Marythen rite: Lendren Starfall

Before an ocean of colourful flowers.
A sigil in the shape of a small, rectangular monolith is on the ground. Drifting clumsily from plant to plant, a pollen-dusted bumblebee buzzes here.
You see exits leading north, southeast, and southwest.

Your own voice rises from a pollen-dusted bumblebee, echoing from its translucent wings: "The world is full of wonders to find. May you never feel alone. And may you bear fruit according to your measure."

You think to yourself: That seems like a very auspicious portent for my rite!

Smiling, Wodewose Tyrus says, "Hello, Lendren."

Wodewose Tyrus asks, "Is this where you would like your Marythen rite to be done?"

You say, "It's a good spot for it, isn't it? I hope?"

Wodewose Tyrus says, "Of course. Any place that speaks to you most is a good spot."

You say, "I had considered the meditation chamber. I spend a lot of time there, or I did in the past. But not for its suitability to this; more for how appropriate it is for solitude and contemplation. This feels like a more public place, and like it is... a beginning. Plus of course it is the most colorful. I am my mother's daughter."

[various arrivals edited for brevity]

Lendren is obviously trying not to fidget in a way that's more fidgety than if she just fidgeted. "Hello, hello! Thank you for being part of this!"

Amirae's voice rises from a pollen-dusted bumblebee, echoing from its translucent wings: "Though you walk through the valley of darkness, She will be with you in resplendent colour. May you learn unceasingly. And may you know who you truly are."

You think to yourself: This is going to be fine. You have prepared for this. You know what is in your heart, at least as much as can be expected. You will be fine.

Zitto's voice rises from a pollen-dusted bumblebee, echoing from its translucent wings: "The world is full of wonders to find. May you learn unceasingly. And may your curiosity never fade."

You say to Tyrus, "Plus the bumblebees get to participate here."

[more arrivals, distribution of food and drink, etc. Present: Amirae, Ialie, Lendren, Lief, Naevari, Zitto, Faythe, Taemira, Tyrus.]

(Yneli): Lief says, "It seems you all have beaten me there. However, our Lady's Avatar Lendren Starfall shall undergo a renewal in her Certainty with a rite of Marythen. If you are not yet present, like me, please begin to gather."

Lendren takes a few deep cleansing breaths, then draws a rainbow-shaped box from her purse, opens it, and carefully extracts a seed of shifting colours. She studies it a moment, then clutches it tight in her tiny fist.

Lief gazes about the gathering, her eyes bright, and then she settles her gaze upon you and nods. "In your time," she says softly. "In your way. We shall begin when you are ready."

Lendren nods and looks around. "Before I begin I want to mention briefly, I never performed this rite, as my time was long ago, when Lady Maylea was newly arrived here, having only just revealed Herself as the golden-eyed bard we had met." She draws out a figurine of a golden-eyed bard for a moment and shows it, then tucks it away. "In fact She asked me long, long ago to create this very rite. It was never intended for this purpose, but I think it will serve me well in strengthening my Kinship with you all, who I have met and wish to know better, and in helping me feel more caught up, more centered."

Lendren steps forward to the center of those assembled, brushes her bangs back from her eyes, and speaks clearly and slowly. "Though I am Narathos, I am newly returned to a changed Basin, to a new and vital Order, and like any Yneli, I have had much to learn about the events of my time away, about the Order, and about how I will grow and change and become more than I knew I was."

Lief cants her antlered head as she listens to you, her calloused fingertips caressing a bright yellow scarf with an embossed daffodil draped over her forearm. With your declaration, she nods, then looks to Tyrus.

Ialie nods her head slowly as she listens. She casts a glance at each member present and smiles gently to herself.

Amirae passes the blue scarf over her fingers, smiling broadly at you.

Naevari lifts his hand to his mouth as he listens, his fore and middle fingers alighting gently upon his lips, his eyebrows tugging inward in an expression of quiet thoughtfulness.

Tyrus steps forward, cradling a bright red scarf with an embossed tulip in his hands. He appraises you and smiles "It seems you have some precognition, as you answered my original question. However, I can adapt. My question is this: "As you have said, you were among the first of Her order and even achieved Avatarhood. How then has being Avatar touched upon your life?"

Lief looks from Tyrus to you, listening with open curiosity.

Naevari's gaze, too, flickers from Tyrus to you, his own visible curiosity mirroring that of his mentor.

Faythe absently wraps and unwraps a bright green scarf with an embossed carnation around her hand.

