Written Wonderland

Gwen sat down on one of the benches in the front area of what the locals had begun affectionately calling "The Guest House." She supposed that was, in fact, what it had become, even if her original intention had been to live alone. Turns out, she enjoyed asking wanderers to help in her garden. And so what if they needed a place to stay? She had the room. In fact, she had asked for help adding more rooms and even a second floor onto what was once a small hut. Other people of the tell brought her extra blankets they no longer needed and leftover food, knowing she was good for giving it away. It had only been three years here, and already Gwen had a reputation for hospitality, three auxiliary spaces on the edges of her large, tiered garden, and three bedrooms that she let out to passerby in exchange for gifts or labor. Not to mention her own bedroom--the only other space on the ground floor.

It wasn't a bad life. Entertaining, to say the least.

Gwen sipped her tea as she heard two sets of footsteps clambering down the stairs--one clumsy, the other practiced.

It was early, so they were whispering, though Gwen figured any attentive ears would hear them anyway.

"...I can't believe... that was... what can I..." A man's voice, blissful and confused, as they often were.

A quick moment of silence, followed by a tiny gasp and a giggle.

"Just give a gift to Gwen on the way out. You've already done enough for me." Jaz's voice. She was Gwen's longest term resident and had more than worn out her welcome. It had almost now been a year since Jaz had come into the tell. Still, Gwen could hardly imagine the guest house without her. She'd become a staple, and Gwen was more than a little bit fond.

The man stumbled out into the main room where Gwen could see him. One of the caravanners. He would need to get a move on to catch up with the rest of his troupe. Gwen sipped her tea. The man looked at her and blinked, blushing. Gwen waved him off. She wasn't born yesterday. She knew what sorts of things Jaz got up to.

"You've been so gracious. May your generosity..." the man began to say.

"Save it, friend. You're welcome here," Gwen said quickly, raising her mug to him casually.

The man dug through his bag for a moment and eventually pulled out a small melted glass plate.

"I made this myself. It was my first piece. I hope to make more when I return to Karuna." Gwen nodded and accepted the gift, turning over the smooth green glass in her hands before gently placing it on the table.

"May your generosity know no bounds," Gwen said, finishing the traditional leave-taking he had begun. She nodded at him, pleased. Still, it was also a dismissal, and he took it as such, latching his bag and leaving promptly out the front door.

"Gods be with you!" Jaz said, her voice full of longing. Gwen rolled her eyes at her mug. Jaz was going to be insufferable today. Still, Gwen smiled knowingly.

Sure enough, before the man had even had the chance to close the door fully, Jaz said, "Good gods, he was..." She folded herself dramatically over the railing, and Gwen snorted.

"Dare I ask if he left you gifts?" Gwen asked playfully.

Jaz giggled, and Gwen raised and lowered her eyebrows, shaking her head slightly. Gwen wasn't about to tell Jaz to get a move on with her life. In truth, Gwen didn't actually want the girl to leave. But, maybe it was time for her to learn more skills than seducing any person who happened to walk by. Not that Jaz seemed any worse for the wear. She was practically glowing this morning. Even more than most mornings.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" Gwen asked, faking a stern face.

"Gods, no. I've been taking the herbs you made me. Don't worry."

"Just so long as you help me plant more later," Gwen said.

"Always," Jaz said, a glint in her eyes.

But before either of them could begin to move that direction, the door opened. Gwen raised her head, wondering if the young man had returned.

Instead, one of the village priestesses entered, looking carefully at each of the other two women before closing the door behind her. With measured grace, the priestess sat opposite Gwen. She casually glanced at Gwen's mug. Gwen took the cue and ladled some of the hot water out of the cauldron, adding in herbs she had grown herself--chamomile and lemon balm wrapped in a small piece of tied linen--to make the tea. Gwen handed the mug to the priestess, who took it gratefully and tested out the warmth of the water with a dip of her finger before drinking a small gulp.

Gwen looked over at Jaz, who had come fully down the stairs now and was hovering with a hand on her hip near the edge of the table, curious. Gwen half-smiled up at her, amused. But Gwen soon sobered, looking back at the priestess.

Not wanting to be indelicate, Gwen waited what she thought was an appropriate amount of time before she asked, "Is everything all right, Sage?"

