TravelingDog

Chapter 1 - The Priest of Memorial

 

Memorial, a beautiful village on the coast of the Rowen Sea. The village is outlined by flourishing rows of apple trees atop a cliff, not far from a temple. It is just a small village, hardly notable on a map, however, aside from the apples, there is one thing that made this village known. Memorial once lived cowering below the mighty thrall of a creature called Balax, who lived deep in a cave in the side of the mountains to the northwest of town.

After 38 years of his reign, a small clan of harpies drove the beast into defeat, causing it to flee deeper into the mountains and out of range of the village. The clan of harpies instead took up residence at the foot of the mountains, but rarely interacted with the villagers. Since then the harpies were honored by the village.

These days however, the talk and rumors of Balax and the harpies was rare, and instead, the most common topic among the townspeople themselves tended to be that of a priest. When words of a priest are spoken around Memorial, there is little to no chance that they are not of the “White Priest”. He arrived seemingly out of nowhere three years ago and had become a source of trust among the town. The elf was pale, both in hair color and in skin tone making him stand out strongly against the other elves in town. He was young for a priest, or at least, he appeared young; then again, most elves do. He didn’t speak unnecessarily, but when he did, he was kind and supportive, and he always listened to the problems of the people. Perhaps these traits are to be expected of a priest, however there was something about him that the people quickly took a liking to.

It was shortly after the priest joined the temple in Memorial when a young, half-harpy girl called “Noro” met him for the first time. She had gone to the temple nearly her entire life and being recently orphaned she was having a hard time, but because of her bloodline, the priest’s at the temple always tried their best to support her. Noro had known Priest Malax, a tiefling priest, ever since she could recall. Noro went to see Priest Malax for consolation and while she’d already heard the stories that an injured priest had taken sanctuary in the temple, she had not yet seen or met him for herself.

From what she’d been told, the elf came in early one morning, a morning after a heavy rain. His drenched robes were heavily stained with blood from a wound to his torso and eye. Though he explained that both eyes were damaged, only one of his eyes bled heavily. According to the wounded elf, he came from a small thorpe that had been attacked by a group of bandits and he was the only survivor. The priests of the temple aided him and seeing as how he had nowhere to go, they offered to let him stay there while he healed.

After a night or two the priests noticed that there seemed to be more to his wounds than just the cuts as he was exhausted and his body seemed weak. It was questionable whether he would live from his wounds, but he seemed to pull through for good after being unconscious for a week. The elf was in such bad shape that not only did he seem to have lost his priest powers when he awoke, but even seemed to have amnesia. It was do to this that everyone in town simply called him the Priest, or the White Priest, having no indication of what his name truly was.

One particular day when Noro was visiting Priest Malax, she was distraught by her parents' recent death and she was unable to keep it bottled inside. Noro sat in the pews of the Hall of the Gods and wept uncontrollably. It was as this happened that footsteps approached her and Priest Malax.

Glancing over, they saw that Priest Xandriel and an unfamiliar priest were making their way towards them. The other priest the Noro did not recognize had long light blonde hair that was shorter at the top, and he had rather long ears for an elf. He had pale skin as well and though he had a bandage covering one eye, his other was a bright red that stuck out vibrantly against his soft complexion and clothing. From his clothing and appearance, Noro quickly realized that this must have been the White Priest.

After Priest Malax gave a quick introduction to the new priest, Priest Xandriel turned to the tiefling priest and informed him that they needed him for an urgent matter. Priest Malax apologized to Noro and promised to return momentarily as the two walked off. The White Priest did not follow however and remained there in the hall with her. She was surprised when he gave her a gentle smile, since she was used to strangers being wary of her.

He then continued on to give Noro warm and kind words of encouragement “Loss get’s easier with time, though the scars it leaves will forever remain, faded. I believe one day, you’ll find it easier to smile again.”

She trailed "Thank you, Priest..."

"Shakk-" he'd begun to say but then stopped, seeming to have realized something.

