Completed A Silent Prayer To My Gods

Lani's pays respects to her God, Aquiras and prays to Priskil for the first time

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Center of scholarly knowledge and shipwrighting, Zeltiva is a port city unlike any other in Mizahar. [Lore]

A Silent Prayer To My Gods

Postby Lani Stranger on April 10th, 2014, 12:49 am

5th of Spring 514AV

It was near dusk when Lani was finally able to settle down. She had bought the bare minimum of things she needed to worship her Godly father with. She had also gotten officially settled in the student dormitories, which didn't take long considering how little she had to put away. She wasn't much of a clean freak, but she liked her things organized.

She had left her boots at home this time, her hands occupied by something else. A simple ceramic bowl that rested ontop of R'yse's book. In the bowl were some nevessry supplies for her ritual and some odities that were important to her, including a dried and pressed flower that she brought from the spires. All te things she held were a lot, but most of them fit in her bowl, so all she carried really was a bowl of miscellaneous things and a book. But everything had meaning to her. That was the point of her worship. Each object meant something to her before, during and after her travel to Zeltiva. She would give part of her soul to Aquiras as she did each time she performed her rituals. If only my simple soul could raise him. If only . . . Lani tried to push the depressing thoughts from her head. This was not the time to mourn her great God. Instead she would thank him and rejoice in the fact that he was alive for her to worship.

The cool spring night whipped her hair back with a sudden gust of wind and Lani noticed, for the first time, the birds singing. She had never thought they sang at night, or she didn't pay enough attention. Her black eyes scanned the streets, the city was still very active, which was nice, and a bit odd. She had not worshipped in sight of others before. It was going to be a new experience.

It wasn't that public worship was rare, there were temples scattered everywhere, devoted to various Gods and Goddesses. And those who didn't have temples had shrines. But Lani had never seen someone openly worship Aquiras, and as far as she knew she was going to be one of the rarities that did so. As her feet fell upon the packed dirt of the Mirahil pass, Lani slowed. This was where she entered and so this is where she would host her ritual.

A cluster of boulders held the edge of a meadow that clung to the treeline. The hills were beginning to turn to mountains, the steep slopes yielding more trees. Lani stooped next to a tree, decided that the dirt patch next to it's roots would be her temporary altar. Lani set the bowl to the side, and glanced around for a twig. After selecting a sturdy looking stick, Lani began drawing in the dirt. A simple wheel was her pallet today. She flicked a few acorns and pebbled from her dirt-patch, to look at her drawing. It was a rather large wheel, with simple spokes down the middle for the sturdy wheel of a wagon. She figured this would represent travel, as she had gotten to Zeltiva in a caravan, which was moved by wheels. Lani's symbolism was crude, but she didn't know another symbol to give her God. R'yse had never told her of one and she hadn't found one. Lani gently pulled her things out of the bowl, preparing for her ritual. She had two regular candles and one scented candle. It was a thick incense that Lani didn't recognize, but loved the smell of. It had little meaning to Aquiras himself, but it was pleasant on her senses and so Lani chose it for her binding.

She set the two regular candles on each side of the wheel, digging the butt into the ground a bit so that they would stay, and set the scented one aside. With some trouble, Lani attempted to light one with flint and steel. It had always been a particularly hard job for her, she couldnt get the sparks to catch on the wick. Once they finally did, Lani used that candle to light the other, but did not light the scented one. Not yet.

She set the flint and steel beside her, it wasn't needed any longer. She then took out the book. The binding wasn't particularly worn and it was only half full with words, but it was as holy of a thing she was going to get until she could find someone to make her a symbol. She propped the book on the tree so that the cover faced her. Satisfied that it was straight, Lani pulled a flower from the Spires out. It was remarkably special to her. Her simple parting gift from Quett before she left. It didn't look as if it could mean much, but the gesture it represented was by far the kindest she'd ever received. The idea of burning the precious flower sobered her. It was for Aquiras, it had to be something that meant something to her, and this simple pink flower did. Silently wishing goodbye to Quett's parting gift, she placed the flower in the center of the wheel.

Next, a simple wooden block was placed in the wheel. She had sprang over a bell yesterday carving the crude thing. It was a crooked square with a squashed 'L' in the center for her name. The project was a representation of what she believed was to come in Zeltiva. It showed her progression in her studies, and though it meant little to her, it was a symbol of the future, of what she wished to achieve here in Zeltiva. There was a folded piece of parchment that Lani pulled from the bowl next. When she had unfolded it and smooth it out, it was the map of Zeltiva. It was a pity to burn this cartographer's good work, but it was worth it. He would make more, Zeltiva's features were not likely to change anytime soon. Lani opened the top of her ink, dipping the quill in the black ooz. Gently and smoothly she found the University, setting the quill on the paper. She had studied the map a bit prior to her ritual to know where her dorm was in order to do this. Lani pulling a thin circle of ink around a small dorm building where she resided. Then she found the Mirahil pass entrance and placed a cube around it. The circle represented where she lived currently, and the square showed Aquiras where she entered and was placing her ritual.

