discovery: seek not your fortune in a dark, dreary mine

OOC: Set in The Dungeon, discovered by Jinx and Hawkeye in this thread! Idk if it's actually a discovery thread but since it isn't on the map I marked it as one. Also this chanting is from the witch's creed, I didn't make it up. >_>

IC: Into her "evil lair", Jinx had brought skulls. Not one skull, not three or four skulls, but a dozen skulls from a dozen unfortunate voles. Each was as misshapen as the next, each different in its own small ways. This one, more bleached than that; and that one, with bits of gore still clinging to it. But all skulls came from one species, and stood arranged into a crude circle, in the centre of which she stood. Extending from that centre to each skull, like the spokes of a wheel, were stones collected from the cenote's inner shore. She stood within the limestone basin, wrapped in its steamy warmth, on the silty part of the shore. Her circle stood out stark against the sand.

Somewhere off to the side, wrapped with care in one of the vole's pelts, was a bloodstone. She had told nobody she had it; of jewels and fine stones, Jinx kept many secrets. She hoarded such things as offerings for her Gods, which was her intent today. But first, she must attract Their attention... And since she had placed her shrine far away, on a distant island, she could not do so from there. Nor did she have the materials to construct another shrine, which was why she chose The Dungeon and the witch circle for her ritual.

A small part of her thought she would find privacy here. It was also an excuse to get away from the pack for a little while, for of late Jinx had felt uneasy and restless, and had taken to pacing. No doubt it had something to do with Sos' appearance and His words, but there was something else unsettling her... Something she didn't understand. Something wrong.

Her voice rose from the centre of the cenote, strong and passionate, as she invoked her Gods and prayed for their attention:

"The Light and the Dark in succession,
The opposites each unto each,
Shown forth as a God and a Goddess,
Of this, our ancestors teach.

By night, He's the wild wind's rider,
The Horn'd one, the Lord of the Shades,
By day, He's the King of the Woodland,
The dweller in green forest glades.

She is youthful or old as She pleases,
She sails the torn clouds in Her barque,
The bright Silver Lady of Midnight,
The crone who weaves spells in the dark."

Her summons for Atka and Sos was recognizable to any of Shearwater's faith, but in its familiarity it was also foreign. It was Jinx's own prayer, no doubt something she'd thought up in a dream... Her reverent passion for Her Gods. She had lost sight of Atka when jealousy of Kaskae had clouded her vision... She had lost faith in the Lady of Light when She forced Jinx to share her rightful rank of Warchief with her sister, who had done little to earn it. But now, having aged somewhat and removed from Kaskae's influence, Jinx could appreciate and honour Atka as was proper.

As she chanted this, she walked to the four poles of her circle, then crept out of it, her steps careful. She then marched over to her bundle, extracted the bloodstone from the pelt, and with great care returned to the circle.

Once there, she placed it in the centre where she had stood whilst chanting, and then stepped back to admire her offering. Sos had demanded something more primal and more bloody, but He had also implied she would know when it was time. Jinx knew the time wasn't yet, but it was coming... Perhaps that was what was unsettling her so much, and making her feel nerves that rarely ever found root in her belly. She felt better now, having performed this rite... And so she settled herself down to watch over her circle, her hind legs splayed to the side as though lying flat was uncomfortable.