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Seeking Guidance

A Shared Hearth

Fareflynn ushered in the rest of the group to her private quarters at the temple. The room was a firm construction of stone, plaster, and wood. It was of modest means, but built to last. There was a small bed, a desk, a chair, and a lamp. The window looked out over the water in a view that would have been accompanied by a much more lavish room elsewhere, provided to some well-off statesman's beach house.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," Fareflynn gestured to the bed and chair. "I'm certain the elders will wish to consult with the oracles and outsiders are not permitted." Fareflynn then turned to Duil, "Please, Duil, request the services of priest Utrecht in the library. He is a skilled cartographer." She gestured down the hall, "He will help you in your task." She left in the opposite direction.

Duil gave a shrug to El, Seamus, and Kit, "I suppose I'll be off then."

El nodded, "Thank you, Duil," and then sat heavily in Fareflynn's desk chair, as if finally feeling the weight of the day. Seamus mirrored the gesture on the bed. Kit sat on the floor in front of El, merely placing a hand on his calf as an act of solidarity and understanding. The room fell silent as Fareflynn and I made our way to the high priestess's chambers.

\ *

Fareflynn arrived in the large chamber that was equal parts chapel and headmaster's study. Lined with books and calendars and star gazing devices, high priestess Cara looked up from a pile of reports on various activities of the temple and the missions of the Stars.

Fareflynn took care to relay each detail of the story as she had witnessed it. She recounted how Seamus's misdirection in the tavern had led to the discovery of blights, wyrmkin, and the tales of a mother tree in a land beyond. Cara heard her deep concerns and, much a professional in these matters, listened with both empathy and strategic consideration. "Thank you Fareflynn. Please, return after first moonlight. I'll council the oracles and share their words with you." She turned her attention back to her papers.

Fareflynn gave a deep bow, "Thank you, high priestess." She turned to leave and then halted, "There is one more matter." Cara looked up again. "The little one, Kit, he knows no god, but I've seen him invoke the divine. He recruited a follower from among the wyrmkin for someone he calls 'Lady'."

Cara broke into an excited smile, "That is curious... What does his faith draw upon?"

Fareflynn thought back to the moment with Meelo, "Love, I suppose, and the protection of life".

"Please, bring him with you when you return," Cara's voice invoked the authority of her position. Fareflynn twitched, tensing her brow in confusion at the break of regulation against outsiders. Cara continued softly, "Anyone who can invoke divine love is welcome in this sanctum."

Fareflynn bowed again and left swiftly.

Mystical Mechanics

Returning to her room, Fareflynn found El very focused on Seamus's words. Seamus had drawn a set of glyphs that hung in the air as an illuminated script, "This one points to the fire plane. I carve a portal to let the energy come through." His explanation was punctuated by Kit's gentle snoring and he paused to look at Fareflynn, "Oh hello Miss."

El stood to offer Fareflynn the chair, but she gave a polite gesture of decline. Sitting back down, El asked, "What say the elders?"

Fareflynn leaned against the doorframe, "High priestess will consult the seers to provide a recommendation. For now, we wait." She placed me down and walked back out into the hall. I then heard her pacing in the distance.

El turned back to Seamus, "Please continue."

"Something like a splash of fire is easy to let through. There are vast oceans on the fire plane, so aiming the other end of the portal is quite easy. The explosion I tried earlier required more intricate carving. You need to carve out the explosion at a fraction of the true size, like a seed of their plane in ours. And any asymmetries will have the thing crashing back in on itself as soon as it gets any momentum. I haven't quite mastered that yet." Seamus gave a flick of his finger to trace out a sphere, and then shrugged.

"I have heard of mages invoking the gift of flight, or traveling great distances," El prompted.

"More advanced techniques, yes. They require attaching stolen energies to oneself, or making portals big enough to step through. I'm working on adjusting the shapes to be able to protect myself, but it's complicated and takes a long time to establish." Seamus's book lay in his lap. He flipped absentmindedly to partially filled pages with notes. "But your magics, Master Elwood, do you not write anything down?"

"It takes years of training, from a nomad like Jek-Reth, who holds and trains the secrets of all the clans. My family holds the lineage of transformation, Shapeweavers. There are others that keep the traditions of plant growth, stone shaping, or even flame."

"What is taught, exactly?" Seamus probed, dropping the formalities.

"Each spell is an invitation to the spirits. I rely on animal spirits, but there are many other varieties, those of earth, plant, or flame. I invite the spirits to inhabit a form, like those vines or even my own body."

Kit woke and was staring at El wide-eyed, upside-down, neck craning, head draped over the edge of the bed. Fareflynn had returned from her brief pacing to listen in on the conversation.