Lendren smiles sheepishly, her skin flushing slightly rose-hued. "Sorry about that," she says, then considers a few moments, tapping her finger with her lip. "Honestly, I must confess its touch on my life is more in my future than my past. It was quite soon after She made me Her first Avatar that She set out on some journeys of Her own design. I studied the ways of veneration and gathered those I could to the pursuit of what I had chosen for Her teachings to promulgate. But we did very little about any of it. Most of those who joined my sect were sleepy already and never participated. They'd joined just out of curiosity, or to help me get my sect to have some numbers, I suppose. And when She went on Her journeys, the order grew very quiet. But that is all past," she concludes. "Almost as if from another life, or at least a different time. My hope is that in this new start, I will grow, and change. Perhaps I will be speaking the lessons of the Halcyon Painter alone, but I still hope to work them into the thinking of people, both those here, and those who do not follow the Ways or know the Serene Truths. This is one of the areas I hope to see myself grow." She glances at a seed of shifting colours in her palm, then closes the fist again.

Blushing, you say, "And I did promise to prevent my proclivity to prolixity. Not a promising start on that pledge!"

Minister Faythe Myeras-Silvermoon murmurs, "We encourage that sort of thing here."

Hovering sedately, a pollen-dusted bumblebee drifts away to the southeast.

Faythe's eyes sparkle with amusement at you.

You say to Faythe, "Be careful what you give me permission for, dear."

Minister Faythe Myeras-Silvermoon says, "You don't need permission to be you, Lendren."

Faythe taps her nose knowingly.

Ialie takes in a slow deep breath as she swells with pride. She clasps her hands and nods encouragingly at you.

Naevari's gaze jerks upward again, from where it *had* been making a thoughtful study of his boots. And then his lips tug into a faint, amused smile at the last statement you made.

Giggling, you say, "Sometimes I ought to be me, but just not quite as much!"

Lief smiles gently as she listens to you, her roughened fingertips snagging on a bright yellow scarf with an embossed daffodil before they still, the diamond upon a wedding band bearing a jeweled rose catching briefly in the light. When you has spoken, she turns her smiling gaze to Tyrus, and back to you.

Faythe glances wryly at Zitto and hides a grin behind her hand.

Zitto offers Faythe a knowing grin and a quick wink.

Tyrus smiles warmly at your answer, stepping forward to place the scarf about your neck and shoulders. "May new beginnings bring you greater joy and wisdom," he says, stepping back finally.

Tyrus lifts a bright red scarf with an embossed tulip and carefully places it upon you.

Lief nods her antlered head approvingly, then turns her attention to Zitto and the orange scarf carried in his hands.

Zitto turns a bright orange scarf with an embossed tiger lily over in his hands. Looking at you, he offers a small smile before offering, "The way of our Lady is endless resilience in the face of adversity. You have lived a long life. Surely it has not always been easy." His smile fades slightly as he asks, "What would you say was your darkest day?" After a few moments, his smile returns and he concludes the question by asking, "And more importantly, how did you overcome it?"

Lief nods her antlered head slowly to Zitto's question, then allows her gaze to skip to you, quietly thoughtful but keenly inquisitive.

Lendren drops her gaze, her bangs falling into her eyes and over her spectacles. "I wish I could say I overcame it better. Indeed, the reason I have been away so long..." She looks up but doesn't brush the hair away. "I had been away for some time. I came back and was trying to make myself a place, much as I am now, though not really, but let me not get ahead of myself. My second wife, Gabriella, whose tree you have seen in Kiunid Vruna, I saw a few times, and then mere days after I had awoken, she decided to leave this world forever. Not long after, I had not one but two love affairs both of which ended very badly, very painfully. How did I overcome it? I can't say I did, truly. I withdrew entirely. I spent nearly a century on my ranch tending sheep and chickens in near total solitude. The hurt was too great to let myself feel it all at once, so instead, I let it sit in my heart and tasted a tiny bit each day until it was finally little enough to face it. Our Lady said that perhaps this was the best course, the only course. I can only wonder. At times I feel like my whimsical choice to come out once more was guided by the Fates, so soon did I meet such wonderful people, receive such a breathtaking welcome. And so perhaps the Fates guided me to leave when I should and return when the time was right, like a seed slumbering under snow." She laughs and waves a hand dismissively. "A fanciful and self-important notion. But my blessings today are too great to believe without such fancy."

Lief's expression softens as she listens to you, searching you features from where she stands, poised and quiet.

Faythe's gaze darkens slightly as she listens to you, and she suddenly directs her attention downward to study ivory-stitched slippers of moss green silk.

