#candbrp

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura thankfully didn’t mind the spacing out, they just waited patiently for Priestess Miriam to finish her thinking. “Oh! They’re the same thing, they’re just referred to in a few different ways.” they clarify. “The Old Gods, the Great Ones, the Light, there’s many ways to refer to them but they’re all the same collective!” they clarify.

“Oh.” 

Miriam munched on her popcorn some more before speaking again.

“I don’t see things the way you do. I’m trying to learn resurrection abilities,” she plainly stated. She thought is was a pretty good summary of what went on inside her head.

[stuckinuniformdevelopment]

@candbrp

(Previous) Shamura nods and leans over to start the machine up. "There! Anything else?" They hum. "Or next I put the whites in the other one?"

It took a second for Theodore to realize what they meant by "the other one." Once he did he shook his head as he glanced over it.

"That's all. The process is the same for the whites aside from turning the washing machine dial to the red mark."

[gloria-in-excelsis-infimus]

(Previous)

@candbrp

Shamura looks around the sudden change in scenery with fascination, they really couldn't tell where this was magic or the strange technology that the watchdogs had, maybe even a mix of both. They look out in eager fascination at the garden but their attention is quickly caught by Gloria addressing them. Shamura nods dutifully and got to work spreading the towels, being careful and neat in their arrangement, making sure they covered the surface completely.

@bishop-percival

Upon entering the foyer, a small wave of calmness washed over Miriam. While she never liked to go out of her way to ask if she could visit, Miriam loved any chance she could get to be invited into Gloria’s cushy planet and house. To Miriam, she somehow felt more at home during these sparse visits than she ever did during eight years of living in the Glornch. She followed the group into the spare bedroom. She nodded at Gloria’s instruction and waited until the bed was covered with towels before placing Lola down. The priestess leaned close to her face and whispered the same string of strange before flicking her forehead. “Oww…” Lola groggily muttered as she stirred awake. “Uurhg… Where am I? What is this beautiful room? Ah man, did they send me to The Heavens instead of The Hells? Was I not evil enough?"

Once they had spread out the towels Gloria gave Shamura an affectionate pat on the head. "What a helpful youngster," she said as she pulled a palm-sized bundle out of her pocket and placed it in their hands.

"Here, take this as a reward." Then she paused to rest her hand on her cheek and sigh. "...And your much needed snack. It's a shame this commotion delayed your dinner."

While Revenard Miriam woke Lola up Gloria double checked that the door was shut and curtains were closed. Surely this Glornist would be especially whiny if she found out that she had a mansion large enough to comfortably fit all of them.

If Lola found out, so would everyone else. Annnnd that would jeopardize her ability to leave whenever the Glornists became too troublesome to deal with.

When Lola woke up Gloria giggle. "How sweet of you! But no, this is but my humble bedroom." She let out a lightheaded scoff. "As if Revenard Miriam would carry you to The Heavens."

Then she sat down in the chair next to bed and offered Lola an orange cookie from the platter on the bedside table. It was pumpkin shaped with a piece of chocolate serving as a steam, with a big friendly smile stretched across it.

"How are you feeling, dearie?" Gloria leaned in to rest her hand on Lola's forehead. "That mushroom was forbidden for a reason."

As she gave Lola the friendly grandmother routine she used her feet to pull a garden bucket out from under the bed and nudged it to Miriam.

[eyeballcommander]

@bishop-percival

(Previous) As Hater was charging up a blast, Thomas clasped his hands together and bowed low. “O Glorn, throw me a scrap of pity and curse the one who has cursed me- GAH!!” Thomas fell to the ground after being fried. Those standing closest to him- most of the other acolytes, save for Teddy- gasped, laughed, or otherwise exclaimed at the sensation of getting stung second hand. But they all shut up when Commander Peepers shot Sam. Taking a direct hit, Sam staggered backwards and collapsed on top of Thomas. Too bad he wasn't conscious to see that his prayer was answered. The rest of the group scattered as Peepers shot into them. Percival, thoroughly entertained by the entire spectacle, twiddled his fingers at Peepers. “Morning~”

"YOU DRAGGED ME OUT OF BED BE-"

Peepers abruptly cut himself off when he heard that obnoxious bishop greet him. (And he was well aware that he was only being overly friendly to condescend him.)

He had aimed his blaster at him when Hater grabbed his hand-- blaster and all-- and lifted him up.

