Completed Keep the faith

(Temple of the Sun) Raeyn discovers that the gods can't do much about his forehead wrinkles.

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The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

Keep the faith

Postby Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 12:15 pm

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14th of Summer 518AV

Recent days had seen him stressed. A sense of paranoia had began to dictate Raeyn's every mode as if he was a puppet and it some otherworldly puppeteer. It wasn't a fear of being watched that petrified him but a fear of being listened and as far as the Inarta alchemist was concerned, both were just as terrifying. For he liked to keep his demons just that, his. Locked safely away in the vast, dark caverns of his mind, Raeyn liked to keep his thoughts and intentions private. But it was not so. Not anymore.

He had woken up that morning just like any other morning, hanging half way off his bed, unceremoniously drooling on his pillow. Another dark night of restless sleep. But it seemed he was waking up later and later and less and less rested. A whisper in his head would greet him.

Raeyn had found himself waking up to just in time to miss Mara as she headed out to work. A hot bowl of stew waiting for him on the table. Sometimes even a loving note from a concerned sister who wasn't used to him slacking off like this. Perhaps she wanted to ask about his well being but knew far too well how unapproachable he was. After all the bulk of their relationship has evolved over the years not needing words to communicate. The wonderful thing about being a twin was that they often knew how the other was doing instinctively. But now things were different. Now he had become more distant than ever.

He had gathered himself up eventually, albeit with quite the effort. His neck ached quite a bit from the crooked way in which he slept. Regardless of exhaustion however he still made effort to look as refined and pristine as always with washed and combed hair and beautiful garments to complement his pretty features and keep the weather at bay.

It was a sad thing to see himself age. In the previous years, youth was something Raeyn had taken very much for granted. But now, amplified by sleepless nights and dark shadows beneath his eyes, the alchemist began noticing those small little creases in his skin. Wrinkles in his forehead, fine lines about his eyes and nose all seemed so much more obvious in the cruel reflection of the mirror. Even the plumpness of his lips seemed to deflate, replaced in turn by teeny tiny groves along his lip line.

To anyone else, these changes would have been almost unnoticeable. Even Mara, who saw her brother every single morning saw little ageing in the Inarta's handsome face. A healthy drizzle of freckles and sun kissed complexion hid many flaws. But to him, somebody that saw his own reflection perhaps far more than any normal being should look, the early signs of ageing jumped out at him. What he wouldn't give to fashion himself out a body that didn't age. What he wouldn't give to stay beautiful forever.

One would seem that with the early onset of psychosis, that at this point Raeyn firmly believed was the cause of the odd voices that whispered to him relentlessly, the Inarta might have far more than his looks to worry about. But it was so very typical of him. He was very egoistical and a perfectionist and anything other than perfect wasn't ever quite good enough.

Finding himself with few tasks to be completed before noon, Raeyn thought it best to pay a visit to the sacred place of worship of Lhavit's patron goddess Syna. He was running out of ideas of how to help himself and perhaps he was still holding out hope that his brain wasn't resolving to mush before his very own eyes. Such dark thoughts went though his mind; that if he was going to die it was about time to start making his friendships with the gods.

He had arrived a little late to see the breathtaking display of shimmering lights as they refracts off the temple's skyglass structure every single morning. From the TenTen peak, each sunrise was indeed quite the thing to behold after all. Still the walls and the dome of the sanctum stayed a gorgeous hue of golden citrine throughout most of the day, in spite even of the mists that surrounded it, so there was at least that much to please the eye. A little too wrapped up in his own misery to truly notice the surroundings, Raeyn sat down at the pond and dipped his fingers in the cold waters. His eyes stared absentmindedly as the golden fish came to nibble on him.

He sat like that as time around him passed. The tranquility of the temple grounds did wonders for his stress but still held no cure to it's source. Perhaps the gods could come up with an answer for his many burning questions.

Why do bad things always happen to good people?

WORD COUNT: 827
Last edited by Raeyn on July 8th, 2018, 6:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Keep the faith

Postby Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 12:32 pm

"Are you planning to just sit there all day" an unfamiliar voice reached his ears and it seemed a few moments passed before Raeyn realised it wasn't the voice of his imagination. Directing his eyes to the source of this voice, he saw one of the priestesses of Syna, a young woman with black hair and her arms crossed at her chest impatiently. A radiant smile graced her gentle features as if she sort of pitied him. Had he really looked as miserable as he felt?

"I suppose not." he replied, trying his best to force a smile onto his face but with little success.

"Come in, stranger." she said. "Let Syna's light burn away your worry and grant you clarity."

Clarity - that's precisely what he was in need of right now. For something to take the shroud of his eyes and allow him to feel himself once more. A tiniest breath of fresh air in his lungs that wasn't accompanied by the jeering mocking of make belief voices would be very much appreciated.

She's a pretty one. Pretty, pretty one. Lets see if her blood is as pretty as her face.