Zitto nods agreeably once the answer is delivered in full. Solemnly, he announces, "While hard times may bend us, we are never truly defeated while hope remains in our hearts. May your hope never fade, Lendren."

Zitto lifts a bright orange scarf with an embossed tiger lily and carefully places it upon you.

You smile softly at Zitto.

Lief's closes her eyes for a moment, gathering herself.

Naevari turns a smile, soft but sad, upon you, his own face contorting briefly into a mask of a sympathetic pain.

Faythe looks up again, quiet as she picks at a bright green scarf with an embossed carnation in her hands, studying you.

Tyrus clasps his hands one atop the other before him as he silently watches the rest of the proceedings.

When she opens her eyes again, Lief's dragonfly wings kick up behind her, a hum which carries her across the stone pathway, flowers bending in the slight breeze stirred by her passage, to hover before you. She meets you eyes; in her own sparkle flecks of sunflower yellows, merry daffodils, weighing coltsfoot - glittering flames of inquisitiveness. She regards you, her fingertips smoothing a bright yellow scarf with an embossed daffodil upon her forearm, and as she does, she asks, "You have returned to us indeed, and have begin to build your life anew. What is one new thing you've learned about yourself since returning from your time spent on the ranch, and what or who taught you this?"

Lendren brushes the bangs back from her eyes as Lief approaches and stands tall to meet her. "Well, I can think of a few. I suppose the best is one that seems so obvious when said aloud, and yet... so slippery it is, so easy to forget in the quotidian efforts of the day!" She grins, amused at her own follies. "What a temptation it is, when you meet wonderful people, when your heart is full of kindness, of love, of camaraderie, to strain and bend, like a sunflower toward the shining sun, to be what they wish! To make a place for yourself by finding a place, and making yourself fit the place. How rewarding it feels, to give people what they want, to be what they need." She casts her ebony gaze skyward a moment, then back to Lief's eyes. "But it never works for long, does it? In time, you can't keep doing it. And as rewarding as it feels, as much better as it is than to be alone or feel purposeless, it is nothing to the fulfillment that comes should you find a place, some people, a role, where you are asked to be nothing more than you are, and that's just what is wanted. Only that can last." She smiles brightly to Lief. "That is what I have found, and am finding."

Lendren adds, "What or who taught me that? Well, you all have, and my experiences have, and Llani has, and the new welcome I have felt has. And I pursue it in everything I do -- seeking out roles and jobs and purposes I feel need what I am, not what I can try to pretend to be. Seeking friends who want who I already am, not who I can act like." She bows her head again, bangs once more dropping into her eyes.

Lief's eyes flit between your own as she listens, and then a smile breaks over her features, a smile as sunny as the hues in her eyes and the stain of tint upon a bright yellow scarf with an embossed daffodil. She hovers higher, and reaches around to drape the fabric over your shoulders, adding to the warm array already burning there.

Lief lifts a bright yellow scarf with an embossed daffodil and carefully places it upon you.

As she draws back, Lief gazes warmly upon your visage, and she murmurs, "May you adorn the world around you in your own colors, Painter of our Lady, and draw out the colors of those around you in kind." This said, she lets the scarf's ends fully go, then returns to her place at Zitto's side with a nod toward Faythe.

Lendren hums softly, happily, to herself as she brushes back her bangs, peeks once more at a seed of shifting colours, and follows Lief's gaze towards Faythe.

Aubrey's voice rises from a pollen-dusted bumblebee, echoing from its translucent wings: "You travel among brothers and sisters. May you never feel alone. And may you know who you truly are."

Minister Faythe Myeras-Silvermoon murmurs, "Well said."

A a bright green scarf with an embossed carnation twining around her left hand, Faythe approaches you slowly, and then smiles at you for a moment. "We often find ourselves encountering thoughts and echoes of our lvies, our experiences. Sometimes a person might wish to be able to go back in time with that knowledge they have learned." She tips her head to the side, a cluster of snapdragons swaying gently in her hair with the movement. "Lendren, if you were to encounter your past self, walking on the road towards you as you are now - what advice, if any, would you give?"

Pausing to tap her lip with a fingertip, Lendren studies Faythe for a few moments before speaking. "So soon after the previous question it seems too easy to choose to tell my younger self that very lesson, that trying to be what other people want you to be never works. And while many of the things that came of that ended in hurt, I do not wish to have avoided those experiences. They are part of me now. Well... maybe one or two of the smaller ones I could do without," she adds with a giggle. "No, if I had a means to send my past self a letter, it would go to when I was much, much younger. When I was still a Serenguard, even. It would simply say, 'Persist. Every time you feel you are not where you belong, you're right. But you will find that place soon.' As I did when Jaguar Spirit ended my vision quest in failure," her finger brushes over the white scar on her shoulder, "when my service to Lady Lisaera ended with Her ire, and in so many other ways and times."