"Save it for the show C.Peeps! A hallway fight isn't nearly as cool!"

Right. Peepers' groggy mind caught up with him and he went limp as he glowered at Baby Bishop. The turning-his-so-called-bud's-interpersonable-conflicts-into-public-spectacles thing. He sighed before narrowing his eye and hissing,

"I cannot overstate how much I'm looking forward to wiping that smug smirk off your stupid schlubby face..."

[stuckinuniformdevelopment]

@candbrp

(Previous) When Teddy started moving things Shamura perked up to watch, and when he had finally pulled out the sewing machine their eyes sparkled. They were almost getting butterflies with anticipation and they turn back to finish up their folding so they could get to it.

Soon the second machine was ready to be used... Well, aside from a handful of missing components to make it safe for a beginner.

He went over to both check on Shamura and grab from his stash of paper as he said, “Let me know when you're ready.”

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) “I think I’m alright,” Shamura confirms. They give a polite bow to Mike. “Thank you, Reverend, good luck with your work.”

Mike gave a nod. “Thank you. Good luck to you as well.”

Autumn headed to the door, and held it open for Shamura. “Alrighty. I gotta show you how to use the soul amulets!”

Once the two were back out in the hall, she took a hold of an amulet, which looked like a big yellow gemstone affixed to a metal hoop. 

“So, if you ever come across a ghost, what you do is rub one of these against your palm in a circular motion…” Autumn did just that to demonstrate. The amulet gradually started glowing. 

“Once it’s glowing, that means it’s activated! Then you just chuck it at the ghost and it’ll usually get sucked into it. Pretty easy, if you have good aim!” 

They then rapidly shook their amulet until it stopped glowing. “And it’s not a good idea to keep them activated for very long or else their effectiveness weakens.”

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) When Mike “caught” them Shamura keeps their head down, but at Mike’s comment about the chocolate milk they perk back up. “Oh, uh, that was Bishop Percival I believe,” they say, recalling how he made their shattered glass ‘disappear’.

Mike sighed and pinched his forehead in annoyance. “Of course it was him…”

“Yeah,” Autumn clapped Mike on the shoulder, “you should go yell at him or something.”

He smacked their hand away. “Don’t distract me! I’m not letting you bring Shamura into the crypt.”

“C’mon! But it’s so cool! They’d probably love to see and hear about all of the neat things you’ve collected over the years! They won’t touch anything, right?” Autumn turned to Shamura. 

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura shakes their head. “That’s okay, neither do I.” they chuckle. At Autumn’s comment they hum and then give a nod. “Yes, please! What are you up to?”

Autumn started walking down the hall toward the stairs. “Well, I was just checking up on Lola and doing a little patrolling. Gotta keep an eye out for ghosts and shadow beasts!”

They folded their arms. “Which, by the way, are just annoying little evil creatures that Bishop Percival summons to torment the Skullship sometimes. Many of them often get stuck right in the Glornch. But they’re nothing to worry about, really!”

[stuckinuniformdevelopment]

@candbrp

(Previous) Shamura beams, finally some praise they could take! "That's how the Light teaches us to be," they remark. Shamura watches with intrigue as he inspects the silk, and then conducts his experiment and dissolves it in the acid, they really aren't sure what to take from most of it but it was really cool! "Mhmm!" they confirm, but at his question, Shamura just stares at him a moment before pointing to themself. "I'm a spider."

After a long pause Theodore decided to settle with simply writing sentient spider. Perhaps there was only one species of Araneae there. Ooor a child didn't care about the specific details.

Regardless, he'd only asked about it for completion anyways.

He leaned against the table as he started to sketch Shamura. "What size dolls do you have? And how many sets of arms?"

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura beams at that, very excited to hear it. “I’m really glad!! It’s one of my favourite foods! We cook it a lot because beets grow EVERYWHERE in Indigo Quarry!“ they explain. “We make all sortsa food with em.”

Mike tried not to cringe.

“Hm… Bet it would stink to live there if one hated beets. Are they used to make dye, too?” 

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura munches on their snack and accepts the water, but their eyes widen at the question. “Oh! Uh, no, it’s the crown of healing, so it can treat all wounds, including fatal injuries, but once the life is gone it falls out of the Crown’s domain.” They explain. “Besides, resurrection would make the life granted by the Great Ones so much less precious, would it not?“

“Ah… That makes sense. Resurrection certainly is on a different level than healing, after all” Miriam said after Shamura explained about the crown. 

