// This is basically a summary of what happened in the initiation from Licca's point of view. The sensation of touch is edited to remove some detail, to potentially remove any risk of metagaming using this forum entry. I had a lot of fun doing this because it was just so immersive.
As Licca walked into the Lucelle's office in the Festhall, she was awed at the sheer beauty of the office, including the furnishings and the art. At Lucelle's suggestion, Licca takes a seat at Lucelle's desk. She was nervous, but she had to do this... for the sake of the memories of her home.
Lucelle takes out an ornate box holding the sensory stones that would hold Licca's experiences, and Licca was awed by the sheer beauty of the box and the little stones that were held in it. Lucelle took out the first stone, told Licca that everything will be all right, and instructed her in the use of the stones. Then she asks which sense Licca would like to begin with.
Licca said, "I think we can begin with smell."
Licca cups her hands on the sensory stone, with Lucelle gently putting her cool hands over the stone, leaving the stone completely covered. Licca then closes her eyes on Lucelle's gentle suggestion. She focuses her mind and begins to open her memories into the stone...
Smell
"Licca, at 8 years old. She was running around her mother's little bakery next to the temple. In a corner, there was a huge oven baking all sorts of delicious bread, cake, and cookies. The smell as the delectable dessert baked as well as the aroma of the nuts, herbs, and flowers that were sitting in little jars, that wafted every time her mother opened a jar to add something to accentuate the dessert that was baking. Unfortunately, her mother forgot she put something intoo long in the oven, and there was suddenly a burning odor as her mother quickly removed a batch of burnt cookies to prevent the burnt odor from getting to the other baked goods."
"Besides from the lingering burnt odor, Licca could smell the sweat from her mother as she labored in the bakery to make food that would make people happy. It was a very happy time for the family."
"As her mother sweats, Licca smells the burnt cookies... and the smell was a lot worse when the cookies were out of the oven. She helped her mother put the cookies into a refuse pile a short distance away from the bakery, where the food discards from everyone in the village was placed for composting for future crops. The pile had an earthy aroma that was mixed with the subtle smell of rotting food, and to Licca, it was wonderful, as it meant the crops would grow nice and tall the next year because of the pile."
"Licca returns to the bakery along a different route, and picks a flower that only grew in their village. It had a scent which is almost divine in origin, which makes her feel happy as she skips back to her mother's bakery."
Licca opens her eyes as she finishes reliving the memory. Lucelle gently puts the stone into the ornate box, and removes the next stone. Lucelle asks, "Would you like to try this one unassisted?"
"Yes", said Licca.
Licca takes a deep breath, cups her hands under the stone, and closes her eyes as she relives her next set of memories.
Hearing
"Licca, at 11 years old. Licca approaches a huge stone fortress, where her sister apparently went. Her sister told her not to follow her, but she did anyway. On the outside, Licca could hear the words for a very basic cantrip. She recognized it, but it had a rough, yet evil intonation to it. She sneaks into the fortress while she softly utters the words to her favorite invisibility spell, the gentle yet beautiful words that she hears herself utter calm her all the way down to her soul as she squirrels through a hole in the fortress wall."
"As she goes through the hallways invisible, she hears more arcane words being uttered as the necromancers do magical experiments. The words she heard sounded evil, yet familiar in a sense... until she heard the screaming of a child as the child was being tortured by the spells. The screaming shook her to the core, yet she would not give up until she found her beloved sister. She continues down the hallways, and the arcane words she hears change as she gets deeper in the fortress. They are no longer familiar, and sound like someone who is uttering the words is really uttering a cry of help."
"She continues down the hallways, while invisible, as she approaches the inner sanctum of the fortress. She could hear her sister telling the necromancer to surrender in a voice she never heard her use back home. Unlike her kind and gentle, yet melodious voice back home, her voice was harsh, gutteral, and primal."
"All of a sudden, Licca hears the necromancer utter arcane words that sounded so evil that she could no longer move... and the spell that the necromancer cast was directed at her, dispelling her invisibility spell. Licca could not move, and could only hear her sister scream Licca's name in a surprised and desperate tone. Licca then heard the necromancer utter the arcane words needed for Wail of the Banshee... and the words were blotted out as she heard a high-pitched scream as she blacked out..."
