|
|
Post by cherrychickadee on May 8, 2019 6:31:20 GMT
This was an odd temple, Sin decided as she quietly walked around the main hall of the House of the Moon. The creamy white and gray stone walls seemed to glow faintly as moonlight filtered in through the arched windows of the building and reflected beautifully against the large urns that decorated both corners and furniture that decorated the place of worship. Her toes sunk into the pale pink and blue carpets and lifting her head, the wood elf admired the tapestries that hung against the walls and framed the doorways. Selûne was not her patron deity, but the goddess shared many aspects with Sehanine Moonbow so the temple brought a sort of comfort to her nonetheless. The artistry depicted on the walls was much different from elvish design, but no one could deny the significant beauty here. Incense was burning somewhere; a midnight ritual no doubt, performed by an acolyte. The smell of rosemary and mint was faint but Sin found comfort there as well.
How she longed to be among the grove locations of Red Moon's camps again. The twisting trees bathed in starlight, the rivers and streams that reflected the moon's reach. Incense was fine, but Sin's pulse beat to the time of a ritual fires and moon-touched ash. Homesick, Sin frowned headed towards the back gardens of the temple. Clerics were more so common than druids here, but she found it hard to imagine that Selûne's followers would not have a place of nature to commune. As she made her way, the wood elf enjoyed the soft quiet of the evening. Only a few wandering priestesses were mingling, and most were busy meditating or praying. Each woman, she noticed, was clad in the same pale blue, silken robe and adorned with pearls. Sin was happy to not talk to them just as happy as they were to not talk to her. A few eyed her suspiciously; but who wouldn't in the temple? Sin was not dressed in humble pious clothing, and she was far from acceptable by noble or fashionable standards. The wood elf ran her hand along the beads that rattled on the necklaces she wore. Let them stare. She was not here for them, anyway.
When Sin finally came upon the small clearing at the back of the temple, she admired the cornflowers and white orchids that decorated the garden. It wasn't what she was used to, but flowers were landscaped in the shape of a crescent moon and Sin impressed by the attention to detail. Moving to the center and resting on her knees, Sin closed her eyes and breathed in, taking in the scents around her and listening to the night's lullaby of cricket chirps. Placing her hands on the grass in front of her, Sin bent down and touched her forehead to the ground.
Daughter of the Night Skies, I honor you...
|
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on May 8, 2019 13:58:07 GMT
Miri had only been in Waterdeep a few days. So far, the city was everything she’d remembered from past visits, and more besides. She’d spent the previous night drinking until she’d forgotten her basic motor functions. Whatever it was she’d smoked out of that massive pipe hadn’t helped either - but it had been fun.
Actually, the party hadn’t really stopped at dawn; Miri was never one to stay to the very end, but when she wandered out mid-morning she was far from the last to leave.
Peony hadn’t been home - thankfully - so Miri had gone straight to sleep in the halfling’s bed. She’d been awoken around dinner time by the halfling hitting her with a boot and yelling something about Miri ditching her the night before. Miri had pled loss of memory but not of good intent - they had had a very pleasant fight and make-up - and Miri had promptly snuck out while Peony was dozing. She could, Miri felt, find a much less complicated place to sleep.
Dinner had settled the last of the headache and nausea, and the glass of wine with it, compliments of a not unhandsome man across the bar, had helped as well. Miri considered it, quite seriously. But... there was one errand she still needed to do. One errand she’d been putting off a bit too long.
Miri wore leather pants that looked like they’d been painted on, and a gold halter top that clung and swayed with every step, revealing smooth shoulders with a faint hint of muscle and suggesting plenty more besides. She wore a bracer on one arm, and no other adornment, as if to say she didn’t need it.
It wasn’t exactly House of the Moon appropriate, but Miri thought Selune would appreciate it. Wasn’t the goddess all about beauty? Besides, they certainly liked gold well enough in their design.
Miri knelt in the main hall, bowed her head, and said her prayers. Familiar words, words made routine as a child, flowed along the surface, leaving space for deeper thoughts and gratitudes beneath. She was grateful. There was much to be grateful for. She was whole, unharmed, and Waterdeep was hers for the taking.
