[open crystal]

[provenforce]

FORM:crystal
SENDER: Rey
RECIPIENT: anyone listening
WHAT: a question
WHEN: nowish
WHERE: Kirkwall
NOTES: nawp

So I've been here a little over a year, and I was here last year for Satinalia, but I'm... still a little foggy on what exactly we're supposed to be celebrating. I recall the costumes, and I've seen some vendors selling similar things this year. But from what I've seen it just seems to mostly be a celebration for the sake of celebrating? Or is there a deeper meaning I've missed?

Comments

[circleprodigy]

Satinalia was once dedicated to the Old God of Chaos, Zazikel, but now attributed more to the second moon, Satina. At least, technically. I doubt most remember or care about the holiday's origins, and either way it's an excuse for celebration and feasting.

[provenforce]

So that's it? People just dress up and give presents for the sake of it? [That's so weird to her. No one gives things away on Jakku.]

[circleprodigy]

For the sake of it, and for one last hurrah before winter. I take it there is no equivalent in your lands?

[provenforce]

No. People didn't celebrate much on Jakku. When they did, they did it privately, not sharing food and gifts like they do here.

[circleprodigy]

Ah, I see. That must be a bit of a culture shock, then.

[It sounds lonely, to Inessa, but it seems lacking in manners to say so.]

I hope you'll find the celebrations to your liking, now that you do have the opportunity. Do you have a mask?

[provenforce]

I...do. [Sort of. It's her goggles from her scavenging days, but it's what she wore last year.] I was thinking I'd just wear what I had last year.

[circleprodigy]

In some circles, it's tradition to have a new mask each year. Should you lean in that direction, I can attempt to assist. I need to acquire one for myself, as it is.

[provenforce]

Oh. Well, I guess I could get a new one. I don't know if I'd know what I was looking for, though.

[circleprodigy]

Nor do I, but inspiration often strikes when you have a chance to see the masks themselves. It's better to go into it without expectations, then you can adjust as need be.

[provenforce]

Alright. If you're game to go mask hunting, I am.

[circleprodigy]

I can meet you at the Lowtown markets.

Actually, 'we'. Perhaps they have a costume available for Garahel, too.

[provenforce]

Sounds good. Maybe Padawan will find something she likes too. I don't know how much of a dress-up dog she is, though.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

It's more of a moon celebration than anything else - think of it as a late harvest, early winter celebration. It is a time to celebrate family, friends, and all that is good in life before winter sets in and we must all burrow in for a few months.

[provenforce]

We don't really have anything like that where I'm from. The idea is a little foreign, I guess.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

What do you celebrate, back where you come from?

[provenforce]

Um... Some people celebrated the winds, when they were kind and when the sandstorms didn't destroy their property. Though I think that was more a way of praying? I never really celebrated any of it.

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Well ... Satinalia is sort of our way to celebrate freedom, in all its forms. You might want to try it?

[faithlikeaseed]

In the ancient Imperium, it was a celebration of freedom. [There's a note of irony in his tone, because: Tevinter.] You still see the bones of that today, in some places--in the masks and the election of a Fool to rule over a town; "freedom from expectations," and the constraints society puts on us. Getting outside yourself, for a little while.

At least, that's the thought. We didn't celebrate it that way in the Circles. [For obvious reasons.]

[provenforce]

I'm almost afraid to ask, but how did you celebrate it in the Circles?

[faithlikeaseed]

Much more sedately. [Amused.] We'd take a day or two off, exchange little gifts, have an actual feast--and the craftier sorts, or the ones from monied families, might have masks.

Nothing exciting--no drunken revelry or dunces elected to First Enchanter for a day. Or, [wryly] mages being punished or tortured.

[provenforce]

That's... better than I expected, given what I've heard about Circles. It sounds more like the way I'd celebrate.

[faithlikeaseed]

[What he'd suspected.]

Given the voices in the Inquisition who're loudest about the Circles, I'm not surprised. And I won't gainsay their experiences-there's no excusing the evil of what was done to them. It can't be permitted to happen again.

But not all of us were abused, and not all of us were left in a worse state than we'd have been in if we hadn't been taken in. My Circle was my home and I miss it, dearly.

Did you get much chance to celebrate back home, serah?

[provenforce]

I have heard people advocate for the Circles just... not many. I suppose the Inquisition does attract a certain element. It's good to hear you weren't all mistreated.