"When Licca woke up, she found herself in the Temple of Aphrodite, where her mother, her father, and all the underpriests were chanting the song of revival and love. She could hear the sobbing of her mother and the relieved sigh of her father. Her sister came up to her and in the same gutteral voice she used at the necromancer, lectured Licca."
"She then heard her sister's voice break, and all of a sudden she could hear her sister crying tears of happiness, knowing that Licca was going to be all right. Then, the doors of the temple slammed open and Licca could hear the voices of her friends as they tried to talk over each other trying to find out what happened. Licca was too weak to move from the spot to answer them..."
Licca's eyes open, and she takes her hands off of the stone. In a gentle, yet concerned voice, Lucelle said, "Take your time, Licca. It can be quite taxing to draw on powerful memories. If you would like to pause a moment, we can do so."
Licca takes a deep breath. She was already exhausted, but she knew she had to continue. "Let's continue. We'll go with taste next."
Lucelle sets out the next stone, and with a deep breath, Licca cups the stone and closes her eyes...
Taste
"Licca, at age 12... on her birthday. It was the day of the year where the Temple of Aphrodite would be holding their biggest festival of the year. The temple and the bakery were both busy, and Licca was in the bakery helping making the last of the baked goods. She popped a cookie in her mouth, and since she was really hungry, it didn't matter that the cookie was slightly burnt as the burnt taste was heavenly for someone who hasn't eaten since the morning."
"Her mother then told Licca she could go and visit the food stalls that were set up for the festival, and gave Licca enough money to buy enough food that she would be full by the time the ceremonies at the temple would start."
"Licca went out to the stalls where the vendors would be making food on site, and her mouth watered as she could smell the food being made. She goes up to the first stall, where the nice fellow was making a local treat involving seafood wrapped in a fried ball of batter. She pays the nice fellow, and gets a tray of the treat. The treat was nice and soft around the batter, and it was chewy and squishy at the center where the seafood was at. There were six of them in the tray, and she happily ate them all, savoring the delicious taste of the treat."
"Licca walks down to the next stall, and the nice fellow there was making something that looked like a bunch of worms mixed together with vegetables and meat. The worms were actually made of flour, and the whole mixture was cooked in oil. Licca pays the nice fellow for this mixture, and greedily eats it as the meat, vegetables, and flour worms was a delicious local dish. She eats it all, and it leaves a delectable, yet heavy taste of oil in her mouth."
"She then walks to the next stall, where the nice fellow, who Licca recognized as the perfumer, was making a huge batch of herbal tea. She ordered a glass of the herbal tea, and pays the nice fellow. She drinks the tea to wash away the heavy taste of oil in her mouth. The herbs wash away the heavy taste of the oil, but leave behind the delectable taste, which makes Licca happy."
"Licca then goes to the next stall, and there the nice fellow was grilling a flat-looking pancake with topping on it. Licca recognized it as another one of her favorite local dishes, and orders a pancake with her favorite toppings. She hungrily eats the pancake with her favorite toppings, which included a variety of seafood and vegetables, and they all came together in a symphony of taste in her mouth that she always loved when she ate this local dish."
"It was soon time for the ceremonies, and Licca sadly had to head back to the temple, since she didn't get to eat any of the dessert that was being made."
"After the ceremonies were over, Licca and her parents arrived home when she saw a huge group of people in their living room, including her older sister, her younger brothers, and all her friends from the village. On the table in the living room was a huge cake, just for Licca's birthday. She restrains herself, and cuts pieces of the cake for her friends and family to share."
"She finally eats her own slice of cake, and it was her favorite cake. As she savors the taste, she heard her mother say, 'Licca, when you turn 15, I'll teach you how to make this cake.'"
While Licca was contributing her memories into the stone, Lucelle took out a flask of cold water and two glasses. She poured one glass for herself, and one glass for Licca. As Licca opened her eyes and took her hands off of the stone, she saw the glass and took a few sips of the water. She was going to save the rest of the water for the last two stones.
Lucelle takes out the fourth stone and asks Licca, "And what sense were you to record this time, Mmm?" Licca replied, "I'll go ahead and do sight next."
Lucelle nods, then gently asks, "How are you finding the experience so far, if you don''t mind my asking?"
Licca replied, "I admit it's a bit tiring... but it's something I have to do. These are experiences I want to contribute... to allow everyone to know about. These are the experiences that have shaped my personality, my life, and they are what makes me the person I am today. It's these experiences of love in my village that make my life bearable now."
