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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 19, 2024 12:33:14 GMT -5
Rena lets out a pleased chirp as she awakens, softly nipping and nuzzling at the necks of her bondmates and the neck vertebrae of her girlfriend. Girlfriend. Stars above, that makes her feel giddy. She nips at Beak’s neck again, just because she can, savoring the little noises that cross the skeleton’s telepathic link and snuggling a little closer before slowly, reluctantly pulling away from the comforting warmth of the nest. It wouldn’t do to waste time. Today’s the day, after all. She can feel it in the air, in the thrumming of her core. There’s a price she’ll have to pay, but she’s already accepted the sacrifice she’ll have to make to save the last of her children, and she’s more than willing to pay whatever price the ritual requires.
The silver eyed crow putters about the family’s burrow, nibbling at a strip of spider jerky as she prepares breakfast for those of her family who can enjoy it. She’s got a plan for restoring Beak’s ability to eat and taste and smell, but that…that’s something for later. Hopefully there’ll be at least hints in the Archives, but that trip is still a little ways off…in the meantime, she seeks out the hidden cache that she and her bondmates had used to stash a little surprise for their girlfriend. Stars, that thought puts a spring in her step. It’s a good minute’s work to open up the cache and retrieve the ancient tablet of fired clay. They’d recovered it from a curio merchant during their last trip to the Marsh Flats, just before Beak had moved in with them. It hadn’t taken long for Nev to confirm that the tablet was of Ibekki origin, but the three of them had chosen to save it as a surprise, a little something extra for Beak on the day of the hatching…the silver eyed crow takes a moment to clear her thoughts before stepping away from the cache, millennia old tablet held in gentle hands as she moves back into the central room of the burrow, eyes shining bright and an avian smile in the ruffling around her beak as she watches her children groggily nibble on their morning meal…
…Bell and Nev, for their part, nuzzle into either side of Beak’s neck, Nev holding the skeleton close and Bell nestling against her, both chirping contentedly as they gently nibble at her shoulders.
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Post by Beak on Jun 19, 2024 16:53:38 GMT -5
It feels like such a short time has passed from Beak's first meeting with the Blackfeathers, and yet it also feels like a lifetime ago. The lonely, wretched creature she was, devoid of purpose, feeling truly cursed to continue to exist after she lost her homeland... and now here she is, finding love for the first time... well, ever. Even when she was alive, she had been too preoccupied with her warrior duties to pursue romance.
Instead, she had to wait over three millennia for it romance to pursue her... quite literally, at first. It was peculiar... no one could seem to remember why, but somehow the Blackfeathers had a notion that they needed to hunt the elder skeleton down, that she was quarry, a target... and instead, once they met, a friendship developed. A friendship that then turned into something more... and now she's here, living among them. Living... she has a home. She has warmth, love, family.
Family.
Family.
Stars above, today's the day, isn't it.
She's long had... complicated feelings about this day, because she knows what it will entail... what the price paid will have to be. But at the same time, she knows what the Blackfeathers stand to gain in turn... and in the end, she supports and even understands the decision. She's even grown as excited to see the end results as the Blackfeathers themselves must be by now... and she has to hurry. She has a surprise for them.
"Rena...."
Were Beak a better liar, or were this earlier in their relationship, when the notion of communicating via her Message spell alone was new and unusual, before Rena knew all of Beak's little cues and tells in her telepathy... she might have been able to pull off the act of sounding sad or apprehensive here, that wistful "Rena...." being the prelude to one last desperate attempt to talk her out of this.
But... no. She is very obviously excited about something--most likely some sort of surprise present--and the feigned sadness is as poor a disguise as the robe and walking stick she wears when outside the barrow.
"... Feh. I don't have to be able to read your thoughts to know you saw through that one, didn't you?" The telepathic equivalent of a grin as the skeleton presents the crow with a small and simple box, the kind that might hold a ring or bracelet or some other form of small jewelry inside.
"For you, my dear. Happy..." ... childrens' hatch-day? Day the of the Final Deal? This occasion doesn't have a catchy name yet, does it.... "... Happy... today." Rena knows what she meant. Rena knows what today is.
