#anyways they have Returned yet again

[nikoisme]

THE MARTENS ARE FUCKING BACK.

[psychomusic]

oc time again! + her town & culture (heavily inspired by pre-roman italic populations)

she is suri sauthon (later suri laran, after her marriage). her story is linked to my swtor imperial agent, but most of her life for like. the one year away where she meets him, is spent in a town in the mountains of mirial.

despite mirial being cold and desert, and many cities developing underground, her town flourishes thanks to a force nexus, venerated in the form of an ancient, sacred, alive crystal. the ecosystem of that mountain depended on what "the horned crystal" was capable of giving them, but mirialans couldn't live off of that alone, so they developed trade and some rudimental technology, even if oftentimes it was bought thanks to the highly profitable trade of a plant used to make medicines that slowed down aging and had overall healing properties.

note: everything that's generated by this nexus has these healing properties BUT they have to be processed, except for those who bathed in the waters of the cavity under the crystal - the "real" nexus, but not the worshipped one. the waters were sacred but they were not thought to be miraculous, unlike the crystal, who instead was thought of as the keystone of the ecosystem: without it, everything would fall apart (and that is partially true: the cavity was the "real" nexus but thanks to the crystal, also strong in the force, the properties were spread all over the mountains). those who bathed in the cavity's waters - so, all of the town, who had a sort of baptism there - could eat the plant, make whatever food with it, and not only that plant, but everything generated by the nexus, that, again, had similar properties. this allowed people to live up to normal life-spans without advanced medicines or, much, really. to those who didn't live there, though, after the processing, had incredible effects, slowing down aging - for those who took it regularly - and making people able to live up to half a century more than the average]

originally, there were four tribes of nomads that lived thanks to horned farm animals that decided to settle down into one bigger town and other smaller settlements, to live off of transhumance. this division of the tribes stayed into the political and social organization: every person belonged to one tribe specifically, and had slightly different rituals and culture. for examples, each tribe had their own priests and healers, with different techniques and traditions. the town, tho, was guided by a group of people in the high priesthood, a position you could reach only by having earned the trust of all tribes. those high priests had many roles: they guided the people into sacred processions common to all the tribes, they managed the trading with outsiders, they did the maintenance of the temple of the summit (the one that functioned as casket to the crystal) and created a special liquid to offer the crystal that helps it grow.

this particular temple was important because 1. it was very visible, from every angle of the town, and it became an important identity symbol; 2. it stored the venerated horned crystal; 3. it had the altar where sacrifices were made for the crystals. that altar had a hole connected to the cavity, that allowed the liquids to reach the underground; 4. it had various symbols: statues representing each tribe + the high priesthood, and typical mirialan tattoos carved into the wood of the trees that served as columns for the temple, symbolizing 8 values that who dared to enter HAD to have; 5. it was on the way to an important lake (called "mother lake" because the lake the town was built around to depended on the waters of that other lake) where they traveled to in important processions; 6. it was said that a the wizard who unified the tribes made it with its magic, making the plant grow to hold the temple's roof. this wizard was, actually, a force user, obv.

BACK TO HER THOUGH: she's daughter of one of the high priests, who was in charge of managing the trades with outsiders, and lives in a house on the mountains with her mother and him. her parents are from different tribes (that's one of the things that earned him trust from the 4 tribes): when a child is born from two different tribes, they don't pick one to allign to, but they're usually linked automatically to the one with more relatives in it (in her case, the father's tribe: she had many uncles and aunts on his side while her mom only had one sister).

later, though, she got quite tied to her mother's tribe due to a mysterious illness that only her mother's tribe healer was able to cure. she spent 4 years (from 10 to 14 years old) living with the healer and learned her secrets. to better study, she wrote them down. when she returned home, she studied to become a priestess with her father. at 22 (the average age: you can't become priest before your 20s), she was supposed to take a test and become a priestess, but the healer of her mother's tribe died and the tribe asked her to take her place. she couldn't technically do that, but both tribes estimated both her and her parents and she was allowed to become both. she then decided to try to become a high priestess, and became one at 25 (a quite young age). being part of the council, she tried to convince the various tribe healers to unite their knowledges and write them down, and eventually made it. healers still remained tribe based but they now had an "upper, inter-tribe level" similar to high priesthood.

years later, the sacred horned crystal is stolen from the temple by some Hutt mercenaries looking for a profit. given the trust she has earned from all the tribes and the fact that her father is the high priest that deals with outsiders (and she's been hearing stories and advice about it since she was little), she is the one tasked with getting it back. without the growing crystal, the keystone to their ecosystem, the village would have lasted only a few years. in hrr quest, she meets imperial intelligence agent tar'x laran and, as they "solve the mystery" and fight to have it back, they get closer. they'll get married and have a daughter, Vegoia (who's the only one who actually will get to the plot of my story. this was all background)

[laine-975]

[kirisclangen]

Zelda

She/her, 65 moons, cis molly

[sysig]

Gasp I wanna see your Spamton! Maybe hanging out with some Mr. Saturns playing the ladder game or going birdie fishing or something, hehehe

Day 5 - Pop-up

[dimsilver]

🙏🏻

[rhymaes]

Anne Carson // The Untamed // Herman Melville // Anne Carson // Anne Carson // Euripides

[chaos-has-theories]

Canaan House Lab Notes

Second House Lab

Trial Transference/Winnowing

Key Claimed by the Ninth through completion of the trial.

Lab Includes a laboratory , a training floor, guns, and a comfy sitting area with two beds, "separated only by a nightstand". Even so Gideon calls it "more lab than living space".

