PM to join of Fate and Lies [Minnim]

[Lilith Krauss]

74th of spring 517.a.v. Temple of the Black Sun Lilith was a devoted follower of the cities god, even if ‘devoted’ in the case of Rhysol, was a pretty lucid term in her own eyes. He was, after all, the god of evil itself, he was chaos given a form and you would never know when his voice whispered lies or true praise...that was what she believes. She praised the god, but was her devotion true? Lilith never questioned her form of prayers to Rhysol or the way she would show her love to the god through actions: lies, betrayal, corruption of faithful men and preaching of his name if given the chance. She thought that was the way for her to be, it was the form she was meant to take for her devotion, but then she came to Ravok and her mind has been uneasy. This city was beautiful, safe, Rhysol and his most fateful walked the streets alongside Lilith...but she felt lost. His domain was chaos, betrayal and lies, in this city, was one supposed to lie and harm the other followers of the same god? Lilith wasn’t bothered with this idea before, in Zeltiva people talked mostly bad about the god and rarely spoke highly of Ravok, she knew she wasn’t harming those who shared her ideals...but here, she felt actually confused and sometimes even conflicted. In order to calm her nerve, after work she would come by the temple of the Black Sun. Her visits rarely matched up with the services held by the acolytes, but she liked it that way, she enjoyed the fact that as she walked pass the two ebonstryfe soldiers at the door there were no crowds, you could hear how her boots made a clicking noise over the black marble floor, and if she stopped suddenly in her steps to take in the praying chamber’s might and glory, nobody would suddenly bump into her back. Above all, it felt like those coming here now, were there for the god, not because being part of this city asked them to be there and be seen by their co-workers and nobility.. She wasn’t picky with her seating, taking an empty spot at random and not really beginning to pray right away. Lilith simply enjoyed the odd feeling of peace at this temple, she never really felt at home in other religious locations that she had passed before in her life, but this place, maybe because it was so grand and beautiful, maybe because she actually felt something for the god in this city, maybe she had just made it up in her mind? It didn’t matter, what really mattered was that she felt at peace here and for her troubled mind it was more than enough. "can chaos show you the right path?" the words slipped from under her breath, just before she closed her eyes and began her silent prayer.

[Minnim]

Minnim wasn't necessarily a man of faith.
After walking through the mud of the world for so many years, one tended to lose the knee-shaking awe of an all-powerful being. And what was divine worship without fear?

To Minnim, it was simply slavery, and he would stoop to no such lows.

Oh, yes, he spoke to Akajia on occasion. But that was only to make use of her. He never really worshipped like some did. He gave no gifts, and even prayers were rare. So why, then, would Minnim walk to the Temple of the Black Sun that morning?

Well, why the petch not?

He had hit a stall in his work, finding nothing coming to him for inspiration or motivation. To clear his head of the dull fog, Minnim took a stroll throughout the city and he found himself at the Temple. It was a place he had never been, nor ever desired to, but he entered now on a bit of benign curiousity.

What he saw did not disappoint.

The room was grand, decked in dark shades and stark white contrasts. It's ambiance was cool and almost uncaring. In a way, it was comforting to see a temple so undevoted to its worshippers, and so clearly devoted to the deity.

Minnim took in the people in the room with a sweeping gaze, before picking a pew with a single woman in it. He knelt down in the row, a respectable distance but not far enoughthat he couldn't hear her say "Can chaos show you the right path?"

Minnim could hardly withhold his derisive snort."An interesting question." He interrupted without thought. "The instinctive answer would be no, chaos cannot show anything, by sheer definition. He paused for a moment, considering.

"But certainly chaos shows priorities. As in a fire, for instance, when everyone is going in all directions, what do we run for but our most valued?" Minnim cocked his head, humming to himself as he thought. "A good question, my dear. But why do you ask?"

