((This notice is only for those demigods that don't already live on Dolandor and aren't already a part of Venus' Retinue, but are still considered members of the House of Venus.))
Hidden discreetly in an obvious location, is a letter of average size. It is beautiful but durable paper, obviously made of cotton, and embossed with gold accents. The letter is sealed with pink wax baring the seal of the House of Venus.
Scribbled inside, obviously covering up careful calligraphy that has been hastily scratched out, is a crudely written note.
"Your presence has been requested at the altar of your father at the Shrine of Venus."
There are no further instructions.
((Post a reaction and the arrival at the shrine. Any demigod is free to reject this letter. Another prompt will follow within the next couple days.))
Strawberri Stardust
Adelphos
Wolfs Heart
Lannister
Dementia Requiem Asumi
Abhisneha
Antidia
Mnemo
Irish Night Fox
Amatus
Teigra
Erasmus
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 7:35 pm
Lannister cupped his hands, dipping them into the cool water of the large pond and taking a sip. He looked up, enjoying the peaceful calm and serenity of this safe haven he looked after. The swans were curled up in pairs beneath the various bushes that surrounded the pond, their pure white feathers contrasting with the dark colors of the jungle that surrounded them. It was beautiful. He stood up quietly, walking towards his treehouse that overlooked the pond, a small upgrade from the hollow tree he had been living in several seasons ago.
Lannister noticed the envelope immediately once he had climbed the ladder high enough to see into his home. It wasn't as if he had many possessions, so it stood out. He finished climbing into the tree house and made his way to it, looking over the pink seal. He paused, thinking about the time of year it was, and assumed it was another invitation to honor his grandmother with a party. He was surprised by the simple message he read instead. His father? He had never had the opportunity to grow close to his father, but he certainly was curious.
Reaching out for a bag, Lannister began to fill it with fruit, setting one aside to eat now. It was too late to set out now, but he would first thing in the morning.
He began his journey early the next day, the swans were just waking and he was sure to tell them that he was to be gone for a few days at the most. He didn't like to be away from the sanctuary any longer than that. Lannister transformed into a swan, he flew quicker in that form, and carried the bag of fruit in his beak.
When he arrived he turned back to his regular form and stepped towards his father's alter. "Hymnaios?" He called out.
Never far from her well, Abhisneha stretched as she made the travels from her home to the stone structure she loved so dearly. She'd been away from it longer than usual, having been enjoying the company of her husband. Sparkling blue eyes closed as she took the first few steps into her clearing, relishing in the feel of the magic surrounding her. Once she opened her eyes, something was immediately obvious. There were pink hearts laying about and there was an envelope laying on the rim of the wishing well.
A smile broke across her face as she picked up the small package. It had to have been from her grandmother. Who else would send something so ornate? The material was unlike anything she'd seen before, but that was so much like Venus. The moment of adoration was cut short when confusion set in. "At my father's shrine... That doesn't sound a thing like anything she'd send me... Abby chewed her lip, wondering what it was all about. It wasn't like she could turn down a request from her grandmother. A quick glance at the sky told her it was still early. She could head home and make a pack to bring with her on her trip. If she left now, she'd make good time getting to the shrine.
Not much later Abby had wished her husband a good time and set out on the path that would lead her to Venus' temple, and her father's shrine. It wasn't a terribly long trip, but it was still one she needed to pack for. Who knew how long she'd be gone.
Upon arrival, it looked like one of her cousins was there. Had he gotten the same kind of weird letter? Abby's attention went to the statue that looked so much like her father. Like her. So many feelings. A father she wanted but never could have. Wasn't that what he was? The god of longing. It only made sense those feelings of longing would be present in herself as well. "Pothos?" She paused, "Dad?" Maybe that would work better. Not expecting an immediate reaction, she turned to look at her cousin. Why didn't she know her family better? "Hey, did you get one of those weird letters too?" Maybe he knew something about it she didn't.
Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 10:53 am
They waited till night had fallen in order to slip out. They hoped to go unnoticed, and despite some of the regular night owls who lived on the outskirts of their Village, they knew this would be their best chance. Less eyes about meant invisibility right? At least, that's how it had felt the millions of other times they had snuck out.
Before it had all been to just see the stars from their hideaway place in the forest or to practice some extra sparring moves in order to one up their grandpa, but this had to be one of the only other times they'd snuck out to actually go out (other than that one weird party they went to). It was thrilling, but also got Amatus' heart rate going. Of course it would be a night like this that they'd get caught right?
They were 'lucky' once again. Or perhaps Nyra knew and just didn't care? Either way, they'd made it out and were coming up on the meeting spot. Amatus didn't understand what they were doing there, the last time he saw his 'dad' was when he was brutally murdered by some unknown Pae. Perhaps this was a summons to tell them who had done it? Even though he didn't know the guy or really wish to, it would still be nice to have that closure.
He landed and let his wings droop behind him, feeling surprised to see a few others there. He shifted the weight on his pack, letting it slide off of one shoulder and onto the ground, dragging it behind him as he walked the rest of the way towards them. “Tireeeeddd” he whined. Were they all here to hear who murdered the dude? No, some of them were calling their own fathers? From what he recalled at the party, most of these should be related to him somehow, right? Good, Amatus was too tired to put on the moves today.
“Hey.” he lifted a hand at the others in greeting, before plopping down on the ground giving a sigh of relief. He'd missed his beauty nap and it was making him grumpy. “Yeah we got 'em. I hope whoever we're meeting brings something good to eat. I'm missing Gramma's pie for this.” At the mention of pie his stomach gave off a loud that echoed in the area.
“Eraaasmussss. You brought the snacks like we talked, right?”
Rolling his eyes, Erasmus reached into his pack and pulled out a leaf-wrapped bread roll before shoving it at his twin and re-shouldering his pack. "Course. Now here, eat something. You get grumpy when you're hungry." Only after he had finished did he look around at the others gathered here. More people? He hadn't expected that. When they'd received the letter 'requesting their presence' at their father's altar, well...he'd been more than a little suspicious.
First of all, wasn't he dead?
Second, though it was never explicitly said, the issue of their paternal parentage had always been a touchy subject at home. He felt there was something wrong there and the events last year leading up to their father's gruesome murder had only cemented their suspicions. It was likely best to keep their distance from these strange deity characters, for whatever reason. After the events last year, he had been sure he'd never find himself here again. He had no interest in the foreign 'family' matters of these people. He had a better family.
So why was he here now?
Darn curiosity.
It was probably a trap or something.
Grandpa would have their hides for this.
But...why were there others here? That didn't add up at all. Not that he had many actual numbers to try and add here...
Noting something the female had been saying when they walked in (from the nature of this and the letter they'd received, probably wouldn't be a good idea to flirt with her...likely a cousin at this rate at best), Erasmus frowned and offered, "Yeah, weird letters all around, it sounds like. But...what'd yours say?" Was it in bad taste to ask who someone's father was, if their letters said the same thing? Were these siblings? Weird...
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 6:38 pm
Abby blinked, there were twins. When did she get twin cousins? Was she just not paying attention to anything anyone did anymore?That was pretty likely, the last time she'd shown up for any Venus Day craziness, she'd managed to get married to Aiolos. Putting all that aside, she grinned, "It may not be pie, but I have some sweets tucked away in my pack. If you promise not to tell Venus, I might be able to spare a bit for you~" Forever altered in the world of delicious, Abby had most certainly packed sweet things as a gift to her grandmother. It was almost the day to celebrate, of course she'd have brought something. And a little extra for herself.
"It was weird. Written on good paper, extravagant like always. But it looked like the message was written quick and dropped off before anyone noticed they were there... It asked me to visit my dad's altar? Did yours say anything like that too?" While she wasn't going to ask who their father was, she would most certainly stand back and wonder if they had gotten the exact same letter she had.
