Closed Maintaining Death

[Ablation]

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Winter 30th 513 AV

Ilauro moved about the cemetery at his usual pace, slow. The trees trembled gently in the breeze. The storm had ended a few days ago and had destroyed many of the tombstones. Wilting with age they were in need of constant repair. Methodically Ilauro went about his job. A pensive man every touch was delicate, even the heavy thud of his carving mallet against the pick seemed vaguely frail and stuttered.

He needed an assistant badly, but the prospect of training and working with one made his hands tremble. Besides, the only ones who had approached him were young and inexperienced and he doubted their respect for the graves. Especially considering what they had done to the shops this season. Everyone knew it was teenagers but no one knew who. Many found it amusing that teenagers had evaded the Icewatch for so long but Ilauro found it nerve wracking. Maybe the Icewatch was losing its focus?

The many graves were predominantly Icewatch and he couldn't help but think it a pity that the Icewatch should disrespect its predecessors with their incompetency. But then again Ilauro was always quick to take the side of the dead, they had no voice....and neither did he expect in his own head. The voice in his head was typically tempered and even but flared into indignant annoyance when the dead were disrespected, not that anyone could tell from his calm smile and stuttering rhetoric.

Rising from his work, knees battered and wet her flushed as he met the priestesses eyes. She had been quietly waiting behind him for him to finish. "O-oh hel-hello Pri-Prieste-ess...C-can...I-I" Swallowing anxiously he couldn't finish his sentence through his red face.

"Hi Ilauro," She murmured back smiling warmly her brunette hair frostbitten with the remnant flakes from the storm. "Yes, yes you can. I am looking for someone to help with cleaning and maintenance in the temple. I knew you were looking for someone as well and I was merely wondering if you found someone yet and if I could borrow them?"

"O-oh no, I..." He attempted to reply gazing at her with obvious adulation that she should speak to him, "That's alright," She interrupted him, saving him the embarrassment of speech, "Well if you find someone then?", "Y-yes...'course..." He replied turning back to his work as refuge. She smiled at his back as she turned to return to the temple.


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[Faelith Skyglow]

Faelith trekked through the snow, carefully avoiding ice patches that had formed in the path to the cemetery. Although the latest blizzard had ended the day before, the air was (as ever) still chilled, and when the people had carved their new paths through the snow all throughout the day, they melted some of the snow beneath them with their body heat, and the resulting frozen-over puddles meant that Faelith had had to watch her step more than usual on her way to the cemetery. If she was being totally honest, she was more than a little bit proud of herself for coming up with this plan: her father and mother disagreed strongly about whether Faelith should join the Icewatch, although they'd tried to keep it from her, and this was surely the best way to show them both that she was making the right choices. Her father was concerned for her well-being, preferring her to stay inside and paint or carve all day as she'd wanted to as a little girl, while her mother insisted that any dead Icewatch members were honored in song, in stories and ballads and poems passed down through generations, and that hiding away and painting when she ought to be out protecting Avanthal would be the coward's way out. So, Faelith had decided, the cemetery seemed like the perfect place to look for employment: if she could convince the groundskeeper to take her on, it would prove to her father that she understood the gravity of death, while still showing her mother that she respected the dead, and above all the dead Icewatch. Plus, she'd need to be trained at some point, and she doubted it would be free. She could always use a little bit of gold in her coinpurse. As she approached the cemetery, she noticed two figures in the snow: one knelt near the ground, and other turning towards the Temple of Everwinter. As she got close enough to make out the first figure, the other had already disappeared into the temple. The man (and she could see now that it was a man) was significantly older than she was, with close-cropped dark hair. She waited for a moment, watching intently as he delicately carved what looked like a name into the icestone. After waiting for a chime or two and with no indication that the man had noticed her, Faelith cleared her throat. "Excuse me, are you the groundskeeper?" Almost immediately, she felt her face heat up in embarrassment at the obvious answer, but tried to squash it down; she knew nothing about maintaining a cemetery after all. Perhaps there were many jobs in a cemetery, and the groundskeeper wasn't responsible to carving the names into headstones at all. "My name is Faelith," she said with a small smile. "I'm from the Skyglow Hold, and I was--" She paused, suddenly getting the feeling that she wouldn't be able to get her way with a simple please allow me to work with you. She thought of her mother, how she would sing of the long dead with a starry look in her eyes, and she thought of how carefully the man had been chiseling away at the icestone, how focused he'd been on his work when she approached. "I want to help care for the dead," she blurted out.

