Event #09: THE FETE OF KNOWLEDGE

[vivalamods]

EVENT #09: THE FETE OF KNOWLEDGE

As the month wears on, the Imperial forces withdraw, tired of scouring the seas in attempts to pick off individual Corsair ships, have slunk back to their masters. During this time, the Corsairs were hard at work finishing the Crimson Portal in Asphodel, and for the first time ever the Corsairs now have four waypoints - an enormous gain as they welcome the refugees from Vindess.

The refugees themselves are settling about as well as can be expected. Tension is still high, while the people are grateful for being saved from certain doom, a lifetime of propaganda doesn’t fade away in an instant and they remain wary, upset at the loss of their homes and way of life. Struggle is natural, and thus, the Corsairs have prepared for the second phase of the resettlement operation - the Fete of Knowledge.

As Asphodel residents stream into the Vault, music - the kind never permitted under Imperial auspices - echoes through the halls. Although the hammering of munitions is ever-present, this music is meant to reverberate through the caverns, echoing upon itself to build into even greater harmonies. This is music of the Crimson Corsairs, made to suit their purposes and circumstances. A salve for aching hearts and a beauty to bring a tear to the eye, the Vault is ready to prove that as the last repository of forbidden knowledge in the world, the wonders they hold welcome all who have the minds to seek it.

With the spring thaw well underway there is still much to be done, but the Corsairs have worked to complete it as best they can. Thus, most everyone within the three, no, four cities should find some time to partake in the Fete. As the week-long festivities commence, Corsairs are welcomed to take a much-needed break and celebrate their triumphs.

Join the Performance

The music of the day is a beautiful choral arrangement, repeated on the hour to echo through the halls, the verses building upon each other. While not enough to drown out the bombing, it’s a gorgeous piece and one that somehow provides a measure of peace and comfort. Any and all are welcome to lend their voices, there are several parts for any vocal range with the more complex vocalizations being handled by experienced musicians. And, best of all, any who aid in the song are gifted a jug of honey wine, a salve for a sore throat and a delicious delicacy besides.

Debate Hall

The Debate Hall is often lively, and during the Fete it has been repurposed to serve as the center of introduction to rhetoric. Debates between people of roughly equivalent skill are held throughout the Fete, and the topic of debate can be anything the participants choose. Debates over best foods, fashion, or even the odd lyrical exchange of truly hair-raising insults, just about any kind of confrontational discourse is currently on display for the amusement of refugees and Corsairs alike. Corsairs are free to join the stage, so long as they honor the traditions of the hall - settle disputes with words, not blades. At least while you’re in the hall, anyway.

Banquet Hall

The Corsairs have tapped their stores to create a truly enormous feast of delicacies only found in the Eternal Ocean. Aquatic creatures of all sorts grace the tables, as well as some of the native flora and fauna of Elysium’s fields, prepared to absolute perfection. And then, of course, there is the grog, free-flowing and plentiful to help take the edge off the trauma of the resettlement. The mood is mostly festive, with sober bouncers on hand to eject any Corsairs who might get a bit too belligerent while soaking in libations.

Dueling Hall

Sometimes words are not enough, and the Corsairs have set up a dueling hall within the Vault for people to test their skills against each other in controlled environments. Ether is dampened in the Dueling Hall, so while one can cast spells as they might, the lethality is far reduced, a once-searing flame is now a gentle warmth and a block of ice a pleasant mist. This, along with padded weaponry, make for a fine way for Corsairs to both test their skill and show off for the masses, with any number of interesting rules in play to make the contests of strength more interesting and enjoyable to watch. With many a pair from the Debate Hall making their way to the Dueling Hall to continue their disputes, the hall is busy for the entirety of the Fete.

Story Hall

A Story Hall has been set up near the library for actors and orators to read and sometimes act out the books and stories found within the library. While the townsfolk of Vindess are not entirely illiterate, their lower class nature as mine workers means that many cannot read, or read well, and this hall gives them an opportunity to experience the wonder of the written word, of story and legend, and to hear the histories the Empire has long suppressed. The Story Hall is always looking for more orators and actors to read or act out books and plays, and it is one of the most heavily trafficked areas in the Fete, with the Vindess residents hungry for these once-forbidden tales.

Wildcard

The Fete of Knowledge is all about sharing, so there are any number of activities, and Corsairs are encouraged to come up with their own to keep the Fete moving. You may use this prompt to do whatever you wish. Enjoy the party!

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[singlemilletgrain]

Shu's voice becomes more solemn.