[Lilith Krauss]

”excuse me?” Lilith had this bad habit of being drawn into her own thoughts and when she did, nothing around her seemed to be worth her notice...not even the old man that found a spot for himself behind her. Realizing that she had been loud enough to be heard by the man, Lilith couldn’t help but roll her eyes at herself. Chatter was pleasant and she had come to enjoy both careless and more meaningful discussions, but the fact this man had turned to her only because she was being loud - didn’t really serve as a starting point she liked. ”My apologies, I was thinking out loud...again” she felt like apologizing for disrupting the man’s prayer would be the right thing to do, especially given the tone he had used and the choice of words. Surprised that the man actually kept talking, Lilith didn’t disrupt his line of thought and just listened, using the opportunity to look the man over in a brief fashion. The pale, old complexion was what hit her first, she didn’t dare guess the man’s exact age, just assumed he looked ancient and maybe slightly tiered. ”I ask a lot of questions” not sure if she wanted to share her thoughts behind the question that set this conversation moving, as it was heavily drenched into doubt of the god that was the father of this city. ”have you ever thought about Rhysol’s domain? Lies, evil, betrayal and chaos” she finally asked, not confident in how she wanted to phrase herself fully. ”Ravok doesn’t sound like that, does it? Maybe I’m overly glamorizing the city, but it doesn’t feel like a place where lies, evil and chaos strive” Ravok seemed to be orderly chaos, which seemed impossible, chaos had no order and order couldn’t be chaotic. To truly serve the god, this city shouldn’t be standing and blood would flood the lake, at least that was what she believed and what made her question. ”whenever his followers are mentioned outside of this city...their form of showing devotion is, destructive. Then here, that destructiveness turns to praying...how can chaos create that? Bring peace to a mind? Show a better path? her tone seemed to grow more and more curious as she pondered the concept she created in her mind, only to smirk at how silly she was being ”I’m sorry, you asked a simple question and I began philosophizing” Rhysol and Ravok just seemed to be confusing, thought provoking.

[Minnim]

Minnim listened to her words intently. He was somewhat surprised in himself; he had not shown interest in another being for a long time, but she was somehow so much more interesting than others. She was passionate. How he missed the feeling of passion burning under his skin! Unconsciously, he leaned in just slightly while she spoke.

Of course, Minnim knew of Rhysol. He was the patron of their city- a protector, a savior, a God in all his might. Minnim was not intimately familiar, but was not shocked by the idea that his domain could consist of lies and chaos. He knew Rhysol loved to play with mortals, and that the Valterrian had not been unrelated to him. No, even betrayal felt comfortable for Rhysol. But for Ravok?

"No," Minnim reprimanded softly, "Don't be sorry for your questions. A curious mind is the best thing we have on Mizahar. Philosophy might not be my first choice of topic, but it certainly isn't my last now." He smiled at her in all the glory of rotten teeth and blackened gums. "You're right; Ravok doesn't sound like it fits Rhysol's domain at all. Except...could it be that it fits perfectly? Maybe his city itself is a lie. Perhaps everything here is really chaos in disguise, so well hidden that we cannot even see. The Ebonstryfe, you know they are secretive. Maybe they are hiding something from us that Rhysol holds dear."

The idea had seeded, but Minnim would have to wait for it to sprout fully. He was struggling. It didn't make sense. If they hid something that Rhysol loved, how could they call themselves worshippers? How would they ever manage to convert? And then he remembered her previous question, how can chaos create that? And there was the water. The idea blossomed in his mind, filling him up with great colorful petals.

"Or, perhaps...have you ever been outside of Ravok? There are good cities, lawful cities, where evil thrives. Syliras would fall in days without its knights, I think. But out in the wild, there is no 'evil'. Bandits are simply surviving. Wolves who eat the carcasses aren't called evil, they're making do. Could it be that Rhysol creates such a perfect place so that evil has a chance to thrive? If it weren't perfect here- if all were destroyed and there was no law- could evil or chaos even be possible, or would it just be living?"

He grew gradually more and more excited in the topic, eventually pulling from his robe pocket a tiny strip of fabric no wider than one of his bony fingers to play with. His hands worked at it, massaging the already soft and pliable material back and forth, pulling apart the threads. Once it was comfortable in his cold hands, he began to fold it over on itself. He tied and untied a simple knot a few times as he thought, never once looking at the action going on in his hands.

