Winter's Crest Snow Day [GP]

[st_ockandbarrel]

The Inn was decorated in, if possible, an even more outlandish style than usual. Garlands of evergreens and bright berries competed with gold angels and cheerful small grinning creatures with pointed ears and shoes. A large fir tree had appeared seemingly from nowhere and was now draped with lights and hung with colored glass balls. At the top perched a figure in white robes with wings.

It was, Percy mused, probably for whatever the local holiday was, but it was also close enough to Winter's Crest decorations for him to feel a bit homesick for Whitestone. After all, it was only a year ago that he'd been able to celebrate Winter's Crest in his home city for the first time in years.

Something was still missing - or rather, many things were missing but one thing that he could solve for. Winter's Crest called for snow, and better snow in abundance. To solve for that last problem, he turned to a gnome of exceptional talent. While he didn't know how Sarenrae's power worked, he did have complete faith in her cleric. And thus, together, they concocted a plan: to turn the weather to a more appropriate clime.

The morning of December 20th dawned as it often did in this place - heavy with clouds that would burn off before noon. The clouds were important. They would make the spell casting easier, and Pike knew that she needed all the help she could get. Weather magic was not her forte. Like all clerics with powers as advanced as hers, she knew the right spell but when you had a druid around, there hadn't been much need for her to use it.

Dressed in a warm coat and a big floppy, knit cap, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed. Holding her holy symbol in both hands, she concentrated on the sky. As the Celestial incantation took root, golden rays of light encircled her and rose into the air. With each heartbeat, she could feel Sarenrae's power drawing warmth from the clouds above and into her body.

It took ten minutes to cast the spell and another twenty minutes for it to take effect. The spell would fade if she didn't maintain concentration all day, but it was a small price to pay.

And that's how, before the sun had completely finished rising, it was snowing on the Madonna Inn.

Comments

OTA

[st_ealthless]

For all of the work she'd put into the Winter's Crest festival, Pike found that she was happiest watching as everyone enjoyed themselves.

The Control Weather spell was buzzing in the back of her mind, not unlike a catchy song, and reminding her to watch how quickly she moved. One wrong step and there was a fifty/fifty chance that she'd lose the spell and wouldn't be able to cast it again. Luckily Lilith had a made her signs to pin to the front and back of her over-sized sweater that read "Don't hit me. I'm your snow."

She would play some games later, but for now she was content to alternate between keeping the treats table well-stocked with the holiday favorites she'd made and lounging in one of the big comfy armchairs that had been brought outside, sipping eggnog and (most importantly) being careful.

Re: OTA

[st_artandstoke]

"You're our snow?" Jag read out loud inquiringly, and gave the tiny girl a half-smile - not that it lacked in warmth, it was just the way of a lot of his smiles, and made them no less friendly. "Reckon we all owe you some thanks, then. Don't tell me the food's also you?"

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[st_ealthless]

"Yup!" Pike looked up from the tray of cookies she was arranging and gave him a broad smile. "Well, I'm the snow as long as I can maintain concentration on the spell. And I only made some of the sweet stuff, so I can't take all the credit for these." She waved to the food table. "Winter's Crest usually isn't actually my favorite holiday, but this year it felt right to go all out.

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[st_artandstoke]

"Winter's Crest?" Jag echoed with raised eyebrows. Not one he'd heard of before.

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[st_ealthless]

"It's the winter holiday where I'm from." She adjusted the antler headband that she'd tucked behind her pointed ear. "It's not a religious holiday, so it seemed like something we could all of us to celebrate together."

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[st_artandstoke]

Jag smiled at that, and reached for a cookie. "What is it about, then? Just, 'winter rocks, let's have fun'?"

That sounded about perfect to him.

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[st_ealthless]

"It's held on the winter solstice, so it's more like, 'Winter is halfway done, let's have fun!'" She grabbed a cookie as well and watched carefully to see how he liked it.

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[st_artandstoke]

Jag was very pleasantly surprised by the spice in the cookies, and a smile flitted across his face. "I can get behind that." He didn't mind winter, himself, but any excuse to have fun, honestly. Especially now.

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[st_ealthless]

"So," She hopped into the big chair she's claimed for the day. "What's your favorite brand of fun? Eating? Games? Strength contests? Just running around in the snow? Drinking?"

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[st_artandstoke]

"Eating, drinking and smoking are top of the list," Jag admitted with a shameless half-smile. "I'm all about a good show, too - or a good snowball fight."

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[st_ealthless]

"We've got you covered for most of those things. Lillith has some illusions going on over there, which make a good show." She nodded to the dragons and carousel spinning nearby. "Smoking. Gods I wish we had better smoking options."

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[st_artandstoke]

"Kash has got some decent weed going?" he offered. He could always cut back to cut her in on it, if she wanted in and there wasn't enough. It was the least he could do.

But for now, he grabbed a couple of cookies and sat on the chair beside her.

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[st_ealthless]

"Kash does? Really? I'm gonna kill him for not sharing!" Pike huffed, but her annoyance only lasted as long as it took to shove a cookie into her mouth. "But then I'd have to waste a spell reviving him and then we'd lose the snow."

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[st_rikingblueeyes]

"How?"

Corbie was taking a break at that moment from playing in the snow, and she had yet to properly say thank you to the person she'd been told was at the heart of it. But when she saw the sign pinned to Pike, the 'thank you' came out as a question instead.

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[st_ealthless]

"Wha?" Pike was startled by the unexpected question, but followed the young woman's gaze down to her sign. "Oh! That! With magic. I cast a spell this morning and have control of the weather unless I break concentration."

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[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie ducked her head. "Well, magic, yeah. But I mean..." she straightened, her eyes bright with the force of the questions building up. "How? Back home there were magicians in the navy employed to do weather stuff, but I never got to study that, and I ain't heard of them ever doing snow."

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[st_ealthless]

"Oh! Well, let me think. The easy answer is that I'm a cleric, so the source of my magic is my god." The woman's intensity made Pike smile.

"But on a more technical level, I used transmutation magic to change the weather from one thing to another. Control Weather is a really advanced spell. It's taken me years of practice to manage it and even now I only have the strength to cast it once a day."

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[st_rikingblueeyes]

"Cleric." Corbie knew she'd heard that word before, and she frowned lightly as she tried to place it. "Oh! Like Kash?"

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[st_ealthless]

"Yup," Pike looked around the festival until her eyes found her grumpy friend, "But we have very different relationships with the gods who give us our powers."

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[st_rikingblueeyes]

Remembering the story Kash had told her about his relationship with his goddess, Corbie has to wince, and even that was a gross understatement. "I hope so."

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[st_ealthless]

Pike looked at the girl even closer. If Kash had opened up enough to tell her about Vesh, then there must be something special about her. She'd mentioned studying, so maybe she was a young cleric as well? "And what about you? Where does your power come from?"

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[st_rikingblueeyes]

"It's..." Corbie paused and considered how best to answer that question. "It's inside me, ma'am," she said quietly. "Since I was thirteen." She could still see the horror and sadness in Gran's face when she'd first seen magic there.

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[st_ealthless]

“Oh goodness! There’s no need to call me ma’am,” Pike laughed. She was so young for a gnome, it was funny to think she’d be considered a ma’am. “I’m Pike.”

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[st_rikingblueeyes]

The girl ducked her head in the hopes that the brief break of eye contact would keep her from blushing. "I'm Corbie."

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[st_ealthless]

Leaning forward, Pike slid into Corbie’s vision and smiled. The great thing about being so tiny was that if people tried to look down it was very easy to catch their eye again.

“It’s lovely to meet you.”