2017-09-21: Theology Lessons

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<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

The people of the wasteland need more piety in their lives. Their souls are destitute, subject to heresies and the cloying words of heathen faiths. Well, no more! Someone is going to be taking a stand!!

Today... It is the Baskar who will be doing the preaching.

Kind of.

Sort of.

It's more like the Baskar have decided to host a little information session about Filgaia's best and most local Guardian deities. 'Baskar' here refering to a particular Baskar and his friend who is definitely not actually a Baskar.

Cyre is sitting at one end of the guild bar with a sign set up next to him that reads something to the effect of 'Guardian Guidance for Better Living.' He's set up a few incense burners that softly waft fragrant, blue-grey smoke. There are also refreshments, because everyone knows you can't have a seminar without refreshments.

Now all that's left is for people to arrive to ask questions!

...Hopefully they actually do that instead of just showing up to eat the refreshments.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Someone else provided the incense. That someone isn't really Baskar, but she's close enough.

Catenna's set out a small plate of edibles to lure in hungry heretics - mostly some pita chips, some dip and a few seasonal fruits and vegetables for the curious. That done, she's taken up the stool beside Cyre, where she sits with one leg crossed over the other and her hands delicately folded in her lap, the hood of her priestess robe pushes back to let her hair spill free.

Quietly, she glances over to the cat-eared Baskar, flashing a tiny smile and inclining her head ever so slightly. The two of them had set up their Guardian Advice sign at the launch of the CaraKin; this seemed like the next logical step, especially with the Statues in play.

And hey - maybe the actual proof that the Guardians exist will be enough to sway a few heretics towards the One True Faith, huh?

She can hope. At least the incense smells nice.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata has a kind of awkward relationship with the Guardians. On the one hand, she doesn't exactly need to be sold on Guardian worship -- she's worshipped Zeldukes all her life and kept his statue at Adlehyde clean, preferring their presence to that of Granas or the Nisan faith.

On the other hand, she's definitely caught up in a strange kind of contract with Ge Ramtos, the benevolence of which is largely in question. Given the taboo that touching a Medium's definitely come over her in this state, the question of where exactly she stands with the Guardians is definitely... kind of up in the air right now.

Also up in the air: Ge Ramda, who's quietly proud of the pulled pork sliders she's prepared for this little infomration session.

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Kaguya spends a lot of time around the CaraKin, particularly looking after Matilda's things. Not all her time of course, but it's a nice, pleasant place to be where it's parked now. But...

Guardian advice. She heard about it. She is less a heretic and more anathema, though. Even so, she certainly knows that the Guardians exist...

he steps around, walking on her cane--she really doesn't look so good today--step, after step, after step. She stops, and looks ove Catenna and Cyre both, before picking up a pita chip, dipping it... and eating it.

"hey," she says after that. "So if you have Guardian advice, can you tell me about one of them? She's a big serpent, sorta blue energy like. What's her name? What's she like? What kinds of things does she like?"

Shehe sounds very curious.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Ethius is present. That's a statement that tends to service the extent of where he is and what he's doing - simply being there, and being present in the way that he tends to be in a gathering as some kind of extraneous element to the goings on.

He's sitting a ways off to Catenna's left, a number of stools away. It's a tactically advantageous position in which to sit, as it gives him about the best possible view of people coming and going from the guild bar as a whole. He makes no motions towards the refreshments provided. His seating posture does not seem too relaxed. On his lap is the medium of Rigdobrite, which he holds between his hands dutifully enough for the circumstances.

It is turned sideways.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

As an inhabitant of Adlehyde, Jacqueline already knew quite a bit about the Guardians compared to most. She was a firm believer in them...though she was not nearly as active in her belief as some of her friends. Still, there were always more things she could learn about them! Such as - what is Grudiev's favorite meal?

...This was not a question she actually intended to ask.

Still, she was curious, and wherever learning could be had, Jacqueline was probably not too far behind. And if she could learn anything that would help her get to know Grudiev better, that'd be great, too.

She's sitting near the others, briefly considering grabbing a bite to eat when someone familiar walks up, someone who'd been hanging around them quite a bit lately.

"Oh, Kaguya, hello!" Jacqueline greets with a smile and a wave. She leaves the questions for the ones actually holding this little event, though.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

If only Catenna knew that Kaguya was actually a horrible Stranger abomination from another planet. Of course, she doesn't; as far as she knows, Kaguya's her former cellmate who happens to be sick and probably dying.

As the young woman approaches, Catenna inclines her head and offers her a polite smile. She gets the feeling that Kaguya would be offended by her sympathy, so she just keeps it simple, sliding the plate a little towards her to encourage her to nibble from it to her heart's content. "Hello. It is good to see you again," she says quietly.

She nods as Kaguya asks her questions. "A large serpent? I think you are speaking of Lucadia," she says, moving a hand into the folds of her robe.

She comes out with a Medium with an emblem etched into its face.

"Lucadia is the Guardian of the Sea," she explains, bowing her head slightly as she cradles the Medium in her hands. "And he is actually a man. Most of the time he does appear as a great serpent, but in some art he appears as a young man."

Catenna smiles a wistful sort of smile. "What the Guardians like is often beyond our ability to understand... but they are elemental. They often behave as their domains do, because in many ways they are their domains. Just as the sea is patient and inexorable, and as capable of giving life as taking it away, so is Lucadia inexorable, but patient, and not yielding. And while his blessings may hold the power to heal life, his powers may also be terrible and destructive, if used for such purposes."

She glances towards Cyre a moment before clearing her throat softly. "You will find that being their domains is emblematic of the Guardians in general."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

People begin to filter in. This is good! Sure, it's mostly people Cyre already knows, but that's fine. Whether it's members of the Kinship or just random folks walking in off the streets, there's enough Guardian love to go around for everyone to share. Cyre gives Catenna a bit of a wink and a grin and a slight flick of one ear.

"Welcome, everyone," he says shortly after Catenna's brief outline of the Guardian of the Sea. "I'm glad to see everyone here today. I'm sure some of you know at least a little bit about the Guardians. But, contrary to popular belief, they're not just the spirits you go to in your village shrines when you need a nice harvest, or when Bill and Jane from down the road decide to finally stop beating around the bush and get hitched. They're important aspects of all life here on Filgaia. I'm sure some of you came with questions, and we'll do our best to answer them, whatever they might be."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

There's a beat.

"Oh, as a note on Lucadia and really on all of the Guardians," Cyre explains. "A lot of times, they can appear to different people as different things. Sometimes Fengalon is just a voice on the breeze, other times he's a colossal white tiger. Sometimes Lucadia is a giant sea serpent, other times Lucadia appears as a young man, and even other times as a beautiful sea nymph. It really depends on the situation. They're spirits, after all."

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"It is true," Catenna concedes with an incline of her head. "Form and gender are less important to them than they are to you and I. Much of the time, Lucadia is depicted as a masculine entity. But Lucadia can be female if he chooses."

