Faith

[Palla Frostfawn]

8th of Summer, 514 AV, 19th Bell
Faith. Palla had realized how much she had needed it. She had prayed to Morwen for things to go her way, not aware of the significance. Palla had immense respect for her goddess, and decided now was the time to show it. Empty prayers, ones with no meaning behind them showed no reverence, and Palla had made up her mind that was true.

"It's far past time to pay my respects, and that I will do." Palla muttered to Midnight, who had stayed awake later than Purity, who had been asleep for a couple of chimes now. Palla got out her carving knife and a large block of wood. The wood was already in the general shape Palla needed, but she carefully carved it into a square wooden platform with a rim around all the edges on the top part of it. One rim was taller than the others, for a back.

Palla had made the base of her shrine, and she decided to carve a snowflake out of a light colored, almost white, wood. She carved the snowflake in a block of wood, making a relief figure. Palla carved an outline in the wood, making lines with her knife where she wanted to carve the wood deeper. Palla used her knife to begin chip carving, and very carefully removed chips from the whitish wood. It was very simple, but a snowflake was a symbol of Morwen, and Palla was incapable of carving a statue of Morwen, especially not from memory. She had never even seen the goddess in person.

Next, Palla made a leaf for Bala. The wood was more orange than brown, and it reminded her of Autumn leaves. Perfect for the goddess of Fall. The leaf was also a simpler one, but both of the carvings seemed to hold a certain charm to Palla.

Palla regretted never going to see Morwen and felt cowardly for neglecting to go. Her mother had gone, more than once. It wasn't as if she was a frequent visitor, but Palla's mother did visit Morwen on a few very rare occasions. I wish I had gone to see Her! I should have, I'm such a coward. Morwen seems like She would accept me, even with my nervousness. As for Bala, Palla didn't know how she would go about meeting Her. The book that she read never mentioned Bala having a home like Morwen's castle, so Palla assumed she didn't.

Palla removed the snowflake and leaf from the shrine and used a small bowl she had to mix some paint she had bought last season in. Palla made a purple color, and took the paint and the shrine out to her garden. Careful stroke after careful stroke, Palla painted the shrine a plum color. Her efforts would be in vain if she decided to paint designs in the shrine, so Palla just painted it purple. The plum colored shrine looked okay, but Palla decided it needed something to mark it as her own. She looked up at the setting sun, making a beautiful palette of colors in the sky.

Palla left the shrine to dry, and when it did, she turned it over and took it inside. She wrote her name on the carving with her quill and ink, and then carved her name over it with stab cuts, being careful not to damage her knife, which was not intended for that purpose. Palla then flipped it back over, right side up, and placed the snowflake carving on it. Palla didn't know enough about Morwen or Bala to know if they even liked purple, but she guessed and hoped that they did.

Palla decided to go to the bazaar and buy a lantern. If she bought a candle, she worried, one of her dogs would be curious about it, touch the flame, and catch fire. She walked to the bazaar, thankful it was close to her home, and bought a lantern and some oil from a vendor. She smiled a nervous smile at him as she bought the items, and walked home.

PricesHooded Lantern- 7 gm
Flask of Oil (pint)- 1 sm