To Drink, Perchance to Dream
The high priestess is a decrepit old crone, but she carries herself with a dignity that nobody in the village can match. She has entered a deep trance, and is chanting in a language that only she and the gods understand. You are outside the temple of the water god, waiting for whatever may come next. To be honest, you understand very little of it. There was talk in the village of a prophecy, and that the water god needed help. The priestess had decided to sacrifice a virgin. As that generally seems to help matters. The Village Elders, for reasons that were never explained to you very well, chose you as the sacrifice, and so you were decked out in ceremonial robes and led to the temple.
The temple of the water god stands at the source of a stream that, you've been told, is a very important river further downstream. The temple has been cleverly carved into the hillside so that the spring that creates this "river" is above the entrance to the mostly-underground temple. The effect is a pleasant little curtain of water covering the entrance to the temple.
The priestess breaks from her reverie and looks squarely at you. She says, in an otherworldly voice: "Enter the temple, Sacrifice, and travel over an ocean of water and a gulf of time. Travel, child, far from here. Go, now, and face your destiny!" On the word "destiny," the trickle of water over the door miraculously become a raging torrent. The crowd of villagers murmurs briefly, but at a sign from the priestess, they are silenced. Bravely, you step through the waterfall.
You are not in the temple, although logic would dictate that you should be. Instead, you're in a cave, one you've never seen before. More surprisingly, the waterfall behind you is gone, replaced by a wall of stone. A bluish glow illuminates the space, revealing an empty goblet on a marble pedestal. The priestess' voice echoes across time and space to give you one final message: "Wait here for the water god to call you. He will choose another to bear his power, and you must be the vessel. Wait, now. When the sacrifice is needed, the water god will call." You meditate, and enter into a deep trance...but the sound of splashing water awakens you. You look at the goblet--it's been filled. You know, without really understanding why, that you have to drink this water.
You try to get up, only to find that you've apparently wasted away. Although to you, almost no time has passed since your arrival, you must have actually been meditating for a very long time indeed. You approach the goblet, and address the water inside. You have no idea how you know what to say, but you do: ""The elements are gathering tonight. The forces of the universe are converging, and the time has come to take our place among them. I was chosen, long before, to be the vessel for Water. You chose, this night, to become Water, and so I am your vessel. So, now, let us join." You drink the water. The world fades into nothingness. Your last fleeting thought is an inexplicable feeling of deja-vu.
Written by Zodiac on 01 April 2008
