Blackfeather Woods All I see is black

Using this for naturalist!

Meldresi stared at the cobweb linking two branches, gleaming like a diamond as it was encased in morning dew. The art of reading signs from nature was one the priests of Mephala and Sithis used often. Their gods were subtle, especially the former Daedric Prince(ss). She had spent many days staring at a cobweb such as this, trying to discern patterns from not only the shape and size, but the placement, the weather around her, the spider itself, the amount of prey it had caught.

A year ago she would have found in an instant what this cobweb was telling her, and yet she was having problems. Tending to her pack's inception, growth, and her children had taken away some of her powers of prophesizing and scrying. But she needed to regain at least some of that knowledge, if she was to tutor her daughter in the art. The alpha's eyes narrowed, and her brain ran through several ideas and thoughts. Time will reveal the answer...

Ohen trotted through the dark forest, when he came across a scent. It was the alpha. He started flowing the scent since he still needed to properly introduce himself. Meeting at the boarders was ok, but it would be nice to know a bit more about the alpha you follow, so Ohen continued tracking the Alpha's scent.

He found her staring at a cobweb and he wondered why. Ohen certainly didn't find cobwebs that interesting,  but he kept an open mind when approaching the dark wolfess. He gave a chuff to let her know he was here and then gave a bow.  "Hello" he said starting off the conversation.  

Meldresi could not find much from this cobweb. She sighed as she broke away from it, raising a paw to rub at her eyes, just as Ohen chuffed in greeting. "Hello, Ohen." She shook herself, clearing her mind for a bit. She needed a break from staring at an inanimate object for so long. A conversation with one of her more recent followers would do. "How have you been faring here in Blackfeather so far?"

She said hello back and it seemed that she had gave up on whatever she was attempting to do with that cobweb. He offered her a smile when she asked how things have been so far. "It's been good, I believe I have met most of the pack already" he said and tried to remember everyone who he had come across. He looked at the cobweb and found himself wanting to know why someone would just stare at it. "Umm, if you don't mind me by asking, but why were you staring at a cobweb" he said and focused on the alpha to see her response. Ohen wondered if he was missing something, like if there was a reason why you should stare at something completely useless.  

She chuckled to herself. Of course he would ask that. She probably looked crazy doing so. The priestess hardly blamed the younger wolf. She stole a glance to the cobweb once more then turned her indigo gaze to Ohen. "Have you heard of scrying or prophesizing?" She asked, rhetorically; he had no reason to answer. "My religion considers cobwebs and spiders sacred. That is one of the symbols of our goddess Mephala, the Webspinner she is called. It is said that she hides messages in the strands of cobwebs, among other places."

She tilted her head then, and wondered how Ohen would respond. Ohen was one of the wolves of her pack that did not believe in her religion, but another one entirely. He might call her reasoning (as her baby daddy Bane would have said:) utter bull. "But naturalists also study the activities and habits of the other creatures around us. You can learn a lot from watching other animals."

When she asked if he knew those two words Ohen shook his head no. "English is not my first language and I still struggle with understanding large words" he said and hoped that was a good excuse for not knowing the difficult words. When she said her reason for staring into the cobweb, he didn't judge her at all. She had her creepy webspinner Goddess, and he had his unrealistic giant lizard Gods. When she spoke of how her Goddess hides messages in the cobwebs Ohen looked down at the web and squinted trying to find the message. "I don't think there is a message in this one" he said and blew on the cobweb gently. "Do you see a message" he asked and wondered if the message only appeared to those who believed in this webspinner Goddess.

Ohen couldn't help but be a bit intrested in the religion of his alpha, as he was curious and wondered what it was like to worship someone completely diffrent. When the dark wolfess said about learning things from other animals Ohen remembered a few things about different animals. "Well, I learned that some creatures only come out at night." Ohen knew that Bats liked the night and so did Owls, but he didn't know many other animals that enjoyed darkness. "How long have you been a naturalist" he asked assuming she was one since she brought up how naturalist learn from other animals.  

"Scrying is when you look at different objects to find messages, like I am doing now. Prophesizing is predicting the future, but usually it is through a riddle, and it might not be true." She explained to him, as she looked back to the cobweb, squinting towards it once again. "I have not seen a message, yet." It would take some time for her, given that she had "lost" the gift over her pregnancy. Perhaps Potema would fair better than she. "I know much of the natural world over the years, but I am now earning my trade formally. It is a part of the general system here in Teekon Wilds."

She curled her tail around her paws, and looked back towards Ohen. "Would you like to try? The gift to see messages often appears in the most unlikeliest of places." Meldresi stepped back, allowing Ohen to look at the web in full view.

Phenomenon listened carefully as she explained what those large words meant and he made a dumb face when she explained Prophesizing. "So what your saying is that... your Godess sends you a message that is hard to figure out, and then it might not even be true." Ohen thought it was hard to communicate with his Gods, but he could see Meldresi had it much harder than him when receiving messages from Gods.

When she explained about her naturalist trade, Ohen thought back to Dragon Valley. "Back in my old home you just said what trade you were going to do and were expected to become it. If you didn't you were bannished" he said and looked to see her reaction. When Meldresi moved over and let him look at cobweb, Ohen tried his best to find a message but all he saw was the web. He let out a frustrated growl and turned to face the dark alpha. "The only message I got from that cobweb is that, it's difficult to figure out messages from your Goddess" he said and looked back up toward Meldresi. He moved away from the web and sat down, and turned his head sideways, attempting to look at the cobweb from a different angle.

