RP:Juniper Desecrates Kanos Temple

Summary: Juniper, has argued successfully for the addition of an altar to the temple. She offers an unexpected sacrifice on the new altar.

Characters: Juniper, Sophie, Kasyr

Location: The Temple of Kanos Ironbeard

Juniper smiles at Sophie and speaks in hushed, reverent tones, "Good morning, my friend. I am pleased you could be here." A small group of Juniper's followers is here with her.

Sophie gives Juniper an open friendly smile. "Kanos has been very good to me, and his high priest is a fine man too, the finest man I have ever known."

Juniper continues to smile, but her smile falters slightly at Sophie's assessment of Marcellus, "Marcellus is a good man, but he seems rather too informal for one in such an important post. I have heard that he was once a mighty general, but one would never guess it to see him now..."

Sophie agrees that it is difficult to imagine that the gentle, generous, peaceful man Marcellus now is was once a mighty general. She disagrees on whether or not this is a good thing however. "Yes, once he was a mightly general, but now he is far better a man than ever he was then. I trust him completely."

Juniper raises her hands above her head, facing the altar and the likeness of Kanos beyond it. "We, your children, and the Children of Earth, salute your greatness, Kanos, friend of the Citizens of this realm. We assemble here today to show our respect for you, and for the works of nature, and for the gift of Life that comes from the Gods and from the Earth." Here, she directs her followers to place flowers upon the altar, which they do in silence and with reverencE.

Kasyr seems to appear from out of nowhere, spontaneously generating next to you. Juniper dropped 1 Violet. Juniper dropped 1 Ice-Blue Rose.

Sophie bows her head to listen respectfully to the ceremony.

Juniper resumes her prayer, "We, the Children of the Earth Mother, and the followers of Kanos and the Gods of the Light, are here to pay homage for the Gifts with which we have been blessed, especially the gift of Life." she spreads her hands to indicate the flowers on the altar, "We offer thanks for the gift, and return to you the Life that is Yours."

Sophie watches with reverence, she has the greatest respect for Kanos and all the gods of light.

Juniper then nods to one of her followers, who smiles and steps reverently up to the altar. Rather than placing flowers upon it, however, he suddenly hops up to sit on the altar, then swivels to position and lies atop the flowers, Juniper raises her hands again and says, "We thank you for the gift of our life's blood. We return the gift to you, for the honor that is Your due. May our blood nourish the soil from which it sprang." Deftly, and with a practiced hand, she thrusts with her razor-sharp dagger and severs the aorta of the sacrificial victim. So sharp is the blade that the man apparently does not immediately realize that he has been struck. The wound leaves the heart intact, the better to empty the blood of the dying man's body. The blood surges from the still-living heart, spilling ONTO the polished marble floor, while the man lapses into unconsciousness. "We thank the Earth Mother for the gift of life. We return our life's blood to the soil from which it sprang. Accept this offering, Mother Earth, from your loving and grateful children." She looks pleased and smiles sweetly to those around her. "Our Mother is pleased. We have, all of us, been blessed."

Kasyr inches into the area, if only so that the Revenant can take up a discreet spot near the back of the area. After all, whilst he had been invited to this 'gathering'- he still felt somewhat uneasy about returning here. Either way, he's at least managed to be fashionably late... And yet morbidly right on time.

Sophie is motionless in shock and disbelief for some moments, unable to take in the evil she has just witnessed, she will, once regaining some of her senses, hurry forward and attempt to wrench the bloody dagger from Juniper's hand lest she commit any more human sacrifice in this holy place.

Juniper is caught completely off guard by Sophie's reaction. She staggers under the impact of Sophie's contact, dropping her dagger, then rips her hands free and leaps back, eyes blazing, "What is *wrong* with you? You desecrate this ritual by attacking the officiating priestess?" She looks to her followers, who are backing toward the door. Then she follows their gaze to Kanos' sculpture. Can it be that the marble likeness of Kanos is scowling at her? "False God!" she shrieks, pointing a quivering hand at the marble image. In terror, she flees the building.

Juniper dropped 1 ritual dagger. Juniper exits south. Kasyr isn't quite sure what to do here, so he simply contents himself with observing Junipers' vanishing act. Unsure just what to make of this particular scenario, the Kensai simply shakes his head, plucks a cigarette from where it rests trapped between a folded ear and his hair- and simply starts for the way out.