"Sui was a Feranmut of Yan. Long, long ago, when the people of Yan were young, the Feranmut of that land chose to rule over them like lords. They were not good nor kind rulers. For as I said, the Feranmut had little understanding of values like justice or goodness. From your perspective, they would be called cruel, for they cared only for instinct and for their own desires. Like beasts, they ruled over the races of Yan on their whims alone, for, in a sense... they were beasts.

"Now a young Emperor of Yan had enough of this state of affairs. He wished for the people of Yan to have control of their own destinies. And so, he called all the people of Yan together and proclaimed that they would hold a Great Hunt. He declared that he would kill or drive out all the Feranmut until Yan was free of their influence. You might think this was a lost cause, for the Feranmuts' power was vast and unknowable, and indeed, it was.

"However, this Feranmut called Sui saw an opportunity. He would help the Yanese people kill or drive out his brethren and then... he would be sole God of Yan. For a Feranmut's power is such that it would be easy to subjugate mere humans, even if it were a single Feranmut acting alone. He would kill the other Feranmut, and then he would have all of Yan under his grasp.

"He came to this Emperor and promised that he would help aid their fight. And so the Great Hunt began."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link frowns faintly. He supposes if the people didn't want to be ruled by Feranmut, he can understand choosing to fight against them...

...But Sui clearly wasn't to be trusted. Admittedly, Link was a bit biased here - having already in his mind connected Sui to Calamity Ganon - but this was an entity offering to fight their own kind. Kill their own kind.

Choosing to make such an alliance was, in Link's view, incredibly foolish.

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu watches Link's face and smiles, for she imagines she can understand what is flitting through his mind.

"The Emperor had little other choice but to accept Sui's help, of course. It would be impossible to defeat the other Feranmut with the power of the Yanese people alone. But... the Emperor - or the True Lung as he is called - was not so foolish as to take the alliance for granted. He was also sure to create plans and strategems that would require Sui to take on the brunt of the work without making it obvious that was so. Once committed to the task, and once he made an enemy of the other Feranmut, Sui had to follow through with the entirety of the Hunt.

"Now the other Feranmut put up a fierce and protracted fight. The Great Hunt lasted for many years, but at the end, the Yanese people and Sui were victorious, for Sui was a particular strong and powerful Feranmut. The echoes of the Great Hunt reverberated around all of Terra and many Feranmut hid themselves or otherwise retreated from humanity, for fear that it would repeat in other countries. To this day, it is because of the Great Hunt that the influence of Feranmut has become so small.

"And at the end of all this... when Sui turned to betray the Emperor -- he was set upon first. Weakened by his conflicts with the other Feranmut, the armies of the True Lung brought him low. For the True Lung was both a powerful military commander and also a wise user of great Arts. This Emperor faced the God who would have subjugated him and made a demand:

'Diminish yourself, or I shall kill you.'

Faced with no choice, the consciousness and being known as Sui was shattered forcefully into 12 different Fragments. You may not understand this, but perhaps consider it this way. The soul of a Feranmut is so vast and so deep and so old that it can be divided in twelve pieces and still be more than enough to sustain an individual."

[newmemorywhodis]

Perhaps Link doesn't really understand, but...the concept of something unfathomably great being broken into smaller fragments isn't so strange to him. There's myths about the Heroes of the past, how many of them went on quests to gather pieces of a greater power...although by Link's time, no one actually remembers what that great power actually was.

"...What happened to the fragments?" He asks. Did they retain the essence of Sui's evil? Or did they become someone else? Did anyone ever try to bring them back together again?

[singlemilletgrain]

"An excellent question."

Shu nods.

"The same question that the people of Yan had. Would these twelve soul fragments become new Feranmut who would terrorize them anew? Was it foolish to allow Sui's soul to live on? Who could say what would happen to a fell god's soul once broken?

"These Fragments had no identity. They barely had corporeal form. Scattering through the far reaches of Yan, they had no goal, no aims, no desires. They simply existed. Though they had distant memories of their existence as Sui, they were not Sui. And such a thing could not be. A soul cannot lack an identity. In time, it is inevitable that an identity be formed, even if that identity is nothing more than an... illusion.

"And so, years after Sui was shattered, the first soul Fragment gained consciousness. And awakening among humans, of course... is it not inevitable that he would take on a human identity? To wish to live and grow and learn from them? In time, the other eleven Fragments followed suit and across all of Yan, they flourished. The oldest learned from the greatest warriors of the land and became a master of all martial arts. Another sought knowledge above all and taught all the people of Yan to read and write. Yet another chose to pursue the life of a healer and became renowned for their herbal remedies that could cure all maladies. For their lives were measured in eons while their companions wilted like the spring flowers. But through their actions, they could bless all of Yan.

