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Ronda de Mate

Scene details

Setting: The Star Chasers enjoy an Oradian specialty as, at rest in a fishing village after the revelations of their ancient temple adventure, they discuss their discovery of Yacumama, Mother of Waters, and their next steps.

Log


 The sunrise has gathered sheaves of light and cast them upon the jungle floor through gaps in the dense canopy above, illuminating the morning activities of this Oradian fishing village. A group of tribesfolk has assembled in orderly fashion upon the serpentine river's bank to chant and sing to weave and repair fishing nets and ropes, while others on exquisitely carved canoes set forth onto the waters with their gear. As they do, some spare curious glances at the Romancing SaGa, tethered to its moor, rocking gently in the current.
 Under a roof of dried leaves and thatch, seated upon a stool before a simple table weathered by the elements, Ivo is packing a small gourd full of leaves that resemble tea. With a tapered copper drinking straw, he digs a small hole in the center of the leaves, and then taking up a copper kettle, he pours steaming water into the gourd, the vapor wreathing the designs etched upon it, depicting snakes entwined around the branches of trees. Setting down the kettle, he swirls the drinking straw slowly as he allows the water to steep, and then takes a long drink, before sighing in satisfaction, gaze drifting to the riverbank and those at work there.

> BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA9ozz04Nfk

 "This 'mate' has a hint of mint, compared to tea," he observes, smiling at his friends. "According to the norms of a 'ronda de mate,' we pass the gourd in a circle, speaking when we hold it. So I'll begin: the case of Yacumama is a strange one."
 He glances to Reize's pendant.
 "She has been relatively dormant since our encounter in the ruined temple," he continues, "and, unfortunately, not especially coherent. I think our best bet is to recall what she told us and what we found--"
 He looks to Rui next.
 "--and crossreference that, if we can, with what is written in Ruidosa's tome and what we know of Oradia's history and politics. The more we understand before we encounter the Ankhialeans again, the better."
 A folded piece of papyrus has been placed on the table before Ivo. He unfolds it now and pushes it forward for others to peruse.
 "Here is what Yacumama said before passing into Reize's pendant--"

 Eternal change, endless return,
  Reduced to ash, still now I burn.
 My water parched, my children grown,
  My jungle flourished, my seeds long sown.
 Our sacrifice vanquished our foes and fear.
  So, why, why
 do I yet linger here?

"--and maybe, if we reflect on what has happened so far during our time in Oradia, we'll be able to puzzle out at least some of her meaning."
 Having said his piece, Ivo passes on the gourd.

Ruidosa La Crima looks at the others, and this 'mate'. Oh so this is like when her mother made herself, her mother and Tranquila and Madonna sit down and play 'Potato time' and each person who had the potato had to express their feelings about others and no one could talk until their Potato time. She wears a bemused expression on her face. "Can we drink the tea in the Gourd?" she asks, softly.%R%RShe gets the gourd and sips from it anyways. She's curious! "Before we begin." she sighs and carefully removes the tome from her bag. "This is from my mom's time with the tome. She did all the history writing. So that means. Mom's era. If you skip ahead to get peeks... kiss your shins goodbye." she says, eyes narrowing at Ivo.%R%RShe opens the book and places it down on the table, to that section.%R%RIndeed the History of Ordia is all there. Feel free to assume what's in the book was needed!%R%R"There." she says as she sighs and passes the gourd to Reize next with a smile.



 What does Reize do when he gets strange things? He consumes it! This has been the unfortunate cause of his troubles since his time in Oradia. Thankfully, the gourd seems to be safe, given that Ruidosa sipped from it.

 Upon receipt of the gourd, Reize takes a sip to satisfy his own curiosity. Also, he's thirsty. However, he gives a glance at Ruidosa with a sweatbead over her 'shin-destrying threat'.

 "Well, since our arrival here, we encountered some of the fire creatures rampaging after an accident from... uhh, that one guy who screams a lot." He gives a thoughtful look, trying to remember if the guy had a name. "Someone who seemed very infatuated with Rui." His expression sours at that.

 However, Reize then considers, "Also encountered many fire elementals within the waterways..." He thinks over, then he hands the gourd back to Ivo.


