#World of Oskain

[devilishmango]

Devvviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!! I hope you are doing so well and life is treating you gorgeously ♥️♥️♥️

Saw this and obvs for Kenneski:

BLUSH - What are the views on sex before marriage? How strict is it?

Helloooo!! Life is pretty busy for me right now, but it's not too bad. 😊

Sex before marriage in Oskain is split between being looked down upon and not being a big deal... mostly because The Church says it's sacrilegious, but your everyday citizen doesn't think it's that big of a deal. If you have sex before marriage, you usually just kind of keep it to yourself. There are also a lot of stories about the Gods and Goddess' of the world having crazy orgies and whatnot, and marriage isn't really a thing between deities, so a lot of people feel like it's kind of pointless to be told by THE CHURCH that it's a 'sin' to have sex before marriage when the deities are sex-crazed lunatics lmao.

Now, if you were to get PREGNANT before marriage [or get someone pregnant, etc.], that's a whole other story... Public shaming is definitely a huge thing in Malcan, specifically, because that's where The Church is. 😬

[nemxricultrix]

The video begins with the sounds of cheering, drums, and woodwinds playing a jaunting tune, panning down to the center of a village brightly lit by candles and a grand roaring bonfire. The village is humble, with small houses around the center made of stone and logs with thatched roofs, the fronts lit orange by the fire. Around the bonfire dances villagers of all ages and races - humans, elves, short mouse-like halflings with their tails swinging, even the odd tiefling and a handful of dwarves. They all seem to be cheering and singing in a rough approximation of Irish as they circle the bonfire, with children running past in rough costumes laughing and enjoying snacks. At least one halfling has a stick with skewered meats pointed into the fire, taking the occasional bite between verses.

The video then pans to show a grand feast table of many spoils of a harvest- large breads, various meats, all kinds of mountain produce from tubers to rough cut wheats and apples of varying sizes and status of being fried. Along all of this is a garland of leaves carefully woven around the table, and several human and dwarven men and women are cutting and serving folks that walk up everything they want including drinks from large kegs. It's clear that the village had a strong year form the sheer volume- one can only imagine how much will be put into storage for winter after.

Then the music, dancing, and singing stops, the crowd starting to move to the sides of the bonfire as 9 women dressed in off-white robes, their hair wreathed by woven crowns of leaves emerging from a large building on can assume belongs to the elder or mayor. Among the women is Morwen, her horns contrasting the vernal crown despite being wrapped with vines and small flowers. Following the procession is a young elven woman, dressed in a gown of leaves and flowers- it is clear she is barely out of her late teens, let alone her child years as an elf. The women and the girl gather in the focus of the camera, the girl in the center of the circle the elders form. A drum starts to present a rhythm.

"By The Mother our the Land, this child Your Blessed Hands. Hear our call, Dear Vertrya, empower our words, let our voices please be heard. Come, Dear Goddess, bless our lands! Here we call You to guide the hands. Hear us, Vertrya, give this child Your blessing of the year! Give her light, for You we cheer, hear our call. Let us live through winter's fall. To You we give our harvest, to You we give our hunts, to You we till Your soil here to live and here to toil.

In Your name, we hold this feast, for next years harvest we will increase!"

The words spoken are akin to a chant, the flames flickering as the energy of the elders seems to gather. The girl's crown and gown glow with energy as it goes on, and she seems to light up with her own energy as it finishes. Then, the eldest of the women steps forward- a hunched old woman who likely is the eldest one here, tapping the girl's hands with her walking crook.

"The Goddess favors you, young one. May you be fruitful and fair, strong and kind. May She grant you a blessed harvest and a strong year of life. By the power as the Elder Priestess, the first Harvest Maiden and Matron of this village, and the acolyte of Her words, I bless you Anastia as our Harvest Maiden!" speaks the old woman, the glow fading from Anastia as the blessing is received. The camera seems to shift to show in her cupped hands a single small gem-like seed, cobalt blue and emerald green and thrumming with energy. It is likely this will be worn throughout her life.

The camera pulls back to show the crowd cheer... before the flames dim and the village is darkened briefly before a tree seems to grow from the very earth around the bonfire. It still bears the light of the blaze under it, and in the bark is the fair face of a woman, peeling out of it like a dryad.

She towers over everything as the tree wraps into a gown of vernal colors and wood, her hair more a tangle of leaves and vines as she looks down on the villagers with a loving smile.

This is the Goddess of Life, Vertrya.

"I hear you, village of Thistland. You have brought many maidens to me over your years, and made my most favored one of your Matrons. Make it known that I bless your village not for the next year but the next decade. You need not give so much of your harvest in that time though- grow and be fruitful! As for young Anastia, you bear the seed of greatness. Take this as inspiration, and find your or way in life. Yesterday you were a child. Today you are my chosen Maiden of Harvests. Tomorrow, you start your life with new vigor. Take my Blessing, and forge your own light in the world. I must take my leave- winter comes and I am overdue for my vacation as is. Farewell, my acolytes. I hear your prayers even when the frost coats the land and ice turns the soil hard."