Lief leans her freckled cheek into her free hand as she listens to you, a softness returning to her mien and persisting as she listens seriously to you.

A glaze falls over Naevari's eyes at the answer, and slowly, thoughtfully, his gaze slides over to where a tall foxglove sways in an early autumn breeze, where it lingers silently, giving every outward appearance of quiet introspection.

"We are constantly changing, constantly cycling. Ever from seed, to flower, to fruit, we experience constant re-birth and new aspects of our Truths." Faythe smiles softly at you, lifting a bright green scarf with an embossed carnation and draping it over your right shoulder. "May you ever persist through this cycle, Lendren, and may you always find your sense of belonging."

Faythe lifts a bright green scarf with an embossed carnation and carefully places it upon you.

Faythe steps back into the gathered Mayflowers, clasping her hands before herself.

Lief nods approvingly to Faythe, then looks over to Amirae, regarding her and her blue scarf curiously.

Naevari smiles softly at Faythe.

Amirae twirls the blue scarf between her fingers, smiling at you. "How do you hope the Way of the Blossom may touch the cult of the Halcyon Painter in the future?" She asks quietly, incling her head in reverence to you.

Faythe flushes faintly, her gaze flickering sidelong to Naevari. After a moment, she smiles softly, and then looks at you and Amirae.

The pointed tips of Faythe's ears twitch to some errant sound.

Lendren's brow furrows in lines for a few moments in thought at this question. "I think the most important thing of the Way for me to consider here is to be flexible. To work with the canvas and the paints I have, not those I might have planned, or wished for. There is much about how sects work that depend on people joining them, this much is unavoidably true. Not the least of which is, if our intent is to teach, to encourage, to inculcate an idea, more voices make a more compelling chorus, can be heard in more ears on more days." She waves a hand. "That may have been the intent once. Perhaps one day some will choose to join, but whether they do or not, what is most important is to center myself on the purpose and move ahead with it. I have been trying to teach people since I was first the Cuirr Arrane that expression of their creativity was not a frightsome thing, and I did so as Minister of Culture, and as Librarian, and as aides to both of those ministries, and as Marythen, and as Narathos, and as Halcyon Painter. When others share the purpose, I will be glad of it. And when they do not, I will still find songs and poems, dance and story, paint and canvas, for that lesson." With an askance view to Faythe she says, "That is much of why I joined your ministry, in fact, and wrote that book, and long to be more involved in your game nights, the like of which I used to run myself, long ago."

Amirae smiles faintly and dips her head towards you. "Thank you for that, your words are an inspiration." She steps forward and drapes the scarf around your neck. "Since you reawoke and we met, we have been such good friends." She says, "You are one of the most genuine people I know, may you continue along your path and show others what you can be." Smiling, she steps back.

Amirae lifts a bright blue scarf with an embossed forget-me-not and carefully places it upon you.

Lief clasps her hands together over her lap, her fingertips curling about a piece of amber bearing peach petals as she listens, smiling gently. She nods both approval and agreement to Amirae, and when she has rejoined the circle, looks over to Naevari with the final scarf - the final question.

Lendren smiles, her skin flushing slightly, and bows her head to Amirae just enough for her bangs to settle over her glasses again, and be brushed back again. She then turns towards Naevari.

Naevari steps toward you, and for a single, fleeting moment, something bright and curious but perhaps a little wary flickers through his big yellow eyes. A faint, apologetic smile tugging briefly at his lips, his gaze fixed intently on the other elfen's, he asks softly, each syllable coming slow and deliberate, "What did you learn during your isolation on your ranch?" And then he pauses, his hands fidgeting with the bright purple fabric of his scarf, before he follows his first question with another some few seconds later. "Is there any way in which you see yourself differently now than you did before?"

Lief's expression takes on a thoughtfulness anew as she returns her attention to you, weighing, considering.

