Completed God of Feathers

[Syveris]

90th of Fall, 513 AV
Afternoon

"What?" Syveris' head shot up, disbelief showing in her entire face. "Have you gone insane? No, really, where did this idea came from?"

They were sitting together on a table, eating. Her mentor had found her there, and Syveris knew he had something to say the moment he sat down, but she wasn't expecting that. She couldn't figure out how had he come up with that idea.

"What is the problem? Most people find a religion or another sometime in their lives." her mentor put a spoonful of rice in his mouth, and Syveris wasn't willing to let him finish chewing to talk.

"Well, I'm not most people! I mean, I have nothing against the idea, not really, but... Well, I just don't worship Gods. I find it useless. You should know that already." Syveris wasn't angry at the suggestion, far from it. There was really nothing wrong with the idea, and she could even try to find something interesting in the subject, if it was something her mentor really wanted. But Virat knew better than anyone that, while she respected the Gods, she just didn't think it was worth worshiped them, so the idea of doing so was a little strange to her.

"Yes, I know. But..." he glared at her, his blue eyes shining with something Syveris couldn't quite understand. "Look, I will be quite open this time, because I doubt you will listen otherwise, and I think this is really important. Syveris, you are suffering too much with the storm, and now, even more with Arin's death." she was surprised by how direct Virat was being. It wasn't like him. "I think falconry and glassworking can distract you from the suffering sometimes, but you need something more definitive. You need faith, Syveris. Faith in something stronger than you." The Avora looked down, at her meat. She couldn't feel this urge, but... "I know it won't be something you will be able to do today, or even on the next season. But, on the long run, it will be good for you. You don't have to be strong by yourself. If you can find a God to worship, maybe you will find yourself more strong."

"I have your support." she said, stubbornly, and knew this wasn't a good answer when Virat sighed.

"I know. And you will always have it. But the strength you can draw from a mortal is very different than the one you can draw by faith. Believe me."

"I think that book you were reading have had too much influence on you." Syveris sighed when the only answer she got was a glare. The Avora put the last piece of meat in her mouth and chewed, thinking. It wouldn't be that bad. Besides, she could always read something and decide later. If she said she didn't want to worship someone, Virat would surely understand. But she knew that, if she didn't even tried, her mentor wouldn't leave her alone. "Is there some God of Glassworking?"

"No, not that I know of." Virat chuckled, knowing she would give in. "But there is a God of Birds. It will go well with your new obsession, won't it?" Syveris looked at her mentor, worried by what he meant with this words.

"I... Virat. I'm not leaving glassworking. I love it too much..."

"I know. I was just teasing." his voice was gentle, and Syveris sighed again. He really wanted to convince her, otherwise, he would never be so direct. "He also likes artisans. Why don't you research a little today? It'll give you something to do." when she nodded, Virat smiled, satisfied. "Good. His name is Eywaat. The Enclave should have books about him."

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[Syveris]

It had took a while for her to finish dinner, and neither her nor Virat said a word. Her mentor had convinced her, and Syveris knew he was afraid that, if he said something else, she would change her mind. Which wasn't very far from the truth, since she was wondering if this was really worth of her time while she made her way to the Enclave. Syveris doubted she would like Eywaat enough to worship him, but she had been wrong many times when Virat was concerned, so she was willing to try. Specially because, in truth, the only reason she didn't worship anyone was because she had really hated the Gods on her Yasihood. She had grew out of so many things, why this couldn't be one of those?

She reached the Enclave, and went straight to the reception. Syveris had been around the place some times already, but she had never searched for something related to faith or religion, and she wasn't really willing to loose time.

"Need any help?" the Avora turned towards the voice, and saw a woman, almost as tall as her, with freckles all over her face. Her green eyes sparkling with happiness.

"Hello. Hm, could you help me find something about Eywaat?" Syveris hoped the woman knew who she was talking about. She probably did, since she was a helper in the Enclave and an Inarta. Eywaat was popular within Wind Reach, right? Being the God of birds and all. Syveris hoped so.

"Sure!" the woman answered, her voice happy and cheerful. When she walked to the correct section, Syveris followed, feeling much more motivated. The woman had been so eager to help, that the Avora felt like coming to research religion had been her idea all along. "We have a few books about the subject. What would you like, specifically?"

"Hmmm... Something that tells me about the God. How he interacts and... Well, I don't really know, to tell you the truth. Just something that is fun to read."

"Ok." the woman giggled, and reached for a book almost automatically, as if she already knew exactly where it would be. "Here. This one is a journal about a man, who was marked by Eywaat. It's very informative, and also a fun read." the woman looked around, before leaning forward and whispering, as if sharing a secret. "It's my favorite book." then, she straightened up, and walked, fast, back to the reception, leaving Syveris to stare at her back, amused. The cheerfulness in her voice made she feel a little better about everything, even if that was a temporary feeling.