She lays her hand over her Medium. "Their nature is more of a concept than it is of a flesh-and-blood entity. They may choose to be flesh and blood when the time is right, but their essence is not physical."

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Things Katyna knows about the Guardians:

1) People believe in them.

2) There's a whole bunch of them.

3) ???

Actually, that's it. Which is why she's listening in, rather unobtrusively, though she has not actually said very much. She isn't a believer, personally, but if everyone else is following around a bunch of religious statues she may as well learn about what they're hunting for. So far she has already learned some things she didn't know, though she's not entirely sure how relevant it is to her...

Despite not saying anything and being fairly inobtrusive, she's obvious if you're looking for her; she's still in the battered old duster she's worn in November before, making her look a little poorer than the average resident (disregarding other Drifters).

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata is markedly silent as she listens to Cyre and Catenna's lecture, though she does afford a smile to Jacqueline and Ethius when they turn up. She's looking towards Kaguya for a moment longer, knowing that she's Matilda's friend and wanted the vegetarian burger but... not much more.

Ge Ramda is, strangely enough, more animated than her, despite being the dead one here -- to the unresonant, a paper plate carrying a tofu slider is floating over Kaguya's way......

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Hi May," Kaguya says to Jay with a small, brief smile before going back to her cooler, more pensive expression and looking to Catenna and Cyre again. She waits to listen, and hears the explanation...

"Yeah, nice to see you." A pause, as she takes another chip, dips it, and holds it up for a moment as Catenna loks down at the Medium. She remains quiet.

"Mm," she says. She doesn't smile back. Eventually, "Elemental..." She pauses again before, "When I met her, she seemed pretty girly. I guess gender is flexible for Guardians too?" Kguya shrugs. "It's fine either way. So stuff she likes, he likes, is going to be stuff that supports the oceans." She shakes her head. "Huh..."

Kaguya eats her chip, looks over at Cyre. "Hmm, okay... The talk of form makes her consider as she picks up anothe. "Spirits. Shapeshifting..."

She trails off, glances over to the approaching blue woman and says, "Oh hey, Katyna.' Back to Cyre and Catenna, "So what do he Guardians even do for people?"

Suddenly... there is a tofu slider. Kaguya looks down at it with a blink, looks around--and waves at Ge Ramda, shly. "H-Hey," she says, and smiles at Lunata the same way. "T-thanks," she says, and takes the food item to take an immediate bite. "Mm!" She's a little nervous, but... Ge-Ge is nice...???

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Shalune is what might be called conspicuously absent - she's still far from certain how she feels about the Guardians in the wake of everything that went down around the Temple and its aftermath, and when she's feeling worried or down she's more likely to immerse herself in something to keep her occupied, preferring to gently avoid the question rather than engage with it.

But it's alright, because there's a Metal-Demon-slash-Crimson Noble here instead. What could go wrong? At least this one has been sort of blessed by the Guardians a couple of times - once, in the way that Duras Drum's essence clings to her through the Medium stuck inside of her, and twice, in the way that she's one of the more visible figures around the fledgling community of Wayside, at which the Caravan Kinship stayed while licking their wounds, and which some people have been told was given the go-ahead by Equites itself.

She looks a little different - dressed a little better for the desert, she's dropped the heavy, hot dresses for a light sleeveless vest and skirt, with a colour palette ranging from red to white rather than the blacks of her old clothes. Her hair is a vivid matching shade of red, but the face that peeks out from underneath is still recognizably her in the way she grins with her eyes lit up at the assembled people listening to the lecture. It's a poor disguise, but-- well, Noeline's always preferred hiding in plain sight.

Her priorities are firmly in place: without a terrific amount of care, she lends one ear to the discussion as she picks her way around the outskirts of the talk, making her way to Lunata's counter. It's been too long since she got to indulge in the waitress' cooking, after all, and she nimbly collects one of the small sliders to chew on it thoughtfully. "Miss Croze. I'm glad to see you well, and that the Caravan found you," she notes genuinely, though-- she does look straight up at the floating form of Ge Ramda afterwards, her eyebrows raised. "And, ah. ... I did suggest the gothic look would work well on you, but this is taking it a little far, perhaps?"

She cuts in at Kaguya's question with a light and playful sort of grin. "As I recall, the Baskar faith says that the Guardians actively uphold their realm. As it were: No Lucadia, no sea or tides. No Moor Gault, no vibrant flame. That sort of thing." She tilts her head in Jacqueline's direction, as a greeting - and just gives Ethius that same playful grin, knowing he's not really the sort to nod.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Blank stares seem to be how Ethius tends to non-verbally communicate basic concepts such as 'hello,' 'goodbye,' 'how much for this doodad,' 'I have no complaints about the current weather,' 'I feel compelled to see how long I can go without blinking,' 'I am making an earnest and unambiguous attempt to kill you,' and a whole host of other ideas and concepts could probably fill an encyclopedia. (An encyclopedia of nothing but the same image of him staring on every page.)

Noeline's keen eyes may find that they are not on her for the duration of her time (re)introducing herself to acquaintances and allies alike - no, they seem to be tracking the presence of a random unobtrusive guest to the lecture who does not look like they'd stick out over anyone else, one way or the other. That, over what seems to be food floating towards someone...

He offers no questions for discussion at present, no anecdotal statements in support or clarification of what Catenna and Cyre have to share.

For Katyna, there's a weird white-haired guy with a yellow bandanna over the lower half of his face looking her over. There's no other movements to discern in his body language... just... staring.

<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.

Speaking of, suddenly there's a familiar voice.

"Why do the Guardians make their followers live in the Badlands?"

Asteroid the Kid steps inside the guild bar with her cloak up. Her two mediums are strapped to her side even if she is asking a rather pointed question for someone of the Baskar faith. "Why do they refuse to heal even within the confines of their own temple? Are they that weak right now? I'm asking for a friend, hennh hennh hennh..."

Asteroid the Kid steps inside fully and looks around the room for a few moments, eyes settling on Catenna for a few moments, giving her a nod, and then showing off her many fanged teeth as she smiles broadly. She walks over to Kaguya and steps up next to her, glancing briefly to Ethius, eyes staring at the medium of Rigdobrite for a long period of time before adding, "Jaybird I brought money for ~tilde for the drugs. And materials. It's a start. For the drugs. Hehh hehnn..."

Her eyes glance towards the Metal Demon/Crimson Noble but she is kind of chill on Metal Demons personally as she finishes taking stock of the room but she doesn't comment further for now.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline's pretty quiet as she contemplates everything that had been mentioned so far. She offers Noeline and Lunata smiles in turn, though her eyes drift temporarily to Katyna before turning back toward the ones responsible for setting up this little event.

She doesn't really have any questions to ask, as such. She was mostly just here to absorb everything everyone else asked.

...And maybe one of those pulled pork sliders Ge Ramda had prepared. Yes, that sounded good...

She turns to Asteroid as she walks in, then offers her a wave and a smile. She...doesn't really comment on her questions, not knowing the answers.