"Thus it was that from the Fragments of a god who would subjugate the earth, Yan gained twelve holders of great and storied knowledge. This legend is not well known now, but those who need to know are still perfectly aware of the truth. The fragments of Sui still walk to this day. In fact... there is an governmental organization in Yan called the Sui Regulator. It is their job to keep tabs on these twelve immortals and keep them from ever reuniting."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums softly. The story of the Fragments was fantastical, and strange - and so different from any of the myths and legends of Hyrule. It was almost impossible to imagine.

(And yet, on some level...Link could maybe relate, just a bit. The fragments must have awoken without memory, without any sense of who they were, without an identity of their own...and Link did know what that was like. And it wasn't easy.)

There is something he's wondering about, though.

"The Fragments were good?" They were pieces of a dark, cruel entity, but...it didn't sound like the Fragments were cursed with that same darkness? They were able to be...better?

[singlemilletgrain]

"Good?"

Shu considers.

"No, I wouldn't say that. The Fragments were people. They made the same choices humans do and faced the same kinds of moral quandaries each day. Sometimes, they were selfish. Sometimes, they were kind. Sometimes, they were vindictive. Sometimes, they were generous. As many do, they found life more fulfilling when they were a part of a community. They tried to do good, but sometimes failed. Occasionally, they didn't even try to do good. But on the whole, I would say - and hope - that their influence on Yan has been a positive one."

She addresses the unasked question, too.

"As for Sui..." She shakes her head. "His consciousness has gone into a deep, dark slumber. And yet it still exists, submerged. Its echoes are felt, sometimes. The memories of Sui are not gone altogether, but neither are they anything more than that: memory.

However...

Should the Fragments ever come together again... they will reform into Sui and lose what they are now. It is not possible to avoid."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it a little, and then makes a half-hearted shrug. Maybe they weren't 'good' as Shu defined it, but for Link, it was close enough.

The thought of the fragments coming back together, though - loosing who they have become, and being forced to be a part of a larger, malicious entity - that's an unsettling thought.

"...But they stay away?"

He didn't even know any of these fragments (at least, Link didn't realise he knew any of them). But somehow, it still feels important that they all stay safe. That they can all remain themselves.

[singlemilletgrain]

"Regrettably so."

She gives a nod.

"Though they are akin to siblings - more than siblings, for they are one and the same - they may never occupy the same space. Two or three may gather for a time, but inevitably, they must separate. It is too dangerous to chance the possibility. Should Sui reawaken, his wrath will be such that it could destroy Yan altogether. Thus, the Sui Regulator ensures that the twelve siblings are kept under a watchful eye.

"...I hear, though, there are murmurings of a change in the status quo. Some in the Yanese government are dissatisfied and have raised the possibility of reviving Sui and bending him to their aims to use as a weapon of war. Others speak of eliminating the danger altogether and finding a way to destroy Sui's consciousness once and for all.

"As for myself, I can only pray that no one is foolish enough to wish for the resurrection of Sui."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums in sympathy. It's best of all the Fragments stay apart, yes...but if they're like family, then it's also sad, that they can't all be together.

But then he frowns, at this potential change in the status quo.

"...They're wrong," he says. They shouldn't revive Sui. And they shouldn't eliminate the Fragments, either.

[singlemilletgrain]

"Humans can be very foolhardy, can't they?"

Shu agrees with a melancholy smile.

"It is a strange time. There are stirrings of disaster in every country. Victoria is besieged by the Sarkaz, one of the Kaiserinnen of Leithanien has vanished, Ursus is eternally caught in guerilla conflict, and the Collapsals grow ever more bold in Sami. Faced with instability on all sides, Yan seeks an opportunity to rise to the top - or a reassurance against the possibility of internal strife. So it is that some would seek Sui's return.

"How stupid they are... and yet, understandable. Their memories are short. They have forgotten the true power of the Feranmut. They hear only of the legends of a time when power immeasurable was at Yan's beck and call."

It is unlike Shu to be so cuttingly insulting.

"...But that is a different story. Well? Did you like the tale?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums, in uneasy agreement. It feels ...uncomfortable...to call 'humans' foolhardy and stupid. Link most definitely isn't human, but coming from where there aren't any humans at all...well, Hylians are probably the most similar. He's aware that, with how Shu uses the word, he would be included. And yet, Link also can't really say that she's wrong either.

He saw himself just how much could be forgotten over a hundred years.

But he did like the story; so at Shu's question, he nods. She's good at telling stories. Maybe even as good as Kass.