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 19, 2024 17:34:18 GMT -5
Rena tilts her head slightly, those silver eyes turning to focus on her girlfriend - girlfriend! Stars, it’s been nearly half a year and she’s still not over the rush that thought brings! - and a gentle, avian smile ruffling the feathers around her beak as she steps forward, her talons brushing against Beak’s fingerbones as she gently takes the box from the other woman’s hands. The silver eyed crow examines the container for a moment, taking in every little detail before those gray scaled, onyx taloned hands slowly open the box to allow those gorgeous silver eyes to take in its contents…
…Bell steps up next to Beak, chirping affectionately and hugging the skeleton as he nuzzles against her side, those amber eyes watching his living bondmate, drinking in her reaction to the gift he’d lent their girlfriend his expertise in creating even as he gently presses against said girlfriend’s side.
Nev, for their part, peers over Rena’s shoulder, cobalt eyes widening and a slight avian blush ruffling the feathers on their cheeks in a mirror of Rena’s own as the silver eyed crow slowly flicks her gaze up to meet Beak’s empty sockets before murmuring, “I…thank you. You didn’t have to, but…thank you” she smiles, letting out a love soaked trill as she steps forward, reaching up with a gentle hand to pull Beak into a soft nuzzle, Rena’s beak parting a little to gently nibble at Beak’s jaw.
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Post by Beak on Jun 19, 2024 17:56:58 GMT -5
The Blackfeathers signalled their intent to start courting Beak by presenting her with a ring made from braiding their flight feathers together. Beak has wanted to return the favor ever since, but given her... condition... it's not as easy for her to come by parts of herself that are as easy to spare. She has no feathers, no hair, no skin, nothing that she could shed and craft into a piece of jewelry that bears a part of herself...
... Well. Almost nothing.
The sight that greets Rena's eyes when she opens the box is a simple metal ring, set and adorned with a handful of small scales at various points and patterns to give it a speckled appearance. The scales seem... actually somewhat dull and faded for a fancy ring; something bought in stores would feature much more resplendently vibrant scales, possibly with an irridescent sheen. These ones almost look like they might have had that luster at one point, but they lost-
Wait.
These are from Beak's fins.
The skeleton waits for the moment that realization of exactly what Rena is looking at to set in before beaming a delighted emotional resonance--the equivalent of a huge grin--and explains.
"It turns out that if I'm extremely careful... my regenerative abilities can't restore anything like a lost fingerbone or anything, but shaving or plucking off something like one or two fin scales at a time counts as a minor enough wound to be restored. Too many at once would have been a permanent loss, so there was... a bit of a balance, there. It took a very long time to amass enough of them for an entire ring... and then I had some help from a certain someone finding a way to bind them, a component to set them in."
She goes onto explain, "It... may not look like much. The jeweler in the nearest town has something like this on offer, but the scales are shinier and they're set in a ring of gold and silver. These look like... well, scales from a four thousand year old skeleton, and they're set in simple steel. But it's the thought and the meaning we put into it... the scales are mine, and we wanted a metal that you wouldn't... be sensitive to in any way, after... today."
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 19, 2024 18:17:09 GMT -5
Rena listens quietly to Beak’s explanation, a low purr resonating in her chest as she carefully takes the ring from its case, those silver eyes examining the ring crafted with scales taken from her girlfriend’s little remaining flesh and steel molded by her ember riddled bondmate’s forge. She smiles softly, tears beginning to well up at the corners of her shining eyes as she slips the ring onto a finger, admiring it for a moment before she speaks, “...it…it’s perfect,” and then she’s hugging the stuffing out of the elder skeleton, chirping and trilling with joy and adoration as she nuzzles up under Beak’s jaw, those happy tears rolling down her cheeks as she presses close.
She’s normally more composed than this, but…today’s the day. The day that Hum and Chime join their siblings in the world of the living, the day that Rena sacrifices her very life to fuel the final resurrection…the day that, if all goes well, Rena joins the ranks of the undead, much like the majority of her family…so perhaps it’s understandable that this, this heartfelt gesture of love, unneeded as it was, is exactly the push that sends Rena over the edge, tears of joy and fear and anxiety rolling own her cheeks as she clings to Beak…
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Post by Beak on Jun 19, 2024 18:35:54 GMT -5
Under normal circumstances, especially if Beak herself were still alive, raised to view the undead as her tribe had... she'd be begging Rena to reconsider. She knows that the crow loves her children, but surely it can't be worth dying just so the unhatched eggs can live. Not when Beak has finally, after millennia, found love, a girlfriend whom it would positively destroy her to lose....
