On one sweaty and stormy end of the summer afternoon, as we are crowded under the patio to take cover and enjoy the show of squalls and lightning, Melodi's hair dressing up with each thunder roll, Ms Tarina brings us an austere looking woman, veiled in a leaf green shawl :
“Hello children, I am sister Sunyeo, Temple officiant and priestess of Tupu” she introduces herself in a gentle voice, yet still managing to cover the rumbling sky in the background.
She points her hand at the tumultuous clouds “may Oreo soon comes back to us.”
Melodi, is the one to take the bait shaken in front of our noses: “Who's Oreo ?”
A sly smile on her face, the priestess goes on: “Oreo is the Sun, but also the fire in your hearth, as well as the light that keeps monsters at bay. The golden dragon fighting the evernight.”
Pleased with the dumbfounded look on the kids, she comes forward and takes a sit on one of the rough mats laying around our small tea table.
“That's why I'm here: as you may know, next spring you will be named at the Temple, but before that, I would like you all to know a bit more about the gods. Oreo isn't the only one you'll have to worship if you want their protection.” as to emphasize her says, thunder rumbles nearby.
She fiddles with a chain around her neck, to show us the pendant that was resting on her bosom : It's a strange polyhedra, like two 8 faced pyramids put base to base, reminds me of a D16 die used by some roleplayers. Each face bares a different colour and symbol.
“Nice” gasps Balout, his hand going for the trinket. The sister gently yet firmly deflects his grasp.
“You'll get one too, but only if you learn to worships all of the pantheon.” She ends with a gentle smile, welcoming him in her church.
She is obviously used at dealing with children, maintaining a perfect balance between gentleness and authority. Her brown eyes carry an amiable gaze, that wins the heart of Balout and the girls. If glasses were a thing in this world, she would look like the perfect strict teacher.
I'm a bit wary of her. I'm not too fond of religions in general and even less about their zealots. I've seen first hand what it can lead to on Earth and can only imagine what it is around here, where gods seems to interact more with their believers.
I'm still unsure if they or something else brought me to this world. Seeing how the Temple seems unaware of my existence I would say the last one, leaving the questions of if it is an ally or an enemy of the pantheon, or just plain randomness; and how the gods would react to my existence.
Not wanting to learn it the hard way, I intend to keep a low profile, until I can figure out more about what the pantheon is, how I got brought here and what kind of reaction can be expected if I start to show off some of my knowledge.
The sister is going on with her proselytizing :
“The pantheon is the shield that protects the humanoids sapients. Eia (15) gods, chosen because of their exemplar deeds and innate qualities, tasked with protecting us from the monster and their mastermind” She turns her pendant to show us a fully dark face of the die “The monster god, the one that is the enemy of all sapient life. No humanoids should pronounce his name nor worship him. Lest he gets branded as heretic by the rest of the pantheon.” She emphazises the threat sounding menacing enough that the kids are slightly frightened, although I doubt they understand what an heretic is. Which Gelcaria confirms :
“what's an heretic ? Is It bad ?” she asks candidly, yet with a hint of fear troubling her eyes.
Sister Sunyeo wears a pained face, perfectly displaying sadness and sorrow, she's a fine actress, her play isn't too showy, just enough to convey what she wants.
“An heretic is a damned soul. One that has forsaken the gods and turned to our enemies. The price for such treason is harsh, they are forsaken by all: Oreo wont shine his light upon their path, nor will Amidea quench their thirst, only pain awaits them.” she ends menacingly, Gelcaria turning her purple gems away from the threatening stare.
A worried Melodi asks “are the gods going to punish us ?”
The sister eases her expression, emitting a playful light laugh, petting Mel's head and ears “No dear, not you, not unless you broke their precepts.” Perfectly leading the gullible kids exactly where she wants.
She then goes on, both explaining theses precepts and clarifying some of the rules.
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Gods in this world are real and seem to interfere in the life of mortals in various ways. They are observing and judging humanoids constantly, those who behave too badly (rape, senseless murder or pain inflicted needlessly to other sapients, are the most shunned upon crimes), can get forsaken by some or all of the pantheon. The worst offence being conspiring with monsters against the sapient races, this will brand you as an heretic, hunted mercilessly in every city, kingdoms or empires.
Some gods have their own preferences and additional rules (Jalea, the goddess of Justice, despises lies and unfairness for ex. Her worshippers are often tasked with law enforcement), some even conflicting with one another.
Losing a god's protection can lead to dire situations : for example Oreo the golden dragon is the god of Heat, fire and light, infuriating him can burden you with a fever, turn you blind, quench your firepit when it's freezing or turn out your torch when you are surrounded by monsters in the dead of night...
