[center] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/2b4925ee-b215-4b89-a794-5058a6c53e13.png[/img] [colour=lightseagreen][h1][b][i]Ashalla[/i][/b][/h1] [b]Goddess of Oceans and Storms[/b][/colour] [centre]&[/centre] [centre][h2]The Wuhdige Tribe[/h2][/centre] [/center] Heliopolis hung in the centre of the sky like a great pyre, but the miniscule heat it provided at this time of day did not dull the sharp knives on the frozen wind. Like only the most traditional of Wuhdige winters, there was little else in sight but ice and snow wherever one looked. Even some of the trees, which in all other parts of the year stood taller than three selka, were now completely buried underneath layers upon layers of white. The Wuhdige had grown accustomed to winter - no, that wasn’t the problem. Winter to a selka was just the time of year they had to huddle a little closer when they slept. If anything, it felt nice to fall asleep hugging your family. No, the problem was the fragility of the ever-sprawling burrow diggings. A few years ago, it had not been a problem at all - sure, a few would be buried under the snow and there would be great efforts to dig them out again - especially if there still were Wuhdige inside. However, now, demand was simply too great. Jotokan, Selenu and Duhwah lead both combined and divided efforts to aid those in need, prioritising saving Wuhdige trapped in caved-in burrows. This year was unlike any that had preceded it - more burrows than ever before had collapsed, leaving a staggering number of Wuhdige locked in prisons of snow until they either were saved or the fresh air ran out. In the chaos, more and more Wuhdige flocked to the Home Cave, which already was beyond full and unable to house more. Jotokan would wake up every morning to the sound of shouts and outcry from angry tribesmen- and women outside the cave mouth, furious that the cave would not be shared. So it was that Jotokan went down to the beach at dawn and begun to pray. The Wuhdige pantheon was perhaps not the most extensive, consisting of primarily four deities, but he knew old Yop, God of the Sky and of Throwing Things Really, Really Hard, had a finger on this weather-induced pie plate, whatever a plate was. “Ol’ Yop… This is, uh, Jotokan speaking. Listen, we’re having a really bad time right now. Houses are going poof and fluff every day and more and more Wuhdige ain’t got a home no more. Please, You Who Throws Things Really Hard, we know you throw snow, too - could you, uh, please just stop throwing snow for a little bit? Just so we can redig and rebuild?” For a moment, nothing happened, and Jotokan wondered if he had been too impolite. Then, he saw a strange form on the horizon - a selka? No, no, it couldn’t be. It was much too big… And it glistened in the heliopolis? The distant figure was walking across the ice sheet. It paused in its walk and seemed to look towards the coast. Then it turned and moved towards the coast; its movements seemed natural, but it was approaching at an astonishing pace. The blue-white figure had seemed small when standing on the horizon, but closer up its enormous scale was unmistakable. With a few more strides the figure had made it to the coast. The figure was made of solid ice and stood about fifty selka tall. The figure was vaguely selka-like, in that it had the right configuration of limbs, with effeminate curves in the icy body. Despite the vast size, the ice sheet had no trouble supporting the figure. The figure bent over, bringing her face closer to Jotokan. Frozen eyes stared down at the selka, waiting. The chieftain looked about as frozen as the figure in front of him, and more and more selka were gathering around or running away from the marvel. Duhwah and a few of the braver ones came running to the front of the crowd with club-like ice taps and bone-tipped spears, hollering and roaring. The champion threw Jotokan a spear and the chieftain broke out of his panicked stupor to rise up and grab it. He clutched the oak shaft hard in his furred hands and pointed the tip towards the massive figure. “Is-... Is that you, Lugo?” he said carefully. The figure stared down Jotokan a few moments longer. A chill ran down the selka’s spine and over his scalp, and a shiver ran down from his head to his toes. The icy figure’s eyes glanced briefly at the spears and clubs, then she straightened up. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Is this how you greet a goddess?”[/b][/colour] roared a voice like an avalanche. The selka nearly collectively dropped their weapons as the voice like nature’s wrath thundered across the beach. Standing there shivering more out of fright than freeze, only a select few voices dared whisper uncertainly to one another: “Goddess? I thought Lugo was a man.” “Yeah, yeah, he is - is, uh, is this Alae, maybe?” “No, no, no - Alae’s not icy - she’s… Uh…” “It’s a super-lady!” “Shush, you!” Jotokan broke the mumbling silence and raised a pair of surrendering hands in the air. “We’re-... We’re sorry, tall one! We mistook you for a… Uhm… A not-goddess! Please, we ain’t meaning to be mean, we just wanna protect our families! Ain’t everyday we see a massive monst--goddess, ‘s all!” There was a disgruntled huff from above, accompanied by a chill breeze. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Now that you are aware, I expect a proper greeting.”[/b][/colour] The selka looked at one another. Gulps of anxiety bounced through the crowd. Then a hand was raised in the centre of the crowd, followed by a sweet, “hello!” Quickly, the others followed suit, and soon, the whole crowd were waving happily and greeting the ice giant as a friend. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“It appears you have much to learn,”[/b][/colour] said a voice like freezing water, [colour=lightseagreen][b]“First, respect. I am a god and you are mere mortals, thus you should not greet me as an equal. An appropriate form of greeting towards someone who is your superior is to bow.”[/b][/colour] The selka once more exchanged glances. Then slowly, they shuffled apart to give each other some more room before bowing in disunion, looking more like ocean waves on a stormy day. Jotokan bowed twice more to make certain he got it right. “Did we do it right?” [colour=lightseagreen][b]“It was adequate,”[/b][/colour] said a voice like crunching snow. She then looked inland. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“You had a need,”[/b][/colour] she stated. “O-oh, you heard that? S-so…” Jotokan eyed her up and down, then turned to Duhwah with a shrug, receiving one in return. “I guess Lugo is a woman after all, huh.” [colour=lightseagreen][b]“You fight against the snow and ice to make your homes. However, homes may be built from snow,”[/b][/colour] the goddess said. A massive arm gestured behind the group of selka, who turned to see that a dome of snow had appeared. There was a hole at the base of the dome large enough for a selka to crawl through, and the interior was large enough for a selka to stand in. The selka jumped into each other’s arms, while some of the more curious cubs waddled inside for a looksie. One came out and said, “Is warm in there,” then put her hand in her mouth in a shy manner. The selka, yet again, exchanged glances. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“It is insulating. It is structurally sound if built properly. And it is within your capacity to build, if I teach you,”[/b][/colour] said the goddess. Jotokan dug about in his vocabulary for adequate words while he bowed. “Th-thank you, great and powerful Lugo! It ain’t been easy this winter, so we are really thankful for your help!” He made a small frown. “Would you like anything as payment if you teach us how to make it? We got lotsa fish!” “Lotsa fish, lotsa fish,” the crowd echoed happily. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“Offerings of fish are an appropriate expression of gratitude,”[/b][/colour] the goddess said. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“However, there is another thing you can do. I seek beauty, and currently your homes are undecorated. I can show you a way to decorate your homes and produce beauty.”[/b][/colour] “Beauty?” Duhwah inquired with a scratch of the head. “How’d we go about doing that?” “Like drawing on the home cave walls?” Aloo suggested, backed up by a shrug from his little sister Kulee. “Or making fish bone sculptures!” Julo proposed. “Have you ever done that before?” “Well, no, but it’d be fun to try!” A small smile curled up the frozen lips of the goddess, and a light burble echoed from within. [colour=lightseagreen][b]“What I will teach you shall help in that. Before that, I shall show you how to make the snow houses. First, you must find appropriate snow, a layer of hard-packed snow which ideally formed in a single snowfall…”[/b][/colour] [hr] “Ugh, yuck! Not in the face!” “But you look so pretty with it!” Selenu drew a few more circles and lines of yellow across the young girl’s face, though her defiant movements made them a little squiggly. The paint was composed of fine clays and cave water, the sources of which had been revealed thanks to Lugo’s blessings almost a year ago. Since then, the walls of Home Cave had flourished with colour and joy, with stories and pictures. Each clan had made a symbol to represent and distinguish themselves, mostly because they thought logos looked pretty sweet and gave an even greater sense of identity beyond common names and relatives. Kulee finally managed to wave her mother’s eager hands away. “Alright, alright! Can I go now, please?” Selenu sighed. “Fine, but make sure you let the paint dry before you go playing in the snow!” “Yes, mom!” Kulee ran into the snowy outside - there, the whole tribe were going about their day with games, paintings, fishing or maintenance of the whole new kind of home - the igloo. Thanks to these domes of snow, the families of the Wuhdige no longer suffered great cave-ins in their burrows, although asphyxiation had been a problem before someone thought to put air holes in the top. Apparently, smoke wasn’t very good for the common selka. The selka around the camp were all thoroughly painted in browns, reds and yellows. Kulee kept an excited jog down towards the beach, where Jotokan, Duhwah, Julo, and other patriarchs were gathering for the weekly offering. As had become the norm, all who sacrificed to Lugo painted onto themselves stripes and rings of the most precious paint on the island - lapis lazuli. According to the grown-ups, the champion Duhwah