[It's rather unfortunate that a campout has to end without people being able to sleep over, right?
Still feeling the phantom warmth from the drinks and the fire, Cantarella sinks into the very real warmth of the branch-shielded spring, catching some snow on her cupped palm. Though she isn't actually lighting up with anything supernatural, she does seem to glow in the darkness, a floating light deep beneath the sea.]
Not ready to turn in just yet? There's no campfire, but there's still time for scary stories in the dark.
[Said very friendly, but just a little weird...like most things out of her mouth.]
[Pinocchio's already in here, looking a bit comedic in all honesty — just sitting in one of the larger springs, mostly feeling the warmth than relaxing in it, still as a statue. Is this a clever idea, guy who comes from a canon where Overheat is an actual status effect?
Well. It's not that warm, at least.
He blinks, offering her small grin when she sinks in, while wondering at her glow. She's quite ethereal, he thinks; once more, Cantarella reminds him of Sophia, and that alone is a bit of a comfort.
Even if she does offer... "scary stories"?]
No, I'm not really tired. But... do you have scary stories to tell? [Leans forward, clearly interested.]
Oh, quite a few of them. [She relaxes against the rock wall of the hot spring, her arm sprawled out across the back of it. Cantarella's eyes close for a moment, and when she opens them again, they are like two dark sapphires at the bottom of the ocean, flanked by the glitter dusting her lids.] Some of them are even true.
[Certainly a spooky vibe to set the tone for the night, but a bright and safe one. It's like the trappings of an elaborate haunted house, as inviting as it is unsettling.]
Though I'm afraid I can't offer you a gem-blooming flower in repayment.
[Not fighting the blue fairy allegations, Cantarella.]
It's okay. [He says it suddenly, blinking a little, as if it might've been rude to expect "repayment" anyway; he just wants to hear the tale.] The story is "payment" enough. I like hearing tales like that, even if they're scary.
[He lives in his own version of a horror tale, after all. What's one more?]
[A lot of exchanges have happened these past two weeks in the form of trade. For tasks, for knowledge, for the sake of finding out who holds a missing piece. Cantarella is used to cutting deals—it comes with being someone in her position as head of a major family—but even she has to realize, at his quick reassurance, that there hasn't been much time where talking has just felt like talking.]
Even the most fantastical stories have a shadow of truth within them. What would you like to learn tonight? [Her palm lifts from the spring, steam and water trailing through the gaps in her fingers.] I think I have a good one about purpose in my pocket.
A noble aspiration. [She seems pleased to hear that P is looking for his own meaning in that way.] Then, I will tell you what I know of the girl Cartethyia.
Solaris is a much different place from this one, or perhaps from any other, but from where I'm from, Rinascita, the Divine Sentinel Imperator and the destructive Threonodian, Leviathan, stood in opposition for centuries. Imperator's power is to split and manipulate space, and Leviathan's is to merge and assimilate. When Leviathan overcome the Sentinel by assimilating it, so too did the faith and civilization of Rinascita become assimilated. [She isn't terrible at distilling the very basics into a tale, but the nuances are clearly flattened for the sake of the story.]
A Sentinel may have one Resonator, a human who is chosen to share Their power and represents Their bearing on the earth. So thought the Threnodian, I will make a Resonator to do my bidding, and Cartheyia was "born," believing the purpose of her life was to serve the Sentinel.
[She pauses, since the preamble for the story is quite long, with a lot of history that will be foreign to him...and because, given what he's said to her, it may strike a nerve.]
[What powers, though. To split and manipulate, to merge and assimilate. That power is god-like, indeed.
Pinocchio listens intently. A little wide-eyed, clearly invested already.]
And... so, did she? Serve Them.
[It is a familiar story, being created, made to serve a master. A parent. A Father. But it does not strike a nerve, so much as it wiggles its way close to his heart, and he wishes to know how this played out for someone else who found themselves in a Similar Situation.]
EVERYTHING HAPPENS SO MUCH i feel like i didn't get nearly enough jen this game...shucks
Yes, she did...more than you might even believe. The Order of the Deep, who control all matters of faith in Rinascita, welcomed the young girl, who rose through the ranks as an acolyte and was given the name "Fleurdelys" for her exceptional service. As Blessed Maiden, she was finally upraised as the Sentinel's one and only Resonator.
