Personal Musing #4

There isn't much to say about the issues going on up north with my other aspect. Not really. Well, minus the attack by the Eagle Warriors that ended in an orgy on their account due to a miscalculated order. I'll make sure next time that I give them orders that will go around their foolish devotion to the Teolt Sun God.

I don't care if Tal says they're attacking on her father's orders ... they're attacking -me- and I'm not too keen on that. If it hadn't been for luck, I'd be dead. Well. A part of me would be dead and that's still not a pleasant ideal. Those Eagle Warriors come back to me again, I'll raise them as servants.

After the battle I got to have a little bit of a talk with the Vanir that led into a blow-up with Tal and Ben. Half of it wasn't even worth anything but finally ranting at them. That done, Wuyi was then possessed by some ancient ghost and Kelly was given amulets that induce true loyalty.

I'm so tired of falling into someone else's plan. I just want to stride out into the open and demand Artemis meets us in fair challenge. It's implausible, but ... a nice thought.

~Rhiannon

Personal Musings #3

The writing in these letters is frantic, almost worried. The loops are loopier, the crossed t's seem to tear through the page, and it's obvious how much force was used when the words were sketched down.


When we were waiting for Tal to pick up a trail to find Prometheus, I asked Fate some answers of my own. I ... Balor scared me  was concerned about the Keepers being at Cairo and so asked why they were there. Namely, I asked about Balor's long-term goals ... and they concern me.

He wants me to succeed. He wants to help me rise to divinity. It is within his best interests for me to achieve apotheosis and by doing so ... he will claim my body and mind for a second time and ask that I had my divinity over to him and ... if Mystery is truthful ... this will succeed if I do nothing to prevent it.

I need to prevent it. I cannot ask Anann's favor in this. She has to stay as... in the dark as she possibly can and it kills her to leave me on my own. Do you know... I . She trusts that I'll do what I can. I have brought Wuyi in on my mission and so while the rest of the Band follows Tal, I will switch Wuyi and Johnathan and let Wuyi come home with me. Then we will head to Dublin and then into Mag Mell where we will rescue my Grandfather, Lugh.

Lugh's my best shot at defeating Balor before he comes for me again. Wuyi's mad that I don't have faith in her but Fate doesn't lie. If I don't ... if Lugh doesn't agree to help... No. I can't think like that. I'll keep a straight, strong facade until I know for sure I'm safe.

I'm terrified.

Letters #4 or Listening to the Voice of Reason

Fiona,

You'll obviously had heard tale of how Wuyi and I snuck into Mag Mell underneath the nose of the Morrigan and Manannan only to be captured by Bres the Beautiful and the Formorians. While the rest of the Band travelled North, Wuyi and I proved our worth. It was... glorious and exciting and I think Anann still refuses to hear it without grumbling.

What this letter is going to address is that one should always, always heed caution when another Bandmate voices a concern. Even if you disagree with their assessment, keep their worries in mind for they may have insight that you lack. Take for example our first meeting with Prometheus. His smug questions about pride and the follies of it fell on the deaf ears of Ben, Tal, Wuyi, and Kelly. They heard and then promptly forgot Prometheus led us to a tomb of the Vanir and offered them power.

Power without an obvious price. Even when I had voiced out loud that Prometheus would attempt to exploit us, they heeded nothing of my words of wisdom and I fear that has signed them into a terrible plot to truly betray the gods. They were given the divinity of the Vanir, and yes, this has increased their legend ... but in return it allows them to wield the relics of the Vanir to proceed with Prometheus' plot: Removing the Gardens of the Vanir. The Greeks call it something else entirely but it is the same place: The Land of the Golden Apples. You would know the lore behind it: It is the Garden where the Aesir pluck the fruit and thus continue staying young and immortal forever.

One wonders if the same applies to the Greeks.

Regardless of the Lore, it is a sacred grove of a pantheon known for their ties to the land. If the Band follows through with the request by Prometheus... well... then they truly have sinned against the Gods and turned two pantheons mortal. Yes, they would have rejoined the fight but at what cost?