 Ivo accepts the gourd from Reize with a smile, taking up the kettle with his other hand to top it up with hot water. The mate is bracing, but pleasantly herbescent and not too bitter, given how briefly it steeps overall while being passed around. There also do not seem to be any suspicious additional herbs mixed in, this time.
 "I'll be careful," he replies to Rui, adopting a mild and conciliatory tone, "curious as I am about the... insights your tome contains. I have no wish to kiss my own shins. I'll content myself with our indirect kisses."
 He sips from the tapered straw, traditionally shared by all, and then cradles the gourd as he thinks. Though the tome is open before him, the Cosmopolitan seems stuck on something and endeavoring to finish a thought.
 "I keep returning to Yacumama's apparent confusion: she did not understand why she 'yet lingered.' I don't understand that, myself."
 Through the plume of steam rising from the gourd in his hand, Ivo purses his lips and furrows his brow.
 "All sensor data indicated that Yacumama was a mere remnant, not sapient: a static fragment of consciousness, a repository of memories given ethereal form and nothing more. Over the course of our journeys, I've reviewed all the scholarship on eidolas I could get my hands on, and I've never seen a reference to a remnant ascending to a more complex category of eidola. Yet Reize's pendant has never been able to contain anything *less* than a sapient eidola, like Kernunnos. We've encountered plenty of lesser eidola and never gotten any indication that any would or could do what Kernunnos and Yacumama have done."
 He is silent for a little while.
 "Eternal change, endless return," he repeats. "Could it be of Yacumama's nature, uniquely, that she cycles between categories of eidola? But then, why would the continuation of this cycle surprise her...?"
 Another moment of silence.
 "Ash, burning, parching... are these references to heat and fire just a metaphor, or literal...?" He looks to Reize, weighing his younger friend's words. "We know there's trade in fire elementals, as they manifest deeper in the jungle, and we know the Ankhialeans worship some spirit of fire... but there's so little information on them. It's difficult to believe they've played any significant role in Oradia's history, and yet..."
 Shaking his head, he passes the gourd on, and then takes up Ruidosa's tome, searching back to the founding of Oradia, thinking of the graven images the party observed as they proceeded through the ruined temple.

"Galito." she says, with a tone that is said with malice and dislike as she obtains the gourd. Sip! "He thinks if he tries hard enough, he can get his hand in marriage with me. Also my grandfather approves of him in this role so I think he thinks it's a done deal." she says idly.

"My sister, Madonna, no doubt knows I'm here now, and will most likely try to seek me out to. To shove stuff in my face." she says with frustration and defeated-ness.

There's rubbings in the tome now, folded in and clipped to a further down page. The ones Ruidosa made. She considers those words.

"Vampires go through a similar cycle." she says softly. "Only once but. I mean. I don't. Think about it too hard. It seems like this line of thought leads to vampires psychotically drawing on walls howling about something. But I used to be a human. Like you guys. Then I died. And then I was reborn as this. I don't remember anything of the before time either. If it was never explained to me. I don't think I've ever assumed otherwise." she says with a nod. "That's as deep as I let myself think about it would rather not be the one drawing on walls howling in a room screaming 'I can remember I can remember!'" she says with a hard wince.

"Fire is our enemy too. Part of me wonders if any of that is connected now..." she says as she idly sits there with a fist on her chin and leaning forward, before passing on the gourd before she forgets to.



  "I see..." His antenna hair droops a bit, but he then thinks back. His silence continues when Ruidosa talks about not remembering her life before her turning. Not saying anything.

 It is by now that the gourd had a chance to steep the contents of the brew in. Reize finally takes another sip from the gourd as it's handed off to him. He thinks back to Ruidosa's remark about Madonna and Galito.

 Regarding the remnants, "...Our encounter with the remnants were both when Anna confronted the eidola that killed her goblin friends and family. And at Cosmopolis when--" Reize thinks briefly, but trails off. He remembers that it was a very painful moment for Ivo.

  He closes his eyes, shaking his head. "Well, the fact that a remnant is lingering... wouldn't it be that she had grown some sapience?" He scratches his head. "Even if I can't directly talk to her."

 "As for the trade, we may have to trail the next ones that arrive in town." He then passes the gourd to Ivo.

 


