Mind Weary

Her eyes opened to a grey stone wall. Where? Ah, the Keep. The night before had been rough until her head hit the pillow, at which point she passed out like a candle whose flame had been snuffed. The memory of a repetitive, slow and steady breath lulled her to sleep as if she had been meditating. She woke gently, feeling rested but famished. The headache was gone, no sign of sleep troubles, no strange and concerned looks from caretakers who had to wrestle her to the bed in the night. Maybe the sickness was finally abating.

Although she didn't feel as if she needed Cagliostro's draught this morning, her mind was now plagued with worry of her failures. Failure to prove anything about Blackwolf's innocence, failure to rally the support of the farmers, failure to get any answers whatsoever about the cult of Sliviki (or however they said it), and failure to stop the “head” of the creed.

It was probably a good thing that Gonyaul had coaxed her not to follow the boar's head into the darkness. It was her normal routine was to learn as much as she could about her enemy before striking them out but the secrecy of this cult and the immediacy of her mission did not really allow for very much of that to happen yesterday. At least she had one piece of information that may serve her to stop the menace in its tracks.

The full moon, a red child. The man had spoken cryptically. He could have meant someone young, foolish, or naive like a child. Voah was sure the "red" meant bloody, though it might have meant something else in this case, like a person with red hair, wearing red, or other sort of metaphor. Someone was going to be sacrificed during the full moon. She would have to treat it literally and try to protect the children, while seeking out other possibilities. She would have to think about it later.

Then there were the other matters. Hunter and Gonyaul had made her look bad in front of the farmers and some even showed signs of blasphemy... she hoped that the raid didn't end in bloodshed and that the people would calm down, she would have to see after breakfast.

Gonyaul... What a curious fellow...

Anyway, Hunter was a problem and if she didn't straighten him out, he would put them both in a very precarious situation. He knew OF the Pillars, sure, but did not worship them nor even believe in their existence. This was a thought that Voah simply could not fathom because she knew the Pillars in her soul from the time her maja and daga played their harmonies beside her cradle. But it was a new perspective… one that she hasn’t seen.

Shaken faith was one thing, she was a party to that on multiple occasions, most recently after her encounter with the peaceful seeming Odsier tribe... wasn't it a momentary test of faith when you had feelings that the Gods weren't looking out for you? She shoved the thoughts aside, still unsure of what she wanted to do about the Odsier witches. Oneiromancy was a hard one to prove and while she could she the harm in divining practices, it was never exact nor an immediate threat. However, if she had witnessed firsthand, the abominable practices of speaking with the dead, she would have no doubts on what to do next. Find the witches, and strike them out in secret, try to convert the others after their leaders were lost.

Knowingly practicing against the Pillars and the office of the Inquisition, denouncing them and worshiping the creed of another God... that was absolute heresy.

But simply not believing in the Pillars, or any gods, and believing in nothing? How could that even be punished, to Voah it seemed like being unborn. It seemed to her that Zinheim or Vastad might be the best choice for Hunter's birth into the arms of the Pillars. His new perspective.

So many thoughts... food was her motivation to get out of bed. Then hopefully a hot bath. It was already late morning, which meant she would have to be quick. The raid had certainly been undertaken and the results were unlikely pleasant.