PM to join [The Temple of All Gods] Morning Reflection

[Endir Vuras]

Sunrise, 4th of Winter, 515 AV

Tall carved oak doors swung wide to herald Endir's arrival in the temple, a squall of wind spiralling in after him until the wide entrance thudded closed. His eyes roamed the magnificent hall, crossing between the sorrow-oak pews that had their outsides worked into striking impressions then to unlit brass candle-holders that stood opposite the indoor colonnade which worked the flanks of the chamber. The pale ceiling was woven with gilt and friezes of Men and Gods, stone etchings that were as thick with shadow as they were light where shafts criss-crossed the room to make motes of dust glitter in the air. Myriad colours swarmed before him, a dizzying array of violet and scarlet and cerulean that streaked the floor. The churning skies were hardly visible through the ornate glasswork, though the striating clouds were washed over in dazzling tinctures too.

His clipping heels echoed up towards the vaulted ceilings as he went, the squire's eyes still shifting with wonder, between great murals and masterpieces all, the odd wall frescoed with portrayals of heroism and divine acts. Endir was without his weapon, he didn't dare bring it into a place of worship, despite the fact he didn’t pray to any specific deity. Nor was he his usual unkempt self, the pale ivory tunic was laced to the chest, rising collar brushing the nape of his neck where combed chestnut hair ended. Breeches were tucked and rolled over the lip of knee-high boots, boots that had been recently repaired after events best left unmentioned. His gait was somewhat unsteady, side still aching from bruises earned through training, perhaps a cracked rib here or there, his breathing laboured alongside all of it. The penance of Squirehood, of course.

Passing the tiered pews, Endir sat on the foremost, settling in for silent reflection, brown eyes glimmering thoughtfully as he cast his attentions to the Gods. Who could he worship? Should he worship? Endir you woollen-headed fool, get a grip and get back to training. Silence loomed, washing over him and all present, not that there was anyone there at sunrise, the cocks were only just beginning their morning cries and people sluggishly boiled kettles and roused their families. Heaving a sigh, Endir propped his head in his hands, rubbing gingerly at a battered face.

[Millie]

It was early morning when Millie woke, groggy from a busy night in the tavern. With sleep in her eyes, she stretched and yawned, rolling out of bed to find she'd slept in her clothes. A deep, sluggish yawn tumbled from her lips and fell to the pillows, but determinedly she propped herself up and streeeetched, cat-like as she pushed her feet into boots cold from there stay on the floor.

There was really only one thing she could think to do, having woken up at this hour. That thing was to visit the temple. It had been far longer than she'd really wanted to leave it since she last visited, and there was a place in her heart which was strangely empty because of it. Her room was still and quiet, and she left the covers scrunched up on her bed as she got up to leave.

It was about half a bell later that she reached the temple. During that time, the cool air of Syliras had refreshed her. The welcome sight of the building so beloved to her welcomed her in, and she pushed open the doors. It was very quiet as she entered, and it was glorious. That certain stillness of a church settled on her shoulders, and she basked in it, feeling the presence of the gods all around her.

That morning she took her time. She had all the time in the world. So she simply stood close to the entrance, shut her eyes and faced herself up to the ceiling, which stretched far above her like a canopy. After a chime or two of reflection, where the only thoughts that passed through her head were of stillness, she blinked her eyes open and looked around, properly.

Glimmering shimmers in the air were settled, and highlighted the pews. The only disturbance the woman could see was coming from a little way to her right; where a man was standing. She couldn't see his expression, as he was turned a little away from her. She was intrigued though. From her own experience, the temple was a place of quiet, only die-hard religious nuts, and herself, were ever there so early.

She looked over again, curious. With a tilt of her head, she appraised him. Then with a quick decision, she made her presence known, by making her footsteps sound on the stone floor. She didn't really know what she had in mind, all she knew was that she didn't want to be alone, all of a sudden. That she wanted some human conversation, maybe. So she walked closer, trailing her hand along the polished wood of the nearest pew, feeling the sinuous carvings underneath her fingers, and waited to see if the stranger would start a conversation.

[Hwyn]

Syliras, a city of hypocrisies stacked so high that the stone walls could hardly contain them. Hwyn had many confused emotions about the city. Why was it that it's residents felt the need to be so different Sunberth. It wasn't like the city was very different in populace, mainly humans lived within it's walls. So what made these people different?