She shifts slightly when Asteroid addresses her, though. It almost sounded bad, put that way, but...

"Ah, very good!" She replies with a nod. ...No point in correcting her, really.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Lunata's eyeline shifts upward in a kind of subtle manner as she stares and looks-- quietly and glumly confused for a moment, but even in her disguised mannerisms, Noeline's attitude and demeanor doesn't fail to shine through. "Miss Carver? What are you doing here...?"

A pause, and she stares towards Ge Ramda for a moment, and doesn't answer any further. She rubs her head, and takes a big gulp from her glass of water, looking towards the conversation as it continues happening with a kind of morose look on her.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

It briefly occurs to Catenna that Katyna over there resembles certain depictions of Lucadia. She suppresses the urge to smile at the coincidence.

Inclining her head neatly back to Kaguya, Catenna smiles a small, kind smile. "I am also glad to see you, after our brief ordeal together. I am sorry I was not more helpful to you back there."

Her eyes tighten a little at the corners. She'd tried to help herself out but her effort to choke out the guard hadn't exactly gone as expected.

As Noeline pipes up, Catenna raises her eyebrows sharply, recognizing her right away even without the frills and lace. "Yes, that is true," she confirms, smoothing her dress across her thighs to once more restore her polite reserve and conceal that she's impressed by the observation. Turning her gaze to Kaguya again, she explains, "The Guardians embody the powers that guide and shape the world. The sea is not merely the sea - the sea is, in a sense, Lucadia. The Guardian and his realm are bound together by deep ties which form the foundation of Filgaia. We worship them not as an expectation of reward, but because we are a part of this world and their influence is all around us, even in our own emotions...."

She trails off as Asteroid cuts into the picture. Blinking, she tilts her head to the side, then clears her throat.

"I cannot speak for the Baskar," Catenna admits with an expectant glance towards Cyre. "Only for my own people, who live in the wilderness because our homeland was taken from us by a kingdom called Elesius."

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna Reidal does eyeball the flying plate because ... well, wouldn't you? Katyna frowns. She squints at it like she could figure out what was going on with it, or maybe make out Ge Ramda by sheer willpower.

But apparently she cannot, and gives up after a few moments. "Hello," she replies to Kaguya instead, with a slight smile. "I heard there was a discussion, and I thought I'd listen in. I don't know anything about the Guardians." Well, at least she's honest. Katyna's gaze passes over Noeline afterwards (also unrecognized), and Asteroid, who at least gets a very long look because Katyna is having one hell of a problem figuring out what she is. Humans don't have heads like... that.

Huh.

"So you're not a Baskar?" Katyna asks, as she has no idea of the differences between the groups. "I wouldn't have guessed."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Oh, that's...

Cyre peers at Noeline. His brow quirks ever so slightly. Aren't Crimson Nobles supposed to hate sunlight? What's she doing out here in the middle of the desert...? And isn't there normally enough fabric to supply a small village? This is very strange.

Hm.

"It's like Catenna says. Fengalon both is and isn't the wind. Without Fengalon, there wind would slowly die. But without wind, Fengalon would be bereft of concept and definition. The element and the Guardian are so intertwined. In some cases, the connection is less critical, but still important. For example, if Stare Roe was destroyed, we would still have light, but it would be... Diminished, if that makes sense? Time would still flow even without Dan Dairam, but it would just be a progression of events from one to the next, it would lose much of its meaning without the Guardian."

There's a beat. Asteroid appears.

Cyre briefly feels himself reaching for a certain sportsball, but then remembers that he left it at the Carakin, and so it'll have to wait.

"In my case, we live out in the wilderness to maintain our traditions, and to keep our privacy. Other Baskars live in pretty nice places, but typically our settlements are small in an effort to maintain our connection with the elements, and thus the Guardians by extension. Filgaia is a place of extremes, and as the Guardians are tied so much to the planet, those who want to speak with them, make shrines to them and so on must be willing to brave those extremes."

"Also, it helps keeps the door-to-door preachers away. But typically, each settlement will have its own reason, even if that's just an old shrine that they want to maintain."

"As for why they didn't heal, I've got no idea. Did you ask nicely? My spells seem to work just fine."

Cyre shrugs!!

He looks to Kaguya, then. And shrugs. "What do they do for people? Filgaia is still here because the Guardians put so much of their effort into keeping this planet alive, and so Filgaians can live out their lives. They can give guidance, provide slivers of their power to their priests, and safeguard against evil. They breathe the wind that carries the clouds, and nurture the earth to stave off the planet's slow decay. But even their power cannot repair Filgaia as damaged as it is now. So part of what priests do is to do our part to help repair this world."

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

"Don't worry about it," Kaguya says to Catenna about getting out. "I got out, and you got out. It's fine." She seems... pretty casual about that much. However when Noeline walks up, Kaguya turns to blink at her suddenly. "Oh uh..." IT's not quite a greeting, but it's kind of one; Kaguya just has an attack o awkward with the fancy Crimson Noble.

Asteroid's question sees Kaguya look away, rather than say anything, but she wonders the answer too. "...Hey," she says, and glances back to the others for an answer. ...Even at the talk of... drugs...

She noms more of her food. There's not a lot of sandwich... But Kaguya doesn't have a very big mouth, leaving strange bitemarks on account of her fangs.

"Huh," she says. "...How do you know, though? That they embody this stuff rather than just have to do with it? Have they ever taken these blessings away from you?" She considers, "I guess if they are... Then you really can say that what the world does physically is all a manifestation of the Guardians."

...Which means of course... It's their fault. Not just for not helping, but for doing it.

She pauses abrubtly at that, "Wait, you're from Elru?" Kaguya stops. Kaguya closes her mouth. ...Kaguya opens it and shoves the last of her slider in rather than explain that statement.

She glances up then at Cyre, "Hmmm. So what if we found another way? Would they mind that? Going around them like that?"

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

"Well, I am here to learn about the Guardians... is perhaps what I should say, but to be honest I know enough about them that I should think I'm past the 'remedial' stage," the Crimson Noble huffs to herself, demolishing the slider in-between sentences deceptively fast.

"To be quite honest, I suppose I am here more to pay a visit to the residents of the Caravan Kinship - with a side bonus being that I get to sample your cooking once more," the 'vampire' adds with a brilliant sort of grin. "You may not know, but a friend of mine has founded a little place named Wayside - and it was there that the Caravan sought some shelter while they tried to figure out how to recover you. In turn, your friend has assisted us in fixing some of the things that needed fixing, so-- well, I thought I should pay some respects, I suppose."

Her pause, as she finishes, is appreciative. "Your skills have only improved with time. But perhaps I should ask what you are doing here? Rather than needing to learn about the Guardians--" Noeline pauses, and wryly watches the waitress' expression. "You seem like someone who's had quite enough of them, at present."

