“Who is Ember?” Gendini asks.
“Ember is our interim master of paladins,” Benger explains, “Much of what he does now will pass to Nia eventually. She’s even been calling him “Dad” for a while now. He’ll also have some say in how the Temple deals with Kluper. I don’t know if anyone else in any of the other cohorts has a page. That said, since we don’t offer an orphanage, I think it’s a fine alternative for any of us who are willing to take on that responsibility. It allows us to take in some of these children and start training them from a young age to take up a vocation with the Temple.”
“It would keep them off the streets,” Otrin nods, “I can see the sense in it. Even if they don’t take up something with the Temple, they’ll leave quite skilled and able to make their way in the world.”
“It will still need some approvals,” Benger nods, “but I think this is exactly what she means to have us do. She’s already gotten Kluper a wooden sword, a toy shield, and a wooden dagger.”
“She’s already shown me a bit of how to use them,” Kluper adds, “I’ve liked that. She says that if I learn to protect myself, no one will ever be able to beat me like that again.”
“She’s very good at that part,” Loket agrees, “I’m just not entirely sure how well she can teach those skills.”
“She told me that I’m a little younger than her youngest sister, and she was teaching her youngest sister,” Kluper says.
“She mentioned that she’d been training all her younger siblings,” Benger agrees, “I know that I’d like to be as skilled as she is in quite a few things. I’ve just started learning one of her practice patterns, and I can already see how useful it would have been against those bandits.”
“I loved teaching them,” Emlyn says from the stairway, “As for that specific practice pattern, that’s partly the reason that I chose that one to teach you and Atres. It’s designed to handle multiple opponents, but it’s also one of the simpler ones I know. It’s short. It’s intended to end a fight quickly and decisively. It’s adaptable to using a shield instead of a second weapon. It doesn’t matter what weapon you use. It works well regardless of the weapon - sword, axe, or hammer. It’s not got any other uses to complicate it, like trying to take an opponent alive."
While the group is discussing the relative merits of the practice pattern Emlyn’s been teaching Benger and Atres, Ember shows up with his wife, Amalie.
“You must be Madam Ember,” Emlyn grins, “I’m so glad you’re here. Now I can thank you for letting me take so much of Master Ember’s time.”
Ember looks around curiously at the dwarves, so Emlyn makes introductions. “Allow me to make introductions. This is Papa Otrin, Papa Loket, Papa Gramin, and Papa Vorlig of Clan Rune Axe. This is Master and Madam Ember from Morrighu’s Temple.”
Smiling, Amalie hugs Emlyn. “I’m used to his occasional bouts of long hours,” Amalie sighs, “It comes with the territory.”
While Emlyn and Amalie chat, Ember braces himself mentally to face four sets of parents.
Frowning slightly in confusion, Ember looks at the four men, “Are all four of you her fathers?”
All four men nod. Ember thinks for a long moment, considering what to say.
“Do any of you have any objections to her service as a paladin of Morrighu?” Ember asks.
“Not at all,” Otrin shrugs, “We’ve discussed it at length. It seems that your Goddess is responsible for ensuring that she lives. We could hardly quibble with that. She was a paladin before, and we supported that decision even though it wasn’t our place to say either way, at the time. This Goddess seems to be much kinder to our Girlie than her old god, though given what happened, that might not be such a high bar for measuring such things. She’s taken the oaths to your Goddess, and we accept them.”
“Then why ask to speak with me?” Ember inquires.
“We want to get to know you,” Gramin says, “and get a sense of you. Our Girlie speaks highly of you, and we’d like to get to know all of the people she’ll be serving with. I hardly think that’s an odd request, considering the unusual circumstances. We’ve, all of us, have known Girlie since before she could walk. We’ve always been fond of her, and her mother arranged for us to adopt her if anything should ever happen to her, even if her father were still living. It seems that something’s happened, so we’re here to become her parents.”
Ember nods, but before he can speak, Loket leaps into the conversation.
