The Path to Sin (Ikken Isshu + Griselda Banks)

[Griselda Banks]

((I agree. I'm glad that a couple prejudices seem to be done away with. And I also agree - at least Bush is gone.

xd Uh-oh. Plot twistz? Well, don't worry; I fully plan on reading the entire Dune series eventually. I like the barely-understandable ramblings enough for that.))

"It's called water," said a dry voice from behind Calaman. Rogan had apparently crept up behind the young guardian unnoticed, and now stood there with his arms crossed and a small smirk playing about his face. "And as a matter of fact, I do know quite a bit about water. Comes from spending all my days around it, you know."

Suddenly his amused little smile vanished and he said somberly, "I saw you and that boy shooting arrows at my ship. Fine with me if you want to get some practice in before more fiends show up - it's my hide you're saving after all - but I'd appreciate it if you'd be careful. No sense in knocking holes in this vessel while we're all in it." He scratched his chin and squinted up at the sun. "Besides, the Fayth has sentimental value to me, too."  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I just watched the Sci-Fi miniseries for Children of Dune. It was interesting. As with the Dune miniseries, I wasn't too impressed with any particular aspect of it. The acting was lamentable, except for Alia and Wensicia (I don't believe you know her yet), who I really liked for some reason. I think for Alia it was her accent, and the woman who played Wensicia was fantastic for the role of a domineering and scheming mother. The special effects of the miniseries were not awful, but were still disappointing for something made in 2003. And the story exposition and writing was not up to the standards I would have expected. BUT, all of that said, it's still nice to see a visual rendition of any great book, even if the show can't hold a candle to the book.[/rant]

(Oh, and on the note of barely-understandable ramblings, that's one thing I have never liked about the 1984 Dune movie OR either miniseries. There aren't any barely-understandable epistemological or metaphysical or ethical ramblings! There are comments and remarks and mildly quotable pieces, but no barely-understandable ramblings.)

*sigh* I just can't get over Dune. I hope my spice addiction will let up once I read Chapterhouse. But first I have to finish Heretics. Agh, and then all of Brian and Kevin's books. *twitch*

OH. Hey. If you have a computer and internet connection at home, and aren't paranoid about downloading torrents, you should look for an album called "Dune: Spice Opera". It's a soundtrack for an old Dune computer game, a very rare album to actually find physical records of, but it's not difficult to find online. Needless to say, it's old sci-fi style music, which means it's all synths and computerized voices. Parts of it are actually nice to listen to, but a lot of it is just funny. Especially the title track, Spice Opera, and another song called Cryogenia. (Re: Cryogenia - Computerized voice saying "Ready for a trip?" Oh yeah. It's that weird. xd ) [/ramble]))

Calaman didn't straighten, but, surprised, he did turn his head quickly. He wasn't accustomed to people approaching him without his knowledge. Silently he berated himself for unfocusing his attention.

"I apologize," he said earnestly. "I had hoped the wood might be stronger, or that the boy would not be able to shoot with so much force." His eyes went to the door to below the deck and he chewed on his lower lip speculatively. "However, it seems he's already very skilled with a bow." His eyes went back to Rogan, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered that he wasn't supposed to be friendly with this man. He ignored the mental reminder. "I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to damage your ship, Captain. I'll pay for the damage, of course. It shouldn't be difficult to replace the plank once we make port."

He allowed his words to be absorbed into the cushioning sea-salt air. Then, driven by an almost reckless curiosity, he turned his body around to lean backward on the railing, and paused to arrange his words. He would refrain from mentioning the lightning, of course, since that might make the point of the questioning a little too obvious if Rogan was not, indeed, the unseen Witness. After all, no one but Aer knew about the healing and the voice. (In retrospect, Calaman realized he had probably sounded like a madman when he'd spoken with Aer about it.) The lightning, on the other hand, had been very visible to everyone and very out of place, and therefore very conspicuous.

"Captain," he said finally, "I don't suppose you would happen to possess any... unusual abilities? Healing, or telepathy perhaps? It would be good to know if we had a closet mage aboard the ship, in case of another attack."

