[Temple of All Gods] So we pray (Cathan)

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Jaelyn was glad that Cathan didn't seem bothered by her question, and she nodded quietly as she listened to him talk a bit of his past. Having spent most her life in and around Syliras she could only imagine what places like Zeltiva were like. Of course she had heard rumors and stories, but she was starting to learn that such stories were not always true. She was curious to hear of the place from someone who had lived there, but Cathan's main interest was in the Gods and Goddesses, and it would be rude to change the subject.

Thinking for a moment on the divine names that Cathan named Jaelyn gave a faint nod, "I guess you could call Ovek tricky, but I think unpredictable might be a better term. Being God of Luck he is not as easy to understand or predictable as some of the others."

Jaelyn couldn't help but smile at Cathan's correction of himself. She had met a few people like him before, the kind who knew little of the Gods and therefore feared their mysterious wrath, and for a time it had been hard for her to understand them. Raised as she had been by her Mother Jaelyn felt she had always understood at least the basics of the Gods, and had never really felt a need to fear them. Certainly there were ones that she had no desire to associate with, but she knew that Rhysol would not simply appear in the middle of Syliras to strike her down.

"It is good to know the Gods and Goddesses of domains that you associate with," She paused a moment, realizing that was not particularly helpful, and then continued after a moment's thought, "For example Caiyha is good to know of if you spend much time out in the wilderness or with animals as she is Goddess of Flora and Fauna. If you spent much time on ships in the ocean then it would be good to know of Laviku, The Sea King. I might be able to tell you who is associated with what, if there are certain divine ones you wish to learn about."

She gave a soft, encouraging smile to Cathan as she finished. While she was certainly not a priestess or a scholar she at least wanted to be helpful to this man who had come and asked her sincere questions.

[Cathan]

“That does make sense, does it not?” Cathan offered after considering the woman’s words for a long moment. “No one can have its eyes everywhere and having ones own domain is certainly... useful. One always knows his own turf best.”

Wolves had packs they run in, places they knew of every stone and every larger animal or herd worth their attention. Compared with foreign packs and strays this acquaintance with their own patch of land came as an advantage. Why would it be any different with gods? Everyone had priorities and pet peeves to look after - that way you did not came to fight with your fellow deities over things as simple as who was supposed to let the sun go up once a day. If they would fight over such things anyway, the Kelvic was not all to sure if they even cared to fight over such things. Or preferred to do more godly things whatever they might be.

“I am not sure there are many... domains I associate with,” he added with the hint of a smirk.

It was true. Most time he spend out in the wild - at least when he had a chance to. Praying to Caiyha would have made sense for him he figured and still he could not claim the prospect to be overly appealing to him. He tried to think of what other things he did might deserve to have a deity associated with it. Then he realized that would result in a number of gods which seemed even unlikely in his eyes.

“But there are domains without a god, are there not? There would be myriads of gods if you had one for all...hm,” a second the man seemed at loose for words, “... all things there are?”

It was hard to imagine there should be enough gods to pray to, no matter what problem one might have. “I mean... who would one pray to when one is hungry? There is no god of the filled belly or is there?”

Beside hunting, eating was one of his most basic concerns. His only one at points in his life. The Kelvic tilt his head to the side. “Or is there a god of companionship? That would be useful.”

At least he could find more use in both than in luck or honor. Both seemed like the sort of thing humans liked to concern themselves with, yet held little interest for the shapeshifter. Hunting was another such thing, but he imagined that might by Caiyha’s domain, as Jaelyn had called it. He was also sure there was no canine god. At least no wolf had mentioned such an entity to him so far. But then, wolves had as little need for gods as Kelvics had.

Slightly unsure the man shrugged. “I am not sure I need a god, so far I did well without any god helping me,” Cathan smiled even a little proudly. Then his expression grew thoughtful.

“Do you feel better, knowing there is a god for the sort of things you like doing?”

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Jaelyn mostly listened silently as Cathan mused on what she had told him, giving small nods in response to his rhetorical sounding questions. When he asked about a God of the filled belly she couldn't keep a softly amused smile from touching her lips, "No, I know of no God or Goddess of filled bellies, and I do not think one would be eager to take up the role. I can imagine they would receive more prayers than a Divine can handle."

The mention of companionship by the Kelvic brought the faintest hint of a blush to Jaelyn's cheeks as her thoughts went to her meetings with Tolby and, more recently, Kendall. She found herself unable to think for a moment, and dropped her gaze from Cathan for a few breaths, "Ah, well for companionship you could pray to Cheva, Goddess of Love, depending on the companionship you seek..."

Thankfully Cathan's next question helped Jaelyn to push those tempting thoughts away, and she returned her gaze upwards with a renewed soft smile, "I suppose you could say I feel better. I would say that it is reassuring knowing that there is a Divine being I can look to for guidance and inspiration on my path to achieve what I strive for," she paused for a moment, and then with a hint of hesitation asked, "Is there something you strive for Cathan, some larger goal you hope to achieve with your life?"

[Cathan]

Cathan nodded a little. He had figured that if there was a god of full bellies even he might have heard of it. And while he could understand that is would make a lot of work, it still was one of the few things he would, at times, be willing to pray for. At least when the hunting luck left him.

“Love is a bit... more than I meant,” the Kelvic smirked. “I was more thinking of friends and travel companions and such things.” The shapeshifter did have a vague notion of love, but it was more a general understanding of it rather than something he thrived for. In that regard the Kelvic was more driven by instinct and at times his loyalty to a bond partner. For a second he wanted to say more but did not dwell on the subject when the woman quickly moved on. He shrugged a little at her next question.

“I am... not sure what you mean.”