Lendren goes back to tapping her lips with her finger as she considers. "I don't suppose you are thinking of the best way to keep chickens from getting their heads stuck in fences," she muses. "Because I tried a lot of ways, but I'm still not sure if there's a best one." She flashes a self-effacing grin. "I certainly learned that I do not feel like I am myself, or anyone, when I am alone. Well, not at first, of course. Contemplative solitude is different from withdrawal, extended and deliberate self-isolation. In the former, I feel more myself. In the latter, it is the opposite. I nearly disappear. I learned that I need other people to be myself. Who I am is something that cannot only be directed inward. It must also, even more, be directed outward. I am different now for knowing that this is not a bad thing. Yes, I can be vainglorious. I can be too eager for the approbation of applause, the eyes of an audience. These are things which must be contained, as fuel for the fire of creativity, not the conflagration that consumes its own purpose. But nevertheless, to have my eyes turned to those around me, to ache for Kinship, is not a character flaw, in and of itself. I must nurture myself in friends and family, in love, in all of you, and in our Lady, to be myself." She adds, glancing at a seed of shifting colours in her hand, "As a seed needs soil, perhaps."

Lief bows her antlered head to the last of your answer, her eyes closing briefly, a smile dancing at the corners of her lips.

Faythe smiles softly at you.

Naevari dips his head into a low nod, almost a bow, then strides forward to drape his own scarf over the other ones. "Then may you always find yourself rooted in such soil," he offers softly, "and may you remember the lessons you've won through suffering." And then, with a second, smaller dip of his head, barely a nod at all in truth, he steps backwards, taking his place next to Faythe once more.

Naevari lifts a bright purple scarf with an embossed violet and carefully places it upon you.

Lief's ear twitches to Naevari's voice, and she lifts her gaze to you, smiling and expectant.

Naevari smiles softly at Faythe.

Lendren looks around a moment, then glances down at herself. For a few seconds, self-indulgently, she shifts some of the scarfs in tiny ways until a few of them overlap to form a rainbow, in the proper order. Satisfied, she nods, and draws in a deep breath. "I am a Mayflower, eager to be amongst such estimable companions as yourself, excited to find new ways to teach and learn the ways and truths of our Lady of Serenity of the Halcyon Painter, and to learn more about myself, to grow and change, and become what I can be." She smiles as bright and pleased as can be, slowly turning to share the smile with everyone. And as she turns, she extends her arms, and changes the turn into a twirl, a single-step dance, a giddy pirouette that ends in a giggle as she falls back to both feet.

"Welcome to your path anew, dear Lendren!" Lief beams excitedly to you, clapping her hands together in earnest celebration.

Lief meets your gaze as she touches her heart in greeting, prismatic colours glinting briefly in her eyes as you sense the link between your kindred spirits.

Taemira cheers wildly!

Zitto offers enthusiastic applause.

Taemira meets your gaze as she touches her heart in greeting, prismatic colours glinting briefly in her eyes as you sense the link between your kindred spirits.

Zitto meets your gaze as he touches his heart in greeting, prismatic colours glinting briefly in his eyes as you sense the link between your kindred spirits.

Smiling a faint, gentle smile, then dipping his head into another low nod, Unscarred Naevari says to you, "Yes. Welcome to your path anew, Lendren."

Tyrus congratulates you with some wild clapping.

Faythe meets your gaze as she touches her heart in greeting, prismatic colours glinting briefly in her eyes as you sense the link between your kindred spirits.

You rest your hand over your heart, feeling the pulse of life within as a prismatic array of colour fills your vision.

Faythe steps forward, taking one of your hands into her own. "Congratulations, Lendren... now about those chickens...."

Naevari glances over first at Zitto, then at Tyrus, and then begins to clap too, more sedately than the others at first, but then with growing enthusiasm, the smile on his face swelling as the sound contnues.

You have emoted: Lendren peeks one more time at a seed of shifting colours, then tucks it back into a rainbow-shaped box and puts it away securely in her purse. "Yes, do you know the secret? I must warn you, these are exceptionally stupid chickens."

Lief giggles happily.

Faythe's eyes twinkle enchantingly at you.

Minister Faythe Myeras-Silvermoon smiles impishly and says to you, "The secret is that chickens do what they want, and will simply be themselves, silly or not."

Zitto Myeras says to you, "I'm afraid I cannot stay, but congratulations on this renewal of your relationship with the Order and our Lady."

You say, "Well, then, Koulsen will have to learn that too! I am thinking of getting some sheep again so he will have someone to herd who actually listens to his barking."

Zitto scoots over to Lief to plant a quick kiss on her cheek before preparing to depart.

Lendren nods to Zitto and turns to him. "Thank you for attending... future-evil-uncle-in-law." She grins broadly.

Lief's hand snags on Zitto's wrist, and she stoops in to return his kiss with one upon Zitto's own cheek, beaming with warmth.

Faythe gives your hand a friendly squeeze and then releases it.

Naevari smiles wryly at you.