((Forgive me, but I simply couldn't resist the opportunity to use the word 'closet' in regards to Rogan. xd

Sorry this post has such long-winded OOC; I typed it up at home, and that tends to happen when I type stuff away from teh internets. I can't post it immediately, so it just kind of... builds. razz

One final note, which I promise will be the last thing I add on before I post: I'm wavering on being slightly disappointed with Heretics, because I am only 96 (of 471) pages into it and I have already made my first major prediction for one big detail of how the story will end. If that prediction comes true, I'll be sad. So far, Frank has done a pretty good job of surprising me. But so far, he hasn't placed such obvious foreshadowing in the first hundred pages of a book. sad ))

 

[Griselda Banks]

(( lol I remember watching the 1984 movie several months ago. MAN, that movie was horrible! But I agree; there's always something nice about seeing a book you like on the screen. But it would be rather hard to put all those barely-understandable ramblings into a movie and keep people interested (unless they're the fans like us who actually enjoy that stuff). I mean, I guess it's kind of like if they were to make a movie of The Brothers Karamazov that stayed absolutely true to the book. There'd be a lot of just talking, talking, talking, and that would put a lot of people to sleep. For a movie, there has to be more action. Pity.

Dune: Spice Opera, huh? Sounds interesting. I'll definitely check it out - later when I have time to fiddle, and when I can get my brother to help, since he's a lot more knowledgeable in finding obscure things online.

I don't mind long OOCs. I know how things like that can build up. You should've seen me roleplaying with my best friend a few years ago; we finally had to make our own OOC thread to keep our OOC posts from clogging up the roleplay. But I don't think we've gotten to that stage quite yet wink ))

"Nah, don't worry about it," Rogan said, waving Calaman's offer aside. "No harm done yet. I just don't want to turn around and find we've got a leak the size of my head."

Rogan watched Calaman closely, crossing his arms comfortably over his chest as if waiting for him to say something. When Calaman did speak, he let the boy's words sink into him while he stood silently, his face an emotionless mask.

Finally he spoke, in a guarded tone as though he was afraid of saying too much. "You're the head of defense around here, aren't you? I suppose there's no harm in telling you; it's not a huge secret or anything. I know a few things about wind and water magic - comes in real handy, when you spend your days on the sea. And I have a few extra tricks up my sleeve to protect the Fayth, but I'm by no means a mage. No white magic, per se." He raised one eyebrow. "Nor any electric magic, neither."

He chose not to remind Calaman that he had been below deck when the lightning had struck.  

[Ikken Isshu]

Calaman winced slightly when Rogan mentioned electricity; obviously, he hadn't been as subtle as he had hoped. But he nodded, disappointed and once again back to square one.

"Ah, of course," he said. He was sorely tempted to ask what those 'extra tricks' were, but he had a feeling Rogan wouldn't tell him anyway. And even if he did, he'd already said that he had no white magic.

He slumped a little, still leaning back against the railing, and looked up at the sky. "Sorry," he said suddenly, quietly. "A lot of strange things have been happening throughout this pilgrimage. Last night was not the worst of it." For the others, anyway. Calaman's own experience had quite possibly been the strangest thing he'd seen - heard? - since meeting Eddora.

((I was going to continue that a wee bit, but I couldn't find a convenient way to get Calaman on his own. And anyway, what I wanted to do can wait.

I Googled the Spice Opera album and you can find it free pretty easily without looking on torrents, but you have to satisfy certain conditions. Like, on one, you have to install their software. (Re: AVOID.) On another, you have to wait 75 seconds before downloading each song if you're not a Premium member. Not so bad, but still annoying. And so on.))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((No worries! My brother found Dune: Spice Opera with relative ease from rapidshare. I like it; it's pretty cool music (though that's probably my techno withdrawal talking a bit there). I just wish it was a bit more...Middle Eastern. There were a couple times where I could tell they were trying to make it sound Middle Eastern, but when you've grown up listening to that kind of music, it's painfully obvious that it wasn't quite accurate. Middle Eastern music needs to be a bit more lilting, wavering up and down and making sharp turns, rather than the gentle curves Spice Opera has.

I think the perfect music for Dune would be kind of like the Prince of Persia music (have you heard that?), only instead of it being Persian and rock, it would be Persian and techno, because techno sounds sci-fi. Also, I thought it would be cool if, instead of a voice repeating some random phrase over and over again, they would do a similar thing where the voice was saying, "Fear is the mind-killer..." etc.

Okay, my next post is going to have some new revelations going, but I don't have time to write it all now.))

Rogan lifted an eyebrow. "Oh? What kind of 'strange things'?" He glanced up briefly, noticed their speed had begun to slacken, and muttered what sounded like a spell, not bothering to keep his voice lower since Calaman already knew about his magic. A new wind started up and the Fayth leapt forwards.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I couldn't have said it better myself. On that note, one more complaint about the miniseries: They got the Litany Against Fear wrong. They shortened one or two sentences and cut quite a bit off the end. Grrr. And, after spending an inordinate time reading the Encyclopedia of Dune, I have also noticed that they got Wensicia's hair color wrong. She was supposed to be blonde, but in the miniseries, it was more light reddish-brown.