"Shakk? Could you maybe mean Shakka? Is that your name?!" She realized just as shocked

Snapping out of it, the priest stammered "Perhaps..."

 

It had been three years since that day. After his momentary lapse of recollection, Noro had called the Priest Shakka since then, though she was the only one who called him by a real name.

One morning, as usual, Noro made her way up to the temple before doing her daily activities. She said good morning to Priest Malax and Priest Xandriel whom she'd found in the sick bay, however she was slightly disappointed when she could not find the White Priest around.

Noro was just leaving the temple, making her way back towards the hill, when she spotted Shakka heading her way towards the path. At a glance, he seemed to be coming from the direction of the old barn on the other side of the hill across the orchard. As he approached, he seemed lost in thought and almost a little concerned.

Noro called out to him "Shakka!"

He looked up surprised and for a moment Noro didn't quite recognize him. He seemed, different somehow...

That moment quickly passed though as he realized it was her, smiled, and said "Ah, Noro."

"Good morning." Noro said properly as she ran up to meet him. "It's rare to see you out and about!"

"Yes, well, I figured having a day out would do me some good.”

He stated vaguely but before she could pry, a new, shaky voice greeted them from behind her "Well, if it isn't Noroah and the priest." They both turned to see Old Lady Copperapple headed their way, attempting to carry two heavy baskets of apples from the orchard down into town. Old Lady Copperapple was an elderly human with long, gray hair, who tended the orchard. Though there were not currently apples on the trees at that time, she always seemed to have a couple of bushels stashed away that she claimed to preserve with magic; though none of the townspeople had seen her use magic themselves.

“Miss Copperapple! Good morning!” Noro quickly greeted her.

“On your way down into town?” The priest asked casually.

“Why yes. I’m on my way to deliver these to the boys in the guard tower. They work so hard…” She explained. Noro smiled at this, and for a moment, the priest held a surprised expression.

“Lady Copperapple, I’d be happy to take those down for you. It’s such a long walk…” The priest suddenly offered, surprising Noro.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that on your own.” She insisted.

“It’s alright. I’ll help him.” Noro suddenly offered as well, now surprising the priest.

“Well then, I don’t suppose these aching bones can deny such a kind offer.” She said as she set the two baskets down, allowing them to pick up a basket each. “Make sure you give the boys down their my best.”

“We will. You make sure to go home and relax those bones of yours.” The priest said in farewell with a kind smile on his face as the two turned away from Old Lady Copperapple.

“Goodbye, Miss Copperapple!” Noro called out her farewells as well.

The two made their way down the large hill to the town. They were just passing through the harbor and the town square as they made their way further north of town.

“That was offly nice of you to offer that, Shakka.” Noro suddenly commented.

The priest was surprised by this comment and reasoned as they passed by the general goods store and leatherworker. “Well, I am a priest. If I recall correctly, helping people is what priests do.”

The two at last neared the small guard tower and Noro was the first to barge in.

“Hey!” Noro called out cheerfully as she entered, surprising the two figures by the desk.

“Noro!” The younger of the two guards, a half-elf friend of Noro’s named Dauff greeted in surprise.

“And the Priest. This is a welcome surprise. I don’t believe you’ve ever been down to our little tower here.” The older guard, Alons, a broad-shouldered human greeted, seeing the much taller elven priest walking in behind Noro as well. “Are those Lady Copperapple’s baskets you’ve got there?”

“You’re correct.” The White Priest confirmed.

“This visit just gets better and better!” Alons laughed heartily as the two guards walked forward from behind the desk to meet them.

“Old Lady Copperapple is so considerate!” Dauff laughed as well as he took the basket from Noro.

“She says hello by the way.” Noro laughed at their reactions.

“Thank you, Priest.” Alons thanked the priest formally as he took the basket from him. The White Priest simply nodded in response, though he still held a friendly smile on his face.

“Ah, actually Noro, I was going to come look for you today.” Dauff suddenly said.

“Really? What for?” She asked surprised.