Perhaps it was the religion, the gods the people of this city seemed to cling too. That was for certain, something Hwyn had never seen in Sunberth, a city where not even the gods held sway or dominion. But did they really make such a big difference? Hwyn didn't really see how they could. Hwyn had never seen a god before, nor had many of the other people in the city he assumed. So, how could someone you had never seen, let alone talked to make that big of an impact on you? Hwyn didn't particularly believe that it could, but the attitude of the city did seem to say otherwise.

Donning his dress and shoes Hwyn decided to leave his apartment for the day and make his way towards the place where he thought he might find answers. Making his way out of his rented apartment in the still wee hours of the morning. The place he was heading towards was called the temple of all gods, whatever that meant. Finding his way to it was not much of a chore, the place seemed to be a well known piece of the city and finding directions to it had proven easy.

Upon finally finding the place Hwyn entered hoping to see whatever it was that kept the people in awe of the gods. The building itself did not disappoint, it was heavily decorated and sturdily built, as if the architects built it to outlast the city itself. Making his way to the front Hwyn passed by to other people within the church, both looked about as exhausted as Hwyn felt. Making his way to the very front of the place basking in the colored light. It made Hwyn think, this place had been built in the honor of the gods. Gods that could easily wipe men out as they could sneeze. Was that something you really wanted to associate with?

"Do you really think they listen?"

The question was uttered out loud, but it wasn't asked to anyone in particular. It was a question that almost asked fro reckoning from either man or god, though to Hwyn either one answering held no particular purpose, Hwyn didn't really care if he got an answer or not.

[Endir Vuras]

The tranquillity of solitude settled like a cool shroud over him, the brisk morning chill nipping at his bare skin from its place in the pale marble. Veins of light still wended their way down the white-marble pillars nearby, those brown eyes of his swimming with a similar vibrancy. He wasn't a religious nut and nor did he frequent places of worship, yet of all the places to visit, he found himself here, a kernel of zealotry, of devout peoples. Right now sparrows jumped branch to branch beneath green canopies, petals spreading in their final days before the snow and the rolling fields glittered with morning dew. The hollow thrum of the temple struck him with its bass, a drop of water on porcelain would seem holy in this place.

Footsteps roused him from his thoughts, thoughts of conflict. That's all they ever seemed to be these days. Confliction on his path in life, the direction it took and the decisions that saw him meander aimlessly. He had a goal, Knighthood, but the road to triumph was littered with obstacles that made him question the very fabric of his existence. His movements were slow, deliberate. Turning his head he found a pretty woman moving toward him, fingers brushing the polished pews and her destination clearly set. Managing a smile he hoped was inviting, Endir shuffled to his left, making a warmed space for her to occupy. He didn't speak yet, silence spoke volumes in a place such as this, and affected with the weight of mountains.

Exhaling, the squire rolled his shoulders, waiting for her to sit down, or not to. "If I saw you every day, forever, I'd remember this time." He said absently, gaze shifting in her direction. A strange thing to say. But it seemed right to him, it was right, he would remember. "It's a beautiful place isn't it?" He asked her, eyes loping to the alabaster dais where hues swam the most in the vaulted hall, thick ribbons of coloured light illuminating a white-stone altar that was inlaid with ivory and fringed by undulating silver.

Then there was a second arrival, Hwyn in their dress shoes speaking aloud. There was no change of expression in Endir's face, the coolness of a wolf remained, a predatory lilt tempered through the harshness of the training yards. He almost yearned for a return to those yards, to feel at home with his sword in hand moving stroke to stroke in a void of thoughtless muscle memory, where he only had to consider victory. "Perhaps."

[Millie]

Oh. What a strange thing to say... But perhaps it was something in the nature of the place that encouraged strangeness. The woman turned to follow his gaze, and saw the beauty of the place through the eyes of a stranger. It truly was impressive, with its whorls and flutes and arches. She opened her eyes and appreciated it, nodding her agreement, speaking in whisper, "Yes, it's stunning. There are..-"

But the woman didn't get chance to complete her sentence, before yet another person arrived, this one a child, with scruffy brown hair and a question about whether the gods listened. "Yes. They listen." Millie didn't particularly care if she now sounded like an overly religious type, in a way she supposed, she was.

"The gods and goddesses are all around us. They're in the air, in the sky, in the earth... in your head, too. They can hear us right now, if they wanted to listen." The woman settled into her place, standing so that the three strangers formed a loose circle. And... they were strange, both of them.