Kaguya gets a light wink that is apparently meant to be a greeting, and Asteroid gets a surprised hum; all in all, Noeline can't help but snicker to herself, imagining the crowd to be-- rather a tough one for the pair of shamans up on deck. "Out of curiosity, I'm not certain I've ever figured out how the Guardian faith reconciles with the Granas faith. On the other hand, I suppose it doesn't particularly need to when there are plenty of actual, material ways to have one of them show up in the midst of a fight," she adds with a rich sort of chuckle and a shake of her head.

<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.

"And if you destroy Rigdobrite, the sun would become merely a flaming ball of gas." Asteroid quips because they're clearly heading into Prachettian territory here. "But I wonder if 'wonder' is worth much if it's so ... tempermental, heh heh... Induldge my shaken faith for a moment, hehnnn hennh..."

She looks towards Katyna for a moment. She says, "Hey." to her. "Are you also an alien? From space?" Yeah Asteroid doesn't assume people are from Filgaia anymore. So many aliens are just milling around here. "Are you like a moon alien or like a space alien? I've met a lot of moon aliens, but not many space aliens, and the space aliens I met didn't really look like you."

She looks back to Cyre. "Don't talk like our 'decision' to live in isolation was a choice. I've seen how they treat the Baskar abroad." Her glowing yellow eyes narrow briefly before adding. "I guess I should also ask... since they want us to do their heavy lifting for them anyway...if they should be the ones doing the job. I've already seen examples of their...hennh...vindictiveness. I didn't really mind it at first, brutality with an even brush is a kind of justice I guess, but then I saw how they were willing to make exceptions."

She sits herself down. "They turned away from those seeking their aid with nary an explanation or gaze. It was hennh...cruel. I don't know how else to put it. If we're already required to save the world, maybe we don't need the Guardians to save Filgaia. Maybe it would be best if events merely followed in sequence. Since our survival depends on our successes, I feel it's important to consider the effectiveness and quality of those putting us to work. Well."

She shakes her head. "It's pretty obvious they only care about SOME Filgaian lives. Their curses seem...a bit carelessly spread. People like that Siegfried fellow don't seem to be suffering so much as the very Demons willing to listen. As an example."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

There's an uncharacteristicly flat tone to Lunata's voice as she wearily stares at Noeline to answer, sotto voce, "I'm here to serve lunch. For my friends. With my friends." Nothing more and nothing less than that, it seems. It isn't so much that she's tired of hearing about the Guardians -- she isn't -- and more that there's a hell of a lot on her mind, really. That they're suffering as much as she is just makes the situation more complicated, overall.

It's kind of unnerving to know that the forces that sustain the world are ailing. It's like a confirmation of how bad the situation with Filgaia is. Always there. Never brushed in your face like it has been recently.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Those were...some interesting questions. Frankly, Jacqueline isn't sure what to make of them...nor was she even sure there was a proper answer. It was hard to judge the mind of something like a Guardian. That didn't necessarily mean it was right, but, well...

She didn't really feel qualified for this. She just hoped things didn't get out of hand...but that was another reason she was here. Just in case they needed someone to keep the peace.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Smiling mutedly, Catenna closes her eyes and inclines her head towards Katyna. "I am not. My tribe are the Kinship of the Zortroa, of southern Elru. Most of us are not worshippers of the Guardians, but some of us have kept the tradition alive."

Carefully sliding her Medium back into the folds of her overrobe, Catenna nods to Kaguya simply, content enough to let their mutual experience in the Kislev prison slip into the field of memory. Besides, there's a more important question to answer. The younger woman's surprise is met with a slow shrug from the priestess, who doesn't seem to find anything suspicious in the inquiry. She wouldn't be the first person to find Catenna to be a weird foreigner. "Yes, I am of Elru - from one of those areas which remains under the dominion of humans, at least. North of us there are mostly wastelands ruled by the Strangers."

She gives Asteroid a long, pensive look, her lips coming together tightly. "...In many ways, Asteroid is correct," che concedes with a grave nod to Cyre. "Many of those who follow the Guardians were simply driven into the wilderness. In many of those cases it was by those who follow Granas." At that, her gaze drifts, settling on Noeline. Long fingers weaving together, she folds her hands in her lap, shoulders sagging a little.

"Most of the large churches of the city people consider worship of the Guardians to be incompatible with their beliefs. The Church of Granas believes that there is only one god - their own. The worship of the Guardians is a heresy in their eyes. It is far from unheard of for their worshippers, as well as their Ethos monks, to drive out and assault followers of the Guardians where they find them. That is why many do not profess the faith openly anymore."

Her chin comes up a little, as though to punctuate the statement with an unspoken addendum: She does profess it openly and dares anyone to take issue with it.

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

Katyna blinks, breaking her (slightly rude) gaze with Asteroid.

Asteroid may have meant that as a throwaway question, but Katyna is rather more taken aback by it than she ought to be. "Me?" she asks, looking around as if Asteroid might have been speaking to someone nearby her. But she said 'also' an alien. Crap, is Asteroid actually one? She sure doesn't look Filgaian, and it's not like she'd know what a space alien is otherwise... Is she violating the UP3 right now? (Not that Katyna personally cares but ignoring it is very different from the other aliens she's met.)

Wait, are there moon aliens too?

"Uh, I'm a beastwoman," Katyna says, a little awkwardly. She gives a friendly smile, or something she thinks is a friendly smile; it looks a little nervous at first, but it spreads into something that looks more authentic a moment later. "Sorry to disappoint you." But she makes a mental note to talk to Asteroid later... ideally with fewer people around. How hard can it be to find someone who looks like that?

Katyna actually spoke to a priestess of Granas last night. She didn't say one thing or the other about the Guardians, but Katyna is starting to mentally check out; religious discussions never seemed particularly interesting to her, and it's not like she at least has ever seen the Guardians herself.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

"The Church of Granas isn't a big fan of ours," Cyre answers Noeline with a bit of a flat laugh. "I think it's because our gods are cooler. But in actuality, it has to do, I think, with how the Granas faith puts so much emphasis on salvation simply by doing good to one's fellow man. For all else, Granas will take care of it. Not so with us. We are more than just humans. We are part of this world as well. The Guardians are spirits, but they are also like you or I. They are part of this world. They can be capricious and spiteful, and they can be merciful and gentle. Fengalon is the wind that carries the seed, he is the hurricane that shatters the village, and he is the one who walks with me when I am alone. The Guardians are much closer pantheon to humanity than Granas is. Maybe they feel threatened by it. Maybe the clergy sees the option of other potential gods as threats to their doctrine and dogma. Maybe there's something else to it."

"It's true that we are at times driven into the wilderness," Cyre agrees with Catenna. "And often, Granasians are the ones who do it. But sometimes there are other circumstances as well, whether tradition or something else. But even so, we maintain our way of life." He looks to Asteroid then and frowns, "I'd say that everything that makes life worth living is in the meaning- the poetry and the magic underlying the world. If you take that away, there's no meaning to stone but stone. Filgaia becomes just another rock hurtling through space. But more pertinently, it's true that the Guardians discriminate. If I were a Guardian, I'd hate the ones resposible for Filgaia's decline, too. But I think you're misconstruing a disparity of personal strength with the might of Filgaia's scorn. The Azure Knight is said to be the greatest among the Demons, isn't he? It would make sense that he would be more resistant than others."

