Hidden between the hills of Listólã́ciam, the small town of Çuopān is hidden. From outward appearences, a small, unremarkable village, between the forests, built on two hills with a small river between them, and a small, stone bridge connecting the two sides. The people make a living from hunting, and cutting the wood around them and shipping it downriver.
The largest building in the village is the temple. On top of the hill north of the river, the temple of Oesala stands tall. A tower, made of stone, copper, and with a spire made of cold steel. Incredibly expensive, the cold steel has been there since the temple was built, over a thousand years ago.
The inhabitants are surprisingly devoted to their protector spirit, Oesala, the Great Spirit of old. Oesala is the protector of all Ngimonians, but this temple is one of the few dedicated soley to her.
The town is quite wealthy for a such a small town in such an uninhabited place. Yet, wealthy as it is, somehow, it hasn’t really grown in the past centuries, hovering at about around a few thousand inhabitants.
The cause for this is unclear to anyone but the people of the town. The cause; Oesala, the spirit who had, for unknown reasons, disappeared from the public eye meddles with this town, even in modern times. Oesala was thought to be dead or gone by most. Some believed she was still around, but those were mostly thought to be crazy. A select few knew her, and knew she was still very much around, most of whom lived in this town.
Çuopān was founded by Oesala during the settlement of the continent, as a faraway place where she could live in peace. Since then, the town has grown to be the place where she gets her vessels. Orphan girls from all over the province are taken in as priestresses, and some are raised as potential vessels.
Sesolam was one of those orphan girls, and today was her 20th bithday. Since she was an orphan, she didn’t know her actual birthday, but since she was taken in by the temple as a baby, her birthday was the day they found her.
She’d become an adult today. There would have been a large party for her tonight, were it not for the fact there was another, more important ceremony regarding her on the same day. Oesala, the spirit she had learned to worship from birth, would make a visit to the temple for the first time in sixteen years, and she would take a new vessel. Her. It had been a few generations since Oesala took possession of a new vessel exactly on the 20th birthday, but it used to happen more often.
Sesolam was still lying in bed, feeling sick. Her stomach felt heavy and hurted slightly, but she had to get out. The sun had just started shining through the tops of the highest trees into her room. She stepped out of bed and looked at the dress she was going to wear today; her long black dress made of feathers. She didn’t like the thing, but she was supposed to wear it for official ceremonies, and this.. this might be the most important ceremony of her life. Putting it on on her own was impossible though, so she sneaked out to let her best friend, Mectoes, know she was up.
Mectoes and Oesala had been taken into the temple not even a month apart, and since they had nobody else of the same age around, they had become close automatically. They had naturally started helping eachother with things like this.
Only a few seconds after Sesolam knocked on Mectoes’ door, she opened. “Finally an adult too!”
Mectoes hugged Sesolam.
“Finally an adult, but it’s also time for my hatching, and then I am supposed to be Oesala’s vessel..”
“Which you’ve been trained for your entire life. Come, let’s put on the dress.”
Sesolam let herself be led back into her room, and Mectoes helped her put the dress on.
When they had finished, they went down the tower of the temple to the central hall. Sesolam got congratulated by the priests who were eating there, and they got their own food.
“It sucks that you won’t have a large feast and a party tonight.. Or maybe Lady Oesala will consider that you want a party and wait until later with the hatching?”
“Mectoes!! We can’t have her wait because I want a party!!”
Mectoes held her face slightly ajar and looked at Sesolam as they ate.
“Obviously not, but maybe she’ll think of it..”
“Maybe, but don’t you dare ask her!”
“Of course I wouldn’t!”
They finished eating, and they went to [name1], the leader of the temple. Usually, the leader of the temple would be a former vessel of Oesala, but Áeccien, Oesala’s previous vessel, hadn’t been performing her duties for years, preferring to stay in bed for most of the day, and Maecẽ́sát, Oesala’s vessel before Áeccien, who used to be the leader, had passed away a few years ago.
“Good morning, [name1].” ((((haven’t made that name yet and it’s not really important))))
[name1] turned around and looked at the two of them. “Ah, Mectoes and Sesolam. Congratulations on reaching adulthood, Sesolam. You two are working on preparing Sesolam to wait for Oesala, right?”
Mectoes spoke up. “Yes, I’m about to help her with her makeup.”
“Good, good, don’t wait for me, make sure she’s ready in time!”
Mectoes helped Sesolam put on makeup, as said, and she had put on the jewelry. Her hair had to stay loose with nothing in it, she got an ancient starsilver ring which had been in the temple’s possession since it was built, as well as pendant cage made of starsteel. It would contain Oesala’s egg, later, which contained her soul. As soon as they were done, Sesolam went outside, alone, and waited in front of the temple. According to tradition, only former and future vessels were supposed to await Oesala when she would arrive at the temple, and well.. There was only one more former vessel, and it would be better if Oesala didn’t meet her in this state.
The sun slowly rose into the sky, and Sesolam was standing there in the cold wind. She started thinking to herself. She wouldn’t manage to live up to the expectations. Mectoes should be the next vessel, not her. She would mess up during the hatching and be the first rejected vessel in over 800 years. She should just go inside and tell [name1] she couldn’t do it, they should have someone else as vessel, she would just mess up. But she couldn’t she had to stay here, waiting, because if Oesala arrived and nobody would be here..