Blowing on the ink for it to dry, Lani folded the map back into a cube and placed it in the wheel as well. The candle light showed her face on her work and Lani moved her legs so that she was resting on her knees and no longer crouching. She let her head fall back, looking up through the trees into what was left of the day. The sun was in its last ticks of setting and the moon would soon reign over the skies. It was truly a beautiful night. Lani let her eyes flutter closed, an unofficial thanks to Aquiras for delivering her safely to Zeltiva. She enjoyed the sounds of the city behind her and the music of the crickets in the forest in front of her. It was one of the best nights to worship with no interruptions and clear weather.



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Last edited by Lani Stranger on May 25th, 2014, 7:05 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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A Silent Prayer For My Silent God

Postby Lani Stranger on April 10th, 2014, 7:06 pm

Now Lani needed something from her journey. She didn't have much from her journey really. She mostly sat in a covered wagon with her things and read Aquiras' book over and over. The rare times she went into the cold was to go to one of the caravan's fires to eat. Which was where she got her last item. It was a simple flower, a filan flower. It had no meaning to her other than she thought it was pretty. It was the first flower she had seen since the beginning of Fall, so Lani picked it up. The second flower was set in the center of wheel. That was it, those were her offerings. A map signaling she had reached her destination, a personal accomplishment to show what she planned on accomplishing, a prating gift from where she departed, and a trinket she had picked up on her journey. Now she needed to catalog her travel. With the clay bowl in one hand and a quill in the other, Lani opened her red ink vial.

Spires (Winter 513 AV) ➛ Zelitva (Spring 514AV)

It was her little log of her travels. All of her adventures would be logged on this bowl and one day, when she had travelled across Mizhar, the brown clay would be filled with red marks of cities and dates and whoever saw her personal offering bowl could see her accomplishments. Lani scooping the items form the wheel into the bowl. Before she could bind her travels together, she would pray.

"Aquiras. My father in the Ukalas, I've completed yet another successful journey through your domain. I pray you are doing well? I doubt you should be answering my prayers anytime soon. I wish you could. Priskil watches over you and I put my faith in her to keep you well. Thankyou for delivering me safely to Zeltiva. The journey in winter was harsh, but doable. I've come to further my education like I said I would. I've already enrolled in class . . ." Her soft voice broke the silence of the night as she leaned forward, feeling the light heat of the candles close to her face. She nodded to herself, her prayers always resembled a sort of daughterly update. She tried not to treat Aquiras as if he was her father, he was a God and she was a mere mortal. That wasn't saying he didn't care about her, but he didn't ask for her to cling to him like this. Lani always wondered if he minded. Maybe he didn't, maybe Gods relished in this kind of devotion. Lani, having never met one, wouldn't know. The God to which she prayed was practically dead so she would never know whether he thought her a nuisance or appreciated her efforts.

Lani pushed the worry from her brain. If Aquiras knew of her he would appreciate. A God couldn't hate his followers, could he? "The point of my prayer is to express my gratitude. I will not mourn you, you aren't dead. I've devoted my life to you, and I hope I make a difference. But today I thank you for being alive. Alive enough to watch over me and guide my through my journey's. I know this guidance is not of your conscious hand, but it is your domain. Thankyou."

Lani straightened her back, looking down at her offerings for a minute before proceeding with the ritual. Now she needed to bind her spoken prayer to her objects and send them to the Ukalas for Aquiras. It was mostly hypothetical, Lani didn't exactly know how to deliver to the Ukalas, or if her offerings would be of any value to the God. This was where her scented candle was important. Lani plucked a regular candle from the ground to light it before placing the first candle back. Lani watched the wick melt the wax for a few bells, entranced by the flame and her tiredness. After the candle was seeming to melt more, Lani looked around for some twigs, she hadn't brought anything for the small fire, other than the candle.

