Welcome to Gaia! ::

Amadorine certainly picked up on the fact that Rais was toooootally spacing out right in front of her. And she was pretty sure it had something to do with the baldy female that had come back. When his attention WAS back to her and the whole ordeal they had to go through, she had placed her hands on her hips.

Huh, so a bow WAS what was expected. Placing her right fist of her left side of her chest, she bent herself forward over at the waist before straitening herself back up. When Rais brought up her reason for being there, Amadorine nodded. "Yeah, I need to charm away a symbol of the Elemental Magic of Earth from you." She flashed him with a grin again. "Whenever you're ready, I'm game for anything you throw at me."

Takis watches Vanya move to the ritual room. When it's clear she's begun, he turns hesitantly to the Earthmother. "Um," he begins softly, clearing his throat gently, "Is there any way I might be of help?"

Earthmother also watched Vanya go solemnly to the altar. She was glad for Vanya to make this decision, and she vowed to do whatever she could to protect and help the young faun with her duties. But Earthmother knew that Vanya would surpass even her someday, but until that day, she'd be there for Vanya.

She turned her attention to Takis and reached a comforting hand out for his shoulder. "Just watch over her. Make sure her breathing stays slow and steady and her heart rate doesn't increase. When she comes back to us, she'll be very weak."

Walking to the supply room once more, Earthmother shuffled a few things around, pulling items from boxes and a little bowl from a stack on a low shelf. She draped a thick leather apron over her arm and the last item she grabbed was a mortar and pestle.

She returned to where she was sitting previously and smiled at Takis. "It is unknown how long it will take her to find her spirit guide, so while we wait, I can help you."

She handed the apron to him. "This belonged to our last Tree Shaper. You don't have to use it, but it is something I would like for you to have."

In the deep pocket on the front of the apron would be various carving tools, a maple mallet, and even some thin scraps of bark with diagrams and schematics scribbled on them. They are old notes and ideas the former Tree Shaper had stuffed into the apron shortly before hanging it up for the last time, before he headed out of the tree to help defend it.

She set the items she pulled from the supply room gently on the floor beside her, and she started uncorking vials and little pots and poured just a little dab of each into the bowl. She used the mortar and pestle to grind up some dried berries and then added the power to the bowl as well. She held the bowl up to one of the sapling's leaves and let a few drops of dew fall in.

Carefully, she mixed the reagents together, creating a gummy paste. Earthmother then shaped and formed the mixture on the end of a small and thin stick, creating an incense stick. She then put the stick into an empty vial and corked the open end.

"Here, this is for you," she said as she handed the vial to Takis. "As Tree Shaper, you need to be able to hear when Laisidhiel speaks to you, so you will know which wood is pliable and which is too tender. She will tell you when and where you can remove wood, and how she would like you to shape it. You will need to let that incense sit over night, so that all of the ingredients have a chance to blend, and when you are ready, you will need to burn it and inhale the scent while meditating. Find a nice and quiet spot where you can relax, so that you can let the vapors work. It will open your senses so that you can hear Laisidhiel when you need to."

Earthmother took a glance towards Vanya to make sure she was still alright. She did not have any reason to worry, but she wanted to make sure.

At first, Vanya felt that nothing at changed. She had failed. She couldn't even get the spirits to approve of her and let her cross into their world...what sort of Seer would she make?

That was when she realized how hazy everything was...like...muted as if on a foggy day. The colors of the world seemed muted as well, as if some power had come along and soaked up all the bright, vivid colors of the world, leaving behind only dim, mottled greys, browns, black, and white...

Had they taken her sight already? Wait, no...she had to make an offering, right? So...

That's when she noticed, if she turned her head, she saw...herself.

Well, that was eye-opening, to say the least. She scrambled back in shock, looking down at herself, then over again at...herself. She seemed...asleep? Realization dawned and she murmured, "I...did it?"