Theorem "Transference" according to Harrow is "the utilisation of a living soul". Not quite reading someone's mind, but "borrowing perceptions". I believe it's necessary for step two of the Eightfold Word: "analyse [the soul]- understand its structure, its shape".

Third House Lab

Trial Unclear

Key Claimed by the Sixth

Lab Presumably similar to Ianthe's room on the Mithraeum

Theorem All things considered, probably "step six: consume the flesh".

Fourth House Lab

Trial Unclear

Key claimed by the Sixth

Lab Wish we knew enough about Ulysses and Titania to jump to conclusions on what was inside.

Theorem ?

Fifth House Lab

Trial Unclear

Key claimed by the Sixth

Lab WHAT kind of room did Alfred and Augustine have? Is it similar to his room on the Mithraeum, i.e. classy, elegant, and full of books and 'ancient' artefacts?

Theorem ?

Sixth House Lab

Trial Psychometric; the molar leading to one of the skeleton servitors.

Key Completed by Cytherea, some time before the Avulsion trial. Key later given to Silas Octakiseron; copy made by Palamedes Sextus and Harrowhark Nonagesimus.

Lab Looks like "an open-plan bomb wreck... as though somebody had left the place in a hurry or simply been an unbelievable slob". (I'll leave it to you whether you think that's likely for Cassie and Nigella.) Tools, papers, a chin-up bar, and sleeping bags; no beds.

Theorem Theorem appears to be related to Teacher and the skeletons, and the necessity of maintaining an energy source to do necromancy. I believe it's step one of the Eightfold Word: "preserve the soul, with intellect and memory intact" - since that's exactly what makes a "hideous corpses" so special.

Seventh House Lab

Trial Unclear.

Key Claimed by trial by the Fifth, and killed over it. Key hidden in Abigail, where Cytherea presumably had access to it; later retrieved by the third House.

Lab Sparsely furnished, but lovingly decorated and painted. Rolled-up mattresses and embroidered quilts.

Theorem According to Ianthe, the theorem corresponds to step four of the lyctoral process: "fix [the soul] in place so it can't deteriorate". I would like to note here that I have no idea when the message was left on the wall. I don't think Cytherea would have had time for it before the Fifth were found... did she take the key out and put it back in at some point?

Eighth House Lab

Trial Avulsion

Key Completed by the Ninth, key passed on as per the agreement to Cytherea. Key passed on later to Silas Octakiseron, "for safekeeping".

Lab Lab remains undescribed. But it's not like I'm salty or anything.

Theorem Relatively safe to assume that it's "Step Three, remove and absorb [the soul]: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process." Almost confirmed by Ianthe to be the final step, "hook up the cables and get the power flowing." (thanks, @fire-swift!)

Ninth House Lab

Trial Unclear - but we can probably assume it's related to bones, so it's utterly fascinating to me that Silas even decided to attempt it.

Key Claimed by the Eighth.

Lab Never once seen by anyone, because Silas is an intellectual cretin and a dog in a manger.

Theorem Could it be related to Harrow's conception or the tomb somehow?

--

For the record: I'm relatively certain of the theorems and how they correspond to the Eighthfold Word, but we only know the one Ianthe mentions for sure.

The parts I haven's assigned:

"Step five, incorporate it: find a way to make the soul part of yourself without being overwhelmed."

"Step seven is reconstruction - making spirit and flesh work together the way they used to, in the new body."

"Step Three, remove and absorb [the soul]: take it into yourself without consuming it in the process."

Which would have to go to the Fourth, the Fifth, or the Ninth respectively. Is Incorporation how Abigail manages to deal with the "savage" dead? Is Reconstruction how the Reverend Parents managed to modify an ovum on the chromosomal level? Does "absorption" refer to Isaac's blue-green sodium explosion?

Did John have his own lab, somewhere in there?

[lifenconcepts]

HEY YALL! I know soooo many adore me for my charm and obviously how I post 29847473 things a day, but like, I’m sadly going to be posting less but do not forget about me nonetheless! I may not be spamming your dashboards but I’ll be spamming your hearts with my presence!!!!!! *blows y’all up with my telepathy beam*

[averlym]

@remylong :

[someonetooksendnoodles]

it’s my favorite time of the year: putting my emotional support childrens animated shows with impeccable themes back in the viewing rotation

[byanyan]

still alive but still struggling

[astralhope]

Seeing Astral destroying rocks and making islands appear has to be one of my favourite things ever.

He can do all of that. Every battle in this universe is fought with cards' duels, but he also can do that.

[wild-at-mind]

Not to talk about MRA-lite spaces again but I'm going to need everyone to understand that in these spaces, the subtext of 'men don't get to talk about their problems' is ALWAYS 'and it is women's fault!'

[izzyspussy]

why are they laughing at him as he gets straight up killed??? he doesn't deserve this! he's a sweet kid at heart! he literally just needs one (1) real friend!!

[loumauve]

I snapped today at work, and by snapped I mean I politely commented on a help desk ticket by summing up an mess of an (type of) issue that's come up for at least the fourth time in the 2+ months I've been managing user accounts, and asked the person responsible to fix it (himself for once) because last time I fixed his mess-up it took me two whole days to work out the details with at least four other colleagues from different departments and I really don't want to do it again. there's other shit that needs doing, I've been working 10+ hour days for most of this week already, so I need to cut down not add on more.

(good thing tho - at least we managed to fix the issue where the dataset of a newer employee got mixed up with another one of the same name and therefore wasn't able to apply for any of the access/accounts she needed. technically not entirely my area but it does impact us not being allowed to create an account for her so I figured I might as well track that issue down. took three days and at least three other people, but hey - it should all work out now. yay for that)