El reached his hand out, mimicking a previous gesture, "Even at the tavern, I invited the spirit of a tortoise to steady your aim." Seamus's jaw dropped slightly in welcome realization, and he began scribbling a note1.

Kit chimed in, "So it's a wolf spirit?"

Elwood looked at Kit's inverted face, "Yes, you saw me open myself to the spirit of a wolf. They're quite temperamental, you know. One needs to have a strong will to retain control."

Kit flipped over, on all fours, and gave a very serious nod. "I can be Will. When can I be wolf?"

El chuckled, "Your will is great indeed. We can try when we're comfortably outside the city."

Fareflynnn added, "Your invitation is not far from my own. I first take in a breath in prayer, like in meditation, to align myself with Lunare. If I have faith that we are of the same will, I only need to let her flow through me2. Though, it's less inviting a single thing forth, and more like opening a portal to Her."

"What's a meditation?" Kit wiped some drool off his chin with the back of his hand.

Fareflynn's frustration flared, bordering on anger. She took a breath, forced a smile and looked over to meet Kit's gaze. "It is the very delicate practice of letting go of all worries, and calming your mind to only focus on one thing." She tried desperately to focus on her compassion, and not feeling slighted by the question.

"Oh", Kit stared out the window blankly.

El looked to Fareflynn and back to Seamus, "You all deserve to know. Jek-Reth was my mentor for a time. He trained me every 12^th^ season. His position was one of high esteem..." El trailed off.

Seamus broke the tension bluntly, "Before he betrayed you."

"Unfortunately, yes. He unleashed a nightmare on my homeland like the Wraithroot, but one that has already taken hold. There's no central stalk to strike, and nor have holy women like yourself," nodding to Fareflynn, "been able to burn away what we see. It is a cancer upon my home. I seek the source not out of some noble cause for justice, but to earn my right as an heir. Each ruler must slay the beast chosen by their father to ascend the throne. My father's quarry was mighty and ferocious, but at least it had a body. He sends me away by giving me an impossible task."

Fareflynn and Seamus looked on, internalizing the gravity of the moment, until Kit, still looking out the window, interrupted with, "HEY!" He climbed over Seamus to open and fall right out the window. With a thud, he rose shouting, "WHEEL! Where you going?"

Kit had spotted the top of the head of a crouching Duil as it passed under the window. Now, he crouched just a few paces to the south, frozen in place from Kit's cry, "Oh, Kit, yes," he rose, patted his thighs and swayed slightly in full posture, "Just out for my evening constitutional, my boy."

Kit's face went limp, and then there was a tense curl at the edge of his lips on one side, "Yeah, ok, well, we're in here."

"Yes, I suppose I'll join you."

Fareflynn could see out the window at the peaking moonlight and knew it would soon be their time to join Cara. "Hey, Kit, would you mind getting back in here? I'd like you to meet one of my Lady's favorite people."

"Oh boy!" With another thud, Kit was back in the room.

Fareflynn adjusted her posture and took in a breath to prepare. She started to turn out of the room, but was faced by priest Utrecht.

Utrecht did not bother to look into the room, "I'm so glad you're alright. That monstrous tree must have given you quite the fright before Master Duil intervened to lead you to safety. A mighty one, he is." Without his glasses, he did not register Fareflynn's expression of bewilderment.

"Anyway, here is the map you requested," handing over a scroll. "Though I must say, it is quite the land. A whole region between here the forests; it's like saying there's a whole new wing to the temple despite knowing the courtyard lay just beyond the wall. Wild."

Fareflynn gave the scroll to Elwood to study. She caught a sheepish grin from Duil before ushering Kit off.

Prophetic Potentialities

That evening, Fareflynn and Kit walked down the hallway to Cara's office, past portraits of notable servants of Lunara and depictions of great deeds in her service.

Kit pointed to one, "So, is this your Lady's house?"

The question didn't quite make sense to Fareflynn, like asking if the concept of drunkenness itself resided in a specific tavern. "Sort of," Fareflynn spoke cautiously, never sure how much to take as metaphor, "everyone who lives here serves Lunara, but she has many temples."

"That's cool," Kit looked over the various paintings, "I hope she visits you soon, she seems really nice." He pointed to a painting depicting the mythical founding of a temple. Lunara hung in the air above the coast, shaping a moonbeam to hit a hollow timber-frame of a building, with many standing in awe.

Fareflynn timidly broached the question, "Does she look familiar, Kit? Lunara?" She pointed to a painting.

Kit squinted, "No, but she's pretty though. My Lady looks more like you."

