Log:Ruminating on Rituals

Ruminating on Rituals
Etsy and Eckhart meet, and Rowan meets the mermaid too.
Participants Etsy, Eckhart, Rowan	18 October, 2017 Etsy and Eckhart chat, and later Rowan and Eckhart exchange tales of old rituals they've heard of.
Location Stoneheart
It's late into the evening when most normal people are asleep. Even the abnormal among them aren't usually up too late, but the Lost tend to differ in that regard. One of the city's newly reacquainted Lost is meandering about the Freehold's Hollow, largely exploring what he can save that which belongs to the various courts. Eckhart's dressed in a blue sweater and a pin symbolizing his closeness to Autumn, jeans, and boots that have already been a bit dirtied in his travels here. He makes his way to the Freehold's garden, whistling some haphazard tune while messing around with a pen he continuously twirls in his fingers. The mermaid is already in the garden; her tatty silk slippers are off and her long cotton skirt is hiked up. Etsy hasn't gotten in to the shallow pool in the Garden yet, but it's probably just a matter of time. Her feet have relaxed, and when a mermaid's feet relax? The metatarsals lengthen, turning each foot into half of what must have once been a tail. The siren's humming to herself, a melodic, poppy sort of thing. And then there's Eckhart, and Etsy pauses in her sweet siren song. One webbed hand comes up, waving tentatively. Her strong Spring mantle spreads out around her in a carpet of runner vines and tiny white star-flowers. Eckhart's mantle manifests as faint whispers that echo within his vicinity. Those ghastly murmurs begin to die out the nearer he draws to Etsy, and for a moment it surprises him. "Good evening," he says in a raspy tone and an accent that /just/ barely sounds like something local. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" The mermaid's Mantle is kind of a ridiculous thing. It's not Spring so much as SPRIIIIIING MOTHERFUCKERS. "It is an evening goodness," agrees Etsy, absently stirring the water with her tail. The white flowers in her hair -- water lilies -- shift and stir sas she winds a long black lock around her finger. "I do have an enjoyings. I do not have a knowing of you yet. Is one of the new members that Queen Whelan did an announcing of, is you?" Esther apparently doesn't so much speak the English language as lunge at it and viciously attack it. Etsy's initial response earns a blinking stare from the Elemental and then a slow nod. "Ah, yes. Wait. No. No. I'm not from when the Queen was announced. I'm from just before, but not by much." Eckhart moves sit on the floor for the time being, and runs a hand over the wispy tendrils that make up his hair. "I'm Eckhart Brightside. Autumn Court. No titles, thank God, but I just started reaching out a bit more with the Freehold." "Oh! Is a goodness. Am glads to having in a Freehold, to be sure." More stirring of the water, a little flip of her 'tail.' "Am an Esther Swift, a Sacred Courier, a Greenies and a Watchers, members of Adventure Time! motley, that names having an exclamation point, very much importants. Also no one is calling me Esther excepting Reggie, really. Everyone is having a calling me Etsy." Her webbed hands fold absently in her lap. "No titles reallies. Am happy just to do a thing, you know?" "Excalamation point," Eckhart echos, and reaffirms it with a nod.. "Got it. I'll also concede that Etsy is a bit easier to remember than Esther. I use Etsy a lot and..." His head tilts, curious for a beat. "Never mind that. I can understand that completely. For me, so long as I can exchange and gain knowledge and information as freely as I do now I'm as happy as I'll ever be. Except for when I lose things every now and again, but that is what it is." "Yes, name was not because of a websites. Is a nicknames someone gave me, and it had a stickings. Esther is not so hards to remember though. Is two Esthers in a Freehold of Fate's Harvest." Etsy picks up one of her hands and twists one of the locks of her hair around her forefinger again. It looks like salt's clinging to her hair. Not surprising, all things considered. "Are you having a losing of things all of the times, or only once and a whiles? I am forgetting of a things, but, am having a mrbls. Mrbl is my otter beast friend. Not like Reggies, who is an otter boyfriend. Mrbl does not like Reggies, but oh wells. What kind of knowledges is a favorites for Eckharts?" "Mrbls? Marbles? No, I haven't lost those. I think I haven't." Eckhart pauses, and begins tapping at his chin. "I may have lost physical marbles a few times. Most of it trinkets and things that aren't completely magical. As for my favored form of