2022.01.04: It Takes Two To Make And Egg

It Takes Two To Make An Egg
Royan and Kendrick makes a Spirit Egg!
IC Date	January 4th, 2022
IC Time	Who can measure time in the Umbra?!
Players	Royan as Babydaddy #1, Kendrick as Babydaddy #2 & Guardian Supremo
Location	Ravenscar, Umbral Realm
Spheres	Gaian, FERA
Theme Song	EQUILIBRIUM - Born To Be Epic

It was an Auspicious Day! A Day of Importance! A Day when things of the utmost importance would happen and take place. The Corax known as Swift Wing upon the High Wind, aka Royan, aka Hrafn, aka Battle-Birb, aka Battle Gull, aka Feather.. all of those aka's, well that particular Corax invited Deals, aka Kendrick, to come to the Ravenscar lands. He said the day was upon them, that this day they would do what had to be done for their Species.
And just arriving at Ravenscar, things were tense. The Kinfolk here were, well, still here. But they were on high alert. All of them armed with some kind of weapon. A modern crossbow. Someone with a box. Someone with a hunting rifle. At the highest point on the roof upon the Longhouse, above the front door, sat the Common Raven himself, waiting.

Kendrick rushed out as soon as he got word. He stopped what he was doing and he took to the air, beating a hot trail right out to Ravenscar and zeroed in on Swiftypoo... Aka Swiftypoo... and flitted to a stop at his side, for once silent.

The Raven that arrives that is Deals, aka Stuff-Hoarder, could have been just about any Raven! But Swift Wing upon the High Winds, aka The Corax With the Best Names in the World, knew that raven. When he arrives, when he lands, the higher ranked Corax speaks, "You are here. We can begin." he .. well .. begins, "All is set up in the Spirit world. The Blade of the Frostbite is present and ready to be moved to wherever the Egg is to be protected. The Ritual can begin. Are you ready, Deals?"

Kendrick nods and ruffles his feathers a little bit. "I am ready, Swift Wing Upon the High Winds." FOr once, that's ALL he has to say. SO quiet! So serious!

The large black Common Raven that is Swift Wing upon the High Wind lets out a loud KRAAA! into the wind. He spreads his wings, "Then we go. We go into the Spirit realm. We travel through the Gauntlet." he then stares ahead, "Begone, ye olde Curtain between the Worlds!"

=== ROLLING FOR GAUNTLET RUNNER GIFT
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Common Raven rolls Wits(4) + Enigmas(3) (7 dice) vs 8 for 2 successes.
3 4 5 6 6 +8 +10
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

=== STEPPING SIDEWAYS
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Kendrick rolls Gnosis vs 5 for 3 successes.
2 3 4 +5 +6 +6
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

=== STEPPING SIDEWAYS, FAILS, USING KENDRICK TO BE LEAD THROUGH
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Common Raven rolls Gnosis(6) (6 dice) vs 5 for 0 successes.
1 -1 2 4 4 9
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

Kendrick spreads his wings and he flits off, poking a hole in that veil that will stay open just long enough to let Swift slip through too!

Swift Wing upon the High Wind is fast, and fast enough it seems to realise that it took too much to lower the Gauntlet in the area to actually make use of that and get through himself. So, he leaves the roof and flies over to catch up with Kendrick, touching beak to feathers to allow the other to lead him through to the other side. To the Umbra.
Things are set up here. The Umbra realm has been prepared! First and foremost, there is a huge spider here! Well, huge, as in its about the size of your fist and clearly a Spirit. It is standing guard over a large and vicious blade; the Frostbite blade. It is perched upon a large flat stone on which there is one more object. A lock of hair laying on the rock. A lock of hair from a baby. It is to this flat rock that the Corax that is Swift Wing upon the High Wind flies to, coming to a landing on the rocky surface.

Kendrick bulldozes through the gauntlet and then flits upward once he's through, immediately changing course just in case there's something ELSE over here that they weren't expecting. Once he sees it's all clear, he circles around and lands, nice and neat and tidy - though not as perfectly as Swifty, and flutters his wings and gives himself a quick shake.

The large rave that is Swift Wing upon the High Wind watchesr the lock of hair a few moments before he finally looks to Deals, "Whatever form that you wish to wear fo this ritual, will not impact anything. Your human form or your raven form, both will be equally respectful. But as I am, today, attempting to create a new Corax of Human birth.. I will chose the form of that which I am to create." And to this, the raven leaps backwards with a flap of his mighty wings. As he does, his body morphs in the way Shifters do as he then lets his human feet land upon the ground by the altar. Royan takes a breath, "Ready yourself, my young Deals. You are in for a real treat of a Ritual, albeit a long one!"