The second part of this letter is so I can voice my own internal dilemma. Do I tell the Band of my fears and listen to them scoff and scorn... or do I let them continue down the path of recklessness and thus be as guilty by inaction but the lesson learned in their minds to -listen- when someone gives warning to pay heed?

You already know the choice I made, this being given to you far in the future, when you're ready ... but I envy you that knowledge right now. If I tell them now, they learn nothing, and the lesson does not stick. They will continue to blunder and simply wait for me to right their wrongs without care. But if I do nothing ... they will learn the price of Pride and yet ... condemn the world with their folly.

I hope there is a third option, and my fears are nothing more than speculations upon a never-occuring scenario .. but Fate has never been that kind.

~Rhiannon

Personal Musings #2

It's amazing how one night can drain away all the negative energy from you. Add six more nights with a constant whirlwind of romance and friendship with my wives and ... well, Wuyi's neither my wife nor my Concubine. She is my Magpie though. I seem to have a thing for the avian divinities. I nearly married a falcon god, I am married to a raven goddess, and my mistress - and her concubine is a magpie.

Although Anann promised us to keep what happened at the mansion silent, I can say here at least that it was enough to allow me to reflect on my own faults and a reminder that for all the bitterness I have towards Tal and Benjamin, they are currently my best path for succeeding in my own life and so I should probably put to use my bardic skills and try to pretend to be likable.

Ugh - it all stems from the disaster as we fled Cairo. The trouble with having a couple in the Band that does nothing but telepathically speak to eachother means they leave the rest of us in the dark and then expect us to follow their lead -- then get furious when we don't. I'm currently giving only half a full mind's awareness to this quick ramble because I'm so angry with their actions and my own during the sewer fiasco.

Yes, we stopped Set, Ra's... Aten's.... WHOEVER'S plan to get Horus smushed. Yes, the cherubs nearly killed me. Twice. Yes I could have not snarked at Tal but she deserved it for being such a witch to Wuyi and ugh. It's over and it's done and I'm glad we were out of there before Balor could do more than smile and nod at me.

During the week, Anann showed her softer side and as we renewed affections towards eachother while Wuyi, Ann, and myself all did other things ... she had me swear to Enech that I would guard myself more carefully from now on. Wuyi is perfect at that, she can be with me wherever we need to go for the Band.

This.. I should dwell more on what happened. And I will. Later. Now my other aspect is approaching Promethus' castle with the Band and ... I don't know where we'll go from here. I, myself, am going to find Anna and the two of us will take a nap together and within the dreams, she can teach me how to be a dragonborn.

~Rhia

Personal Files #1

Tucked among various boxes that are stacked neatly in a storage room in the New York Mansion with labels of 'Dublin 1902' or Madrid '1745' is a small leather-bound journal with a symbol of three argent swans emblazed over alternating stripes of azure and argent. Unlike the bundled letters, or the jumbled notes, this seems to be a personal item for Rhiannon. Opening the pages, there's entries that date back a hundred years.


I need to schedule my sleeping schedule so my dreams don't invade reality. It's an odd statement, I know, but Anna pulled some trick and now there's two of me who wander the world sharing the same mind, thoughts -- it's bizarre to be both in Cairo underneath the not-so-gentle paws of Sekhmet and in New York spending time in Anna's personal library while she works on her theory crafting and I catch myself up with the knowledge I've lost over the years.


It... was a gift of sort. It is a gift. It's a blessing that enabled me to safely do my job in Cairo, get my magazine up off the ground and then come home and have Anna, Ann, or Anann waiting for me; just like I wait for them. It stemmed from a horrible fight that Anann and I went through that wound up with pictures of me burned on the carpet of the West Wing and me wondering if I could ever talk to her again. ...the make-up sex was worth it and I think we hit a new stride. Our new stride. I've come to wonderful accords with Anna, and with Ann ... it was Anann who was so much like how we were before -- now we're on a new path as well.


Still, though I promised each of them I wouldn't be the perfect mask ... I still have the dreams where they wake up and realize they'd preferred the perfection all along. And because now that there's two bodies, one mind ... when one body sleeps, it dreams and those dreams infect my waking hours.


