The candlelight melts all my shadows away [Open to CR]

[handsome_genius]

Who: Cnoc Áine and related Akatsuki no Yona CR
When: December 3rd
Where: Take a wild guess
What: Mingle log with folks invited for a buffet dinner at the temple and folks can hang around afterwards too. I've included some prompts, but you can absolutely start your own. Any excuse to hang out with Yoon and Yona's extended CR is a good one.


---
Before Dinner / Gathering
Yoon is running bowls of food -- see below -- in and out of the kitchen to the hall where everyone gets to eat, so he's harder to get to stand still, but by all means use the opportunity to chat up people. You might find yourself sitting next to someone for dinner that you don't know, or you may want to explore the temple grounds until dinnertime. There's a lot to explore.

Dinner! Help Yourselves!
Yoon naturally took point on what the dinner would include, but he basically made a traditional spread of food - he thinks it's traditional anyway - resembling a giant lazy susan table with rice, a variety of meats that were marinated before being cooked, and grilled vegetables. The table is big enough for others to sit all around the circle, but move the wooden table around to get at the various dishes and pluck pieces of food from them. The rice also has a scooper. There is even stock soup resembling miso because that's what he was able to find on short notice when it occurred to him he should have soup, but didn't have enough time to make his own stock. Of course there is a pot of black tea too.

Near the wall, sitting on cold plates on a more traditional side table, there is also fresh fruit and a variation on lassi - a kind of pudding or yogurt. There's also glasses for milk shakes, but the ice cream and milk is currently being stored so it doesn't completely melt until they're ready, because of course he has milkshakes due to certain influences. Yoon doesn't get to be extravagant often, and Yona insisted if they were going to invite people that it be something pleasant, so he did indeed go all-out.

After Dinner: Bonding Time Etc.
At some point during the meal, Yoon will mention the pools at Yona's temple - Cnoc Áine - where people are able to bathe completely submerged and help wash away their blight. He considers this to be Extremely Important and if your characters - gods or shinki - haven't bathed in holy water within the last week, you can be sure that Yoon will insist on them hanging around long enough to bathe, alone or in a group as they're comfortable. By all means ask him why he finds this so important, or ask Yona about it. Unfortunately, the pools only heal under moonlight, so you can potentially hang around the temple for awhile, or leave and come back, although Yoon might seek a very sincere promise for the return. Good news is that it's winter, so 'moonlight' happens earlier. If Yoon happens to notice any tears or rips in the clothing that your character sheds in order to bathe, they might find them patched up by the time they put them on again.

But if you want to escape the oppressive Mom-ing of a worried Yoon, then you might try to engage some of the horses on the temple grounds, or take a walk through the immense halls and gardens.

Comments

[handsome_genius]

Well... someone just outright told me something that I would never have asked about otherwise. Suddenly it was blight everywhere, and another god took me to his temple - right away - and dumped me straight into a pool of holy water to calm me down.

[ And he's trembling a little describing it, still. ]

I've heard about what happens to shinki when that happens, and that alone is scary enough, but that much blight all over your body... it hurts in a way I can't describe. So I don't want other people to have to go through that. That's why holy water baths regularly are a good idea for all shinki.

[lightninglobster]

[ While Ryoma is a statue in most of his day-to-day dealings, he's not emotionless--he's restrained and edging on dignified as a default, but he'll still reach out to rest a hand on Yoon's shoulder, sympathy in his face and the less harsh turn of his mouth. Comforting people isn't exactly his wheelhouse, but he'll try? Really hard? ]

I'm glad they were able to fix things before too much damage was done. I can't believe someone would be so... careless.

[ 'Such a dick' is what he's going for in the way he says that, but hey. Proper young man and all. Still, Yoon makes a compelling argument... and Ryoma looks like he's thinking about it, at least. ]

I suppose it couldn't hurt to work on prevention before an actual problem occurs.

[handsome_genius]

[ He's normally got so much focus on looking after other people's needs, or cleaning up the temples that he bounces back and forth between, that he can be as taciturn as anyone. It's this one incident that always serves to remind him of his frailty in both body and position, as a shinki at the mercy of others' kindness. Yona never did that to him, nor did Hak as much as the two have butt heads. ]

Careless is right.

[ He allows that sniping retort after Ryoma's touch gives him some peace of mind that Ryoma at least understands why it's so serious. From there, he can make his own decisions. Yoon justifies it to himself that Ryoma surely hasn't even been around long enough to get blighted as badly as some claim is possible to endure, between guilt and random scrapes in the middle of battle with an ayakashi. ]

That's why prevention is the key. So I wash most every night unless something urgent comes up. I'm glad you'll consider my words from now on. It'll help you as much as Hak.

[lightninglobster]

[ Ryoma closes his eyes, spending a moment of genuine reflection on Yoon's words. He's... coping, with the whole shinki thing. There's a fiercely independent piece of him that does not take standing as a subordinate for a stranger well, a deep-set pride that's soaked into his core and wrapped in his bones. The thought of being so helpless against someone else's whim, against someone else's fool-headed mistake... it hits that pride, that sense of self, and it strikes like a hammer against a nail, driving and hard, unavoidable.

It's too cheap to say he doesn't like relying on others--but he has no better words for it. The look on his face is contemplative and edging on annoyed, though not particularly at Yoon--at his unknown assailant, perhaps, or at the tenuous relationship shinki have with the world... still. He's almost grim in his resolve. ]

Is there anything particular to the ritual? Or is simple bathing in blessed water enough to stave off the blight?

[ It's more for himself than Hak, but hey, bonuses for Hak even if Ryoma doesn't intend them. Good job, Yoon. ]

[handsome_genius]

From what I've seen and read, the amount of blight that you might get from just a day or two's activity can be washed off with just the blessed water, yes. It's when it festers for days and days that something more drastic has to happen.

[ Then he shrugs. ]

There's no ritual to it at all, washing alone like I do.

[ But hey, if it's that simple, all the more reason to hope that Ryoma will keep up the regimen himself. ]