Cyre shrugs. "But apparently Equites at least is of the opinion that some of them aren't terrible. They are giving them a chance, at least. I don't speak for the Guardians with regards to the objects of their hate; I'm usually busy dealing with more immediate problems whenever I have the chance to ask."

There's a beat. Cyre looks to Kaguya and shakes his head. "I don't think so. The Guardians are an integral part of Filgaia. Repairing the planet without healing the Guardians isn't something I think is possible. If you did find a way to fix the planet without going through them, they'd benefit regardless, I think."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

There is the sudden, interrupting sound of wood slamming against the floor. It's not unlike a clap of thunder in its level of volume. The very ground shakes for a fraction of a second underneath it - attention-grabbing. Even threatening, in its overt noise.

The source is immediately obvious. Ethius has his quarterstaff held upright in his left hand like one might the scepter of someone of great cultural import as he casts that infamous gaze over to the building scene between Asteroid and Katyna.

"Compose yourself." He speaks at last. He doesn't name names. His gaze remains fixated upon the vague direction of the 'beastwoman' and the rock-headed young woman of an endless amount of questions and queries.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.


Noeline's pause is a quiet and thoughtful one, as she turns back towards Lunata to take in the waitress' answer; her smile is not unkind when she finally nods. "... of course. I understand," she adds - and just like that, the vampire rather diplomatically decides it might be best to set the inevitable slew of questions about Ge Ramda aside.

Maybe that's why the Crimson Noble chuckles, and then changes the topic rather abruptly. "Ah, speaking of which, I hope Aunt Hilda is well, hm? I can only imagine she shed a tear when you left on your own journey - but I can't imagine her being the sort to disapprove of that sort of thing. Just watch out for homesickness, yes? It happens to us all at some point. I know at least one person is worried enough about you to try talking my ear off at some length," she adds with a puff, plucking another slider as if it were payment--

--and then looking over in mild surprise at the talk still going on. It's not clear at what - it could have been Ethius' motion, but it could also have been the Baskar shaman's open reference to Equites, or even Asteroid's rather pointed slew of questions. Either way, she chuckles quietly to herself. "Well, Granas does advocate a comfortable viewpoint, I suppose. There is not a lot of personal solace to be had in 'our gods can be capricious and spiteful' - sometimes a little 'do good to fellow man' is going to be better received," she notes aloud - then her gaze flicks to Lunata again. "... and sometimes you have to look after yourself, rather than take on the woes of the world."

noe that's riese, not lunata!

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Guardian, Granas. Kaguya hears it and all, but can't suppress a little flop of her hand that serves as a shrug. She has patience for only so much of these human religions, and right now her attention is on the Guardians. Buuut... Well, pleasantries with Lunata are nice--and Kaguya leans back slightly to look over at her and Ge Ramda again--but back towards the area she's all close with at the moment.

Asteoid quips, and Kaguya looks confused. "...The sun is just a flaming ball of gas," she says dubiously. "That's... just science." But she quiets a Asteroid talks about justice, suffering, and vindictiveness, sighing softly and turning her head away from her. "Careless..."

Zortroa, southern Elru. She shifts back, "...Ah. So that's where you're from. The... Strangers, huh? Is that what you said?"

Kaguya tilts her head to look at Katyna at that awkward look. Aliens... Not an alien? What is she?

"So you and Granas don't get along so well. Shouldn't your Guardian magic help you not get driven off?"

She frowns. "Everything that makes life living... Is this.. intangible thing that you can't touch, or see, or prove? I dunno, believe what you want and all, but I'm not convinced." She shrugs. She finds herself a little angry... But doesn't say anything about it. Instead...

"Well yeah they'd benefit, they live here," she says as if it's obvious. "Thanks for the answer I guess."

She frowns, and peers over at Ethius at the noise. "Hey," she says, "Be nice to Astie."

She hears Noeline's point, and doesn't add to it or anything, but does shrug.

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

Ge Ramda does, at least, seem to be playing the 'nice cop' of the two right now, since it hovers over Noeline with a tray containing a little platter of nibbles and some tea.

"She's doing fine," Lunata answers, trying to get some of the extremely heavy-feeling weariness out of her voice. "She said she'd keep an eye on Adlehyde. ... and she thanks you too." She bobs her head one way. She doesn't know Noeline is a Metal Demon, but she definitely can feel her strange resonance, and the resonance of the Medium.

What Aunt Hilda is thanking her for is curious, but perhaps it's for services rendered in Adlehyde.

She's about to speak more, before she flinches at the loud bang of the staff on the ground, and gets up with a flustered look on her face. "... I'm not feeling great here, I want to take a walk for fresh air."

She puts her hands into her pockets and starts shuffling out, which--

--kind of comically starts tugging Ge Ramda along as the lich panics and tries to fetch some more sliders to pass around the room even as she's dragged to one end of it. It waves to Kaguya on the way out and vanishes through the wall with a *yoink!*. Eeee!

<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.

Asteroid focuses on Katyna. She doesn't seem like she ENTIRELY buys Katyna's explanation (no beastman she knows looks like that) but she can't really refute it (there's like a million kinds of beastmen). Asteroid says, "Sorry," to Katyna after a moment. "I'm a beastwoman too but I got abducted by aliens and now I look like this." She pauses. "Wait--were you abducted too? Oh I guess that's rude. Sorry. Nevermind." Asteroid seems like she's sure going to be a nightmare for the UP3 though it's pretty easy to just lie right?

Asteroid's head jerks towards Catenna. "The Strangers?" She asks.

She is surprised to hear this story about Equites from Cyre. They got to see EQUITES?? Well okay, Asteroid isn't quite bitter enough to acknowledge that as neccessarily a good thing but she IS surprised they aren't, y'know, murderfied. If she'd like to argue more with Cyre, she doesn't actually get the chance. She is too startled by THAT particular relevation to say anything before Ethius jumps in like Gandalf. THOU SHALT SHUT UP!

Asteroid assumes she's talking about him even if she's not 100 percent sure. Maybe he means Ethius. Or Katyna?? She looks to the floor for a moment and mutters, "Maybe if we weren't so chill about how things are shitty, we wouldn't be in this mess, I guess that's all I'm trying to say."

She looks back to Ethius, staring at him with those eyes of hers. She looks hurt, somehow, despite the lack of expression she really has. It's in the body language, the way her shoulders push up and the head sinks low.

"......whatever." She sits herself down. If Asteroid was known for being careful, she probably wouldn't be such a maniac. "Sorry," She tells Kaguya. Or Ethius. Or both. She doesn't look either in the eye.

<Pose Tracker> Katyna Reidal has posed.

"I'm composed," Katyna objects, sounding kind of baffled when Ethius decides to intervene.

And you can't prove she's not a beastwoman, Rico exists. She thought that one through.

