The air was cold and crisp that morning up on the Great Steppes. The Hain here, normally content to wear nothing other than their exoskeletons, all wore coats of thick fur. Yet despite this cold, Gerrik had still managed to attract a sizeable audience for his hands-on training session on stone knapping. Gerrik had been growing in the skill of education, and often Teknall would let him teach on his own, as he did today.

He wandered through the village until he came across an elder telling stories to the children. He stopped, leant against a hut, and listened with even greater attention than the children, although he did not let it show that much. While he innately knew many things, the culture and traditions of the Hain was not one of them, so he had to learn such things through observation. Today was told the story of their origins, at least according to this tribe. Details differed. Some suggested they had lived a long time before their banishment. Some added other gods to the story, both before and after the banishment. Some linked their own creation to that of the rest of the world. Most differed on the moral behind the story. Yet there was a common thread in every single version- that they were made in some paradise, before the god who made them violently cast them out, scattering them across the world.

While Teknall had not witnessed the events of the Hain's creation, he believed he could deduce the sequence of events from the legends and what he knew of Toun the Perfectionist. The Hain were created, numerous in number. The description of their location suggested that this may have been in the Valley of Peace, if he assumes they were made on Galbar. Then Toun decided that they were imperfect- that they did not achieve his high visions. Teknall had seen the rage Jvan had sent Toun into, so he knew his violent side, at least to some degree. And he had seen his desperate attempts to 'fix' the Codex just before that. Toun was not one to do things in halves, so he would have attempted to either destroy or repair them. Yet he obviously failed, probably because of the nature of the Valley of Peace, so he settled on banishing them all from his sight.

Teknall would have to talk to Toun some time about the Hain. Yet for now, he realised something. They had no god. They had been abandoned. Sure, some of the tribes worshipped Slough, the Life Deer, or at least revered her. Tales of her were very common along a path through the Gilt Savannah and across the northern coast of the Fractal Sea, which also seemed to be places most touched by her influence. Some worshipped spirits, entities Teknall knew to be the elementals brought forth by the power of Zephyrion, but those made a poor substitute for a god. Really, they had no one to look out for them.

He had seen what this meant for them. Vestec had taken some liberties with the Hain, driving whole villages to fight themselves, sealing them in a dome of chaos and filling the surrounds with his giggling laughter, then abducting the survivors. A couple of villages had been butchered and cannibalised, with definite evidence of the occult occurring. Djinni had destroyed entire villages in their petty wars and vain displays of power. And he had come across one village, levelled as if a great blade had cut right through it and the surrounding terrain, with the Hain living there reduced to red smears and slices of meat and porcelain. This last one especially made his blood boil. There had been no motive, no reason. Even Vestec's crimes could be understood, but this one defied comprehension. Murder for the sake of murder. The Hain were without a god. Abandoned. Left to die.

[b]No.[/b]

He, Teknall, had not abandoned them. He would not leave them to die. Since no one else would, he would protect them. He would speak up for them. He would nurture them. While he had not made them, he would adopt the Hain as his own. Teknall would be their God.

Teknall looked at the Hain children, at the village, at Gerrik teaching the Hain to shape stone. At the years he had spent teaching and nurturing them. He would not just be their god. He already was their God.

[hider=Summary]
Gerrik teaches the Hain on his own today.
Teknall listens in on legends told.
Realising that the Hain are an abandoned race, he resolves to fulfill the role of their God.
[/hider]