[OPEN] Maddening Shroud

[graveling]

Who: Angel and Company
What: Month two of solo priesting
When: August, both before and after the Blight
Where: Yes
Warning(s): Discussion of death, murder, Angel's nature

1. Some days my strength walks out [The Temple]
Degas did not return, when August came. Oh, he gave Angel ample encouragement and appreciation for its work, but his sabbatical continued. So the priest of the goddesses labors alone. Perhaps you've come for a blessing or to discuss theology, or to visit one of the altars or the shrines to other gods.

Or perhaps you've realized it's 11:45pm and the lights are still on, as if someone has yet to go home. Much to do, much to do.


2. Some days I can't go on [Therapy Grave]
There's a pair of graves in the woods, Erin's work, maintained for anyone who needs to rest in cool dirt. Angel never had a grave to lie in before. It rose at the beginning of its lonely existence from a shallow ditch, hardly a proper grave.

It's Angel's day off. It is in the woods, in a grave. Or perhaps it's in the woods walking too or from the grave. Really, this is just an excuse for people to find it on a day off, or an off day.


3. It is for real, we can walk about [Wildcard]
Find me on Discord to plot, or just throw anything at me. I'm easy.

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[blindwatchersees]

Are you not? You do a lot of things, for a corpse. Some of those things must feed people.

[graveling]

"Mrrmf. You're not wrong."

But he doesn't want to admit it.

[blindwatchersees]

I’m right surprisingly often. Oh, speaking of feeding people, can we talk to your bees? A visiting goddess was asking about mead-infused cheese.

[graveling]

"...visiting goddess? Do I need to put on my priest hat to handle this inquiry?"

There's a bit of the whine of a student asking if something will be on the test there.

[blindwatchersees]

"Oh, you don't need to go tracking her down. If she wants to talk to you, you'll know. Her voice really does carry, after all."

[graveling]

(Somewhere else, but not Elsweyr, Meridia feels affronted without knowing why.)

"So you just want to talk to my bees, then? Insects to insects?"

[blindwatchersees]

Well, you ought to be part of it, too, but it feels like people all too often neglect to inform the bees of things these days.

The butterflies say this rather matter-of-factly, as if it should be an obvious thing that bees be kept in the loop.

[graveling]

"I talk to them all the time, when I'm working in the hive. Pulling frames, replacing them, checking on Serranai's flowers."

[blindwatchersees]

Good. That's very good. Maybe we should all meet together, if you're on good speaking terms with them. Perhaps you can introduce us.

[graveling]

"I can. I will. Is...there a specific time that would work best? I recommend the mornings, as the bees are waking. Catching them late in the day, they're grumpier."

Is this ridiculous? Yes.

[blindwatchersees]

Wonderful idea! I know we'd much rather discuss things in the morning, too. There's nothing worse than getting home from a long day of fluttering and flitting about to realize that you still have a business meeting to attend.

[graveling]

"How's Wednesday morning for you, then? Around...eight? Before I need to be at the temple, and a day I have no deliveries."

This is kinda fucking insane.

(That is, kinda, the point.)

[blindwatchersees]

That works for us. Shall we bring anything?

[graveling]

There's a pause, as it assembles a mental image. "Are you able to carry things? Like, do a bunch of butterflies just lift all together at once?"

[blindwatchersees]

Well, we don't need to arrive as butterflies. We just need to be butterflies for the conversation.

[graveling]

"Oh."

Angel closes its eyes and lets out a small laugh.

"What else are you, then?"

[blindwatchersees]

We're a great many things. A scream. A song. A dance. A dream. A bad idea. A bitter mercy. A burst of brilliance. A cup of melancholy.

[graveling]

Angel doesn't respond to that for a long moment, going still and quiet again.

Gee, Sheogorath, how come your mom lets you be a cloud of concepts and Angel's gotta be a person so much of the time?

[blindwatchersees]

And at times, we are an escape. And at times, we are the thing that changes.

They've settled on the trees as they've been "speaking." The clearing actually feels oddly still and peaceful, all of a sudden.

[graveling]

"Change comes naturally to living things."

...and not to corpses.

[blindwatchersees]

It's funny, isn't it? The only one real constant in this world we can be sure of is change.

[graveling]

"The world changes. I don't."

Bullshit.

[blindwatchersees]

Oh? That's quite a bold claim to make. What makes you think you're impervious to change?

[graveling]

"I don't grow. I don't need haircuts or shaves. Even my fingernails don't grow."

Clearly only physical counts.

[blindwatchersees]

Neither do stones, once they're fully formed. Have you never seen an old mountain, worn smooth and low by the ravages of time? And you aren't anything as stubborn as a stone. You are flesh. A marvelous convergence of so many forces of change. Magnificent.