And so, when Oesala finally arrived, just before the sun reached its peak, Sesolam was so deep in her own thoughts, fumbling with her fingers, that she didn’t notice until Oesala was there, flying around her. Her form was a blackbird with a blue beak and a blue ring around the eyes, very small, and she was flying circles around Sesolam’s head.
“Lady Oesala!”
From a little downhill, she heard her own name called back. “Sesolam!”
The bird flew back down, and Sesolam looked after her. There was Poiatas, the current vessel, on an eqquā, riding up the path. Oesala landed back on Poiatas’ head, who seemed like she had been softly crying.
When Potiatas arrived at the top of the hill, Sesolam helped her get off the large flightless bird she had been riding on. Then, she made a quick bow and spread her hair. Oesala flew up and landed on top of her head, between the hair, and started plucking at it a little.
“Lady Oesala. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“Sesolam, dear, I can’t believe you remember the first time we met, young as you were.”
The voice came from Poiatas. This was one of the duties of a vessel; Oesala’s form, the bird, couldn’t speak well, so she took possession of Poiatas’ mouth and throat when she wanted to speak and spoke through her.
“Oh, but I do, lady. I remember the last time you sat between my hair like this!”
Poiatas walked up to Sesolam and looked at her up close. Or rather, Oesala had taken full possession of her, so it was Oesala doing so. At the same time, her form nuzzled down between the curls of Sesolam’s brown hair.
“You don’t need to be so nervous, Sesolam. We don’t have to start the hatching before you’re ready, I don’t want to push you and make it fail when you panic.”
“Thank you, lady Oesala..”
“You’re also very pretty, and that pendant suits you. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you, lady. Should I bring you to your private quarters?”
“Please.”
Sesolam called for someone to take care of the eqquā, and then she led Oesala and Poiatas inside, up the stairs, to the highest floor where Oesala’s private quarters were, even if they already knew the way. Sesolam heard Poiatas mumbling while walking there, and she seemed very emotional, but she didn’t ask what the reason was. It only made sense; it was probably the last day Oesala possessed her.
The private quarters were at the very top of the tower that was the temple, and most of the time, empty. Nobody came there when Oesala was not present, except occasionally someone to clean the dust that had fallen over time.
Sesolam and Poiatas sat down at the table, and Oesala flew off Poiatas’ head to sit down on Sesolam’s. One of her fellow priests came in, bringing two glasses of wine, as well as a decorated nest with golden wool, which was put on the third side of the small round table. Oesala ignored it and kept sitting between Sesolam’s hair. Then, Oesala spoke, through Poiatas’ mouth: “I’ve been meaning to ask.. There’s no high priestresses to greet me today? It’s only you?”
Sesolam cast her eyes down, feeling some guilt for the half-lie she was about to tell. However, it was for the best, if Oesala met Aecchién, that’d probably not turn out well.
“No, lady.. She was feeling sick today..”
“Both of them were?”
“Both of them?” Sesolam was confused for a few seconds before realising Oesala hadn’t been here for so long, she hadn’t heard about Maecẽ́sát’s death. “Right.. I’m sorry lady Oesala, but Maecẽ́sát has passed away a few years ago, after your last visit..”
Oesala was silent for a few moments, and those moments filled Sesolam with fear. Was she upset at her? Did she see through her lie? How could she have lied to Oesala.. Then, her despair was interupted by Oesala again.
“Oh.. I see.. Well, she was one of the better hosts I’ve head, it’s a waste, really..”
Sesolam looked at Poiatas’ eyes. Only her mouth was currently actively possessed by Oesala, and her eyes.. They were filled with a sadness.. fear.. regret.. She couldn’t make it out exactly, but they weren’t positive emotions.
Then, Oesala took possession of Poiatas’ arm and reached out to the pendant around Sesolam’s neck, the place where the egg would be placed.
“It’s very pretty..”
Oesala’s form hopped off Sesolam’s head and hopped into the decorated nest.
“You should get used to talking to me while looking at me, or else you’ll start thinking Poiatas is me, rather than the bird. Focus your eyes on me while talking with me, dear, not on my vessel. Now, Sesolam, I want you to to be truthfull. How do you feel about becoming my vessel?”
Sesolam’s breath stocked for a moment, and with a lump in her throat and tears welling up in her eyes, she managed to bring out some words:
“Well.. it’s a great honour, but.. how can I be expected to be good enough for the Great Spirit Oesala?? you’re.. thousands of years old, you were around before the Great Flood even, lead our people. You’re a god, and I’m just..”
“Bring your face close to me, child.”
Sesolam silently obeyed, bringing her face close to Poiatas’.
“To me, I said.”
Sesolam suddenly brought her face to a halt, and waited for a second, before leaning over to the bird in her nest, her eyes cast down in shame.
“Look. Do you know what I need in a vessel?? She needs to be obedient and respectful, and you’ve been nothing but that, so far. She needs to be healthy, fast, and strong. I’ve heard you are all of those things, and just looking at you.. seems to be fine. Correct so far?”
“Right..”
“Then, she needs a pretty voice, which you have. It’s nice if she’s smart, and well, I’ve heard you are. She needs to know the Ngimonians dialects.. languages...” Suddenly, Oesala changed the language to [insert the name of the language of the peninsula]. “Well, let’s test that right now. So far, I’ve perfectly described you.”
Sesolam responded in a the same language with a little trouble. “Right.. If you say so, my lady. Thank you.”
“Now, there’s two more things. Are we able to become friends, and can you handle me?? Both of those, we’ll discover during the hatching. The hatching has multiple purposes. Firstly, easing into your body and teaching two of us to trust eachother, and secondly, seeing if we’re compatible enough.
