Zora walked into the waters of the temple, ready for what was to come.

She had steeled her body for the ceremony, but now- as was often the case in the Hard Water Temple- she instinctively relaxed, letting loose of her anxiety and submitting to the moment, letting herself think and move more like water, here, where she needn’t have her guard up.

As she entered the Deep Blue room, the pool within dominated the space.

The reflection of the torches encased blue glass sconces reflected off of the water and onto the blue tinted, rounded walls giving the entire room the feeling of being inside of a huge drop of water.  The temperature of the room was cool, and there was a heavy humidity in the air that made it seem warmer.  This was largely generated by the light steam that came off of the naturally heated pool, it’s surface dotted with floating, fragrant, dark purple flowers.

Censers hanging on the walls gave off thick white smoke that mixed with the vapors rising from the surface of the pool, creating shadows and shapes in the smoke that looked familiar and yet otherworldly. Scenes played upon the walls in the combination of the waters reflection and the shadows interplay, and the scenes told the story of the Sister’s creation.

The combination of fumes was intoxicating and Zora was immediately struck with the sense that she was floating rather than walking.  As her toes touched the water, the feeling intensified. She walked into the the pool, feeling the warm water caress her ankles, then the backs of her knees, then thighs, then the small of her back- her body slipping deeper and deeper into a warm, comforting hug of water.  At the same time her mind felt like it was sinking into the unseen depths of the pool, and simultaneously expanding her consciousness beyond the walls, beyond even the clouds, joining with the ocean between the stars.

Yasmin, the School’s Mother Ocean, seemed suspended in an upright position in the center of the pool, submerged to her shoulders.  Nearby, several large, wooden bowls floated in the water around her.  The bowls were adorned with blue paint in stripes that went from light blue to deep blue, giving the bowls the illusion of looking like smaller pools floating in the pool.  Yasmin stood as Zora approached, showing that the she had been squatting and the water as actually mid-waist high in the center.  Yasmin began swirling the bowls around her in the water, forming an intricate pattern with them.  Keeping one, specific bowl in front of her- and using a remarkably liquid-looking silver ladle- she dipped from each of the bowls depositing their contents into the one bowl before her. As she finished with them, the bowls were sent swirling off into the circle of women that surrounded Zora and Yasmin, all of the women humming a low, swaying, spiritual, rhythmic melody.  Yasmin slowly dipped the ladle into the pool water itself, adding its sparkling mineral water to the contents of the many-hued blue bowl she held.  She then offered the bowl to Zora, saying:

”Take this water into yourself, feel this world’s lifeblood wash through your body, and birth you anew.  As Asoka, So as I.”

“As Asoka, So as I.”  Zora responded in kind, taking the bowl into her hands.  The ceremonial symbols painted on her hands shone like moonlight in the cavern’s strange environs, the light effect picked up by the steam and glowing in the air around Zora, the vapors rippling in concert with the waves of blue woad painted on her skin.

Zora drank the contents of the bowl.

Dark, sticky and sweet, there was a spice and heat to the flavor, followed by a longer, icy cool.  The minty-menthol-y taste still clung to her lips as she seized violently, the pupils of her dark brown eyes suddenly flooding open giving Zora a disturbing alien affect, before the orbs rolled back into their sockets, her beautiful face transformed momentarily as her face sagged, her features drooping as her body again seized violently, this time backwards, throwing her forcefully into the water, submerging Zora beneath.

The humming continued

It was even louder underwater.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:00, Wed 07 Apr 2021.

Zora floated

When Asoka, the first Mother, found herself, it was in the Ocean. She was alone, and had only herself to watch over and care for. She had to work to find others. To find community.

And so Asoka swam.

And so Zora swam too.

Zora swam the channel she found herself in effectively, her crisp arm and leg movement coupled with her measured breathing barely left proof of her passing. In the distance she could see the Sister’s ship sitting in the water, rocking a bit slower than everything else; moving to a slightly different rhythm. The same rhythm as those called to man her stations.

She wasn’t sure of exactly what had happened, but she knew she was now in the Saladorian River- but it was the port area complete with huge sandbars that limited the current, despite the deep River water she now traversed.

Zora had always loved the cool feeling of the water against her skin, and as she calmly moved through her strokes, the ritual reminded her that she was strong too, like Asoka before her. Zora’s body rippled with freshly discovered  sinew as her new training program came towards completion. She couldn’t wait to show the complete training program to the School immediately following her Promotion. It would be a great contribution and beginning to her journey as a Riversister.

OOC: First Skill Challenge: Swim - 79% (+14% Passion: Loyalty to the Hard Water Path(63)) = 93% (72 rolled)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:20, Mon 05 Apr 2021.

The ship was farther than it looked.

Zora persevered.

