video; un: lady

[dohaeris]

[sansa, in front of her direwolf sigil tapestry as usual, has her face painted like a raven for the black parade's ongoing festivities, black feathers around her eyes and painted on her cheeks. someone has also given her black lipstick. it doesn't seem to be causing any ill effects. she has black feathers braided into her hair and sewn on to her dress, which is charcoal linen embroidered with glossy black ravens. lady sits with her in a matching collar of black feathers and gemstone chips. she looks somewhat nervous.]

Hallo, this is Sansa Stark. I wanted to say that the people in the strange wasp's nests are only the Zealots that were attacking and kidnapping Sleepers last year, and no one should risk themselves to save them. The Zealots can be recognized by their scars; some of their skin looks half-flayed open. If anybody knows anything else about the Zealots, it would be well if they could share it.

[sansa straightens and draws a breath. she flicks at her omni.]

[locked from user names leavegodalone, 1ststrike, and dabi. that is, in fact, it. she thinks that probably john gaius will be able to see this anyway but doesn't know what else she can do.]

Anyway, as near as I can tell it's my nameday on the seventeenth of this month, and as I've been unable to celebrate my past three namedays I thought I might well have a small feast at the Sanctuary to mark the occasion. Since that day is a Monday I thought perhaps it might be easier for everyone to have it on the Saturday before, which is the fifteenth. We'll be in the larger dining hall. I should be very glad if any of you choose to attend.

Comments

video, un: GoldenFlowers

[the_obedient_servant]

[The video opens to a child in a lab, in the background there are vials and beakers of blood, brewing and boiling. It's impossible to tell what they're working on, but it's surely something, and probably something that isn't good.]

Have you tried asking the Zealots? They're surprisingly very upfront about information once they've stopped trying to kill you. The one I saved even told me how to get to their Sleeper Farm and gave me several pointers in blood magic.

I was told by Sleepers that they can't even talk, so I was very surprised.

[They made a new friend, apparently.]

[dohaeris]

[sansa smiles a little wryly.]

I'm afraid I'm ill-suited for that sort of fighting, but I should be very interested to hear whatever you learned.

[Video] un: QueenCobra (nameday filter)

[abornfighter]

Do you have any requests for the celebration?

[parks herself here and lurks]

[faceblocks]

[because no of course she is not going to try and turn this into something huge and possibly something match-maky if she can.]

[dohaeris]

[sansa's mouth quirks to one side, a little confused.]

I was going to ask the kitchens to make lemoncakes, but I hadn't decided on the rest of the food.

video; un: clarke (filtered)

[romancekiller]

Name day? [she hasn't heard that term but based on the message she can easily make a guess] That means your birthday, right? It seems like we share the same day.

[dohaeris]

[sansa nods gracefully.]

Yes, some people say 'birthday' here.

[like.....all of them??? she gives a small, ironic smile.]

The months here are different to where I come from, and often longer. My nameday is the seventeenth day of our tenth month, but I don't know that it's the same. I suppose I could have counted, but I thought it would feel stranger if it were something else entirely. But I wanted to see my friends and have lemoncakes, since I couldn't before. If I didn't mark it at all, it would feel just the same as when I was a hostage.

Video: Un: Naegi11037

[cloversandcranes]

Wasp nests?! There are things like that here?!

[Makoto's horrified face soon shows on the video, as he tries not to panic.]

W-Where are they?! We have to help them!

[As someone who has helped people who hated him and wanted him dead, he doesn't understand why someone wouldn't save them. Especially from such a horrible fate like that.]

[slayerskiss]

What the fuck is a nameday? Like the day you were named after??

[She's connected the dots. She's done it. She's connecting more, hold on.]

I guess Sansa kind of sounds like sunday.

[dohaeris]

It's the day you were named on. Does everyone say birthday?

[probably yes]

[slayerskiss]

Well. Yeah. What if you were named before you were born, y'know? My mom probably named me before she spat me out.

Does that mean you get two birthdays?

[Has she been missing out all this time??]

[the_obedient_servant]

Why not?

[They don't understand "gender roles." Everyone should learn how to fight in a kill or be killed world. Frisk doesn't have to if they don't want to, but that's because Frisk has them.]

They're Sleepers, but they've been here for a lot longer and have long since succumbed to the corruption of this place. Still, they're deeply ruthless and malicious but despite the nickname, they're not actually crazy.

They want to sacrifice Sleepers to the tower to keep Trench running. I vote we toss Johnny Lawrence in. They're masters of Blood Magic and are open to teaching you. [Pause.] Do you have any specific questions for her?

[dohaeris]

[sansa frowns. does he come from a world where wasps don't have nests? she does admire this sort of boundless compassion, but she has little time for naivety (and for people who don't seem to listen to her very carefully).]

They have very many things here, including old Sleepers gone very corrupt, who are intent on kidnapping and hurting us, and have done it before. Those are the Zealots. They don't want to be helped, not truly. That would mean treating the corruption within them. Perhaps one day we may be strong enough to do it for them, but not if they get ahold of us first. They will try to hurt you if they see you. That much I do know.

And I know they torture people. The Zealots hung Sleepers up by their skin, the last time. Those are the people we need to help, the people that they're after, and those people could be any of us.

[dohaeris]

It's when you get your name, it's not just when somebody thinks of it! Some people have their blessed day for a second one, anyway.

[hers is!!]

[slayerskiss]

What if you decide to change your name? Some people do that.

[Vampires mostly, apparently. But also others, she assumes!]