Lannister's head quickly turned away from his father's alter as he heard other footsteps echoing in the hall. He looked at the pae who had joined him, slightly recognizing the female, but not so much the twin teens. He was certain that none of them were his siblings. Curious. The male nodded his head in response to her question, he had received what was likely the same letter.
A look of disappointment crossed his face, it didn't seem likely that his dad was trying to get in contact with him if all of them had received the same note. While the rest were all talking about food, Lannister dug through his pack. Everything had gotten jostled around during his trip, but he finally found the letter crushed at the bottom of the bag. Lannister quickly reread it, making sure he hadn't misinterpreted it before.
After reading the line a third time he walked over to his female cousin, showing her the letter.
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 6:18 am
Mnemo's daughter, Pax had found the odd parcel. Normally correspondence arrived via oral communication or carefully written on the flat, special parchment meant for underwater written letters. But this letter was in a plastic bag and crudely tied to a rock to weight it down. Mnemo was afraid to open it for many reasons. What if it was from her mother? What if the water destroyed it before she had a chance to read it?
It was a spur of the moment decision. The Fish Goddess had been out 'swimming' Bitey and went to the surface to read it. She'd convinced herself not to, but she couldn't help it. Filling her lungs with air with her rarely used windpipe, she opened it fast so she couldn't stop herself or change her mind again. The letter got wet, of course, but the ink didn't run. The paper absorbed the water like a paper towel, however.
"My father? I don't have a father ... I wonder if this is for someone else," she thought out loud, and considered what her mother had told her all her life: she didn't have a proper father because she was a punishment from the gods.
The mention of the Shrine of Venus struck a chord. It was because of a party that Venus ... goddess ... hosted that caused Mnemo and her beloved to bring their perfect little naiad princesses into this world. Connections started firing off, but it caused more questions than anything. She'd decided she had to see this out. Maybe she could find answers for her mother as to why she felt punished ... or why having Mnemo was a bad thing.
---
She arrived to the Shrine after quite a few of other pae. She ducked down at first, timid, and not sure what to expect. The orange demi listened for a few minutes, overhearing that they'd all received a similar letter. Where they all abominations from the gods? They looked fairly normal, except for the ridiculous wings. But then again, who was she to judge.
Approaching cautiously, Mnemo looked to the gathered pae and introduced herself. She was quiet, and definitely meek. "I .. why am I ... who sent this?" She held up the crumpled, damp letter that had all the gold embellishments and Venus-ness of it washed away, leaving only the black letters in the center.
As the Demigods gathered, letters were slipped upon the respective altars of Adonis, Anteros, Himeros and Hymnaios.
When each letter is picked up, a small (still pae sized) golden bow will appear accompanied by a leather quiver. Each quiver contains five arrows. Each Demigod will have different arrows, fletched in different colors.
Adelphos' arrows are round, banded and blue. Lannister's arrows are brilliant yellow. Abihisneha's feathers are grey fading to blue. Mnemo's feathers are orange fading to yellow. Erasmus and Amatus' feathers are thin, translucent pale blue.
The letters all are personalized, but read the same thing:
"Your presence is required aboard Venus' Love Boat for the maiden voyage. Please bring this special gift, and keep it on you at all times. You will receive further instructions in your stateroom."
((Once again, each demigod has the option to decline, otherwise they will have a fancy luxury room on the ship. Instructions will follow before Day 2 on the ship. Declining does not mean failure.))
Strawberri Stardust
Adelphos
Wolfs Heart
Lannister
Dementia Requiem Asumi
Abhisneha
Antidia
Mnemo
Irish Night Fox
Amatus
Teigra
Erasmus
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:36 am
Abby chewed on her lip, looking at her cousins. They all had to be her cousins, with all their wings being pretty similar. So many of all of them had to have grown up without a father. The thought made her shake her head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about how almost none of her cousins had a dad in their life.
Abby smiled at the brightly colored woman who snuck up on them. "I don't know who sent this... I'm Abby, it's nice to meet you~" She was trying to make friends. To meet her cousins. They had to all be confused here. The letter looked so much like something Venus would send, but the writing wasn't at all like her.
