Carantathraiel

Wanderers

"But did your god try to tell you something?" He wondered. "Any sign, movement, anything, that might be a warning?" Ruli sighed.

When she asked about his staying, he cracked a grin. "I assumed that was the idea." He admitted, rising to his feet and tugging her to hers with their intertwined hands. "Come on, you. Need that beauty rest before you see Her Royal Nose tomorrow."

He led her to the bedroom and pulled back the blankets, crawling in after her. Once he was settled against her, sharing one another's warmth, he closed his eyes. But it still took him a while to sleep, his thoughts circling the vision relentlessly for hours.

Wanderers

Ruli grunted again in response, turning his head slightly when she leaned against him. He went still, hoping not to disturb her. "No. Maybe." He flexed his fingers gently, mindful not to squeeze. Her hand felt so warm. "She showed me something. I remember that. But the details are fuzzy." He was silent for a few seconds, thinking. "Maybe I'll ask Envy to root around, see what he can find. I normally wouldn't ask, but if a goddess is showing me something, it has to be important, right?"

He turned to look her way again. "You? Any further understanding? I feel as if you got the most vague of the visions. Figured with the Seer shit, you'd have some detailed map in your head."

Wanderers

Ysaryn was easy to find, out on her nightly patrol of the docks to ensure all the tasks were done and ready for the retrieval the next morning. One of her female's pointed toward Kire as she approached, and Ysaryn broke away to meet her. "Well met." She greeted, and, as Kire passed along Ed's message, the elf nodded. She'd make a note to meet him at the gate, to ensure no unfortunate meetings with her family.

Ruli was in Kire's house, loitering in the sitting room, lost in his thoughts about the vision. He still couldn't remember. He knew, subconsciously, that it had been important, and wondered if he was being prevented from remembering.
When he heard the door open, he looked up, offering a small smile to Kire. "How was Daryll?" He wondered. Perhaps if Daryll had luck, Ruli would find some way to imrpove his own.

Wanderers

Ruli merely nodded along when she pointed out the difference in Narda, and then grunted when she mentioned putting off Risa til tomorrow.The less time he spent talking to that woman, the happier he'd be, so he had no argument in postponing their meeting.
And when Kire asked if he was alright, Ruli glanced at her, then raised a shoulder in a shrug. "Yeah. I just - I feel like I'm forgetting something. I'm positive I saw more than I remember in the vision, but I can't recall what, exactly. There's just that feeling that I'm forgetting something horrible, and as much as I try, I can't remember."

He sighed, gesturing with his hand, palm upward. "Yeah. Stay. I never mind. Can't promise a cake, though." He started upward, toward the cliff tops and the castle perched on its end, but stopped might flight. "Can we postpone her until tomorrow?" Ruli asked, exasperated. "I never want to talk to her, I might send Ysaryn in my place."

Wanderers

Ruli glanced toward Kire, staring blankly for a moment before he blinked and his attention returned. "Ah, I never know with her." He answered. "If you show up in full armour she might assume its a take-over. You want answers, dress normally, and she'll tell you anything to get you to go away."

He stood, grumbling at the idea of speaking to Risa, and wondering if he could pass along the chore of escort to Zeke or Ysaryn.
"Envy." he said suddenly. "Are you going to make yourself a charm to allow you to help us out?"
"Mm." Envy grumbled. "I have Gavin making something for me already."
"You sound so pleased."
"Go bother the princess." The Kartaian ordered, and Ruli smirked and wandered out of his chambers.

"I've only ever seen him take on a daylight charm once before. Narda must have made quite the impression." Ruli commented as they left the caves.

Wanderers

As Kire jumped into the explanation of the strange happenings in Amria, Ruli slumped against the cavern wall, resting his heat against his hand. When Kire mentioned Solaralai, Envy raised his eyebrows gently, swallowing.
"She knows." Ruli said without provocation.
"Oh." Envy answered. "Oh!" He glanced to Ruli, then to Kire, swallowing so many questions to focus on the task at hand. "Right. Well, no, she's never been known to be peaceful, exactly, but she hasn't always been necessarily cruel. Look at the elves, for instance. Her forbidding their travel in daylight has likely save men from nihilation."
"Our of spite of our existence." Ruli put in.
"Well, sure, we're they bastard offspring of the God she adored and felt she had a right to. Just because her thought process is incorrect doesn't mean she's not benevolent. Without her sunlight, the world would have withered, all life would have collapsed. Her balance with the Moon God has helped our world thrive."
Ruli narrowed his eyes, skeptic. "Neither of them exist, or did exist, in Kire's world, and its doing just fine. This bitch is just taking credit for something she's simply piggy-backing onto."

Envy pursed his lips, then turned toward Kire. "I doubt all of her fellowship perished in Ziad when it fell. There's bound to be some somewhere. I reluctantly suggest asking the princess. Her family has always been patrons of the temple, if there is a priest or priestess left, she'll know."
He sighed, and leaned back. "Truthfully, I would like to assume she's exploring your world. She broke through somehow. She's dipping her toe into this new playground to see what is available for her."
"There's no elves." Ruli said, realizing. "She'll love that."

Wanderers

Sireen smiled again. "Such pretty eyes." She repeated when she saw Kire before her. "If I remember anything, I will let you know."

