Carantathraiel

Wanderers

Ruli glanced toward Kire, staring blankly for a moment before he blinked and his attention returned. "Ah, I never know with her." He answered. "If you show up in full armour she might assume its a take-over. You want answers, dress normally, and she'll tell you anything to get you to go away."

He stood, grumbling at the idea of speaking to Risa, and wondering if he could pass along the chore of escort to Zeke or Ysaryn.
"Envy." he said suddenly. "Are you going to make yourself a charm to allow you to help us out?"
"Mm." Envy grumbled. "I have Gavin making something for me already."
"You sound so pleased."
"Go bother the princess." The Kartaian ordered, and Ruli smirked and wandered out of his chambers.

"I've only ever seen him take on a daylight charm once before. Narda must have made quite the impression." Ruli commented as they left the caves.

Wanderers

As Kire jumped into the explanation of the strange happenings in Amria, Ruli slumped against the cavern wall, resting his heat against his hand. When Kire mentioned Solaralai, Envy raised his eyebrows gently, swallowing.
"She knows." Ruli said without provocation.
"Oh." Envy answered. "Oh!" He glanced to Ruli, then to Kire, swallowing so many questions to focus on the task at hand. "Right. Well, no, she's never been known to be peaceful, exactly, but she hasn't always been necessarily cruel. Look at the elves, for instance. Her forbidding their travel in daylight has likely save men from nihilation."
"Our of spite of our existence." Ruli put in.
"Well, sure, we're they bastard offspring of the God she adored and felt she had a right to. Just because her thought process is incorrect doesn't mean she's not benevolent. Without her sunlight, the world would have withered, all life would have collapsed. Her balance with the Moon God has helped our world thrive."
Ruli narrowed his eyes, skeptic. "Neither of them exist, or did exist, in Kire's world, and its doing just fine. This bitch is just taking credit for something she's simply piggy-backing onto."

Envy pursed his lips, then turned toward Kire. "I doubt all of her fellowship perished in Ziad when it fell. There's bound to be some somewhere. I reluctantly suggest asking the princess. Her family has always been patrons of the temple, if there is a priest or priestess left, she'll know."
He sighed, and leaned back. "Truthfully, I would like to assume she's exploring your world. She broke through somehow. She's dipping her toe into this new playground to see what is available for her."
"There's no elves." Ruli said, realizing. "She'll love that."

Wanderers

Sireen smiled again. "Such pretty eyes." She repeated when she saw Kire before her. "If I remember anything, I will let you know."

Ruli had his doubts about that. But he stood and said his thank yous before he followed Kire away from the house, his hands deep in his pockets. He felt the need for a bath to wash away the woman's words, to wash away the vision of the goddess. Why him? Why did he need to be the one to see her?
"Hm?" Ruli glanced at Kire, having not been listening. "Oh. I don't know about the religion, but he'll have information on her. He taught me what I know."

He fell quiet again as they wandered back up toward the caves. Ruli still struggled with the feeling that he was forgetting something, and the longer it followed him, the more torn he became between wanting to forget it altogether and wanting to remember before he dismissed it. Had the goddess said something to him? What had he seen in her wings?
Something. Something, something, something.

"Envy." He said as they stepped in.
The Kartaian inhaled, grinning thinly. "I have been acosted by Gavin, who seems to think we're being hired in Amria?"
Ruli nodded. "Yeah. Protection wards. Envy, can we ask you about the sun goddesss?"
Envy's eyebrows rose, and his face shifted toward Kire, though he overshot and stared over her shoulder. What is ... no, come here, first." he said, beckoning them to follow as he started for his chambers.

Wanderers

Sireen nodded slowly. "Many. And not many. No fewer than one, if I recall. But as many as wanted to swear themselves in. Much less taxing than long ago."
"How do you mean?" Ruli asked.
She responded with a wrinkle of her nose at first. "Long ago, it is written that anyone who joined must cauterize their bodies to prevent temptation. But there was a priest some time ago who decided that it was a greater worship just to resist such desires willingly. He was cast out for his thoughts, but they did stop the mutilations."
Mortified, Ruli glanced at Kire again before looking back. "So, there are texts somewhere?"
"Once." Sireen nodded. "Within the temple catacombs, deep beneath Ziad's earth for protection." She shrugged her withered shoulders as if to announce she didn't know what had become of them. "My sister perished in the attack. But there were others. I know not where they'd have gone. The Goddess dwells within the desert, they may not have desired to leave her embrace."
"But Ziad is empty." Ruli pointed out gently. "I have been back there, there is no one else."
Sireen sighed, shaking her head sadly. "No one declares themselves her children here. I do not know."

Wanderers

Sireen smiled anew at Kire, the amount of wrinkles in her cheeks tripling. "Such pretty eyes." She complimented before she considered the questions.
"I never have been blessed with seeing her, but my sister once swore she did in a dream." Sireen began. "She stood in a forest that burned, but was unafraid. The Goddess appeared, she said, wrapped in a cloak of golden fire. A smile was shared, and when the Goddess left, so did the fires." Sireen shook her head. "My sister could never recall if she was spoken to, but she felt safe. After her dream, she became a priestess of the temple."

Sireen's face fell, clearly recalling what had become of the temple. Ruli cleared his throat again. "What is asked of a priestess as far as tasks? How did people worship?" He repeated Kire's questions.
Sireen's expression shifted as her thoughts did. "A priest or priestess must take no spouse or create any children. They need only the Goddess, who needed no husband, and bore no children." She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I remember that, on nights of the full moon, every candle was to be lit in the temple to disallow the slimy creature of the moon to outshine the Goddess and her space as she slept. The temple was a beacon of golden light that the moon could never compete with."