“There are one or two other things you need to be aware of,” Loket adds, “She’s taken a page, and that will need to be worked out. We also plan to take her back to the Taig for a time. She needs time around familiar places and people. Time to rest and heal.”
“I can see where that would be beneficial,” Ember nods, “but it might interfere with some of the training she’s supposed to start doing and some of her other projects.”
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“I need to speak to you about that,” Emlyn grins, “It seems that both the Crown and the King’s Guard are interested in our expansion plans. Both might be willing and able to help us with all of these things, including some assistance from the Royal Stables to help with the overflow, so that we don’t need to expand our stables just yet. We’ll need to formalize an agreement with them for all of these expansions. In exchange, they’re asking for a one-year contract for my entire cohort.”
“The smithy expansion isn’t that helpful without better ores or better steel,” Ember says slowly, “I don’t want to contract all of you out, if it takes all of you away from these projects.”
“My forge-fathers think that they may be able to help us with the ore.” Emlyn explains, “and I’d still want to get agreement from the rest of the cohort, before I’d be willing to commit them to it. It doesn’t feel right to pledge for them without their permission.”
Emlyn outlines the terms that she’d outlined for Argonath.
“I haven’t gotten a reply back yet,” Emlyn shrugs, “but even if it’s only some help, it should make things far more affordable for the Temple. I’ve already warned Argonath that we’ve got a full slate for the coming year as it is. The prince is quite insistent, however, so I suppose we’ll see what terms they come back with.”
“Gods above! Even if you get just part of it, I think we can swing the rest of the potion expansion, which would fund the metals,” Ember grins, “That was well done.”
“I did learn a bit from my younger brother about business dealings. I told Argonath that I’d have to get approval from the Temple, the Goddess, and my cohort,” Emlyn shrugs, “so if they come with anything unreasonable or even just undesirable in the terms, we have a graceful way out of it. I haven’t made a binding commitment to anything.”
Ember nods thoughtfully. “I also need copies of the various oaths to be delivered to Argonath,” Emlyn adds, “Since violating or even skirting our oaths is out of the question for us. That’s to be included as part of the contract.”
“All of that seems quite reasonable,” Ember nods, “I can have a messenger deliver those to Argonath as soon as they’re back from the break.”
“I thought that might make it easier for the Temple to agree to this,” Emlyn explains, “if our oaths are specifically accounted for in the contract.”
“As for Kluper,” Ember frowns, “I really can’t allow him into the female dormitories of the Temple as things sit now. He’s young enough, right now, that most of the girls wouldn’t mind, but it won’t be long until he’s old enough that it will be an issue. He could live with the messengers, but it’s not what I consider an ideal solution. I’ll have to see what we can do for the two of you. Maybe move some things around to see if you can have some adjoining rooms.”
“I think I’d rather not have him in with the messengers,” Emlyn says, “They’re quite a bit older and I don’t want to see him getting picked on. I can also see some of the female clerics wanting female pages, so perhaps this is something we work out as part of the housing expansion.”
“Hmm…,” Ember muses, “I can see where that might be a long-term solution, but we’ll need a shorter-term solution until something like that is ready.”
“Maybe move around some of the storage rooms,” Emlyn shrugs, “I’d prefer that to putting him with the messengers, at least until he’s older. I spent a considerable amount of time in a converted storage room. Other than the lack of windows, low enough that you can see outside, they’re not so terrible. With the gardens and other areas of the Temple open, the windows aren’t such an issue.”
“Wanted to spend some time staring out the window, gathering wool, did you?” Ember grins.
“Hrmph,” Emlyn shoots back, “I should make you attend one of those catechism sessions so that you can see for yourself. What they’re teaching me isn’t exactly what I need to know to fulfill my office. I don’t need to understand how the conclave that decided we shouldn’t eat wolf, dog, crow, or raven reached that decision, what the various arguments were on both sides, or who put each one forward. I only need to know that this was the conclusion. It would be more useful if they taught me how to identify them on a plate or spit or prepared as food instead of how those decisions were made.”