Katyna decides not to press the point, though, even if her eyes occasionally linger on Asteroid while she listens. Also Catenna. She keeps her mouth shut after that.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna leaves it to Cyre to explain that the Guardians are only a little bit racist. She's not actually sure how to answer that one without saying awful things that might apply to Riesenlied.

That's about when Ethius slams his staff down on a table. She jumps in her seat with a sudden soft gasp, bringing a hand up to her chest in surprise. For a moment, she's silent, watching the mysterious man with wordless caution. She can never figure out what his game is, and it bothers her.

Finally, she lets out the breath she was holding, bowing her head and closing her eyes. Then she lifts her head again, turning her gaze to Noeline. "No... but the Guardians are different than Granas. The worshippers of Granas believe their god is perfect and will deliver them salvation. The Guardians are not perfect and not saviors. Sometimes they make snap judgments and see things in ways we do not understand. Remember that they do not think of things in the personal terms, nor do they immediately understand individuals. They see things in a very elemental way. Even I, who have devoted my life to the Guardians, have felt hurt by Celesdue sometimes. She can be a very distant spirit. But that is the nature of the Moon, really"

By the time she's finished speaking, her focus has shifted back to Astie and Kaguya, and a sad smile has drawn itself across her face. "I wish it were that simple. Guardian arcana is potent. But it is not all-powerful," she concedes. "Remember that there is no organized Church of the Guardians. Many of those who believe in them do not think of them much at all. But they are there, and their power infuses this world. I believe that I am also of this world, and that devoting myself to Celesdue, and to all of them, helps to bring me to a greater understanding of all things."

Catenna's eyelids dip a little, then, and she nods gravely. "Yes... the Strangers. They come from a place I do not understand. In Elru, almost nowhere remains that is not theirs."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Ethius strikes the ground with the roar of a thunderclap. Cyre's lips draw into a thin line, but his gaze seems appreciative regardless. Still, it was a pretty big boom! Hopefully they don't have to replace the floor or something. That would be... pricy.

"Besides, we don't just casually borrow the power of the Guardians to smite someone for being a jerk, you know?" Cyre answers with a shrug. "At least, I don't like the idea of using Fengalon's power just because someone doesn't want me someplace. I won't like it, and you can bet that I'll hold a grudge, but I won't kill people for something like that."

"As far as that other thing... Well, let me put it this way," The priest raps his knuckles against the tabletop. "This thing. This is a table, right? You know it, I know it. But it's not really. This thing is just a bunch of wood put together to look like a table. We call it a table because that word has meaning to us. It's an ephemeral, intangible thing. And even 'wood' is just stuff that a tree is made of. You can keep going down and down and down, and it's all meaningless at the very bottom. But those intangible things, the underlying meaning in the world, the faith, the wonder, these are the colors we use to paint our lives. The sounds we hear are nothing more than vibrations in the air, but we can make music, and we can move to rhythm. We can dance, we can sing, and we can ascribe meaning where there is none- but the meaning is the most important thing."

"Without it, there is no point to anything. Life is only worth living because there are these incredibly important, intangible things we call 'meanings' and 'reasons' and 'beliefs' and 'ideas.'"

"Does that explain things a little better?" Cyre cants his head just a bit.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

Even as the rock-headed enthusiast of all things beyond the scope and reach of the average Filgaia native looks emotionally wounded - even as the sickly young woman by her speaks on her behalf - Ethius' expression remains unmoving, but he's got a bandanna covering half his face so that's kind of easy for him to do. Maybe he's frowning under there, at which point one can't say it is 'unmoving.' But until such proof can be unearthed, one will have to take the original descriptor at face value.

He lets the quarterstaff go lax against his stool, removing his left hand to rest it upon the Medium of Rigdobrite that continues to be held at an errorneous horizontal orientation. For that burst of force, he returns to that unsettling calm and motionless looking none the more wound up for it.

He offers no words in turn, whether reconciliatory or argumentive. His presence transforms itself in ways transcending the lack of body language or other cues, from a simple spectator slightly out-of-place into that of some self-appointed authority figure.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

Noeline's eyes raise as Lunata curls off; she can't help but watch with something of a light huff, letting out a thoughtful sigh as she watches the spirit apparently attached to her sink through the wall. "... well, there's something to be said for living in interesting times, I suppose..." she mutters to herself in what might be a rueful manner, before turning back to the discussion as she continues to chew on her purloined rewards, offering Jacqueline a slightly cocked nod of her head as if to draw her attention towards the waitress' exit... not that Noeline expects the caravan master to follow immediately, so much as just making her aware of it.

"Oh, don't get me wrong," she adds to Catenna with an easy smile. "I would be very remiss to state one way or another whether Granas or the Guardians are correct, especially after having had words with one or two of them. I am simply adding commentary to the effect that, in these sorts of trying times, the idea that someone will take care of you is a comforting one - and comfort is certainly a common basis for faith. Harsh truths may be truths, but sometimes they can only compound a bad situation. Sometimes people need a little room to breathe - perhaps it is better to think of it that way."

She sounds almost sympathetic underneath her light smile, but then Wayside has done a lot to soften her as of late - not to mention, the village is built upon those sorts of thoughts and feelings, and while it might not be a place of Granas worship she can appreciate some points of the faith.

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Kaguya watches Ge Ramda disappear with Lunata and waves dully back to her along the way. Are they... friends now? Is that something that happened? ...Did the sliders fall...? It's sort of something that makes her stare for a little while. Not that long though.

"Hey--Hey..." Kaguya steps back, leaning on her cane heavily as she walks unevenly, and reaches Asteroid. She then proceeds to... pet the asteroid, just stroking Asteroid's head. "Shh, you've got nothing to be sorry for, okay Astie? You're a good friend."

She glances at Katyna again, and finally turns to Catenna. "No, that makes sense," Kaguya says to Catenna about the Guardians. "That's how a lot of leaders think, about the whole and the idea instead of the individuals. It works at war, like, totally. They're not dumb, they just don't care about individuals over... whatever their priorities are."

Guardian arcana... Kaguya shrugs. "I guess," she says, "If you can't do it you can't do it. Sucks for you." She leans a little on Asteroid now, frowning a little. "Ah. I see." The Strangers... "I've never heard them called that before. It's pretty mysterious, I guess."

"If you're not willing to fight for your place in the world, of course you'll get stuck out in the wilderness." Kaguya shrugs, and does listen to the rest of the explanation... Thogh quickly, when Cyre says the table isn't a table, Kaguya's eyebrows go up. She looks skeptical. ...Then he keeps going. He talks about wood. Down, and down, to intangible things, and she is openlystaring at this point, level, skeptical, beyond skeptical, becoming disbelieving and outright incredulous. "You..."

"Uh, no.," she answers him, when he asks. "It doesn't. A table's just a fuckin' table. It does't matter whether you call it that, whether you're putting this philosophical ideal down... You knock on it and it's solid, you set things on it and they're held up. That's what a table is for, it's what it does."

"I can make music, I can put in meaning if I want, but living's important because you're alive, because you have things to do. Not because of how you ascribe meaning to it."