But... well... being a skeleton herself has given her somewhat of an odd perspective on undeath. Rena's story won't be over any more than Beak's herself will be. She now knows from personal experience that this will be... a state transition, at worst. That her girlfriend will still be there. If anything, her girlfriend will be there more now; as a living being, shey may grow old and pass on and just be gone someday, but now she will remain in this world just as Beak remains, just as Bell and Nev remain.
That's what ultimately made her support the decision. Still, it's hard not to feel at least a little torn up about the fact that the most lovely corvid she's ever met besides... well, everyone else in the same polycule, is going to die, technically. Old instincts about that clash with new recontextualizing for what death and undeath mean in this family and... it's all a little weird for her, in truth. A lot to take in.
But... stars above, how must Rena herself feel, then? At least all Beak and Bell have to worry about for today is making sure they didn't make the ring out of cold iron or anything silly like that, and being there for whatever comfort Rena may need as she is about to make one of the more difficult decisions a mother ever could.
"I'm glad you like it, istir.1 We wanted today to be special. ... After all, not many folks could get me thinking about speaking Ibekki again. Ehehe~" She holds Rena in her arms, savoring that warmth... bony fingers make for a poor and futile means of drying tears, but the meaning is conveyed through the attempt. Much like the comparatively meager ring Rena just declared perfect, she supposes.
1 - "Beloved"
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 19, 2024 19:07:31 GMT -5
The silver eyed crow slowly calms, tears slowly drying as she lets out a soft giggle, happily nestling into her girlfriend’s grasp, utterly unbothered by the skeleton’s inherent boniness as she chirps softly, smiling up at Beak with a happy trill, “...I…thank you, ka’to’bi1…” Rena sniffles a little, then smirks, “...actually, we’ve got something for ye too, love…c’mon, I put it out on the table…” and the crow pulls away, just enough to guide her girlfriend out to the central room of the burrow, out to the table that takes up one side of the chamber…
…upon that table is a tablet of baked clay. Ancient, cracked, and crumbling, but the symbols upon it are intimately familiar to Beak. perhaps not their specific content, but the symbols themselves, the meaning they represent, the fact that they were pressed into the clay prior to baking, rather than etched in after…this is a piece of Beak’s history. Of Abek’s history. Of Ibekki history. And somehow, it has survived the passing of millennia. Somehow, it has found its way to the Blackfeathers. Somehow, it has found its way to her…
…Beak’s datemates watch carefully, their eyes shining with gentle affection as they gently nudge her toward the tablet…
1 - I/me/my/mine love/dear/heart
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Post by Beak on Jun 20, 2024 2:19:31 GMT -5
Ka'to'bi. That... Beak had heard that word before, knew what it meant, was used to all the times Rena, Bell, and Nev all said it to each other. But for Beak to be the recipient... for Rena to call her that... stars. Stars, stars, stars, that's never going to fail to make her feel all fluttery, is it? That she saw what the Blackfeathers had from the start, but now she's part of it.
And... wait.
"W... what's this now? More gifts? But Bell, you were helping me with Rena's... Bell! You sneaky, double-dealing...." A warm laugh. Fair play, she supposes. Such are the perils of being their ka'to'bi.
"Wait, this... these are..." She carefully lifts the tablet--it's much heavier than it looks, of course, but she expected that--and studies the writings. "This is Ibekki! How did you... Where did you...."
She starts to read the writings. She can't exactly widen her eyes without eyes to widen, but it's clear that something has instantly grabbed her intention. "This is... is this? Hold on...."
Beak can only imagine how curious the others must be about what the tablet actually is or what it says, what wisdom the writings impart, now that they've finally, finally presented it to someone who can decipher it. How long must they have been storing this somewhere as a surprise present for her, wondering if it was anything from the lost Gri'kka ascension secrets she'd been chasing to just somebody's shopping list, or anything in between? And... she wishes she could answer them faster, but if what she's seeing is correct... no, she has to check something, first. She has to know.