“Hmm,” Ember nods, “I can see that and see why you, of all people, would be bored by that material.”
“I’d like to be able to eat with people, should they offer me food, without worrying about having to atone for it later,” Emlyn shrugs, “or having the food I’ve eaten interfere with my mission. Refusing food can be seen as quite hostile. Among the Cymry, everyone kept wine and bread at the door. That’s how you greeted your guests and offered them hospitality. Refusing the bread and wine at the door was a declaration of war. Your gatehouse might be pelted with wine-soaked bread if you made someone sufficiently angry, and if you didn’t want to continue the feud, everyone had to go out and pick it up and eat some of it. Among the dwarves, refusing the ale, bread, and salt that are part of the traditional greeting ritual is also a declaration of hostilities. I’m certain that other groups I will encounter will have similar ideas. I don’t want to make enemies where I don’t have to. Instead of babbling on about the intricacies of the theology, teach me what I need so that I can follow them to the best of my ability. I took the oaths. It’s clear, or at least I think it should be clear, based on my oaths, that I intend to follow the rules. Jettison some of the theology for some more practical training. It would be less boring and far more useful. There is one aspect of all these food-related things that I don’t understand, and no one has been able to explain it to my satisfaction. While the paladins, clerics, and mages have one set of food restrictions, the monks and priests have a very different set. No one’s been able to explain why or how that came about to me. Since we all worship the Goddess, shouldn’t we all be eating or not eating the same things?”
Laughing, Ember shrugs, “You’ve hit on one of the most glaring contradictions and a real theological conundrum, at least for the priests. The priests won’t like me saying this, but it’s because we were originally separate temples that merged. Our Goddess was worshipped in different places and ways very early in our history. One group, primarily consisting of monks and priests, led a very austere lifestyle. The other group, mostly comprised of paladins and mages, had a very different view and lifestyle, particularly since paladins, clerics, and mages tend to expend a lot more energy. Eating meat was one of the simpler ways to meet the physical training needs of the paladins and the massive expenditure of energy that magic requires. The paladins weren’t even separate from the clerics at the time, if that tells you how far back this goes. When the two merged into one temple, no one could agree, so each group kept their traditions, and that stopped the squabbling about who was more right.”
Plot Points of Note:
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The "Four Fathers" Problem: Master Ember had to mentally prepare himself to face the four Rune Axe Clan Fathers, all of whom claim Emlyn as their own. They’ve officially accepted her service to Morrighu, but they’re keeping a very sharp eye on her masters.
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The Potion Expansion: Emlyn is playing high-stakes politics, using interest from the Crown and the King’s Guard to fund the Temple’s expansion into potion making and smithing.
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Kluper’s Future: The boy is officially staying. Emlyn’s already gotten him a wooden sword and shield, teaching him that "if you learn to protect yourself, no one will ever be able to beat you like that again".
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Theological Tedium: Our girl is bored to tears by "catechism sessions" about ancient councils. She’d rather learn how to identify forbidden meat on a plate than hear about the arguments of long-dead priests.
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The Great Food Divide: We finally get the scoop on why the Temple has two sets of diets—it turns out it's the result of an ancient merger between a group of austere monks and meat-eating paladins who needed the energy for magic and training.
Atres Watch:
Rating: 3/5 Stone Tankards
The Tall Obstacle (Atres) didn't have much to do this chapter other than look pretty and be "patient". He’s still bonding with the "Lioness," but he’s currently being overshadowed by the political maneuvering and the arrival of the Embers. He needs to do something heroic soon, or I might start writing a poem about how he’s basically a very handsome piece of furniture.
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One Copper: For Master Ember, who had to face four protective dwarven dads at once.
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One Silver: To buy Kluper some actual whetstone for his wooden sword (even if it won't do much).
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One Gold: To get me a book on "How to Negotiate Like a Paladin" so I can finally get a better rate at the Onyx Tankard.