She huffs, shaking her head. "Seriously. I don't care about any of that stuff. What I do care about is empirical testing. ...It's why the only gods I believe in are Guardians, because I met one." She stares again at a moment and mutters, "Table isn't a table." Louder, "I mean thanks for sharing your beliefs. You answered all my questions and I appreciate it and all. I shouldn't laugh at you or anything. I just... This seems so obvious to me. Maybe because I didn't grow up... religious." The sort of treats the word gingerly.

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Jacqueline's been kind of quiet, taking in everything. Lunata leaving does grab her attention, though, and she looks at the others for a moment, gauging the situation. Noeline nods to her, and Jacqueline nods back.

That, if anything, lets her decide what the right thing to do is. She stands up and very quietly follows after Lunata to check up on her, attempting to avoid getting in the middle of the argument as she does so.

Things were civil enough at the moment that she didn't mind departing right now...she just hopes that doesn't change while she's out.

<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.

"They pretty much let me hit anyone with meteors," Asteroid says quietly. She listens to Catenna's explanation of 'The Strangers'. "Huh." She says simply. She doesn't really comment on anything else. She's just not in the mood. She knows the Guardians aren't saviors. She knows that. But even in a completely self serving sense, helping Kaguya would have been to their benefit. Well, whatever, if they are giving that job to her--fine. If it's even still possible. It's hard to believe sometimes.

She also catches Kaguya's comment about the Strangers but she thinks she better talk about that in private. She doesn't want to be ... 'careless' after all. She doesn't disagree on the importance of fighting for your place in the world. She doesn't comment on the nature of tables. She doesn't know if you need to give tables a special meaning for them to already be pretty incredible. They're perfect for throwing out of windows. She does smile a little at Kaguya's words though, particularly as she goes off on scientific method. She leans into Kaguya and just kinda flops like that for a while. After a couple minutes she manages to say, "Okay."

She closes her eyes.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"Perhaps so," Catenna concedes with a small shrug towards Noeline, her smile faint, but with an edge of sympathy to it. "I do not always see things as harshly as the Guardians... and I have seen that there are some who have shown a faith in Filgaia that the Guardians did not expect."

Her jaw tightens a little as she looks over to Kaguya. "My people did, in fact, fight," she says tersely.

Catenna looks away, off towards a spot on the wall - though she's less looking at it than through it. "I do not necessarily believe that might makes right, or that the ability to overwhelm simple people who live on the land is a sign that the morality of the mighty person is superior. But that is also in the past. I am content to live in wild places. I find more fulfillment outside of the walls of a city than within."

Finally, Catenna leans back in her seat, looking over towards Cyre. She lays a delicate hand on his shoulder and flashes him a faint, slightly weary smile. "We do not explain these things asking that you uncritically accept them all, Kaguya," she says as she looks back to her sick ex-cellmate. "Only to help you to understand the Guardians a little better. Many of us have met them, but they have not demanded worship, merely asked for the help of some. Or to put it another way: You are free to believe that everything Cyre and I say is complete bullshit." The profanity feels oddly out of place delivered in her calm tone and with her accent. "But we wanted to honestly answer why we believe it."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre stares at Kaguya.

And then he laughs. It's not a cynical little chuckle, either. Cyre laughs right from the belly. "Well obviously, living's important because you're alive. If you weren't alive to live your life, what point would there even be? You can't live without being alive in the first place, right? Jeez." The priest sighs away the rest of his overflowing mirth and shakes his head. "I think you probably put more stock into this kind of thing than you realize, but hey, whatever floats your boat."

"Well, anyway. I'm not here to try and force scripture down your throat or anything. That'd make me no better than those darn door-to-door Granasians! I only try to force my terrible heathen beliefs on those guys. Not most ordinary people." And that's only because it's a lot of fun to mess with fanatics.

Beat.

"So, I'm curious. I mean, I can obviously tell that there's something going on between you and Asteroid and the Guardians, and I'm guessing it happened at the Temple. Is there anything in particular you want to ask me about... That stuff?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

Kaguya appreciates the fact that Asteroid isn't reealing what she knows about her, even indirectly. It would make things harder in a lot of ways... And a lot more dangerous, probably. ....But she also appreciates that Astie leans into her, and while it's a little more difficult to stay standing that way leaning into one another...

"Yeah," she says when Asteroid says okay. "It's okay."

Kaguya would totally hit people with meteors if she had divinely-gifted meteors around. Who wouldn't, seriously?

But she watches Catenna instead. "Hmmm..." What she says to Noeline is interesting, but her terse response gets a tilt of Kaguya's head, pointed ears showing as she brushes hair behind one. "Okay, cool. I respect that," she says about her people fighting, "Even though they lost." Might makes might, and morality... She considers. "You really like it out there? Wow. I guess it takes all kinds..."

Catenna makes lear that they aren't trying to get her to just accept them all, and she nods. The talk of bullshit actually makes her grin, fangs and all showing on one side. "You know Nacatta, I think I like you." A beat, "Okay. That's... cool, then."

Cyre though laughs, and Kaguya's pale features show surprise and then she laughs too. She lifts a finger and waves it back and forth, "Don't take being alive for granted." She sighs at that one, wincing. "Anyway I'm pretty sure I don't. I like things I can see and touch; a friend who's with me, a flower blooming when you worked all month to nurture it for the first time... Good food. That stuff."

"...Do they really go door to door?" Kaguya asks. "Wow. Well okay then. That's... Really even-minded, I appreciate it. It's kinda mystifying to me but..."

Well, the only real reason she has a problem with Guardian worship is that she hates the Guardians.

Curious? For her part, the small Veruni pauses, studying Cyre's face, and then Catenna's. Anythng she wants to ask? She tongues her gum idly as she thinks abot it. Then, she nods once. "Not to ask, or anything. But I'll tell you some of what's getting me, why I care to begin with."

She holds up her hand again, and then taps her cheek with it, phrasing, "...Astie's friend that the Guardians wouldn't help. I'm her. I'm dying. So I want to understand the Guardians much, much better. I want to 'get' it, and I want to 'get' them."

"Astie's a good friend." She glances over at Noeline then, then back to the two shamans before her. She has.. Kind of a lot of shamans in her life, for some reason. It's weird. "Prior to meeting Lucadia, I thought the Guardians were just superstition. No offense. Now, here I am."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

With a light puff of air, Noeline watches the proceedings continue; she is at least remaining true to her comments, which have had a decidedly neutral bent to them - all the more unusual given the Medium she's apparently toting around, but then Mediums have become a lot more common as of late. At the very least, she can say she's quietly proud of Kaguya and Asteroid in some odd way; if nothing else, it's pleasant to see people sticking up for Wayside and for their odd little group of offshoot demons.

Such things are-- rather new experiences, still.

There's a lot that she could say to the pair about the state of Guardians, after her meeting with Equites - but now isn't exactly the time, because even she can be more subtle than that and pick her moments when she wants to, and it's probably liable to reveal things about Kaguya that she may not want revealed. Instead, she shelves it for later, nodding her head with a slight hum of thought as she meets Kaguya's glance.