[Ablation]

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Winter 30th 513 AV

Ilauro would have huffed with impatience at being disturbed again if he hadn't been such a quiet and patient guy. Instead he turned to glance at the face of the unfamiliar voice. Meeting the gaze of young girl he flushed and stood slowly. As much as he disliked female teenagers, he almost disliked children more. He never knew what to do with them, they always seemed frail and their crying made him panic. The mere thought of her bursting into tears made him step away stammering over non-words.

"U-uh...Yes..." He replied eased by the blush that graced her face as well. "My name is Faelith,", "my name is Ilaruo." He replied warily. She had the usual cadence of a kid, not yet taking short cuts in her speech and careful to be polite in front of her elders. When was the prank coming? He wondered.

I'm from the Skyglow Hold, and I was--" She seemed to suddenly get very flustered, although the sentence was a perfectly normal one for any Vantha. "I want to help care for the dead," Ilauro blinked surprised. It wasn't often he got someone so young asking to help him, the dead usually freaked them out.

"How old are you Faelith?" Ilauro asked kindly, "I don't think someone your age should work in a place like this...it's a very difficult job to deal with others sorrow and death." He tried to put it lightly while still dissuading her. A child could hardly handle the position with the delicacy and emotional restraint needed.


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[Faelith Skyglow]

Ilauro, she thought. No mention of what hold, though. Glancing at the icestone once more, and the skill with which the other Vantha had already begun chiseling away the deceased's name, she couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever studied in her own Hold. Faelith twisted her mouth at his words. "I'm fourteen," she said without thinking, "not a child." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized how immature she'd sounded. She'd said those words before, to her parents, to other adults in her Hold, and their faces were always the same brand of pitying condescension, always so strangely competent at conveying Oh, you are absolutely a child without even saying anything. Ilauro seemed kinder, and his stutter had smoothed out when he told her how difficult it would be, but she figured she had to give it another shot. This was her only plan in proving to her parents that she knew what she was getting into. For a brief moment she thought about lying, but she'd always been horrible at it, and she wasn't sure there was a lie out there that wouldn't somehow come back to bite her in the end anyways. "I'd like to join the Icewatch when I'm older," she said. "My father thinks that I don't know what I'm getting into, but I do. I need to prove to him that I understand the... the gravity of death, and that I'm not rushing into things before I'm ready. And," she tacked on at the last second, "I know plenty of adults who would be just as bad as children dealing with 'sorrow and death'. You don't look that old, yourself." She ground the soles of her boots into the packed snow underneath her to ward off the sudden anxiety she felt; what if he said no? She wasn't above begging, not in this. It was her one and only plan she'd made, she was proud of it, and she didn't like the idea of trudging back through the slick path to her arvinta with the memory of Ilaruo's rejection ringing in her ears.

[Ablation]

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"I'm fourteen,not a child." The girl piped up and Ilauro smiled kindly at the girl through the wince. Blushing and resuming his stutter after the lecture, "I-" He tried to reply and was quickly shushed.

"I'd like to join the Icewatch when I'm older. My father thinks that I don't know what I'm getting into, but I do. I need to prove to him that I understand the... the gravity of death, and that I'm not rushing into things before I'm ready. And I know plenty of adults who would be just as bad as children dealing with 'sorrow and death'. You don't look that old, yourself." Ilauros eyes widened at her outburst and he frowned to himself.

Turning away from her he knelt down to continue carving, "I-I don't think you are right for the job," he murmured into the tombstone refusing to look at her. He was scared she would pressure him and he couldn't handle pressure, let alone from a girl.

Blushing at the thought of caving into the childs pleas he nodded toward the temple, "The Priesttt-ess was looking for someone...T-that might be a better f-fit...." Staring fixedly into the stone his cold fingers brushed away the snow that landed in the fresh indentations. "B-besides...the Icewatch f-fight and sacrifice themselves for Morwen every moment they....live, showing your loyalty to her...understanding what she m-means...that's an important less-sson..." He couldn't help but glance at her and try to smile, lips twitching like his words

The Priestess herself was bustling about dusting the shrine. No one was about after the storm and the woman found sanctuary in cleaning the altar of her goddess. Though she knew Morwen was close to her heart she never felt more alone than the Winter when Morwen left to spread the delightful snow about the whole of Mizahar. But the Priestess reasoned to herself, she would only be robbing the rest of Mizahar if the goddess remained where she belonged.

She felt lonely and was always finding an excuse to visit the delightful boy who ran the graveyard. While she was sure she was bothering him, and he doubtless found her presence distracting he was her primary solace when Morwens Patrons were absent from the shrine as they often were right after storms. Once everything had settled and pathways were cleared they would flock to thank Morwen for allowing everyone to live through the storm and reminding them how lucky they were to live in such a beautiful and powerful city.