She pushed her body as Asoka had pushed, driving her self towards the vessel, created to carry the soul on the waters of life.

There would always be moments when the goal was within sight, and the body would have to be firm enough to do the work. To get the job done. This was why We train. This is why we win.

OOC: Second Skill Test: Endurance - 78% (14) = 92% (rolled 36) Success
This message was last edited by the player at 22:30, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

Zora took the ship gaining confidence. Two more successes and it would be smooth sailing. Then she stalked legend.

Taking the ship reminded her of all of it. Being the captain of your own story- controlling your own path- it was true freedom. The world within your reach. The possibilities of the future rolling gently along the horizon.

Asoka had seen that same horizon and created amazing futures from its potentialities.

Zora felt intensely energized as the brought the boat into dock.

OOC: Seamanship - 72% (14) = 86% (82 rolled) Success

Now, having journeyed back to the Temple as they danced through the streets and having returned to the Deep Water room, Zora began the longer demonstrations of various methodologies to attune to the Hard Water Way. Many of the methods were no longer used or necessary, but they were also history. They showed the steps of how Hard Water Women had gotten to where they were. The footprints that lead to the future. Zora wanted to learn all of the choreography to those dances.

She was alive.

Everyone could see it.

The Water was on fire.

OOC: Mysticism - 76% (14) = 90% (rolled 10- “It’s Never Too Late Too Do The Right Thing” Lucky Gift Switched to 01) Critical Success
This message was last edited by the player at 22:38, Tue 06 Apr 2021.

The forms were thought, put into motion, and made solid through will. Zora moved through them, both completely immersed, and floating apart, detached.

Her body flowed with a rhythm informed anew by her more recent exploits, and her strength was evident in the crisp power behind her movements.

The water splashed around her dramatically adding emphasis to the movements as she advanced through the forms in the shallow end of the pool.  The sisters were again humming and the vapors still had the lightly euphoric effect, but now it simply felt closer to the feeling when Zora was in a complete flow state.

She reveled in the physicality of the movements, her fluidity, power and grace all upon display.

OOC: Unarmed - 80% (14) = 94% (rolled 75) Success

Body glistening with sweat, Zora settled into her lotus position and took a deep breath.

It was going splendidly. It was what she had been training for all her life, but the way it was happening- and the power she felt from the execution of her years of work- was a transcendent experience.

Zora settled into her mind, mindfully experiencing and appreciating the moment, while simultaneously keeping her sense of context and perspective.

The Teachers murmured their appreciation, some wondering how the last test would go, as it was this obviously excellent student’s, least stellar discipline.

OOC: Meditation - 76% (14) = 90% (83 rolled) Success

Just as Zora got up to give her summary and point by point breakdown of how the Hard Water Way was supremely beneficial to women of all walks of life, all over the world- she blanked.

She saw the faces of the expectant teachers and she couldn’t tell for a moment if they wanted her to succeed, or wanted her to fail. For a moment, she was struck with the idea that maybe she didn’t belong here- that maybe she didn’t deserve this honor.

But then she recalled her teachings. Strong women hold up other strong women. Love for all who have love for all. And the peaceful waters of the Mother Ocean for all the others.

So said Asoka.

So said Zora.

She opened her mouth, and told the teachers the truth.

OOC: Teach- 57 % (14) = 71% (87 rolled Hero Point Sacrificed for reroll- 57 rolled) Success!

The teachers burst into applause as one at the end of Zora’s lesson

The students were right behind, their sheer unbridled giddiness palpable in the air as it had pressed the teachers to their own acknowledgement

The applause was magnified by the construction of the room and the sound of the clapping rose like a huge wave until it was a thunderous, tidal wave of appreciation, and then it crashed, peppered with “woot”’s and ululating. Finally the applause quieted into a soft murmur, not unlike the sound of the beginning of an undertow.

The Mother Ocean of the Saladorian School of the Hard Water Path, Yasmin, strode into the middle of the pool, gesturing to one of the sisters that spun a many-hued blue bowl towards the center of the pool, which Yasmin easily caught the rim of, gesturing Zora forward.

”You have done well, young Zora.  I first heard KaiLin, my teacher in Rammetesch, tell me of the young student she had, decades ago.  She spoke of a sweet young girl with an indomitable will. And here you stand now. A woman, grown, with an indomitable will. But today...” She let the moment draw out, emphasizing the ceremony of it, “You are a Riversister!”

Again, the crowd erupted in celebration, and as they did so Yasmin held up the bowl to Zora ”As said Asoka, so say I”

“As said Asoka, so say I.”

Zora took the bowl that was proffered and drank deep of the bowl.

She didn’t realize how thirsty the exertion of the trial had left her.

The mineral water in the bowl was exquisitely cool and refreshing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:39, Wed 07 Apr 2021.