"Ashk1... And... the rite?? How... all right, yes... and the paper... who can do this? Does it have to be... all right... yes... yes...."
On one hand, the wait for some actual solid answers takes longer than expected. On the other hand, that tone, the way she's poring over the tablet... that is a well-known, instantly recognizable mood. That's the way someone like Bell might get when having his grandest idea yet and just having to double-check everything... make sure there's no obvious reason why this wouldn't work....
"Rena! Bell! Nev!" She finally looks up, her "voice" positively overflowing with delight. "Do you have any idea what this is? You've... I... I may actually have yet another present to give, now. Only this one's for them," she glances toward the still-unhatched eggs, "and I'll need everyone's help for it...."
1 Not an Ibekki word but rather a fragment in Common; Beak simply was about to say something else and interrupted herself.
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 20, 2024 2:55:21 GMT -5
Beak’s datemates scramble into motion immediately, Nev pulling a blank scroll from a nearby shelf and unrolling it as they conjure a peculiar stylus, immediately poised to scribble down any instructions or ingredients that Beak might relay, while Bell and Rena quickly move to gather the children, who at this point have already scattered throughout the burrow.
The silver eyed crow tilts her head, gently taking her girlfriend’s hand and softly squeezing, “...what is it, to’bi? A rite? How can we help, love?” Rena trills curiously, her tailfeathers flicking back and forth as Beak’s giddiness proves most infectious, regardless of the lack of information.
The children chirp softly as they gather up around the table, shining eyes curious as they listen intently to Beak’s words and examine the tablet in her hands - and then Wind’s eyes fall on the ring resting on Rena’s finger, letting out an overjoyed flurry of chirps as she grabs at the hem of Beak’s shirt, gently tugging as she exclaims, “you’re gonna Bond with Momma?!” the little skeleton’s bones rattling with excitement as she vibrates in place, rose gold eye lights wide and bright and full of stars as she trills excitedly…
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Post by Beak on Jun 20, 2024 3:35:13 GMT -5
"Hah, there's a question, little one... the way things are going, how happy my istirii1 make me and I them, we just might... I'd like that... ah, but for now, we have a different ceremony we can do. Observe!"
She reaches into a hidden pouch inside her top. The shirt portion of the martial arts outfit that doubles as her "comfortable at-home" wear is a sleeveless with a V-shaped neck, a diagonal seam continuing down one edge of that V in much the same manner as a simple bathrobe or dressing gown with one side folded over the other, only stitched and sealed together. It didn't look like there were any pockets or ways to reach between the sewn-together folds, but from a perfectly hidden pouch the skeleton procures a small charm and sets it on the table for the rest of the family to observe.
The strap seems perfectly ordinary; something that could be made into a bracelet as easily as a pendant or anything else. The important part of it is the charm itself: A small metal sphere, perhaps the size of a large marble, clearly crafted with deliberation and care, especially for hers to has survived for millennia as it seems to have. It is inscribed on its surface with Ibekki writing, and also seems to bear a curious seam--as if it had been split in half at one point, but has now been welded or reforged to permanently seal it shut once more.
"This is my... I never explained this tradition, but my people called them ashkeepers. You see..."
She pauses, reflects, considers where to start... decides to go back a little, to give as complete a picture as possible.
"The Ibekki believed in the book... the great book, the celestial book, the book-beyond-the-stars, it has many names... but say "the book" around any Ibekki and they'll know what you mean." A grin-equivalent amused broadcast. "When a new member of the Ibekki tribe was born, their parents would write down their name and a simple dedication--a short wish they have for the child, something like "may his smile always light the dark" or "may her cunning ever elude misfortune" or something like that. They'd write the name and the dedication on these special leaves... Everblossoms, see? And then they'd burn them."
That last part might have been an unexpected swerve, especially given what she knows about the Valley of Crows' belief in preserving... well, everything. She gives a moment for any potential startled reactions to come and go before she elaborates.
"You see, when the leaves with the name and dedication are burned, the smoke takes the message up, up, beyond the stars... and it goes to the book, and the child's chapter is added. That's how they're recognized... that's what makes them Ibekki. They're recorded in the book."