Lucelle replied, "Not all experiences of worth are pleasant ones, Licca. A Sensate needs to know and understand that."
Licca replied as she steeled herself for the next stone, "Yes. That was why the one for hearing is not a pleasant one. I'm ready for the next stone." She focused her thoughts, and closes her eyes as she cups the next stone...
Sight
"Licca, age 13. Licca finally was going home after serving the families in the village for the last year. She didn't really want to go home, as she was happy in helping out those she had wronged."
"Her parents told her that they had something for her back home, and she didn't know what it was as she stepped through the front door. As she walked in, her parents led her to a door that wasn't there before. They motioned for her to open it. Licca opens the door, and the sight which she was treated to was a dream come true."
"Licca sees a whole room that was just for her use. It was a large workshop with everything she could ever want for all the new interests she had acquired over the last year. On one table, Licca could see a beautiful space set up for her sewing. There was an entire rack full of spools of thread of every imaginable color. Next to it was a beautiful packet of needles of all sizes, and a lovely pincushion full of pins."
"Hanging on the wall next to the rack of threads was several pairs of scissors of all different sizes. Underneath that was a little box. Licca opens the box and sees a beautiful silver thimble, another pincushion with more pins in it, a roll of measuring tape, and pencils and chalk for marking fabric. Hanging over the table were poles used for hanging bolts of cloth, and there were two mannequins standing next to the table."
"A nice and comfortable chair upholstered in blue silk was next to the table. For Licca, it was like she was in heaven, as she would get to continue to do what she loves to do. All of a sudden, the ogre carpenter came in and said, 'Sorry that I was late on this, but this is for you, Miss Licca.'"
"He put in her hands a beautiful enchanted embroidery hoop that could adjust to any size."
"Licca then goes to the other table and sees a variety of vises, clamps, tools, and containers full of materials used for making all kinds of jewelry. She sees that the collection of tools there is a bit incomplete, but seeing everything laid out just for her use made her happy that her parents did all of this for her."
"She finally turns around and looks at her parents' smiling faces. They looked happy to see Licca so happy, and they gave each other a gentle, yet loving kiss. It made Licca's heart sing to witness the sheer amount of love between her parents."
As Licca opens her eyes and takes her hands off of the stone, she felt very drained. Lucelle smiled and said, "It rather seemed to me as if that was a fond memory." Licca took a few sips of the water, and she knew that she would need Lucelle's help on the last sensation, as she wasn't sure she had the willpower to relive it.
"Lucelle, I'm going to need help with this one."
As Licca cups her hands on the last stone, Lucelle's hands cover hers, and with a deep breath, relives one of her most vivid memories of touch.
Touch
"Licca, age 16. Licca and her older sister were in village square, or what remained of it. There is almost nothing left of the village and of most of the villagers. In its place were smoldering buildings, and the bodies of baatezu, ta'anari, villagers, and soldiers. Licca and her older sister were trying to help to bury all the bodies, as it was their duty."
"Licca walks up to the first body she was to lift to the cart so it can be buried. It was the charred and blackened body of a succubus who was shocked to death. It's normally smooth skin was scratchy, and Licca could feel the skin flake off the succubus as she dragged the corpse to the cart."
"Tired from the exertion, Licca goes to the next body. It was the body of a pit fiend, with acidic blood all over its body as it was skewered by arrows. Licca tries to touch the bloody carcass, but the carcass burned under her touch. Licca tore a piece of cloth, and held it in her hand as she somehow manages to drag the pit fiend to the cart with the help of several of the remaining men."
"The next body she walks up to was the body of the blacksmith. She wipes a tear from her eyes as she gently drags him to the cart. His body felt like jelly, as all his bones were broken from being slammed into the ground."
"Licca then gets on the cart to go to the graveyard. Once she arrives at the graveyard, she grabs a shovel, and helps the survivors dig the graves for everyone. Her hands were blistered from the digging she did before, and having to hold the shovel in her blistered hands makes it painful to dig... yet she had to dig. After digging the last grave she needed to dig for the day, she picks up a piece of wood, which splinters in her hand and causes the blisters to become worse..."
With that last experience in the stone, Licca opens her eyes, takes a deep breath, and drinks the last of the water. She was elated, yet drained when Lucelle pulled a badge out of the ornate box, and solemnly conferred Licca membership into the Society of Sensations...
Licca's Initiation
