Post by Athena Fire-in-Snow on Oct 11, 2013 16:52:42 GMT -8
The day this Rite is due to begin, the Sept receives a large influx of visitors. Many come in by Moonbridge, but some also arrive by more usual means. The guardians are kept busy responding to howls from various members of the Black Fury tribes. At times it feels as though every Black Fury with the time and means to come has done so. Most honored of those visitors is Mary’s five-year-old son and his guardian, Mary’s aunt. They are given a place of pride to witness this ceremony honoring their kin.
At sunset, Athena calls the Rite to order. She begins a chanting litany of Mary’s deeds. She starts with Mary’s tragic First Change, killing her sister in her First Frenzy, then continues with her time traveling and training with her aunt in Europe and Africa, where she killed a Formori Lion and gained the pelt for her Lion Skin. She talks about her time after leaving her aunt, crossing the water to South America and working her way up through Mexico and into the US, seeking for a place to call home. She tells the tale of Mary joining the Self-Made Widows pack, and coming to this Sept. She continues with a long list of deeds, showing Mary supporting her pack and defending the Caern, doing her duties with strength and faith.
The litany take on a new vibrancy when Athena speaks of Mary’s desire to support her pack in a great endeavor for which she did not have the rank or skill – to stop the manifestation of the Head of the Wyrm and the Legendary Spiral responsible for calling it – Eyes of Fear. She tells of Mary’s great Deal with the Fates themselves, giving over the long thread of her life in exchange for Wyld’s Justice, a legendary Klaive capable of slaying Eyes of Fear. Finally, Athena tells the story of Mary Shears-of-the-Crone’s battle with Eyes of Fear, a battle fueled by the power of spirits as dozens of Hunter’s Necklaces shattered keeping both warriors alive through killing blow after killing blow. She tells of Eyes of Fear’s stunning blow upon Mary, and how Sorrow’s Bane stepped in, sacrificing his life to buy her time to recover. And finally, how each slew the other simultaneously, and how Wyld’s Justice sealed both of them away in silver, locked in that final death pose for eternity.
There is a moment of silence after this, a breath for the attending crowd to meditate on Mary Shears-of-the-Crone’s great deeds. Athena then declares the virtues of Mary, throwing a bundle of herbs into the fire to represent each of them: thyme for strength, violets for faith and loyalty, allspice for determination and hyssop for sacrifice, bound threefold with a cord plaited from rue, sage and silver for the grace, immortality and honor in her death. As the smoke reaches skyward, Athena leads the witnesses in a common chant, calling upon Mary to bless them with her virtues and aid them in continuing the battle against Gaia’s enemies.
From the smoke of the fire Mary’s spirit steps forth. She says looks over all those who have come, and at those who stood with her in her final hours, and her eyes are full of both joy and sorrow. Her voice, when she speaks, carries effortlessly across the bawn. "Love is not without sacrifice. No war of the mind, body, or soul can be won without loss. Bear the loss and shoulder forward, and nothing will stop you from continuing your work for Gaia.” Mary steps back into the smoke and fades from view, but the feeling of her presence lingers.
Finally, as full darkness falls, Athena launches into a closing speech, calling upon everyone to take hope and inspiration from her deeds, finding a way to rise to an insurmountable challenge and do what few thought she was capable of… She ends the Rite by leading a final great Howl, calling defiance to the enemies of Gaia and unity to her defenders!
At sunset, Athena calls the Rite to order. She begins a chanting litany of Mary’s deeds. She starts with Mary’s tragic First Change, killing her sister in her First Frenzy, then continues with her time traveling and training with her aunt in Europe and Africa, where she killed a Formori Lion and gained the pelt for her Lion Skin. She talks about her time after leaving her aunt, crossing the water to South America and working her way up through Mexico and into the US, seeking for a place to call home. She tells the tale of Mary joining the Self-Made Widows pack, and coming to this Sept. She continues with a long list of deeds, showing Mary supporting her pack and defending the Caern, doing her duties with strength and faith.
The litany take on a new vibrancy when Athena speaks of Mary’s desire to support her pack in a great endeavor for which she did not have the rank or skill – to stop the manifestation of the Head of the Wyrm and the Legendary Spiral responsible for calling it – Eyes of Fear. She tells of Mary’s great Deal with the Fates themselves, giving over the long thread of her life in exchange for Wyld’s Justice, a legendary Klaive capable of slaying Eyes of Fear. Finally, Athena tells the story of Mary Shears-of-the-Crone’s battle with Eyes of Fear, a battle fueled by the power of spirits as dozens of Hunter’s Necklaces shattered keeping both warriors alive through killing blow after killing blow. She tells of Eyes of Fear’s stunning blow upon Mary, and how Sorrow’s Bane stepped in, sacrificing his life to buy her time to recover. And finally, how each slew the other simultaneously, and how Wyld’s Justice sealed both of them away in silver, locked in that final death pose for eternity.
There is a moment of silence after this, a breath for the attending crowd to meditate on Mary Shears-of-the-Crone’s great deeds. Athena then declares the virtues of Mary, throwing a bundle of herbs into the fire to represent each of them: thyme for strength, violets for faith and loyalty, allspice for determination and hyssop for sacrifice, bound threefold with a cord plaited from rue, sage and silver for the grace, immortality and honor in her death. As the smoke reaches skyward, Athena leads the witnesses in a common chant, calling upon Mary to bless them with her virtues and aid them in continuing the battle against Gaia’s enemies.
From the smoke of the fire Mary’s spirit steps forth. She says looks over all those who have come, and at those who stood with her in her final hours, and her eyes are full of both joy and sorrow. Her voice, when she speaks, carries effortlessly across the bawn. "Love is not without sacrifice. No war of the mind, body, or soul can be won without loss. Bear the loss and shoulder forward, and nothing will stop you from continuing your work for Gaia.” Mary steps back into the smoke and fades from view, but the feeling of her presence lingers.
Finally, as full darkness falls, Athena launches into a closing speech, calling upon everyone to take hope and inspiration from her deeds, finding a way to rise to an insurmountable challenge and do what few thought she was capable of… She ends the Rite by leading a final great Howl, calling defiance to the enemies of Gaia and unity to her defenders!