Not that that matters. :XP:

Bring on the revelations! I've hit an impasse in my own evil machinations.))

Calaman's brow furrowed and his eyes found Rogan again.

"You haven't heard? No, I suppose it's still a recent development. It seems the Trials have changed for some reason. Summoners and their guardians are being made to fight with the aeons before attaining the ability to summon them. That's never been the case before. We have no idea as to why it should be the case now."

((EDIT: Oh my gosh! I was looking for other Dune soundtracks (from the other games, movie/miniseries, etc.) and I uncovered a revelation! Spice Opera isn't the original soundtrack of the game. It's a collection of rearranged (Re: (Orchestrated but not really)) tracks from the soundtrack. Which means that there's another soundtrack to the game with music that is even more synthetic. xd I'm listening to it right now. It's as if Spice Opera is the soundtrack to a SNES remake of an NES Dune game. XD It's awesome. No tacky voices, either, from what I've heard. It's beautiful if you like old-school video game music. I found it on Galbadia Hotel (Google will find that immediately) but you must be a member (free, thankfully) to download their stuff, and you can only download one song at a time.))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Oh yeah, I know Galbadia Hotel. It wasn't working for me the other day when I was looking for Spice Opera, else I might have found what you're talking about. Do you know about OC Remix? It's a site that has a bunch of remixes of video game music. They're usually really good; I especially love the Final Fantasy and Zelda ones. They only have one for Dune, which you can find here.))

Rogan had been gauging how many fingers above the horizon the sun was, but when he heard what Calaman said, he immediately turned all his attention on the boy. "What did you say?" he demanded sharply. "By Yevon, I've been out of the loop far too long. Attacking the summoners! What in Spira could have riled them up so much? It's not in their nature...." He absently rubbed his stubbled jaw. "For a thousand years, the fayth have aided summoners in their quest against Sin. Right back to the very first, Lord Zaon! But now they're turning against the summoners...." He fixed Calaman with a sharp look. "All right, boy, tell me everything. The Lady Summoner has acquired Valefor and Ifrit, correct? How did she manage that if the aeons attacked her?"

Meanwhile, Eddora lounged against her chosen coil of rope, trying to sleep with the noonday sun beating down on her. Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching. Venez marched up to her and said, "Okay, I can't stand it any longer! Do you know who I am, or don't you?"

Ed shaded her eyes with her hand and squinted up at the white mage. "What are you blabbering on about? I'd never seen you before in my life, till yesterday!"

Venez seemed to deflate. "You honestly don't remember?" She turned to leave, looking a little dazed.

"Hey!" Ed called, sitting up straighter. "Don't just ask a question like that and then leave without explaining yourself! Come back and tell me what in Yevon's name you're talking about!"

Venez slowly turned back around, then reluctantly sat down next to Eddora. "You're going to hate me," she said.

"I think I'll decide that for myself, thanks."

Venez took a deep breath and resolutely stared straight forward, not even glancing at Ed as she spoke. "Once, I wanted to become a summoner, so I could help people. So I went to the High Temple in Bevelle to train with all the other apprentice summoners. But it was hard for me. I can see now that I don't have the talent necessary to become a summoner. There was one woman in my class, though.... She seemed to excel at everything I struggled with. Everything she did was so effortless; the masters always praised her.

"I knew it was wrong, but I became jealous of her. She was everything I wanted to be, everything I couldn't seem to attain. I didn't even know her; we had never spoken, but my jealousy of her grew so fierce it became hatred. I wanted to see her reprimanded, put to shame.

"It started with little things, things no one could trace back to me. I would make her trip when I passed her in the halls, or I would push someone in the refectory so they would spill something all over her. The things slowly became bigger, until one day I nudged someone just enough to knock the sacred purification water out of her hands. The vessel broke, and the purification water spilled out. She was scolded for her inattention.

"Then I started a rumor that she had spilled the water because she had been drunk. Many of us knew she frequented a tavern, though she was careful only to drink on her days off, never when she was due in the temple. The rumor took off like wildfire, till it reached the masters' ears. They interrogated her about it. There was even talk of expelling her. Then I realized the serious nature of my actions...and I saw for myself that I was not fit to become a summoner. I left my training in shame."

Eddora had grown stiffer and stiffer as Venez's story had drawn to a close. Her hands lay curled into fists on her knees. "It was you?" she said through clenched teeth. "You were the one responsible for all that? Do you know how much trouble that caused me? They put me on probation for a year. A whole year! They gave me a chaperone - this old crone who smelled like seaweed - who followed me everywhere I went outside of my classes. And if I so much as glanced down the street to the tavern, she'd go trotting off to the masters!"