The priestess paused to think about Shamura’s question, but perhaps completely missed the point of it. She didn’t know who the Great Ones were, so she certainly paid no reverence to them. But she had no doubt, lives are precious. And that’s what made them the apex of bargaining chips. There are people out there who would do anything, who would go through the most desperate measures, to get a life back. It’s why gods and demons alike find them so delicious and demand sacrifices in their worship. And it’s why Bishop Percival has been teaching Miriam necromancy as of late. She wasn’t quite capable of something as strenuous as resurrection yet, but she had her hand in communicating with the dead and summoning the ghosts and shadow beasts that menaced the halls at night. She wondered what Mother’s Eye would say on the matter. As a nearly-dead god herself who is trying to come back, would she view resurrection as some kind of forbidden meddling in the sanctity of life? Or— Oh crap how long has she been sitting spaced out!?

“Huh?” Miriam seemed to snap back into herself and slightly shook her head. “Sorry... Who are the Great Ones? Are they related to the Old Gods of your lands?”

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura gives a determined nod. “I will!!“ they give an eager smile. “And yes thank you!“ they say, holding out their bowl to try it.

Miriam sprinkled some onto Shamura’s popcorn.

Then she stood, gathered some things to put away, and came back with two glasses of water. She set one next to Shamura after she sat back down.

“So…” Miriam began sprinkling the aforementioned mystical herbs onto her share. “Is the Blue Crown capable of resurrection?” 

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura’s eyes widen and they give a soft gasp. “Really??” When Miriam handed the treat to them Shamura gave a polite bow of their head. “Thank you so much!” they say before scooping up a handful and giving it a try. Their feelers perk and in no time they were eagerly munching away at the delicious snack.

Miriam couldn’t help but grin at how excited Shamura got about both her jest and the popcorn. 

“I bet if you focus really hard on it every day, you’ll be casting spells from your hands just like me in no time.”

She sprinkled some nutritional yeast on her popcorn. “Want to try some of this? It has a savory flavor.”

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) “Ohhhhh.” Shamura says, drinking all the information in, though their attention is almost equally wrapped by the ‘magic’ of the popcorn being made. “I wonder how magical I am.” They hum, feelers twitching curiously.

The popping became less frequent.

The priestess put two fingers up to her temple and with her other hand, pointed two fingers at the spiderling.

“Hm. I can feel it. You’re very powerful.”

Of course, she was just messing around. But her flat voice and serious expression didn’t help convey that.

Once the popping became sparse, Miriam extinguished the flames and removed the pot lid. It was filled with fluffy popcorn! She got up and opened a cupboard to retrieve a small, perfectly portioned jar of clarified butter. She briefly heated it up in her hands before drizzling it into the pot. She then generously sprinkled salt in. She replaced the lid, picked up the pot, and gave it a good hearty shake.

Miriam scooped popcorn into a bowl and handed it to Shamura.

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) “Oooooh.” Shamura says, they hum and tap their hands on their knees a bit. “How does magic work? My teachers do it with their crowns but apparently, people can learn it kinda too.”

“Well, the way I know it, magic—”

Miriam paused when she heard two pops in the pot. She stood, poured more kernels in, and shook the pot before sitting back down.

“Ahem. Broadly speaking, magic is a very special type of energy. It can be harnessed and used to influence our world in unique ways. Instead of objects, some living creatures can harness this energy with their very beings. Some organisms are even made of magical energy.”

More popping rang out from the pot. Miriam reached over to shake it, and did so intermittently.

“Other creatures can’t use magic at all. There are some that can in very weak, minuscule ways. The use of staffs, rods, or other channeling objects can sometimes help.”

She put a hand to her chest. “I was born with a strong ability to use magic. But I’m an anomaly among my species.” 

[bishop-percival]

@candbrp

(prev) Shamura looks mystified and shakes their head. “Nope! Corn doesn’t really grow in the Indigo Quarry!“ they say. “What’s it like?” They ask, moving over to the cushion, assuming one is for them.

“When you heat a specific kind of corn kernel in oil, they pop out into a fluffy, crunchy snack. It tastes pretty bland on its own, so people usually add seasoning or toppings,” the priestess explained as she sat down.

“I personally add mystical herbs to mine to replenish my magical energy, along with nutritional yeast and salt.” She raised a finger into the air. “And of course clarified butter to not only help those stick to the popcorn but to make it taste ten times better.”