Festival for Geshtianna - Encounters with Brigette

July 17th, 1886

My journies westward have brought me to the town of Stillwater. While I find the weather here most unpleasant, and the town rather small and uninteresting, I happened to come at the same time as a major festival for the pagan goddess Geshtianna.

Being of the elven persuasion, the religion interested me and I sought out the priestess Brigette to enlighten me on the teachings of this goddess.

These followers are enraptured with the beauty of life and savor the fruits of love and passion with a strength of faith that can only be viewed by the outsider as "hedonistic."

I'm not sure if it was because I was tired or wary, or because I have not had the company of a lover for several weeks, but the practices of this religion intrigued me greatly, in spite of my better judgement.

I have not known true love of another in my 200 years, though I may have been swayed a few times with the breif intoxication of lust. Brigette's simplistic approach to love and passion rejuvinated my hope for such gifts. I found myself listening to her, fully hypnotized by the beauty in and of the religion.

However, I quickly realized that the platonic ideas that were dancing in my head slightly differed from those of Brigette's, who began to touch me in a most fascinating manner upon my asking to explain a concept of rapture.

I was in complete shock!

For a moment, I sat stunned as Brigette smiled most un-abashedly at me. I almost wanted to say "but I'm not that sort of girl!"

In the time I spent in awkward silence, I made a decision to myself to become more open to these sorts of matters. Normally, I would thank her for her time and simply leave. Today, (again, it must be the strong mountain wine), I was not my usual self and continued the lesson in worship practices of the religion.

Brigette must have realized how pensive I was about these matters. She stopped her "demonstration," and instead, cheerfully invited me to the festival that was to be held this evening. I could then judge for myself if I would make my offering to Geshtianna.


Later that evening....

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Divadrummer on 2001-09-25 06:44 ]</font>

 

Hah, I remember Birgette! About as bright as an electric light without the filament. But, I'll tell ya, she more than made up for it. J.M. Morant first told me about the festival back in '82, and I wasn't keen to believe the old bastard, but I had to check this out for myself.

Never one for cold weather or snooty elves, it was a couple years before I actually managed to get to Stillwater; and bugger all if it wasn't everything Morant said and more. There she was, this *gorgeous* human standing if front of a statue that could be politely described as obscene, delivering a sermon so laced with double-entendre it would have made and orc blush! I remember, I remarked to Gurk "Forget that Panarri voodoo, *this* is a religion that can get a man up early on a Sunday morning!"

Gurk, with his trademark eloquence, responded to my rapier wit with a simultaneous grunt and fart... but hey, we don't hire half-ogres for the conversations, right?

Anyway, to make a long story short, I never actually did get to participate in the festival. I think I scared the poor girl when I suggested they let Gurk in on the action. It was just a bit of a joke, but she suggested I was missing "the true spirit of Ghestianna" or some other such nonsense. Nutcases, the lot of 'em, but I'll tell ya', there was this half-elf there who I suspect could have made me a true believer...

Ah well, what the hell am I doing rambling on like this? Please, dear girl, continue your story. And don't spare the details!

- Edgar Piedmont, Gnomish Industrial Council

 

Excerpted from Westmoreland's book, "Mystery Religions from the Age of Legends":

"Although the practitioners of the cult of Geshtianna are very open about certain public rituals, those rituals requiring an invitation are considered secret. Invitation is offered by way of contact of a physical nature with the recipient of the invitation oftentimes feeling a quickening of blood, palpitations of the heart, or a flushing of the skin. It is believed these reactions are induced by way of the peculiar incense burned at their festivals. The halls of science also regard this incense to have a dampening effect upon the willful faculties of the minds as advanced practitioners of the magickal arts often perform below their normal capacities when in the vicinity of such a festival."

"As to the secretive nature of the invited rituals it is most perilous to reveal with any detail the occupation of the persons engaged in those rituals. Priestesses of Geshtianna are recorded as employing the cultists of the Molochean Hand, to exact silence when respect for their secrecy has not been honoured. One example is a group of Tarantian day-labourers who following a holiday in Stillwater thought to line their pockets with a few extra coins. Having approached the daily paper in their home city to share their exploits with the general public they happily returned home. Alas the next morning dawned on their eight corpses floating by the wharves of Tarant."

 

[OOC] Damn, I wished Divadrummer hadda finished her post.[OOC]