Miri wandered the temple once she felt her obligations were satisfied. She was pretty sure she scandalized one of the priestesses who had stared a little too long by winking at her. The woman rushed off, very purposefully, and Miri abruptly changed directions, making her way towards the garden at the back of the temple. Perhaps they would think she’d left.
Selune, Miri thought to herself. It’s been a tough few months. But I’m in Waterdeep now, I’m ready to be your servant. Just give me a sign - some kind of sign that you still want me.
Miri stepped into the gardens. Her eyes dropped to the center of the crescent ring of flowers, and she grinned. Yes, she thought happily. That will do. Thank you, my lady!
Miri watched for a few moments, thinking deeply. It was clear the other woman was at prayer, and Miri wasn’t so crass as to want to disturb her. Fine, she wasn’t so crass as to actually do it.
After a moment, Miri took up a position of her own. Two marble benches sat between the garden and the building, meant for observation. Miri lay back on one of them, folding her arms and resting her hands beneath her head, and gave herself over to contemplation of the moon above. Well, mostly. She spared a little of her attention for the kneeling elf, naturally just to keep track of her. Miri was well aware of the faint rustle and shift of her shirt with every breath, not to mention the contrast of her skin with the pale ivory bench. She was content to wait; there was no rush. The moon moved in its own time, after all.
|
|
|
|
Post by cherrychickadee on May 10, 2019 7:23:52 GMT
When she had finished her prayers -- about five minutes worth of meditation -- Sin straightened herself and lifted the tiny bat skull totem hanging from her neck to her lips. Standing in a fluid motion the druid let out a peaceful sigh, the calm of the ritual relaxing the anxious muscles she'd felt for the majority of the day. Uncertainty pricked at the back of her neck however, and just as the wind shifted, so did Sin's violet eyes.
She was not alone.
Nostrils flaring, she snapped her head towards where an unfamiliar woman was laying on a marble bench and staring at the sky. From where she stood, Sin was already aware that the scent of the woman's hair and skin was intoxicating. A lively, citrus invitation, warmed with a cinnamon spiced hug, and followed through the the enchantment of tonka beans. Sin never had been one to judge by looks alone, but her nose had always given her a good idea of how to feel about someone in one way or another. The other senses being involved were just a bonus.
Yes, this one was a person she wanted to meet.
The druid felt her heart leap against her throat and she fidgeted with her necklaces again. How did one approach and strike up a conversation? Would hello suffice? The thought gnawed at her as she debated her choices as she stood within the crescent of flowers, staring awkwardly. Things were so much easier as animals, she thought, imagining the confidence that filled her every time she felt the muscles of her bear aspect ripple beneath her skin. As if convincing herself that she did not have a choice, she began to walk towards the unknown woman.
Sin easily noticed that there were a few acolytes near the doorways, peeking out towards them while trying not to seem obvious. But which were they watching? Or was it both of them? Her curiosity sparked at the thought. Her body compelling her to move forward, Sin's mind followed along until she was lowering herself to the unoccupied bench near her. A cold shiver danced along her body as the marble touched her bare skin and in the moon's light, Sin studied Miri's wardrobe openly, her eyes tracing each curve and finely poised features of the woman's face and figure. Everything about her hummed.
"You look the way music sounds," she said softly. "Are you a child of the moon as well?"
|
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on May 10, 2019 14:34:32 GMT
Miri carefully kept the direction of her gaze fixed on the moon above, even as soft noises suggested the elf had gotten up. She would wait; she could be patient. If the other woman walked out and away, well - then it simply wasn’t meant to be. She could just barely see the elf from the corner of her eye; the woman approached, and, to Miri’s delight, sat on the other bench. Even better, she spoke, an odd but pleasing compliment that sent a little shiver through Miri, followed by a quick pulse of excitement.
Miri sat, with an easy languid grace, straddling the bench and smiling at the other woman. Miri didn’t bother to hide her examination of the elf, or her obvious appreciation of her. It was too dark for Miri's human eyes to see fully, but she could imagine the goosebumps that must have rippled over the elf's tan skin at the touch of the cold marble bench. Miri almost thought she could smell her, a clean crisp smell like the a rainstorm on hot dry land, mingled with the garden's flowers. They were too far removed for any scent of Waterdeep to penetrate.