"Then, they'd take the ashes from that leaf, and they'd store them inside one of these..." Her bony finger points at the charm now resting atop the tablet. "An ashkeeper. Every Ibekki had one, and they were supposed to keep them close their entire lives... because the ashes remember, you see. They record everything... and then, when they die... well, then the ashkeeper is destroyed, as part of the funeral. Because just like that leaf, that's how the Ibekki sent its contents... everything it recorded, everything it witnessed... when someone dies and their ashkeeper is destroyed, then their entire life goes up to the book, and it's all recorded. It's written down and it'll be remembered forever... they'll be remembered forever...."
Beak alternates between explaining the custom solemnly and reverently to her beloveds, and adding a more playful flair to it upon looking down and seeing the way the children are paying such rapt attention, especially Wind Through Bones. "... Forever and ever!" She adds with a giggle, just for them.
She then turns her attention back to the parents. "This tablet goes over the way to create and prepare ashkeepers. I mean... yes, I could have just given mine to Bell and he could've taken one look at it and figured out how to make his own, but... this is the rite. Bell could've made a little metal ball, sure, but this... this is real, this is official, the ritual and the blessings and everything for actual...."
She's getting ahead of herself, starting to get so excited that she's interrupting herself again. She takes her ashkeeper and puts it back in that hidden compartment in her shirt--always on her person, always safe. Always. Focusing on that gives her enough of a distraction to calm herself before the big news.
"Rena... Bell... Nev... When Hum and Chimes hatch... we can do this rite. We can make them Ibekki. It's... consider it my present to them, to honor the newborn. They'll be the first new names added to the book in over three thousand years."
1 "Beloveds" (plural)
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 20, 2024 11:25:48 GMT -5
There’s a long moment of silence as Beak’s datemates take in everything she’s saying, everything it means…and then they’re stepping close, Nev pulling Beak into a gentle hug as Bell and Rena press close, all three letting out teary chirps of joy as they hold their girlfriend close, each of them saying much the same thing - “yes, yes, a million times yes! we would be honored” - and her datemates press close for a long moment, chirping and trilling as they gently nuzzle her before Rena pulls away just a little, her hand squeezing Beak’s as she smiles up at her girlfriend, “...there’s little we’d like more than to help make Hum ‘n Chime part of the Ibekki, ka’to’bi1” …well, she can think of one thing, but given the states of her loves, and soon her own state…well, unlikely is an understatement…
Nev and Bell bob their heads, trilling in agreement, though Nev speaks up soon after, “...we…the clans of the Valley of Crows held a similar belief, actually…that the Stars themselves would protect the souls of the dead, for so long as the stories of those dead were remembered and told down below…it…during the Archival Era, it was something of a holy mission, to record and store and preserve as many stories as we could, because even one can be enough to safeguard whole families or even entire villages against the devouring darkness of That which is Not2…” those cobalt eyes meet Beak’s empty sockets before flicking to Rena’s silver gaze, “...Rena…love, you should focus on the resurrection. we’ll take care of the ashkeeper rite,” and then the wraith of ink and starlight refocuses on their girlfriend, a soft smile ruffling the feathers around their beak, “...alright. first thing's first. Everblossom. how do we get that?”
1 - I/me/my/mine love/dear/heart/beloved 2 - That which is Not. N'hil. The Devourer of Stories. The Forgotten One.
