Every vestal before her has made this journey around the world, yet the girl still felt terrified. Barely fourteen years of age, most girls would be a diligent housewife, or maybe somehow unmarried, but definitely not traveling the world in its entirety. The journey was expected to take over a year, and upon her return she would be immediately preparing the next vestal for her own journey. It was a duty she’d been given at birth, and a duty that she was raised to do. She was meant for this, just as all before her.
Yet even she didn’t understand the pilgrimage across the world. Sure she knew of its purpose, of the crystals and the need to pray at each and every one, but she didn’t understand why it had to be a pilgrimage of one girl. Once upon a time, each nation had its own vestal, though somewhere along history the rule abolished. Now, in order to satiate the ever moody gods, a lowly vestal traveled the world each year, praying before massive temples which housed crystals. These crystals, standing almost 30 feet in height, are the symbols of the gods and their power.
The girl had done all her book work. She knew each and every individual prayer for each specific crystal and god, she knew down to the centimeter what stance to take during prayer, she knew each and every stitch of her prayer garb, and yet she didn’t understand why. She didn’t understand why the gods chose crystals. She didn’t understand why the gods were sated by the prayers of one single girl. If she ever asked questions, it was always the same answer.
It’s not our place to know. We are not the gods.
Her journey hadn’t even begun yet, not technically at least. Today would be the day the girl met and chose her guard, the man who would escort her around the world. Unbelievably high standards were set for these young men, many dedicating their whole lives in service to their chosen vestal even after the pilgrimage. Tradition, and therefore the gods themselves, dictated it be one man and one woman, which was yet another unexplained rule. The vestal would always be in her fourteenth year, and the man would always be at least fifteen years of age. There were many, many, many rules and standards the vestal and guard must meet, some so trivial that the girl wondered how the gods came up with such things.
Yet even she didn’t understand the pilgrimage across the world. Sure she knew of its purpose, of the crystals and the need to pray at each and every one, but she didn’t understand why it had to be a pilgrimage of one girl. Once upon a time, each nation had its own vestal, though somewhere along history the rule abolished. Now, in order to satiate the ever moody gods, a lowly vestal traveled the world each year, praying before massive temples which housed crystals. These crystals, standing almost 30 feet in height, are the symbols of the gods and their power.
The girl had done all her book work. She knew each and every individual prayer for each specific crystal and god, she knew down to the centimeter what stance to take during prayer, she knew each and every stitch of her prayer garb, and yet she didn’t understand why. She didn’t understand why the gods chose crystals. She didn’t understand why the gods were sated by the prayers of one single girl. If she ever asked questions, it was always the same answer.
It’s not our place to know. We are not the gods.
Her journey hadn’t even begun yet, not technically at least. Today would be the day the girl met and chose her guard, the man who would escort her around the world. Unbelievably high standards were set for these young men, many dedicating their whole lives in service to their chosen vestal even after the pilgrimage. Tradition, and therefore the gods themselves, dictated it be one man and one woman, which was yet another unexplained rule. The vestal would always be in her fourteenth year, and the man would always be at least fifteen years of age. There were many, many, many rules and standards the vestal and guard must meet, some so trivial that the girl wondered how the gods came up with such things.
So I wrote a plot, sort of. The story I had in mind is loosely based off of Bravely Default (more so inspired by than based on), but I haven't exactly fleshed it out to the max. I wanted the story to be of the guard and vestal as they traveled across the world, preferably with a little bit of adventure and action. Things should go wrong, but at the end of the day there's an end goal. The goal will be to have the vestal pray at each temple, with the pilgrimage ending once it does. Whether we deviate from that or not is up to our characters, but this would be the baseline plot.
In terms of character, I'd like to play the vestal. I'd also like to only run one of these roleplays, meaning it will be a first come first serve situation. I'd love to hear your ideas, though you need to contact me on this actual post (as opposed to PMs). The only reason is that I'd like people to see that the interest check is no longer available, therefore not asking me if it is.
Any thoughts, questions, or maybe similar plots, drop a post on this thread!
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