A Snowflake in the Desert

[desertpowered]

There’s a young man hanging around the Plaza with two owl-griffins perched on his shoulders. Paul Atreides isn’t particularly used to snow, but he doesn’t seem that bothered by it either, wearing a coat to keep out the cold and holding a small bag of meaty chunks. Occasionally he tosses one to the griffins, who eagerly snatch it.

He’s careful only to bring out animals who have tolerance for the winter - Paul himself can adjust to it, but it took him a little time and he is still learning things about the season. Not so much serious things, since this winter doesn’t seem to be so serious. He’s more interested in the ways people entertain themselves. Oh, he knows about snowball fights and Yule goats, but his hunger for knowledge is never easily satisfied.

Paul rubs one of his griffin friends under the chin and rewards it with a piece of meat, then turns to anyone who approaches him. “Tell me, what is your favorite thing to do during this time of the year?”

Comments

[desertpowered]

"Mari Lwd?" Paul perks up, excited. "I don't know that tradition, if you could tell me about it. I could see if I can help..."

In response to the question, Paul pats the bird on his left shoulder. "They're owl-griffins I adopted from Princess - a dinosaur who lives in the Wilds. She was offering them to people who would care for them. I'm still deciding on names."

[coldsong]

"She's a Welsh tradition. It means 'Grey Mare'. They take the skull of a horse and create a sort of puppet with it, which they carry from house to house, singing and asking to be let in. The occupants of the house are meant to argue back that they can't come in, and it goes back and forth in a sort of contest. Generally the Mare wins, and comes inside for drinks and general wreaking havoc."

"You know how I feel about chaos. It's a tradition that's dear to my heart for a number of reasons."

"Hello, lovely," he coos softly to the griffin. "Best be careful with them around my home. I've got a whole colony of tressym in the eaves and the trees. I'm not sure who would win in a one-on-one fight but I'd rather not find out."

[desertpowered]

"I'm certainly on board," says Paul with a sly expression. "If you need assistance, I can help carry the puppet and have a good enough singing voice. And you and I are of one mind regarding chaos. A little harmless fun never hurt anybody, and I think it's something the children might enjoy as well." He likes the general concept, not to mention the troublemaking and drinks.

Besides, Paul will never pass up an opportunity to encourage mischief.

"That's a good idea," Paul replies. "I haven't met your tressym, but it keeps my hands full enough managing my own animals. They had to be told that my mouse is not prey, for example, though I keep the owl-griffins fed enough that it only had to be once."

[coldsong]

"In the past couple years I've worked the puppet invisible from beneath the shroud. It does wonders for alarming people who try to peek. But you can certainly come along and sing with us, the children would love it."

He's quiet for a moment, then adds: "The Mari Lwyd is a creature of the season. She exists to remind the safe and comfortable and living about the outcast and vicious. They who seem corrupt have put on holiness. They who seem holy have put on corruption. A lot of Winter celebrations do that, turn the tables utterly on their heads."

"It used to be the custom, on Midgard, for humans of the lower classes to go caroling at the door of their noble betters and demand gifts. Fruit, drink, coins, whatever they could get. And the nobles hated it, but if you buck that kind of tradition once a year, eventually you get a full scale rebellion. Mari Lwyd is a reminder not to get too comfortable. And I am very comfortable with my life right now, which means I need her more than ever."