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[Faelith Skyglow]

As soon as Ilauro's mouth had turned down after her words, Faelith knew what was coming, but that didn't stop her heart from plummeting like a stone when he out-and-out rejected her. Tears jumped to her eyes that she frantically tried to blink away. At least he wasn't facing her-- she was humiliated enough as it was without crying like a child just because she didn't get her way. "The priesttt-ess was looking for someone..." Faelith froze, hope sputtering to life again while she listened to his suggestion. In all honesty, she didn't understand his point. She already loved the Queen, like she'd been taught to since she was little, and she couldn't see how working in the temple would help her. When Ilauro glanced at her and quirked his lips up she flushed, sure that he was laughing to himself at her red-rimmed eyes. There was a fresh-carved path in the snow leading from a few steps beside Ilauro around the side of the temple, and Faelith suddenly remembered the second figure she had seen upon entering the cemetery; they'd been standing close enough to the gravekeeper to speak, it had looked like. Was that the Priestess, then? Faelith rushed a 'thank you' out before hurrying to the temple (luckily for her, the path was new enough that the snow and small amounts of water underfoot hadn't quite had time to freeze over). She rushed under the the tree that had overgrown the building's entrance and into the shrine itself. Inside, someone-- a woman, it looked like-- was walking about, dusting. "Hello?" Faelith's voice seemed overly loud in the nearly vacant space, bouncing between stone walls. Heart pounding, and still stung from the recent rejection, she pushed forward quickly. "Ilauro said you were looking for someone? I'd like to be that someone," she clarified quickly, trying to ignore how her words didn't seem to be stringing together quite as eloquently as they did in her head.

[Ablation]

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The Priestess stepped out into the light upon hearing the girls voice bouncing about the temple. Usually those who entered spoke in a fragile whisper, as if a place of worship was also a dangerous creature's den. The Priestess knew it was done out of reverence but she had always found it mildly amusing. The loud voice was both refreshing and disturbing the woman.

Stepping up the young lady the Priestess tilted her head curiously, "Yes my dear, what can I do for you?" Her voice was quiet and whispery like a gentle breeze that only barely ruffled the top layer of snow. "Ilauro said you were looking for someone? I'd like to be that someone," The child blathered quickly making Lee'ena smile.

"Wonderful! I need an enthusiastic helper. How about you start by cleaning the temple. If you do a good job you can come back tonight and help me run a meditation class. If you can be helpful and quiet then I would love to have you." Lee'ena knew the hardest thing for children was to be quiet and do monotonous work, this was the perfect job to set her to doing. The kind priestess didn't want to say no to the girl, better the girl find out for herself if this was the right job, for both of their happiness.

"If you find working here with me too boring, or being quiet during classes is too hard I am sure we can go talk to Ilauro and convince HIM to take you on. Not like the ghosts couldn't use some company, right?" The Priestess winked gently at the young girl, ruffling her hair.

OOCSo you can play this however you like, you have basically been hired so you can continue the rest by yourself if you like. If not we can continue the rest together and your next thread should be her doing all the cleaning and then we can fast forward to the meditation class. Alternatively, I thought of a way for her to get hired by Ilauro. If the priestess asks he wont say no So if you find cleaning or being quiet hard we can have the priestess talk to Ilauro and have him hire you. Post and let me know ooc how you want to proceed.


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[Faelith Skyglow]

When the priestess responded, her voice was gentle, and beautiful, and although the woman seemed anything but angry with her presence, Faelith couldn't help but be a little embarrassed at how she'd loudly spoken just moments before. At the priestess's exclamation of "Wonderful!" Faelith immediately felt relief and joy flood through her; the feeling dimmed significantly as the priestess gave a brief summary of her duties. Meditation classes? Cleaning all day? Rationally, Faelith knew that tending to the dead certainly wouldn't have provided much excitement for her, but this all sounded too much like the sort of thing her parents made her do around their Arvinta for her liking. She was about to voice these thoughts when the priestess continued. "If you find working here with me too boring, or being quiet during classes is too hard I am sure we can go talk to Ilauro and convince HIM to take you on. Not like the ghosts couldn't use some company, right?" Her face was kind, and she even winked conspiratorially at Faelith and ruffled her head, but Faelith was stuck on if it's too difficult then I'll find you another job. Her pride flared to life quick and easy and before she knew it herself, she was saying, "Not too hard, priestess! I'll show you, I can do all that, no problem!" She beamed at the older woman genuinely. "Thank you very much for this opportunity."

oocSorry for such a short post! I figured it would be best for me to stop there and then leave the OOC notice. Thanks so much for being so accommodating and helpful with getting Faelith's job settled. I'd be happy to finish the thread out myself so that you aren't stuck in an old winter job-hiring thread well into Spring. c':