"I told you you'd hate me," Venez said quietly.

Ed lashed out with her arm, punching Venez in the cheek and sending her sprawling. "Shut up," she snapped, getting to her feet. "You're my guardian now, and the only white mage among us, so I can't afford to hate you. But if circumstances were different, I'd challenge you to a duel right here and now, and you'd lose in two seconds." That said, Ed stormed the short distance to the other side of the boat and leaned on the railing, letting the sea breeze cool her flushed face.

Behind her, Venez slowly picked herself up. She gingerly touched the red mark on her cheek and stared at Ed's back.

((Woah, long post! @_@ Another case of writing it offline, I guess.))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Hot damn, do I know OC Remix. I love that site! 8D

I was about to remark that the name of that Dune song is wrong, because it's a remix of Arrakeen Palace/Dune Variation, not Worm Signs/Sign of the Worm, but that I realized it says it's the Wormsign Mix of Arrakis. Which is still not completely accurate (there is no song called Arrakis that I know of) but is definitely closer. And a good song. biggrin

I wish there was a remix of Ecolove or Fremen, or even Spice Opera. I love those songs, wish there were more modern versions. But the old ones are still great. biggrin

Short IC today. I'm anxious to get into the Cloister, because once we do, I have 2 posts already pre-typed (and more on the way) for a pseudo-side-story revealing a bunch of stuffs about the Witness and his connection Calaman, as well as some other plot twists. Anywayz...))

Calaman's mouth quirked in a wry half-smile.

"I can't say for certain, but it seems to be some kind of test. My personal opinion is that the Fayth see a need to test summoners more harshly than the traditional Trials. Only they know why, though. After we defeated the Aeons, everything else was as tradition dictated - the Lady Eddora prayed to the Fayth, and attained the Aeon." His eyes refocused then, on something behind Rogan, and he smiled.

"That looks like the end of Mushroom Rock Road to me, Captain."

 

[Ikken Isshu]

((Bumpa.))

 

[Ikken Isshu]

((Bumpa-bumpa. Are you there, God? It's me, Ikken... ninja ))

 

[Ikken Isshu]

((Triple-bumpa.))

 

[Griselda Banks]

(( sweatdrop Again, I apologize most profusely for not telling you I'd be gone. Can't imagine how that slipped my mind... -_- Anyway, yus, OC Remix is awesomez0rz. Anyway, after much more delay than either of us would have liked, we return to the pilgrimage! I eagerly anticipate finding out more about this Witness guy. Next Cloister is Calaman's trial, right?))

Rogan meditatively rubbed his bristly chin. "A threat of some kind, eh? I wonder what could be bothering them...." His voice died down to a mutter; he pressed his hand against his lips as he whispered to himself, "But I don't feel...."

"That looks like the end of Mushroom Rock Road to me, Captain."

Rogan looked up, shaken from his reverie. "Oh, that?" he asked, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the rugged cliffs rising up on the starboard side. "Yeah, I know. We've got a little ways before we get to the beach, though. That's where we'll disembark. Just a short walk up to Djose Temple from there." His eyes glazed over a little, his voice growing somewhat absent-minded, as though his mind was elsewhere. The Fayth began to gradually decrease in speed while Rogan stared out to sea, apparently still contemplating the mystery of the aeons' attacks.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Ja, and he is going to fail it, though it's not exactly 'fair', even by the standards of the others. xd

After typing most of this post: Oh, wow. That was... odd. Over the course of the posts I've been typing (I promise I'll parcel them out so as not to choke you with page after page of material xd ), Calaman eventually gains some neat powers; but going back to typing in the 'present' is odd, because I'm so tempted to have him ruminate over his powers, practice with them, et cetera, and I have to keep reminding myself that he doesn't have them yet. xd ))

Calaman watched Rogan speculatively for a little while, then went to stand diligently at the prow to keep a watch while they approached the shore. Aer, meanwhile, headed down into the ship to see if any of them might have left anything down below; and Jalisat was running from aft to fore and back again in his excitement over seeing such a foreign landscape.

After a short while, Aer came back up empty-handed; nothing of his was below, and he probably wouldn't have recognized anyone else's belongings anyway. Calaman didn't seem too concerned. But then, Calaman didn't seem to have any belongings except what he could wear, sheathe, or tie to his waist. Shaking his head, Aer went to find Rogan to see if he could help bring the ship in.