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Post by Beak on Jun 20, 2024 16:45:39 GMT -5
Beak ponders Nev's words. "I see some differences... the clans of the Valley of Crows would naturaly want to preserve and store and archive everything tangible, then, whereas Ibekki were more open to the impermanence of the physical--even the ashkeepers are burned along with the body when someone dies--but the spirit of the object, through the smoke released, goes on to be preserved and recorded and remembered forever in the book-beyond-the-stars. But either way... it's about remembering, isn't it? Honoring those we've lost by keeping their stories forever... it's... it's why the fate of my entire people hurts me so much." "In truth, it'd be my greatest honor to induct all of you... the Ibekki have been extinct for so long that I'm every bit as excited to add to the great book again as you are honored at the invitation. There... I know that there were rites for welcoming new people into the tribe who weren't born into it already... and there had to be something to replace and resanctify an ashkeeper if yours went missing somehow; you can't tell me that situation never once came up... but... ah... I'm afraid I don't know those rites. I want to. I still dream of mastering all of this. You just have to realize that... well... a simple uneducated warrior learning the rites and becoming Gri'kka by herself, after the rest of the tribe has gone, is almost like... like a severed sword arm regrowing the entire rest of the body and the person attached, including the mind. It's... you all have given me more hope than I've ever had that it's possible, that I could do it someday, but make no mistake that it's going to be an undertaking...." Oops. Tangent. "Ah, but... as I was saying, I would write all of your names in the book if only I knew how. I... don't, to my great shame. Not yet. Perhaps someday... but today, today, we can start with Hum and Chimes." Her excited mood returned, she looks over the tablet again, her focus now on sheer logistics... deploying everyone to the optimal position, spreading out to gather everything they'll need. "Everblossom. Yes. It is my understanding that Everblossom trees should be native to this region, luckily... they were, ironically, harder to come by in our own homeland, which is part of what made them so special. I'm afraid I've... never actually seen one in the wild; I only saw the leaves after they'd been harvested and returned to my village. But I think if you ask around, you should be able to find some... somewhere. They shouldn't be far; you'd just need someone who knows better than I." "Perhaps Nev and the children can work on that... Rena needs to prepare for the hatching... Bell can work on the construction of the ashkeepers, and I'll stay with him. I need to continue studying this tablet, and also be here for any guidance Bell may need with the ashkeeper construction." Unsaid, but likely understood by everyone without needing to be said: Bell will need to borrow Beak's ashkeeper for a visual reference, and as much as she trusts everyone in this family with her very life, she cannot be apart from it. She reads and observes a few more lines from the tablet, fussing over every little detail. "This says that, to properly sanctify the spiritual value of the ashkeepers, they need to be made by one of the child's parents... fortunately, we already have that part fulfilled." She smiles at Bell. "The names and dedications need to be written in Ibekki, but that shouldn't be a problem; give me the messages and I can translate and write them for you. The inscriptions on the ashkeepers are just the children's names in Ibekki... I can write those on some scrap paper right now, so Bell has the visual reference to copy. What else... oh! Oh, stars above, the ink!" She skims the tablet... skims it again... rereads it more carefully.... "It... actually... does not say anything about the ink..? I'd have thought they'd have used some ritually prepared special ink to write on the Everblossom leaves, if the leaves themselves were significant... hmm... perhaps there's room to improvise there..? It just has to be something special... something with sentimental or spiritual meaning."
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 20, 2024 17:52:31 GMT -5
Nev tilts their head, cobalt eyes shining softly as they consider…there’s something familiar about the name ‘Everblossom’...something…and then it clicks. And the raven trills softly, “...I…think there’s an Everblossom tree about a mile east of us? I remember that…back in my clan’s compound, we had these absolutely ancient ones that were grown from fruit that…well, the stories said the trees had sprouted from fallen Stars, but…more likely an Archivist visited the Crescent Isles and brought some back. But…” the wraith nods a little, “...yeah, I…I remember seeing a tree that looked like a much, much smaller version of the ones I grew up napping in…”
Bell perks up a little, his talons already itching for his tools as he carefully takes the scrap paper with the Ibekki script for ‘Somber Hum’ and ‘Morning Chimes’ and heads outside to light his forge…the ember speckled specter has work to do…
The chicks, for their part, hear ‘Everblossom’ and ‘a mile east’ and proceed to scramble out the door. They…they listened to Nev’s stories about their home village, so they…probably know what they’re looking for…but it might take a while…
And then Beak mentions the ink. How it needs to be special, but there’s no specifics other than that…and Rena smiles softly, “...well, that much, we already have,” the silver eyed crow holds up a hand and snaps her fingers, producing a small cloud of starry night that quickly congeals into a slender stylus, the length of the implement intricately inlaid with polished silver. Rena offers the stylus for Beak’s examination as she speaks, “...this…is an Inkstone stylus. These were carved from Inkstone, something we’ve not found anywhere save the Valley of Crows, for the use of the Raven Queen’s Archivists,” the silver eyed crow takes a scrap of paper and uses the stylus to scribble…and a marking of deep, abyssal black forms under the tip of the implement, “...the markings left by implements carved from Inkstone can only be washed away by fresh spring water…and this particular stylus was passed down through Nev’s family since before the war that shattered Memoria, and was eventually gifted to me as a courting gift,” with that, Rena offers the stylus to her girlfriend, “...I offer it to you now, that it may help record our children's stories in The Book”
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Post by Beak on Jun 20, 2024 20:50:11 GMT -5
"Oh, this..."
