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[neverarightstep]

[Grainne has a... phone, but she lacks the understanding to use most of the features. Most messages send to her will go unanswered What on earth is that incessant chiming??? but she has a physical spot for letters outside her room in Perdita's wing.]

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[samantha_grey]

It's a festival for one of the people who brought a foreign religion to the Irish soil and who supposedly kicked the snakes off of the island. [She grunted] Usually an excuse to get drunk on green beer and act stupid really.

Aengus sounds like a much better host than that sort, trust me.

[neverarightstep]

Oh, the... Catholics. Snakes?

[It takes Grainne a moment.]

What are snakes? And what does green beer have to do with it?

[It might be a bit strange to think Grainne hadn't seen a snake before, but sometimes life had a habit of not filling in all the details during one's course through it.]

[samantha_grey]

Snakes? [She shuddered before she managed to laugh at the faint irony. Most people said that Patrick probably didn't scare shit off the island, that there had never been any real snake presence there.] They're long, scaled animals, some thin some very thick, that slither along the ground.

[Another shudder and she conjured up an illusionary image of one. It didn't stay long before winking out. There was an obvious look of discomfort there.] I ... really don't like snakes. but they said there used to be snakes on the isle, and he scared them off. It was supposed to have been a miracle he performed. Of course, there's a lot of stories in the world that aren't true.

And yes, Catholic.

[neverarightstep]

Oh, those things. Some of the men from the Brigantes, and not a few of the Lochlannach, that come to trade have tattoos of them, but I have never heard of anything like that in Eire, sparing worms and dragons.

[She's seen worse, really.]

I've never heard a name for them, I just thought they were long squiggly decorations with heads or maybe spirits. Ah, men, loving to take the credit for everything. Why are the lack of snacks such an important thing?

[samantha_grey]

They associate the serpent with ... well, the closest equivalent might be Bres, Balor or Crom Dub, Crom Cruach... the thing is that I don't really remember our myths having a 'devil,' some great evil who sought to corrupt mankind and turn them towards darkness. The Fomori were bad, but they weren't that nasty in the tales.

Catholics obsess over temptation, and the serpent, the devil, was the one that started all of that. It's... well, I only know it so well. Sorry. I never looked into my father's mythology that deeply.

[neverarightstep]

We don't, except if there might be something called evil, it would be the Dark One. I'm sure you've heard of Oisin's mother. But he was still a man.

[She pauses.]

I have heard of the devil before. Isn't that the one the Maeve did something with?

[samantha_grey]

They have a version of it, but it's not quite the same I'm sure. That said, I think it's related to temptation.

[There was a pause and she nodded.]

I know of Donn. I met one of his servants once, one of the last vestiges of their power among men. I don't know that people think of him as quite as evil as he was in life. He just rules the dead now.

[neverarightstep]

Donn is a strange case, I do not know much about him myself because those were not stories I felt... inclined to listen to, especially recently. The ruler of the dead is an honorable position, the ancestors are revered and worshiped, and the ruler is the one who cares for them. Many men who were troublesome can be calmed when given a responsibility.

[She looks down at her hands for a moment.]

Could you... tell me about temptation?

[samantha_grey]

Duty can temper any soul. It's hard to say. His servant and I didn't speak much when it happened, so I never had the chance to ask what I wanted. That, and he'd apparently been very ... indisposed for a long time. I think there were things he didn't know.

Temptation, though? [She paused.] It's the urge to do something that society, or your beliefs would tell you that you shouldn't do. It can be mild or great. What do you want to know about it?

[It was, after all, meat and bread for succubi.]

[neverarightstep]

[Grainne looks somewhat surprised.]

That could be practically anything, then. Does that mean following one's heart even if it defies what people expect of you is considered a 'temptation?'

[samantha_grey]

Well yes and no. [She sighed.] Temptation, for them, tied into commandments and rules of conduct that they followed. Ten commandments, sounded simple on the surface but tended to be a lot bigger in general, and different Christians would think one meant one thing, others would think it meant something else.

It kind of boiled down, a lot, to what they called seven deadly sins. temptations that described emotional states that led people down paths they thought were dangerous. Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride and Envy.

[neverarightstep]

It sounds silly. An indulgence here and there in a hard life is hardly a bad thing...

There is some connection to this place, then, is there not? The Maeve say we have sinned. I don't understand because there are people who don't even believe in these.

[samantha_grey]

...that's what they say, though it's also a load of horse shit. [She didn't know know, but one conversation with Gloria had confirmed just enough to suspect this wasn't about debts, not that way anyway. Or at least, that was her assumption.]

And you're right. An indulgence here and there is fine, as long as you're not in someone else's path, so to speak. The Christians are too obsessed with those things, but yes. There's a connection with those seven vices and the Maeve.

Debt or not, a lot ties into temptation, giving in, and resisting here. It's intrinsic to how they work, even if we aren't here for a real debt.

[neverarightstep]

[She presses a hand against her forehead, feeling her heart sink.]

Then, by their accounts, what we have done in the past is what brought us here? The one time I said yes, I brought sorrow on myself already. It is not fair nor right.

[samantha_grey]

No, I think that they chose us because of who we are, but I don't think that it brought us here. [She shook her head.] They seem to target what they think is a weakness, but I don't even know why they choose the ones that they do, not really.

[neverarightstep]

[Looking up again, a curious light is present now.]

I wonder if there is in some way we are all connected. What are those things called? Where information is collected?

[samantha_grey]

Libraries? I'm not sure that applies [Other than that one library, but ... she didn't want to talk about that place. It still creeped her out to this day to have seen it.] But there may be a sense in which all worlds are connected and all people tied.

Some more than others.

[neverarightstep]

The people with the hand boards who ask people on the street questions about their sex life for 'market research?'

[Only in Eros.]

And there definitely is, I know it. The connection with Tir na nOg, the under world, and several others exist because of that which connects everything. There is a root to existence.

[samantha_grey]

Surveys? Yeah, I know about those. What about them? [She nodded about the rest. The likelihood was too strong to ignore, but there also wasn't much to say on it. She was curious what Grainne was talking about with the first part.]

[neverarightstep]

What if we tried one of those, only without the sex questions? Do you think we might find something?

[Aww. Grainne looks so interested.]

[samantha_grey]

Oh... well, we could, but I suspect that you and I have very different kinks. I'm not sure just how much we'd have in common, that way anyway. We have a lot of other things in common. Just not quite so much in bed.

But, hey, if you want to, we can.

[neverarightstep]

[Grainne laughs softly.]

I meant for finding out if there were connections between those who are taken out world. There must be something that causes the Maeve to choose us. Questions seem like the best way.

[samantha_grey]

Oh gods... yes, we could do that, but I don't know how clear that's going to make it. If there's anything I've ever found, the only thing that's consistent is that people who get grabbed seem to be the sort who will be uncomfortable on some level.

It's like they revel in the drama.

[neverarightstep]

They might at that. Emotions can be a strong power source if you know how to use them well, sexual included. Or... eat them. There are stories of the sidhe playing such games with mortals. Anyway, if you think a 'survery' is not worth pursuing, there may be other ways we can answer the question.

I suppose it will depend on what questions we ask.

[samantha_grey]

It really does. You're wanting to find what it is that causes them to choose us, aren't you? I can understand the curiosity at that, at the very least.

I'm not quite sure where to begin, though.