With that, the radiant woman returns to the form of a tree, which fades back into the blazing bonfire now invigorated by supernatural energy.

Then the village CHEERS, some stunned, some crying in joy, and some looking utterly confused by what just happened.

The camera is picked up some time later as the festivities resume with renewed energy, Morwen cleaning the dust off of it.

"Well, tha' 'appen' di'nit? Guess I was right after all!"

[nemxricultrix]

"Hear them? Elven hearing, useful at times but a pain. Find you? Honestly the keyblade did most of the work. If they're drawn to each other, makes a lot of sense." Light begat light, and kindred spirits seemed to find each out there in the aether of the multiverse. Might as well answer both potentially questions first.

She thought for a moment on his proposal, and if her world was in trouble. Frankly, if there was trouble connections would have probably reached out before things got too bad.. hopefully. Eileen would have at least spoke with enough bribery.

"Sure, why not? Might as well see what this place offers, and learn how to use what brought me here. As for trouble... Not that I'd know currently." She hesitated to mention Maria's world. Last thing either needed was to try and face what was basically an elder god. Would this young man even be able to handle that?

"Awerhia- at least as far as Oskain goes- was doing okay when I left. Might have a slight power struggle if things with the kingdoms don't calm down, but nothing world ending."

nemxricultrix​:

Sora- a name to his face, and something to remember. There’s a bit of a feeling of someone asking if she had it memorized already, easily shaken off with the shiver when feeling the tony crab pulled from her back, the green fabric of her cloak hanging in one of the crustacean’s claws before it was set down. Note to self, maybe consider putting away the cloak.

“Piracy huh? That explains the smell of salt and the sounds of a ship and waves, Sora. I’m Morwen. Kind of new to the whole .. Keyblade wielder thing. Where I’m from I’m lucky to find a good scrystone in the market. Think… Think like some kind of fantasy world you’d see in an Earth game?” That’s the easier to explain it.

She looked about, finding her way to some rocks overlooking the water. So much sea, and only them out here. Maybe. From the odd squawking and hyuks that made her ears twitch suggested they probably weren’t that alone, along with the crabs scuttling about.

.“Weather’s fair, wind’s good. Waves are also calm, so we’re not in my world’s plane of water. I hazard your ship is likely nearby, given how noisy your crew sound.”

♕ - “How’d you–” Then again, with their talk of scrystones, use of the keyblade, on top of their entrance.. Should he really be finding himself surprised of anything else? For a moment he stalls, figuring which would be the best way to approach this… If there was any consolation, at least they were calm in their circumstances being haphazard.

A soft shake of the head would get him back on track. “But it’s nice to meet’cha. Kinda caught me in the middle of finding some treasure out here.. Wanna come along? Been needing me some more useful tricks up my sleeve on the off chance things get rough.” His offer was upfront and to the point.

It’d also give him some time in figuring out how to help them out exactly. Do they even need help? Somehow a smidgen of responsibility felt like it gripped his shoulders, being a senior wielder, being more experienced within this very world to boot? The decision was as clear as the salted winds that brushed over this island overgrown with jungle like flora across the craggy rocks and cliff sides.

Those blue eyes briefly roam about her face before he decides to be honest. “So, just to even this out too by the by, there wasn’t like.. any emergencies, bad things happening when you left your world? When I first left out off of mine it.. wasn’t exactly the prettiest or safest view, serves as the main reason why a lot of people went missing out their parts of the universe.”

[nemxricultrix]

Eileen The Crow/Eileen The Hunter

Any mage worth their mana is never without a familiar of some form. From small clockworks and to clusters of elementals, animals with a bound spirit to gifts from patrons and mysterious beings that seem to chose their mage over being summoned. For Morwen and Eileen, one found the other, and the two have been inseparable- even if one side is unaware of the true nature of their relationship.

Eileen is clearly not a normal bird. She is as large as a chicken, with purple eyes a slight red sheen to her feathers. There is a thin line on her forehead, which opens to a red eye when Eileen is agitated. Despite being so large, Morwen can easily move is Eileen has made a perch on her shoulders or head. When she caws, there is a clear hiss and warble under it, as if there's something completely wrong with this animal.

And those who investigate with magical means suchs as detecting good and evil would be right.

Eileen is actually a high tier demon known as a Hunter Demon- a humanoid monster that roughly resembles a bird-human hybrid with rending iron talons and a screech that negates magic. Originally, Eileen was stuck one the Materium through failed rituals, eventually taking the form of a crow to keep her cover low. Eventually she ended up in the Thistland village, and ended up being fed by the curious young prodigy of the Windcaller and Urithriel bloodlines. Within a year, the two had made a familiar-mage pact, and have seen been near inseperable.

