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It was cold, dark, and Laina was utterly alone.

Her and a few other acolytes, bored during the settlement's current migration to new lands, wandered a bit off from the main group though at least still keeping the lights of the main convoy in sight. They were all having silly fun as younglings were often want to have until Laina slipped and fell into a densely wooded gorge.

When she regained her consciousness, Laina didn't recognize anything around her. A dull throbbing pain lancing her from her calf told her that she was hurt, a wet slick feeling around the area indicated something worse.

She wanted to cry. She did. But she also remembered the teachings of Master Knife. Stay still, stay silent, observe and learn, survive. What was she supposed to observe though? What was she to learn? How was she to survive? It wasn't uncommon for those who got lost during migrations to be left behind, the threat of the Filth too great.

So she laid still and cried, pitying herself and saddened by her poor lot in life.

She didn't know how long she lay there, only that it was dark and she was alone and she was going to die. The tears kept flowing until she spotted a dim light in the distance, at the sight of which her next sob became stuck in her throat as she remembered how some creatures of the Filth lured those lost and alone like her by offering a saving light in the cold blackness. So again she lay still, forcing down her hiccups and cries as she placed herself as low on the forest floor as she could. The light came closer, so Laina forced herself deeper into the much and mud. It wandered even closer, so she forced herself to still her breath and quiet her mind. Yet still, the light crawled ever nearer, scanning the forest as if searching for her. The light passed over her and in weakness she let out a whimper, causing the light to snap onto her frame, outlining her small figure as she closed her eyes in an attempt to blind herself to her inevitable future.

Yet death did not come hurling after her with tooth and claw. Rather, her face was cupped in a hand that radiated comfort and warmth. Her ears were not assaulted with the slaverings of hunger or desire, but instead soothed with gentle words and a soft voice. Believing herself already dead, Laina dared open her eyes, only to be met with the tired, old face of the abbess.

And so Laina's tears flowed once more.

The Instruments of Parrel is a sect of Parrel worshippers whose faith revolve around the idea that all their confirmed clergy are the divine, physical embodients of Parrel's will, of which the Convent of Quiet Vigil is one such band of practitioners.

Their stories revolve around the idea that Teid is the creator of many things, but not all. Rather, he knew as a divine being that had no equal nor being capable of worrying about small things such as death and disease, he knew that there was only so much he could imagine and create. So, as he created the other gods and all the inhabitants that lay upon his world, so too did he gift them with the ability to craft and create as he did. To ensure that his creations could remain free and pure, he made it so that he was unable to directly interfere with works that were not made by his own hand.

Unfortunately, that would prove to be his downfall as Ligdon forced himself onto Parrel, Parrel begged Teid to remove the cursed child that now lay in her womb. Taken by her pleas, Teid attempted to do as he was asked, but the child was not made by his own hands, and the terrible circumstances on which the child was conceived made it so that when Teid attempted to remove the child, he poisoned it and himself. The Allcreator wasted away as the child continued to grow inside Parrel's womb and when it was born, so too was the Filth, and so too did it signal Teid's death.

Knowing that the corruption of her child and the death of her creator was her own fault, in penance Parrel took stewardship over all that Teid had created. However, even Parrel herself could not always directly interfere in the affairs of mortals, and so she would entrust a select few who would be her divine instruments on the world.

The Instruments of Parrel often divide themselves into four Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods, or Hoods for short: Lantern, Blade, Knife, and Quill.

Lanterns were dedicated to keeping the stories and songs of Parrel alive, leading her worshippers and directing those who sought her guidance.

Blades were dedicated to keeping the world and Parrel's flocks safe against all manner of threats.

Knives were dedicated to keep the faith pure, rooting out anyone or anything who sought to undermine their work.

Quills are the most mysterious of all the Hoods, and were dedicated to interpreting Parrel's will by the arcane secrets of the written word. They hold the secrets of literacy and guard it jealously, hungering for every scrap of knowledge pertaining to the Old World.

The sect has no formal central authority or leadership, but bound together nevertheless through common stories and ideals. No member truly knows how many followers there are, nor of how many convents and churches there may be. In the Convent of Quiet Vigil, Brothers and Sisters sometimes go on a mission to found a new convent or lead a new flock. though word seldom comes back about their wandering missionaries.

Quiet Vigil itself was founded and centered by its current and only abbess: Abbess Key. Under her are High Sister Tulip and High Brother Bark, or Mistress Quill and Master Knife, respectively. Under them are Sister Snow and Brother Stone, who are also known as Mistress Blade and Master Lantern. Surrounding them are a number of Brothers and Sisters divided among the four Hoods of Lantern, Blade, Knife, and Quill, descending in most populated Hood to the least. Sister Tulip is the only confirmed Quill Sister among all of Quiet Vigil. Surrounding the Convent itself are a number of ordinary people who have gathered around the convent but do not wish to join it for once reason or another, instead providing support in running it by providing the common physical labor and goods that are needed to run it.

The Convent keeps itself safe from the Filth by ensuring that all confirmed members have martial training of some sort, though more importantly by being able to quickly move and migrate when the spread of Filth proves too much for their church members to handle.

Important members of the Convent of Quiet Vigil