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CFJ3
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Aug 8, 2014 01:22
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A F J I 1
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Aug 8, 2014 01:31
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A G H/I/J 6
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Aug 8, 2014 02:10
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A F IK 2
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Aug 8, 2014 03:06
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Long hair is the only way to wear your hair as a dancer, but the noble garb should tell people that she's not just some common street dancer. Oh, and everything but piercings; jewels and tatoos are nice, and scars can blend in well, but there's no way you can hide those markings. And if the sage has to ask, I'd say nothing...
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Aug 8, 2014 03:12
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goodness posted:Hopefully L leads to a hybrid/inhuman? I'm looking forward to finding out. You voted Mystery, you're getting a Mystery. --- You were wearing a patterned silk sari and cotton dhoti under your dust cloak that first day, a colorful outfit that was both comfortable and easy to move around in. Your midriff was exposed because your navel is the wellspring of your vitality and creativity, and it was rather humid outside. Your long, dark hair was bound back in a ponytail reaching down your back, tied with strips of bright fabric. You had sturdy steel bangles on your wrists and a traditional necklace made from glass beads and coins, with a pair of gemstone rings that glinted in the dim light. Your hands and feet were bare, but they were covered with intricate mehndi tattoos that suggested the sun, the stars, and colorful birds. If someone looked closer, the things suggested by the array of pale scars breaking up your tattoos and your face were less fanciful. You shrugged at Atriya's question, already glancing outside again in the mirror. "It's not very well hidden, I was just looking around." The old woman seemed troubled, about to say something, but changed her mind. "I see. I think it is for the best that you appeared here. You should come inside, you have traveled far and we have tea to spare." --- You realized by the bottom of your first pot of tea that the sage understood you better than any person you had met. In the earthy darkness of her chambers, with burning incense and methodical chanting echoing from the next room, you felt an unmistakable interest in everything you had to say, smiling at your joys and commiserating with your troubles without providing some pat answer. There was a sense of wisdom about her, not just in her words, but in the general way that adults have when you are a child of somehow knowing what will happen next. A. This unsettled you. B. This put you at ease. C. This made you very curious about her. After some time, a few other people came into the room- Atriya's disciples, you gathered, though you weren't sure what they studied here. Most watched from the sidelines and all seemed confused by your presence and your familiarity with their guru. Only one, a gaunt and mustachioed man called Veer, asked you questions directly. His were less friendly and more incisive than Atriya's: "Strange vagabonds should not be in this place. Where did you come from?" 1. (Truth?) "I am a court dancer from the Lodi Sultanate, living in a golden cage but exiled when my lord was laid low by palace intrigues." 2. (Truth?) "I am a dervish from Amritsangh in the northern mountains. I came here with a caravan of refugees after the Lion's rebellion was crushed." 3. (Truth?) "I am a temple dancer here in Mahavati. My parents were peasants who gave everything they had to send me to the Abode of Natarani to learn sacred dance from her priests." 4. (Truth?) "I am a festival dancer from Lanka in the southern islands. I go where the wind takes me, eat and drink and screw who I please, and move on to the next celebration." 5. "I couldn't say."
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Aug 8, 2014 04:16
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   (4)*Truth?  * = The icon set I've got hasn't got numbers. Can we stick with letters, please? jng2058 fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Aug 8, 2014 |
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Aug 8, 2014 04:22
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C, 2
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Aug 8, 2014 04:27
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What is a dervish?
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Aug 8, 2014 04:38
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C 4 (Not True)
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Aug 8, 2014 04:46
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Rockopolis posted:C This
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Aug 8, 2014 05:19
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jng2058 posted:* = The icon set I've got hasn't got numbers. Can we stick with letters, please? I disagree, using numbers and letters makes it much easier to keep track of questions and answers. C, 2 True
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Aug 8, 2014 05:58
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LLSix posted:What is a dervish? Dervishes are mystics who practice a type of ritual dance meant less to entertain others and tell stories, and more to achieve a heightened state of mystical awareness for the dancer. Meditation in motion. They are an unorthodox and reclusive sect on the fringes of mainstream society, and many powers have been ascribed to them and their whirling mystical dance by admirers and suspicious authorities alike. They're mostly found in the arid northern mountains and deserts of Sultanate territory. Picking this would affect the magical knowledge we start with. More on sects and beliefs next update! jng2058 posted:* = The icon set I've got hasn't got numbers. Can we stick with letters, please? I like dividing it into letters and numbers for the reasons Obscil said, but it's not a big deal and I can stick to letters if people like icons.