Beak carefully, reverently takes the stylus in her hands, hanging off every word of Rena's story. Its power, its significance...
"This is perfect. I... I wouldn't dream of taking it from you--it's Nev's gift to you--but if I could borrow it for this evening, I swear on my ashkeeper I'll do right by and honor both it and your children."
Speaking of ashkeepers, she sets out to writing Somber Hum and Morning Chimes in Ibekki script on scrap paper, for Bell to copy and inscribe into theirs. This isn't the rite--that will come later, and will happen on the properly prepared Everblossom leaves--but she takes every bit as much time to make sure she's getting this right. Translating those names to Ibekki involves some grammatical reconfiguration... A Hum That Is Somber? A Hum Of Somberness? No.... and whatever interpretation she goes with, that's what will be written in the ashkeepers for their entire lives. That's what will be written in the great book for eternity. This deserves every bit of focus she can muster; these translations must be perfect.
Once she's satisfied, once she's got it, the next step is to write the Ibekki names down and, even on scrap paper, it must be something that Bell can transcribe flawlessly. Her script is very large and about the most careful she's ever written anything in her life, treating it more like a drawing, a work of art than simple text, so that Bell can see the script's every curve and bend and copy it with flawless precision.
"... The parents are supposed to be deeply involved in this," she muses out loud when she finally has the notes for Bell, with the name transcription she can truly be proud of. "They wouldn't just hand the child over to the Gri'kka and let the priests do everything... they made the ashkeepers themselves, they wrote the names and the dedications... and you're doing that. In this case, I can do the actual writing part of the writing since it's in Ibekki, but I'll take what you have to say and translate it." She emits a warm, positive feeling as she glances toward Bell at the forge, toward Nev as they head out to find the leaves... "This is perfect. You even loaned the Inkstone stylus, with your own story behind it... the book collects stories, after all. There is nothing more I can ask for you to make this ceremony yours as you already are doing."
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Tradesfolk
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Renown
Crescent Isles
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jun 20, 2024 23:31:56 GMT -5
Rena smiles, trilling her assent before tilting her head as she considers for a moment, then nodding once she has it, “...same for both, I think...This One Shall Thrive,” …four simple words. Short, to the point, describing everything the silver eyed crow wants and intends for her family. For them to thrive. For them to have lives rich with joy and love and wonder. And the specific choice of words…where most would have made prayers or asked, Rena…well, there’s a resolve in her eyes, a steel in her voice that brooks no argument from any potential higher powers…and perhaps that’s understandable, given the other ritual set to take place tonight…
Bell, for his part, gently takes the paper bearing the Ibekki names of the yet uhatched chicks, slowly pacing out of the burrow and beginning to set up his forge for the task ahead…he has the metal already, he knows that much, so the key will be…yes, that’ll do it…while the children are out searching for the Everblossom tree their Bab’sk had remembered, their father carefully shapes four identical half-sphere domes, each sized to be one half of a roughly marble-sized construction…
Nev, meanwhile, has gone to check on the two unhatched eggs, cobalt eyes peering into the little nest they lie in while the family is at home in the burrow…finding everything in order, the wraith gently plucks them from their confines and carries them to Rena, who smiles softly and carefully takes them, tucking her unhatched offspring into their chamber in the satchel on her hip…
…it’s hours later that the children return, bones dirty and feathers bedraggled and clothes torn, but with grins in the feathers around their beaks - Whistle and Wind - or in the shapes of their eye lights - Loci and Wind - as they present their parent to be with handfuls of leaves…and…yes, these are exactly the leaves that Beak remembers, the same shape, the shade close enough to come from the same species, the same feeling of rightness...
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