Ruli glanced sidelong at Kire at the mention of the moon god, and the attitude toward him.

Wanderers

"I don't know." He admitted truthfully. "I can remember her speaking, but I c-can't recall anything she said. I know I wanted to get away, but I have that instinct often."
It frustrated him that he couldn't remember her words. Why? Why could he vaguely recall the things he saw, but not much to do with the goddess?
"I wonder if ... if its that she is the goddess, I mean, that I saw her, maybe that's why I can't recall. Maybe she's covering her tracks. Theres this feeling that won't go away that I'm forgetting something important."

As she asked about his blood, he glanced at her again, thinking it over. "I don't know." He admitted. "Could be. Hang here for a moment." He requested, shuffling up into a small courtyard to knock on a door. There was a younger woman, perhaps in her thirties, with short cropped black hair who answered. Ruli murmured quietly to her for a moment, and her expression lit up before she gestured behind the house. Ruli bent in thanks and went back to Kire as the woman shut the door.
"Found someone we can speak to." He said, leading Kire along.

Around toward the back of the house, down a small set of steps that ran along the side, was a weathered elder woman sitting in a rocking chair, watching the sea. Ruli cleared his throat. "Sireen?"
She turned her grey head, her dark brown eyes covered with heavy, wrinkled lids. She grinned warmly, her face so well worn by age and sun that she could have easily been years younger than she appeared. "Yes?" Carefully, she moved in her woven chair to face them.
Ruli crouched near her chair so she wouldn't have to look up so much to meet his gaze. "We were wondering if you could tell us what you know about Solaralai?" He said bluntly. "The temple still stands in Ziad, and we would like to understand more about the goddess."

Sireen smiled, revealing that she was missing several teeth, and her gums were blackened. "The Goddess!" She sighed fondly. She straightened slightly in her chair, though she was physically incapable of straightening entirely. "What would you like to know?"
Ruli opened his mouth, then glanced at Kire, having no idea what to ask.

Wanderers

"They do, yes. And that is why they hate elves, with exception to the obvious part about the Kartaians slaughtering us for fun." Ruli said as they descended. "They worshipped her because Ziad sprung up where she touched down. Allegedly. From her sprang the springs that helped the city thrive in the middle of the desert. Allegedly."

Ruli stopped short, turning to face her, the corners of his mouth pulled down in a frown. "Kire ... the tribe of elves she blessed with the ability to stay in the sun? The ones who sold out their family for the goddess to slaughter?" He inhaled. "They're mine. Or were mine." He'd never admitted those words before, even if Envy had correctly guessed. He wondered if Ysaryn would also guess. "They're dangerous. They're cruel. If they have ways into your world,"
He shook his head and continued down the stairs. "so, no. I haven't ever worshipped at the temple."

Wanderers

Kire said she hadn't wanted to go anywhere near the temple, and Ruli grunted. It was just about how he always felt about the temple. But he had different views on the goddess than the Ziadi did.
He sat down to eat, all of them falling into thoughtful silence until their plates were cleared and Ruli delivered them back to the Tower.

Once back in Úvano, Ysaryn raised her hand in an indifferent wave and wandered off, muttering something to Gavin under her breath that, from what little Ruli caught, sounded like a reminder that he should be glad he hadn't faced her.
"Really, you should have seen Ed after he had a go at her." Ruli agreed, though narrowing his eyes when Gavin asked about what they were up to.

"Having g useful abilities has that effect. Or haven't you noticed?" Ruli smirked, gesturing for them to walk. "Gavin, we're being officially hired to create protection wards, like these, around Kire's palace. With the illumination effect. Do you think you can start work on supply lists? I'll take you over soon to get a look at the perimeter, but it should be about the same as before."
Ruli ducked into the sunlight, glancing upward toward the sun before he directed them down along the stairs toward the beach. "Tell Envy what we're up to," he said, gently dismissing Gavin. "Maybe he'll join us. Bribe him with Narda."

As they wandered down the steps, Ruli glanced to Kire. "Most of the elders live near the beach for access to the docks. I figured they're the best place to start."

Wanderers

Ysaryn raised her lip in a snarl as she settled into her chair. "I do not know." She answered truthfully. "I do not know much at all. If Father will challenge. If Ed will challenge. Or, now, if I want him to." Her finger traced a small line in the table made by some firm pressure of a pen or flat edged item. "My people do not welcome others easily. Other tribes, yes. Not ... men. Or Amria." She sighed.

"He lost, Kirai." Ysaryn blurted after some silence. "Worst part is, I do not think he lost honestly. Which is insulting to me." Ysaryn rubbed the space of skin between her eyebrows. "Not a word to him, either, Kirai. He can not be pushed."

She went quiet when Daryll returned, turning her back to him to stew in her thoughts while he sat down and ate. Ruli returned a few minutes later, still looking lost in thought. "Kire? The dragon you saw. It was for sure a dragon?" He wondered. "I saw something flying. Gold and red, only it turned out to be ... well," He gestured to the idol. "At least I think."

Wanderers

Having no awareness of Kire's plans to abdicate, Ysaryn merely arched an eyebrow. "Just do not marry him." She suggested. "You are worth more as a mate."

The thought of a mate sobered her, the elf thinking about the argument with her father over Ed. One she knew would have to be had, but not one she had been prepared for, regardless.

Sighing, she went back to the topic. "I do not know what these things are to mean. The visions. But none as of yet have been good."