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Aug 8, 2014 06:39
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C,2
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Aug 8, 2014 06:48
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LLSix posted:What is a dervish? Whirling Dervishes, It's a very pretty ceremony. It'd fit with our dancer routine anyway haha. B 2 I wanted to whirl our dervish and here is my chance! 
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Aug 8, 2014 06:50
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C & 1, telling the truth.
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Aug 8, 2014 06:53
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C2(True)
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Aug 8, 2014 12:22
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C2 is true
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Aug 8, 2014 13:26
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B, 4, true
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Aug 8, 2014 14:44
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C, 2 true As I wanted to be involved in the Lion's rebellion. That sounded neat.
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Aug 8, 2014 15:38
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C2(True)
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Aug 8, 2014 15:43
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You gave Veer and the others the story, or at least the highlights. The walled city of Amritsangh, founded high in the mountains by the Second Guru as a place of refuge and contemplation, forced to become a heavily defended fortress by the time of the Sixth. You grew up there, raised and fed and taught in common with the other children like the First Guru dreamed, not seeing your birth parents as any closer than the rest of the community. While others when you came of age were called to serve as soldiers, scribes, cooks or riders, you were instead drawn to the school of dervishes who made their home in Amritsangh, an order originating from across the Great Barrens who respected the communal ideals of the Gurus but remained apart from them. The mystical and inward-facing nature of their philosophy appealed to you in a way you could not find in the deeply practical community you'd always known. The Brotherhood of the Lion had its origins in Amritsangh as well. You knew southerners would be unlikely to know all the details, but gave the general overview: though they professed to worship the same indivisible and supreme divinity called the One, the unorthodox, populist new faith of the Gurus had never been welcome in the halls of power of the Sultanate. The followers of the Gurus had to become soldiers as well as servants, taking up the sword to prevent their communities from being wiped out. The previous Sultan of Sultans, Alamgir, was especially harsh on the Gurus during his long reign, ordering the execution of both the Sixth and the Seventh with a bath of molten gold. It is for this reason that Alamgir was known as "The One Who Makes the Universe Scream". The Brotherhood, which had already been formed to coordinate martial training among their communities, rose up in open revolt against the Sultanate after this blasphemous indignity. Armed with unique weaponry, true devotion, and supposedly an array of magical protections against both fire and blade, the Lions fought as man, woman, and by some accounts child for liberation. It pains you to have to skip ahead and summarize that they did not succeed. Although it cannot be denied that they slew Sultan Alamgir in his own palace, that's a story for another time. It all came back to you in a final assault on the Lions' fortress of Amritsangh- your home. Though the dervishes meant to stay as they always had, you ended up leaving their monastery and watching the battlements of the city that was meant to be a place of peace burn from the back of a fleeing wagon. There's some bitter irony in remembering that now, considering how things turned out. Back at Atriya's ashram, Veer seemed mollified. He had you pegged as some pampered court treasure, and declares you are somewhat more worthy having come from a place of learning- besides, the Sultanate has few friends in Mahavati. Atriya does not comment, except to demurely agree that it was quite a story, and she is glad you are in a place of safety now. --- You ended up sticking around the ashram for a while, as long as you were being freely offered hospitality. Besides, you had nowhere else to go in the city. Much was done behind closed doors that you weren't allowed to cross, but the other students were welcoming enough, even Veer, although all seemed to be waiting for Atriya's go-ahead before getting too close. One day, after the students went off to meditate, you felt inclined (partly from feeling left out) to meditate in your own way in your quarters. The whirling dance always had a way of centering you, helping you step outside yourself and view your world more objectively. The dark, softly creaking wood in the indoor ashram was less comfortable than the warm stone floor of the amphitheater you were used to, but once you cleared away the straw mats to make space, your bare feet found it welcoming enough. Slowly at first, you began to spin. The lacquered wood slaps satisfyingly against your skin and your hands feel the cool, smoky air like dipping them in a stream. Your arms move as they will, alternately clutching your chest in a protective gesture or reaching out, one hand to heaven and the other to the earth. Your feet are precise, turning and lifting just slightly but keeping you in place while the world moves around you. As the familiar lightheadedness comes on you and the world begins to fall away from your feet, you focus on reaching up and out with your mind as well, escaping the sensations of your body just for a moment... A. Imagine your star-crossed love. B. Imagine the lost safety of home. C. Imagine answers to your many questions. D. Imagine vengeance. E. Imagine sharing in the glory of the gods. F. Imagine the full, true text of the Unspoken Sutra. Huh? G. Blissfully think of nothing at all. You became aware that Atriya was in the room with you. She said nothing, but seemed oddly pleased. Caught off guard in a private moment, you asked if she was amused, but she said she was only observing with interest. "Looking at you dance with such intensity, Pariva, I can imagine how Natarani animates the world, and how she will destroy it. Do you count yourself among her devotees?" A. Yes. You are devoted to Natarani, the pre-eminent goddess of (among other things) destruction, dance, and asceticism. B. No. You are devoted to one of the other gods. (Suggest traits and/or names if you vote B.) C. No. You worship the One as they do in the Sultanate: the austere, indivisible, supreme judge who created all that is and values learning and reason. D. No. You worship the One as the Gurus teach: the all-encompassing truth before whom all other beings are equal, who values service and living in the world. E. No. You follow the Path, a once-widespread but now mysterious tradition revealed by a sage who promised freedom from suffering and the illusory world. F. Yes, somewhat. You respect all the gods, but are not affiliated with any one above all others. G. "No. Why were you watching me?" This may change later, but will tell us more about you and inform some of the types of magic you have access to.