Raeyn ignored that horrid whispering as he followed the priestess inside where Syna's flame lit up his face. Great and strong and red, it was roaring with the power of the goddess herself, filling the entire sanctum with intense heat. He had to take off his cape by the door as to not break a sweat and the Sun Maiden clad him in a religious shroud so that he could approach the flame and bask in it's glory. But too close he dared not come. Instead the Inarta fell to his knees about 200 feet from it, in reverence and said a silent prayer to the city's patron goddess. At his core he was Lhavition like any other.

The sound of the roaring flame drowned out the voices and it seemed Raeyn couldn't have been more glad for it. It cleared his mind, roared though his eardrums till he could focus on little else. To the Inarta is had felt like he was almost forced into a meditative state my the majesty of Syna's fire as for the first time in a long time tranquility washed over him like a waterfall of flame, bathing away the worries from his mind. With his forehead still pressed against the floor of the sanctum, Raeyn closed his eyes and felt the grounding forces at play overtake him.


WORD COUNT: 417
Last edited by Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Keep the faith

Postby Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 12:43 pm

Feeling the rest of the world flow away, burn up in the flames, Raeyn relinquished his being and entered into a sacred communion with the goddess Syna. his lips still moved to the words of his prayers event hough little could be heard over the roaring flames.

The Inarta focused on his breathing, inhaling though the nose on 1, exhaling though his lips on 4. it was slow, rhythmic. With each breath his lungs filled with the sacred air of the temple, cleansing him from the inside. once settle, his body rose so that it was now in a kneeling position, sitting on his ankles with both hands at his sides. his forehead pointed towards the heavens where rays of sunlight peaked in though the golden dome of Skyglass. Beside him the Sun Maiden did the same. Together they meditated, side by side but somehow completely alone. As strange as it was, such places of worship bore many unexplainable things.

Raeyn felt his heartbeat adjust to the roaring pulse of the altar flame. As countless Sun Maidens came forth with kindling and embers to feed it, he felt his own heart strengthen. Perhaps it was the placebo effect of devotion and faith, or perhaps it was some other kind of divine help he was feeling.

Thoughts melted away in the heat. One by one his mind cleared and entered a state of suspended consciousness. Time flew liberally by but to him an hour seemed to last little more than a moment and vice versa. So non linear the world around him became. Though his eyelids, Raeyn saw nothing but white and gold smudges, like auras. Instead of focusing on the thoughts that troubled him, he soon began focusing on these curious lights, trying to figure out whether there was any shape to them of perhaps the shapelessness of his lack of vision was far more meaningful. Far more relaxing.




WORD COUNT: 319
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Keep the faith

Postby Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 1:01 pm

As time passed in this meditative state, Raeyn soon came to realised that his feet were slowly going numb. Painful pins and needles stabbed at his toes and so momentarily he became distracted. Shifting his positing from kneeling into a cross legged sit, he gritted his teeth, trying his best to ignore the pain caused by his circulation flowing back to normal.

in spite of the pins and needles he once again forced himself to return to this rhythmic breathing upon which he focused so very hard till now. And it came to him with quite some effort. It wasn't easy to clean one's mind and forget about the mortal plane when one's toes were screaming bloody murder. Eventually however, as his circulation problems died down and mellowed out, Raeyn breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the task at hand.

"The God's can't help you now. You'll be a killer before you know it. You will do it Raeyn... before the season is out, an innocent's blood will be on your hands."

He had no time to entertain such horrid thoughts. Why was it now that his demons decided to perk up their ugly heads? it seemed in Raeyn's life a moment of tranquility and peace was all that he could hope for before those disembodied voices caught up with him.

"I beg of you Syna. Grant me clarity. Let me see though the mists." he said beneath his breath, focusing even harder to clear his head once more. "Goddess of light and sight, hear my prayer and free me from this darkness."

He hoped the priestess beside him didn't hear his prayers. He had no intention of worrying anyone else with his own problems. As a man not only very egoistical but also intrinsically head strong he believed he has bigger and stronger than all adversity that befell him. Even if the obstacles were so very hard to overcome, he didn't for a moment doubt his own ability to do so. He simply just didn't know where to start.

Little did he know that it was for his very own immortal soul that the Sun Maiden was praying for. The sadness in him had moved her heart. She had full trust in her patron goddess to aid those in need and to her eyes, he was in need indeed.

With each word of the prayer his mind calmed a little. It seemed when he spoke, the voices took a back seat. The music of the flames filled his ears and caressed his senses as once more the man grounded himself and embraced the peaceful atmosphere inside the sanctum. Each thought that had anything to do with things other than worship of the goddess, he tosses away as it they were trash. Each worry that swam along his stream of consciousness, only caused Raeyn to pray all that much harder.

Soon enough the Inarta found himself watching the his stream of thought from a position removed rather than involved. It felt like standing on the banks of one's own mind. The voices took a back seat to the pulse of Syna's fire. They still whispered their nonsense, trying to push him back in but ignoring them became more and more easy to do the longer he did it.