"Maybe there's more to see on the altars?" she questioned aloud, attention going back to the strange letter that everyone seemed to be holding. Acting on the thought, she was wandering closer to the altar of Pothos. A grim smile set on her face from this one. Funny, she didn't see the letter here before when she'd called out to him. Something was up here... Her eyebrow raised, looking at the seemingly harmless envelope resting there with her name on it. The full name, not what she went by.
Almost hesitantly, Abhisneha bent down, picking up the ornate seeming thing and proceeded to open it, disregarding anything in the immediate area. She'd get to it after seeing what this thing said.
"Your presence is required aboard Venus' Love Boat for the maiden voyage. Please bring this special gift, and keep it on you at all times. You will receive further instructions in your stateroom."
Her eyes widened at this. Special gift. This was Venus' doing. There was mischief to be had! The grim smile on her face shifted to one of joy. She was being included in the family shenanigans. Along with all of these cousins she'd yet to meet or get to know. But where was this 'special gift' that the letter spoke of? Baby blues tore away from the paper, and started searching the altar in front of her for a clue. Near his head, chest, down to his feet. There it was, a small golden bow and a quiver. A quiver? With arrows in it? Abby dropped everything she was holding in shock. She knew what these arrows did to pae, even if she didn't know what these in particular did. She was floored. How could they offer her arrows to shoot pae with? "Arrows... Venus help me, it's a quiver of arrows" She was shaking, hesitant to do what she wanted to so very much. It was thanks to arrows like this she even existed. Thanks to them that she was married, had children... Okay, maybe not the children part, that would have happened on its own, but she still had these things to thank for most of it.
Shaking hands reached out to touch the golden bow. It was perfectly sized for her. Not overly large, but not so small it wouldn't shoot an arrow in it. Ornate like she'd always dreamt of, like the luxury her grandmother always took care in. And the matching quiver. She couldn't believe her eyes. The leather of it was soft and supple, almost as if it had been worn in and used hundreds of times. The details on the outside of it were something she'd never seen in her life. Something she hoped she'd get to see so very often from this moment on. The entire package was gorgeous. The fletching on the arrows almost matched her wings perfectly. Had she lost feathers and not paid any attention to it? Probably, but who would use her feathers in anything this beautiful? Using her own feathers would have lessened their presence. There were five, wonderfully packaged arrows inside this gift. Five? That was.. an odd number.
Abby shook her head, trying not to think about what five arrows meant. This was a gift and a request in the same letter. "Looks like I'm going on a cruise..." She smiled, ear to ear with excitement. This was going to be a blast!
Lannister gave a gentle shrug of his shoulders at Abbi's suggestion. He truly hadn't looked closely at the altar before, he had been looking for his father. Lannister walked back to his father's alter. He could hear that Abbi had said something at her own father's alter, but he didn't know what she had said. It must have meant she found something though.
Lannister picked up the letter, immediately seeing the bow and quiver beneath it. His immediate reaction was one of disgust as he assumed these were the same type of magical arrows that his uncles, and likely his own father misused and abused. Lannister looked over the letter, further instructions... great, was this just going to be some wild goose chase.
He set the letter down on the bow and took a seat in front of the altar, staring at everything with some contemplation. It could be a regular bow, and if it was it would be very useful in protecting his swan. But what if it was a magical bow? His mind drifted off to memories of his brother, Porter, and Pastela. He had seen that they were meant to be together, even when they couldn't see it themselves. Then, he had given them a nudge in the right direction so that they could see it. Lannister could be responsible with his arrows, use them only on pae that were truly meant to be together. Weren't the arrows the same as a nudge? He could help pae see who they belonged with! He contemplated on this for a while.
Finally, Lannister stood, picking up the three items. He would be responsible.
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2016 8:09 pm
It was an unusually quiet day at home when Adelphos found a letter addressed to him with his grandmother's seal on it. The scribbled out bits made him frown a bit, wondering if this was truly a letter from Venus or if someone had simply stolen an old letter to lure him in for something strange. Wouldn't be the first time, at least for his family. His mother had been lured into something strange before, though at least she had managed to save his father from life as a beast. Weirdest story she'd ever told him. Still...a trip to his father's altar wouldn't be so bad.