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Aug 9, 2014 02:06
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Aug 9, 2014 02:28
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B, A
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Aug 9, 2014 03:11
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D C
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Aug 9, 2014 03:18
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FE
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Aug 9, 2014 03:41
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This The tall hat of the traditional dervish is known as the tombstone of the ego.
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Aug 9, 2014 05:14
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Think nothing but nothing; all else is a distraction. Also, we are a follower of Shakti, Divine Mother and Agent of Change.
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Aug 9, 2014 05:36
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Think nothing but nothing; all else is a distraction. Also, we are a follower of Shakti, Divine Mother and Agent of Change. Thinking of nothing is still thinking. Do not think of nothing, but rather do not think.
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Aug 9, 2014 06:05
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G E Let's go for maximum mystery!
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Aug 9, 2014 06:34
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GG
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Aug 9, 2014 09:58
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EE
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Aug 9, 2014 14:22
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FE
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Aug 9, 2014 15:50
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You don't know how much time passed in your state of self-annihilating reverie. It doesn't matter. An encounter with samādhi, the state of profound emptiness, is to be enjoyed as it comes. You politely explained that you are devoted to no transitory power or divinity, but you do follow the Path revealed by the one who first awakened, the way to awareness and rejection of an illusory world which many have walked before you. That ancient teacher's name is not remembered after all these years, which most of the few remaining practitioners have accepted as it is. Strictly speaking, none of the teacher's original writings are available either. Most of the teachings are transmitted orally from master to student, but in an earlier time when the Path was widespread in Bharata, learned scholars and saints from a hundred traditions produced many commentaries, their own interpretations of a cryptic text known as the Unspoken Sutra. Followers of the Path believe that the Sutra represents an original composition from the hand of the one who first awakened. Some common fragments of the original source remain in these commentaries, though they have been translated in many ways and sometimes seem contradictory, but the original text itself is frustratingly elusive- hence the name. All the children raised in common in Amritsangh were meant to be equal, without any influence from your birth parents apart from your bodies. You were different- flawed. You were brought to the nursery with a tattoo on your back, something your caretakers managed to keep secret from you for years until: A. They revealed it in hushed tones the night before you left to join the dervishes. B. Your first love read it to you while you were furtively bathing in the river. C. You noticed it by complete chance in the reflection of a Lion's polished shield. The tattoo was a brief quotation from an original fragment of the Unspoken Sutra- a proverb, a prophesy, a description, or something more cryptic. Its meaning may not be obvious. What is the quotation?
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Aug 9, 2014 22:18
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C. "Form is emptiness Emptiness is not separate from form Whatever is form is emptiness" Mirror Reflection: "emptiness is form form is not separate from emptiness whatever is emptiness is form" Nyaa fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Aug 9, 2014 22:37
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B I am the wave of light within your mind that happens to be everything, my love.
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Aug 9, 2014 22:48
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A The drum of the Resurrection was beaten; the Horn of Gathering was blown. The time has come, O dead ones; the day of renewal has arrived.
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Aug 9, 2014 23:22
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C. It is written another tounge. I have been searching for someone who recognises it.
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Aug 10, 2014 01:39
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Nyaa posted:C. I like this.
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Aug 10, 2014 01:55
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A Darker Porpoise posted:The drum of the Resurrection was beaten; the Horn of Gathering was blown. This, but C
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Aug 10, 2014 02:06
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