knowledge it's everything. Anything new to learn is worth my time, although I favor magick above all else - as I've been told is expected of me as an Autumn since I don't appear particularly scary. In fact it's part of why I came back here." "Ehm, no, mrbl is a names," explains Etsy, tipping her head slightly to the side. "Mrbl is a names of my hedgebeast otters, who is not heres right now, is asleeps underneath a table in the broken hearth. Silliness of otters." A little vague gesture with one hand. "You came back heres because you did not look very scaries?" "Oh! Hedge beasts. I haven't had the best track record with keeping them, and tend to let them live and exist as they choose. The few I have live within the confines of my Hollow, or occasionally outside." There's a wry laugh from Eckhart at the thought of owning a pet again. He's sitting on the ground, legs crossed, and hands in his lap at the moment. "Anyway, I came back because of magic. The lack of fear I present is a boon. Some times. It's allowed me to gain at least some manner of leeway with the seasonal courts, but that isn't saying much." "Is a goodness if you are having the right ones. If not, yes, leave them be. Mrbl does a helping but is also... " Etsy's eyes can't exactly roll -- her eyes are sea-change, currently a solid briny green, with no distinction between sclera, pupil and iris -- but there's sort of a feeling of rolling. "Oh, I am seeings. Do you have to be a scaries to be an Autumns?" Levi's sitting on the ground in the garden area, while Etsy -- her cotton dress's skirt hiked up to her thighs -- is sitting on the edge of the small pool. Her feet are in the pool, though currently the metatarsals are extended, making her feet look like, well. A tail. The shimmering skin on her legs, faintly patterned like scales, doesn't hurt the look, either. Etsy's ridiculous Spring Mantle spreads out around her in green running vines, tiny white star-flowers, and the vague scent of a Spring morning at the beach: clean and crisp and salty. In strides Rowan, looking, as usual, slightly disappointed when no fanfare or applause coincides with her entrance. Instead, she contents herself with heading toward the pair chatting about hedge creatures. She raises a hand in greeting, calling out in her thick Irish accent, "Hiya! How are yous doing today?" Etsy gets an especial moment of interest, as Rowan adds, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Rowan. A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure." Eckhart turns to give Rowan a brief wave. "I'm doing as well as I ever will, and am thankful for it." Then he turns back to Etsy, and wobbles his hand in response. "I personally believe you have to have an understanding of fear like you do yourself, but not everybody is cut out to scare other people or the humans. I prefer to get a bit of help when I have to scare them, and fear does have its uses like everything else." "Hellos!" Etsy chirrups, stirring the water with her feet. She takes said tail... feet... whatever... out of the water and shakes them before slipping them into the tatty silk slippers which sit by the pool's edge. THe things look like they're about to fall apart any second, but, when her feet fold up into vaguely foot-shaped things, at least they fit. That can't be comfortable. "It is good to have a meetings of you, Rowans. Am an Esther Swift, a Sacred Courier, a Greenies and a Watchers, members of Adventure Time! motley, that names having an exclamation point, very much importants, as I am telling Eckharts a little bit befores. Also no one is calling me Esther excepting Reggies and sometimes Nathanias, really. Everyone is having a calling me Etsy." She rises to her feet, which rest lightly on the ground. Separation, it's a thing. A small smile to Eckhart. "Fear is a goodness to haves, to understands. I do agrees, though I am made of wantings." A siren would be, after all. "Is getting to a lateness, though, should go homes before a Reggie gets to have a worries. I do not want that much." Rowan arches an eyebrow at the conversation, but focuses first on Etsy, "Ah, seems to be the motley of the hour, that one. It's nice to meet you, Etsy." She gives a nod as the woman excuses herself, "Hope to meet you again. You have a good evening." Turning to Eckhart, she wonders, "What sort of help do you need to scare people? You seem like the sort who could do a fine job of it on your own, if you set your mind to it." Eckhart bows his head as Etsy announces her departure, and he smiles briefly. "It was a pleasaure meeting you, Etsy. And-" He looks over to Rowan and then back to Etsy. "Oh! Right. I met one of your Motley before, Calm, I think it was." He offers up