Ruli had his doubts about that. But he stood and said his thank yous before he followed Kire away from the house, his hands deep in his pockets. He felt the need for a bath to wash away the woman's words, to wash away the vision of the goddess. Why him? Why did he need to be the one to see her?
"Hm?" Ruli glanced at Kire, having not been listening. "Oh. I don't know about the religion, but he'll have information on her. He taught me what I know."

He fell quiet again as they wandered back up toward the caves. Ruli still struggled with the feeling that he was forgetting something, and the longer it followed him, the more torn he became between wanting to forget it altogether and wanting to remember before he dismissed it. Had the goddess said something to him? What had he seen in her wings?
Something. Something, something, something.

"Envy." He said as they stepped in.
The Kartaian inhaled, grinning thinly. "I have been acosted by Gavin, who seems to think we're being hired in Amria?"
Ruli nodded. "Yeah. Protection wards. Envy, can we ask you about the sun goddesss?"
Envy's eyebrows rose, and his face shifted toward Kire, though he overshot and stared over her shoulder. What is ... no, come here, first." he said, beckoning them to follow as he started for his chambers.

Wanderers

Sireen nodded slowly. "Many. And not many. No fewer than one, if I recall. But as many as wanted to swear themselves in. Much less taxing than long ago."
"How do you mean?" Ruli asked.
She responded with a wrinkle of her nose at first. "Long ago, it is written that anyone who joined must cauterize their bodies to prevent temptation. But there was a priest some time ago who decided that it was a greater worship just to resist such desires willingly. He was cast out for his thoughts, but they did stop the mutilations."
Mortified, Ruli glanced at Kire again before looking back. "So, there are texts somewhere?"
"Once." Sireen nodded. "Within the temple catacombs, deep beneath Ziad's earth for protection." She shrugged her withered shoulders as if to announce she didn't know what had become of them. "My sister perished in the attack. But there were others. I know not where they'd have gone. The Goddess dwells within the desert, they may not have desired to leave her embrace."
"But Ziad is empty." Ruli pointed out gently. "I have been back there, there is no one else."
Sireen sighed, shaking her head sadly. "No one declares themselves her children here. I do not know."

Wanderers

Sireen smiled anew at Kire, the amount of wrinkles in her cheeks tripling. "Such pretty eyes." She complimented before she considered the questions.
"I never have been blessed with seeing her, but my sister once swore she did in a dream." Sireen began. "She stood in a forest that burned, but was unafraid. The Goddess appeared, she said, wrapped in a cloak of golden fire. A smile was shared, and when the Goddess left, so did the fires." Sireen shook her head. "My sister could never recall if she was spoken to, but she felt safe. After her dream, she became a priestess of the temple."

Sireen's face fell, clearly recalling what had become of the temple. Ruli cleared his throat again. "What is asked of a priestess as far as tasks? How did people worship?" He repeated Kire's questions.
Sireen's expression shifted as her thoughts did. "A priest or priestess must take no spouse or create any children. They need only the Goddess, who needed no husband, and bore no children." She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I remember that, on nights of the full moon, every candle was to be lit in the temple to disallow the slimy creature of the moon to outshine the Goddess and her space as she slept. The temple was a beacon of golden light that the moon could never compete with."

Ruli glanced sidelong at Kire at the mention of the moon god, and the attitude toward him.

Wanderers

"I don't know." He admitted truthfully. "I can remember her speaking, but I c-can't recall anything she said. I know I wanted to get away, but I have that instinct often."
It frustrated him that he couldn't remember her words. Why? Why could he vaguely recall the things he saw, but not much to do with the goddess?
"I wonder if ... if its that she is the goddess, I mean, that I saw her, maybe that's why I can't recall. Maybe she's covering her tracks. Theres this feeling that won't go away that I'm forgetting something important."

As she asked about his blood, he glanced at her again, thinking it over. "I don't know." He admitted. "Could be. Hang here for a moment." He requested, shuffling up into a small courtyard to knock on a door. There was a younger woman, perhaps in her thirties, with short cropped black hair who answered. Ruli murmured quietly to her for a moment, and her expression lit up before she gestured behind the house. Ruli bent in thanks and went back to Kire as the woman shut the door.
"Found someone we can speak to." He said, leading Kire along.

Around toward the back of the house, down a small set of steps that ran along the side, was a weathered elder woman sitting in a rocking chair, watching the sea. Ruli cleared his throat. "Sireen?"
She turned her grey head, her dark brown eyes covered with heavy, wrinkled lids. She grinned warmly, her face so well worn by age and sun that she could have easily been years younger than she appeared. "Yes?" Carefully, she moved in her woven chair to face them.
Ruli crouched near her chair so she wouldn't have to look up so much to meet his gaze. "We were wondering if you could tell us what you know about Solaralai?" He said bluntly. "The temple still stands in Ziad, and we would like to understand more about the goddess."

Sireen smiled, revealing that she was missing several teeth, and her gums were blackened. "The Goddess!" She sighed fondly. She straightened slightly in her chair, though she was physically incapable of straightening entirely. "What would you like to know?"
Ruli opened his mouth, then glanced at Kire, having no idea what to ask.