The acolytes at the door might as well not have existed, for all the attention Miri paid them. The world had narrowed to two marble benches, a fur loincloth, cornflowers and white orchids, beads of wood and bone, and the light of the moon above.
A child of the moon; so she was a shapeshifter. It fit, Miri though. There was a wildness to the elf, a sense that she couldn’t be contained. What could be more natural than that it would burst free? Miri grinned. “I have the moon alive inside me, but only this one form," she said, easily enough. The first part might even have been true, at least as far as Miri knew; the second, Miri wasn't sorry for. She liked her shape very well.
Miri tilted her head back, slowly, looking up at the moon above. She took her time, admiring it without hesitation, then just as slowly brought her gaze back down to the elf. Miri drank her in all over again; it was just as pleasant as seeing her for the first time. “Stunning," Miri said, voice just barely carrying across the garden, "isn’t she?” She smiled again, meeting the elf’s gaze with no hesitation, and more than a little promise.
|
|
|
|
Post by cherrychickadee on May 19, 2019 21:59:27 GMT
Sin followed Miri's line of sight, her head mimicking the tilt upwards as she drank in the night sky. It was a sacred atmosphere, beautiful and hushed, and it was times like these that Sin missed her tribe the most. Perhaps that is why she gravitated towards this stranger now -- there was a familiarity about this human, but at the same time, something new. It was a silent summons, written in stars and sealed with a moonlight. She smiled before looking back to the dark-skinned woman, surprised to find her dark eyes looking right back at her. Most Waterdhavians typically looked away after lingering glances, especially if Sin was brave enough to confront them with a stare of her own. But this? This was not a challenge. This human was an echo in the night, a reflection of herself in some way. This was different. Registering her words she nodded her head in acknowledgement.
"Many don't seem to embrace what light they have within," Sin said easily, her usual nervous ticks calmed by the fragrant air of the garden."But you're right." Meaningfully, the wood elf looked Miri over, unabashed. "She is stunning."
A playful twinkle in her amethyst eyes, Sin pulled her legs up onto the bench and wrapped her arms around them. Resting her chin to her knee, she let the tranquil cricket chirps play their melody as she enjoyed the fact that there was no rushed feeling of having to fill the quietness between them. If there was anything she loved, it was being able to have moments like these, paced with the beat of the night.
"Are you a member of this temple?" After a contemplative thought, she added, "I am not." Obviously, the druid thought, nearly rolling her eyes at herself. "I am a visitor. I am Sin."
|
|
|
|
Post by moralhazard on May 20, 2019 5:15:21 GMT
The elf looked directly back at Miri, not shying or blushing, not remotely shy about reflecting her compliment right back. Miri’s slow smile started at her lips, and seemed to flow up to her eyes, and then along the whole length of her body as she shifted, ever so slightly, against the marble bench, the gold top swaying against her dark skin.
Miri was more than happy to let the moment stretch out, but it was pleasant too when the elf broke it, introducing herself.
“Sin,” Miri grinned, a bit wider this time. She rose, fluid and even, and crossed a few steps closer to the elf, her gaze fixed on her. She extended a hand for one of the elf’s, and if Sin granted it Miri would lift it to her lips, gently kissing her knuckles. “I am Miri.”
“I’m a visitor as well,” Miri didn’t quite drop Sin’s hand, at least not until she was comfortably seated on the bench next to the elf. She left space between them; she could have sat further from Sin, but she also could have sat closer. Instead, there was space for Sin to reach across - if she wanted to.
“But I’m very glad to have wandered here,” Miri continued. “Where are you from, Sin? You remind me -“ Miri grinned, “of flowers and trees, not cold hard marble.” Her hand rested on the bench between them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Waybef on Apr 2, 2022 5:31:30 GMT
<a href=https://proxyspace.seo-hunter.com>мобильные прокси смена по ссылке</a>
|
|
|
|
Post by Waybef on Apr 2, 2022 5:33:03 GMT
<a href=https://proxyspace.seo-hunter.com>мобильные прокси смена по ссылке</a>
|
|
|
|
Post by Waybef on Apr 2, 2022 5:34:28 GMT
<a href=https://proxyspace.seo-hunter.com>мобильные прокси смена по ссылке</a>
|
|
