Enjoy!
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Journal Entry 55
My first visit to the Temple went surprisingly well. I guess I’m a little known around town if only because people don’t really know me, and I just sort of...turned up one day, because the Local Priest of the Temple greeted me warmly, and told me he’d been waiting for the day I’d arrive at the Temple’s door.
There was no mention of magic at all, which I found a little unusual. All the Temples I’ve been to in the past have rambled on and on about the “evils” of magic, despite the fact that the healing rituals they perform from time to time are technically a form of magic.
I kept my arms covered, in any case, just to be sure that nothing would go wrong. I’m too cautious to risk it. Not after the life, I’ve had.
The Priest is a grandfatherly kind of person. Not that I personally know what a grandfather is like - one of mine died before I was born, and the other was amongst the mob that chased me from my village when I was a little girl, so I don’t have much experience in that regard. I’ve seen other people interacting with their grandfathers, though. They can range from strict but fair, to downright kindly.
The Priest reminded me of a Kindly Grandfather.
He wasn’t the only person I met there, of course; I met some of the Priestesses and the Groundskeeper - who turned out to be the woman I’ve seen wandering around in the Temple’s direction a lot. None of them had anything bad to say about Magic. None of them even mentioned it at all.
It’s a first for me. I’m not used to being welcomed with open arms, by people who are actually as kind and friendly as you’d expect from a Temple. So long as I make no mention of my magic, so long as I keep it more of a secret than I did as a child, then I should be fine. I should be welcome at the Temple.
I wouldn’t mind that. It’s been years since I’ve been able to worship safely and properly.
The only person I’m a little more cautious about is the Archcurate. Where the Priest welcomed me warmly, the Archcurate was not so friendly. I’m not even sure what the Archcurate is doing in Willowdale - the Temple is small, not particularly notable or significant. The Archcurate is better off - and of better use - in a place like Fernsworth, or even better, Religren. The capital city was in some sort of turmoil, from what I’ve heard in the Hog and Heifer; surely the Archcurate would be of more value to the people there, than to the people in Willowdale?
I didn’t bother to ask him, though. He was watching me with narrowed, suspicious eyes, so I was only too happy to get away from him after the Priest had introduced me to him. If anyone is going to be a problem regarding my magic, it would be the Archcurate.
I can only hope I can avoid him when I next visit the Temple to worship.
Villager Observation 14 - Ruth Shepard
The Groundskeeper is a woman named Ruth Shepard. She is the younger sister of Alicia Shepard, a woman who lives in town and runs the General Store. I’ve seen Ruth a few times, during my trips into town to visit the General Store, visiting her sister and her nephew, Nial Shepard. I’ve never spoken to her, though, despite the fact that she seems very friendly.
At most of the Temples I’ve been to, the Groundskeeper is usually a man, and he usually has two or three people working under him to keep the Temple looking nice. Ruth works alone, and even though the Temple is small, it’s hardly an easy job to keep it nice. Yet, she seems to be doing a decent job on her own, because the Temple hasn’t employed anyone to help her.
Well, except the Gravekeeper, of course, but he tends to the graveyard behind the Temple, not the Temple itself. I think Ruth helps him out from time to time, but they mostly do their own tasks on their own sections of the Temple Grounds.
Ruth, I noticed during my first visit to the Temple, seems to be rather fearless. As I was entering the Temple, she was clambering up the wall like a spider, ignoring the ladder the Gravekeeper was carrying over to the Temple at that time. When I left, she was on the roof, scrubbing away at the tiles with a brush and bucket of water, while the Gravekeeper followed her down the length of the roof from the ground, dragging the ladder with him as he went.
I don’t think she used it to get down, though I wasn’t there to see.
Ruth seems cheerful, carefree, and apparently oblivious to danger. I saw the Archcurate glaring at her when he came outside as I was being shown around by the Priest. I don’t think he likes her, or her attitude, very much. I imagine the way things are done in Willowdale is not the way things are done in Religren or Fernsworth.
Because she works for the Temple, I’m against the idea of Ruth finding out about my magic. That doesn’t mean to say I’m not interested in talking to her, and getting to know her a little better, but I’m going to keep my magic from anyone related to the Temple - for as long as I can, at the very least.
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