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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 2428571" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the One-Hundred Thirty-EighthIn which: Alirria rises.  The last days of February are always filled with anticipation in the Halmae.  The cold days of winter are coming to a close as Kettenek’s power wanes.  The days are growing longer and warmer as spring approaches, bringing with them the season of Alirria.  The season of life.  The season of love.  As the party’s ship pulls into Dar Pykos Harbor on the last full day of winter, the air carries a current of excitement.Anvil is at the docks to meet them.  They cannot help but notice that he is looking quite sharp in his new Third Order Justicar robes.Reyu is the first to congratulate him.  “It is good to see your contributions recognized.”“It’s good to see you actually change clothes,” Kiara adds.Although Anvil generously invites the rest of the party to join him at the Temple of Justice to observe the rituals marking the end of Kettenek’s season, most have made other plans.“Well, thanks and all,” says Thatch, “but I’m going to be at the Temple of the Handmaidens, working.”“Yeah, I’ll just bet you are,” Eva says, with a smirk.“Huh?  No, no.  Really.  I’m gonna be working.  Like actually working,” Thatch protests.“Yeah.  Uh-huh,” Eva replies.  Lira barely stifles her giggles.  Thatch shoots them both a dirty look before arching ignoring them as he goes to check on Bob.“Reyu?” Anvil asks.The elf shakes her head.  “Some of my sisters are holding their celebration outside the city.  I will be joining them.”“Ooo!  Ooo!”  Kiara bounces in her eagerness.  “Can I come with you?  I loved New Year’s with the elves.”Annika frowns.  “I thought you wanted to come to the Mages’ Academy with me.”“That was before I knew there were elves.”Annika is torn.  It would be nice to have the night to herself, or maybe… not to herself, but… she looks over at Reyu.  “Would she be bothering you?”“I’m right here!” Kiara protests.Reyu answers, ignoring the interruption.  “Not at all.”  She then answers Annika’s unspoken question, “She will be quite safe with us.”“I guess you can go then.”“Yippee!”Reyu and Kiara have soon gone on their way, and Annika hurries off to get back to the Academy.  Seeing that no one seems eager to take him up on his invitation, Anvil departs as well.This leaves Eva and Lira standing together on the dock.  The look at each other.  “How are we the only ones without plans?”Alirria Rising marks not only the first day of spring, but also the start of a new year.  As such, it is one of the most festive days of the calendar.  And by long standing tradition, it is considered bad luck not to have a date.The two young, attractive, single women stand a moment longer.“I’m going to go visit some friends of mine,” Lira offers.  “Do you want me to ask for you if anyone—?”Eva doesn’t let her finish the thought.  “No.”“Okay.”The silence lingers.“So… Meet you at the main square?”“Four-thirty?”“See you then.”They  both hurry off.  Lira goes to find her friends.  Eva goes to find a card game.###Today, the wind blows in Eva’s favor.  The Lady’s Luck is with her, and she is easily cleaning out her last remaining opponent, a good looking, chatty fellow named Lyndon.  Too chatty to be a good card player, but—she notes—chatty enough to make a decent companion for an evening.Eva looks at her hand and raises.  Lyndon looks at his hand and at his dwindling pile of gold.  “I’d like to call,” he says, “but I don’t think I have enough gold left.  You take barter?”“What have you got?” Eva asks, eyeing him up and down.  He is, indeed, a good looking fellow.He spreads his hands wide and smiles a self-deprecating smile.  “Not much,” he admits. Eva takes another good look at him.  She’s in a winning mood, and the cards are in her favor.  Maybe she’ll roll the dice.  “You got a date for Alirria Rising?” she asks.“Er, no,” he says, clearly taken aback.“Okay.  Put in the rest of your gold.  If I win, you’re my date.”Lyndon smiles.  “Well, that hardly seems fair.  A date with you is hardly a hardship.  If I’m putting something into the pot, shouldn’t it cost me something?”“Oh, it will,” Eva says.  “You’ll be paying.”Lyndon laughs.  “All right.  You’ve got a deal.”  He pushes his remaining coins to the center of the table and shows his cards.Lyndon’s hand is pretty good.  But it’s not nearly as good as Eva’s Full Gods.Eva sweeps up the pot with a smile.  “You can pick me up at four.” ###After most of the last week spent in a funk, Eva finds herself looking forward to the night out.  The trip to Dar Karo helped clear her head after her late-night visitor.  And while it’s true that not having a date for Alirria Rising isn’t quite as bad as not having a date for Alirria Ascendant, nobody likes to start the New Year alone.  And Lyndon is rather good looking.But, Eva realizes, it is more than just the prospect of a date that has brightened her spirits.  Much to her surprise, she finds that it is also the coming of the season of Alirria.  Her encounter with the goddess is fresh in her mind, and she can still feel the warm, enveloping touch.  Eva draws comfort from remembering the sensations.Tonight will be a good night.As promised, Lyndon picks Eva up at four in the morning.  The Alirria Rising ceremonies are to begin late at night, culminating at dawn.  Afterwards, there will be a great celebration, which lasts until people collapse and return to their homes, usually in pairs, to continue their celebration in a more private setting.Eva and Lyndon meet up with Lira and her friend, a personable man named Artimus who, as it turns out, is a fellow sorcerer.  Is it something about sorcerers, Eva wonders briefly, that makes them so… likeable?  Artimus works in Dar Pykos as an exterminator which seems an odd profession until he points out that there is nothing like the combination of light and magic missile for killing rats.  “If I can see ‘em, I can kill ‘em,” he boasts with justifiable professional pride.The four arrive at the packed city square where a large stage has been erected.  A crowd has gathered before it, and near the front are dozens of couples dressed in green robes.  They are those who hope to conceive new life in this season, seeking blessings of fertility from the Alirrian priestesses.The priestesses lead the assembled in prayers and songs, as the crowd grows larger and larger.  Finally, as the sky grows lighter, the Benedictress, the head of the Alirrian Church in Dar Pykos, comes to the fore, and begins her Invocation for the New Year.  She speaks words of hope.  Words of joy, of love, of glad tidings and new beginnings.  Words rich with the promise of renewal, of restoration.  She speaks words of life.While she speaks, the first rays of the spring sun break the horizon, illuminating the Benedictress.  Eva, Lyndon, Lira, and Artimus each take a long sip from the cups of fresh, cool water passed through the crowd just as the Benedictress raises her hands in final blessing.  As one, the voices of the crowd rise up around them in celebration.  Spring is here.The next few hours are a delightful time.  There is dancing, feasting, and drinking.  The two couples soon lose each other in the crowd, and it is nearly noon before Eva finds herself exhausted and ready to call it a night.  Lyndon offers to walk her home, and Eva agrees.  There is a brief, awkward moment as they stand outside the door to Mrs. Blackburn’s boarding house.  But, although Eva finds Lyndon companionable enough, she has decided that the night will end here.“Well,” she tells him.  “Good night, and thank you.  I had a good time.”He nods, receiving the message.  “So did I,” he says with a smile.  He steps in to kiss her gently on the cheek.And then he whispers four little words in her ear.  Words that make Eva’s blood run cold.“Kemmer sends his best.”She can only stand and stare at him in horror as he flashes her a quick, crooked grin, turns around, and disappears into the crowd.</blockquote>

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