"I think it's fair to say that some amount of anger is justified, in the wake of everything that happened. I know a couple of people who were rather put out at being told they weren't good enough, then asked for help out of the blue, then thrown into a fight between Kislev and Aveh," she points out diplomatically. "Still-- it is important to remember that the Guardians are somewhat blinded. That a little understanding will have to be applied both ways to make things work, I suppose you'd say," she adds with a lightly amused grin.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

'Nacatta'

"It's Catenna, but thank you, Kaguya," Catenna says with a small nod, momentarily wondering what she's getting herself into.

Shifting in her seat, the priestess crosses one leg over the other and runs her hands over her thighs to smooth her dress out a little. At first she doesn't say anything, glancing at Cyre for a moment, then back to Noeline.

Until Kaguya reveals something. A frown immediately etches itself across Catenna's face. "Really," she murmurs, brushing a lock of her hair back.

"Truthfully, unless you are a Metal Demon - which I doubt - my only explanation is that the Guardians are not saviors," she says with a dip of her head, privately hoping that Kaguya isn't going to turn around in a few weeks and Riesenlied her again. "And that it is not common for them to heal even the dying among those who follow them. If that were the case, no Baskar would ever die. But I understand why you are angry."

She closes her eyes and bows her head, a few locks of hair drifting across one cheek. "I have refrained from saying anything because what understanding I have of you told me that you would be offended by my sympathy," she says in a quieter voice. "But you have it nevertheless. If there is a way that I can help you, I will try."

All of a sudden Catenna feels like she's the evil one in the room. She doesn't particularly like the feeling and it's making her wonder if she shouldn't just ditch the CaraKin and go off on her own again.

<Pose Tracker> Asteroid the Kid has posed.

Asteroid the Kid isn't upset at being told they weren't 'good enough'. The source of her anger is pretty much just the leaving Kaguya to die part! That's really the big thing!! Some of that is just the shock of wanting to speak for her to the Guardians only to have it avert its gaze, but the other side is simply genuine concern for the wellbeing of Kaguya! It's pretty simple in that part, that's why the explanations--or lack thereof--are not really satisfying for her. She blushes fiercely when she is called a good friend. Asteroid doesn't have many friends. That is not a gift the Guardians gave her. As far as she's aware, the Guardians mostly led her to be experimented on by aliens. It was not pleasant.

It is kind of weird that Kaguya hates the Guardians while being friends with so many shamans isn't it? It is pretty weird.

She's tired of speeches. It's the time for action. But she says, "It wasn't just them deciding not to heal her, or being unable to," in a low voice. "They wouldn't even say why. THAT at least, they would be able to do. They didn't even offer sympathy."

She goes quiet. "Sorry. Whatever."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Aha.

So that's what it was.

Cyre leans back and breathes a long sigh, his shoulders rising and then gradually, slowly falling. "I see. Yes, Catenna has the short of it. It's a very rare thing for the Guardians to intercede in a situation like this one. But... Hm. It is pretty weird for them to just straight up ignore someone like that. Though maybe it's because it was Lucadia? I think if it was Moor Gault or Grudiev or something, you might've gotten a more direct response."

"Anyway," Cyre hunches forward, his elbows resting loosly on his lap. "I'd be angry too, if that happened to me. But I can't really think of anything short of being a Metal Demon or something that'd piss them off that bad. If they weren't even willing to explain... Well, maybe either Catenna or I can ask, one of these days. If they won't even tell a priest, then there must be a really good reason aside from just plain not liking you. I mean, the Guardians do have their secrets too."

There's a beat.

"Well. It's something to try, anyway. Nothing to lose, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.

It's for the best that Noeline doesn't say she's proud of Kaguya, because the small Veruni would lose her composure and she thinks she's doing a really good job right now of being calm and collected.

The subject can make her a little muted anyway.

"Catenna?" Kaguya asks Catenna. "Huh. Are you sure?" Pause. "...Of course you're sure. It's your name. Right." At that Kaguya leans her cane on the table to pull down her vest and make sure shelooks in order and all... and then she looks to Noeline as she speaks up. "Uh...?" A pause. "I guess..." She's sure angry. But, "I wonder..."

To Catenna, Kaguya shakes her head. "Nah, I'm not a Metal Demon. I'd be pretty small for one..." She trails off, then adds, "Mm. But..." Asteroid covers that one. Asteroid has a lot to say, after blushing where Kaguya can't see it, that it was more than not healing her.

"I'm not... offended by sympathy," she corrects, "But it is pretty awkward. Nice words are nice but they don't do anything. But..." She takes back up her cane, "Thanks. That's..." It seems particularly awkward now, for some reason. The reason of course is that her plans are what they are, "That's nice. Just keep putting up with me hanging around here for Atida. ...I like it here."

Cyre's sigh prompts Kaguya to shrug. "It's pretty unusual for the Guardians to appear to people too, isn't it?" She lets that point stand a moment, "Maybe it was just her. Maybe not."

She can think of something that might bother them. She can definitely think of something that might bother them. So is there a 'good reason'?

"Hey feel free," Kaguya says, "But don't worry about it. That ship has sailed. ...Get it? Because she's the Sea Guardian?" A beat, "Ah well I thought it was good."

"Either way, now I just want to understand a bit more. And I think you two brought me a good few steps closer to that, so really, thanks." Kaguya smiles. "...If you didn't catch my name," to Cyre, "I'm Kaguya. ...I think I'm gonna go sneak behind Atida's counter and take a nap."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

As the subjects turn to desperation concerning a dying young woman, the anguish among those of challenged faiths are palpable - as are those of the shamans whom have hosted this little get-together for the sake of the curious and the ignorant.

Ethius, notably, does not seem to reach for the quarterstaff again at any point throughout this part of the discussion that looks like it could have escalated into tearful screaming and arguments. The man's momentary dip into establishing order seems to once again fade into passiveness.

For holding a Medium out in the open, the way he sits and watches seems devoid of much in the way of passion or piety for what he is holding to begin with as he merely sees it fit to listen and observe.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"They might also be unhappy to see a Stranger," Catenna says with a frown towards Cyre. "But there are no Strangers in Ignas."

It doesn't show on her face, but she's outright lying about that. Her run-ins with Ambrosius have taught her that much. But there's no reason for these people to worry about the Veruni right now - not with the important work of stopping the Metal Demons looming immediately in front of them.

She smiles sadly back at Kaguya and shakes her head. "I know they do not. But I will listen in my travels, and see if I can come into contact with some healer who may be able to help you. Had I the power to do so myself, I would... but I can only promise to try nand help." Bowing her head a little, she adds, "And tolerate you spending time with Matilda, of course, though that is hardly an inconvenience and you are always welcome to spend time among the Caravan Kinship."

As Kaguya ends the conversation on a high note, Catenna smiles gently back to her. "Please be well, Kaguya. And take care of yourself."