Sara at the Hearth - RPLOG
Participants
Date
29/10/477
Log
The cavern had been surprisingly easy to find. It was only another crevice on the side of Firebough, but it seemed. . . comforting, somehow. If the reports were right, the Spirit Hephestia could be found within. Only one way to be sure.
A few requests of the various blacksmiths she had worked alongside, as well as a contact within the spyguard or two had left Sara with a general knowledge of the Spirit Hephestia and her location, a divine entity Sara had grown curious about ever since she had heard whispering amongst the general populous within the smithy. "Hrm.. hopefully this is the place." Sara admits to herself as she touches down infront of the cavern entrance and tucks the wings behind her blackened cloak. "Helloooo? Anyone here? I'm.. um.. I'm coming in!" she shouts inside, a possibly dangerous act given the dangerous nature of the area, and her general lack of weapons.
Inside the crevice is a wide tunnel leading downward. It seems clear of debris and void of monsters. From the lower end of the tunnel comes a reddish glow. What sort of Spirit would make its home within a volcano?
Noticing no creatures in the general area, and getting ultimately no general response to her calls into the entrance Sara begins her descent into the earthen tunnel. As the red light begins to overtake the soft glow of her torch Sara stops in her tracks and looks around, crimson eyes going wide as she looks through the tunnel to see the source, "Huh.. well.. didn't get here without taking chances. Here goes nothing.." she claims before walking the rest of the way to the tunnels exit.
"Come in, child," comes a soothing voice, "I have been expecting you." The tunnel opens up into the shaft of Firebough itself! There is a wide, flat ledge that juts out over the roiling, flowing magma of the mountain's heart and the heat is intense, if not quite overwhelming. At the edge of the ledge is what appears to be a small forge or hearth, the stones carefully laid and finished. Sitting beside it is a youthful Creator Woman in red robes. She smiles at Sara as she steps from the darkness of the tunnel.
"Hm? Another here? Have you come to seek a council with the Spirit that resides here too?" Sara asks like a fool as she passes into the room, it's only when the memories and sights come rushing to the logical part of her brain, and colide with the earlier statement she had heard that it all begins to make an odd sort of sense, and Sara's eyes go wide as a result. "Might.. might I ask if you are the one they call Lady Hephestia?" Sara asks as she drops to a single knee infront of the red-clad creator woman.
The woman smiles at Sara and rises from her seat with arms outstretched. "Come now, child," she says, "Do not kneel! This is a hearth, not a throne." Her golden eyes glint in the fiery light of the volcano. "Come," she says, "join me. What would you have of Hephestia, the bound flame?"
"Ofcourse, my apologies, I had only thought.." Sara cuts herself off then, and instead decides to rise to her feet. Once there Sara flicks the tip of her tail and begins to approach Hephestia and asks, "I have come seeking your council. A request as it were, to join in a contract with you, Lady Hephestia."
"A pact?" Hephestia asks, "It has been long since a caller has come to me seeking a pact. Even in Caldera where I am known and worshipped, I have ever had to call first." The Creator maiden smiles and produces a small clay cup from the air and passes it to Sara. "What would you have of me, child?" she asks.
"Quite.. sad to hear." Sara admits as the Spirit recalls the facts involving visitors here, "Though to answer you, Lady Hephestia, I bid of you bind my soul to your will." she requests as she reaches out to take the offered cup, and looks inside, offering a curious glance at its contents. "If you would have me." Sara continues as she looks up and back to the spirit, "I had heard of your abilities, and of those gifted by a pact with you, and I had grown to become both respectful, and curious of these abilities, and had wished to see if I too would be welcome amidst your worshipers."
"It is warm cider, dearest," Hephestia says with a maternal smile. The Spirit stands and walks camly to the forge part of her hearth and runs a hand serenely through the hot coals. "It is no easy thing, to carry a pact," she says, "Though perhaps my burden would not be too heavy." She turns her golden gaze on Sara. "You are certain?" she asks, lifting a glowing red chunk of metal from within the forge.
As the contents are mentioned Sara lifts the cup to her lips and takes a brief swig of the drink, and again lowers the cup to her side. "It's good, thank you." she states as she follows behind Hephestia to her forge. "One could only hope, though as the saying often goes, in life nothing worthwhile comes without struggle. I believe the same could be said in regards to a pact. I shall do my best to carry it, difficult or no." As she speaks, Sara's eyes trace Hephestia's hand as she runs it through the coals, only to pull in a slow gasp as a red chunk of metal is pulled out. "B-but, yes.. I am certain."
"Very well, Sara," the Spirit says, holding the glowing bit of metal gently in folded hands and turning to face the lizard directly.
"I bid you to Create and to Prepare!" Hephestia intones, strange resonances entering her voice, as if more than one person was speaking, "I offer you fortitude and a steady hand!" The woman's robes burst into scintillating flames. "As the forge refines the blade, so the hearth refines the spirit. Not for you to brave the battle! Yours is to send forth the warrior prepared and to keep the home fire burning that he may have a warm hearth to return to. The tamed flame is mine. Attend it well, lest the Unbound Flame Consume you!" she counsels, her voice sounding like a man and a woman speaking at once. "Hold out your hand," she commands.
As Hephestia turns and faces her and speaks those words Sara's breath comes in short and shallow bursts, and a trembling foot makes a step backwards, whether out of a desire to brace herself, or out of some moment of fear and second-guessing, a hard thing to tell with the broken-minded lizard. Though soon the fear in her wide eyes fades completely, and she instead adopts an almost glazed over expression before they go back into focus. "Yes, my lady." Sara intones as she takes a step forward and lifts her arm, the palm of her hand facing the Spirit, completely stoic in her actions.
Hephestia's gaze softens and she reaches out a free hand to caress Sara's face. "Now, when you call, I shall come," she says gently, "And when I call, you will hear." The Spirit reaches out and lightly drops the glowing bit of iron into Sara's hand. Remarkably, there is no burning, no pain at all! Only a sense of comfort and warmth. "Mine is the bound flame," the Spirit says, "And now, it is yours as well. Will you receive my mark?"
Sara stands idle, her hand still outstretched as Hephestia speaks, her eyes only straying once from the divine entity, and that's when she caresses her cheek, which leaves the lizard looking to the hand instead. "I understand." Sara answers as Hephestia finishes just in time to watch the piece of iron press into her palm, which only gets a lash from her tail in recognition. "I will carry your mark with pride, Lady Hephestia."
Hephestia smiles and reaches out a hand to rest it lightly on Sara's right shoulder. There is a flash of light and the smell of scorched fabric, and there, on the shoulder, burning even through clothes and armor is a stylized shape of a hammer. The mark of Hephestia. "There, child," she says, "Now you may call an me in any place and at any time." The spirit nods at the lump of metal in Sara's hand. "That," she says, "I expect you to make something fine with. Come and show it to me when you are done." She twirls her hand in the air and another cup of cider appears in her hand. "You may always find me here, at my hearth," she says serenely.
A sharp breath is sucked in through Sara's teeth as Hephestia presses her palm against her shoulder though Sara just nods her thanks to the spirit and looks to the lump of iron in her hands, "Mm.. I shall do what I can to make you proud, my lady." the lizard woman states as she rubs a hand over the mark, it had been real enough, and she had just infact entered a life changing pact. 'What would the future hold now?' Sara could only think before she looks to Hephestia again and states, "I shall be back, with hopes that what I forge will make you proud. Take care." and with that, Sara raises the cup she had neglected so far up high and drains the contents.
Hephestia smiles and takes the empty cup. "Go in peace, child," she says.
