A god, a shinki and a dog, bring all the food

[futhark]

Who: Ginia, Caster and a special guest later
What: Caster and Ginia try to find Votelli
When: January 6th
Where: "Mysterious" forest back on the Near Shore
Warnings: None for now, will update if needed



[ Dropping by the forest has become some of a ritual by now. Archer makes a box full of food, riceballs, vegetables, octopus-shaped sausage- whatever he feels like making that day. Let's not stifle his creativity in the kitchen. Then when all is done Caster and Ginia take them, sometimes taking a dog, Regal, along with them.

Today is no different, Caster warps them all into the wintery forest. It's been really cold lately, maybe they should have brought something warm for her to wear instead? If that's the case, they can always leave parts of what they have now. His spell being enough to give protection of the cold for the time being.

Caster gives Regal a pat on her head and starts walking, she matches his tempo immediately. ]

Hmm, Ginia, think we should wander in a different direction today? [ He turns around to see advice from his shinki. ]

Comments

[unlucky7]

[Translator's note: keikau means plan.]

[This is unexpected, but it is a nice view and shows off the orchard nicely. There are the greenhouses for the strawberries, the bare grape vines wrapped against the cold, the similarly covered peach trees. Definitely a promising site for a fledgling god to stay in and be noticed by.

But oops, there goes Regal, frolicking in the snow. She's the most composed of the four dogs of Caster's temple, but sometimes dogs gotta dog in snow. She bounds back to Votelli, tail happily wagging.]

[futhark]

[ The view is well-liked, so hey a small success in that. He was ready to chase Regal, but good doggo returned by herself. He squats next to her and give her head a good ruffle, and gestures with a tilt of his head in a wordless "go on, you can try to pet the fluff too" ]

Ginia knows all the best places, no lie. [ He can do the puffing chest proudly for his shinki, no problem. ] We should go down to see it up-close

[ Now that everything is within sight it should be a lot easier to get to a desired location. ]

And you'll be able to return here whenever you'd like.

[fleetforestsprite]

[Votelli reaches out to offer her hands to Regal to sniff, and gets both hands licked for her trouble. She laughs and ruffles Regal's fur.]

I don't want to go too close. Up here is okay, though.

But if I'm going to have a shrine I don't want my real name on it. I can use, um...

[She hesitates, then squats down, sketching with a fingertip in the dirt.]

Torimoto.

[Rooster forest, the characters she sketches read; she looks up at them nervously.]

That way, if someone does tell, the Heavens still won't know it's my shrine.

[unlucky7]

[Torimoto. Ginia commits the name to memory. She's willing to feign ignorance to the Heavens. There are new gods all the time. No one needs to know Torimoto of trees and orchards is the same as Votelli the rogue god.]

I guess all that's left is setting up a shrine or some kind of marker for you. Maybe at eye-level so children are more likely to notice? Is there anything specific you'd like?

[futhark]

[ Regal, the Only Well Behaved Dog in Caster's temple. That includes himself ]

On my end, I'll check how it is with the Ireland forests.[ A recluse to retreat to is a good thing to have. But he heard it's possible to make contact with local gods- it's their turf so to speak, so it is best to ask of their opinions first.

The name change is an interesting thing though. Narratively speaking, it might stick, and thus truly change her from that "probably a rogue god" to just "one of the many new gods helping children." It does sound like something for the best. For the girl, for Ginia who cares for her. ]

[fleetforestsprite]

It doesn't have to just be for kids. But I guess they do have an easier time seeing us, right?

[She straightens back up, still scratching Regal's ruff.]

Anything's okay. I've never had a shrine before, so I don't know what it should look like.

[unlucky7]

They do. I think they would like a god around their age too.

[And if enough children speak of a god in the orchards, even the adults might believe to support them. Striking up a mythos about a god protecting the orchard is a way to advertise too. The spiritual and practical applications cannot be ignored.]

I'll visit the library and see what I can find about shrines and try to get you something as soon as possible.

[There's always keeping it simple and gradually adding onto it. Maybe that'll help keep Heavens attention off too.]