It was on that day of rejoicing, the day of her coronation, when she was at the height of her glory, that she learned the truth, as a dark tide descended upon the girl and her country.
[Hopefully, P can trust that while there are several unfamiliar names and terms presented here, they've been pared down to their most accessible of shapes. The Divine. The Darkness. The Church. A young girl. Cantarella folds her hands in front of her as if in supplication.]
Can you imagine what that must have been like? I scarcely can. To have built up all of you until that moment and realized that your entire life and all you sacrificed for had been untrue and that you were the element of deception all along?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
w2 wednesday, post-event
Still feeling the phantom warmth from the drinks and the fire, Cantarella sinks into the very real warmth of the branch-shielded spring, catching some snow on her cupped palm. Though she isn't actually lighting up with anything supernatural, she does seem to glow in the darkness, a floating light deep beneath the sea.]
Not ready to turn in just yet? There's no campfire, but there's still time for scary stories in the dark.
[Said very friendly, but just a little weird...like most things out of her mouth.]
no subject
Well. It's not that warm, at least.
He blinks, offering her small grin when she sinks in, while wondering at her glow. She's quite ethereal, he thinks; once more, Cantarella reminds him of Sophia, and that alone is a bit of a comfort.
Even if she does offer... "scary stories"?]
No, I'm not really tired. But... do you have scary stories to tell? [Leans forward, clearly interested.]
no subject
[Certainly a spooky vibe to set the tone for the night, but a bright and safe one. It's like the trappings of an elaborate haunted house, as inviting as it is unsettling.]
Though I'm afraid I can't offer you a gem-blooming flower in repayment.
no subject
It's okay. [He says it suddenly, blinking a little, as if it might've been rude to expect "repayment" anyway; he just wants to hear the tale.] The story is "payment" enough. I like hearing tales like that, even if they're scary.
[He lives in his own version of a horror tale, after all. What's one more?]
You can always learn something from them.
no subject
Even the most fantastical stories have a shadow of truth within them. What would you like to learn tonight? [Her palm lifts from the spring, steam and water trailing through the gaps in her fingers.] I think I have a good one about purpose in my pocket.
no subject
I think... I would like to hear that one.
[For reasons. ...For reasons he just doesn't mind talking about, actually:]
As a puppet, I only ever followed orders that my father gave me. Now, I think I'd like to find a new one.
[And surely a scary tale will be an uplifting one purpose, right!]
me, a fool, like every time: hi jen do you want some lore. i'm so sorry
Solaris is a much different place from this one, or perhaps from any other, but from where I'm from, Rinascita, the Divine Sentinel Imperator and the destructive Threonodian, Leviathan, stood in opposition for centuries. Imperator's power is to split and manipulate space, and Leviathan's is to merge and assimilate. When Leviathan overcome the Sentinel by assimilating it, so too did the faith and civilization of Rinascita become assimilated. [She isn't terrible at distilling the very basics into a tale, but the nuances are clearly flattened for the sake of the story.]
A Sentinel may have one Resonator, a human who is chosen to share Their power and represents Their bearing on the earth. So thought the Threnodian, I will make a Resonator to do my bidding, and Cartheyia was "born," believing the purpose of her life was to serve the Sentinel.
[She pauses, since the preamble for the story is quite long, with a lot of history that will be foreign to him...and because, given what he's said to her, it may strike a nerve.]
EATS IT UP!!!
Pinocchio listens intently. A little wide-eyed, clearly invested already.]
And... so, did she? Serve Them.
[It is a familiar story, being created, made to serve a master. A parent. A Father. But it does not strike a nerve, so much as it wiggles its way close to his heart, and he wishes to know how this played out for someone else who found themselves in a Similar Situation.]
EVERYTHING HAPPENS SO MUCH i feel like i didn't get nearly enough jen this game...shucks
It was on that day of rejoicing, the day of her coronation, when she was at the height of her glory, that she learned the truth, as a dark tide descended upon the girl and her country.
[Hopefully, P can trust that while there are several unfamiliar names and terms presented here, they've been pared down to their most accessible of shapes. The Divine. The Darkness. The Church. A young girl. Cantarella folds her hands in front of her as if in supplication.]
Can you imagine what that must have been like? I scarcely can. To have built up all of you until that moment and realized that your entire life and all you sacrificed for had been untrue and that you were the element of deception all along?