Finally, he spoke again, and the movement stopped. "Were you born here, then, under Rhysol?"

[Lilith Krauss]

Relief filled the young woman’s mind, she disliked being a burden with her odd topics and sometimes chaotic patterns of speech, thus knowing that the old man was not put off by it was calming. There was a sense of calmness about the man, his tone was soft and made his words sound wise, Lilith would even guess that he could make utter rubbish sound like the rare knowledge that you would cherish. This impression was likely driven by the fact that the old man looked so old, though not a given, old age usually meant that you had gathered a fair amount of knowledge through the years that one had roamed the lands. This city is a lie?, the thought made her wonder. Could Ravok, as a whole, be just a lie that is made to bring people in, like moths to a burning flame? The idea wasn’t wild once you put your mind to it, after all, a god needed to be worshiped for him to have power, a brilliant illusion of calm in a thorn world is just the type of place that would bring people in, she would know. Though, she was confident that there would have to be more about Ravok and Rhysol than was seen. Lilith nodded her head in agreement to the man since she didn’t know much about the order of the Black Sun or the Ebonstryfe, she couldn’t really add anything of substance and chose not to make a fool of herself in trying to pretend that she knew more than she did. Her lack of knowledge, however, didn’t mean that she was completely ignorant of what it was, and she was confident that if there was something in the city that was hidden and dear to Rhysol, the two orders would be the ones to truly be knowledgeable about it. ”When everything is bad, nothing is bad...and if everything is good, nothing is good. I see, it could be the pattern of this city, for it’s painted a perfect image, on which any oddity to its perfection is easy to spot” she smiled in amusement ”evil and ‘bad’ things seem so subjective when you put it like that, all depending on the individual's experience, like, do motives play a role when you do evil? Say, you kill someone...is it evil without question? Do your motives play a role? Can the fact that the man who was murdered, was a criminal, make it less evil?” In her own line of thought, she didn’t notice the man fidgeting with the scrap piece of fabric, but she did return to reality upon his question ”no, not at all. I’m actually from Zeltiva, so you could say I was born under Laviku” She could have named Eyris, since Zeltiva was also known as the city of knowledge, but Lilith had a sentimental affection to the god of the sea, making her feel at home in the floating city that was Ravok. ”I haven't been here long or seen much of the world, the only other city I've been to before is Nyka...Ravok is different” maybe out of politeness, or sheer curiosity, she redirected the same question towards the old man ”and you? Have you been outside of this city? Were you born under Rhysol?”’

[Minnim]

Slowly he could see her understanding grow on her face.

"Evil is very subjective." He agreed solemnly. "We assume everything to do with death is evil, but you're right; is killing an evil man evil itself? Do two wrongs make a right, I suppose."

It was a time-old question, and one he was not interested in spending all his own time answering. Luckily, she moved on when he did. He hadn't expected her to turn his worldliness question on him, for whatever reason. It nearly blindsided him, and millions of memories flashed before his eyes. Lifetimes he had spent on other lands were practically other worlds. He preferred to bury those memories and let them die with his body, but of course, he couldn't fully cleanse himself of them.

"I...No, I've been many other places." His black tongue tapped an indention in his lip thoughtfully, trying to decide how to manipulate the conversation back to his control. "I did like Zeltiva, though." He amended. Perhaps he could keep her talking about herself.

"I suppose I've always been a Zeltivan at heart. I live for the scholarly pursuits and I love the bustle of a marketplace. Even if the sea isn't exactly my home like some of the natives, I like the idea of it. I like the idea of a place so big we can never know everything. Laviku certainly holds his secrets, does he not?" He shared a small smile and eye roll with her, as if they were joking about a common relative at a family gathering.

"Do you continue to worship Laviku here, then? I have never really tried to worship before, and I'm not sure I could even know how to. I know some make sacrifices, but there is no sea around to sacrifice to. Don't you feel isolated from him? Or do you think Rhysol passes on the prayer to all the others?"