Oh, he understood her question, the words, but he could not make out what she was getting at. “I would say a long life would be somewhat desirable. And well, a full belly for most of it could not hurt either. So learning to hunt a bit better could surely not hurt - but it would be too much to call it a goal.”

And to some degree he was sure that was not what Jaelyn had meant either, although he imagined even humans who lived four, five, six times as long as his breed had a certain desire to live as long as possible. Still, there was nothing he was working towards, not actively. Finditng a new bound partner would have been nice, but Cathan was also to wary of the prospect to actually seek such a connection just now. It was nothing he wanted to rush and nothing he wanted to claim a goal in his life - even when his Kelvic nature intended it to be one. And the only one at that.

“Do humans have such things? Achievements to work towards?”

He had never thought about it, but it seemed to make sense. Animals he knew had no higher ambitions beside their continued existence and that of their brood. People however did more than just seek to stay alive. Even in hard times such as these they had music and games and a whole lot of other things they did when not working. He suspected some indicidual had to show a certain interests in developing these things, else they would not exist. Still, overall he was not sure if he saw a purpose behind all things men did.

“Do you have anything you aim for?” Again he smirked and without her hesitation. To him the question did not appear to be personal. In fact the question held less weight and meaning to him than it would have to most humans.

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Jaelyn gave a small nod at Cathan's words, "What I mean is having something you want to achieve beyond yourself. I think most everyone would like a long life and full belly for most of it," Jaelyn smiled softly to the Kelvic to show she meant no hard feelings with her words.

"Some humans do, but not all. There are many who want little more from life than just to take care of themselves and satisfy their desires," realizing that her words could be taken harshly Jaelyn hastened to add, "Not that there is anything wrong with that! It is for each individual to determine what best makes their life satisfactory and fulfilling, and, so long as they do not cause trouble for someone else, they should be free to pursue what they wish."

Cathan's unabashed question brought a soft smile to Jaelyn's face again. There was something rather endearing about the Kelvic's straightforward way of approaching things, "Yes, I do have a few goals for my life. I want to become a strong Knight, and help to protect Syliras and the people who live here like so many more before me," she hesitated a moment, turning her gaze back away from Cathan to the pew once more, "As for my other goals, I am sorry, but I do not feel comfortable sharing them."

The goal of making her Father happy was one she did not share with any mortal, but Jaelyn was sure her Mother at least had guessed at it. The only one she had voiced the desire to was Tyveth in her most silent prayers, and she believed the Lord of Honor respected her desire. She just hoped Cathan wouldn't be offended by her desire to keep it secret.

[Cathan]

“I am not one of those then,” Cathan smiled seemingly unconcerned. “And I don’t usually cause others trouble, I don’t think.”

Not because I want to at least. The Kelvic could remember a few instance where he had brought others or even himself into trouble, but most of them had been accidents. He could not imagine those would count, even when some had involved humans shouting at him. If not worse. Some of Jaelyn’s kind were just too hard to understand at times.

Quietly he listened to the young woman tell him about her goals. He was unsure what being a knight entailed, yet he had seen the heavy armored men and woman patrol the city at times and it was not hard to imagine it involved patrolling and fighting and a few other things he had no primary interest in. It seemed though that the inhabitants of Syliras took a certain liking to their knights and the safety they provided and Cathan could see nothing wrong with the woman’s wish to belong to them.

They surely seemed as if they didn’t have to worry about an empty belly to often either. He just nodded once she had ended.

“I did not want to seem curious.”

Which was not entirely true. While he did not want to seem curious the shapeshifter couldn’t have denied that he had hoped to learn more about the woman’s goals. They didn’t seem like the sort of thing he had any desire to adopt for himself and yet he could see the concept might appeal to others. Suddenly he wondered if Kendall or Sondra had any goals they aimed for. He had never asked.

Seeing Jaelyn’s reaction however he was doubtful to receive any satisfying answers anyway. A long seconds he was lost in his thoughts, then he remembered the young woman’s presence. He smiled apologetically.

“That’s all rather interesting,” he admit after another moment of consideration. “Maybe I will have to think on it a little more.” On gods and goals and a few other things he had learned. The young woman had been generous with answers, especially with answers to questions some others might have found to odd to answer. Even Cathan realized that. To some degree anyway.

“Is there anything you want to know about?,” he asked therefor, head tilt to the side, suddenly eager to return the woman’s favor. “I know about hm, hunting. And animals. And traveling. Oh, and fighting dogs.”

[Jaelyn Baroth]

Jaelyn gave an apologetic smile at Cathan's statement of not wanting to appear curious, "No, you did nothing wrong Cathan," she assured softly, "It is not that you were overly curious, but my other goals are very personal. I have never shared them with anyone but Lord Tyveth. I hope you do not take offence," she maintained her apologetic smile, sincere in her hope she had not offended the Kelvic.

As Cathan fell silent so did Jaelyn, and she quietly contemplated the man that sat next to her. Appearance wise he looked little different from any other man she had known, but it was his personality and actions that set him apart from your average human. Were all Kelvics like that? More animal than man in their thoughts, only caring about the simpler things in life? She supposed there was some appeal to such a life, but Jaelyn could never see herself living in such a way. Most of her life had been spent devoted to an ideal, and she wasn't sure what she would even do if not for that.

Cathan's offer for information brought a quirk to Jaelyn's eyebrow at his last topic mentioned, "Fighting dogs?" she took a moment to think over what he could mean, "As in, how to fight against dogs?"

After Cathan's reply Jaelyn was silent for a few moments. There was something she wanted to see, but she didn't want to ask something too personal. Finally after almost a chime of silence she spoke again, "If it would not be a trouble to you, could I see you transform? Not here in the temple, but maybe somewhere outside?"