[singlemilletgrain]

Link isn't wrong. There are no 'humans' on Terra, either, and the term is used to refer to the Ancient races as a collective.

Shu smiles more brightly, and the chilly disappointment in her voice is gone.

"I do enjoy relaying the history of Yan. To speak of it is to keep the memories brighter in my mind. I would ask you to reciprocate for Hyrule, but I imagine this is not something you would enjoy." Link doesn't seem like the story-telling type. "Perhaps you may show me more pictures of Hyrule instead?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's stories tend to be the kind that might politely be called, 'efficient'. Very efficient. To an excessive degree.

But...he can show pictures. He likes showing pictures. He pauses, thinking for a moment - what would Shu like to see? She wants something with a story. She likes nature, and plants, and food. So...what should he show her?

Ah! He knows.

Tapping at the Purah Pad, Link soon finds what he's looking for - a picture of a quiet forest, in the centre of which is a massive tree. A tree that in fact, has...a face?

There's more in the picture, however. Before the tree is what looks like a kind of stone slab or pedestal. And all around are much smaller creatures - ones who all appear to have leaves for faces.

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu claps her hands together, which at this point in their friendship, Link will understand to be a sign of delight.

"But what is that? Did someone paint some masks for little trees? But it looks like they have legs. Is this a sort of creature in your world? How very cute."

She definitely wants one.

"And that must be some sort of father tree?" ...It does have a mustache. She supposes it has a gender.

[newmemorywhodis]

"They're koroks," Link explains. A word that would be familiar, in fact - Link has often described his pack as 'Korok-enchanted', when asked about its mysterious properties.

As for the big tree, with the mustache...

"He's the Deku tree." Link didn't know whether he was a father or not. Maybe? Either way, he was certainly a kind of guardian over the forest.

[singlemilletgrain]

She does indeed remember this word.

"They made your bag?"

...Honestly, they're so small and stubby, it does sort of explain the need for bottomless bags. She can't imagine they can carry much.

"But what are they, exactly? Are they a sort of spirit of the forest? We have stories about such things in my world, though I don't know if they actually exist. ...Actually, there is a Corsair who is a sort of tree spirit himself."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link nods. His bag had been made before the Calamity, and Link's memories of how exactly he acquired it were still hazy. But he remembered enough to be sure that it was the koroks that had made it. (And of course, Hetsu who made it able to carry more.)

"...Maybe forest spirits?" Link says, head cocked to one side. Honestly, he wasn't really sure how, exactly, the koroks should be classified - they were just the koroks - but 'forest spirits' seemed reasonably close. "Most people can't see them."

Link could. So could Zelda. Which was probably why the koroks liked them both so much, really.

[singlemilletgrain]

"How curious."

There are, of course, always stories about spirits that could only be seen by the pure-hearted - or the childlike or the fae-touched or any number of arbitrary criteria, but these were usually faerie stories. She did not think there was much practical use in being invisible to all but a few specific individuals of the human race.

"They must have their own society entirely, then, if they do not partake of yours. Have you spent much time with them? Is that why they gave you such a gift?"

[newmemorywhodis]

"...Don't remember why," Link says. It's one of those memories that he'd never fully recovered; he had vague, fragmented snapshots of the bag, and the koroks, and the forest. He was pretty sure they gave it to him. But...why did they? Did they tell him? Link didn't know.

At least other parts of her questioning where easier to answer; when she asks about him spending a lot of time with them, he nods.

"Koroks like hiding," he says. "I find their puzzles."

[singlemilletgrain]

"...Puzzles?"

This is a bit confusing, for he had just said that the vast majority of people couldn't see them. ...Did they hide puzzles for each other to find?

"What sort of puzzles do you mean?" ...Jigsaws?

[newmemorywhodis]

Link hums a negative. That wasn't exactly the kind of puzzle that koroks tended to make.

"They make...something out of place?" He says, head tilted to one side as he thinks. "Rocks that make a shape, with one missing. Circle of lilies in the water. Yellow flowers that move when you touch them."

[singlemilletgrain]

"So... it's a bit of an elaborate hide-and-seek game? But... only you can play?"

She blinks for a brief moment. This seems like a lot of effort to go through for these little critters to... entertain themselves? Or to entertain Link, perhaps?

"They must truly be very fond of you. And you of them, if you go to lengths to seek them out. How many Koroks are there?"

[newmemorywhodis]

Link thinks about it a little. And then nods - with a shrug. Yes, it's an elaborate hide-and-seek game. But he doesn't know if he's the only one who can play; maybe koroks would play with others, if they could?

"Hundreds," he says. "They give me korok seeds. Then Hetsu takes them, and makes my bag carry more."