The priestess took another sip of the tea before answering. "Several of us had the dream again." Gwen nodded and looked down at the wooden floor of the house, studying, as she had done many times before, the knots and curvatures of its textures. It calmed her.

"The... explosions? The fire?" Jaz asked cautiously. She'd clearly caught word of them going around. The priestess nodded.

"There were two of us up all night last night holding vigil, and we saw the vision, too. It happened at deepest dark." Gwen nodded. Though she could not exactly remember what she had dreamt last night, she hadn't liked the way her dreams had made her feel upon waking. Like she should tread carefully.

Gwen wanted to ask why the priestess had come here, alone no less--the priestesses frequently enjoyed going about the tell in clusters--but she didn't want to intrude. And, more than that, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

Jaz asked the unspoken question. "Is it time for the collective dreaming, then?" She almost sounded excited.

Sage nodded. "We'll be gathering the tell to dream in the meadow late this evening. After I leave here, I'll need to be getting the fires and offerings prepared." Gwen looked down at her mug. It had been quite a few months since a collective dream had occurred, that one because of a crime committed against one of the residents at the edge of town. Gwen didn't like to remember it.

Finally, Gwen finished her tea and stood. "I'll make sure the other guests are made aware. For now, I need to tend the gardens before the heat pulls all the water out of the ground."

She started to open the back door but then shook her head. Where were her manners? Gwen looked at the small pile of tea sachets she had prepared and selected three, bringing them to Sage. "Please. Take these. I grew and fashioned them myself."

Sage looked up at Gwen with both gratitude and sadness. Or was it, perhaps, fear, that sparkled in the young priestess' eyes? Gwen looked away, pressing the tea into the woman's hands.

"Your generosity knows no bounds," the priestess said to Gwen's back as the guest house keeper turned around. Gwen should be pleased--it was a high compliment, especially coming from one who had chosen to dedicate her life to serving what lay beyond. Still, Gwen felt unease in her stomach and promptly left out the back door.

((OOC: T, you are welcome to add in other characters wherever you see fit. They could be other guests in the house or other people in the town. We could move to the dreaming scene (which can be collaborative or otherwise) or we could hang here for a bit and explore possible character interactions. You can determine if your characters already have some rapport with various folx I have mentioned so far, or we could talk about it. Hopefully this is a fun place to start! It was certainly fun to write.))

[deleted]

Jaz watched Gwen leave out the back door, headed to the gardens. Exactly as Jaz herself should do. Would do, eventually. It didn’t need to be today. But, for now, Jaz still had a guest. Coming around to the other side of the table, Jaz asked, “What is it you need to prepare for the dreaming?” She thought it was an innocuous enough question.

Sage looked at Jaz and tilted her head curiously in Jaz’s direction. “You could always take vows and find out.” Jaz scoffed a little and turned her head to the side. But eventually, Sage relented and added, “Gathering herbs, mostly. I might have asked from some from Gwen, but…” Sage trailed off, and Jaz didn’t need her to finish the thought. Gwen had already offered the generosity she cared to do for today.

Jaz nodded. “Any guesses on why the dreaming went so wrong last time?” Sage met Jaz’s gaze without fear, Jaz noted. She appreciated that.

“It wasn’t the dreaming that went wrong,” Sage said, correcting her. “But, no, not exactly,” Sage finally said. “Do you?”

Jaz was somehow surprised by the question and moved back from Sage unconsciously. Was Sage suspicious of her? As if.

“I didn’t know he was going to do all that,” Jaz said incredulously. “Just because I had one night with him doesn’t mean he told me everything.” Sage shrugged and sipped her tea. “Besides,” Jaz insisted, “I was there with you all. I couldn’t have untied him.”

“Perhaps the gods did not agree with our decision, then,” Sage said, looking down at the table. Shaking off the thought, she added, “In any case, this dreaming will be about a dream, not the judgment of a specific person. Hopefully it will be more peaceable.”

Jaz somehow doubted that, given the descriptions of the dreams she had heard over the weeks. An uncomfortable silence persisted.

Finally, Jaz couldn’t stand it. “So, herbs, right? Could you use some help gathering them?”