As fascinating as all this was, Vanya really wanted to hurry this bit along as much as she could. Being outside of one's own body was...disorienting and just a bit disturbing. She had to find her spirit guide and make an offering of her sight. Right. Simple.

However she was supposed to do that.

Well, nothing to be done sitting here in this room. She doubted that whatever she was supposed to do would be that easy. No, it wouldn't come to her, so she'd have to go to it. She looked around, placing her hand on one of the walls...and watching it sink right through. "Well, that answers that question," she muttered to herself. Climbing to her hooves, she shrugged and proceeded to walk through one of the walls and out into the rest of Laisidhiel. She emerged in the meeting room, the other Fauns still milling about the dais as they waited for the wife ceremony to progress. Vanya frowned, glancing around the room at all the hazy beings, then shook her head. No, her spirit guide wouldn't be here, not among the others where she still felt so uncomfortable. She continued moving, passing through Laisidhiel's outer wall, and to the outside. Vanya moved across the earth with silent steps, moving towards the trees that surrounded Laisidhiel. The forests, the trees, where it was quiet, calm, and peaceful. That's where her spirit guide would be; of that she was certain.

The atmosphere was definitely right, but now what was she supposed to do? Looking around in frustration, she huffed, "Could always just wander around asking who takes offerings of earthly sight in exchange for power. I'm sure that'd work." She rolled her eyes, grumbling to herself, or so she thought.

"Yesssss, I suppossssse you could do that if you really wisssshhhhed, little girl," came a voice from the tree branch just above Vanya's head. She jumped, looking up to spot a snake unlike any she'd ever seen before. Its scales seemed to catch the light, shimmering like a rainbow in the sun. It lay half-coiled around the branch, its tail draped down and swinging lightly back and forth, counter-balancing for its head, where it leaned out to stare Vanya in the eyes. "You're likely to have many takerssssss, if you do," it followed with a hissing chuckle. Vanya didn't miss the malicious tone of its voice and she was quick to back away from the spirit reptile.

"Okay, perhaps a bit more caution is in order," she muttered, continuing her path through the forest. Even the sound seemed muted here in the spirit world, at least the sound associated with those in the living world. Every once in a while, she would hear a noise that sounded sharper than the rest, crisper...more real. She could only assume that there were more spirit creatures about, like the snake, and the thought wasn't necessarily a comforting one. However, she was still looking for her spirit guide, even if she wasn't sure how she was supposed to recognize it. It could very well be one of those spirits for all she knew.

After some time of traveling, it was obvious that something was following her. She'd caught flashes of it from the side once or twice, and it seemed to be something small and fluffy, dark-colored, and moved quietly for the most part with only a slight rustling of the leaves now and then. She slowed her pace, waiting...waiting...then making a lunge for the foliage, pulling some bushes aside to find...

...a kitten. Well, it looked like some kind of small cat at least. That much wasn't remarkable; what was, was its fur. The kitten was dark charcoal colored, almost black, with bright silvery-white spotted markings traced over its back and down its legs...

...not unlike Vanya's own fur. Was this a sign? She stared at the kitten with large eyes, and it stared back, head tilted cutely to the side before letting out a soft 'mew' and swishing its tail back and forth. Was this her spirit guide, then? Physically, at least, it seemed to match her well, though she'd never really pictured herself a cat person. Still, her markings weren't something seen often in nature, so why would it be random here in the spirit world? It had to mean something.

"Are you my spirit guide?" she asked aloud, tilting her head to mirror the cat, who then tilted its head in the opposite direction. Vanya couldn't help but smile, despite the oddness of the situation. Here she was, having an out-of-body experience in the spirit world, looking for an unknown spirit guide, and she was talking to a cat. That was enough weirdness in one's day to explain the sense of unease that had been creeping over her since she'd entered the forest. Of course this all felt strange and wrong.

"Well, if so, guess I'm supposed to offer you something." There was a glimmer that shone in the cat's eyes, a sharp, devious look, then it was gone again. "And just what sort of guidance can you offer, kitt--AH!"