Sitting down, the Avora looked at the book. It had no title, and the cover was plain, with a single bird on the front. Nothing too fancy, which was good, somehow. Opening to the first page, Syveris saw a dedicatory in the middle of it, written in a beautiful cursive letter.

To all those who loves birds.
To all those who have gone through difficult times, but have never lost their true selves.

Interesting, although she still had no idea what the author meant. The Avora turned the page, and began to read.

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[Syveris]

This is a book - or a journal, call it whatever you want - that I wrote to talk about Eywaat, the God of Birds. However, much of the information written here is about my life as well, events that, while most would think have no relation with the God and his Mark, are important to me, and are the events that led up to the day that all the changes on my life directed me to. If you wish to read something purely informational about Eywaat, I suggest you go look somewhere else.

Syveris smiled. Yes, the helper had chosen a book she could read. One that didn't talk purely about the God all the time. The introduction had been really short, but Syveris preferred it that way. The next page, the author had already began talking about his Yasihood.

I grew up in Wind Reach. My life as Yasi was not unlike any other. Maybe I was a little more aggressive than most. I used to get into many fights, and didn't do most of my bendi, simply because I hated human company. I don't know why. I always enjoyed more to just sit in a corner, and carve something into the wood, normally a bird. I was good at it.

My Yasihood was spent mostly like that: fighting, carving, running away from people, afraid to get hurt. Why? I don't know. What I know is that, for most of the time, I thought I would become a Dek. I was fine with it, unlike the others. To be a part of any caste meant the same to me: do things I didn't like to do, so which caste I was going to be put on had no importance.

There were many days that changed the course of my life, and the day I met an Avora falconer was one of them. I was only carving the wood, as I normally did, when I was assigned a bendi on the Abelu Aviary. I went, although I felt no desire to. Once there, though, the falconer saw my wood bird, and he offered to show me the real ones. He presented me to the birds, and I fell in love with them. Their flight, their wings, their eyes... Everything seemed so magical, and my mentor transformed me into an Avora falconer.

Can you understand it? A passion so deep that it runs into my very blood, that defines everything that I am. When I became an Avora, the birds were my everything, and I lived to feed them, to hunt with them, to care for them.

Everything started there. When I fell in love with the most wonderful creatures that ever existed.

Syveris lowered the book, feeling an intense emotion in her chest, one she couldn't quite understand. The words of this Inarta... She felt like he was exactly like her. Only, instead of birds, she had found glassworking.

But that was the only difference. That, and the fact that, if he had become a Dek, he wouldn't mind. But they both were saved by a passion presented to them by their mentors. The sensation that they were both so similar left her gasping for breath, trying to understand why it affected her so deeply. She wished she had known this man. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down. It was only a book.

Her eyes passed over the word 'Dek' once again, and she understood why she had been so affected by it. The words in the book made her remember too vividly how she was as a Yasi, and the deep fear she had felt with the possibility of becoming a Dek. Syveris sighed, hoping that the book wouldn't bring up too many emotions on her. She really didn't like remembering her Yasihood.

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[Syveris]

I can't tell many interesting and different tales about my work as a falconer, mainly because I did mostly what's written in books and what teachers tell their students to do. In short, I did what all others did, and you can go to them for these kind of tales. But one story that is very important is the one when I got Kinza.

I was training my first bird, Hin, a Golden Eagle with a terrible personality. Not a birds for beginners, but I wasn't one. He was the first bird I owned, but I had trained and cared for countless others. But that's not important. What's important is that Hin had a very aggressive behavior, and while he always returned when I called him, he had an habit of going after preys he wasn't suppose to.

One day, I was hunting with him, and he was supposed to catch some ground prey, but instead, he went after a white owl that was perched on a tree. While there wouldn't really be a big problem, as long as he brought a prey back, I had been trying to teach Hin obedience, and so, I wouldn't let him catch the prey he wanted, instead the one I told him to.

Syveris remembered Lavira telling her that one should work with the bird, and she wondered what she would have done if said bird was aggressive. The Avora shrugged, not really caring. She wasn't experienced enough to know whatever or not the author was treating his birds right, but since he had been marked by Eywaat, she supposed he was.

The journal then described how the man managed to keep the owl from being killed by the Eagle, and the long process of healing the bird's wounds and making Hin accept a new friend in his 'territory'. It was quite an enjoyable read, even if Syveris couldn't see how it was related to Eywaat. She liked it, anyway. Hin seemed a troublesome eagle, but also a very interesting character. And the owl, Kinza, was very, very sweet, from what Syveris read about her.