a shrug then. "I'm no longer in any kind of business of hurting people, and for some people the scary face isn't enough. However, that's what I go to my invisible friends for from time to time." She was about to leave, but then Etsy pauses, querying, "Who else of an Adventure Time! did you have a meets? Are all so much wonderfuls, motley friends of mine." Of course she would think so. It's only a pause on the way out the door, but she needs to know! When Eckhart mentions Calm, Etsy smiles broadly -- no teeth show, but it's a broad, genuine smile all the same. Everyone smiles so happily about their motley's creepy proto-Gentry void person, OBVIOUSLY. "Calm is a niceness, for certains." Rowan nods, "Yes, the woman of darkness, and the giant...otter?" She shrugs, not very good with getting her sea creatures right, "Very helpful woman. I've heard her meals are something worth seeking out." She grins at Etsy and nods, "Seems to be a big bunch of you." Turning back to Eckhart Rowan furrows her brow in confusion, "Invisible friends?" "Oh! No, ReginA is not an otters, she is a leopard seals. ReginALD, Reggie, HE is an otters." Well OBVIOUSLY, I mean who could mess up the seal vs the otter when they're Regina and Reginald? Sheesh! "Reggies also not giants. Average heighted. Regina is giants lady. And Reggie is Golden Standards while Regina is Knight of Knowledges of Tongues." Oh, she rambles. "We are not so manys. Calms, Lumis, Billy Rays, Regina, Reggies, and myselfs. Not so manies. Anyways, is invites to a dinners at Lazy Otter Downs, definitely. Regina loves to do a cooks. But should go. Goodbyes and nice meets!" Etsy floofs away, a little bit of pretty detritus on the currents of life. Or something like that. Etsy goes home. Eckhart waves Etsy upon her egress from the garden, and then turns a bit in his seat on the ground to face Rowan. "Yeah, invisible friends. Spirits, mainly. Ghosts as well, although I find myself wanting to help them more than they've helped me." He shrugs. "I suppose I have a soft spot for the dead, but I've never thought to deeply on it. A shame they can't really come here. Some of them might quite like it." Rowan considers that, then grins, "Ah well, I think if I was to meet any ghosties or ghoulies I'd be eager to see them shufflin' off the last bits of this mortal coil so they can't be spookin' anyone anymore, to be honest. But it seems to me if they're dead like, they've already had their chance at this world. Wouldn't want to be helping someone be extra greedy with a second go around, no would you?" She shrugs and settles in to a spot on the ground, folding her leds under her neatly. "Then, I don't know much about ghosts and spirits, I'm afraid." "It's rather interesting the first time, and there's many things they can teach you. Well, maybe not literally you." Eckhart's gaze narrows, and he grows ever more curious. "I don't particularly know what you know now that I think about it, but that's not too important right now. As for the second go, some do want that. Meet a loved one, visit a place, or ride me to do something they wanted to do while living. It hasn't been too bad. Mostly." Rowan laughs at the non-question, waving a hand as if it is, in fact, not all that important, "I do this and that. Help where I can in what ways I can." She shrugs and offers a grin, eyes narrowing in curiousity, "Ride you? Damn, that sounds a bit mad, if you ask me. But I suppose if it helps you both, more power to you." She shrugs and leans back, then asks, "So, you planning to do something proper frightening for Halloween, or is that a bit cliche?" "The riding isn't as bad, depending on the circumstances. Except for the time one took me to the top of his old home, and set fire to it." Eckhart sports a wry grin, and admits, "I'm not the slightest bit ashamed of my own fears, but I swear I was scared of fire for a month after that." He shakes his head, happy to move on. "I was thinking of something for Halloween, but not to scare anyone know. I'm going to do a ritual I picked up from Ireland a few decades a go, although I've changed things depending on where I am and the spirits I'm interacting with." Rowan wrinkles her nose at the mention of rituals from her homeland. "Ah, well, I wouldn't know about any Irish rituals. At least none worth repeating." She can't help but ask, though somewhat reluctantly, "What sort of ritual is it? And how do you intend to alter it for this lovely location?" "I mean no offense in it. I'm used to handling things on my own, and work from there. Be it having to search for some artifact in the Hedge or Shadow, researching, or trying to find things I may have lost. But-" Eckhart pauses for a moment, and chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment of thought. "If I tell you, can you tell me one of those rituals not worth repeating?" Rowan shrugs reluctantly, "Eh...I suppose? I mean," and suddenly she sits a bit straighter, putting on a tone like she's giving a lecture, "Celtic myths are full of mad things. The Irish are mad for summoning things and banishing things and making shite deals with things. The Welsh are a very close second, mind, but they went a bit civilized much earlier than the Irish, if you ask me." She shrugs and smiles a bit, "So you can pick your poison, I suppose, though I don't make any guaruntees they would work, and double down on the lack of guaruntee that they /won't/ work, if you're mad enough to try 'em." "I've made my fair share of deals with the devil in my life. Devils, as it were." Eckhart lifts his left hand then, a collection of thistle and thorn shaped into what should be relatively normal with a hole dead in its center. He drops his hand then, and simply shrugs. "That said, I can't guarantee that I wouldn't try them, but I promise not to think about trying them for a while. Maybe even a week." Rowan laughs a bit at that and nods, "Well, so long as you're clear that it's purely speculative, and could end up with you staring down one of the Fair Folk if it /does/ work, and in either case it's no fault of mine, I'm fne with you taking whatever risks you like with your own life." "Excellent," Eckhart exclaims with a clap. He rubs his hands together then, and hums as he searches for the right words. "The fair folk as they know them was something I learned about a bit, and it was somewhat unsettling, I'll concede. But here I am, ephemera at all, and there's obviously some truth to some of those faerie tales. What I learned were a few things of Hop tu Naa. The most important thing I was told about was the singing, but you've heard how I sound." He clears his throat, seemingly out of mild embarrassment. "It isn't the most pleasant thing in the world. The other was looking towards and at the future. Various things for soothsaying and the like, not too different from what some of us as Lost already know and do. I take a lantern and go to either world. Singing, but things and hymns my mother taught me ages ago. When done I take the lantern and what fire it still holds, burn something symbolic of what I want to see in the future, and read the ashes as best I can." Rowan arches an eyebrow, wondering, "And does that work for ye?" She sounds mildly skeptical, but more curious and entranced by the possibility. "Sounds like a bit of a lark, really. Like something a hob would tell ya if he was takin' the piss. But," she holds up a hand, "I don't know much about that sort of thing, as I say. And if you've had it work, then I'll believe it." "It doesn't really work, no. Just like the dreams my cohorts and I often receive it isn't as easy to discern such things. However, I am here and I was able to arive without harm to my persons. Even if it isn't why I got here fine it's nice to have something of a habit of my own." The admittance is followed by a chuckle, and a soft shake of his head. "I've picked up a lot from the places I've been, and it's been something to fill in the gap of what I became. Now, it's your turn." Rowan nods slightly at that, grinning at the admission that it doesn't, in fact work, but seeming to sympathise with the sentiments the Autumn expresses. When he turns the tables though, she sobers a bit, seeming uncomfortable as she shifts in her seat and bites her lip, pondering for a long moment. But then she shrugs and reminds, "You've agreed to all the disclaimers, don't forget. Not my monkeys, not my circus, /not/ my fault." After a pause to stare hard at him until she's satisfied at his agreement of these terms, she says, "There was a ritual I heard of, it's...a bit rough, really. But basically, it's a Spring celebration. For Beltaine," she takes a breathe and says, "Everyone knows the fire ceremonies and like, bonfires and hopping through them to purify and such. But there's an old ritual, supposed to bring out the fire in folks, get them ready for some spring rutting, if you know what I mean. Someone is designated the Oak King, in the stories the Druids or what have you are the ones to decide, but I'd bet it's some scryer or tree folk," she waves to her own bark-like skin. "Anyway, at midnight on May day, the Oak King is sacrificed, and his heart and genetals thrown into the fire, a sacrifice to the Old Gods, and meant to create fertility around all the lands, for people, animals and the land itself. Supposed to send folks into a real wild, uncontrollable frenzy. Some stories even say it