New Year's Eve
Location:
Victoria
Time:
Y1502 - 50th day of the Ice Moon
Today is the last day of
the year, and just like in our world, there are great celebrations
all around the city. All around the known world.
Today I'll leave the
temple for the first time in my life. I'm excited!
"This
dress look really good on you, Liara." (Serina)
*smile*
(Liara)
All the Sisters are
wearing their ceremonial dresses. When I became an Initiate, I was
given one used by children. It's a simple one piece dress. It looks
cheap and is greyish white. Mother borrowed some sawing equipment and
embroiled some nice detail with a golden thread. It's too big for me
and doesn't fit well. I'll have to be careful not to trip.
I would like a mirror to
look at myself, but I guess they are too expansive. Mother doesn't
have one. My hair now reach to my shoulders. Mother helped me making
a braid. I wonder how I look.
[You
are starting to like being pretty? You are embracing being a girl!
Good for you!] (Explorer Me)
Shut up!!!
"Let's
go Liara, it's almost time." (Serina)
We reach the courtyard.
The Sisters are preparing to make a procession.
There is a glorious
looking banner made of gold, with a flag of the church. A white
stylized sun with triangles as rays on a red background.
Last night, during dinner,
we cast votes to decide who would carry it. It's a big honour,
apparently. Carlotta, an healer in training, won. She is grinning
hear to ear. She looks really happy. Mother was second for a few
votes. She looks disappointed.
"Mother,
you can be with me this way!" (Liara)
*smile*
(Serina)
After about half an hour
pass. It's dusk, the sun is setting down. All the sisters have formed
in a column of five. About five hundred Sisters will participate.
There are about 100 guards
accompanying us. It's the church's private militia. I see them often
patrolling the temple or the wall. They are armed with a short spear
and a round shield. As far as I can tell, they are male and female in
equal measure, but most of them are Dark Skins.
We start walking on the
path that leads to the large gate. The walls of the temple are made
of white stone and are about ten meters tall and two meters thick.
The gate opens.
**cheer**
"All
praise Gloria!!!"
"May
Gloria's blessing be upon us!!!"
That's a lot of people!
The road outside the
temple is at least ten meters wide, and paved in stone. There are
draining channels on the side. It's well made. Around us there are
two stories buildings. Some made of wood, some made of stones. Shops,
inns and taverns. They are marked by wooden or stony signs with
images of beds, candles, animals. Not many can read after all.
Soldiers with cheap
looking armour and wooden spears are acting as barrier, leaving the
centre of the road to us. City guards I guess.
Uhm... There is something
wrong with the crowd. I'd say eight out of ten are women. There is
barely any adult or old men here! The only men are children or young
adults.
"You
look worried, Liara. Are you afraid? Don't worry, I'll protect you.
Relax." (Serina)
"Mother.
Where are all the men?" (Liara)
"That...
I'll tell you when you grow up, alright?" (Serina)
Mother looks worried for a
second. Whatever it is, it's not something pleasant.
[Maybe
it's just that man are patrolling the outer wall of the city to keep
everyone safe] (Science Me)
That doesn't sounds right.
Why would Mother be worried if that were the case?
[Maybe
they are at war? It's not like you would notice inside the temple]
(Science Me)
Might be. I hope it's
nothing too bad. A part from Thomen's assault, things are working out
fairly well for me. I need time to master magic.
We walk slowly for about
half an hour. We pass squares with market stalls and shops. This must
be their commercial area. Many of the stall sells food. This must be
a good day for them!
The scenery change.
Abruptly, there are no more building, and the large road lead
directly into a gigantic plaza, filled to the brim with people. I can
see the city walls beyond that, so we are still inside the city. What
a waste of space.
"This
is the Memorial Square, Liara. It was built to honour our dead."
(Serina)
Sounds like there is a
story behind this place. And Mother will not tell me because I'm too
young.
[That's
fine. We are already struggling with magic, reading, writing and
adapting to this world's social norms. There is no need to make it
even harder.] (Bookworm Me)
I guess you are right.