--

After they had breakfasted, Sage and Jaz set out to gather what they needed for the ceremony. It was hot and sometimes difficult work, tromping carefully through the underbrush to find the flowers Sage had told her about, which Jaz had some knowledge of after working with Gwen. The work was worse still because it made more sense for the two of them to split up to cover more ground, leaving Jaz alone with her own thoughts. She tried to focus on the plants, caressing them as instructed before determining which leaves and flowers the plant seemed willing to offer. But, her mind wandered. She wondered what the life of the caravanner would be like from here on out and if he would remember her. She thought about the dreaming. She worried about Gwen.

There was a particular herb that Jaz was having difficulty finding, and Sage, too, indicated that she had not found any yet. They spread further and further out into the hills, looking for it, though still within sight of each other and their colorful baskets.

And, then, in the distance, as the sun had started to dip low in the sky, Jaz saw a grizzled-looking person begin to approach. She stared at them curiously, still a ways off, and wondered why they were traveling alone. They appeared to be approaching the tell—and from an odd angle at that. Not taking the well-worn paths. She waved at them, unsure if they would see her from where she was.

((OOC: We have been looking up native plants to Syria, but we thought it might be nice for you to decide what the more rare but also necessary plant for the ceremony might be. Elk is welcome to bring it to Jaz and decided what it is, if desired. Or we can continue to be vague.))

[deleted]

Jaz couldn't help it--she wanted to walk toward the newcomer. They seemed to be heading toward her anyway--may as well meet them and figure out what they were on about. Jaz looked over her shoulder for Sage, who was a distance away but also appeared to have noticed the stranger. She was making her slow way down the hills to come greet the new person as well, it seemed. Still, Jaz was going to get there first.

When the figure was close enough to get a good look at, Jaz found herself hesitating slightly. They were cloaked in tattered garments and certainly looked as though they had spent quite some time in the wilderness. That wasn't uncommon--there were many groups in the hills who were nomads--but it was uncommon to travel alone.

The skin Jaz could see was covered in heavy lines of black and blue, and Jaz found herself wanting to trace the swirling patterns. Jaz couldn't tell how old the stranger was from their face, not that it mattered much to her. Still, she felt some unease in her belly looking into their gold and green eyes, once the stranger was close enough for her to notice their color. She couldn't help wondering when might have been the last time they had bathed.

Jaz took a breath, intending to greet them, but then saw in their hand the exact cornflower thistle Jaz had been looking for. She swallowed.

"Dear stranger, you look like you could use some generosity," she said playfully, her basket braced against one hip. "I'm Jaz." She touched her other hand to each side of her forehead and then underneath each side of her jaw before touching her chin and extending her hand briefly and pulling it back. It was simultaneously a sign of respect, slightly guarded trust, and greeting. She didn't know if the stranger would recognize the gesture, but she enjoyed the light-hearted formality of it anyway.

[deleted]

Jaz tilted her head, watching the stranger try to compose words.

Were they all right? Did they understand her at all?

Finally, they responded. ”Hello, Jaz, I’m Elk… I guess you could say that--it’s been quite some time since I was last around someone, and longer still since I last saw one of my own kind…pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Jaz listened to their voice, like pebbles rubbed together. It was interesting to her. Lulling her, even. She found she liked it.

Distracted as she was, she smiled gleefully while parsing their words.

They did understand her, Jaz was certain. And yet, their remark was so strange.

"And yours, guest. Will you be staying in the tell for long?" Jaz asked, curious and excited at this development.

--

Sage appreciated Jaz's company. The priestess thought of the woman as a friend and not like a sister, which felt refreshing. And yet... the longing.

To offer Jaz the opportunity to take vows.

Jaz could always take vows on her own, as some do, in secret, Sage consoled herself. The window on that opportunity would never close for Jaz.

But Sage felt a longing to serve with Jaz, should she ever get the opportunity herself.

These are some of the thoughts that ran through the priestess' mind as she ventured further and further from Jaz as well as the tell. Soon, her mind cleared. She did not have interferences. She was just herself with everything else. No overlap with another human mind.

And then there was something else, a reaching. Another yearning. The one she felt for the divine. When she closed her eyes now, she could feel the rays of that bliss on her face. The dissolution, the fountain of energy. Even now, it was at her back, in her spine.

...that had given her the dream--the vision. While standing vigil.

A flashback.

Attending the bedside of the person who had offered the vows to Sage. Wiping her forehead. Holding her hand. Hearing the rattle of breath that meant not long now. And in the passing, a vision.

