The Day of No Fire (Kazire)

[quaggan]

 The young girl threw her arms into the air in a gesture of frustration. "Who does she think she is?"

A badly shaven boy stared at her with an incomprehensible expression. "Our Gracious Lady of Ruin."

"I didn't ask you to recite one of her stupid titles!" she shouted. "My mother and I put our hearts and souls into making this cloak for her. We've slaved over it for weeks. Everyone in the village said it was the prettiest thing they saw since Lord Leon's army passed through. And then she looks at it, laughs and says 'I asked for a cloak, not a rag to wipe my tail with'!"

The boy winced, clearly uncomfortable with her words. "Well... your family are the best weavers in the village, but maybe they're not what she is used to. I mean, if we compare it to... what did Our Lady say she lost? A mantle of sunlight?"

"Then she can catch the dawn rays and make herself a new one" the girl grumbled. "I'm tired of catering to her every whim."

Those words probably crossed a line the boy was not willing to. "Don't say things like this, Jana!"

"Or what?!"

"Well, she might set you on fire, for once!"

That got her attention. She considered it for a few seconds before huffing in anger and turning around. "I knew talking to you was a bad idea! You're all so hung up on giving her what she wants! Toledo was doing just fine before she showed up! It's-"

"Jana!" the boy shouted again. "There's a stranger behind you."

The girl turned around, her face going through a variety of expressions. First was the frustration clear in her voice, then quickly changing to surprise and curiosity, finally covered up with bland tiredness. "Oh. Welcome to Toledo. Are you passing through?"

[Kazire]

A quirked eyebrow and a tilted head greeted Jana as she whirled herself around to face the newcomer. The man seemed well-traveled, judging not only by the dirt smudged on his garments and face, but also the drawstring sack that was slung lazily over his shoulder. Despite being a little roughed up and somewhat unclean from his trek, his bright cinnamon eyes sparkled with life and actively betrayed his outwardly grungy appearance. Even from a glance, a childlike curiosity practically radiated from his demeanor-- probably a direct result from overhearing a particularly interesting conversation.

"Ah..." The man began, a small hum escaping him as he gauged the atmosphere for a brief moment. He quietly noted her fluster of emotions, particularly the clear fatigue in her tone. What little pause he might have had melted away in an instant when he was addressed, and a bright grin crept into the corners of his mouth. "Thank you very much! I only just arrived-- and not a moment too soon, I was running a little low on supplies!" He lifted the bag in his hand as though presenting a prize, then gave it a little limp shake. It pathetically dangled as though it had nothing in it at all. His boisterous smile and energetic presence almost made him seem... proud of an empty bag. Odd.

With that he slung the bag haphazardly back over his shoulder and turned his attention back to the two before him. "I'll probably have to stay for a few days at least, y'know, to stock up again. So yeah, passing through, but not immediately leaving!"

With that declaration out of the way, he took a few confident steps forward and thrust his free hand in Jana's direction. "Name's Shozu, by the way. I take it you're Jana." His eyes flickered between her and the boy, and his expression seemed to develop just a tinge of shame, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, it was just, uh... A little bit loud."

[quaggan]

 The boy saw his chance and quickly left, relieved to be provided with an exit from the unpleasant conversation. Jana either didn't notice or didn't care enough to complain about it. "Hey, no problem, saves me the trouble of introducing myself" she shrugged.

She looked the young man over, quickly judging him to be a passing traveller rather than a native Adelan - and the name helped. "Sho... zu" she tried pronouncing it.

"If you want to trade, I think that your best bet is to visit Tacito's hut - he's got a lucky harvest last week and may have some crops he'd be willing to sell" she suggested. "Of course, that's unless he gave all his extra to Our Lady Of Pain In The Ass." She spat on the ground to emphasize what she thought of the man's business sense.

[Kazire]

As Jana repeated his name, Shozu couldn't help but murmur a cheeky "That's me!" under his breath. He'd grown used to people of various areas being unfamiliar with his name-- actually, it was pretty unique even before he'd left his home.

Upon the mention of Tacito's hut, he looked over her shoulder a little to peer at the various buildings in the area. There's no way he'd be able to identify it on a glance, but at least now he was given a direction to go in! That's a whole lot better than what he usually has to work with upon arriving at a new town.

After his quick scan of the area, he focused back on Jana just in time to see her spiteful gesture. "You don't seem to be terribly wild about this "lady" of yours," his observation was paired with a weak smile. "It's not often that the first person I meet in a town has such an open... distaste for another." Curiosity laced Shozu's words, and although he hadn't asked anything directly, his raised eyebrows posed a silent question.

