Deer Country Network

( major spoilers for Nona the Ninth )

I understand that our blood carries power in this place it didn't have before.

Is there a way to know what it does without risking spilling it out in the open?
I'd rather not have any unpleasant surprises.

[. . .]

I only want my blood tested for "magic". Nothing else.
I'm not willing to be strapped into any equipment, either.

Thanks in advance.

content warnings: identity theft, salacious libel

[ Someone logs onto their very own Omni, in a normal and regular fashion. ]

How do you do, fellow squids. This is Gideon Nav, cavalier of the Ninth House, here to clear up some critical misinformation I have seen circulating around our gutterswill nightmare local network.

( truth and revelation this way lie )

CONTENT WARNING: psychological changes, hoarding, and obsessive behavior related to lavish desires

[ this video opens up with the blink of two eyes and a disgruntled chitter. perle is filming falco and focusing on . . . quite a mess of books in various assortments, stacked upon each other until they were in danger of tilting. among the open spines on the floors pinned with bookmarks were scrolls of paintings, sketches, statues, sepia photography— anything resembling a loving relationship, falco has seemed to have snatched it and keeps it all hostage in his little cabin home's attic like a greedy little dragon buried in precious, hoarded gold. he's pacing left, right, and has been caught mid-explanation as he works a red thread between his fingers. ]

( he rambles and an omen goes ham )

[A masked man in stained robes stands before a dense wall of almost unnaturally healthy rose bushes. The view sways slightly, as his Omen's attention drifts in and out.]

Greetings to friends and strangers alike. It is so good to be among you, alive and whole again. [The man makes a slight bow, a bitter edge to his voice quickly replaced by an audible smile.] I am Varré, surgeon and former guide to the lost. Now, I am among the uninitiated in this land's secrets.

But I do bring a gift from my homeland, and from my Lord. Thanks to His blessing, roses bloom in Lumenwood.

[A flurry of motion, and the Omen lands on one of the stems, causing a velvety red rose to sway under its weight. At this distance, it fills half the view. Varré turns to address his audience, voice brimming with pride.]

They drink the blood from the soil, and transform its power into beauty and medicinal strength.

As a former guardian of the Rose Church, I am pleased to offer you all these beloved flowers and their refined extracts, at a price equal to the cost of their manufacture. These preparations can stanch bleeding, drink up rot from unclean wounds, clear excess blood collecting within a patient, and more besides.

And roses that have drunk sleeper blood take on beautiful new properties. By the grace of a Pthumerian I've yet to learn the name of, my own blood spilled by senseless violence has produced a bloom of vileblood roses.

[The view turns, revealing a gently rustling stem of pale roses, edged with streaks of green and pink.]

They've proven invaluable in dulling the pain of the suffering. But with these roses still so rare and fed by my blood alone, I'm afraid I can't part with much. My own patients require their service.

[The omen turns back to Varré.]

I would, of course, welcome the aid of any Sleepers willing to donate blood to such a beautiful cause. You would be compensated, deservedly. And any who wish to propagate the roses, do come see me. I would be pleased to furnish you with all the tools necessary to do so. These are blessings to be had by all.

[ooc: Varré's withholding a bit of information about these roses, which may be relevant to others. For more information, see here! If you want to contribute a new bloodtype to the roses, let me know, and more types will be unlocked and described on the page!]