And no, I rarely got to celebrate anything back where I'm from.

[faithlikeaseed]

[Quietly,] That it does, and I'm glad they've somewhere they feel safe doing so. With hope and the Maker's blessing, we might be able to work something out that'll meet all our needs, mages or not.

I'm sorry to hear that--though it sounds from your conversation with Warden Serra you'll be making up for lost time in good form. [There's a grin in the words.] And since I've not heard your voice before--what's your name?

[provenforce]

Oh, sorry. [She sounds a little sheepish. She mostly just talks to people she already knows on these things.] My name is Rey. You are?

[faithlikeaseed]

Myrobalan Shivana, lately of Hasmal Circle--but Myr will do.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Rey. How was your last Satinalia with us here on Thedas?

[provenforce]

It's nice to meet you too, Myr. It was fine. I mostly watched, tried some of the food. I met a few rifters I hadn't before, though... they're gone, now.

[faithlikeaseed]

Gone? [Sympathetic, a little worried.] Off to Skyhold, or--really gone?

[provenforce]

Really gone. At least, as far as I know. The only one I know for sure was my mentor, Obi-Wan. I used to be able to feel his presence, I can't anymore.

[She's still profoundly sad about that.]

The others... I don't know. Maybe they just left and haven't kept in touch. I don't think that's like them, though.

[faithlikeaseed]

Maker's name--I'm sorry. That's got to be lonely, especially losing your mentor. [...He doesn't want to think too long on where they might've ended up, given what he's heard of Venatori designs on the shardbearers.

Hesitant,] But you could...feel while he was around? How is that, exactly?

[provenforce]

I'm used to lonely. [ Said with only a little bitterness! ]

Oh... We're Force-sensitive. It's a power where I'm from... sort of like magic is here, only not exactly the same. But those of us who have the ability are able to sense one-another.

[faithlikeaseed]

[Quiet,] There's lots of things you can get used to, but it doesn't make it any better for them to have happened.

...Huh! So you're a sort of mage, then? Sensing each other's not the limit of it, is it?

[provenforce]

[ She's just gonna let that go, because there's nothing she can say that's going to change things in either direction, and she doesn't like talking about it. ]

I can't do magic like mages do, but there's more than just being able to sense other people who are Force-sensitive. It's got some parallels with your force school of magic, from what I've read.

[faithlikeaseed]

Huh--all right. If not mages, then do they have something else to call you where you're from? Or just 'Force-sensitive'?
...And what's the "force" you're sensitive to? [He'd argue magic's all a matter of definitions, but that seems needlessly pedantic here.]

--Ah! So tossing things around, flattening people, crushing armor--that kind of thing?

[provenforce]

Force-sensitive is what those who are untrained are called, there used to be temples dedicated to teaching the Jedi, which are users of the Force, but they're almost all gone. [The next question is a little more difficult. She was still learning, really.] The Force is... it's everything. It connects all living things. It's more than just throwing things around, it's knowing where to put your blade to block an arrow, and so much more. I've only learned a fraction of what Jedi know.

[faithlikeaseed]

What happened to them? The temples--and the Jedi, I s'pose.

...Huh. So it's really closer to the Fade itself than magic, though... [He trails off into silence, turning the idea around in his head and trying to make it fit with concepts he knows. It doesn't, precisely.]

[provenforce]

They were destroyed. Most of them killed. The details are... a little unclear, because a lot of records from that time were destroyed along with the Jedi.

[She sighs a little as he tries to fit the concept of the Force into Thedas standards. She's had this conversation with others, but she feels it's important to try and distinguish herself.]

It's similar, though the Fade doesn't permeate everything. The Force does.

[castintoflames]

I too am curious as to the origins. Would you mind sharing what you have learned? (Different cultures fascinate him, but he shies away from celebrations out of habit.)

[provenforce]

From what I've gathered, the origins were with ancient gods, but now it's more or less just an excuse to have a party.

[castintoflames]

I believe that is quite normal for many ancient holidays. Mortal memories do not last over the Ages.

[provenforce]

It's a shame that origins can be lost so easily. Though what comes out of it can be good too.

[castintoflames]

Death erases much - and if there are none alive who remember, stories are lost for good.

[provenforce]

People in my universe record things to preserve them, though even those recordings can be destroyed.

[castintoflames]

There is no permanence to it; there is no guarantee. Books can be written too, but if the paper is destroyed, the words are forgotten.