The Sacrifice (Closed AU)
@lilyintheashes A cold wind blew over the empty clearing. There was a low stone platform in the center of it. Great heavy chains were nailed into it, coated in rust. The platform itself had dark stains that varied in age but were clearly splatters. The longer one looked at it, the more they would get the sense that something terrible had happened here not once, but time and time again.
In the dead of Winter when the forest was bare and the trees seemed like ghosts looming skeletal over the snow, there was a price that had to be paid. The town had a guardian, a deity, but he only found his strength through flesh. Normally in the Summer and greener days, things were fine. The beast would sate himself on deer and hunt freely on his own. Whenever bandits or soldiers from other lands attacked, he would bring them to a swift end. Decades ago now though, the townsfolk had realised their guardian slept through the Winter and after a raid which had destroyed half the town they devised a plan. In the dark of night the inner council would band together and find someone to take. At times it was simply a passing traveler, at others it was a bandit or lone thief. No matter who it was, they received the same treatment. To the platform they were bound and to their fate they were left. This had worked, starving so their guardian was not one to typically question food laid before him and in return he would stay watchful for danger through the coldest parts of the year. No one knew what strange dwelling lay beyond the great stone door that the platform was built in front of, but no one cared to look. They were grateful but also fearful of their own protector. That night, candles had been lit around the platform in preparation for the same ritual to be done. Shrouded figures gathered at the edge of the clearing, murmuring to each other even as they began to part. A pair in white hooded robes were dragging someone. This sacrifice was difficult, struggling even after the black hood had been drawn around her face to keep her from witnessing her fate. A few of the others had to join in to help drag and push her forward. No matter how difficult, the job must be finished.