“Our cell door isn’t working too great, the lock is getting caught.” Dauff explained as he set down his basket near the desk. “We were hoping you could take a look at it.”

“Sure thing.” Noro agreed as she followed him over to one of the cell doors. Noro was half harpy, but she was also half half-elf. Her father was a half-elf engineer and he had passed his interest in the profession on to Noro. Noro loved to tinker, so her handiness was well known around the small village.

Alons made his way back behind the desk with his basket of apples and the priest’s attention was drawn to a job board on the wall in front of the desk with multiple wanted posters on it. One specific poster caught his eye. It was a wanted poster for a black minotaur, male. The bounty was massive because he was the right hand man of a well known criminal guild. What shocked the priest about this was the fact that the poster was crossed out. This was done when a bounty had already been claimed.

“There are some pretty nasty characters out there.” Alons suddenly commented, having seen that the priest was looking at the board. “We’re just lucky that none of them ever come through here.”

The priest continued to stare at the board, still in shock, and just managed to respond “Indeed.”

The next day, the priest spent the day inside the temple, thinking over what he had discovered the day before. He’d had his suspicions since that morning, but the confirmation was rather upsetting. When the priest at last did head outside of the temple, he made his way up to the cliff at the end of the orchard that overlooked the sea.

As he made his way up there though, the priest was shocked to spot Noro already on the cliff. She sat at the highest point of the hill below one of the apple trees with her legs tucked up against her chest. As the priest neared, he realized that he heard sniffles and quickly understood how upset she was.

“Is something wrong, Noroah?” Noro stiffened shocked when she heard the White Priest ask, a few of her feathers becoming ruffled.

After a moment as she glanced back at him, she seemed to calm down some as she sniffed once again and turned back to the ocean “It’s nothing…”

“Certainly doesn’t seem like nothing.” The priest noted.

“Might as well be nothing.” Noro huffed “It’s stupid.”

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s what I’m here for.” The White Priest reminded as he sat down on the hill next to her.

“It’s just, Leora and I had plans for today, but she said she had to cancel last minute…” Noro explained.

“Alright, that hardly seems like something to cry over though. There’s always tomorrow.”

“I know. That’s why I said it was stupid.”

“Come now, there must be something more to it than that.” He insisted.

“I just hate being alone today is all.” The Priest was surprised by this and thought about it more carefully when he suddenly recalled something that Priest Malax had mentioned the other day.

“That’s right. It's your birthday today, is it not?” Shakkal asked. Noro said nothing however and simply nodded sadly. “As an elf, I can’t say it’s something we pay much attention to.”

“I know not every race celebrates it, harpies don’t usually either, but it was something that I celebrated with my parents, so I’ve always celebrated it.” Noro explained. The priest was silent as he never knew what to say to her in these situations. Suddenly, Noro sat up straight with a new energy as she patted her cheeks twice, shocking the priest. “I can’t let it get to me! The sun hasn’t even set yet, there’s still daylight to enjoy!” Noro then suddenly turned to Shakkal “Come to think of it, what are ya doin’ up here Shakka?”

“I also come up here to think.” The White Priest explained vaguely.

“Well, it is the nicest place in Memorial!” Noro laughed. The priest couldn’t help but smile at her innocence and looked up at the blossoming trees above them. A sudden thought crossed his mind as he watched the flowers flutter in the wind.

“Tell me Noro, apple blossoms are white on the outside of the petals, but their centers are red, so are the flowers red, or are they white?” Noro looked up at the priest, surprised by the question.

“I’ve never thought about them like that…” Noro admitted “I’m not really sure. To be honest, I’ve never thought of them as one or the other. I’ve always known them as white and red.”

“Both?” He was surprised by this answer. The priest laughed at this answer “I see. I suppose that makes sense.”

“Anyways, I should probably get going.” Noro said as she pushed herself to her feet.

“Noro, about your friend, I’m sure that she knows how important this day is to you and will find some way to make it up to you.” The priest reassured her as she looked down at him “And also, happy birthday.”