An ear-rending screech tore though the air and Vanya fell back onto her tail, drawing her arm back on instinct. From high in the sky, a falcon had launched itself like an arrow for the feline on the ground, raking the air with its razor-sharp talons and screeching again in frustration as it missed the cat by a hair. Or a few hairs, given the torn fur fluttering down out of the air. The alarmed Faun turned her eyes back to the kitten, wondering if the poor thing was alright...

...not exactly. What was before her was no longer an adorable, fuzzy kitten. Instead, she beheld a lanky, gaunt...thing, its fur torn and missing in patches, as if it were infected with mange. It was mottled in color, no pretty designs to be seen anymore, and its eyes were wild, angry and furious. "You! You stupid interfering beast! I'll have more than your eyes, you winged rat!" it spat, glaring up into the sky. Its voice was harsh and grating to the ears, as if the creature had been gargling with sand and burrs.

"Begone, pest," came the clear reply from above, and Vanya shifted her gaze upwards to see the falcon turning around for another strike. "You'll cause no more trouble here, today. Back to the shadows with you!" With that, the falcon screeched and dove once more. It was answered with a harsher scream as the formerly-cat-like creature fled into the surrounding foliage and away from the clearing. The falcon flapped its way up to the branches of a nearby tree, and began calmly preening its wings, head turned away from Vanya.

The Faun meanwhile, could only stare for a moment, processing what she'd just seen. Or attempting to. "What...what in the forest just happened?" she finally muttered out loud, not expecting an answer.

She got one anyway. "You should really be more careful, child. The spirit world is no place to be traipsing about like a fool. Especially when one is on such an important quest as yourself. There are many who would take advantage of such an offering from the living world," the bird of prey replied, still continuing his cleaning duties calmly.

He knew why she was here? That's when Vanya had a sudden realization. "You're...my spirit guide, aren't you?"

"You are learning. Good."

She frowned in response, though at the smug answer or merely his quick response, none could say. "How do I know for sure that you are who you say you are? I'll not be fooled twice."

"You're learning already to see things for what they truly are. You saw the beast's true form before it ran away, yes? Look at me and tell me what you see, child." The falcon raised its head from preening and turned to stare at Vanya. It was all she could do to keep from crying out in shock. The bird's eyes...were empty. That wasn't to say that the expression was blank, no. The bird...had no eyes. The empty sockets somehow stared back at her anyway, and she turned her eyes away from the black voids and towards the ground instead.

He did not wait for her to answer, only nodded as if sensing the truth. "You understand then? That your offering will bind us together. I will be your contact and your connection here to the spirit world. In a way, I will also be your eyes, but more than that. Your sacrifice will bind us together in more ways than you can imagine right now, young one, but you will discover them in time. I am making you an offer as well, and force nothing upon you. The decision is yours."

Vanya listened carefully, nodded as the falcon explained. Yes, she understood, and she'd already made her decision before she'd come here. The wariness, the feeling of 'wrongness' that had followed her since she'd entered the forest...it had vanished with the fleeing beast before. There were no lies in the falcon's words and she sensed no maliciousness in his nature. She only nodded once more, and said "I accept your counter-offer, wise sir. The deal is made. Now, how do I finish my part of the deal?"

"First, you must return to your body in the land of the living, child. You will receive further instructions on completing your offering then." Vanya nodded, climbing to her hooves. She did not flinch as the falcon swooped over to perch upon her shoulder, offering her his protection on the journey back to the secret room in Laisidhiel.

Within the ritual room, she stared down at her slumped form before the altar, reaching out to lay a hand on her own shoulder...

And with a gasp, her body arched and her eyes flew open. The floor was beginning to dig into her knees and Vanya sagged to the side to rest on her hip as she panted, trying to catch her breath. She passed a hand over her face, brushing her hair from her eyes and marveling over what she'd just experienced. Was that it? Had she done it? She'd managed to find her spirit guide in the other world?