Absolute chaos. Fire in every direction. Ground heaved and cratered. The sky utterly black and ash-heavy.

And then it was done, Sage thought as she approached the herbs she had been looking for. Bending to get down on her knees, Sage bowed to the plant and gratitude. Tending to the plant and the soil with love. She felt tingling in her fingers as Sage imagined infusing the plant with care... and waited patiently in offering.

No response. Blankness. Empty.

And the falling sensation. The earth broken open, bleeding metal, belching liquid ash.

Sage jolted, shaking her head with fatigue. She had had many lengthy, emotional nights without much sleep this last period.

Everything? Sage thought. Everything gone? Why? How?

Sage sat up, looked helplessly at the herb, beseechingly. "Is there anything we can do?" Sage said aloud to the plant.

The wind and breeze blew over Sage, and she listened, closing her eyes. A buzzing, a vibration. A flash of metal like a knife. And, in her sky mind, Sage felt the pull and shake of the gods.

We have a visitor.

Sage opened her eyes and saw the stranger immediately, coming out of the canopy and into the fields. Jaz was already on her way to meet them. She would surely welcome them into the tell. Sage squinted, unsure what to make of it and somewhat anxious about Jaz.

Jaz didn't know her sky mind yet. Sage wondered if Jaz would realize just how sacred the being now entering was. Enough to pull, like her, gently on the web of the gods. Or more.

Sage did what she could to indicate interest and curiosity throughout her own section of the air, existing as it did in a large dome high above her. The invisible boundary of her sky mind tangled with the clouds.

Perhaps Jaz would speak to them first in person, but Sage could speak to them on the wind.

Sage felt her heart skip in her chest as she sends a message, imagining a series of vibratory tones and colors passing briefly across the air. "Please. Help us. We intend only kindness."

Emptiness. Blankness. The falling feeling again.

And a voice. They walk the path of the gods.

Sage opened her eyes, her physical form having translated itself slightly in the process. She wasn't in the same place in the field. She was closer. Closer to Jaz. Jaz hadn't noticed.

But there was no doubt that the stranger had.

Sage took a deep breath. She had always known it was possible, being caught out like this. But she thought she had been careful enough. Then again, maybe it would be helpful for another being to know. Maybe they could help her.

[deleted]

Sage had only enough time to lament having been transported away from the herb she had been speaking with when Jaz and her stranger were suddenly directly in front of her. They were several arm-widths away, much closer than before.

Jaz immediately bent her knees, catching herself but clearly distressed.

Fair enough, Jaz.

--

Elk's face suddenly became distant, their eyes on something far in the distance, farther than Jaz herself had ever looked. Was it Sage?

Jaz had only time to turn around to check before she was suddenly in a different place.

Wait, what?

Jaz bent her knees even though her gravity or motion had not changed. But the scenery had. She started to get exceedingly dizzy.

"For the love of all hells!" she shouted, cursing, her hands sharply out from her Shoulders. "What was that?" Jaz stared at Elk, furious.

--

Jaz does have a temper, Sage thought.

"Jaz..." Sage started.

Sage was going to need to come out to her, wasn't she?

"Jaz, stop. Wait," Sage said, reaching out in Jaz's direction but not touching her.

Meeting Jaz's gaze, Sage pulled back immediately, almost feeling singed.

Sage closed her eyes and put her hands up gently in surrender, palms facing Jaz. "It's all right. I can explain."

Jaz wheeled on Sage, eyes narrowed.

Sage took a breath. "We each travelled through the sky mind, Jaz," Sage said, deciding quickly that she needed to bare this sacred secret. Jaz had, in fact, just discovered it without any say in the matter. Before she had taken vows. Sage was suddenly devastated and flushed, embarrassed. Completely caught out.

"I travelled first."

--

What in the Hells.

And yet, her heart was beating fast. Something was happening. And Sage was in on it!

Now Jaz was, too.

"We each travelled through the sky mind, Jaz," Sage said. "I travelled first."

Jaz gaped at her, looking from Elk to Sage and back again, her eyes narrowing further. "...Sky mind?" Jaz said, confused.

"Do you two know each other?" Jaz asked. She needed a social anchor, at least.

((OOC: We wanted to give Elk the chance to respond, but Jaz could certainly keep going.))

--

[deleted]