If it reassures you, all my vessels have started out as nervous little girls, and back in the day, before the Great Flood, when I was publicly active.. they’d all grow up to be leaders of provinces, or of projects leading thousands to build something great, or to lead the entire military, in one case. Tell me your ambition, and I’ll get you there, once we say goodbye to eachother, and I leave you to get a new vessel. You have the potential, I have the strings to pull.”
“I.. I thought you didn’t do that anymore..”
“Not publicly. I still have connections, though. If I have a great host, as I’m sure you’ll be, I’ll give them something in return, dear.”
Sesolam didn’t respond, thinking about these words. She didn’t have ambitions. All her life she had been raised to serve Oesala and only that, she never even seriously considered doing anything else, besides silly dreams.. After the silence had hold for a few seconds, Oesala started talking again.”
“Well, we’ll be able to get to know eachother better during the hatching. Share your body with me, and I’ll give you the world. Now, can you bring me to the High Priestress? She still lives in my temple here, doesn’t she?”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea, lady..”
“I insist on it.”
Sesolam was conflicted. She didn’t want Oesala to see Aecchién in that state, and she was also scared Aecchién might cause trouble. However, this was the Great Spirit Oesala, she had to obey.
“Right. I’ll lead the way, lady.”
Poiatas spoke up. Her voice had a slightly different tone than when Oesala spoke, as well as the fact that she addressed Oesala.
“Oesala, if she’s sick, maybe we shouldn’t.. Are you sure you want to visit her?”
“Poiatas, would you prefer never to see me again after today? She gave me a significant part of her life, and even after that, she stayed in my temple to serve me. We are visiting her, I haven’t been here since our hatching, so after I left her, she’s not seen me once. It’s common curtsey, now that I happen to be here.”
“If you say so, Oesala.”
Sesolam leads the spirit and her vessel to the room of the high priestress Aecchien. Sesolam opened the door, revealing a dark room, and a figure laying silently in bed, even as the sun had already reached its summit. It was silent and dark, and Oesala’s voice cut through the silence as a sharp knife, cold and barely leaving any traces when she stopped speaking.
“Aecchien, it’s Oesala. I’m here for my next hatching, and I wanted to greet you. I heard you were sick?”
Aecchien slowly turned over, revealing her bleak, old face, her eyewhite red. Once she had layed her eyes upon the bird, her eyes shocked open. She jumped out of bed and fell onto her knees.
“Oesala!”
The bird was sitting on her vessel’s head. Aecchien stumbled forwards over the floor, ruffling her hair with her hands, trying to put her hair right.
“Please! Come sit on my head!”
Her voice sounded weak and desperate, and her eyes were filled with tears. She started sobbing and tears started slowly flowing down her cheeks.
“Please sit on my head, possess my body, talk with my mouth.. I thought I’d never see you again.. I’m nothing if I’m not your vessel..”
Oesala kept sitting on Poiatas’ head, hopping from one leg to the other a few times and staring at Aecchien.
“I’m not here to take you back again. I’m here to take Sesolam.”
Her voice sounded direct and clear, hiding a sense of annoyance or maybe even disgust.
“And you say you’re nothing if you’re not my vessel? You could have been anything. I gave you the freedom to become whomever you wanted to be, and you chose to be a priestress.”
“That’s because I don’t want to be anything else. All I want to be is your vessel, is to be of use to you. I feel empty without you controlling my body, I feel alone..”
Suddenly, Aecchien stood up and reached for the blackbird.
“Sit on my head, Oesala, it’s all I’ve been living for for all these years!”
Oesala flew up a little, hovering above her vessel’s head until she pushed Aecchien back with her vessel’s arms, and landed back. She pushed the old woman away, who fell on the ground, crying, without the strength to keep herself standing.
Sesolam suddenly noticed herself again. She was frozen in shock of the situation. She leaned over to Poiatas and Oesala and whispered: “Lady, perhaps it’s time to go..”
“No! Don’t go.. you... you’re... you’re stealing Oesala away from me!”
As she said these words, Aecchien jumped up again and grabbed Sesolam by her collar. Sesolam looked frightened as Aecchien spit the words into her face. Aecchien threw Oesala on the ground and jumped at her, started beating into her, as well as her old arms allowed her, anyway. After a few hits, Aecchien suddenly screamed and fell to the side, contracting in pain. Sesolam looked over to Oesala, scared, and took a few steps back. Oesala was slightly glowing, and Poiatas’ face had a mix of anger and fear. The emotions seemed to be flowing over her face, shifting as time went on, and after half a minute, the glowing stopped and Aecchien stopped screaming. She stayed still on the floor, twiching in memory of the agony she just experienced.
Oesala stated coldly: “I’m disappointed in you. I shouldn’t have come to see you, but I decided to give you a chance. Farewell, high priestress.”
Oesala grabbed Sesolam by the wrist and pulled her out the door.
“No! Oesala! If you’ll never control me again, I’d rather be dead!! If you don’t want me anymore, please just ki-” Oesala slammed the door shut, blocking out the sound.
Sesolam started crying, as a bruise addorned her face.
“Aecchien.. Spoiling my beautiful new vessel..”
Sesolam was scared what this meant for her. “Do.. do you not want me anymore, lady?”
“Ah, of course I do. Bruises heal. It’s just a shame, that’s all.” Oesala flew over to Sesolam and sat down on her head.
