They called themselves a Cleric of Tyr, but their actions toward the dungeon and the Everdark adventurers that used it for training and loot-gathering, showed this person did not actually believe in what they espoused to be their god. But Tyr doesn't like it when people use their name without following the actual tenants. And it's time the Everdark adventurers had MORE than just one full sized dungeon to explore.
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04426-l042-not-made-for-you#@internutter/re-bkf-srlmgn -- DaniandShali
[AN: Following on from https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04440-l056-put-your-muscle-where-your-mouth-is ]
You can say a lot with small words. You can work a lot of help with two kind hands. You can learn a lot if you're willing to Listen. And yes, that capital is deliberate. There's a significant difference between listening and Listening.
Listening without the capital is simply hearing sound. Listening with the capital is hearing the words unsaid, sensing the implied, understanding that which is obvious to the one telling the story. Listening with the capital is a rare skill that few understand, and fewer still truly utilise.
Sunni Valance was just beginning to take her baby steps into learning it.
Washed, dried, and changed into a simple robe, the little Hellkin girl was an interesting shade of blueish grey. She had short curls because most of them had to be shorn off, yet they gleamed like a starling's wing. She was helping Sunni roll out pastry for the pasties that the church gave to the hungry. Her name was Plenty, after what she wanted.
Most of the Welcome Folk would call her a greedy Hellkin for having such a name. But since she'd Listened, Sunni knew that she wanted Plenty because she'd never had Enough.
"Can we make big fat ones?" she said. "Big like a pomegranate? Not like a gourd. Gourds are too much for a lot of people, but a pomegranate... if people need more, there's the buns, and it's not too much for the tinies or the people not used to eating."
She was six, and she knew this stuff. She studied it intensely, because food was precious. It could not be wasted by being ejected.
Sunni was busy squishing the filling together. Most of it was lard and meal,and there was peas porridge in there. Some of it owed its heritage to horse bread. There were tiny fragments of meat in the mess, and it was Sunni's job to make certain they were evenly dispersed. The rest of the meat was in the stewpot. The pasties were going to the people who had to travel.
Too many Hellkin in one place, and it attracted soldiers. Or Adventurers. Or worse, both of those at once. The same applied to Harukh, Gobelliin, and any other Unwelcome People.
It was the adults who only stopped for a night. Some were regulars, stopping for a night so they could drop off what they could, and moving on before they attracted the wrong kind of attention.
Children, even the children of Unwelcome People, were less likely to be slaughtered by Adventurers. Stolen, perhaps. Adopted, certainly. But not killed. For many of the kids present, an Adventurer stealing them was their one hope.
"We can do pomegranates," said Sunni as she patted the mess into one big clump. "What do you think? Mixed enough?"
Penty had to stand on a chair to see. She was tiny, and thin, and Sunni wanted to steal her herself. Kids just like her deserved a better existence than the one the world gave them. "Yeah, we're ready. You can cut the squares and I'll roll the stuffing."
If Adventurers came here, Sunni decided, she would put herself between them and any guest of the temple. Her own Humanity might give them pause. And if it didn't? Well. She'd pay her life for a few more seconds so the rest to flee.
That. Was only fair.
No Adventurers came, that day. Sunni was happy to make the pasties with Plenty. Making decisions and telling each other stories. Watching the dough around the filling turn golden brown in the oven. And, of course, testing a sample each to make sure they were good.
Those who just stopped in for the night were glad of them. One had a parcel of wrapped meat that was likely poached, but that was alright. The temple would eat the evidence.
That night, Sunni used her prayers to wish Plenty some sweet dreams for a change. And for the first time... she felt some approval from Tyr.
[Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash]
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