brings out the Fair Folk, and they're known to molest women-folk and take away their favorites." This seems to be the lot of it. She wrinkles her nose and shakes her head, "Don't know if it's a true one. Read it in a book, like. But I wouldn't say it's /not/ true. And definitely one I'd not suggest trying, if you're smart." Eckhart's brow arches as the story unfolds. As things get even wilder his eyes widen until Rowan mentions what becomes of the Oak King, and he's left to be torn between laughter and surprise. Instead of saying a word he slowly nods until Rowan is finished. "That took three turns I wasn't completely expecting, but it is an interesting tale to say the least. Would you happen to still have that book, and if you do would you be willing to sell or trade for it?" Rowan beams at that, seeming pleased to have told a good story, if nothing else. "Ah well, as you say, probably just a good story. Bet some Autumn cooked it up to bring a bit of the frights to the Spring parties, yeah?" She winks and leans back, relaxing just a bit as she assumes he's taking the information with a grain os salt...At least until he asks about the book. She shakes her head, "Nah," she offers with a frown, "Don't have many books, really. I live in a van. Not much space for a reading room like." She leans in and says, "But I might be willing to go and fetch it for ya, or take you to it leastwise, if you're interested in a trade." Eckhart debates that internally for only a moment before he's smiling agian. "Whichever works for you works for me since I'd get the book either way, and I'd be happy to trade for it. Especially after that story. I'd love to pore over something like that, or at least add it to my collection." Rowan slaps her knee, then reaches out her slim hand to Eckhart, "A deal then. One book of nasty rituals in trade for...?" She trails off, looking to Eckhart expectantly, waiting for him to propose his own half of the deal. "I've never been the best at brokering a deal," Eckhart admits as he reaches out with his own hand. "So, what do you want in return for it? Since you live in a van would it be gas?" He narrows his eyes as he awaits a response, and he hastily adds, "Or is it a thing for car fresheners?" Rowan chuckles, shaking her head, "Like for like, I'd say. I'll give you a book full of spooky stories and forbidden rituals, and you can give me something similar in return, yeah? Sounds like you're a collector of the weird and unusual." "Like for like?" This draws a bit of concern from Eckhart. He draws back his hand for just a moment, but doesn't pull completely away just yet. "What about something else? Money, perhaps?" His last is asked with a crooked grin. Rowan pulls a face of pure distain. "Money? Ah, fer fucks sake," she employs the Irish ability to turn the word 'fuck' into a thing of deeply articulate magic. In this case, being entirely evocative of the most egregious insult. "Do I look like some bloody mercenary? Besides, for us like it's too easy to come by money for that to be a proper offer. What about..." She considers, then shrugs, "Some little bit of knowledge. True and workable knowledge worth having. Or some bauble or trick you've learned in all your Autumn curiousity. Or precisely eye for an eye, if you like. One book of knowledge for another. I'm a reasonable woman, sir, but I'll not be risking my own life and limb for /money/." "There was a hope," Eckhart concedes with a sigh. "Alright, alright. I'll show you some of what I've learned, and even take you to one of the realms invisible. But, I wasn't expecting that retrieving the book would risk your well-being." He extends his arm once more, his eyes seeking hers. "It's a deal if you're fine with that." Indeed, she does seem fine with it, the agrieved air dropping from her like an old cloak as she smiles a cheerful grin once more and reaches out to shake Eckhart's hand. "Grand. A deal it is, my friend. I can't say how soon it'll be, but you'llhave your book for sure. And if you want to come along, then just you let me know and I'll make the arrangements, but I got this." Eckhart nods, and then shakes her hand with a firm grip. His mantly briefly flares, manifesting as hushed whispers heard here and there around him. "A deal it is," he says when he draws his hand back. "And I'd like to go with you. If it's all the same to you I'd rather not chance your death or harm hanging over my head in a Freehold I've damn near recently joined." Rowan laughs and nods, "Fair enough then." She stands in one graceful movement and offers a little teasing bow. "And with that deal made, I'm afraid I must be off. I'll keep you informed of the plans. It was a pleasure chatting with you."