Glada Vappen!

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne hadn't celebrated holidays properly in over a year which left him feeling disconnected. Giant bonfires in the streets and rampant reindeer were frowned upon in most civilized cities, unless of course the punks were involved, then that was arson not celebrations.. ok, well for the punks it was a celebration but not for a Saami.

In the Nexus though, oh here he could do whatever he wanted, or that was what he had learned in his few visits. He had been planning and cooking and collecting. The gods probably don't even know where he stirred up reindeer from in the Nexus but he has and Mouka was happy to have a job keeping them corralled. His usual rock gear is augmented with his family necklace and oddly doesn't look too out of place with rest of his wildness.

He didn't have a lot but parties always started this way. The host had some things and then people came and brought more booze and food, ordering all kinds of things. Aarne did bring Mead, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and a a bunch of lemon tippaleipä batter. He had cooked some but this was something he could show visitors how to make on their own. The honey mead based sugar in a large bowl. Strips of dried reindeer meat and juustoleipä, a Finnish reindeer milk cheese, are out on the table too. There are fruits; strawberries, apples, and nuts which were common as well as a cream from reindeer milk traditional to the culture and nearly like unfermented yogurt.

That all done he looked to the huge pile of logs that he had gotten from various people around the Nexus. The Sami added leaves to it to create smoke at first to attract others. Before lighting it he put up a banner of hide dedicated to the Akka, the female fertility spirits, decorated with the same imagery as his traditional drum. It was sentimental, the first drum he ever learned to play.

Drum in hand he poured kerosene on the log pile and lit it. The reindeer spooked at the sudden fire but soon calmed, especially when the tall Fin went among them.

Comments

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne's curiosity is rooted in his own experiences where hearing another speak their views has a potential to be beneficial. His beliefs align closely with whatever god or spirit a person needed being there, so he saw no direct conflict himself. "Most of my people were forced to Christianize and abandon our culture. I'm always looking for ways to stop it from continuing to the few who are left with the old ways."

After listening to the answer he merely shrugs. "Our beliefs differ but your dead have a different purpose than ours."

That was ok with Aarne. Some of the questioning was more curiosity since he spent most of his life among Christians with little contact to anyone but his own family.

The final questions though he has to consider for a time. He's thinking through how each came to be known to him or others. Again he's find there isn't a clean and clear answer with one way to explain everything. "Sometimes."

It was the best answer he had when he first tried to tackle these questions. "Maderakka and her husband, Ukko, protect us because of the life we have; man, woman or child. We're named for an ancestor and inherit their animal guide as they got it from the person they were named for before them."

That took care of two that come at birth, or with life changes that are easy for anyone to see. Others needed more in depth insight into a person. "Any others can come from their own interest in us or from a noaidi calling for aid or a person can by finding their sacred spaces. They may come and go or stay for a lifetime. A noaidi saw that my spirit called the reindeer but everyone could see Tiermes had come to teach me when I picked up the drum when I was a child."

[itdruid]

It's still difficult for Mordred to process the complexity of Aarne's beliefs. They're rooted in a culture and a pantheon he simply doesn't know, and trying to learn everything about it on the fly is a difficult ask. He nods along as he listens, taking in everything he can to work through as soon as he can. Hopefully he can learn and understand enough to not cause trouble or friction when he and Aarne next speak.

"I don't fully understand," he admits with a hesitant smile. "Your gods, spirits, and beliefs feel so much more intricate than mine. I have only one direction to look for guidance and answers while you and your people have many, including non-permanent ones." Unconsciously, he begins to worry at his shirt again. He's trying so hard to make a good first impression, and it's a little distressing to know he's still a fallible human. True, he's only been an envoy for a few weeks, but he was hoping his own deep faith would help him more here. "I'm in awe of it all, really, even though I'm-- also intimated by how much you know and act on by instinct."

[suomi_thunder]

Aarne knows this isn't easy for others, even the other Nordic peoples in his own band took time to get it down.

"The basic difference is to us, everything alive has a spirit capable of interacting with us and alive is more broadly defined. The world is more vivid and alive spiritually than it is for some other cultures." He gently patted Mordred's shoulder; friendly, gentle, and accepting when he notices the nervous sort of actions. "I was born into these beliefs. I'm a native speaker of the practice. I might not always understand yours either because I would be learning about a new language and a new view of everything around us and inside of us."

Aarne has a spiritual openness from his long life of interacting very personally with those beliefs and at times wearing them like a shield.