[Faelith Skyglow]

The Priestess smiled warmly at her and smoothed Faelith's hair the way that her mother did when she was small. It was easy to smile back at her. "All right then. What's your name, child?" "Faelith, Priestess. I'm from the Skyglow Hold." The woman smiled again, and once more her face took on a conspiratorial twist. "Oh, a Skyglow, eh?" she said lowly. "I suppose I'll have a whole slew of new sculptures to put up around the temple then, won't I? Now that I've got a master carver working for me." Faelith giggled. "I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to tear my bear from a fawn, Priestess. You wouldn't want my carvings up around this temple or you'd scare away everyone else." The priestess hmmed thoughtfully. "Perhaps not, then. I mustn't take advantage of your skills that way after all." She moved away then, towards a hallway branching off from the main service area. "If you'd please come get me when you're done tidying up the temple, I'll give it a quick check and send you on your way until it's time for the class later on." Faelith nodded, and the priestess disappeared into the back of the temple. As she was suddenly left alone in the open room, Faelith took a moment to truly examine her surroundings. The temple's walls were made of stone, and the large room was mostly barren, save a few pieces of artwork scattered about the space. One piece in particular caught Faelith's eye, and she moved closer to examine it. On the wall opposite the entryway hung a large painting of Queen Morwen, seated upon her throne, illuminated by a soft light that lent her a warm glow. Even with her very basic understanding of painting, Faelith could appreciate how skillfully the artist had rendered their Queen. Even in lifeless paint, Morwen seemed as alive as ever. Faelith briefly entertained the idea that she knew the artist, as it was clear that someone from her Hold was behind the painting. The torchlight flickered briefly as a breeze entered from outside the temple, jolting Faelith out of her analysis and reminding her of the task at hand. As bare as the temple was, there weren't many surfaces to clean, but Faelith was nothing if not determined to please the Priestess. It was easy enough to locate the broom closet, and she spent what felt like bells meticulously sweeping the temple floor. When she found the stack of mats in the broom closet, she vigorously pulled them apart and beat each of them until all the dirt had fallen, and then re-stacked them, making certain that they were nice and neat and aligned before she replaced them in the closet. She'd just closed the closet door when she turned and realized that in cleaning the mats she had dirtied her just-swept floor. Faelith took a moment to lament her own lack of foresight before retrieving the straw broom and sweeping up the dirt once more. After this, quite at a loss for what else to do, Faelith eventually decided on cleaning the frames of some of the paintings. Not all of them had frames, of course, but surely the ones that did could use a polishing. Careful to avoid touching any of the paint for fear of smudging the oils and ruining another Skyglow's hours of hard work, Faelith took a rag from the closet and relieved the frames of their accumulated dust and dirt. Once she was satisfied with the open main room, Faelith quickly organized the closet to the best of her knowledge. With her cleaning finished to her own satisfaction, she set about searching for the priestess where she'd vanished down the short hallway out of the room. "Priestess?" She called. "I'm finished with the cleaning. Or at least, I think I am."

[Ablation]

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OOCOh dear, I am sorry I took so long to reply. If I ever take more than a week feel free to nudge me. I forgot to subscribe to this after our PM exchange.

The Priestess heard the young girl calling and rose from her spot on the floor to heed the beckoning. Peering around she couldn't help but smile to herself. It lacked the talent of the observant and meticulous cleaner but for such a young child she was impressed with the care taken in sweeping and the shined frames. Ever the Skyglow, she chuckled to herself, understanding the innate tendency to clean what she was raised to deem as important.

"You did wonderful Faelith dear. Next time it would be lovely if you cleaned the candelabras of wax and dust as well and replenished any candle stubs. Also, the altar will need to be cleaned regularly. Tributes and items are often brought to the altar and need to be thinned out and cleared if anything goes bad. Alright?" She asked. Hoping the girl would take her criticisms happily.

"When services happen, there will also be a lot more cleaning before and after to do." Winking she nudged the girl gently, children always brought out her less reserved side, "and if you want to spend time in the graveyard you can always help me pray and deliver flowers to the graves. Some of them have plenty of family members to do so for them, but some of the older forgotten ones need spiritual care their families no longer supply."

"Why don't you go and enjoy the sun for the rest of the day? Make me some candles and pickup some incense from the Winterflame hold on your way back? When the sun sets we have daily meditation classes. Come an hour before then to help set up." The priestess smiled, "I think you will be a lovely little helper."

OOCI am enjoying this thread so I thought it might be fun to get some experience in the other duties you will be doing! :3 If you just want to help with the meditation class and finish up this thread sooner rather than later let me know and I'll edit this post.


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