Blade Master Alastor (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
superstylishsquid) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
15strangers2023-07-08 08:03 pm
superstylishsquid) wrote in 15strangers2023-07-08 08:03 pm
Afterparty Buffet
[So, that trial sure happened, didn't it? And on nearly empty stomachs, no less. That's why people might catch Alastor headed for the kitchen as soon as they're out of the theater, obviously intent on making food. He's in there a while, actually, and the hallway outside of it smells strongly of some rather tasty food.
What he's up to will become clear when he goes around to tell people to visit the mess hall. There, he's set up a varied buffet on one of the tables, all of various foods easy to serve in small portions. This includes small slices of beef only very lightly seared on the outside, but also more fully cooked fare, and even a few fruit and vegetable dishes. Plus the requisite spread of alcohol, because it sure has been A Day, huh?
...Also, while Hermes obviously doesn't eat, he still gets the instructions to go to the mess hall. Huh.]
What he's up to will become clear when he goes around to tell people to visit the mess hall. There, he's set up a varied buffet on one of the tables, all of various foods easy to serve in small portions. This includes small slices of beef only very lightly seared on the outside, but also more fully cooked fare, and even a few fruit and vegetable dishes. Plus the requisite spread of alcohol, because it sure has been A Day, huh?
...Also, while Hermes obviously doesn't eat, he still gets the instructions to go to the mess hall. Huh.]
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[hubert that's not helpful]
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Going to also look a tiny bit appalled because how could you say such a thing, Hubert?! ]
Why would you say that??
[ Managing to not sound absolutely appalled or anything, thankfully. ]
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But who can say, maybe your God is more competent.
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[ Mostly since this is a concept for him he's passionate about and he's also a tiny bit concerned WHY you hate your goddess and all, sir. ]
The Lord has proven to be nothing but a helpful, guiding light to me! Without him I never would have met the people I know now or had my eyes opened to the truth regarding vampires!
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It will involve quite a history lesson. Are you sure?
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[ There's a very firm nod of his head that follows this. He very much wants a distraction while letting everything else sink in, though he also does want to know. ]
I admit I have been curious about your home world from the little I have heard, so please. I am ready to listen.
cw: religion, also Hubert's biased and only half true understanding of events lol
Thousands of years ago, before the nations of Fodlan existed. Before Fodlan as a named land did, the Goddess, Sothis, came down upon it from the Blue Sea Star. The humans of that time were barely above beasts, and so she took pity on them. Gifting them with magic and knowledge. She birthed many children, the Children of the Goddess, who were between gods and men and who mingled among humanity as leaders and prophets.
[He recites all this with the knowledge and care of a former Catholic schoolboy- certainly someone who grew up deep in the Church]
This peace would not last. After a time Sothis and her people were attacked by evil gods who craved her power. A great war was fought, and to aid her in her cause she blessed a man, Nemesis, and his allies, with powerful weapons, as well as strength beyond any other men. This blessing was the Crests. Power passed in the blood that allowed one to wield these divine weapons and well as perform inhuman feats. He and his Ten Elites destroyed the outsider gods and their followers, but the battle had scared the land beyond living. And so in her wisdom Sothis took flight, using her blessings to heal the land and return it to fertility. But in doing so she became weak, and went into a deep sleep to recover.
It was while the Goddess was asleep that Nemesis became corrupted by his power, and moved to kill the sleeping Goddess and all her Children. All would be lost if not for the appearance of Saint Seiros, a woman also blessed by the Goddess. Her and her fellow Saints rallied those humans who were still loyal to the Goddess, and Nemesis was killed. To prevent this from ever happening again, Seiro started the Adrestian Empire, blessing it's first Emperor with her Sainted blood and her Crest. The other Saints did the same to his most trusted allies, and so my homeland, and the Church of Seiros, was borne.
The Ten Elites, without Nemesis, were also given lesser power in the new order- and their Crests were passed down to their children, leading to the Noble Houses of the Kingdom and Alliance as they are today.
That is... the story as we were all told it for a thousand years of the Empire. But it is not the truth.
[he pauses to give Roland time to process and ask any questions before he continues]
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The imagery is fascinating and there's so much going on but it's interesting enough that he's hanging on every detail. A Goddess who did so much for her people, then the tale of someone corrupted by that same power. This whole concept of people who had power passed on through blood that allowed them to wield Divine weapons and in the end that conflict actually lead to the birth of a nation!?
Only by the time did Hubert pause did the majority of it all sink in, and the pressing question he'd left hanging there. ]
Not the truth? [ Roland repeated, blinking a couple times. ] So you're saying someone spread a false story for a thousand years? What purpose would that serve?
[ Some part of him wants to ask more about people who can use divine weapons and more about the crests but the things he'd asked seemed more important to ask here. ]
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Knowledge of things like metal soldiers. Energy that can be harnessed stronger and longer than any fire. That can make a man wither and die if near it for too long. Drugs and poisons that can extend one's life for over a century. Javelins of Light that can turn a mountain into a lava drenched wasteland for literal generations.
Not so different from some of the marvels I've learned of from your worlds, in fact.
All gone now, of course. But I have seen their remnants my self. Had my hands in their machine guts and been blinded by their cold lights. But that isn't here or there. The truth is that there were never any outside gods. Only men who used the very gifts the Goddess gave them to turn on her. Maybe their reasons were cruel and power-hungry. Maybe they only wanted freedom. It doesn't matter. They were driven underground for a time... but eventually returned and whispered in the ear of Nemesis, the Bandit King, tales of how he could gain power. By taking on the Goddess and stealing her relics.
Seiro was no Saint. She was the Immaculate one. A beast servant of the Goddess who took on a human form to stop him. And after she won decided that she would never let humanity rise to the power needed to question our 'rightful place' again. The Goddess' gifts taken. Those with the Crests made our rulers and supported by a Church she created. Any time a human re-learned some of that cursed knowledge they were silenced. I have seen the writings. We have found powerful fuels, created devices that could write books for us in a fraction of the time, learned about our bodies by cutting into them... and every time Seiros, in the form of the Archbishop, has hidden them.
You all assume I am from a place far more primitive than your own. That is by design.
And every day we cry out for Sothis to return us to that time when we knew peace. And she does not answer. If she even still lives. If she does then we are abandoned- her bastard children of perdition. How could I not have anything but hate in my heart for a being like that?
CW: More Religion-y things!
Lies had been spread about 'outside' gods when there had been none, and man had been driven to greed enough to turn the very gifts they received back on their Goddess. Their influence affected Nemesis and then the matter was regarding Seiros was that she was not nearly this perfect being that the original tale made her out to be.
To use her power and position to punish humanity every time they re-learned anything deemed 'cursed' knowledge, silencing them. As a result, the land the people lived in was much more primitive without the technology one may see here on this very ship. These people suffered without their goddess, who appeared to not answer them but there was indeed a very important thing to consider in this overall situation. ]
If your Goddess Sothis is indeed alive, I would be inclined to agree that it is cruel to allow her people to suffer, as while man is destined to endure hardships? It should never be to such an extent as what you have described.
[ A slow, calm breath as he then straightened up properly. ]
By the sounds of it, however? For all you know, perhaps Sothis has either been slain or still recovering her power to help her people and will re-emerge at her full strength to help her suffering people.
[ A hand comes up to brush against the cross at the end of his rosary. ]
It very much differs from my Lord. At times he can be cruel, but he is also benevolent and serves as a guiding light for his people. [ There's nothing but positive thoughts for the one he follows here. ] God is the creator and he who preserves all things, and without the trials and hardships he has enacted upon us? We would not be where we stand in the world today.