[quaggan]

 "That's you!" she repeated cheerfully. Apparently Jana was not the kind of person to dwell on the frustrating parts of her life. She peered at the direction Shozu was pointing to. "A little to the left, then take a right after the shack with the holes in its roof. The biggest holes, that is. Tacito lives in the hut with gencianas growing in front of it. Gencianas are blue and rolled up like this" she demonstrated, in case the new arrival was not familiar with Adelan flora.

She tensed up as he called attention to her attitude. "Oh. Yeah" she scoffed, not hiding her displeasure. "The goddess of our village is being picky. I swear, if she wanted this fancy-shmancy thing, she should have become the goddess of Ketra."

She suddenly realized that she had a one-in-a-lifetime, or at least one-in-a-year chance to question an outsider. "Say, what kind of things does the god of your home usually want?"

[Kazire]

((ooc: Sorry it took me a bit to reply, work picked up after December started. Should be mellowing out a bit so I'm good to go now))

"Gotcha." Shozu confirmed as he followed as much of the directions as he could with his eyes. He'd always had a fairly accurate sense of direction, but it never hurt to try to commit it to memory. He turned his attention back to Jana again after a moment with a look of sympathy at her frustration, which quickly turned into surprise upon being questioned.

"My home's god? Well, I'm not really one to get into my region's religion, but it sounds like your goddess is a lot more... Active than what I'm accustomed to." Although the girl before him was clearly upset with her ruler, Shozu still chose his words very carefully to avoid being offensive. "The common folk don't really have direct communication with god, that's more left to the priests and the clergy. We sometimes give some donations to help, but it's mostly spiritual offerings." He paused for a moment to consider how to further explain. "For instance, faith, devotion, and following the teachings."

His eyes wandered down to the cloak in question and studied it for a moment. "I don't think there's anything extravagant asked. Certainly not clothes, at least." He tilted his head with his eyebrows raised, admiring the garment. "It's very nice, by the way. I don't see cloaks sewn that well anywhere, I can't believe your goddess rejected it."

[quaggan]

 Jana cocked her head and listened. "I've heard about those priests" she announced, clearly proud of her knowledge of foreign customs. "You people outside Adela must have quite demanding gods, to make a whole job just to handle them."

Her attention was quickly diverted from the bizarre religious practices back to a more immediate topic. Her expression still bore the hallmarks of a scowl, but was mollified by the compliment. "I'm glad someone appreciates the hard work we did" she muttered.

"Maybe you'd like to take over as the god of Toledo" she suggested, but didn't sound like she meant it. "I bet this diva shun can't be hard to weave."

[Kazire]

"Says the one who has a goddess demanding a cloak of luxury!" Shozu quipped as he motioned toward the cloth in question, though his smirk showed it to be in good humor. This was one of the things he loved about his travels-- everywhere he went, it seemed that the cultures he encountered differed wildly from his own. Learning about the people always intrigued him, and it was turning out that he stumbled upon quite the interesting area.

He shrugged his shoulders a little at her suggestion. "I'd be a lousy god, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in this goddess of yours. She sounds more like a queen with a... very large personality." He once again tiptoed around the mention of her ruler-- although it seemed like it wasn't a terribly sensitive topic, it was always good to be cautious.

"I know I'm an outsider, but is there any way I can learn more about your culture?" His brow quirked slightly, as though a thought had occurred to him. As curious as he was, he couldn't afford to forget his own well-being and preparations for travel. "Or possibly even a way I could take on a job and help you out somehow. You know, please the goddess that much faster. Then I can learn a little about her, and see if there's anything I can do."

[quaggan]

 Jana frowned, considering his request in more detail. "I don't know if now is a good time to learn about culture. I mean, you'd have to wait almost a month for the Moon Holiday. Although if you want to help, I'm sure that no one here would refuse having another pair of hands around during his season. You can count on having a place to sleep, food during your stay, some supplies once you continue your journey... I'm not able to give you the details, as everyone would probably have their own pitch to offer."

She looked a little relieved - while Toledo was rather populous enough for everyone to pull their own weight, but now that they had a goddess to please, some homesteads were a little short-handed. Weaving this damn cloak took some time, they haven't baked any bread in two days. It would sure help if Her Divine Pain In The Ass had a novelty to keep her occupied. She always got quite excited about new travelers seeking her blessing. And she never really hurt her guests, so there was no reason for Jana to feel guilty about sending him there.

"I'm sure our goddess will be happy to receive a visit from you. No, really. She likes new blood. Not literally, of course - last week she even threatened to curse Sabas after it was his turn to prepare food and his meat was too raw" she hurried to reassure him. Their Lady was capricious, but not an eater of people.

