text; un: stormborn

[thebrideoffire]

There is a great deal to discuss. Wrathion has provided much of the news that I have learned, but there are two further pieces of information that I feel is relevant. The last sacrifice to Sanwon was the child of Hyang-Won and Anui. She seems to have been from Waicai and while she moved past her beliefs, it never fully disappeared.

When the volcano started to heat again and it was time for someone to go, she gave her child. He was the last sacrifice. She waited until Hyang-Won was at hunt. When he returned and found his son gone, he was frantic and angry. He disappeared into the woods where a man that Hyang-Tai calls 'the Traveler' followed to calm him. It's not known what was spoken of, but apparently when Hyang-Won returned, he was changed, as were his beasts. They became as they are now. Not creatures of the woods.

Anui was gone and the villages were quiet. I think it may be possible that whatever curses this place is related to that and perhaps to the traveler. He is the reason for the House of Ravens, those that go in but never come out.

It might be possible to find a way to undo this curse, as we have had to undo the curses of ancestors here, but I am not certain how.

I do ask that someone accompany me to the House of Ravens, but only those that may wish to know more. I made a promise that I must fulfill and it may offer more answers.

Comments

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[scrapgege]

[Xie Lian is kind of glad this is only voice, and he sounds calm, but the mention of this Traveler, that he has heard called the 'man in white', makes him uneasy. A silhouette dressed in white, bringing both boon and chaos... There might be a slight tremor in his voice.]

The Traveler... could he have been the one to change him? Made him what he is now? We still haven't had any clues as to how these people got to be what they are...

[thebrideoffire]

That is what I believe. I was given no direct evidence, but the way of the story and the manner that things changed after the child was sacrificed, I believe he is behind it. It seems no coincidence that the traveler went to the woods to find Hyang-Won and then Hyang-Won emerged as he is now.

[scrapgege]

I don't remember Anurr mentioning anyone like that... but he hasn't really told us how he became what he is either, and he is a lot older. I think he's at least 200 years old.

[Which is... still significantly younger than Xie Lian, but the Beastmaster is a baby compared to that.]

Has the Huntress mentioned anything about how she became this way?

[thebrideoffire]

I have not spoken to the Huntress.

[And it is interesting to look back on that. Something about the Huntress had never sat well with her. Now she understands why.]

200? I thought he might be older.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

We're working on finding our way inside.

Given what we now know of the Beastmaster, I don't think he likes the place overly much, but this... Traveler seems to have his fingers in many pies, and he can calm him down and was there when he changed into what he is now?

[New target acquired. This Traveler fellow seems to know a lot and manipulate powerful forces.]

What promise did you make?

[thebrideoffire]

I think that he is responsible, though it is hard to say if the malice comes from him or if he meant to offer another type of relief. Hyang-Won seems to now search for the child. The Serpent Woman and the dark waters, those are his attempts to find the boy.

[She's a bit at a loss, knowing little of magic, but all of this feels a little familiar. A bigger curse than the ones they grappled with.]

Hyang-Tai asked me to look for her nephew.

[beitangmoran]

We can look for the child if he still lives. And if he does, I think handing him to his aunt to keep him safe might the better choice.

[Moran does feel some kinship with the seer, something unexplainable to anyone who hasn't carried the particular burden of knowing the future. And honestly, she's probably better situated to actually care for a child than either of its undead parent now.]

un: white pawn; text

[chosenbylight]

Did they pursue the boy all the way to the House of Ravens? Is that what changed the man Hyang-Won into what we know him to be now? Something in the temple itself?

[thebrideoffire]

I'm not certain the House of Ravens was used for this purpose. From what I understand, it is here because it was Hyang-Won's attempt to change the method of sacrifice and appeasing the volcano.

When Hyang-Won went into the woods, the traveler followed and after, Hyang-Won emerged changed, as were his animals.

[chosenbylight]

From what I am now coming to understand, based on Wrathion's conversation with the Huntress, the House of Ravens was the traditional method of sacrifice. I had thought, when the villagers spoke of giving to Brother Sanwon, they meant literally.

I am not certain that giving a child to this temple is a better fate, in the end.

But what does the White Wanderer do, with his tributes? The Beastmaster does not approve of sacrifice, and no wonder after what happened to his son, so it cannot be that.

un: Black Prince; text

[blackscales]

Is "The Traveller" another term for the White Wanderer? Sounds similar enough to be.  

[thebrideoffire]

Perhaps? I call him the traveler because that is what Hyang-Tai called him.

[blackscales]

I only ask because previous understanding was The White Wanderer established an alternative to the House of Ravens, so it's worth discerning if this is a different take on the same individual or a different individual altogether.  

un: absterge

[downswing]

What did you pledge?

[thebrideoffire]

To find the boy in the House of Ravens.

[downswing]

And if he has succumbed?

text; un: iwannahexyouup

[incantates]

I assume nothing else is known about this Traveler
aside from their moniker?
They seem a little suspect if the rest of this tale is, in fact, true.

[thebrideoffire]

Some are calling him 'the White Wanderer' or something. I simply call him what the seer used in my presence. She said a few things about him, that he seemed sad somehow.

[incantates]

Care to share what those other few things were,
or are you going to leave me hanging here in suspense forever?

@taken for granite

[rumorate]

[Well that answers one of the questions she asked Wrathion, at least regarding the Beastmaster. Huntress is still up in the air in terms of her gifts, but that's a concern for another time.]

Seems a lot like the powerful taking advantage of those who don't know better.

[At least in her opinion.]

Do we know what the Traveler did to cause the House of Ravens? That might be the root of breaking the curse.

[thebrideoffire]

The House of Ravens is a bit confusing to me. Some say is has been here from before, but that the sacrifices weren't the same. I can only say what I heard in the conversation.

Some new form of sacrifice was the impression I was given. Aside from that, I can give no better answers. It would be better to explore inside and see what is there for ourselves.

[rumorate]

I've been inside. It's ... a whole lot of weird.

[She doesn't really want to go back in, but she will if she has to.]

Do you think if we could figure out what those sacrifices used to be, we might be able to avoid people dying?

[Voice; UN: heavenly four seasons]

[eternallywandering]

[Typing can be tiresome for him and he doesn't like it when anything is lost in translation. Thus Daenerys will hear his voice; Zishu keeps his tone quiet and calm to hide how very tired he is today.]

I will go with you, my lady. I have some thoughts on this Traveler; they do not sound so different from one of us. The powers they possess have likely journeyed with them from their world.

[So that means they might not find any answers. Not here, anyway.]

He is the one we should seek.

[thebrideoffire]

[It's a bit disturbing to have someone's voice in her head, drawing her thoughts back to Quaithe. For a moment, she thought she was back in the Dothraki Sea, still suffering from whatever it was she had eaten.

But magic is different here, so she keeps reminding herself.]

What leads you think he was brought here as we were?

[eternallywandering]

[Isn't it? There is so much they must accept as "normal" that flies in the face of that very word. But she isn't suffering - not anymore than anyone else, at least, if that is of any comfort.]

His abilities. If there were others, a tribe, for example, or a sect, I would think otherwise. But he stands alone.