fromthefog | Prayer Box

This is a place to send your prayers to the Fog god. She may not always respond, or she may respond in ways you don’t expect, but she is always listening.

Speak, she hears you.

OOC note: As of April 2020, threads with the gods will be capped at three NPC replies! Please keep this in mind when writing god prayers to make sure you get everything you need out of the thread. It’s also possible to handwave prayers by titling your comment HANDWAVED PRAYER. Handwaved prayers lack our usual flourish, but you can expect a faster response!

As of February 2024, god prayers will be handwaved only. Please only submit a prayer if you have a question for either god which needs answering in order to progress your character's arc within Ryslig. If this is something you need to tier up within the god boon system, or just to set up a player plot in general, please don't hesitate to submit a prayer about it! You may shorten it down to an OOC summary of what your character is asking. This will allow any of our helper mods to reply much faster, without having to dig into the specifics of either god's personality/writing quirks. Should this limitation be lifted again in the future, this note will be removed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ryou's tired. He's so, so tired, down to his bones, to what makes him who he is. It's not the kind of sleepless exhaustion that he felt in July (though there is a little of that), but instead, it's something that's shaken him to his core.

He's back on the roof of the 38-8. The place where he last spoke to the Fog, and just like before, he looks terribly small and insignificant for such a tall creature. Unlike before, however, Ryou doesn't beat around the bush. He calls to Her.]

Fog...? Please. I need you. I need your help.

I can't be strong without you. Not strong enough. Not fast enough. I don't...agree with everything you and some of your followers do. But I...I must be of use to you somehow. In return for strength. Tell me what you want, please, and I'll do what I can.

[He'll sell his soul to the devil if it means that when he stands against adversity that he won't shatter.]

I just want to protect people I care about! I...I can't do it on my own!

[...Ryou had told himself when he came up on this roof that he would stay stalwart. Cold and emotionless because he's already been working on hiding his true feelings, and he hopes he's been doing well enough so far.

But in the end, he's crying, because he's desperate and he'll take on this mantle if he has to, but it still scares him.

Elias' words still haunt him. He was already tainted by her influence. He belongs here. He's just been railing against something he can't defeat on his own...]

[A powerful gust of wind rattles the chain-link fence that surrounds the rooftops of the 38-8. She is here--Ryou can feel it. But despite the winter chill, a warm breeze floats across the roof and envelops Ryou, protecting him from the cold.]

I am with you already, my child. I have been with you the entire time. But it is now that you come to me, tears in your eyes, and it is now that you see this. Come, and let me embrace you. Let me lend you my strength so you may protect yourself and those close to your heart.

[The clouds coalesce overhead, and an indistinct vapor of fog wavers before him. It begins to waft in his direction, turning and swirling, becoming more and more solid, until the shape of an indistinct woman forms. Her hair flows this way and that, as if it has a mind of its own, and no distinct features can be made out of her face.

Her arms are outstretched.]

Close your eyes and allow your instincts to guide you. Feel the rush of blood in your ears, and you will know what to do.

[Ryou gasps softly as the warmth envelops him. This is different from the last time they spoke--there is less a forbidding sensation, no scorned god whose wounds were pulled to the surface by what the Tagevalgten had been doing.

...He shouldn't be comforted, he should be frightened, but he can't really help himself. It's been so, so hard, trying to do things on his own. He doesn't even ask her why she empowered the monsters to kill each other, even if it's in his mind to ask.

Instead, his eyes half-close as he listens to her, drinks in her words and derives comfort from the knowledge that he will be strengthened. His clawed feet tap on the roof of the building at first when he moves closer, doing as she says. But by the time he approaches the coalesced form of a faceless woman he's floating, moving airily towards her.

He's scared.

He's intimidated by a god given form.

She could hurt him if she wanted to.

And yet...Ryou does as he's told; his eyes slip shut as he moves in close, hands held tightly to his chest, and allows her the opportunity to envelop him in an embrace. It's an awful lot of trust coming from him, but he's already come back from death twice. A third is all but inevitable, if not here, then elsewhere. And if she does hug him...

He'd find that extremely comforting despite himself.]

My instincts...?

[He knows what his monster instincts want.]

[As Ryou approaches the figure, her arms close around him tightly--a mimicry of what she has seen humans done in the past, one that she's seen family do before. One of the few aspects of humanity she does not reject, and in fact, a gesture that even most deities are familiar with and accept.

After all, everyone can use a hug.

As her ghostly arms envelope the shade, Ryou can feel a warmth spreading from the point of contact and into Ryou's skin. It feels as tangible as any hug that Ryou has received before, but this one imbues him with a newfound strength. The fog swirls at his feet as this power seeps into his veins.

In a hushed voice so quiet that Ryou might dismiss it for a stray thought, the Fog speaks again.]

Your instincts, my child. Follow your instincts, and you will not fail.

[The warmth fades, and the figure drifts away, but the lingering energy remains. It hangs in the air, completely still, as if watching Ryou's next actions.]

[Ryou won't understand what power she's giving him at first, but what he does understand is that this...this is what it feels like to be loved by someone, doesn't it? It's like having a mother wrap her arms around you, hold you close.

He knows the Fog is not his mother...but it's a comforting sensation all the same, to the point where he doesn't want to let go. Funny, what the desperation of one who has lost his life in such a pitiful way would amount to.

When the Fog pulls away, he doesn't immediately register that he's grown a tail as part of his pact. He's too focused on her words, and what she expects from him. Ryou wraps his arms around himself, his expression a bit distant. It's a moment before he finally gets up the courage.]

I can't promise you that I'll go out of my way to hurt others all the time. I'm...j-just not like that. I can't be that sort of instrument. But I can promise you that I'll find a way to serve you, if you could just...trust me. I'll find a way to make it count.

[He's sincere. He'll do what it takes, but on his terms.]

If you can make me even stronger...we'll come to a proper arrangement. I'm...very appreciative. So that's the crux of my promise to you.

[As much as he hates it, that is also sincere.]

[A quiet chuckle can be heard. The figure rises from the ground, floating higher and higher as the wind begins to warp and shape its edges. It seems like she's on the verge of being blown away with the wind.]

Small steps, my pet. With small steps, once can slowly build the courage to run.Wield my strength well, my dear shade. I trust you will not disappoint me.

[With a strong gust, the figure dissipates into the rest of the fog and disappears. Ryou is left alone, stronger and more empowered than when he started this conversation.]

Prayer Box

January...8th or 9th, I think

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