The balding faun let out a hearty laugh, his gut jiggling from its perch overlapping a moderately clean apron. Clinking his mug in toast, he roared in his oh so subtle loud and deep voice. "Aye, 'Jo, ole man. Seems our fine 'n upstandin' Commander 'n Chief don't much mind the eatin' 'n drinkin' but seems a might too much werk ta be figurin' out where it come from."

Taking a heavy gulp of ale, the tanuki faun stamped a hoof, causing a few sakura petals to whisk away from him. "I swear, our sweet Lassy ((Referring to the Tree)) couldn'na made sweeter nectar herself. What forest creature ya been snoggin' ta get ingredients of this caliber? Yer best brew yet, man."

Bronson had been one, if not the first, of the faun to emerge after the Great Awakening. He was salty and harsh, not from a lack of good character, but from hard work and a warrior/hunter way of life. He had gladly retired after a particularly painful shoulder injury while battling an even more particularly nasty boar who had threatened the young. Now the faun served as a cook, which was fine by him. He had a knack for herbs and seasonings and a rue pot the finest chefs in all of Telrunya would kill for.

"If I were the Chief, I'd just 'ave 'em all as a bloody 'arum instead of makin' 'em fight over me. Seems a shame ta be so," he inhaled sharply and gave Mojo a wink, "monogamous."

With that he burst into laughter again and drained the stein. "Imma thinkin' we need more of yer fine spirits, good sir. 'N a bit o yer booze wouldn't hurt either."

Mo remained upon the dais, pacing back and forth every now and then. He kept it in mind to stay near Rais, but it seemed that every moment he considered stepping forward to ask what was required of him, someone else always walked faster and pulled Rais' attention elsewhere.

Mo decided at this point that it was probably for the best. Aside from the new Seer and Tree Shaper that had followed the Earthmother, none of the other "brothers" had started their own initiation. Technically Mo wasn't the Adviser yet, but for some reason he had felt the urge to start. The sooner the better, he thought.

He began looking about at those still upon the dais, taking in each of their faces, names - if they were mentioned - and they're actions. He wasn't an expert at reading people just by watching them, but he liked to pride himself in thinking he'd be excellent at it one day.

For now, he just watched and took in the information.

Takis solemnly takes the old tools of his new trade, and runs his fingers over them. "Thank you. I'm honored." They seemed comfortable, as did the leather apron. He thought that he'd very much enjoy wearing it. He bites his bottom lip, still vaguely unsure of what his duties might entail. How would he know when to light the incense? Maybe he'd set it out tonight, and then light it tomorrow. See what the Great Tree had to say to him. If not, he could always ask the Earthmother how to make more of the incense.

His thoughts regarding his new position are interrupted by the Earthmother's sudden gasp. She'd been so calm up to this point, and so her reaction startles Takis. He gets up and sprints across the room to Vanya, ready to catch her if she fell, or...whatever he needed to do. He'd jump into the spirit realm itself if he had to. But the Earthmother's assurance that Vanya was alright made him calm himself. Most likely he'd be of best use here in the physical realm. Still, he feels as if he's holding his breath, waiting for her spirit to rejoin her body. Sitting close to her like he is, she feels wrong. Like she was devoid of spirit. Which, he realizes, was completely true. Takis shivers and restrains himself from embracing her.

After what seems like an eternity, Takis lets the breath he'd been holding escape his lips in a relieved sigh. He gladly takes Vanya into his arms, kneeling behind her and letting his legs and chest and arms support her. He wraps his arms around her torso, holding her to him, and gently touches his nose to her head while they wait for her to become fully conscious again. Frankly Takis is just glad she's alive.

Seda continued to watch the goings-on, not sure what else to do. She saw the females all do what the needed and even saw the one who flirted with the Chief come back bald! She was SO glad she was picked to try.

Seda wandered around the group looking for someone to talk to when she heard mention of Ivy from the Chief to Amadorine! "Ivy?" She lived with Ivy for a time when she grew up. Seda walked closer to the dais as this was very interesting.