Kinza was, although very docile and kind, problematic. The owl could fly easily, but she couldn't understand the simple commands of hunt. All food she ate was given by me, and all times when I tried to make her hunt, she would fly around until she was satisfied or until I called her back. Not once she brought back a kill.

I ended up thinking that it was because she ate it, but even when she was full, Kinza returned alone. I still don't understand the reasons for her behavior, and I don't know how to correct her. But I came to love her just as much as I loved Hin, and the Eagle was good enough to hunt for both birds. He liked the extra exercise.

Well, maybe the owl was troublesome too. Syveris smiled. What an interesting duo, these two birds. She wished she had met them, too.

A few more stories about hunts together, and how the man (who still hadn't identified himself) tried to make Kinza hunt, unsuccessful. He described some training techniques, too, which Syveris found very interesting. Maybe she could use them later.

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[Syveris]

Kinza didn't improve, and my friends and colleagues told me to give up. In truth, I almost did, way more than once, simply because she made me feel useless. Until then, I had never failed to train a bird, but now, I was failing, and failing great.

But my Avora mentor, a man I never forgot, said something different from anyone else. He told me birds weren't hunting tools. They were alive creatures that could be friends, hunting partners, and anything I wished them to be. If Kinza couldn't be a hunting partner, she could still be my friend.

And my friend she became.

One day, I had taken her to some exercise in the Unforgiving, while still trying to teach her something. That was when I saw a wolf. I had never seen one before, as they are rare around here. I was scared, and, worse, didn't think I would be able to kill it. I made the owl take flight, hoping she would save herself, and ran. The wolf ran after me, until I tripped. The creature was above me, and would kill me without hesitation, when my friend dived from the sky, talons stretched out, and ripped one of the wolf's eye out. Kinza, who never before had hunted anything, defended me. Unfortunately, the wolf hit her, hurting her badly and turning its attention to her.

Many things passed through my head that time, and, I'm ashamed to admit, one of them was to run away. But my heart was filled with love for my little friend, that risked herself to save me. I took my dagger, and fought the wolf.

In the end, I was almost dying, but I had saved my friend, and the wolf was dead. I tried, as gently as I could, hold Kinza in my arms, to take her to safety. That was when a crow perched on a nearby tree, and his eyes bore right into my being.

It was Eywaat. The God of Birds, who had seen the exchange, or who was called by it. I'm not sure, and it's not important. Even in the form of a crow, it was amazing how I felt being near him. He is a gentle God, and he was very friendly, mostly because I tried to save Kinza, I guess.

I say that I tried, because, in the end, the owl died. I had failed her, but the God didn't seem to think this way. He told me he rewarded those who treated others kindly, and I had showed that I deserved to have a deeper communication with my birds, because I already had a deep relationship with them. Not with those words, of course. In fact, this is what I understood from his words. It might be totally wrong, but this left a deep impression in me.

Syveris was holding her breath, drinking every word with a thirst not like her. She was touched by both the owl's and the Avora's sacrifice, and when he described the marking process, she found herself without breath again. A gnosis that allowed communication with birds? It was a beautiful thing.

But what touched her the most was the relationship between the owl and the man, a relationship awarded by Eywaat. As she read about how Kinza had died, not able to recover from the wolf attack, Syveris felt herself crying. She had come to love the sweet owl, even though she had never seen her. Such a sweet bird.

Eywaat rewarded a relationship based on trust and understanding, he couldn't be bad. In fact, he seemed to be a wonderful God. Getting up, with the book under her arm, she walked to the reception again, leaning closer to the freckled helper.

"This is..." her voice was still shaky, and she noticed a sympathetic look from the woman. The helper had probably seen the tears in her eyes.

"Incredible?" the woman smiled back at her, nodding energetically. "Isn't it? The owl is such a sweet bird. I too cried when she died... But Hin is still alive, and the book describes a lot of his... well, adventures with his owners. In fact, Hin is the reason the author received a second mark."

"Really?" Syveris was interested, more than she had thought possible at first.

"You know what?" the woman's smile widened. "Read this book after you finish the journal. It contains more didactic information about Eywaat. Then, we can talk about him. And about Kinza and Hin."

Syveris accepted the offer, taking both books with her back to her room. Virat was right, once again, and now, she couldn't wait to finish the journal and the book, so she could discuss it with the woman she didn't even knew the name of. Well, she would just ask next time she went to the Enclave.

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[Skerry]

Grades

Syveris

Skill	XP
Research	5
Socialization	2

LORES :

• Eywaat: God of Birds
• Eywaat’s gnosis: ability to communicate with birds
• Owls: Do not make good hunting birds

Notes:
Not a lot of skill and lore that I could award but a wonderful thread. Very enjoyable to read actually.

Remember if you have any questions or problems with your grade then feel free to PM me.