It's partly why I couldn't truly keep an eye on Tal during the time Sekhmet bestowed her human sculpting gift to the rest of the band. I was too busy living through nonsensical logic and heartache that when I finally snapped out of it, Bast was diving into the water, Tal was blowing our secrets and Wuyi was. ... being so fucking perfect that she took Sekhmet's attention and I was drug off into a sexual liaison that was half murder, half orgasm. Poor Wuyi got the brunt of it, but there were times that Sekhmet glutted herself on my lifesblood until the world turned shadowy and grey .. .then she restored me to full glory.


At the same time, I worked cruel puppetry to fix the mistake I made by slacking off during the barge meeting. I spoke with Tal first and it's hard to me to say how much was acting and how much was the old friendship we used to have. I... played to her own desires and needs and when that threatened her marriage with Benjamin, I made sure his focus went from what he wanted to what I want.


The dreams that night was a montage of cruel, chessboard anthologies that left me heaving my guts out in the mansion while Ann stared worriedly on. I shook it off and crawled into Anna's bed that night, feeling Ann sidle up on my other side a moment later while the sounds of Anann working some scheme or other hovered from the desk because I don't think any of the three wanted me our of their sight that night.


At the same time where, in dreams, I was dressed as the Red Queen ordering the cards of my Band to paint the roses red; we trudged through sewers and ... ... my need to be the leader came into play. I gave Ben one final choice to lead and it got us stuck in a potentially collapsing tunnel with cultists closing in on us with no real chance to escape. ... but that's a tale best left for Fiona's letters.


....Benjamin was right; I am cold and manipulative... and I don't really care. Not when it comes to anyone but Wuyi and the Morrigan. Everyone else is a piece on the chessboard and I will sacrifice them in a heartbeat if it improves my stance. I make a terrible friend...but gods protect them if they think to make me their enemy.


~Rhiannon, 2018

Letters #3: Seduction for the Greater Good...

Fiona,
One of the lessons I had to learn growing up was that a woman's greatest strength was her mind. Yes, coming from me (a woman know to be as vain or more-so than the peacocks that strut through the gardens) this seems odd, but it's a lesson you'll need to learn to survive. You are a quarter Sidhe so you'll find that you have a ....knack to blend into any gathering, any event. This applies to lovers, friends, and negotiations as well. Perhaps you won't have the impulse as strong as I do, but it's there and you need to master it.


When I was young, Anna fostered me. Oepdial complexes aside, she molded my impulsive, fickle nature into a weapon that could be used anywhere. When I sat as the Queen's lady-in-waiting, I was the perfect example of a young girl. When I was set with the sprites of the valley, I was a fickle spring breeze. When I was expected to be someone, I became that someone. Anann sharpened that wit further and I use it now knowing that where others are great with spear or sword, I excel at being whatever they want me to be.


When I needed Benjamin to listen to the plans that Anna wanted us to go towards, I knew that seducing him into agreement wouldn't work. Despite his misogyny, he listens to Tal. So I turned to her, I smiled, I flirted, I batted my eyes and used the blood orgies of Sekhmet to draw her in like a moth to a flame. She dangles now by a thin thread to become mine as I please and that ...threat spurs Benjamin to finally take action. We will finish our tasks in Cairo and then continue on our plans to contact Sinmore or the Agents of Gaia.


Where I am the cherished friend to Tal who could be so much more if I crook my finger just so, I am the new companion of Sekhmet. Something's wrong with her, the ritual of Isis must have drained her of her legend somehow; but she favors me and that works in our favor. If I remain the perfect companion, I will have a deadly ally to use in whatever war I see fit. I charmed her after the fight in the sewers, and I will continue to charm her for as long as it's needed.


This comes with drawbacks. I hurt Wuyi, scared her when Sekhmet and I orchestrated our own version of a Wild Hunt and fell into a sexual frenzy after the slaughter but Wuyi stepped up to the plate and molded herself to the situation, to be what she needed to be, knowing it was the best way to get what she wants in the end. I shattered some of her innocence that night, but she stepped right past the broken pieces on the road to being such a dangerous and mature woman. 