Kendrick is quiet while Swift speaks and then he also shifts into his human form. SO much more comfortable. He gives himself a little shake in this form too, and stretches his arms way above his head and then lets them flop back down. "I'm so fucking nervous," he says honestly, shoving his hands into his back pockets.

"For you, this is just the beginning of the journey. For me, it is the beginning and, for the most part, the end." Royan replies, "For you, the biggest duty in your life starts, as you take on to guard this Egg that you are about to Witness being created." He motions with his hands over the lock of hair, "This is a lock of hair from the baby that I introduced you to. Consensually given by the parents and placed here. And it is from this, we form the bond. It is around this, that we construct the Egg." he takes a breath, "The Egg, from which we all come, you are now about to witness its creation."
And with this, Royan takes a deep breath. He starts to move his hands over the area around the lock of hair, and as he does he makes a little move. Each time he does this, he takes a wincing breath as a strange almost translucent shell piece if formed between his fingers. This, he places on the stoneslab. He then creates another, and another.. each time, playing it on the stone like jiggsaw pieces. Slowly starting to build the base of a large egg around the lock of hair.

=== ROLLING FOR RITE OF THE FETISH EGG
<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======--->
Royan rolls Gnosis(6) (6 dice) vs 6 for 5 successes.
4 +6 +6 +7 +8 +9
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->

Kendrick is still incredibly nervous, but he's there. He's commited. He looks down to the bit of hair and to Royan, totally silent, which is something that NEVER happens around Kendrick. "What do I need to do?' he asks. He knows the answer is probably nothing, but he wants to help. Really wants to, watching with a little awe as the thing is created

Royan looks up to Kendrick to this, his fingers still producing the pieces of the Eggshell, "Come." he says, "You do not have to do anything. What is required, is that you are here and Witnessing. The forces of the Ritual knows that you are here." he holds then a piece of the Egg up that he created from his own spiritual essence, "But you can help me lay the egg. It will take.. time." Already, he looks strained.

Kendrick nods, lifting one hand to chew on the corner of his thumbnail. He moves closer, watching intently, with wide eyes as everything comes together. He's breathing a little faster than normal, but he doesn't even shuffle from foot to foot. He's absolutely enraptured

Patience. That was the keyword here. The Egg is built, painstakingly and slowly. Bit by bit, Royan creates a piece and bit by bit he creates the puzzle that is starting to form the Egg. Each piece fit together, forms and molds with the other pieces; the same are true for the onse that Kendrick gets to lay as well. Each time a piece is fitted against another, they mold and form a solid. Bit by bit, it is formed. From the larger 'bottom' part, heading upwards until it begins to form the cone.
And boy, it takes time. An hour passes. Another hours. All throughout, Bob the Spider keeps watch. Always on the move, always making sure nothing that is not supposed to here arrives.

Kendrick is completely into this. He doesn't hum to himself or mumble, like he's prone to do. Utter silence from Kendrick, besides his breathing and the sounds that movement makes while he helps assemble a new Corax, from scratch. It's amazing, it's .. emotional even.. and he's struck dumb by the whole thing

More and more, the Egg takes shape, and upon the third hour of building the thing, it is starting to near its completion. Royan never loses his focus, never loses his concentration. He is so very strained, though, it shows in his face. He is cutting out pieces of his Spiritual Essence to build this Egg; pouring it all into it much in the same way some do when creating Fetishes. There's even a bead of sweat forming on his forehead. And then, finally, the last piece of the Egg is placed by Royan himself. A tiny piece of the Egg, formed between his fingers, is placed on the very top which seals and finishes the Egg. And it is large. Roughly the size of a human baby in size, even. And why not? In this Egg, the Spirit of a Corax is being born, to be linked and meted out to the child in the real world bit by bit.
And then, yet, there is more. The Egg seems.. empty. It seems to lack something. This is where Royan stands up straight, "Now, Kendrick that Deals.. we link the Egg with the Child." he takes a deep breath. And in this instance, he takes upon himself the form of the Rara-Avis. The Great Big Bird of Horror. His large wings / arms are outstretched, his beaked face lifting to the skies. And like this, he holds himself as he begins to let out a long, drawn out calling into the skies.