Late to the party, when Adelphos arrived everyone else had likely already done the meet and greet thing. With a polite smile and a nod to the rest, the icy demigod stepped up to his father's altar. A couple of the others had already found things beneath new letters. Lifting the letter on Anteros' altar revealed an bow and quiver of pretty banded blue arrows. The letter was as strange if not more so than the first one. He had been planning to go on the voyage anyway, as a getaway with Ruby. Now he had another choice to make...
"Anyone get an explanation on their arrows?" he asked the rest of them. Arrows to him meant...mischief, since usually that was what happened at Venus' parties. He wasn't sure how he felt about having his own set, though there was only a small number of them. He hoped that these would be similar to his father's arrows which caused pae to fall in love. With a sigh, he picked up the bow and quiver. He would be responsible for this. He would not, however, use the arrows until he knew what they were for. If all he had to do would be to carry these things around he'd be okay with that. Ruby would probably be curious. Well, he was too.
On the ship, Venus' Love Boat, in each stateroom assigned to each of the demigods there will be another note, laying on the pillow next to their little chocolate.
The note reads:
Use these arrows on the second night, during the Venus Day celebration. Don't worry, no one will feel it. They won't even see it. Aim carefully, and choose wisely.
((The demigods have a choice: they can ignore the instructions but still enjoy the cruise, or shoot the arrows like the Erotes and Graces do each year. They only have 5 each, so they can fire any number up to 5.
They roll a random number to correspond to a pae'il attending the party. Quote the player, noting the pae'il, and let them know that the arrow they were shot with combines effect with the one an Erote or Grace will fire at them. Please one pae per post.
Abhisneha - your arrows will completely remove any other arrow effect, including those of Pothos. Adeliphos - your arrows will increase the duration of the effect of the other Erote's arrows to the end of the event. Lannister - your arrows will induce the desire to bend to one knee and serenade their love Mnemo - your arrows induce the desire to kiss Amatus and Erasmus - your arrows induce delusions of grandeur
Players can still post in this notice to catch their demigod up. Following the whole event, another prompt will follow. You have till then to catch up and post.))
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:48 pm
Seemed like no one really knew what was going on here, from the sound of it. Erasmus frowned, reading the note for what seemed like the hundredth time. Their father's altar? "Does he even have one? I mean, you still get one of those after you're dead?" he mumbled, musing to himself quietly. Noting that the others seemed to be finding tokens addressed to them on their respective parents' altars, Erasmus shrugged at his twin and started circling the room. Bunch of lost kids, wandering in circles, seeking favor from some mystic, absent parent, grasping for attention or some sense of understanding.
Ugh, this is why he hated dealing with this whole god drama crap.
If not for his darned curiosity, he'd have sworn he'd have been fine without dealing with this, thanks. Could have just stayed home, ignored the creepy letter, kept on going just fine with his loving family...
He paused, having found a pair of envelopes propped up on one of the altars, one with his name on the front, the other with his twin's. He gave the bows and quivers a funny look, choosing to read the letter first. Their presence was required...on Venus' Love Boat? Say what now? What did this mean?
It meant that this trip had only created more questions than answers. Erasmus refolded the letter and laid it aside, reaching instead for one of the bows and quivers with a frown. He hesitated with his hand hovering over the bow, then seemed to make a decision and grasped it firmly. With a flourish, he whirled the bow and calmly drew and notched an arrow in one fluid movement. He performed the action as if he'd been training with a bow his entire life. For those familiar, it may have resembled the grace and nature of the Goddess Artemis herself. Very, very closely, in fact. Nearly identical...
"What do you say, brother? Do we turn back for home and give up? Or do we follow this thing through and find out what's going on?" If Amatus was anything like himself...and he was pretty sure he knew his twin fairly well at this point...Erasmus knew what the answer would be.
They'd have to deal with the fallout whenever they got home.