Just seems way more convenient to mark it as the day you were born, y'know?

Anyway, if you haven't celebrated it in three years, maybe it's an opportunity to go all in. Make it a whole party.

[dohaeris]

I'm a Paleblood. I can't do anything that will kill a lot of giant wasps at once. I am learning more about magic, but if Architects fight in every battle there won't be enough people left to keep the city running.

[it's not about gender! sansa considers asking chara why they don't sew their own clothes, or grow their own food, but she can't even guess at what they do in their spare time. it's possible they might do some more constructive work. she pauses. the tower element is new. the tower seems vaguely more aligned with sleepers than some of the other pthumerians, though sansa doesn't know them very well.]

I do have questions––

[she considers this. 'sane' is subjective. certainly they don't seem reasonable. she doubts she'll get a useful answer on 'wouldn't the tower prefer willing sacrifices?' even 'why does the tower need sacrifices?' is only likely to tell her what the zealots believe. which of course is still useful information.]

Very many of them. I could send you a list, if you wouldn't mind. But I suppose the first thing I would ask is how the Zealots came to believe what they do. And I would be very interested in finding out how many of them are out there, and if they're all determined to sacrifice us to the Tower, or if some of them have different goals.

[she doesn't want to ask any questions that might give them ideas, like if they have any designs on the sanctuary trees or the sanctuary, or accidentally reveal any weaknesses of their own. it really is much easier to pretend to be someone's friend and gently encourage them to confide in you. she'll need some time to think about this.]

[the_obedient_servant]

We just come back every time we die. [Chara waves a hand dismissively. Death. Been there done that. So many times that they've lost count. Never mind that they were gone for weeks when they died on the beach, choking on their hubris as the Leviathan's tendrils grasped their soul and shattered it. Never mind all the people that didn't come back, the ones that died before their eyes as they were rendered entirely helpless. It only hurts if you let it.

They also do try to sew their own clothes. Mostly their sweaters.But she would have a point.] Fighting a large group of wasps is not advisable, fighting a Zealot is even less so. Even I struggled against the Zealot for a few seconds. But I'm sure Sasuke-sensei could teach you some basic ninjutsu so you're at least able to escape. We never know what Trench will throw at us.

[They nod. They're good questions, really.]

Send the list. I mean to find out how many of them there are for myself. I think largely they're unified in their goals, but in any organization there are individuals. Even the worst of cults contains varying levels of zeal, and it's important to remember that they were once in our shoes. It probably is possible to sow discord in their ranks. ACTing has it's place, even when your goal isn't necessarily MERCY.

[They forget that nobody has any idea what the fuck they're talking about when they throw terms like that around.]

[dohaeris]

[she imagines alayne stone would have gotten her own nameday, in time.]

It's the same day! I suppose it doesn't matter. My realm never was any good at naming things. There aren't even truly Seven Kingdoms.

[her tone is light.]

Anyway, it is a party, whatever you call it. I hope you'll come.

video | un: graham crackers

[possessum]

( Peter appears, as always, looking a bit nervous and nauseated. But the subject of the Zealots is.... definitely A Thing. )

I don't know too much about them. After Luna and me escaped from them last year, I tried not to think about them again. ( There's a shudder that he doesn't manage to suppress or conceal. Of course, Peter's tactic is to try to ignore the scary thing for as long as he can.

...The trouble is, the scary thing might come back again this year to do the same thing. And apparently, they're around, in wasps' nests...? Great! )

Do you know... why they're in those nests? Maybe they're trying to bait people to help them?

( He'll come back around to the second part of this message in a moment! Just.. got to get through the scary part first. )

voice: un: vi

[faceblocks]

So a small feast in the large hall? Any word back from the kitchens on those lemony cakes?

[just checking in about that.]

Don't know much about the zealots, but now I know about those nests. It's like a two for one deal, if you count the swarm as one.

private voice

[faceblocks]

What's your idea on going "all in"? I've got a personal investment here that this party turns out great.

[abornfighter]

Oh, I meant for party activities. If you haven't celebrated it for three years, we need to do something special to make up for the past three years of zero celebrations.

audio | un: sds | nameday filter

[fogsong]

[ sharon appreciates the heads up about the wasps nests and the zealots. she's never been too into heroics but she's also not the kind of person to let anyone suffer like that——unless they deserve it and the zealots definitely do.

but she's more interested in the second part of her message ]

So, have you given any thought to what you'd like as a present? Or maybe something special you'd like to do?

[dohaeris]

[sansa gives a sympathetic half-smile. she does understand the impulse not to think about it––alayne stone had done a lot of not-thinking, but sansa stark can't afford to.]

I'm very sorry that happened to the both of you. What I've heard has been horrible. If there's anything at all we can do to spare any one of us, we ought to try.

[there's not much she can say in the way of comfort. she frowns, considering.]

Nobody can tell anything about the wasps. It does seem like something a corrupted mind might resort to, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that any of the Zealots survived their ordeal.

[dohaeris]

[sansa flashes vi a quick smile, then settles into a thoughtful frown.]

Vi, the wasp creatures seem to only go after our enemies. I don't think we can afford to go around killing them.

[the ravens don't know anything about them, except to avoid them. sansa can't help wondering if some pthumerian could be sending them the way mariana sent creatures at the city, except to help them this time (much as the tower helped them keep the creatures away...). it isn't nice or pleasant, but nature very often isn't, and likely a pthumerian wouldn't understand exactly why this method of execution might be distasteful. regardless or perhaps even because of this they would make a safer ally than enemy.]