Holy Men

JP with Omni, Lorem, and Winteroak

Gonyaul felt proud of Voah. She was conducting communication well and establishing understanding between the two parties. In addition, he got to enjoy the amusing gestures she was making in the process.

As he was pulled by the hand, Gonyaul skipped a step to be alongside her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Great job.” He affirmed her efforts.

She squeezed his hand in acknowledgment, “Thank you, darling.”

It was a start. They had an invitation to tea and if they kept up this diplomacy, they would hopefully be able to acquire the right information or provisions to complete the remainder of their journey with little issue.

The calmness and serenity around the fire was palpable and a surprising change from the recent events of the last week.

Other men came and went to the fire curious to see the newcomers, casting looks their way and speaking to the man who had greeted the two, obviously asking questions.

Voah had been around enough temples and clergymen to get a sense that these men appeared to be some kind of priests or acolytes.

The inability to communicate brought Gonyaul back to the time he first emerged from the wild Kru’ll jungle into civilized society. Back then he only knew Vauxian and it took years before he came to the realization he probably needed to commit to learning the common language because he wasn’t going home anytime soon. He never would imagine that one day he would be fluent in another language and attempting to learn several others.

Like back then, Gonyaul was content to people watch and enjoy the company, even if he couldn’t speak. In a way, it also reminded him a little of home. It was strange to remember that a majority of his life was spent with very little audible speaking at all. He looked to his hands with an apologetic look, mentally informing them that they had not been replaced by his mouth, but instead gained a necessary ally in these different lands. He promised though to continue giving them the chance to play their sign language when his mouth was in use, whenever possible.

He realized that speaking and performing Vauxian sign language at the same time would probably be seen as unusual; however, he had come to peace with the notion that others found him unusual.

As Voah and Gonyaul sat with the men, the wheels in her mind slowly turned and certain gears clicked into place. These must be the priest-sorcerers that Zargani had mentioned.

At the moment, it was difficult for Voah to feel anything other than gratitude for their hospitality, but there was an underlying hint of unsettling that began to burn.

If it was up to the Inquisition, they would have her slaughter them, sparing none. Chances were she would not make it through four or five before the rest of their group put a stop to her. And that was if she was using the Holy Sword.

But it was stupid to attack directly and brazenly against a crowd, anyway that was never Voah's style. She would have gained their trust, then unsuspectingly divided and conquered. But there numbers were many and to her knowledge, she had never seen so many sorcerers in one place before, if indeed these were the priest-sorcerers of the so-called 'twin gods'. She would have to come at them stealthily, like Hunter would have, quickly and quietly, a knife in the dark.

But she wouldn't do any of that. She was an Arbiter no longer. If she was to judge, it would be silently and no act would come of it. The vibe she picked up from these men was akin to something she felt at in the temples of the Pillars as well as the rectory and shrine in Ostiarium. There was peace.

What were the implications of their circumstances? She had given little thought to what these priest-sorcerers would be like nor what they could do. It could be that Zargani mis-translated when he spoke, but the word priest implied Gods, and he mentioned as much, but sorcerer implied magik... in her experience Gods and magik didn't mingle, refused to co-exist.