#timefire25

The Point of View actually centers around the Huntsman and the Wolf.

“Huntsman” in this version of the story is a hereditary position as, like, a Magical Forest Ranger basically. Protecting humans from the evil beasties in the woods. And Evil Beastie number one is this HUMONGOUS talking wolf. A magical, Rhino-Sized, talking wolf who can like. Turn into a rush of wind. Whatever, it’s magic.

But the thing is that the Huntsman is so separated from human society that the only person he actually knows is this giant magic wolf. And as a result their relationship at this point is more “Corporate Rival” than “Sworn Foe”

Right but ONE DAY this little girl wanders into the woods cloaked in red with a basket. And the Wolf is like “Ooo nummy nummy” because you know he’s like. Still a wolf who eats people. But he realizes he can’t attack her. But since he’s magic he recognizes the kind of spell that’s on her. It’s a protective ward that will dissolve once she reaches her destination.

And he’s like “wow never seen THAT one before haha I love it when people try to pull this shit” and he’s like “yes hello little one where are you going?”

And she’s like “I’m going to Grandmother’s House, I was told to just follow this path and I would make it”

And he’s like “Ah, cool cool, well why don’t you stop and pick some of these flowers for Granny?”

And she’s like “Oki 😊”

His plan is to wait by Grandmother’s house for the charm to wear off and eat everyone there.

So he starts down the path but the thing is he gets to thinking. And he’s like “Okay so this child is WAY too trusting and sweet, has a protective charm on her but is also in the woods by herself, and is wearing a weird cloak?”

But he’s like “Eh whatever good eating is good eating” and he arrives at Grandmother’s house to wait.

But IMMEDIATELY he feels that something’s off. Something’s really, REALLY wrong. And he looks in the window, and Grandma is a witch. Not the fun kind either. An ancient, twisted creature slowly splitting the seams of the human thing that once housed it. The Child-Eating kind.

Turns out that Red is from a really freaky village. The Wolf and the Huntsman both knew that there was some weird shit going on there, but it’s only now that the Wolf puts together what it is: a cult, worshipping this ancient, evil witch that they call the Grandmother.

The Grandmother IS sick. Red IS bringing her food. But Grandma isn’t planning on eating the stuff in the basket.

She’s a child sacrifice in case it wasn’t clear enough. Little Red is a child sacrifice. The red cloak is ceremonial garb for a child sacrifice.

So the Wolf puts the pieces together and starts to pace and panic and basically tries to “accidentally” get the Huntsman’s attention with like suspicious magic and shit, but it doesn’t work

And here comes Red down the path, with a bunch of wildflowers in her hand for the ailing grandmother she’s never met, looking so excited and pleased with herself

And the Wolf is like “shitshitshit where IS THE HUNTSMAN this is OUT OF MY LEAGUE this isn’t even REMOTELY PART OF WHAT I DO”

And Red goes in and the Wolf is like OH FUCK OH NO and the Grandmother is pulling the whole “all the better” routine, and she reveals herself

And Red screams

And the Wolf freaks out and says “FUCK IT” and busts through the window and knocks her down and grabs Red and BOLTS

So then there’s a slightly comedic chase scene?  they run past the Huntsman and he’s like “Hey what’s going-ARE YOU EATING THAT KID I SWEAR TO GO-” and the Wolf is like “WITCHWITCHWITCH”

And Wolf and Red keep going, but Huntsman stays to fight the Witch.

Wolf puts some distance between them, but realizes that the Huntsman is probably in deep shit and puts Red down and turns back

And then there’s an epic fight scene and the Huntsman and the Wolf kill the Grandma.

So now we got two injured bois who now have to deal with the reality of this tiny child

They figure it’s worth a shot to bring her back to the town and be like “hey the witch is dead you don’t have to kill this kid anymore!” but that’s decidedly not how they react.

So the Wolf and the Huntsman are like “Oh shit now what do we do?”