\ *

Kit came to a stop in awe at the doorway. Washed in moonlit glow from a skylight and uncharacteristically quiet, a reverent smile crept over his face.

Fareflynn cloaked her own nervousness in the formalism of her station, standing rigidly at attention in her armor. The high priestess sat in a meditative pose on a cushion in front of a fireplace. Hearing Fareflynn, she gave a deep breath in recognition and continued meditation for another minute. Fareflynn shifted in unease.

Cara stood and gestured to a set of chairs with a teapot between them. Seeing Kit, she jerked in recognition, having forgotten she extended the invite, and gave a slight bow, "So glad you could join us, Kit." She briefly turned to search the room for an appropriate third chair, and then turned back to see Kit plopping down on a pillow that had fallen from one of the existing two. Fareflynn gave a knowing smile to Cara, forgetting her nerves and taking joy in getting to watch someone understand Kit's eccentricities for the first time.

As they all sat, Cara asked, "Do you know what oracles are, Kit?"

Kit awkwardly held a teacup handed to him, shaking his head.

"Well," Cara continued, "there are other methods, but Lunara's oracles are a chorus of seers. When asked about a particular topic or event, they will look into the future to sing a song. The future is a funny thing; it flows from the present like a stone tumbling down a mountain. We know it will fall, and we can have a good idea where, but a small obstruction can have a dramatic impact on the path. Like a tree that may send our stone bouncing down opposing faces. Different voices in the chorus may see the bounces differently."

Kit's eyes went from Cara to his teacup and back up to her. Cara's face broke into compassion, "You don't have to drink the tea."

Kit lay the cup at his side with a sigh of relief, "Tastes like leaves," and then looked up to Cara in full attention.

Cara then looked to Fareflynn, "I asked the oracles to reflect on your tyrant in a foreign land. There was some chaos, but two songs held true. The first, started with force and met an opposing force. There was a great battle, followed by great loss, and an evil melody that sustained while others perished."

Fareflynn swelled in fear, anticipating such mass pain.

Cara continued, "I believe that, if we were to take a bold strike, it would be met with an equal or greater force. I do not wish to awaken that enemy." All sat in silence for a beat, reflecting on the destruction she implied.

"The second song started faintly and flickered into obscurity. The evil melody loomed, but, whenever the song swelled, the evil diminished. It took several tries, perhaps four, before the evil melody evaporated." Cara paused, looking at each of the others. "I believe this is our path forward. An unassuming team must be sent into the lands. Without arousing suspicion, they will have a chance at victory."

Fareflynn sat back in her chair, in a quiet determination. Kit spoke up, "Your Lady must know what's best, huh?"

Cara hesitated and then spoke, "We think so. We try to understand and do our best."

"Me too!" Kit's excitement grew, "She used to talk to me all the time when I lived in her house... Do you know her too?"

Cara spilled out of her chair to kneel on the floor and extended a palm out to Kit, "May I?" Without understanding, Kit leaned forward and let his face rest in her palm. Cara closed her eyes and there was a swirl of blue and yellow lights at her hand. "What a gift you are," Cara effused with a smile. "So lost, but you've been touched by Solander."

Kit looked up, "Who's that?"

She turned over his medalion in her hand. It was a small charm compared to more ostentatious holy symbols, engraved with a 'B' in a careful, but modest script. Cara continued, "The morning's lord, Lunara's counterpart. His light breathes compassion and life into the day after Lunara's nighttime justice."

"Oh, he seems nice. Do you think he knows Lady?"

"I'm certain of it. But you'll need to pray really hard to ask, okay?" Kit nodded diligently and Cara looked back to Fareflynn, "And now for you."

Fareflynn looked back in confusion, but spoke respectfully, "Surely my path is known, whatever you decide, high priestess."

"I consulted with the oracles on your destiny," Cara's eyes started to turn glassy. Fareflynn's faded nerves swelled once again in surprise. To request a consultation for a young acolyte was unheard of. "Many quiet songs faded away, but one lone voice rang out in Her melody... It spoke of a place where Her moonlight is blocked by the thickest clouds. It spoke of a wolf hunting its own shadow, and a voracious tome drinking all the ink from a quill. It spoke of a flickering candle that would be snuffed out in the wind on the only path home," Cara looked to Kit and then back to Fareflynn, tears forming, taking Fareflynn's hands. "But eventually, the clouds parted... Please know that this was a song of deep regret. This is not a path She wishes upon you."