"My wind magic might be of some use," he explained, though he knew Rogan would probably already be aware of that. "If you want a headwind here or a tailwind there, just let me know."  

[Griselda Banks]

((Oh really? I thought Cal was going to be the first to actually succeed. Though it would be ironic if none of them succeeded, yet they ended up defeating Sin XD

Ooh, I hope our separate ideas don't clash. 'Cause I've got one or two things planned up ahead, seeing how Djose is Eddora's hometown. Are Calaman's uber powers going to come in the temple?))

"Hmm," Rogan said absently, adjusting the tiller. "How 'bout no wind? Here, you can pull this rope." He handed Aer the rope that would furl the sails, then returned to his tasks. It was hard to say whether his attention was occupied with thoughts of the aeons or bringing the ship to land.

Eddora watched pensively as Rogan's little boat drew closer and closer to the cliffs of Djose. She wasn't ready for this; she had been expecting to prepare herself on the Mi'ihen Highroad. But it had been so many years.... Would she still remember this place? Or would she be a stranger in her own home? She had changed so much; mightn't everything else have changed as well?

But then they rounded the bend, and there was the beach, exactly as she remembered it. She had come here to swim as a little girl. The days had been warm and bright...she had been so carefree.... She lifted her practiced gaze to the cliffs rising above the sand, and sure enough, there was the village, looking out to sea. Ed suddenly became aware that she was clutching the railing so hard her fingers hurt.

Rogan dropped the anchor into the water several hundred yards from shore. "Close as she'll get, M'lady!" Rogan called out. "I need to find some place to dock the Fayth."

"We can wade ashore," Ed said quickly, letting go of the railing and glancing around to make sure all of her guardians were ready. "If you keep following the shoreline a ways, you should come across the village dock," she added, gesturing vaguely up the shore. "C'mon, you guys." She felt a sudden urge to hurry up and get into the village, and she wasn't quite sure whether that meant she was anxious to see her village again, or just wanted to get it over with quickly.

Silencing her thoughts, she vaulted over the side of the boat and dropped into the chest-deep water with a splash.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Actually, Cal is going to go missing in the temple, and while I don't have his return solidly planned, I believe it will come in Macalania or, depending on how slow/fast the party travels, on the Thunder Plains. Ideally I want it to be on the Thunder Plains, but I'm not sure if he'll be ready by then, if they travel too fast. Actually, if we stall a bit with Ed's exploits in Djose (after the Cloister, so Calaman can disappear and such first), then it shouldn't be a problem and I'll be happy.

tl;dr, Calaman goes missing while party is in Djose Cloister, and hopefully comes back on the Thunder Plains.

The only condition I need satisfied is that Jalisat can't actually be sent home before they go into the Cloister. It doesn't matter if he's on a boat, as long as the boat doesn't leave. After Calaman gets vanishified, Jalisat is going to take his place. Which, of course, will contribute to Calaman being emo later. xd ))

Aer frowned but pulled on the rope as he was instructed, eventually getting frustrated with it and just putting all his weight on it; the rope gave, and the sails went up as Aer went down, landing soundly on the deck and cursing under his breath. He got back up and continued tugging on the rope until it was tight, then looked around for something to tie it to, since he figured that was what he was supposed to do next. There was virtually no wind anyway, so he couldn't do anything to help there. When Eddora dove overboard, though - and of course Calaman shouted in alarm and dove off after her - he sighed and decided he would probably be expected to follow them.

Luckily, Calaman saw that Eddora was uninjured and more or less safe before he ended up embarrassing himself by tackling her and possibly drowning them both, and instead, he followed her at a safe distance. Aer flailed around in the water for a bit, his robes making a lot of dead weight that he eventually managed to deal with by just getting his feet under him and walking very slowly in the deep water.

When they finally reached the shore, Aer summoned up a little whirlwind to whip his robes dry, and after calling a quick warning, sent it over to give Calaman and Ed the same treatment. The sea salt was more difficult to get off, but at least they were dry.

"Will we go straight to the Cloister?" he asked, coming up to join Calaman and Ed. "We had a lot of free time on that boat, and I'm itching to accomplish something."

"We'll enter the Cloister when the Lady feels prepared to do so," Calaman said sternly. Then he stopped. "Where is Jalisat?"

Turning, he watched as the boy, who had at the last moment been roped into helping Rogan, now ran and jumped recklessly off the ship after them. Eventually he surfaced, swimming doggedly after them. Calaman watched for a while to make sure the boy could swim well enough not to drown, then looked back to Ed.

"And what will we do about him?" he asked.