CELEBRATIONS:

First Sun (at the end of Telrin)

Merreadon is so far north that the sun doesn’t cross the horizon for 4 weeks in winter, so the first day the sun peeks over the horizon again is the celebration of Rebirth. This is mainly a Merreki celebration, as the Sindish won’t celebrate the proper Re-Awakening of Viridaeya for more than another month.

On this day, all Merreki (and everyone else who decides to join them) will wait for the first sunrise of the year on the roof of Merreadon/the highest Layer of the City to greet the sun with the traditional Merreki hymns (sung in its major version).

There are smaller celebrations held privately during the rest of the day and through the next night, and the Sindish generally pretend not to see those.

New Year – Most liked official Festival! :D

The Sindish celebrate the proper Re-Awakening of Viridaeya, Goddess of Creation. Everyone has a day off and there are big celebrations all over the city. 

Spring/Revival Celebration

Roughly 1.5 months later is the time of the spring celebration, when day and night have roughly the same length again. 

This day celebrates Viridaeya’s power finally outbalancing Ruyen’s again, and also that the next half-year will be the one where she’s stronger than him (=the power of growth being stronger than decay, represented by longer days)

It’s celebrated through 3 days of festivals, a lot of dancing, and generally leaving the city again for the time (most of the festivities are held outside the city in the forest near the city walls)

Midsummer / Summer Solstice

The summer solstice celebrates the mid-point of the counted year, along the lines of “tthings are going to get dark again but at least we still a quarter of a year of sunlight”. Once again, it’s a celebration of Viridaeya at the height of her strength, but it’s also a festival in recognition of Ruyen, who will soon re-awaken and regain his strength.

Since the summer (and winter) solstice is the most important in Merreki tradition, it’s the day that the Empire decided to wreak havoc on by declaring it one of the two days of the Testing, when every child who turned 4 since the winter solstice is tested for magical power (and taken away to become Asim if they’re strong enough) 

It’s also one of the two days a year that the Asim children are allowed to see their families again, so while this should be the most triumphant day of the year, it’s not tied to city-wide festivals, just to small family ones. Or days of sorrow, in other cases. Everyone gets this day off, too, though. 

Autumn Celebration/Giving Thanks

This is the mirror celebration of the Spring one, it’s basically a celebration looking back on the accomplishments of the last year. It marks the time when day and night are again of the same length and is the last true celebration before winter. 

“Things are going to get dark but at least we had a nice time before that.”

The Sindish (and therefore everyone else) celebrate the times of plenty and joy that Viridaeya gave them, and also give their thanks and joy to Ruyen for sparing them this year, and that he will be re-making the world for the next one so that Viridaeya has a blank canvas when she is reborn.

First Night

This is a special day in school, but there are no actual celebrations. It marks the last sunset, Viridaeya’s death. 

It’s the mirror of First Light, except everyone’s kinda somber about it, and while the Merreki meet again on the roofs of the city in time for the last sunset, this time they sing the Merreki Hymns in its minor version: a sort of “laying the sun to rest”. (A celebration left over from when Virism was a thriving religion.)

Midwinter / Winter Solstice

Midwinter celebrates the turning point in Winter!

“We need hope, and here we have it. It’s still dark outside but from now on things are going to get better” is the general official sentiment of this day. True Dark. 

The Winter Solstice is of similar importance as the Summer Solstice to the Merreki, though, so this is the other time of the year when the Empire does the Testing, and the other day during which Asim children are reunited with their families.

This got long! If you read through all of this, thank you, I hope you liked it <333

A lot of this is deeply tied to Creationism (the Sindish/enforced Empire religion) and Virism (the old religion of the Merreki, now seen more in a similar vein as we see the ancient norse mythology) but I hope it still makes sense <3

Tagging the Dream’s Shadow crew bc heyyy I made a post again,,,

IT’S BEEN A WHILE! :)

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