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The Lands of the River - A Bronze Souls Quest

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triumph8w said:
Not really sure what to be introspective about, tbh. Maybe about where the people are? Or something to do with sorcery and the moon.
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You can also use it for self-reflection! Questions about yourself, like the one you voted last time. There's still a lot you don't remember, and Introspection is a way to find some of it out without having to wait for something to jog your memory.
 
[X] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.
[X] Introspection: Where were you from? This is seemingly an unfamiliar place, but the river almost certainly leads back home, somewhere. Where might you find someone who knew you?
 
[X] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.
[X] Introspection: We're about to meet people. What are the duties of a Moon Priest to their community, above and beyond your promise to the ferrymaiden?
 
[x] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.
[x] Introspection: We're about to meet people. What are the duties of a Moon Priest to their community, above and beyond your promise to the ferrymaiden?
 
[X] Up the hill toward the shrine, where the icons of Satat-Mehet's ancient rival stand triumphant.
[X] Introspection: Where were you from? This is seemingly an unfamiliar place, but the river almost certainly leads back home, somewhere. Where might you find someone who knew you?
 
[x] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.
[x] Introspection: We're about to meet people. What are the duties of a Moon Priest to their community, above and beyond your promise to the ferrymaiden?
 
[x] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.
[x] Introspection: We're about to meet people. What are the duties of a Moon Priest to their community, above and beyond your promise to the ferrymaiden?
 
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0-7: No Rest for the Dead
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Along the river toward the village, where the Living presumably cling on.​

    You turned to follow the river. The shrine could wait, your duty was first to the Living. Right. Your duty…

    [x] Introspection: We're about to meet people. What are the duties of a Moon Priest to their community, above and beyond your promise to the ferrymaiden?
    {Recollection: Success}
    You were a priest of Imunhekau, God of the Moon, secrets, change and transformation, guide to the lost. Where other priesthoods oversee the regular procession of that which is and will be, you were there for all the times, and people, that did not fit the pattern. Wherever there is an inconvenient edge case, an exception that disproves a rule, there is Imunhekau.

    You were a walking reminder that the world was more complicated than it appeared. As a representative of the God of change and edges you were expected to dress the part; the robes divided into light and dark sides, the hair worn long on one side and shaven on the other, as Imunhekau is both female and male, both and neither. You wore an earring that declared your own inclination; many priests did, though some would switch which side they wore it as the mood took them. You habitually wore yours on the 'feminine' side, but most would still address you in the neutral terms of your office.

    If there was a routine to your duties at all, it was in being there for those passing through the phases of life. Tending to injuries of the soul, or the mind. Helping those who saw too clearly, who saw the infinite complexity between the cracks of a simple world.
    {+1 Culture}​

    …of course, that was when Life flowed as it should. Now the ancient order of things is breaking down, and when the old rituals fail, some people may look to you to show them a new way. To guide them to the change that could mean survival.

    No pressure.

    Introspection Complete!
    [ ] Introspection: Write In.

    You can see a village ahead now, and you realise you have arrived at the fields that are still worked, because a man is trying to dig out an irrigation channel. He glances up from the ditch at you and bends to his work again. He is wearing only a simple linen skirt, and looks far too emaciated to be capable of the hard labour he's doing.

    "Gods keep you, Wise One. Forgive me if I don't stop." He shifts some more soil, and you realise that he stopped breathing as soon as he stopped talking.

    Wait, have you been breathing? You hadn't thought about it.
    …apparently not.

    "What brings you all the way down here? I don't suppose you're here to herald some changes for the better, are you? We've had more than our fill of the other sort."

    What should you say? You hoped to find someone and you have, even if he's Dead. So what, so are you. There's presumably Living people around though, or what's he doing this for? The Dead don't need to eat.
    [ ] Write in.

    {Key Item Gained: Pronouns} I was going to wait and see how long it took for anyone to ask about those :V, but it would be unfair to explain the cultural context of a priest of the moon and not tell you.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"
     
    [X] Introspection: Where is your home? Who are your people? Do you know? Do you care?
    [X] I hope to be the change for the better, gods will. You spoke of those who wish otherwise. What's their nature?
     
    [X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"
     
    [X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"

    This looks good!
     
    [X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"
     
    [X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"
     
    X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"
     
    [X] Introspection: From where does the River find it's headwaters? From where is it's Source? Do you know?
    [X] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?"
     
    [x] Introspection: You wear your earring on the feminine side by habit. Do you feel any different about that now than when you were alive? How strongly did you prefer a feminine presentation before all this?

