FIC: Andrea's Story, cont.
May. 31st, 2007 08:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalMoving back to the present day...
425
Tez watched as Andrea bent her neck, peering inside the large plaster model of the town’s soon to be built Temple of Thanatos. A circular, domed structure with classic columns along its outer perimeter, the model was three paces in diameter, nearly the height of a man, and took up most of the ground floor of the Most Merciful Garvin’s current temple, a humble converted storefront off of the town’s main square.
“Well, this is certainly going to be… er… different when construction is completed,” she said. Andrea scratched at the base of her ponytail, angling her head to get between a pair of columns to look at the statue of Thanatos that occupied the center of the structure.
“How do you mean?” Maria asked, standing to one side. She’d insisted this morning that Andrea come down with her to view the model, currently being used as a reference for the legion of artisans and engineers laying the foundations for the real temple on the edge of town.
“Well, most of the Death temples I’ve seen tend to be a bit more, um, intimidating.”
“Oh yes, all that black marble,” Maria said, frowning.
“And skulls,” Tez added.
“Ravens, black and red tapestries, an overabundance of scythes in the frescoes,” Andrea said, then pointed to the plaster maquette in the center of the temple. “And isn’t Death usually portrayed as being male?”
“She seemed very much female to me when I privy to view Maria’s miracle,” Garvin said, slipping through the front door of the temple. “Of course we’re talking about what Maria and I perceived. Being a god and all, I imagine He or She could appear however she wished to her worshippers.”
“And of course the statue that’s going to be built is being made to resemble the sketches I made of Her,” Maria concluded.
“I see,” Andrea said, pulling her head out of the temple and wincing as she straightened up. “Have you actually spoken to any Death Priests in the major cities about what you’re putting together? I’m sure they’d absolutely love to see this interpretation of Thanatos you’ve got planned.”
Tez shared a brief glance with Maria and Garvin before replying, “The major temples have found reason to leave this project alone, at least for now.”
The old half-elf grinned. “Eh? Which one of those grey crows did you bribe?”
“No bribes were involved, but we did have a priest overcome by a remarkable fit of piety,” he told her. “At any rate, no objections have been sent our way.”
“Lucky you.” Tez remained close to her, while Maria pulled Garvin over to one side so they could go over the details of the bas relief detailing that was going to ring the rim of the temple’s roof. “Tez,” she said softly, “has it occurred to you that there’s something extraordinary going on with Maria over there.”
He shrugged. “She was the recipient of a miracle. By definition that’s extraordinary.”
“That’s not what I meant. All right, it’s related, but not in any way that makes sense.” Andrea reached up to tug at a collar that she hadn’t worn in centuries, an old nervous tic. “She was barren and then made fertile, by Death. I’m no theologian, but by anyone’s measure that’s a miracle of the Lifebringer. Somebody up there is mixing up their areas of responsibility.”
“Arguably it’s a tradeoff,” Tez countered. “She did sacrifice half of her own life for the privilege.”
“Well yes, but Death gets everybody in the end, except you. Why should he-she-it bother making a Half Up Front deal?”
“More souls to harvest later?” he speculated.
“Mmm, that still doesn’t make sense. Death takes souls, it doesn’t try to increase the number it gets. That just seems too, er, materialistic for an incorporate manifestation of entropy.”
“A point,” he agreed. Then he frowned. “I wonder what sort of deal the Lifebringer would have given her.”
Andrea snorted cynically. “Better than she got, I’m betting.”
TBC - Next time: Tez gets a haircut
425
Tez watched as Andrea bent her neck, peering inside the large plaster model of the town’s soon to be built Temple of Thanatos. A circular, domed structure with classic columns along its outer perimeter, the model was three paces in diameter, nearly the height of a man, and took up most of the ground floor of the Most Merciful Garvin’s current temple, a humble converted storefront off of the town’s main square.
“Well, this is certainly going to be… er… different when construction is completed,” she said. Andrea scratched at the base of her ponytail, angling her head to get between a pair of columns to look at the statue of Thanatos that occupied the center of the structure.
“How do you mean?” Maria asked, standing to one side. She’d insisted this morning that Andrea come down with her to view the model, currently being used as a reference for the legion of artisans and engineers laying the foundations for the real temple on the edge of town.
“Well, most of the Death temples I’ve seen tend to be a bit more, um, intimidating.”
“Oh yes, all that black marble,” Maria said, frowning.
“And skulls,” Tez added.
“Ravens, black and red tapestries, an overabundance of scythes in the frescoes,” Andrea said, then pointed to the plaster maquette in the center of the temple. “And isn’t Death usually portrayed as being male?”
“She seemed very much female to me when I privy to view Maria’s miracle,” Garvin said, slipping through the front door of the temple. “Of course we’re talking about what Maria and I perceived. Being a god and all, I imagine He or She could appear however she wished to her worshippers.”
“And of course the statue that’s going to be built is being made to resemble the sketches I made of Her,” Maria concluded.
“I see,” Andrea said, pulling her head out of the temple and wincing as she straightened up. “Have you actually spoken to any Death Priests in the major cities about what you’re putting together? I’m sure they’d absolutely love to see this interpretation of Thanatos you’ve got planned.”
Tez shared a brief glance with Maria and Garvin before replying, “The major temples have found reason to leave this project alone, at least for now.”
The old half-elf grinned. “Eh? Which one of those grey crows did you bribe?”
“No bribes were involved, but we did have a priest overcome by a remarkable fit of piety,” he told her. “At any rate, no objections have been sent our way.”
“Lucky you.” Tez remained close to her, while Maria pulled Garvin over to one side so they could go over the details of the bas relief detailing that was going to ring the rim of the temple’s roof. “Tez,” she said softly, “has it occurred to you that there’s something extraordinary going on with Maria over there.”
He shrugged. “She was the recipient of a miracle. By definition that’s extraordinary.”
“That’s not what I meant. All right, it’s related, but not in any way that makes sense.” Andrea reached up to tug at a collar that she hadn’t worn in centuries, an old nervous tic. “She was barren and then made fertile, by Death. I’m no theologian, but by anyone’s measure that’s a miracle of the Lifebringer. Somebody up there is mixing up their areas of responsibility.”
“Arguably it’s a tradeoff,” Tez countered. “She did sacrifice half of her own life for the privilege.”
“Well yes, but Death gets everybody in the end, except you. Why should he-she-it bother making a Half Up Front deal?”
“More souls to harvest later?” he speculated.
“Mmm, that still doesn’t make sense. Death takes souls, it doesn’t try to increase the number it gets. That just seems too, er, materialistic for an incorporate manifestation of entropy.”
“A point,” he agreed. Then he frowned. “I wonder what sort of deal the Lifebringer would have given her.”
Andrea snorted cynically. “Better than she got, I’m betting.”
TBC - Next time: Tez gets a haircut
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Date: 2007-06-01 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-01 08:46 am (UTC)