During this hazy, nebulous time in Iteru where a day feels like a week and an hour all wrapped up into one, Anna expanded my mind until my Sidhe nature grew and stretched and was given an endless mental playground to sate my curiosity -- much like she'll teach you. Now I can focus on six different things all at once and not have to worry about losing track of whatever is set before me. She also drew you away from the front lines of the war, and assured that our plans did not harm you.


Rhiannon

Hurried Notes #1

Stuffed into the notebook are pages of elegant longhand writing, some written in odd languages, others merely sketches of half-finished thoughts and drawings. They're bundled with a green ribbon with 'Cairo, 2018' scrawled over the top sheet.


All right, I need to write these down before they're no longer fresh. Some are irrelevant as of the writing, but still... best to have accurate records. The thread of fate that ever-spindles on from the spool Anann gave me has a little of her prophetic powers but as I'm not one for deciphering the future, it helps in the here and now. I asked these questions as we stood in the ritual room blocked by the magical silence.

1.) Signification of the sacrificial room.
A.) A prolonged spell of sacrifice.


Note to self: Direct Tal's next conversation with Fate to further narrow out reasons. Probably should have asked further about sigils but ... hey, earning the favor of Sekhmet? Priceless. Ok, ok. Mystery-Thread. Isis set up that room to keep Sekhmet loyal by keeping her drunk off the blood of sacrifices. Nothing too untoward there, but hey, it's because otherwise Sekhmet's loyalty would revert right back to Ra. So Isis keeps her drunk and gorged on blood and Sekhmet doesn't -- can't -- interfere with her plans.

Wasn't able to get too deep into Isis' plans but I was able to establish that they don't deal with Benjamin or his sigils -- which are, by the way, are being used to lure him back to Cairo to put him on the throne. Fun! Maybe see Hathor again. Sweet girl, terrible situation. Will try and reach out to her, give her a friend to talk to. Can't seduce that one -- would end in heartache as would have to make her fall in love to leave her fatebound role.

Reminder: Ask Kelly if she can help me locate some flawless emerald. Need to begin on physical part of Ann's/Anann's/Anna's wedding gift. Anna's putting a constellation in the sky for me -- I have to find -something- to even touch coming close to that.

Enech's burning for Sekhmet in a way that one shouldn't be lusting after blood-drenched warrior god.... oh who am I kidding? The frenzied, blood-splattered warrior goddess type is completely my type! Any time Anann bites hard enough to bruise, I'm just a puddle. I wonder if I could ask Anann if we can dabble some more and see if I'm related to a redkap - or if she's the basis for them coming into being. Hmmm. Or Ann. Can't ask Anna. She's too sensible for that sort of ... wait. Note: Pass it off as an experiment; she'll be on board.

Note again: Really, really need to talk to Benjamin. If he treats me like a servant one more time I will make sure that he'll regret it. Learn the lesson of the Irish Kings, he will: Never Piss Off The Bard. Reputation? Everything. Gods, don't these cultures know anything about keeping Face?

Nikita seems to be along my way of thinking, and as stubborn as Benjamin but he's more polite about his arrogance. Will make up to him by perhaps dinner and a business venture? He could probably appreciate the fine dining of Cairo where the others can't. Might invite Diao Chan when she needs a break from Wuyi.

Diao Chan. There's a sketch of a harried woman on the left side, but her right side is made up like a Chinese princess. I like her. She's cunning, witty, and she's still brimming with the elegance and culture that the Celestial Bureaucracy tried to shun out of her. She was assigned to Wuyi as a joke, to get both of them out of the C.B's hair much like they do anything to keep Monkey out of their affairs. Wuyi seems to like her; Diao Chan has Wuyi convinced that being a Courtesan is much like 'leveling up' in one of Wuyi's games. Maybe Diao Chan can instill some culture and bearing where I can't.

Reminder: Court Grievances with Anann before the week is out. Get the Band settled and then use the hearthstone to head back home to prepare. Gave the other stone to Wuyi already so transport is secured.

The rest of the jumbled papers are nonsense, or love poems, or sketches of three different poses of what appears to be each of the Morrigan sisters. Other sketches include fashionable dresses or ideas, names of models, names of locations. Dinner plans with investors.