We stop about fifty meters
from the centre of the plaza. There is an elevated platform, about
thirty meters wide with steep steps. On top of the platform a large
and tall pillar, and on top of the pillar a bracer. It really looks
like a memorial for the dead.
The altar is protected by
two lines of soldiers, wearing expensive looking golden armours with
fine details, red ribbons and rich looking helmets. They are some
kind of elite unit?
[A
public event, guards... I'm pretty sure the rulers of the city are
going to appear soon] (Science Me)
**loud cheer**
Your guess was on point.
Guards are escorting what look like the royal family. They take their
place on top of the platform. They are all Fair Skins. In the front
there is a middle aged man and woman. They must be King and Queen.
The King wears a blue military uniform and a crown, while the Queen
wears a pompous red dress and a tiara.
Behind them, there are one
boy and four girls of different ages. They are prince and princesses
surely.
"Liara,
this is your first time seeing them. That's the royal family. They
rule over this kingdom." (Serina)
The queen raises her hand,
and silence falls.
"My
faithful subjects! Today, we gather to remember those we lost~
(Queen)
Her voice is loud, and I
don't doubt it can be heard in all corners of the plaza. Some kind of
voice amplifying magic?
The queen makes a long and
passionate speech about a war that happened seventeen years ago and
an attack made by some kind of cult inside the city. I can see adult
people in the crowd crying. Must have been a big deal.
Using magic for a suicide
bombing... I guess it's the human nature.
~would
be all. Now, I leave the stage to the High Priestess of Gloria."
(Queen)
**loud cheers**
<Caleidoscope>
(High priestess Amigarde)
**awe**
"People
of Victoria! As is now tradition~ (Amigarde)
Amigarde took the stage
undressed and weaved a spell. She draw a big banner of the church in
the air for everyone to see. The people seems impressed.
After that, she made a
speech about ow generous Gloria is, and have the ill come forward and
receive Gloria's blessing. Apparently healing is the speciality of
the church.
[Their
version of public healthcare. Interesting.] (Science Me)
"I
must go too. Don't get lost, Liara. I leave you to Bella's care"
(Serina)
"Don't
worry, I'll keep an eye on her." (Bella)
"Be
safe, Mother." (Liara)
The guards of the temple
make the ill form a queue, and the healers starts doing their job.
To the citizen, especially
the poorer looking ones, this must look like saints performing
miracles. I can almost see sparkles in their eyes. And the way they
cry when healed!
[I
agree. The church might be doing this for prestige and to gather more
followers, but still, they are doing lots of good today.] (Doctor Me)
[...
They are making those people better. The church may be flawed both in
methods and belief. But the results of their healing is undeniable.]
(Science Me)
This is the first time I
see what the church does outside the walls, and I must say it's
better than I expected... I have mixed feelings. Sometime the church
feels evil, like when they burned Ramia and Thomen at the stake.
Other times they seem a force of good, like today.
Amigarde left the altar,
the next host take her place. A beautiful Dark Skin woman wearing a
see through green dress. What's with this world and going around like
this??? Have some decency.
"Victoria!
I am the Green Fairy, and I have the honour of leading the Cult of
Fertility! As you know,~ (Green Fairy)
She sounds like a nut job!
She is talking on how war and magic killed most male, and how as
living creatures they must fight them with love? What does she even
mean? ...
About fifty meters from us
there is a large crowd of people wearing nothing but leaves and
flowers... they starts... mating... What the hell.
[Our
old world was a very diverse place. There are place where you can be
imprisoned and even put to death just for kissing, and other places
where people go around wearing nothing at all too. Don't judge them.]
(Bookworm Me)
[Did
I tell you that time when to find the location of a ruin I had to
pass an initiation ritual in a tribe, and that ritual was about~
(Explorer Me)
NOOO! You already showed
me, and I don't want to see that memory!!
"Liara,
it's your first time seeing that, right? Don't worry, they are not
harming each others. This is how we humans make children. You see~
(Bella)
She is giving me 'The
Talk' while people are mating in the middle of a plaza. I want to
disappear already.
