•☽ maerwyn

maerwyn minavere

⸻ or so she says

  traits & themes   seer or priestess or witch or schemer; or simply a sweet, old, forgetful biddy who gets too many nosebleeds and apologises for being late; always too late; has the endearing laughter of a grandmother or auntie who's just oh-so-tickled by everything and everyone; and yet after talking to her you dream of strings and skittering; won't hold your hand every step of the way, but will certainly nudge you out the door; doesn't want to hurt you, but she didn't write the script.Always wears the veil, yes always; if you ask her why, she'll probably tell you a parable about blind miniaturists, illuminated manuscripts, and being rewarded for your efforts; Visually memorable; and yet for some reason you rarely do; by day two, she's a fuzzy blur in the back of your mind; by four you've forgotten her name; by five the two of you had never met until she's standing in front of you and it all comes rushing back; oh, right, that person, how could you forget; a lover of the twelve, she says, and quotes scripture from her book; when she's not asking you about your day and taking notes; or saying a lot of stuff with the same energy of 'are you the eleanor that stepped out of the box or the one that went in?'

⸻ ❝ and this, you see, is how devotion is rewarded. funny thing about threads, though: pull the wrong one, and the whole world unravels. i should know. ❝ ⸻

  the story of us   That's a question of mirrors, of labyrinths, of forks in the road and trapeze swingers and snakes chasing their own tails. If you want the truth, first you have to remember: the stars are always fashionably late, the dead are forgetful, birds are flighty, fire and water are shifty, and cards? Have you ever known an honest gambler? They call it poker-face for a reason.'I once loved Her, though,' she says, about the one who determined the course of the stars and set the path of the sun in the sky. In brighter, more hopeful days, when she toiled only for Her Majesty and the glory of her people – until the day Her Majesty punished her people... just to punish her. Now, she's bitter. Now, she's the hard, cold laughter of a background character in a black comedy stuck on repeat. Now, she carries only myths, lies that look like memory if you're at the right angle, and either madness, or just a maddening truth.'I'm sorry,' she says, 'but it gets a lot worse from here.'

equipment

  the story of you   you hear her telling a story in a tavern. a story... about you. it starts correctly - hometown, childhood house, trajectory - but at some point, it stops following the one you know.

  glossolalia   she's often muttering to herself and jotting in her book. it's not a language you know - at least until it is... when she says something that means a great deal to you, and something she shouldn't know.

  loveletter from the 2nd era   that talisman she wears, in the likeness of an anthropomorphised spider, circled in a serpent's ourobous? the iconography is obscure, but the craftsmanship is from the age of faith.

  cartomancy   she wears a small, leather pouch shaped perfectly for a deck of cards - tarot, tarocchi, she'll give you a reading, if you'd like, though it's never quite clear if she tells your fortune, or shapes it.

  but didn't you say...   priestess of nald and thal? emissary to the duke of korinthos? an ilsabardian storyteller? maybe you've listened to some of her claims... and how they're different every day.

  students of the wheel, of the whirl   prophecy comes as naturally to her as writing a letter to others. for those willing to endure her, she might teach you a thing or two.

  down the rabbit hole   you’re heading home, down the same path you take all the time. She’s walking in the same direction, about half a block ahead of you, before turning… down a lane that wasn’t there yesterday.

  in for a penny   you require a favour or boon from her, a magical one that you cannot easily acquire yourself. in exchange, she will ask for a favour of you - one of unspecified date, time, or even details, but 'equal in magnitude.'

  colony builder   she's working to gain a colonial charter from the eorzean alliance, and maybe you're someone of means who can help, or simply looking for a fresh start. in a city that was, never was, and will yet be again.