Khuk, called Little Bird by her friends and lover, sat in her room. Officially, she was taking an afternoon nap, a necessity for keeping her energy levels up across the high-energy preparations for the upcoming confirmation, consecration, and the festival. Unofficially, Talae and the other acolytes and priestesses had decided that Khuk deserved an hour or two to herself and gone about seeing that she got it uninterrupted. Khuk supposed that she was thankful for this, but it did leave her with an hour of nothing to do. Most days she did nap, or at least rest. Other days, like today, she was too restless for sleep and spent the time in meditation and prayer instead. The vast bulk of the times she had meditated and prayed, she had succeeded only in centering herself. There was that first time, when Kuko had spoken directly to her, confirming her as a Cleric and setting her loose in the world with renewed purpose. And then there was this time.

Khuk found herself perched neatly on the balcony of a great house in the middle of the woods. She felt light, at ease, and slightly aroused, which confirmed that it was Kuko who had called her spirit to this place. Which meant Kuko wanted to talk in person without the intermediaries of oracle and sign. Khuk hopped down from her perch and gently eased open the balcony door, listening for the sounds that would tell her where her patron Goddess was. She didn't have to wait long.

"Come in Khuk, my little bird, I want to speak with you."

Khuk felt a gentle tug on her being, leading the way into the house. She followed it, careful as always that her talons didn't gouge the flooring. She found Kuko waiting by the stairway on the ground floor. In the past the stairs had ended here, but now Khuk saw they extended down at least one more level. A private playroom? Khuk didn't know, couldn't know without invitation, and certainly wasn't going to pry.

"Focus on me my little bird, I have Questions for you."

Questions were big, important things, as where their Answers. The last time Kuko had asked Khuk a Question, Khuk had been made a Cleric. "I will Answer, my Goddess."

"La! Such formality. I suppose I am puzzled by your choice of Acolyte, and puzzled further still by your plans to confirm her as a priestess. A Bearzerker of the elves of the Dark? A most unusual choice."

"Talae's faith is true, even if she does keep it separate from some things she does. Passion is what drives her, not hatred as so many of her kin in the Dark. When she came up into the Light, something inside her came adrift. The brutal necessities of survival lessened, and her faith had room to grow as her Rage abated. It was Talae who introduced me to your faith, my Goddess, even as you selected me as your Cleric. Now she is a a Defender, with myself and our other friends as those she defends. But I foresee a problem with this, as it stands. We will not live long enough to balance her for her entire life, and I would seek to provide a second thing for her to Defend after our passing."

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"Oh? I forget how brief mortal lives are. Interesting that you should seek the future even as you mortal life flashes by."

"I admit, I was inspired by another of my friends in this, a human. His life is not much longer then mine, and yet he builds the place he was given to govern to last beyond the stretch of his life, even the stretch of any children he may have, or their children, or their grandchildren. He seeks peace and Balance, yes, but knows and accepts that Balance must be Defended, and that peace cannot be allowed to harden into Stasis."

"Hmm, and this is touching upon the consecration. We will come to that, stick with your Acolyte for now Khuk."

"As you will, my Goddess. I have seen three summers in the mortal realm. With good health, I will see another thirty. Most of my friends will see between eighty and ninety summers. Talae has seen only eighty-two, and will live to see eight hundred. None of us will be there for her to Defend after our deaths, and I would not have the Flame in the Dark go out, or burn out of control."

"The Flame in the Dark...? You are certain your Acolyte carries this Title?"

"You did not sense it yourself? Nor the Title that Sslyeth, Denedar, and Merrsshulk used to address me?"

"I knew you were the Breeze in the Sky, but to have the Flame as an acolyte...? And the silithid Trinity used the Title...?"

Yes, my Goddess."

"So how would confirming the Flame as a priestess give her something to Defend after you pass from the mortal realms?"

"Talae would have a home again, and by confirming her now, she would have time to settle into it before all of her current friends die."

"And the Consecration of this new temple? Doing so in more then just my name...?"

"By consecrating the Trebor Temple to more then one faith, it will bind the region together. The silithid trinity have a new Paladin, of the Oath of the Ancients, and she would like a formal place to worship. Druids, both of the Circle of the Lands and of the Circle of the Moon, are beginning a grove in the region, and could use a formal place outside of it for contact. Your faith is not the only faith in Altheim, and thus it is better if all of the faith in the region share a space to worship. It will build tolerance and understanding, both between and of, each faith. All the better so that Trebor does not become a second Alexandria."

"Good Answers Khuk, my little bird, and thank you for bringing me the information you have. Now, come on down to my playroom, and let me show you a few new things..."