's boat by force. It does not go well for them. WINTER IN 2,701/2,702 (Dec, Jan, Feb) DECEMBER - YULE! The Outsider still does not understand Yule presents, but a few special CR mates may get bone charms. JANUARY - Caer Scima is at last entirely rebuilt, and grander than ever! The Outsider visits to see if they've gotten any new books. FEBRUARY - Possibly still reading at Caer Scima. Oops. SPRING IN 2,702 (Mar, Apr) MARCH - The skeletons of unburied soldiers killed in battle begin to rise, devouring whatever living beasts or people they come upon until their skulls are struck off. The Outsider assists in defeating these skeletons and laying their souls to rest using what he was taught by Lady Red-Hand. APRIL - Great numbers of imps and fairies begin to go missing in both castles, to the point where many everyday tasks go unfinished! ... probably doesn't even notice. MAY - Unearthly black-eyed young children begin appearing at various coastal locations in the Drabwurld after hatching in spring. They pretend to be lost or drowning in currents, crying out for help... but inevitably attempt to drown and eat their would-be rescuers -- unless those rescuers have a history respecting the ocean and the life within it, in which case they are given bone tokens charmed for luck. Aw, look at his kids!

( codes by whambam )

Comments

[raavashing]

Is the Void a spirit, then? A... what is that word Minda used... god! Is it a god?

[Despite being the closest thing his world had to a god, Wan had no actual experience with them. And thus far, he didn't realize the Outsider could be considered one, either.

The wolf curled up against Wan let out a huff a few seconds after Wan's hand stilled and stopped brushing against her. At the reminder, Wan absently began his petting anew, palm drifting down to the wolf's stomach and lingering there for just a little too long. As though he were feeling her over very carefully.]

[extramural]

More than that.

[ He continues watching, eerily still in the winter night. ]

The Void is a realm outside of the world, the source and the end of the world. It is where magic comes from, where dreams are known, where the dead return. I was chosen to be its god, until my time ends, as others before me were.

[ And, with absolutely no transition- ]

Is the wolf pregnant?

[raavashing]

She is.

[Wan answered easily as he continued his careful touch.]

Four weeks at least. Maybe six. It will be a few weeks before she gives birth. No later then the end of next month, though.

[And it wasn't surprising that she was so willing to lay up against him. She needed the warmth to combat the severe second winter. Her pack had probably been huddling close to keep her warm before the light of the fire drew them.]

You're the first god I've ever met, I think. My world doesn't have any.

[extramural]

Can you tell how many?

[ He is idly curious, not terribly invested but bored enough to ask. ]

My world does not always have them, either.

[raavashing]

[He shook his head.]

Not really. I never learned how to count them by touch. Mostly I'm going by how swollen her breasts are. She doesn't mind my hand being on or around her nipples, but she tenses up when my fingers get too low, where the babies sit inside her.

[The milk she was starting to produce and the extra weight was probably irritating enough that a light rub probably felt relaxing, anyway.]

What I mean is, my world doesn't have any gods. You are a god of your world and even if your world doesn't always have one around, it still has them. There have never been any gods in my world. The closest I think anyone in my world gets to that are the spirits. And even the most powerful are far from being gods.

[At least in terms of what he understood of gods. Which, admittedly, was not much.]

[extramural]

I see.

[ The Outsider really does seem interested -- he's seen and heard thousands of lives being born, but this is the first time he's ever seen a pregnant anything outside of his vantage point in the Void. ]

I am considered a spirit in my own world, as well -- the Spirit of the Deep. Perhaps it is not as clear across different worlds.

[raavashing]

In my world, I'm the bridge between humans and spirits.

[Wan shifted in his seat to pull his travel pack around to the other side of him. Where he could dig through it easily and pull out some jerked meat he'd tucked away. The female at his side lifted her head to follow his hand, but remained otherwise calm with his actions. The others in her pack also lifted their heads, ears perking forward as they started to catch the smell of the meat.

It wasn't a lot, but Wan knew he didn't need meat to survive and could find his own meals in the plants buried by the snow. He took his time tearing the large strips into smaller pieces and when he was done, offered a large handful to the pregnant wolf and tossed the rest toward the others. Though most of them had gotten comfortable, they all surged forward to get what they could of the offered meal.]

Most spirits live in the Spirit World, separated from the Material Plane where humans live. There are still some spirits in the Material Plane. They chose not to return to the Spirit World when I asked them to. Before I closed the portals between the worlds. Some of the spirits aren't able to return to Spirit World, either. Like the Moon and Ocean Spirits.

Is the Void of your world where spirits come from? Does your world have spirits other than you?

[extramural]

[ The Outsider doesn't eat, so he has no food with him. He only strokes the fire as needed, keeping an eye on the amount of wood left, on the moon and its passage through the sky. ]

The Void of my world is what created the world and what will destroy it. It is a realm of what men call magic, forces more powerful and strange than they are. It is where dreams come from and where the dead return to. A being such as the Roc, were we in our world, would either be a spirit or perhaps a mortal being that had been chosen by a representative of the Void such as myself. Most with extraordinarily powerful handles on magic are.

[ Most. ]

But he would be hunted down, were that the case. The Abbey teaches that all spirits wish to harm human life, though that is fueled by fear.

[raavashing]

[The Outsider might be surprised to find that the fire he stoked had barely eaten into the wood piled there, despite how long they'd been speaking. As though it was being fed by another source. Wan had been fine gathering wood, but he saw no reason to waste it while he was there. He could keep it going until he laid down to sleep once more. Then the fire would need the wood to sustain it.]

You spoke of the Abbey when we first met. They still sound a lot like the people of the city I grew up in. Teaching out of ignorance as well as their fear. From the way you speak, though, it sounds like they have a greater reach than just a single city.

[A pause as Wan lifted his head to the sky and his free hand returned to petting the female against his side.]

As for the Roc, in my world he would not be a spirit. A creature of some sort, but spirits don't do this kind of thing. Most spirits, anyway. Only the Spirit of Darkness and Chaos ignores the balance of nature the way the Roc has. Spirits are more embodiments of concepts and parts of nature. The largely don't interfere with the world save to protect nature from those that would bring it harm. Mostly humans. And creatures like the Roc.

...if I still had-

[He cut himself off and shook his head.]

If I still had the power I held in my world, I could speak to him and try to find a compromise for whatever is bringing his wrath upon the world.