Topic: HOLY Water.

The Redneck

Date: 2012-05-04 11:17 EST
There are planes scattered throughout the multiverse that have no names and no inhabitants. There are planes scattered throughout the elements that have both.

The quasi-elemental plane of lightning falls into the latter group. Now, primes and mortals, basically any living thing with a corporeal body, don't find any of the elemental planes comfortable. Not unless someone's hollowed out and reinforced a pocket capable of sustaining life there. When you're a demi-god, creating such bubbles didn't take all that much effort.

In a pocket, on the quasi-elemental plane of lightning, a home had been carved out. Rolling hills and jagged mountains, glades and forests, all in blue washed black and white. And there, between three hills that'd been plunked down haphazardly, was a lake.

A crystal clear lake spanning almost a quarter of a mile, ripe with shore life in all its forms. Beneath the gently lapping waves, not so much with the living things. It was rather hard for life to survive in a holy ale with an alcohol content to make the purest of moonshines seem like tap water.

Not that some didn't try. They were forever dredging the lake for the sodden lumps of dwarven petitioners and clerics determined to drink their fill. Occasionally there were the representatives of other races as well, but for the most part, it was dwarves and dwarven kin that had to either be rescued, or sent back to their afterlife for a proper ...well it's rather difficult to bury someone who's already dead. Did make for a great party though.

Absolutely clear, a cup of Ralyks' ale has a slightly sweet and spiced aroma. Something reminiscent of the memory of apple pie though far more subtle. Smooth on the lip and tongue, there's barely a burn. The flavor is complex, with a thousand notes tumbling over each other. And completely, utterly, subjective. Each sip or mouthful taken by each person, is different. The flavor, is therefore, quite difficult to explain.

More often than not when queried, a person drinking said ale will simply wave a hand and pour a sample to share. Probably to see if the other person can figure it out either.

Powers had been known to barter for a cask or two for celebratory feasts, clerics had been known to use the Holy Water as fuel for Molotov C*cktails, some people had been known to use the Water to remove rust or purify wounds, and dwarves had been known to drown in it, trying to drink the lake dry.
Whether or not it'd give Sal even the slightest buzz, had yet to be seen.


(Posted with permission. The character Ralyks mentioned above is one of mine. Sal is not.)

Delahada

Date: 2012-05-24 13:03 EST
One fine day, at the Red Dragon Inn, Salvador found a package waiting for him behind the bar. The package consisted of two casks, each one roughly the size of a shorter, fatter three liter bottle of soda. They were made of some silver metal, with filigree type engraving that did not appear to have any particular meaning, just pretty.

Attached to the package was a note that read as follows:


Dear Sal;

Experimentation is fun, here's hoping that, if this stuff does give you a buzz, it's a good one!

Love, with no twisty-sweaty feelings about it,
Thorn


All this because of an actual, honest to goodness, conversation he had had with the woman only a couple of days prior. As it happened, they at first had chosen to sit in neighboring booths, neither one bothering the other. But Salvador had opened the windows of opportunity by muttering a hello to her through the bordering wall. It was a rare occurrence that only happened sometimes.

The subject came up as it almost always does, starting with a bottle of tequila. Perhaps a peace offering, Thorn had worked some kind of shadow magic to make it appear on the table between them. He reached his arm across his body to gather up the bottle with his fingers and drag it closer. Only when he touched it did the realization strike him, a glint of orange light hitting his eyes for a fraction of time. "I left this last night." He'd actually forgotten he had even had the tequila. Thank you, intoxicating pixie dust.

"Yeah." Thorn was most assuredly teasing, though there was little that could beat down the warmth and affection in her. "You did yeah. Wasn't sure if you'd left it for me or not, but considerin' the last time I got acquainted with a bottle'a tequila, I wound up gettin'a mud hole stomped in m' ass, thought I'd leave it. Give it back to you so you could finish it off, an' someone'd enjoy it." Simple truth, with no frills or over explanations. And no mention of the pixies or their dust either.

He blinked slow, absorbing her words, letting them jostle around in his head to be properly translated. You'll have to forgive him. Since coming to Rhy'Din eight years ago, his grasp of the English language was vastly improved, but it was still not his first. After a silent tick, he actually offered her up more than two or three words. "This sh*t makes a lot of people angry, I've noticed." A tilt of the bottle didn't necessarily mean tequila specifically, but there it was. He took a swig right from the neck, then, as if he were drinking water.

And likely, the fact that she most often murdered the English language didn't help. "That it does, some folk know where an' when to stop. Some don't. I get started again, I might not know when an' where. Best if I lay off a while." She, obviously, had little trouble or discomfort with sharing. Hiding from yourself wasn't productive, didn't settle well with what, who, she'd made herself to be. His pull, she was eying that appreciatively. "That, I could never do. Wind up with booze in m' nose." Which was so far away from being sexy, it more than hurt.

A chuckle shook him before he pulled the bottle away from his mouth, and the container held an inch or two less of liquid. "I don't even feel it." He wasn't boasting, simply stating a fact. The liquor had no effect on him whatsoever. He couldn't get drunk. By his tone, he sounded more disappointed, actually. "Sin tried to get me drunk once. I think I drank about five of these." He turned as he spoke, letting his other leg slip off the bench and sitting more properly. The bottle was set down and turned between his fingers on the table. "Nothing."

That, was completley unfair. Her expression fairly shouted that, plainly. And then it went sly. Good natured sly, not I'll get you my pretty and your little...bottle too sly. "Would holy ale screw you up?" Curious, so very.

Thorn was on a roll tonight! Most people couldn't get him to express this much amusement. There again came the quiet chuckle, and he bowed his head as if to hide the curl of his lip that betrayed his good humor. "No s?. Never had it." And he tipped his chin back up to look at her, let her see the smirk.

As long as she wasn't on a roll with some sort of gravy, life would be all good. "You wanna?" Brows waggled, nose wrinkled, all meant to simulate peer type pressure and temptation. "'Cause, I can getcha some."

His brows lifted high at the offer, and he gave it due consideration by looking down the length of the table, out into the buzzing commons, and across the room to the bar. "Ah. No. I shouldn't." Having witnessed what most people turned into when they were drunk, he could only imagine how horrible it would be for him to abandon reason like that. "Not tonight." Maybe another time, though. The twitch of his mouth in an almost smile seemed to suggest as much when he looked back at her.

"All righty sweetness. Lemme know an' I'll getcha a cask." At least she wasn't waxing, or attempting to wax, poetic about the virtues of the ale. Pepsi scooted closer while she hunted around for the straw. Thirsty work tempting someone. Or, something along those lines.

"Maybe at home," he considered. He could safely get drunk at home, right?

Of course he could! Any where he wanted to get drunk, or experiment, he could. " 'S always a good idea t' try new stuff at home first. Keeps y' from gettin' lost, or windin' up in a ditch with a bicycle wheel 'tween y'r ass cheeks."

"Verdad," he murmured. "Maybe you can drop one off."

"Mebbe, dunno where y' live though. Could leave one here for you if you'd like."

"Could do that." He wouldn't object.

And that was how it happened that he found the package waiting for him the following morning. He took the casks home with him and set them aside for a rainy day to share with the sinner. Because if he was going to attempt to get drunk, Sin had damn well better be there to share the moment with him. After all, he knew the sinner would be terribly upset if he had missed out on the results.

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(Adaptation from live play with thanks to The Redneck.)