    Alternatively
    [x] Introspection: The priests of Imunhekau are expected to present as gynandromorphs, and you had an inclination towards the feminine side. That would presumably mean your name was either gender neutral or feminine, right? Maybe thinking on this will trigger your memory...
     
    0-8: Death and Taxes
  • Threadmarks
    • [x] Raise a hand in greeting. "Ho, friend, I have been charged with great purpose! The Cycle of the Waters has been disrupted and I aim to find out why, and perhaps undo it. What then is your purpose here?" ...Okay, maybe a little less formal than that, read the room. Field. Ditch.​

    "I have been charged‒" You decide not to say who by; you're pretty sure you'd never heard the name Rekhet until today, so you doubt a peasant farmer will have. "‒to seek the cause of the drought, and restore the waters of Life."

    He stops and gives you an appraising look, eyes drawn to the feather in your hair. "Well, that'd be a change for the better, right enough. Many before ye've tried, mind."

    [x] Introspection: From whence flow the River's headwaters? Where is its Source? Do you know?
    You imagine just how many there might be, along the length of the River. What might they have tried, and failed, already? From the northern shores where you began, all the way to the southern edge of the world, beyond the Upper Kingdom, where the sacred mountains of Mehet rise to meet the sky. You hope you won't have to travel the entire length of the world in your quest. Or worse, do so and have to turn back because you missed something along the way.

    You shy away from contemplating the vastness of the world. The big picture is made up of little details; focus on those. If you're going to do this, you need to do it one step at a time.

    [ ] Introspection: Write In.​

    You can't help asking; "And what are you doing here? What use has a Dead man for the harvest?"

    Reminded, he bends to his digging again. "To feed his family, and pay his taxes, same as in living. Aye, and we're still taxed the same as when the land was living, for there's two famines upon the delta these days, sands take him!"

    "Him?" This might be a lead…

    "The Tax Collector! There's little enough water in these parts anymore, so he squeezes out his dues in blood. There's more Dead working the fields than Living now, to feed his damned stockpiles. We petitioned the king, but there's war in the south, they say, and he's not hearing petitioners." His anger has burned down into resignation. "I work every hour Banut sends, and between taxes and bandits and the dying earth it's all I can do to feed my children, and offer a few grains to the Gods." He gestures toward the hilltop shrine, its little obelisks gleaming in the afternoon sun.

    You realise the man is withering before your eyes; you can see the strength leaving him with every blow.

    What do you do? You may vote for more than one thing to do so long as they're not mutually exclusive, and discuss longer-term plans.
    [ ] Write In.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Part of me wants to go to the Shrine, another wants me to offer this poor mummy a drink
     
    [X] Introspection: Where is your home? Who are your people? Do you know? Do you care?
    (Still interested in this)
    [X] Give the man a drink from ye flask. It won't solve the root issue, but it would alleviate the pain. Small steps.
    [X] We need to gather more information. From this man and others in the community. Already we've heard about bandits, capricious gods, the tax collector and war. We need to complete the picture in our head and locate clear leads we can follow, from small to big. Then probably murder a lot of people when they inevitably refuse to give up power brought with misery.
     
    [X] Introspection: Where is your home? Who are your people? Do you know? Do you care?
    [X] Give the man a drink from ye flask. It won't solve the root issue, but it would alleviate the pain. Small steps.
    [X] We need to gather more information. From this man and others in the community. Already we've heard about bandits, capricious gods, the tax collector and war. We need to complete the picture in our head and locate clear leads we can follow, from small to big. Then probably murder a lot of people when they inevitably refuse to give up power brought with misery.
     
    [X] Introspection: Where is your home? Who are your people? Do you know? Do you care?
    [X] Give the man a drink from ye flask. It won't solve the root issue, but it would alleviate the pain. Small steps.
    [X] We need to gather more information. From this man and others in the community. Already we've heard about bandits, capricious gods, the tax collector and war. We need to complete the picture in our head and locate clear leads we can follow, from small to big. Then probably murder a lot of people when they inevitably refuse to give up power brought with misery.
     
    [X] Introspection: Where is your home? Who are your people? Do you know? Do you care?
    [X] Give the man a drink from ye flask. It won't solve the root issue, but it would alleviate the pain. Small steps.
    [X] We need to gather more information. From this man and others in the community. Already we've heard about bandits, capricious gods, the tax collector and war. We need to complete the picture in our head and locate clear leads we can follow, from small to big. Then probably murder a lot of people when they inevitably refuse to give up power brought with misery.
     
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