Then, the slamming on the door began.
“Please! Use me! That’s all I’m good for! Otherwise, I’d rather die!”
Emotionlessly, Oesala responded. “As you wish.”
Suddenly, the bonking and screaming stopped, a thud could be heard from behind the door, and Poiatas suddenly had a very horified expression on her face. Sesolam was confused and scared she knew hwat had happened, and she felt Oesala snuggling in her hair. Suddenly, Poiatas started crying.
“I.. I am going to become just like her, aren’t I? I felt so alone, so empty when you were gone.. You’re gone and I fall apart.. and when you’re gone.. I can’t do that anymore.. I am going to become like that.. I am nothing with you Oesala, without you.. I’ll be nothing more than her.. I’ll become her..”
“Poiatas, darling, you won’t become like her.”
Sesolam stared at Poiatas, confused about what exactly was happening here. Oesala ignored her.
“Remember the things you enjoy which I don’t care about. Try out things I never wanted to do. You were your own person before me, and you’ll be one again. Cases like this.. they’re uncommon, to say the least.”
Oesala looked back at Sesolam, taking full control of Poiatas’ body, as she didn’t seem like she was in a good state to manage her own body.
“Shall we leave?”
Sesolam had tears in her eyes. “Yes, lady.. let’s leave.”
Sesolam’s mount was clouded. Confusion about what just happened. Fear she was correct about what she thought had happened. Guilt about being the reason it came so far. That Aecchien was dead because of her. She tried to hide away from the truth. Mayb Aecchien had just been knocked out? But she knew it wasn’t true. She didn’t want to be close to this ruthless killer. She didn’t want to be around Oesala anymore. But still.. She couldn’t just throw away her entire life purpose.. But.. She just killed without reason..
“Some more wine, please!” Suddenly, Oesala shouted out. “And have someone deal with that priestress.”
Then, she looked over at Sesolam. “Why are you looking so frightened, child? She won’t molest you again now.”
Sesolam had mindlessly walked back to the private quarters with Oesala, and they sat down again. Oesala grabbed Sesolam’s wineglass and gave it to her.
“Drink some wine child. You’ll feel better.”
“Right..” Sesolam stared into her wineglass, rolling it around without taking any sip. Against her better judgement, she tried to convince herself Aecchien was alive.
“She’ll be alright, won’t she?”
“Who? Aecchien? She said she wanted to die, so I fulfi-”
Suddenly, Poiatas seemed to take control of her body again. The emotion behind the voice changed fully, mid-sentence.
“Oesala, the poor thing is terrified. How could you do this to your former ves-”
Poiatas’ face suddenly started beaming with anger again, as the rest of her body contracted, becoming smaller, and she sat down on her knees.
“Do not try to push me out, vessel. Be grateful I haven’t fully taken your body, but let you keep and develop a sense of self.”
“My Lady. I am grateful. I just think you should consider your next vessel’s feelings. You two have to get along, and you just killed someone she’s respected her entire life. She was already nervous to meet you, and now she’s confused and very scared. You don’t understand people.”
Sesolam stood there, frozen. She wanted to respond now that they talked about her, but she didn’t know what to say. Oesala’s physical form nuzzled deeper into her hair, also unsure of how to respond.
“Well.. Firstly, Poiatas, don’t cut me off while I’m talking. Secondly, Sesolam, I didn’t mean to scare you.” A short silence fell again, and Poiatas’ face, under Oesala’s control, became a bit unsure of what to do. She looked at Sesolam’s frightened face. “Do you.. do you want a hug, dear?”
Sesolam didn’t want a hug. She was scared. “No, lady. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
Oesala started murmering, panicky. Sesolam couldn’t hear enough to make out what she was murmering about. Then, her face turned warmer.
“It’s me talking now, Poiatas. You must be tired, and so am I, would you like to rest in your room for a bit? We’ll have time to talk later, when we’ve all calmed down.”
“That.. that would be nice. I’m just a bit tired, yes. Sorry for making such a mess out of everything.”
“Alright, you can go rest now.”
Sesolam was relieved. She made a quick bow, turned around, and walked away as quickly as she could without being impolite. Her room was nearby. As she closed the door, she could her Poiatas murmering to herself. It sounded like a conversation between her and Oesala. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, until suddenly, one sentence was said more clearly. It sounded judgemental, annoyed.
“I didn’t have to give you time..”
Sesolam heard this. Was this about her? Was Oesala angry that she made such a mess? Oesala wasn’t what she had expected. If Oesala didn’t want her anymore, that was good. She didn’t want to be the vessel for such a murderer anymore. Then, the voice became clear again, and very emotional:
“..please, visit me more often...” about a sentence of murmering. “You’re my life!”
Sesolam heard some more murmering, and then the voice sounded very clear suddenly.
“I’m grateful for the fact that you never went crazy, never rebelled against me or tried to push me out, for the fact that you gave me your life, so never imagine otherwise.”
A chuckle of mixed sadness and hapiness could be heard. Of melancholy, perhaps.
Poiatas was speaking again, her voice thick with tears, but still with hapiness shining through. “You’re welcome, Oesala. Thank you for giving me the world.”
“Of course. Shall we take one last stroll together?”
“Yes. Let’s do that, Oesala.”
Sesolam was confused. How could this spirit have this kind of conversation after all that had just happened? She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She just went to bed. She was still terified, she didn’t want to be killed, she didn’t want anything to have to do with Oesala. But still.. What she overheard just now, the end at least.. That could not be an evil being. What was she even thinking? This was the Great Spirit she was thinking about.
