From what I was able to gleam, the church of the father was actually an offshoot of the church of the mother and daughter. Unlike that church which broke into two, this church was instead a modification created by missionaries who wanted to spread the joy of their religion to the unsuspecting animalkin.

Since the country was ruled by a lion, and they maintained a somewhat patriarchal system that wouldn’t tolerate a female goddess, the mother turned into the father. As for the obsession with butts, this seemed to come about because of their tails. Special interest was already given to posteriors, so to convert more people, the butt became the center of interest. When the Demon lord Aberis came, the church broke, and Dioshin shut their doors becoming the xenophobic culture of today, the church of his father only continued to delineate into a path that catered specifically to the animalkin culture.

That said, by the embarrassed looks people gave as they passed by and the wide berth they gave the entrance to the church, I had a feeling that this church didn’t have nearly as much support as the churches in the Ost Republic and Aberis. They didn’t have priests and priestesses, but shamans. Most things that involved life and death were strictly banned. Resurrection existed here, but it had its own culture around it and wasn’t handled so loosely as the Life Insurance policies of Aberis.

“As the great Father said, you may sniff upon my butt, and I will sniff upon yours. Please, everyone, stand up and bend over. Let us embrace our unique scents and identities… eh, where did our recruit go?”

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It was at that point I had enough and fled the church. Say anything about the church in Aberis, but they didn’t have people sniff each other. I knew these were animalkin, and the majority here werewolves, but wasn’t that a bit far? Either way, I wasn’t sticking around. I slipped away in the crowds, making a line straight for the wolfkin’s castle.

I came up to the guards in the front of the building and gave them a respectful nod. “I’m here to see Lord Duran.”

The wolfkin man scowled. “Not just anyone can see our lord.”

I had prepared for this. I knew there might be trouble getting in touch with him. I was supposed to be returning with the wolf pack that I left with, but I had abandoned them and ended up going to Chalm. I’d just have to convince him to let Lord Duran know I was here. If it became too troublesome, I’d merely portal directly into the castle. This was only a courtesy. I didn’t want them to know just how dangerous I actually could be. After all, he was a potential ally.

“Well, you see-”

“Sorry, lads. He’s with me.” A voice came from behind.

I turned around to see a familiar face. “Pait…”

“You’re back from your expedition?” It wasn’t a question. “Good. When the wolf pack returned two days ago and reported you had flown into a rage and disappeared, Lord Duran had grown quite worried.”

“The situation was taken care of, and I didn’t go anywhere in Dioshin I wasn’t supposed to.”

He nodded before grabbing my arm. “Come. Let’s got in.”

The guards stepped aside for Pait. It seemed like he had helped me once again.