 Ivo doesn't notice the gourd being offered to him for a long moment, so immersed is he in what he is reading, but eventually startles, looking up, and takes it. Holding the gourd in one hand, he sips from the straw, tapping a page of the tome with his other hand, drawing attention to the Lady La Crima's elegant script.
 "Much in here is the official story, unsurprisingly," he says. "Oradia was founded by the ostensible avatar of Eradina, Goddess of Purification, who united fractious factions under a banner of religious and cultural pluralism. She observes that the first Queen is said to have been the high priestess of a serpent cult, an influence that has been passed down in some of the royal family's ornamentation and rituals of renewal. However... this record emphasizes the perspective of the vampires."
 Ivo looks to Ruidosa, his features softening as he reflects on her words. Perhaps vampires and serpents, in the shedding of their past lives or skins, share more than fangs.
 "Your mother writes that, according to the archives of ancient ancestors, there formed a mutually beneficial alliance between the serpent worshippers and the vampires. The former revered immortality and the vampires could offer something like it, seeking the best of mortals to be raised into their ranks. But there were those who feared this alliance... perhaps simply due to the outsized power of their faction, or perhaps for ideological reasons. The founding of Oradia represented this alliance absorbing the majority of factions and so bringing peace to the land, with those opposed relegated to the margins of the territory."
 His finger continues to tap on the page as an automatic reflex, processing this information as he gazes into the middle distance for a while before glancing between his friends.
 "You must be right, Rui," he says. "I don't know if the Ankhialeans we know today are clearly identifiable with those who opposed this originary Oradian alliance, but... the worshippers of fire must have been opposed both to the vampires and to the Mother of Waters, Yacumama, and her people. And the founding of this alliance... may have involved some sacrifice that Yacumama made, causing her to be left behind as a mere vestige of her former self. While the priestess for whom she seems to yearn... left, perhaps, newly crowned as a Queen, abandoning her past regalia."
 As he passes the gourd back to Rui, he looks to Reize, smiling slightly. As difficult as their journey through the battlefield near Cosmopolis had been for him, Ivo seems to have grown from their adventures, his countenance unshaken.
 "We also learned quite a bit from the remnants of the druids of Vaeltrandia," he adds, "before we discovered the tree that we would ride to their floating city. There was no way for us to interact with them, as with all the others. We simply witnessed their memories play out." He pauses for a moment. "If Yacumama can indeed 'grow sapience'... what should we do to facilitate that growth, so that we might communicate with her better?"
 Seemingly deep in thought, his expression serious and contemplative, Ivo looks next to Ruidosa.
 "This other sister of yours," he says. "Is she single?"
 He thinks he's hit it off with Tranquila, after all. Maybe he'll hit it off with Mandona too.

Ruidosa La Crima rolls 1d20.
Comment: Smug Level Check
Roll(s): 12. Total result is 12.

Ruidosa scoffs and says. "Of course I'm right." she says smugly, but leaves it at that, refusing to elaborate further for the moment. "Honestly. If I had the control, I'd regulate that trade to a designated fire proof area maybe outside the city limits. I'd cancel it entirely but well, people find them useful as power sources for furnaces and all that." she says. "I'd rather just resituate than risk revolt."

"The next cart probably won't take forever to arrive." she says as Ivo asks the question. He actually asked the question. She might have assumed he'd know better by now.

Instead of threating to kick her shins, she slowly turns her gaze to Ivo and smiles a wide, almost slasher smile.

"Oh Madonna is all yours if she shows up." she says with an urging tone. "I just ask, do you like being asked to 'heel, boy!' or be told 'you're a good puppy'. Just curious. No reason. Maybe I'm asking too personal a question?~" she asks as she turns back to the discussion at hand. "The victor does write history, as they say. I think we need to find some ancient fire tribe sites and see what they say. But that's deeeeep in the jungle somewhere. We'd need to either fly there, which only a few of us can do... or trek there in a journey on foot we'd need to prepare for."

She passes the gourd to Reize after taking a longer sip.

"Anyways, what do you think Reize--y?~" she asks.



 Reize idly takes the gourd while a hand clutches onto the pendant. There is a frown as he considers the situation and the being inside of his pendant. A remnant. Reize closes his eyes as he clutches onto the pendant.

 "...I wonder, since Yacumama is within my pendant, maybe I can try to establish contact with her lingering sentiments and help her be more aware."

 The talk between Ivo and Ruidosa. "At this point, the only way we will get more information is through the remnants themselves." He gives a grin, "That's why I think we should tail them when we get the chance! On foot will have to be our best bet."

 He scratches his head, "I can't exactly turn into a bird anymore. As fun as the experience was." Minus nearly being eaten by his fiancee. "Either way, we'll have to gather supplies and consider this an expedition." The gourd is handed over towards Ivo after he concludes his thoughts.

 


 Ivo retains his contemplative expression in the face of Ruidosa's wicked grin, seeming to consider her words with equanimity.
 "If she resembles your mother," he finally replies, "I'm willing to find out."
 He accepts the gourd from Reize and takes a long sip, thereby preventing his expression from revealing any amusement, lest he stray even further into shin-kicking territory than he's already gone.
 "For now, our best bet may remain showing Ankhialean beadwork to villagers whom we encounter and trying to narrow down our search for their home," he continues, nodding to Reize. "As much as we've learned here, we don't know any more about the situation of the Ankhialeans today or how better to find them. But I think you're right... if there's anything that we can do to develop your relationship with Yacumama, that might provide us with some more scraps of information... or even help her to regain the coherence she must have once possessed."
 He looks back down at Ruidosa's tome.
 "If Yacumama resembles a remnant, she may be stuck in the past," he then says after a pause. "I wonder if we could learn more of the sorts of rituals that the serpent cult once performed and try to reenact them. We have the staff regalia, after all, that seems to have accepted Daiby as its wielder. If we could find more regalia or learn more about how to perform such rituals... Yacumama might be able to better help us when the time comes."