She built up some resolve, even if she still had fear. She had already decided to become her vessel, she wasn’t going to change her thoughts now.
But what would the future be like? If she would just stay in Çuopān, nothing bad would happen.. No, what was she thinking? She had already decided.
She told herself to wait for Oesala to be done with her stroll, and as soon as she returned, tell her she was ready for their hatching.
Sesolam stood up from her bed and went to the sitting room. Mectoes was sitting there.
“Sesolam! Why do you look so messed up? All this work I did to make you look pretty..” Sesolam meekly smiled at Mectoes, as Mectoes walked up to her and put her hand against Sesolam’s face. “You cried? And someone hit you?” She grabbed her hand and pulled her up, to the dressing room again. “I’ll make you all pretty again, and you can tell me what happened to you.”
Sesolam let herself be dragged away. “Thank you, Mectoes.”
Mectoes put Sesolam in a chair, cleared her tears away and redid the makeup, trying to hide the bruise. While doing so, they talked.
“So, what happened?”
“Oh..” Sesolam didn’t respond.
“Did lady Oesala do this to you? You just met her, right?”
“No! It wasn’t.. It was Aecchien.. Lady Oesala wanted to meet her, and..”
She got a lump in her throat when she remembered what had happened. Aecchien had not meant that much to her, she was mostly just annoying when it was your turn to care for her because she didn’t do any work herself, but still..
“Oh.. she went crazy seeing Oesala, right?? Well, don’t worry, you’re better than her! That won’t ever happen to you!” She put the finishing touches on Sesolam and a grin appeared on her face. “And you’re much prettier too, again. All fixed up for when your spirit returns!”
Sesolam ignored her friend. “She.. Lady Oesala.. I think that.. that the high priestress is dead..”
Mectoes dropped her arms beside her and stared at Sesolam. “What? How?”
“She.. She was killed.. by lady Oesala..”
“What? Why??”
Sesolam started tearing up, and Mectoes paniced. “Ahh!! Don’t cry! You’ll mess it all up again!”
Sesolam stopped her tears as best as she could. “Right. I don’t know why.. but.. but she must have known best.. right?”
Mectoes opened her mouth, but before being able to respond, Sesolam started talking again.
“And it was scary.. but I had already decided to become her vessel a long time ago, so..”
Now, Mectoes had time to respond.
“Oh, you quitting out now is out of the question! And I mean.. Lady Oesla is wiser than all of us together, so I won’t question why she did it.” She grinned a little. “I shouldn’t say this, but.. nobody liked her anyway..”
Sesolam smiled back, and a few minutes passed. Then, they heard Oesala return. Mectoes quickly stood up. “There she is! Go to her!”
“Right! And thank you!”
Sesolam stood up and went out the door. She saw Poiatas sitting there, talking to [name1], seemingly about the state of the village and the temple. Oesala was hopping around the room. She looked over in Sesolam’s direction, and hopped over. A few seconds later, Poiatas looked over to her and said: “Ah, Sesolam, are you feeling better again?” Poiatas was looking like she was doing well, but vague traces of tears that had rolled down her cheeks could be noticed, even if she wasn’t looking sad at the moment.
Sesolam nodded lightly and looked between Oesala and Poiatas, unsure at whom to look. “I.. I want to be your vessel, I’ve decided. Well, decided again. I am ready for the hatching.” She sounded uncertain, but she told herself this was the best. This was what she should do, before she would start doubting again.
Poiatas looked at Oesala, then at [name1], questioning. Oesala jumped up and fluttered over to land on Sesolam’s head. Then she started speaking, her voice coming from Poiatas, who was still looking unsure of whether this was a good idea.
“Sounds great, dear, my pretty new vessel. Let’s start right away, then.”
“Right.. To the shrine, right?”
“Indeed. I’ll finish my conversation I was heaving with [name1], and finish a last few things I have to do, and you can go and wait for me there. I’ll be there soon enough.”
“Of course, my lady.” Sesolam bowed and walked walked back to the dressing room to get her coat.
Mectoes was still there, and she had heard the conversation. As soon as Sesolam opened the door, Mectoes gave her a hug.
“This will be the last time I see you without Oesala then for decades..”
Sesolam was slightly surprised. Mectoes wasn’t usually emotional, she hadn’t suspected such a reaction, especially since she never showed this kind of regret before.
“Yes, and I’ll miss you.. but I’m sure you’ll do good, and you’ll be ruling this temple and town, I’m sure of it.”
They had talked about that before. When Sesolam was dreaming of going to see the world as Oesala’s vessel, Mectoes thought about her leading the temple.
“Maybe. Until you return and live here again, of course..”
Sesolam smiled sadly. “I don’t need to rule this town. When I return and Oesala takes her next vessel, I don’t feel like I will have the need to be a High Priestress anymore.
“Of course. You’re the vessel after all.”
Mectoes gave another hug.
“I’m happy for you. Let’s get you in your proper dress and then you can go to your hatching.”
Sesolam nodded and let herself be put in her warm dress made of black feathers. After that, she left.