WORD COUNT: 551
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Keep the faith

Postby Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 1:20 pm

Perhaps it was the peaceful atmosphere inside the temple or herpahs so true divine intervention did go on that day, or perhaps even the Sun Maiden's help was at fault, but eventually Raeyn did manage to achieve almost near complete clarity of mind. He had meditated that day for long than he ever had done anything before. Even Alchemical reactions didn't take him this long.

once he opened his eyes again Raeyn found himself outside, laying at the edge of the stream with a velvet pillow under his head. Beside him the sun maiden sat, smiling, keeping a cold, damp cloth on his forehead.

"Uh... what happened." he asked struggling to sit up and very slowly coming to the realisation that the past few hours drew a black in his mind. His whole body felt oddly fatigued.

"We think you may have passed out from the heat. It's these wool robes. They're hardly breathable. You may want to purchase yourself some better suited attire for praying in the Temple of Syna." she smiled politely. A honey soft voice flowed from her lips. A certain care that she no doubt delighted everyone with who came to the sacred temple. As the Shinya were the physical guards of the people of Lhavit, the Sun Maidens bore a spiritual guardianship. "Are you alright, sir?"

Raeyn nodded politely. He was more or less alright, just confused a little by the whole situation.

"What's your name? I'd be glad to pray again and light a candle in your intention of quick recovery." the sincerity with which she spoke was really something quite odd to Raeyn who knew such care only from his sister. Even his own mother never offered to light a candle on Syna's altar for him.

"Raeyn. And... I'd be most humbly obliged."

"That's quite alright." she laughed. "You're Mara's brother. I knew I recognised you from somewhere. My goodness, last time you've been here must have been years ago. I'm Kaiya. You must remember me."

And truly he did only if though distant memories. That name had managed to completely slip him however and so glad he was that she introduced herself. Perhaps Raeyn had felt a little embarrassed that he hadn't recognised her sooner.

"Your sister had been coming to the temple quite often." she said. "You should come with her sometimes. It would be lovely to see you both more often and I'm certain it would please Syna."

Raeyn smiled politely, a little embarrassed. "I cannot refuse when a Sun Maiden insists." he replied.




WORD COUNT: 424
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Keep the faith

Postby Raeyn on June 29th, 2018, 1:25 pm

The two had spent quite some time conversing that evening. After all, the priestess insisted for Raeyn to stay so that she could make sure he wasn't going to faint again. And perhaps it was far more conversation that he had the whole season thus far.

She had taught him a few short litanies and psalms to honour the sun goddess with. One's he gladly learned bout doubted he'd commit to long term memory. He thought himself devout, not fanatical, after all. oddly pleasant, as the encounter was, it did have to come to an end sometime and so the Inarta alchemist managed to makes his way home by the midnight rest where Mara had been waiting for him, worried sick after her shift.

Having listened of his little adventure he did eventually forgive him. At least she knew well enough she'd never get an apology for her worries out of her twin brother. Such things weren't in his nature. Sometimes Mara felt like she could work herself up with sorry until sickness struck her down and he'd still like the decency to take her feelings into account but then again she learned to love him for his flaws as well as his virtues. She had to. He wasn't going to change any time soon.


WORD COUNT: 215
WORD COUNT TOTAL: 2753
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Raeyn
...and the Wind Chicken
 
Posts: 343
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Keep the faith

Postby Luminescence on July 7th, 2018, 12:54 pm

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✧・゚: *✧・゚:* *:・゚✧*:・゚✧
YOUR GRADES HAVE BEEN GIFTED
ENJOY!
✧・゚: *✧・゚:* *:・゚✧*:・゚✧

Raeyn

Skills
✦Observation +3
✦Socialization +2
✦Meditation +3
✦Endurance +1


Lores
✦Mara: Concerned about Raeyn, but won't ask
✦Raeyn: A narcissist
✦Raeyn: Distressed by aging
✦Location: The Tenten Peak
✦Location: Temple of the Sun
✦Syna: Grants clarity with her light
✦Lore of Syna's sacred flame
✦Meditation: Rhythmic breathing
✦Lore of prayer to Syna
✦Endurance: Ignoring pins and needles
✦Syna: Goddess of sun and light
✦Prayer: Asking Syna to banish the darkness
✦Meditation: Makes it easier to ignore the voices
✦Kaiya: A Sun Maiden that Raeyn knew previously
✦Mara: Frequents the Temple of the Sun
✦Kaiya: Will pray for Raeyn
✦Raeyn: Worries Mara sick
✦Raeyn: Doesn't apologize


Notes
Lovely read as always! It was interesting seeing Raeyn get in touch with his more spiritual side.


As always, please don't forget to edit or delete your grading request in the queue! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grades, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM; I'll do what I can to fix whatever the issue may be!


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