> A new branch of the main quest, "The Coils that Bind," has opened. Progressing on this quest will increase Reize's Affinity with Yacumama and the abilities and dialogue options that are unlocked.
> Yacumama's Affinity and abilities may influence interactions with the Ankhialeans as the main quest progresses.

 "I wonder what the serpent priestess wore when she conducted rituals," Ivo murmurs, as he passes the gourd on to Rui. "Such details would certainly be of scholarly interest."

Ruidosa La Crima looks at Ivo Galvan with a bemused look. This might be fun to watch as interactions. "If you see a redhead with the same lastname title, that's my sister then." she says. "Have fun~" she says as she considers. "I know this might be dumb. But speak to the remnant as if it was sapient. My mom always speaks to the plants when she waters them and they always seem to grow healthier and bloom brighter. Maybe the same might apply to the remnant?"

>New Addition to 'The Coils that Binds': 'Like a Parrot of the Sea, he should!': Talk to remnant once a day for an extended period as if it could answer back!

"I'm sure we can discover what the priestesses wore. No doubt, Diaby's affinity for snakes made her a prime candidate. It's like she belongs here in snake country..." she muses. "Are you sure she's from Cosmoopolis?" she asks curiously.

"Oh I'd love to add such information to the tome~! It'd be such blasphemy and make my grandfather upset, to prove an actual historical note of events!" she says almost excitedly. "It'd retcon my mom's writing and she'd be so proud of me for it! I think she's been waiting for such a moment from me!~"

With the sip she takes, the gourd progresses to Reize.



 Reize looks over towards the pendant briefly, then he has a smile. "Hopefully you're able to hear me. If you are, we'll help you however we can. ... Or at least, be able to get you unstuck." Listening to Ruidosa's advice, he nods.

  Once the gourd is passed over towards him, he takes it and he adds. "Yeah, I agree with Ruidosa. Daiby has extensive knowledge of snakes! ....And she managed to keep them from biting me!" Unbeknownst to him, it was because the snakes were expecting her to eat him.

 He places a hand over towards Ruidosa's hand. "We get to uncover the truth of many mysteries and leave a record behind." He gives a grin, "That is what being an explorer is all about!" He chimes up. He takes a big swig of the tea. He looks at Ivo, passing the gourd his way.

 "Shall we conclude the meeting?" Reize wants to explore around and maybe catch a fish or two.

 


 Ivo is reviewing the tome again as the gourd returns to him, but he is more aware of its arrival this time, as he has looked up to respond to Rui's comments about Daiby, smiling.
 "I wouldn't put anything past her," he says affectionately, holding his senior in high regard, "but given that Cosmopolis was a sealed city before we sealed the Gate of Creation, she must be. Still, before it was sealed, it must have attracted scholars from all over. Perhaps her family's specialization in serpent arts has some connection to Oradia we don't yet know..."
 Pausing to take a sip, nodding distractedlay at Reize as he does, he glances back down at the page and then makes a little grunt of acknowledgment.
 "Here we go," Ivo suddenly says, going back and forth and rereading lines. "While there's little information on the conflicts between factions that preceded Oradia's founding, there's one last tidbit that might interest us: the summit at which the new Queen announced herself, with vampiric backing, and got many other groups to agree to her rule took place at an old monument deep in the jungle called Ucayan. Apparently it was a sort of ziggurat that functioned as neutral ground back in those days, though it has been abandoned for centuries, since Rosia became the new nation's capital."
 Taking out a map of Oradia and unfolding it on the table, he glances between the text and the map before tapping on a general location in the center-east of the territory.
 "It'll be a long trip by river," he says, "and even then, we'll have to trek straight through the jungle to get there, no way around it. But we might learn more about the kinds of rituals the old serpent cult performed and, if we're lucky, the events that preceded Oradia's founding and the origins of the Ankhialeans' resentment. On our way, we can keep asking at villages about the Ankhialeans and see if anyone recognizes the beadwork or otherwise knows anything. If so, I'm sure we can win them over."
 He flashes a smile to his friends. Reize always has a knack for finding out what people want and need. The Star Chasers will be sure to pick up some useful tidbits on the way to Ucayan.
 "If we find out where the Ankhialeans are before we get there, that's fine," he concludes. "But this at least gives us a provisional destination... and if we could understand Yacumama better before we find our erstwhile adveraries again, I'd like that. We just know too little of the perspectives on either side of this conflict. Even if there's no resolving the ancient enmity between Ankhiale's and Yacumama's peoples... we can at least better know what we're getting ourselves into."
 He sets down the gourd and smiles once more.
 "And then, as we rewrote the history of Vaeltrandia, so might we rewrite the history of Oradia itself."