After some time of walking, Sesolam arrived at the shrine. It was located in the middle of a clearing with a stream running through it. The shrine stood there, round and a few meters across, with a small spire on top. It was made from wood, sculpted into figurines, and seemingly not having aged at all, despite being at least as ancient as the oldest parts of the temple. There was a small stream of water continuously falling down inside the shrine, cool water that was redirected from the stream to the shrine using long-forgotten techniques, similar to those used in the most ancient of castles, and then back into the stream after falling into the basin in the floor of the shrine. Around the shrine were sparrows wandering around, and there was a small bridge over the stream leading up to it. Sesolam walked over the bridge and entered the shrine. The sparrows flew up, but soon after, they already landed down again and scattered around again.
She had been here more often, the shrine needed to be taken care of occasionally, but today she was nervous. She stood in the shrine, still, waiting for Oesala in her black dress, hearing only the streaming water and the twittering of the sparrows.
And so she stood, still as a statue enveloped in the shrine, when Oesala and Poiatas arrived. She was staring at the water falling down inside the shrine and didn’t notice their arival. Poiatas walked across the bridge, and tears formed in her eyes. Just like Sesolam had done, she dug herself a tunnel through the sparrows which swiftly closed again. The sound of a hundred tiny wings made Sesolam turn around, and only then she realised she too had tears in her eyes. They were both crying for the fear of a new life, of not knowing whether it would be any good, and of leaving everything they knew behind.
Oesala, though, had no such sorrows.
“Hello, dear. Are you ready?”
Sesolam nodded softly, and then responded with a meek voice, almost trembling with fear. “Yes, lady. I am.”
“Sit down.”
The girl obeyed, and so did Póiãtas. They both knew the basics of the procedure, but Poiatas knew it better, having lived through it before. She slowly raised her hands, as if fighting back the urge to refuse, and with trembling hands, she opened her own pendant, her own case for Oesala’s egg. She took out the blue crystal egg. She held both hands up, one containing the egg, and the other empty. Oesala hopped from Poiatas’ head onto the empty hand, and with that as signal, finally, she held her hands open in Sesolam’s direction. She would have cried if she had any tears left to spare, but everything had already been setteled between Oesala and her.
Sesolam extended her own hands. She took the egg in the one, and let Oesala hop over to the other, one last time.
Poiatas’ mouth opened, and Oesala’s words started coming out.
“Poiatas. I want to say something before hatching again. I am very grateful that you gave your body to me, your time to me, your life to me. I know you don’t think I think highly of you, especially after that fiasco of just now, but believe me, I do. So before we part ways, the last thing I want to say, and the most important thing I want you to remember, is: thank you, Póiãtas.”
Póiãtas started silently. For a minute, she was silent, until she discovered she did have some tears left. No more tears for sadness, but tears for relief, for getting approval, and for feeling like her life accounted to something in the grand scheme of things, after all. Between her sobs, she barely managed to bring out: “You’re welcome, Oesala. Thank you for everything..”
Knowing what would happen now, what was expected of her, and finally satisfied, at least a little, she turned around and slowly walked away. Oesala started flickering in Sesolam’s hand, and then disappeared. She retreated into her egg, and Póiãtas fell on the ground on the edge of the forest, grabbing her chest, feeling an haunting emptiness. She stood up after a few seconds, turned around and spoke to Oesala, even if she wasn’t sure if she could hear it anymore.
“I will try my best to deal with this. I will not become like Aecchien, for your sake, Oesala.”
With those words, she turned around and walked away, back to the temple, completely alone for the first time in fourteen years.
And so, Sésṍlam was left alone in the shrine, a stream of water coming from the roof and running into the floor, the egg, which started being somewhat warm, in her hand, and nothing else. Now, it was time for the Hatching. She had been prepared for this moment for years. She simply had to sit here in this shrine for three days, not eating, and drinking only from this stream, meditating on this egg, and appearently, Oesala would possess her body as she did that, linking them and making her her new vessel.
She heaved a sigh and sat down, holding the egg in both hands. After a minute, she felt something.. As if something was probing her mind, pushing softly and trying to push into her sense of self. It felt slightly scary, but she knew this had to be Oesala, so she tried her best to relax and allow it to continue. Slowly, she lost her sense of time, and the probing became stronger. After a while, it felt as if something flowed into her body, pushing her mind to the side, but.. not fully out of her. Not in an uncomfortable way. It was almost as if she was hugged tightly, wraping around her and giving her less space as such, but making her feel safe. Protecting her. Slowly, she started getting a sense of Oesala, and she got comfortable with the feeling.
Then, the images started flowing in. She saw fleeting glimpses, visions, of her hometown, of mountains, of the sea, which she had never seen before. Of cities of Ngimonians, of endless fields of farms, of a temple reaching to the heavens, of forests of trees like she had never seen, of an endless plane of ice with sleds and skating people crossing it, of building larger than a city, of a person so large they reached high above the clouds, of being above the clouds and looking down on the world, and of people. So many people, flashing before her eyes before she had a chance to comprehend them.
Then, the visions stabalised.
PROLOGUE: 1547
FIRST MEETINGS
Oesala was flying next to Áecchien, who was riding on an eqquā. They were returning to Çuopān for Oesala’s next Hatching. When they rode into the town, they had traveled a few hours, and the sun was nearing its summit for the day. They crossed the small town, greeted by a few people, though most of the townsfolk were working outside the village.
They crossed the stone bridge that connected the two sides of the town and went to the tower. Three people were standing there, waiting for them outside. An older lady, a young woman, and a little girl. Her previous vessel, Maecẽ́sát, her next vessel, Póiã́tas, who was her probably be her vessel after, and lastly, the little girl, Sésõlam. Póiã́tas and Sésõlam were holding hands, and Oesala smiled. Their faces were full of love and melancholy, nervousness, and child-like worrilessness respectfully.
