This is very much a first sketch and barely a start to the chapter. It starts with some character somewhat befriended by Sesolam while on the ship, but I haven't worked him out like at all so I plan to do some more of that in a later draft
The High Priestress of the Oesalaian Order of Çuopān got off the ship. It was a ship of one of her other churches. She got off and stepped onto the deck of the island. There were two cities on this island; here, the port city, and then the University City itself, located uphill, connected by a road. The port was busy, with people going onto the island and back to the mainland, to their home for the winter, as well as the import of durable food.
Sesolam wasn’t quite sure where to go, as Oesala was not present, but her fellow traveler was also heading for the university.
“Let’s travel the road together, Lināla.”
“Of course, Sésõlam!”
He was a young student from a lower aristocratic family in the north, sent here to study, as many people were, and he was quite friendly.
“Are you also teaching Oesala’s teachings, priestress?”
“Ah, I might, I’m not sure yet.” She thought to herself, I don’t know, that’ll depend on Oesala.
“Let me know if you do, I’d love to hear it!”
“Of course, Lināla. Let’s sit down somewhere first to rest a bit.”
They went to a high class inn, and sat down to have lunch. ((or whereever travelers go??))
((so, we’ll want to build some friendship between the two, then at some point, near their parting, he reveals that there is some sort of succession war, or his parents don’t respect him, or something like that. He asks for like, Oesala’s Blessing from the High Priestress, but Oesala is awake at that point and is very much against that, not wanting her order to be involved in politics that much. That makes the guy sad I guess))
((that’s the start of this chapter, maybe))
And so, they were traveling on the road. The quality of the road surprised Sesolam, never having seen such roads out of the few cities she had now seen.
After the travel, they arrived in the University City as the evening fell. They parted ways (maybe the thing I just said happens now?), and Sesolam left for the palace. There Killani lived.
She walked up to the guards. “Good evening”
“Good evening, miss”
“I’m Sésõlam of Çuopān, the High Priestress of Oesala, and I would like to insist upon hospitaliy and eat and rest under Killani’s roof.”
One of the guards was about to speak, but the other held his hand out to him to stop him, and then said “Of course, Priestress. Should I take your eqquā to the stables?”
“Please.”
“I’ll be back in a minute.”
After a few minutes, three people returned. The guard, an older lady, and a younger woman. The young woman took the eqquā and brought her to the stables, and the lady spoke to Sesolam with a bow.
“I’m the head housekeeper. Please come in, high priestress. Dinner will soon be served, and you’re welcome to eat with our Lord Killani.”
“Thank you, housekeeper.”
She was led in, across some hallways. “He does have a meeting about the approaching winter, “ She was brought into a dining hall with some people already sitting there.
There were already people sitting there. Sesolam didn’t know, but the people already sitting there had been informed and were going to be very careful. Oesala’s religious followers and the University didn’t have the best relationship.
Still, they respectfully greeted her, Sesolam sat down, and some of the voices around her went a bit more quiet.
After a bit more waiting, Killani entered, his fox form, red and white in places, walking besides his vessel, who was a boy, a few years younger than Oesala, in a mostly white cloak, and under it appearing a red dress, of which the train waved as he walked, like a flame, not unlike his spirit’s tail.
He stared at Oesala for a bit, and Oesala flapped her wings a bit. “Welcome under my roof, Oesala.” His voice had an undertone of ‘I don’t want you here, go away’, and Oesala also found it somewhat uncomfortable to see her ((spoilers but note for self: that’s of course because Killani is basically Erundur’s mirror image, and seeing Killani reminds her of Erundur and thus her past too much and she doesn’t want that))
“Thank you, Killani!” Sesolam answered, with none of the.. uncomfort, or enemy-sounding-y ((I don’t remember the word)) that her voice would have had, would Oesala have been in control.
Of course, Oesala knew that the University and its practices were against what Oesala wanted, so she wasn’t very happy with it. But still, this was the first time she saw another spirit, and she was quite excited.
Killani also was one of the few who knew that the bird on Sesolam’s head was, in fact, not some sort of bird she cared for symbolically, but Oesala herself. There were of course rumours, but none would be spoken out to the High Priestress out of respect, but a few of the spirits.. they knew, and when in private, spoke to Oesala freely.
People talk about stuff, and dinner is served. As that happens, Killani opens the main subject of the evening - preperations for the approaching winter, how they’re going, and whether something needs to be changed or put extra attention to - something Oesala isn’t particularily interested in, and Sesolam doesn’t know much about, which only adds to the fact she doesn’t know about the geography or the population and stuff like that of this island at all.
So, the vessel simply concentrates on her food, listening in with half an ear, until finally, when the conversation dies down for a moment, Oesala takes control of the mouth and asks the room: “And, has there been any forbidden research??”