[Kazire]

Shozu was already looking pleased at Jana's overview of his options, but he absolutely lit up as soon as she brought up the possibility of meeting the goddess. Sure, she sounded a little uppity and a bit on the demanding side, but this was an opportunity to meet a ruler! Someone in charge! This was something that he couldn't pass up. He stood up straight and his eyes sparkled with anticipation, but as obvious as his excitement was, he remained relatively respectful and mindful of his energy level. "A visit? Seriously? Usually people in charge are so dodgy and scarce when it comes to passing travelers! That would be a great way to start out my stay here!"

The possibility of anything going wrong was far from the somewhat naive man's mind. He was quick to shrug off Jana's "new blood" comment without so much as a second thought. His restraint was failing, as shown by the wide, beaming grin that spread quickly across his face. "When can I meet her? Or how-- or where, even?"

It seemed that Shozu would be a willing, almost too eager distraction for the divine lady in question.

[quaggan]

 Jana breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, travelers had a way of regarding local troubles as good entertainment. When she was a child, she found that infuriating, but now she grew to accept it. Let the goddess show off in front of the outsider.

"She's at her shrine" she announced with an absolute certainty. Their Lady was never the kind to walk around and interact with people, she far preferred to lounge around and accept petitioners. There was little chance that she was out - unless she needed to pee. Did gods and goddesses even needed to pee in the first place?

"The shrine is located at the top of that hill" she indicated, waving her arm in the rough direction of a patch of the forest that hid any sort of change in terrain. It has gone through some changes ever since the new goddess showed up, but unless she suddenly manifested space-warping powers, it should still be in the same place.

[Kazire]

"Perfect!" Shozu exclaimed as he shrugged his little traveler's bag more securely onto his shoulder. It seemed that all thought of being responsible and finding a place to stay had completely slipped from his mind entirely. He had always had a fairly decent sense of direction, so the trees hardly deterred him at all.

With a sharp, excited inhale he took a couple of small hops in the general direction, before swinging around on the ball of his foot to face Jana again. "Thank you very much for your help! I honestly would have had no idea of where to start here." His already beaming smile widened as he directed one last question to her. "I don't need any formalities, right? Just show up?" While he spoke, he was still taking steps toward the hill, "I'd hate to be rude!"

[quaggan]

 The visitor's concern had an adorable side to it, but Jana couldn't just dismiss his worry. Granted, the goddess hasn't hurt any travelers yet - for some reason, she put on a nice face in front of them. Perhaps it was because she couldn't just take them for granted, unlike the people of Toledo, but the girl had better things to do than to ponder the psychology of someone she didn't even like.

"If there is someone at the shrine, just let them know who you are and that you're here to see the goddess" she instructed him. Her Divine Pain In The Ass liked to have people waiting on her, but Toledo wasn't such a big village that they could always spare someone.

[Kazire]

"Understood!" Shozu offered a clumsy salute as he twirled around again. He lifted a hand as he practically jogged away, and shouted a quick "Thank you!" as he drifted away from Jana. Being the energetic person that he was, he found little trouble keeping up his brisk pace as he followed the directions that Jana offered him.

"A shrine on a hill... Huh, can't be too hard to find," he mumbled to himself as he broached the forest. Surprisingly enough, even as simple-minded as he could be, Shozu usually had a fairly accurate sense of direction-- possibly a side effect from wandering the world as much as he had. Regardless, it wasn't a far walk for him, and he would continue on until he found his destination.

[quaggan]

 The hill where the shrine stood was not far from the village. A century ago, some brave souls wanted to expand Toledo in that direction, but they failed to get permission from their lord and had to vacate the new village hall they've already built. A group of soldiers made their headquarters there for a time, until their leader had them move on. It was only recently converted to a shrine - the people of Toledo had faith in their new goddess and believed she could avoid a mortal lord's wrath. And even if she couldn't, she was not technically one of the villagers and therefore was not breaking the law.

It was wooden - there was no quarries around, and the people of Toledo couldn't afford such expensive material. Despite the rather modest origin point, the villagers did their best to adorn the humble building and turn it into a place worthy of their goddess' presence. Flower garlands were hanging on the walls, some pennants of what little fabric could be spared, two fires were burning in large bronze bowls framing the doorway. A discerning eye would have to admit that there was probably little use for them otherwise - they were too shallow to even collect rainwater, let alone be used as a vessel.

One person was doing the guard job: a heavily pregnant woman. It was probably a very sensible idea: she was no longer in a state to help around with daily chores, and if she went into labour, the baby could be blessed by the goddess immediately. She watched Shozu approach as she leaned against the wall of the shrine. "I don't recognize you" she stated. "Are you a traveler passing through?"