"There are several truths, they say. Multiple things can happen from one event. You have to keep your mind open with scrying." She said as Ohen moved forward to gaze at the cobweb. Meldresi wondered where Ohen had been raised, though she knew of similar practices throughout the world. Drag your weight or die. Though she had never heard of banishment as a result of slacking off. Hopefully Ohen had not been banished for doing just that. "I have heard of places like that. It is not as enforced in Teekon Wilds, but here in Blackfeather we do encourage earning a trade. Even my children are doing it." She was slowly growing used to waking up in her den without the restless warmth of her children, as they were now up and about, sparring or hunting with Burke, or collecting herbs for her.

"It is hard, but nothing in life is ever easy. My Goddess is meant to be mysterious, after all. Mephala, Goddess of Deceit and Lies." She moved in closer to the web, studying it yet again in the hopes of finding a new strand, a new message. "What gods do you worship, Ohen? Perhaps they have different messages for you in these webs. The gods are fickle in that sense."

Ohen listened to Meldresi trying to remember what she was saying so that he could use this knowledge in the future of he ever needed it. When she said about earning a trade Ohen wasn't suprised to hear that the youngsters were doing it also. From the day Ohen could walk to the day he left Dragon Valley, he was taught to be a warrior. Even though the ebony male didn't particularly enjoy waking up every morning, and going to sleep with sore muscles as a pup. The ebony male was now glad he had gone through all the training as he was a decent fighter. When Meldresi spoke of how Melphala was the Godess of deceit and lies, it reminded Ohen of one of his Gods.

Just as he was about to say something about his Gods Meldresi surprisingly asked about them. Ohen tried to cover up the slightly shocked expression on his face, while thinking of what to say. "I worship seven dragons that are called the Old Gods. Dumat, the Dragon of Silence. Zazikel, the Dragon of Chaos. Toth, the Dragon of Fire. Andoral, the Dragon of Slaves. Urthemiel, the Dragon of Beauty. Razikale, the Dragon of Mystery. Lusacan, the Dragon of Night." Ohen finished and wondered what Meldresi would think. There was much more to learn about the Old Gods as Ohen's religion was complicated. However he would only say anything about his Gods if Meldresi asked about them, as it was difficult explaining his religion.

She listened to the names of these gods and tried to connect them. She had seen many religions throughout her years, each slightly different from the rest. Some religions worshipped one god, some two, some hundreds. Dragons were a popular subject of worship, though she had never heard of a religion with seven dragon gods. The name Razikale sounded familiar; perhaps it was an incarnation of Mephala in their religion. It would not surprise her if it was.

"Do these gods of your fight, or do they all exist together, peacefully?" She asked. Many pantheons with multiple gods had that motif, with all of their gods fighting for one reason or another. Her religion was similar; the worshippers of the Daedra always fought with the Aedra worshippers, or even among themselves.

When Meldresi asked Ohen if his Gods fought a smile crept up on his face. "It is impossible for my Gods to fight because they all lived during a diffrent time." He explained and wondered what she would think. "The Old Gods once walked the earth like we do, and it is said that when they die, their sprit goes to my birthplace, Dragon Valley where they can be forever worshipped."

Ohen knew that four of his Gods became corrupt and that is why they died. Ohen did not know as much about his religion like his sister did, and was having a difficult time remembering the answers to Meldresi's questions. However he would answer any questions he was given, and hoped he wouldn't say any false information.

Interesting. Gods living at different periods but all ascending to divinity and being worshipped. "Where in Dragon's Valley?" Religions could be both vague and specific; she wondered which Ohen's was. "Into the land itself, or in a special place?"

The wind stirred the cobweb. While it was a gentle breeze to them, it seemed to have the power to break the web's hold on a branch, making part of it free flowing. Meldresi cursed silently, but sighed audibly. "A broken web spins no tales." She said simply, hoping Ohen would understand what she meant.

Other smiled as he was glad that even though Meldresi worshipped her own Gods, she was still interested in his religion. "Their spirit is what provides the nutrients to Dragon Valley. A part of a Dragon's spirit will travel into the ground, and let the herbs grow strong, and water flow. Then the other part will travel into the herds on the land, so that a wolf in the Valley never goes hungry." He said and remembered many other stories his mother told him about the Old God's spirits.

Ohen watched as the cobweb broke off and Meldresi said something about how a broke web spins no tails. "Who's knows, mabye something needs to be broken in order to truly reveal the message hidden within" he said while shrugging his shoulders.

I think it's about time to wrap this up. Last post from me!

She had heard of religions where spirits lived in the soil, the air, the water, etc. to feed the wolves that lived in the land, but never gods. Gods were always a higher being, beyond reach from their mortal worshippers. To have such an intimate relationship with the deities was enviable to the priestess, but she had dedicated too many years to Mephala to break ties with the Spider Daedra now. And besides, she feared Sithis' wrath.

"I have never thought of that before." She admitted. The Night Queen looked at the spider web one last time. And it seemed the black dragon-worshipper was right. She was getting a clearer image now than before. But her duties wrenched her away from the web, to her disappointment. "Thank you for the conversation, Ohen." She said, straightening herself. "Shadows hide you. That's a goodbye to Mephala's worshippers." She nodded to the black male, then disappeared into the shadows.