Oesala flew over to the three and sat down on Poiãtas’ head. When Áecchien arrived at the rest, and could easily speak to the three, Oesala said: “Hello! Poiãtas, you’re looking gorgeous today. It’s good to be back!”
“Oh!” Sésṍlam suddenly opened her eyes and was back in the shrine. She started understood what was happening. Oesala was sharing her memories with her. The visions had stopped when she opened her eyes. Suddenly, she felt a weird sense of curiousity that wasn’t her own. She was feeling Oesala’s emotions indirectly. She felt like she needed to close her eyes again. She felt like she needed to share her own memories. Suddenly, she felt very tired and felt asleep.
It wasn’t a normal sleep. She was weirdly aware of herself. She tried to think back to that day, the day she first met Oesala. As she did so, her memories were shown to her.
They were sitting on a table, and they were talking. Sésõlam had some juice, the grownups had wine. She was playing with her fingers a bit, bored, when suddenly:
“Sesõlam, respond when Oesala talks to you.”
Maecẽ́sát sounded angry.
“Sorry!! What did you say??”
The person on whom Oesala sat giggled a bit. “I asked if you would like me to sit on your head for a bit??”
“Oh.. that’s alright.”
She stood up to grab Oesala.
“You can just sit down, I’ll fly over!!”
And so the bird did, she flew over and sat down on Sesõlam’s head. It felt.. nice. Warm. She felt safe, like she could do anything with this spirit on her head.
“So, Sesõlam, have they explained what a vessel is, yet??”
“Yes!! I know that!!”
“Well, I was thinking, I might pick you as my vessel after Poiãtas, when you’re grown up, if you’d like that??”
Did that mean she’d always sit on her head like this??
“I’d like that!!” Her face beamed.
That’s where the memory ended. Suddenly, she saw new visions ~ Oesala was showing her memories of the day again.
Oesala was sitting on Áeccien’s hand, with the egg in the other hand. She, and the egg, were being handed over to Poiãtas. Oesala happily hopped over, and turned around.
“Goodbye, Áeccien, thank you for your service.”
Áeccien was crying. “Goodbye, Oesala. Thank you for all you’ve done for me..”
Oesala disappeared in a flash of light, and Áeccien collapsed onto the ground, as Poiãtas stood there awkwardly.
“Miss Áeccien, could you please leave?? I have to do my Hatching..”
Áeccien looked up, seeming upset, and left without another word.
The memory ended, and Sesolam thought back again, and started showing her next memory.
Sesõlam was playing in her room with her doll, a small bird. She didn’t want to leave her room ~ she sensed something was happening, something important, something scary.
She was playfully flying around with her doll around in her room, jumping on her bed, when the High Priestress, Maecẽ́sát, came in. Maecẽ́sát was a bit scary, and she usually told Sesõlam to do a boring task when she came in.. Sesõlam sighed.
“Young lady, why aren’t you dressed properly?? Have you forgotten who’s visiting us today??”
Sesõlam looked at herself. She was still wearing her night clothes. “Sorry!!” She quickly started undressing.
“Do that when I’m away. Put on your formal clothes, and come to the entrance of the temple once you’re ready.”
Maecẽ́sát walked away, and Sesõlam started talking to her toy: “she’s so annoying, isn’t she??”
The toy bird nodded back at her.
She started dressing up, and walked down the long stairs, to the entrance of the tower. There were two people already standing outside there: Maecẽ́sát and Poiãtas. Poiãtas was nice, and she wasn’t as old as Maecẽ́sát. She looked a bit sad, though. Sesõlam grabbed her hand. Poiãtas looked down, and smiled. She sat down to be on the same eye-level as Sesõlam.
“Do you know who’s coming today??”
“Yes!! Oesala is!!”
“Mhmm, the Great Spirit Oesala!! So we have to look our very best and wait for her here, shouldn’t we?? Because she’s very important.”
“Right, I know that!!”
Poiãtas laughed. “Of course you do. Now we just have to wait for a bit.. She should be here early today??”
Not much after, an eqquā rode down the road.
Sesõlam and Poiãtas were still holding hands, and Poiãtas’ grip suddenly thightend. Sesõlam saw the bird, Oesala, flying toward them, and she landed on Poiãtas’ head. Then, the woman on the eqquā started talking: “Hello! Poiãtas, you’re looking gorgeous today. It’s good to be back!”
All priests of the temple, around twenty in number, with Maecẽ́sát, Áeccien, and Sésṍlam standing central, were standing at the foot of the temple when Oesala came out of the forest, back from the shrine. She had just finished her first walk with Poiãtas as vessel ~ their hatching had just finished. Poiãtas’ friends came up to her, congratulating her and looking at Oesala. They bid their farewells, for now, and then everybody but the High Priestresses went away.
“Good luck, Poiãtas. And Oesala, my lady, I hope I’ve taught her well enough for you.”
Oesala flew over and landed on Maecẽ́sát’s head. She pecked her forehead.
“Always so stiff. Thank you for your effort.”
She turned to the other two.
“Áeccien, farewell. I’ll see you again on my next visit.
And Sésõlam, if you learn well, and grow up to be a pretty lady, you can be my next vessel.”
Poiãtas took control of the entire body again, and she had a smile filled with melancholy. She gave Sésṍlam a hug, and thanked them all. Then, they left for their eqquā to leave the temple.