Gathering a few fallen leaves and thin twigs, Lani covered her offerings in the fuel, setting the scented candle down at the top of the wheel. The aroma was beginning to fill the air around her, relaxing her shoulders. The scent really had no purpose in her ritual, it was just nice. Lani picked up her flit and steal and began to light the twigs. This was much easier than a candle, as the sparks had more to catch a hold of. Once the twigs had started burning, the wood, flowers and map beneath it, Lani blew out the scented candle, letting the liquid wax drip into the fire. Where the was hit, a small spark flew up. It was a cool trick she had learned from the seamstress in Lhavit, but Lani couldn't figure out why it worked. Snapping the thin candle in her fingers, she dropped chunks of heavily scented wax into the fire, a little explosion of flame showing as the result.


PC/NPC Talking -- Common -- Kontinese -- Thoughts
Last edited by Lani Stranger on April 27th, 2014, 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Lani Stranger
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Posts: 649
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Joined roleplay: March 21st, 2014, 11:48 pm
Location: Wind Reach
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A Silent Prayer For My Silent God

Postby Lani Stranger on April 11th, 2014, 12:53 am

Lani was about to do something she had never done before. Her hands were clammy and Lani pulled her legs out from underneath her, she had sat on them too long and needles were poking at her nerves. She began cleaning her ritual. It was already dark as Lani stacked her things back into the bowl, She dumped the asked by the base of the tree. Lani was pretty sure she heard somewhere that ashes helped plants but she couldn't be sure. They couldn't hurt could they? Once everything was packed up and she had brushed away her crudely drawn wheel, Lani set her back against the tree, she had blown one candle out and stuck the other in the dirt beside her. With the candle light on her back and the glare from the moon shining through the trees, she turned her head up closing her eyes to calm herself down. This wasn't a scary thing, not at all.

"Priskil?" Lani paused, not wanting to go thorugh with her prayers because of nerves. She was so used to praying ot a God that she knew could not hear her, praying to one that could was intimidating. She was worried about her faith. She was always questioning herself and she couldn't seem to just put all of her trust in Aquiras. "Hey Priskil. I'm Lani, I just want to ask you some things. I know you already watch over Aquiras, I know you love him. So I guess I can't ask you to do that for me, but I'm going to anyway. I want someone to recognize that I care about him. It's a bit selfish, but I worry, you know?" Talking became easier for her, it was as if she was talking to Aquiras, it wasn't much different, just a different person. "Also, you're the Goddess of hope. So can you give me hope? Is that possible? Can you just hand out little hope tickets and make everyone feel better?" Lani grinned, opening her eyes to look at the stars. "Probably not, I don't know how it works but I don't think it works like that. I'm just asking because I'm kind of having a hard time. I didn't notice it before, I've always been with people, but I feel a bit hopeless." A sigh tucked out of her lips, as she leaned her head back on the tree, letting her eyes droop again. It was relaxing talking to the Gods. She always felt like the listened when no one else would. They never answered but surely they were listening.

"It's a bit pointless I guess. I'm still young and I don't have it that bad . . . not anymore. But I'm alone, and its dangerous. At least for me its dangerous. Maybe not to other people but to myself. I think bad things when I'm alone. I don't know, maybe it's nothing." Lani opened her eyes, pullinf herself up off the ground. She stooped to grab her things, looking around for a minute. "Good night Priskil, give Aquiras my regards." Lani turned to walk away, she honestly didn't expect an answer and she wouldn't be disappointed if she didn't get one, but hope still slid into ther words. "And Priskil? Does he ever wake up? Can he hear me? I've always thought of him as my father. You know, 'cause I travel so much, and I don't exactly have one. I know its silly, but when I read about him he seems like a good guy. I don' think he would mind . . . " Lani set her things down again, realizing she would stay longer than she thought. "I hate that bastard, Sa- . . . you know. I hate him. Why did he do that? Why would he do that? Aquiras didn't do anything to him." Lani's voice cracked on her God's name. She rarely broke down like this, her childish nature kept her happy and carefree, but deep down Lani always knew she had to address the questions and memories that twisted her insides and forced tears from her eyes. Salty water now hung from her eye lashes and Lani tried to wipe it away with her fingers, she can't cry in front of Priskil. Where was her respect? "Why . . .?"



PC/NPC Talking -- Common -- Kontinese -- Thoughts
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Lani Stranger
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Posts: 649
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Joined roleplay: March 21st, 2014, 11:48 pm
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A Silent Prayer To My Gods

Postby Fractale on May 25th, 2014, 6:41 pm

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Lani Stranger :
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Observation +1 XP
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Location: Mirahil Pass
Survival: Making A Fire
Wax And Fire Make Explosions
Lores: Priskil: Goddess Of Hope





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The avatar is a mixture of both the MC from the anime Fractale and a fractal as a background for those interested.
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