had to travel all the way to the southern tip to find this divine, blue rock, braving dangerous beasts and vengeful Elu raiders. Even then, the stone was apparently incredibly hard to find. Jotokan lifted his arms into the air. Kulee hid behind a snowmound and did her best to peek over without exposing too much of her bright yellow face. The surrounding patriarchs all grabbed a fish and lifted it into the air. The chieftain spoke, “Oh, great and colourful Lugo! Once more, the Wuhdige present to you a weekly meal so that you may eat again!” The patriarchs all put down their fishes, dipped one hand each into the many surrounding bowls filled with brown pigment mixed with wolf fat. With the paint, they drew neat little drawings on the flanks of their fish of what they had done that week: Jotokan drew a rough approximation of a selka pointing at other selka building a mound-- no, wait, that’s an igloo; Duhwah drew himself lifting another one of himself - only the other self was flexing; Julo drew a selka looking out to the sea - or, well, a pear next to some squiggly lines with a fish underneath. Each patriarch then stood up and held the fishes up high once more. “We once again really ‘preciate the nice and amazing gifts you have given us! We hope we’re making the kind of art you wanted!” With that, all the fish were lobbed into a large hole in the ice, where they floated awkwardly for a moment before a few went over with sticks and pushed them underneath. The patriarchs nodded at each other, satisfied with another good sacrifice. They shook hands and all went about their business once more - except for Jotokan. Kulee peeked over the mound once more. The adults had dispersed - but what she had seen had been awesome. Oh, she couldn’t wait to join in on the sacrifices one d-- “BOO!” Kulee flew into the air like a thrown rock and landed on the other side of the mound. Where she had knelt stood Jotokan cackling wildly. The little girl gave her father a surly frown. “Paaa! That was mean!” “What? Can’t take a little boo every now and then?” Jotokan teased. “You gotta be ready for anything if you wanna be a true Wuhdige.” Kulee got to her feet and let out a “hmph”. “Pa, when can I join the offerings? I wanna draw drawings for Lugo, too!” Jotokan’s smirk faded and he put his hands on his hips. “Only the family pas can make the offerings, so it’ll be your brother Aloo who does it when the Spirit Bird comes for me.” Kulee frowned. “Why it gotta be like that?” “Well, all life gotta pass on, you know, and--” “No, I mean, why just the pas?” Kulee inquired. Jotokan furrowed his brow. “W-well… That’s how it’s always been.” “No, we started offering to Lugo less than a year ago, pa - why can’t we change it?” Jotokan sighed and knelt down beside his daughter. “Look, Kulee - in Wuhdige tradition, the boy does all the heavy stuff, like lifting and offering, and the girl does all the not-heavy stuff, like foraging and baby-sitting. That’s how it’s been for a long time now - ever since gramgrampa Tokuan.” Kulee seemed unsatisfied. “But why it gotta be like that? Ma’s really strong - she could probably lift rocks like you.” Jotokan wrinkled his nose. “W-well, because, uhm-...” “Why, pa?” Kulee repeated. Jotokan sighed again and looked to the Home Cave. “Tell you what - I’ll think about it, how about that? You can’t just break tradition like that - gotta have a good reason.” Kulee knew her father well enough to know that such a response meant the discussion was over. Quietly, she nodded and followed her father inside. “Pa?” she asked as they entered the cave. “Yes, Kulee?” “Why is offering heavy work?” Jotokan hummed. “You ask a lot of questions today, huh.” [hider=Take that, Idnes!] Winter is not going well for the Wuhdige tribe. Heavy snow is collapsing their hole-in-the-ground homes and burying selka alive. Jotokan tries praying for help. Then, over the frozen horizon, walks a ~80 metre tall person made of ice - it’s Ashalla. She’s claimed the Ice Portfolio, and has adopted a new form of solid ice. The selka panic and assemble their warriors to point spears at her. This displeases Ashalla; she teaches them how to respect the gods. Despite the rough start, Ashalla (who gets identified as Lugo, Wuhdige god of fish, water and the ice sheet, by the Wuhdige) is here to help. She teaches them how to build igloos, and also how to make and use paint. The Selka make some fancy paintings and igloos over the next six months, as well as a weekly ritual to sacrifice to Lugo, in which fish painted with the weekly doings of the family patriarchs are thrown into the sea. Kulee, daughter of Jotokan, wonders why girls can’t sacrifice as it’s the patriachs’ job, and Jotokan fails to explain it, reasoning that girls can’t sacrifice because it goes against tradition. Kulee seems adamant that that’s a dumb reason, and Jotokan seems uneager to change it. The post ends on a questioning note. [b]Might Summary[/b] [u]Ashalla[/u] [i]Start:[/i] 9 MP & 1 FP [i]Spent:[/i] 5 MP to obtain the Ice Portfolio 1 MP (discounted by Ice Portfolio) for a new form - a giant figure of ice. 0 FP (discounted by Ice Portfolio) to teach the Wuhdige about igloos. 1 FP to teach the Wuhdige about paint. [i]End:[/i] 3 MP & 0 FP [i]Portfolios:[/i] 8/10 Colour 5/10 Music [/hider]