Oesala’s memory ended, and almost automatically, one of Sesolam’s memories appeared again.
Sésṍlam was in her room. She was feeling happy, and looked around her room. She picked up her toy bird, Birdy. [or Birby UvU] She walked to her window, Birdy in hand. She looked out over the forest. She could see so much, so high up, in the tower of the temple.. She brought her hands up, and softly put the bird down on her head, and she smiled. “Look how much you can see from my head, Birdy!!”
After this moment ended, Sesolam she felt herself opening her mouth. She opened her eyes in shock ~ she was laying on the ground, egg still cradled in her arms. She closed her mouth again, which for some reason went difficult. Suddenly, she realised what was happening. She stopped moving her mouth intentionally. It opened again, and she felt her tongue moving, all without her own intentions. Unclearly, and kind of muffled, she heard herself say: “Can you understand me??”
Sesolam stared out across the steam of water into the forest. She started talking, and her mouth moved as she wished again. “Yes.. I can..”
“Ah, good.” Her voice was becoming clearer now. “This is me, Oesala, though I assume you had understood that already, hadn’t you, Sesolam?”
“Right.. I had, lady.”
“Let me explain what’s happening. When I talk though your voice, I am reaching out for your mouth to take control of it. When I’m done with that, I pull away again, ending my control, so you can take control again. Pulling away, it’s like.. Not thinking about what that part of your body is doing, not focusing on it at all, and not doing anything about the movement there. You don’t try to stop it, don’t try to help it. Just letting it happen.
I want you to pull away from your mouth like that whenever you’re not talking. I will do the same, and if we do that, we can both talk whenever we want to without any trouble.”
“Right. I will do my best, lady.”
Oesala took control, and Sesolam heard herself giggle a bit, even though she was feeling weirded out. “I’m sorry to start with this kind of information, we should go slow with this, give you time to get used to it. I hope it’s not uncomfortable for you?”
“Not really.. It’s weird.. Feels warm, in a way.”
Sesolam felt a rush of happiness flowing through her which was in no way her own, which made her feel proud.
“You’re already doing well, Sesolam. Now, this is the main purpose of the hatching. I need to get used to your body and you need to get used to my presence. It all needs to go smoothly.”
“Alright, I understand, lady.”
“Good. Something that new vessel often enjoy is doing spirit magic. Do you want to try that first?”
There were three kinds of magic. There was invocation magic, which was common, and most free people could use it, but it was restrictive. There was only a small selection of widely known invocations, and then some more that were kept secret by people, or noble families, or organisations.
Then there were magical artifacts, remnants of an ancient time when magic was everywhere and spirits were said to roam the lands, rather than there only being about a dozen like nowadays. But magical artifacts were rare, became rarer as more were lost, and they too had only a very specific purpose, often even more specific than invocations, and you needed to carry the thing around.
Spirit magic, however, was the rarest, but the strongest. It could only be channeled through a vessel by a spirit, but it was very varied. Every spirit had their own type of magic, but they could do wildely varied things with it.
For example, there were the [twin fishes], whose magic was colourful and spectacular, with flowers, water, and rainbows. There was [the eqquā], whose magic had to do with influencing people’s thoughts and desires. Then, there was of course [the blackbird], whose magic had to do with wind and ice, with the silvers, with the cold.
Sesolam saw her hand reaching forward, directed by Oesala, and she caught some of the water that was falling down in the shrine on her hand. Then, she felt the amulet grow a bit warmer, and that warmth [flowed] through her body. When it reached her hand, she felt the warmth flowing out, and the water froze right in her hand. Then, Oesala threw it up, and her magic created a wind to catch it mid-air, where it stayed suspended.
“Spirit magic..”
“Do you like it? I’ll teach you how to let me know what you want, and it’ll be like you’re doing it yourself.”
Sesolam got a very large smile, feeling excited for this thing. She would be able to use magic like this, do anything she wanted with it. She did know an invocation to freeze water, but to have it fly? There was a spell to create a [gust] of air, but that could never be precise enough to keep something flying stably for a long time.
“I love it, lady Oesala!”
And so the Hatching went on. It took three days and three nights. During the days, they were training with Oesala using Sesolam’s body, with switching control, as well as with channeling magic. In the nights, Sesolam dreamt. But her dreams weren’t her own. They were visions that Oesala was showing her, memories. Memories of earlier hatchings, of using magic, of how exactly she was supposed to act. She was teaching her through the examples of her past vessels, and like this, she could almost experience them firsthand.
Finally, the end of the hatching arrived.
“Sesolam, we’re done. There’s two last things you need to do, and then you’re completely my vessel.”
Sesolam smiled, having grown more comfortable with Oesala’s presence, and happy that it all went well.
“Right. What do I have to do, lady?”
“First of all, put my egg in your cage.”
Sesolam did so. She softly opened the starsteel cage around her neck and put the crystal egg in, which was still warm, after which she closed it.
“Now, I need to summon my physical form. I need full control of your body.”
Sesolam gave up control of her body and felt her moving her arms forward. She then felt her eyes being closed, and didn’t see anything anymore. An intense heat flowing all through her body, a flash of light through her eyelids, and suddenly, the egg cooled down. She opened her eyes and regained control of her body.
In front of her, Oesala. The bird. She flew up and sat down on Sesolam’s head, moved over, and softly pecked her on her forehead. Still, her own mouth was moving under her control.
“Congratulations, Sesolam. You’re my vessel now.”