It is with ay wonder if a mortal has softened this being of antideluvian chaos into a more humbled form, for Morwen seems to leave her children in the care of this transforming creature every so often. Perhaps time will tell the real truth of what the two are to each other.

[nemxricultrix]

@emberoops

Oh its lovely. Every year around this time, after the harvest solstice starts, everyone in the village (and some of the nearby hermits and travelers) join into a big feast over a few nights, during which the most respected women of the village (usually older women, the Elder's wife, and some that have proven to be worthy) are designated as the Harvest Matrons. The Matrons then chose a young woman from the village who has started to show her resolve in keeping to the Verdant Pact- our tenets for following the Verdant Mother Vertrya- and grant her the mantle of the Harvest Maiden. This is a huge honor to be bestowed with, as the chosen woman is blessed by the Goddess even in her readying for a long rest. Sometimes we have several Maidens, and a few times a Harvest Squire- a young man who has evenly proven himself.

This is followed by a large feast of a portion of the year's harvests and hunts, within which we make merry around the bonfire in the center of town. One year the lads from the mine hauled out a whole wurm to fry up. Lemme tell ya, we ate well that winter. Tastes... kinda like a dirt fish mixed with stony bear??? Its a weird flavor but it holds.

I was chosen several years in a row, to the point that me and Vertrya have a more... direct relationship. She's really nice, even when her gown starts to fade into the vernal shades of autumn.

[nemxricultrix]

Glo'Hoal Undercity/Under'Hoal or "Underhaul"

The Undercity of Glo'hoal is a literal place, being situated in a cavern under the city accessible either through the many tunnels and entrances scattered through the city or through the cave entrance under the cliff near the castle. This is an entirely different side of the gorgeous sun city, becoming the darkened moon in the night and dead of winter. Where the Urithriels rule the topside, this land is ruled over by a mated pair of bronze and green dragons, who seem to have made their lairs under the great basin in the center of the cavern.

It is here that the Underearth (or Dark) Elves of Glo'Hoal live, along with other more monstrous races, as this is a popular entrance and exit to the Deepdark cave systems that web all across Awerhia. Be it crime, illicit drugs, a partner for a night, or some rare goods only found from the Deepdark, this place is the place to be. As such, it has a reputation as being the "Worst" part of town, when really, people are just finding work where they can. This place is also where one could find the Goldsail Warehouse and Exchange, which is in an overturned galleon situated in the far end of the cavern space and converted into a work house for the Goldsail company.

One thing most should know upon entering is the Jesterguard, an elite group of individuals dressed in all kinds of masquerade and jester-like apparel. This group maintains the peace and order under the stones, and they are also the only ways in or out of the deeper places if one does not have means to protect themselves. It is said to remove their masks in public is to be branded a traitor to the Dragon Rulers, and thus those who do are fed to any wyrmlings the pair may have or incinerated by a blistering haze of lightning and flesh melting toxic gas. The Jesters do not delight in bribes or treachery, and the laws of this place are upheld with swift justice and execution if serious enough.

Yet... some say this is also the only way into the Heat Caves, a tunnel system connected to the bowels of a Blazing Plane volcano. Who knows what would may find in those depths, which lead further into the Deepdark?

[nemxricultrix]

(Morwen can speak normal Draconic, which already has an affect on the air when spoken. Much like in TES, True Draconic is a language of elemental might. This, combined with needing a body able to withstand it and have sufficient understanding of the forces that make it up, means that if truly used to its potential it can cause all kinds of effects.)

[nemxricultrix]

The Halffolk are actually gnomes. Here they're like .. little gerbil people? Like.. if a gerbil and a human got fused together and got small. They're actually related to the fey but not as much as elves.

[nemxricultrix]

We have some stories around Oskain.

One is the Agless Child- a child who wandered into the mists of a sleepy sea town and never returned, finding himself in the lands of the Fae. There his curiosity and wild nature ended up garnering the favor of a Fae Duchess, who granted him several powers.

The first the gift of flight- so long as he believed and kept a pinch of fairy dust at hand, he could fly as if made of air.

The second was the gift of youth- he did not age a day past 15 physically, lost now in the time of the Faelands.

The third was the gift of shadows, able to manipulate them along with his own for fun tricks and dastardly plans.

The final was the power to move between worlds, namely The Materium and The Faelands to the Duchess's domain.

It's said that he takes naughty or lost child, especially boys, in the night when the mists roll in, and is signaled by his rooster's call. They never return, leading most to use this tale as a boogeyman to keep their sons in check.

They also say a brave crew of fathers and pirates went into the retreating mists to save the lost ones, but they never returned. Some ports have a small statue of the Captain- Smythe Hook- as a ward against the Faefog to avoid falling adrift into the Duchess of the Lost's lands.

[nemxricultrix]

(Ny real world standards i've set it up since day one that Oskain is a mix of Ireland and Germany, with more lean into Ireland.)