Tenders of the Veil|Athrug

[Kender Bard]

Tracking through the sands in the land of the dead, a Hercules Beetle affinity walked along and panted with heat fatigue. She had short black hair, cut close to her head and at the nape of her neck. She wore long, flowing clothing that she'd purchased from the nomads of Clan Char upon entry into the land. Her whole body was concealed beneath the folds, even her face, save for the black, multifaceted eyes that peered out against the sands.

Hera trudged along against the sands, grateful that the sun had at last been shielded. It was easy to tell when one entered Athrug's territory.

It was still oppressively hot, but the heat was dry and without the rays beating down on her, it wasn't as bad as the rest of the trip through the desert had been.

And it was worth it. Or so she hoped. The Beast, fresh out of Beleg, glanced back at her companion. "Are you doing okay?"

[Darastrix]

Dal flicked a long ear and gave a quiet snort. "Probably better than you are," he replied. His affinity, the bilby, was a desert-dweller and though he wasn't quite as at-ease in the climate as the animal would be, he got on rather well.

Aside from having long, rabbit-like ears, Dal sported a short black and white tail, and thick claws, which he drummed absently against the canteen on his hip. "Either way, we'll probably be to the temple before much longer."

[Kender Bard]

"Thank the Forces," Hera murmured tiredly and tried to keep up a steady pace.

Sure enough, they reached the temple shortly. Jayla, once again stationed near the door, greeted them warmly. "Welcome, travelers! Please, come inside and rest. We have cool water for you to drink and food as well. May I ask where you hail from?"

The woman talks a lot, Hera thought as she lowered her hood and mouth covering. Jayla did pause briefly once she got a better look at Hera's eyes, but whatever discomfort she felt at the sight passed quickly and she smiled at both Beasts invitingly.

[Darastrix]

"Beleg," Dal responded. "In the Beastlands." He pulled his scarf away from his face, and his sleeve slipped back toward his elbow, revealing the large, heavy beads he still wore around his wrist.

[Kender Bard]

Jayla kept quiet as she led the pair to the water well and urged them to drink their fill.

"What can we do to help you, Belegites?" Jayla inquired as they sipped.

"I am here because I wish to join the priesthood," Hera announced.

Jayla beamed at that before looking at Dal inquiringly.

[Darastrix]

Dal thought for a moment, considering his answer. "I feel that I'd like to serve Taed," he finally said, "but I'm not entirely sure that my place is with the priesthood."

[Kender Bard]

"We are pleased to have you both," Jayla remarked. "If you two will make yourselves comfortable here, I will go seek out one of the sermon services senior priests. They would be tasked with overseeing your placement and stay here."

After she'd gone, Hera glanced at Dal. "This place is very quiet." She smiled slightly. "I'm glad it's not teeming with people, like Autus was."

[Darastrix]

Dal gave a little shrug. "I don't mind the people much, so long as I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder. Least here and Autus both, it's not likely that someone's going to decide we'd make good prey." Not likely, though he knew it would be a long time before he'd willingly turn his back on anyone he didn't consider a pack mate.

"Sending people to Taed just to keep from meeting him early myself isn't quite the service to him that I have in mind, yanno?"

[Kender Bard]

"No, I understand," Hera replied. "There has to be more to life than just brutality. And there has to be more to death too."

A priest re-entered the room, wearing robes more ornate than Jayla had. The markings on his face--a discoloration of the skin that gave him a black mask over his eyes--suggested he was a Beast of some affinity as well.

"Welcome to Athrug," he greeted. "I was told one of you wished to join the priesthood and one of you was contemplating it but uncertain."

"I wish to join," Hera agreed.

"Then I will begin preparing you for acolytehood immediately," the priest responded. "Your companion may accompany you. My name is Seneca, by the way."

"Hera."

[Darastrix]

"I'm Dal," he said to Seneca. He looked the priest over with a thoughtful air. "Raccoon affinity?" he asked. That was his best guess; he'd never happened across another animal with a mask around its eyes.

[Kender Bard]

"Ferret," Seneca corrected with a small smile.

"Are you from the Beastlands as well?" Hera asked with interest.

"No," Seneca answered. "I was born in Naurorod. Never met my Beast father." He led them to the upper reaches of the temple. One small room held a long table with sewing instruments all over it and folded piles of cloth and clothing. Seneca took quick measurements of Hera and jotted them down on a parchment on the desk. "We take turns with tailoring. If you've a hand at it, you're welcome to join the rotation. We do have one master tailor with us, luckily. He'll be sewing up your robe for events that call for it. For the most part, though, you may wear whatever you want while in the temple. If you go out, or if we have guests, you must don your robe."

Hera nodded her understanding and kept following him as he led them to another part of the temple. Seneca looked at Dal. "Your affinity looks familiar, but I can't put my finger on it."

[Darastrix]

"Bilby, near as anyone can figure," Dal told him. "I'm told they're desert animals, which would explain why I've never seen one in Beleg. Are there any around Athrug?" Maybe he could find a companion animal if there were.

[Kender Bard]

"That's it," Seneca remarked, snapping his fingers. "I thought it seemed familiar. Well, there's not much of anything around Athrug, animal or otherwise. This is a dead land. We are blessed to have a working well--Taed providing for his still living children, I feel. A long time ago, there were people who lived here and they raised animals of their own, which brought in wild animals as well. This displeased Taed; everyone died."

"Brutal," Hera murmured with a bit of dismay.

"We are the guardians of the dead," Seneca reminded her. "We are here to assist the living in that as well. Although priests are certainly not barred from finding pleasure in life and living as a normal man or woman would, we are not here to celebrate or nurture or encourage life. That is for Efilians. Perhaps Taed did not want us forgetting that and becoming remiss in our duties."

[Darastrix]

"So Athrug is incapable of being self-sufficient?" Dal asked, brow raised. Even in the Beastlands, one could have a run of bad luck in hunting, and here.... Well, he seriously doubted every Taedean priest in Athrug was a capable hunter, and even if they were, hunting took time. He imagined that having to venture into the living desert just provide for oneself, let alone the entire temple, would take more time from one's duties than being able to grow and raise food would.

[Kender Bard]

"We have a very small garden fed by our well," Seneca explained. "We fashioned it after the one in Flux, in fact. For the most part, however, we buy food and other necessities from Lach Linnod. It's not a perfect system but it's what we have. Attempts to cultivate outside of the temple has met with failure. Either the land is dead or cursed."