I'm not sure how much the gods do actually pay attention to our actions, as mom still warned me about “not following strangers or accepting treats from unknown grown ups”. Implying the god's watch isn't that perfect and the threat of losing the protection of the gods isn't enough to deter all wrongdoers. But better safe than sorry (and it's not like I plan to torture or rape anyone in the foreseeable future).
* * * * * * * * * *
The pantheon is composed of 16 gods subdivided in 3 “penteons” :
There are the 5 “gentles” Gods who protects us from monsters the most, Oreo is one of them. Alongside, Husnd the protector of family, Amidea goddess of water, Jalea for justice and Arteus, the god of all crafts.
The 5 “wavering” gods who embodies more neutral concepts : for example there is Fortan, the god of randomness, madness and luck, both good and back. He can neither be said to be in favour of humanoids nor monster as his powers are double edged blades. (RNGjesus is real here)
But also Tupu Ae'tur, the patron of sister Sunyeo, Tamayoku the goddess of Riches, Akolai the god of love and Shinpilo: god of knowledge.
And there are the 5 “rampaging” gods : that usually lord over more negative notions, while still mostly acting in favour of humanoids. Fusaad the god of rot and disease is one of them, but he is also the god of rebirth (that's my MVP) and food, as it is on the manure that grows our food. He can both bring plague, but also cure one, bring abundance or dearth. Seeking his attention is always a risky bet, but his priests are trained do it often to ask for cures on the sick, blessings for the crops or help to preserve the food.
I was indeed surprised at how little of our food rotted away in the pantry, or at how I've never seen rats or mice taking their toll on our reserve, despite the lack of cats around the city. I've seen more catkins than real cats.
Finally there is the last god, the lone god, who no humanoids should ever worship: the monster god.
According to the sister's belief he is the source of all monsters around and the one enticing them to attack us. His sole purpose is to eradicate all sapients from the world. He is the main bad guy. She doesn't have much to add about it and none of the children dares to ask questions. A scarred Balout found refuge on her lap, the sister gently caressing his rosy cheek and whispering a prayer to Husnd, god of protection and family to appease him.
* * * * * * * *
Sister Sunyeo is a priestess of Tupu Ae'tur, one of the “waverings” neutral gods. Her domain is time, growth, ageing and entropy. Tupu's festival in early spring celebrates the return of growing life and is also used as a marker for age assessment.
At snack time, after sharing a cup of “lemon” water, she leaves us, seeing that my comrades are still processing the load of information she dumped on them. “I'll come back soon to share more stories about the gods with you kids, may Tupu grow you strong.”
She must have access to some weather forecast (or is lurking in wait at the corner of the street), because whenever the first drops of rain start falling, she appears in our courtyard, ready to share her holy stories.
Most are short fables about the mythos of the gods life. According to her, they were normal beings before ascending to godhood. There is no description of the selection process that deemed them worthy, just that “they were the embodiment of the quality needed for their ascension.”
Not only sapient humanoids could become gods, but even monsters like Oreo could, as long as they opposed the monster god. ( so was the monster guy the first one ?)
If the sun comes back from behind the clouds, she just stays and watch us play/train, mumbling some prayers while looking at us with both devotion and what could be affection.
Her prayers do trigger something, the flowers themselves grow towards her, like drawn in by something, even the damp air feels more fresh and our stiff muscles find their second wind. This is my first contact with both magic and the divine.
I don't know if it is an after effect of her prayers, natural progression or the simple observer effect bias, but my comrades are improving at an alarming rate.
Especially Balout, who's language and physical abilities catch up with ours.
Melodi is the second greatest beneficiary, her body awareness and dexterity get a sudden surge in potency. She's now competing toe to toe with Gel during the various activities I can set for us.
Or it might just be due to her beastkin origins, as they are rumoured to be physically stronger than humans.
I shouldn't assume that everything unusual is due to magic, no matter how eager I might be to see some magic.
On her sixth visit Sister Sunyeo explains us our incoming naming day. Next spring, on the 24th of Budior (the second month of the year) it will be Tupu Ae'tur's celebration day.
All children in their fourth spring are to pledge their allegiance to her (and the other gods), to both be acknowledged by the gods, receive the gods protection and have their name added to the Temple's ledger. It is also a memorial for all the children who didn't make it this far. A sadly common occurrence.
I know that Gel has 2 dead brothers, I heard mom and her coworkers talk about it when they were gossiping about her dad's drinking habits, the loss of 2 sons took its toll on him and he is indulging himself on stronger spirits than barok.
Child mortality rate must be quite high, not that it surprises me, seeing how dire our living conditions are. Any disease can be deadly, priest treatments aren't enough to make a difference in heart malformations, septicaemia or accidents, provided that you managed to get access to a temple.
And healing magic is out of the reach of commoners.
Maybe there is room for me opening a local practice clinic one day. After all I bet I can take care of most trauma on humans as good as doctors can, and who knows, beastkin's physiology might be closer to animals than men ?
Food for thought for later.