In her mind, there was a sense of the unusual. As she hadn't expected anyone here, these two people conjured out of the stone of the temple seemed out of place and it almost felt like the woman was talking to stone carvings made alive. With that came a sense of freedom, a sense that she could ask or say anything she wanted, and these stone men would answer without judgement.

With her voice still in the tones of a reverent whisper, which echoed off the nearby pillar, she said, "To which god or goddess to you pledge yourself?" She was curious to know, the overpowering curiosity of earlier overcame her again, and she must know.

[Dederick Etheridge]

Squire Dederick Etheridge

Sunrise, 4th of Winter, 515 AV

The morning sun was only just beginning to stretch out over the peaks of the townhouses and buildings that lined the twists and turns of the familiar and rather welcoming Syliran streets. Small small motes and larger girders of light broke between the peaks of buildings and the gaps of adjoining streets to the one in which he walked on.

Every now and then Dederick would stop within the rays of sun, close his eye's and reflect of the warmth and the radiance that the glowing, vibrant star offered them. Before continuing on through the streets to his chosen destination; The Temple of All Gods.

The sun was higher in the sky when his dirty boots touched down on the first of the few alabaster steps leading into the great monument. Boots stuck with mud and other assortments of filth which left a small but distinct trail with each stomping stride. Numb and callus hands dropped down against one of the two carved oak doors, swinging it open with haste. A single arm stretching out to catch the wooden length before it slammed against the inside of this place of worship. Though with a hefty gust of wind at his back his attempt was of no benefit and the single oak door let out a dull resounding chime which would echo between the pews for only a few very noticeable moments.

Dederick after hastily working at closing the large door turned to face those, if any who occupied the quiet halls, offering a solemn apologetic nod. After a few rather quiet and awkward moments, the young squire would proceed to take a few tender steps inward, before shift out of his rather 'putrid' boots, and leave them by the first of many rows of decorated pews.

Making his way to the front of the 'temple' as he passed those three who occupied the quiet halls in the early morning he'd offer a second solemn and apologetic nod, his short, matte brown fringe gently falling over his forehead as he did so. Before his chin rose up and he continued to past the foremost set of pews to stand before the first few steps to the alter.

In silence.

[Hwyn]

Why is it that we ask questions we already know the answers to? Hwyn was already faintly aware that most believed that the gods were watching and listening at any given moment. Though for Hwyn this was no source of comfort, after all, if that was the case then the gods could see through even the rouse that Hwyn perpetrated daily. In his heart Hwyn knew that the gods were alwways watching and though he derived no comfort from the fact it was merely something left to be accepted, not changed. His thoughts were echoed in the responses of those in the church with him.

The young man replying simply with "Perhaps."

And the young woman replying with a a bit more color saying that,"Yes. They listen.The gods and goddesses are all around us. They're in the air, in the sky, in the earth... in your head, too. They can hear us right now, if they wanted to listen."

Before Hwyn could formulate a response a new stranger had entered the room and was now sharing in some form of reverence with the other two.

"I suppose they do, Listen that is, but isn't that a bit scary to think that a god could be in your head." Hwyn shifted almost uncomfortably at the thought of someone else knowing all of the secrets that lay in his heart. The thought that his disguise that might effect all mortals did not shield him from the piercing gazes of the heavens. Furthermore, Hwyn had more thoughts in the matter. "Even if they are always listening, do any of them really care?"

Perhaps it was his upbringing in Sunberth, perhaps it was his own history of strife, but Hwyn did not carry a very high opinion of the gods. The gods had abandoned him to his own devices and thus he had had to do too many things that he could never amend or heal from. No the gods may be omniscient, but they weren't using that to do anything good.

[Millie]

The remark that the gods might not care struck Millie like a blow. It was hard to think it, if the gods didn't care, then what was the point in it all? With a scowl, she looked down and scuffed her foot against the floor, not sure how to answer this person.

The church was filling up, and all these new people seemed to attract themselves to the small gathering that had formed around Millie. She wasn't sure how to talk to all these people, so she stuck with speaking to the smaller person. An answer was slowly forming in her mind, and she hesitantly spoke out.

"I don't think it's scary. It's... natural? But they do care. They must..." She trailed off, unsure of what she thought. "What's your name? What's both of your names?" She blinked, and opened her eyes slowly, appraising her surroundings.

The light from outside had shifted slightly, with swirling light now illuminating a pillar made of pale, unidentified stone. Millie walked slowly, reaching to press her fingers onto the warm stone surface, feeling the ridges that made it up.

"I'm Millie, by the way. It's nice to meet you..."