[Try
not to look like this, alright? Children your age are not supposed to
worry about this kind of stuffs.] (Doctor Me)
I'm trying. But they are
not making it easy.
"Citizen
of Victoria. I'm Lenbor, and this year I have the honour of
representing the Craftsmen Guild~ (Lenbor)
Thank god, the next host
take the stage. I have something else to focus on.
This young man looks like
the ideal blacksmith. He is tall and muscular. He carries a large
decorated hammer and wears a leather apron.
He says that in the back
of the plaza they set up many temporary forges, and people going to
compete in creating an item. Other craftsmen will evaluate the items,
and the best one will be rewarded. The citizens are free to watch.
In short, they made a
competition. Very creative! This festival really is diverse. Each
power in the city is showing off their crafts.
The smith leave, and the
oldest princess steps forward.
"Victoria!
I'm Aurora, princess and heir to the throne.~ (Princess Aurora)
This looks like the
closing speech. The princess basically tells people to enjoy
themselves.
After that, the young
princess undress and prepare to weave a great magic. She is really a
beautiful girl. After about one minute she is ready. The plaza is
silent. The crowd is looking forward to this.
<Caleidoscope>
(Princess Aurora)
A ball of light forms
above her head and starts rising up in the night sky. After it's high
enough, the ball explode in a rainbow of colors, with colored flakes
of light slowly falling down.
It's a firework! She made
a firework with magic! It's quite a large magic as well. She is a
better mage than even Amigarde. I can weave stronger spells than the
princess, but I still can't handle the finer details like her. I'm
impressed.
After she is finished, the
royal family, the smith, the High Priestess, and the Green Fairy
leave the altar, and what look like the medieval version of a rock
band take the stage.
They set up their drums,
and play something that sound like a tribal rhythm.
The Memorial Square
becomes really noisy, with people talking, dancing and just having
fun. Sisters around me close their eyes and starts praying Gloria,
the Cult of Fertility is... well... Smoke and hammering noises come
from the other side of the altar. It seems the craftsmen have started
their competition as well.
It looks like this will go
on all night long.
Annual Report
Location:
Gloria's Temple/Council Chamber
Time:
Y1503 - 2nd day of the Bloom Moon
"It seems that despite all the set backs,
the situation is now stabilizing." (Pernida)
"Meagre consolation. Compared to last
year, we lost more than half of our territories. Along with the
donations in food, gold and children that come with them. Our church
is a pale shadow of our glory days." (Kamila)
"I'm still in the process of reorganizing
our units, but our losses are catastrophic. The Order lost six out of
every ten experienced knights compared to last year. Still, last moon
we lost none. Focusing on defense of a smaller territory is working."
(Teoren)
"It seems that the call of cutting our
losses was the right one, Amigarde. And your performance during the
new year festival was inspired. You are improving." (Vaerminia)
"Vaerminia, Amigarde is facing a very
difficult situation. She deserve more~ (Pernida)
"It's alright. I'm just happy we avoided
total collapse." (Amigarde)
*enter* "I finished compiling the reports
of the festival." *hand over parchment* (Geneva)
"Donations are up from last year in all
our remaining temples. Uhm... Interesting. It seems Serina this
festival was the best healer. She cured 68 peoples. Last year she
healed 16." (Amigarde)
"That's impressive." (Cassandra)
"That's more than impressive. How did she
manage to improve this much?" (Pernida)
"Let's call Carminia and Serina here. We
will ask them directly." (Kamila)
"No. My guess is that the Meridia has
something to do with Serina's improvement. She is often seen entering
Serina's chambers. A moon from now there will be the Yearly Ranking.
We'll have our answers then. There is no need to let them know that
they are under close scrutiny." (Vaerminia)
"I agree. It's unfortunate we can't
observe Serina's chambers directly, but she would surely find out.
And the situation does not warrant for it... As for our next topic,
did you think about my proposal?" (Amigarde)
"It's far too early. We'll consider it
again in a few moons." (Teoren)