Fareflynn leaked out a soft voice, bypassing her sense of decorum, "Then send another." She drew in a sharp breath as soon as she heard herself, pulling her hands back, "My utmost apolog--"

Cara's kind voice interrupted her, "Not at all. Please consider the path as an invitation. You are still capable of great service in Lunara's name, even if you never leave Glintport. I hope you'll have an answer by morning."

Fareflynn nodded. Her face was tense with worry. She rose and bowed. Cara bowed in return, reflecting her authority, but modified by her compassion. Kit stood and surprised Cara with a hug around the waist, "Thank you." She patted him on the head and he scurried off.

Daunting Destiny

Fareflynn unceremoniously dropped myself, her armor, and Kit off in her room, where a generous, but utilitarian meal had been served. El briefly rose to question her, but recognized the determination in her eyes and sat back down3.

Seamus turned to Kit, "Well, what did the priestess say?"

"Oh, a lot," Kit leaned in to Seamus as if telling a secret, "She has hand eyes that can see your soul."

Seamus was shocked from the mental image, "Like in a jar!?" He shook his head, swatting away the question, "No, what did she say about the foreign lands?"

Duil was sitting in the corner, head slumped over his meal, but he cocked his eye to watch Kit's response.

"Well," Kit continued. "She said we should go. But not because we're ıstrong," he emphasized in explanation. "But because we could win."

El looked up from the map and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

Kit continued, "If you send a monster to kill a monster, the first monster just wants to be more scary."

El continued the thought, "A spider may enter when he does not announce his poison."

Duil offered, "The Count's lands see many adventurers seeking fortune, only to become lost in his swamps, or eaten by something worse. You would be considered tourists, expected to spend your gold to survive, but never be permitted to leave."

El met Duil's gaze sternly, "Until he is slain."

Duil burst out in laughter, "Ha! But of course, just kill the God in his own domain! Why didn't I think of that?"

El's face was frozen in disdain, "And what would you suggest?"

"Pay for your freedom, of course. The cost is ten thousand gold," Duil's words hung in the air. None but El had ever seen such an amount amassed; it was unthinkable. Paying for himself and one other to leave would drain more than half his family's modest fortune. The high nobility and the royalty of Glintport might amass a few hundred-thousand in their lifetime. Ten thousand was equivalent the most luxurious real estate one can imagine.

El paused, and then continued, "I have no choice, I must try."

Duil spoke up, "I praise your commitment, my lord. And my darling Beldun and I will forever be in your service". He bowed.

Kit went on to describe, albeit poorly, the predictions shared.

"So these oracles," Seamus tried to clarify, "They just sing at you?4"

"Yup! They sang about our futures. She brought some candles, and a shadow, and an ink book. And then a knife cut the clouds." Kit acted out a cutting motion, "And then we're gonna go to my Lady's house!"

\ *

Seamus, El, and Duil set up cots for the night in guest quarters. Kit prayed to Solander as instructed, and then laid curled at the foot of Fareflynn's bed.

Fareflynn bathed in the ocean, and returned to her room, glowing in the moonlight from the window. She brushed Kit's messy mop of hair to the side, "We're gonna make it, you and me. I'll keep you safe, candlelight."

Narrator's Interlude

So, about that shattered, disembodied, tortured deity. That's where they're headed, with not one but two deified destinies in tow. Lunara had so very much going on at the time, but a deity falling from her plane to ours was still a big deal. It didn't ıtechnically violate the pantheon's treaty, as his physical form was still in the celestial realm and no singular consciousness entered the material plane. But, it was still a bit of a mess. No matter how much you scatter it, a god's essence is still a god's essence, and their virtue will still ooze out. In this case, it was a quite evil ooze, all over Elwood's birthright.

That second destiny was Solander's work. He foresaw Lunaras's struggle against the darkness and sent Kit's fate intertwined with her own avatar's as a gesture of support. The day sending his flame into her moonlight. Quite poetic, if I do say so myself.

  1. He couldn't quite yet put together what their respective magics had in common, but it would come with time. ↩

  2. Well, not exactly, but a damn fine approximation for someone who doesn't know anything about the Harmonic Consciousness Principle of electromagnetic waves. ↩

  3. Many in her position might find some quiet garden in which to meditate and pray, but not Fareflynn. I knew that if she was leaving me behind, she was headed for the hills. She'd be off to run to the highest point in the city to bring herself to the very point of exhaustion. There was no quiet contemplation that would change her ability to face the path Cara proposed for her, only a meddlesome distraction of the self doubt that permeated her muscles. She was to sweat it out, and leave her better self intact to face her destiny. ↩

  4. It turns out that, if you've barely managed to learn one language like Kit, the thought of another being communicating solely through song is not so strange. ↩