Everyone falls completely silent. Lower priests of Oesala sometimes come to the island and look out for research like that, and there is a small order permanentally stationed here, away from the city and much behated, but they are proud to be essential to Oesala’s aims.
“None at all?? That’s great! I’ll be asking at my order ((I’ll have to settle on terminology for things like this)), and doing some looking around of my own, so I trust everything will be alright. If anybody would like to inform me later in private, that’s possible, of course, I’d be very disappointed if I found out somebody was hiding secrets from me.”
((greatly plugged lore-explanation :3)) Now, why should the University allow this stuff?? The University is quite powerful, hosting not only one of like four most powerful publically active spirits, but it’s also one of the two main international institutions with wide support among all Ngimonians.
Well, on the one hand, Killani is the ultimate leader, and he does have great respect for Oesala, even if he hates how she treats him and his people at the same time. Secondly, the University is very depenent on gifts from the different nations and provinces, and Oesala is still The Great Ngimonian Spirit, so going against an order of hers gracefully located on the island, such a blessing, or even, almost unimaginalibly, going against the High Priestress of Oesala, that would not be taken well. Especially in the north, where most wealth is and the political games are the worst, if someone would not condemn such actions, they would be judged by their fellow aristocrats and possibly lose a lot of standing. So, going against her would basically drain all funding and the project of The University would fall.
So because of Oesala’s particular condition, the University is kind of forced to be only a small part of its full potential, either by doing as Oesala says, or simply not having the funds to do what it could do.
And so, the table stays completely silent, until someone speaks up. “There is nothing at all, High Priestress. Your order will confirm.”
“Good to hear.”
((later, she will go to that order, hear that they have a kind of top secret project in the maze of tunnels below, which they somehow learned of, and goes there and a modified version of PROLOGUE: 1143 happens :3))
Oesala had full control of the body now, and Sesolam let her, not wanting to mess anything up. Oesala quickly finished the food, then stood up.
“Thank you for the meal, Killani. I’ll retreat myself now, I’m tired of the journey.”
“Ah. Of course, priestress.”
She turned around, hateful gazes trying to stab in her back.
Oesala was very irritated, it seemed. She kept controlling the body (because contact with a spirit kinda brings her mind back to the past??), but Sesolam reached out for the mouth a bit, and Oesala retracted. “What’s wrong, mistress?”
“What’s wrong?? That ungrateful bastard Killani never working with me, and all of his ministers being on his side. Let’s just go to my temple, I don’t want to stay under his roof any longer than I have to.”
Sesolam didn’t respond. This was her first time seeing another spirit, and she had hoped for.. something more enjoyable, something that wasn’t this upsetting and short.
Though there wasn’t anything in the Old Tales about Oesala and Killani being against eachother, she did suspect a reason. As Kenele had been Oesala’s pupil, so had Killani been Erundur’s. Erundur, the Traitor Spirit, who had doomed millions during the Great Migration and then left. She couldn’t ask whether this was correct, though, because as she had been taught from young, one must not speak about Traitor Spirit around the Great Spirit.
When she arose from these thoughts, they had already left the central castle. They were walking through the town over the well-kept streets of stone, and were surrounded by the chatter of young people enjoying their evening.
“This university will be the death of us all..”
Oesala was sulking, and a deep sense of frustration eminated from her. She was burrowed deep between Sesolam’s hair.
“Sorry, mistress??”
“Look around you, Sesolam. Do you see these people?? Each and every one of them could’ve researched something that’ll destroy the entire world today. History is nothing but cultures destroying theirselves with their greed for knowledge and technology, and destoying everything around them. Look up in the sky. What do you see?”
She looked up into the sky. It was mostly black, but the ((Outer Planet)) was there, shining in a pale blue colour. “I just see ((the Outer Planet)), mistress.”
“There used to live people there, you know? Long before I was born, but they used to live there. But they got too greedy, tried to have everything, and ended up destoying that planet, and made it almost impossible to travel between them. They used to fly up there and then sail on the streams in the sky, but they weakened those streams and now you can’t sail on them anymore. And do you see the blackness??”
“Yes?”
“It used to be filled with an uncountable number of planets. That is unbelievably long ago, though. When I was young, I’ve seen an etching of how it used to look, it was found by an expedition to find starsilver, and it was the oldest site they’d ever found. And that’s all gone now. All those millions of planets.. The little we have left, a little part of this one world.. If it weren’t for me, they would have found a way to destroy it here.”
Sesolam gazed into the sky, trying to imagine it being bright with dots in all the colours. Then she looked down at the ground. “But what could cause such disasters?? I can’t even imagine what could destroy the skies..”
Oesala stood up, ready to fly away, but she didn’t leave. “Why do you think the Great Migration happened?? Don’t ask me about it again. I don’t wish to talk about it.”
“Yes, mistress.”