Kendrick pauses as Royan puts the last piece in and he looks it over. There is a brief moment when panic grips him, that they did something wrong. That they failed. But then Royan speaks and shifts and Kendrick, with a little jump of surprise, backs up and then he does the same, calling out along with Royan

To Kendrick, the call is easy to understand. He calls for the Child! The name of the Child, slowly chanted out in a long.. very long.. drawn out sound that almost makes it hard to tell he's even chanting a name! And this? This he does for a -really- long time. Almost twenty minutes, he stands there chanting! Then slowly, he begins to lower down over the egg. His wings folds over it, encasing it with his feathers and his beaked head resting above it. Still, he chants. But by now, there is a little wind picking up. Something is whirling around. From somewhere within the confines of his feathered huge wings, there is the most quiet of *thump-thump* sounds, like a heartbeat.

Kendrick chants right along, watching Swift as he does so for the most part. Even as he leans over the egg, Deals still chants, though quietly, looking around briefly as the wind starts to pick up. So exciting!

Now, for Deals, this thing? It might start to make sense to him. While Swift Wing upon the High Wind is the Principal enacter of the Ritual itself, Deals participating is important. He has to Witness the Ritual, and to prove Witnessing he has to commit in some way. He could just as well have stood still, watching. But that could have made him lose focus. Instead, Swift Wing upon the High Wind chose to commit Deals to the ritual, having him Witness it through partial participation. That way, the Ritual works, the intended function of the Witness role fulfilled. And all that comes to a head at the final parts of the Ritual. That quiet 'thump-thump' sound heard begins to pick up. A faint glow can be noticed within the confines of his wings, forming that dome over the egg. And as that glow begins to pick up along with the thumping of a heartbeat, Swing Wing upon the High Wind finally stands back up straight. His wings unfurl from around the Egg. And there it sits. The Fetish Egg of the Corax, glowing with a golden sunlight from within, a light that moves with the sound of the beating heart. In the final moments of the Ritual, the other Corax lets out a final loud KRAAAAAA! before he silences. The Egg shines BRIGHT, flashes once to then quiet down and become a normal Egg; albeit a very huge on. Finished. Completed. Successful.

Kendrick watches through all of this, his mouth slightly open, eyes wide, totally in awe. As the finally sound rings out, Kendrick shifts back to his homid form and goes to his knees in front of the egg and stays there, staring at it, memorizing every inch, noting any spots or change in color or.. even just the way the umbral light hits it.

And with that, the large creature in the Rara-Avis once more melds into the form of the Raven. His preferred form. Swing Wing upon the High Wind lets out a little Kraaa to this, "It.. is done." he says, sounding exhausted. And it is a different kind of exhausted. Not just because the ritual took 4 hours of concentration when building the egg and linking the egg with the child. No, because he lost a significant portion of his spirit, "The Egg.. is now the most important thing. It has to be guarded. At all costs."

"How do we move it?" Kendrick asks, still staring at the thing, but starting to rise to his feet after a long moment. "I have the place all set up. It's quiet and out of the way."

The raven watches Kendrick a few moments, and a bit of that Corax cheekyness creeps into his otherwise somewhat tired facade, "It's an Egg. You pick it up." he replies, letting out a little kr-kr-kr-kr sound as if letting out a little raven-ly giggle, "And the blade, it comes with you. It is to be the weapon resting next to this egg. Protecting it and if needed, used by the protector.. whomever may be first to the Egg if it is endangered."

"No shit, sherlock," Kendrick grumbles, but not in bad humor. He carefully picks up the sword and then he VERY carefully tests the weight of the egg before he shifts again, making ready to take it to the safe place.

COLD! The sword is cold. Not cold enough to hold, but Kendrick can feel the cold radiating from the Klaive in his hand. The Frost Klaive. Such a dangerous weapon. It might be possible this is one of the reasons he stole it. For it to be used to protect a future Egg. Swift Wing upon the High Wind watches carefully, "Give me a day, and I will come find you. To show me where you hid the Egg. So that I too can drop in from time to time." "I want you to try and find it on your own. We'll see how well I hid it," Kendrick says, and then making sure that the egg is absolutely secure in his grip, he takes to the air to whoosh away.

Swing Wing upon the High Wind is far too tired to argue at this point. He lets out a kraa, to then let Kendrick take to the sky and fly off. The large raven that remains turns, slipping sideways into the Realm to find a place to roost. To rest.

Kendrick flies off, large wings pumping as he travels the distance to the place. The place of hiding. The hiding place. The most perfect nest that was ever made for the most special of coraxes ever still to be