#Imsuretherearemoretagstouse

[ellowynbeimler]

Dec 21

Dear Dad,

Despite the fact that I've barely been able to help or do anything more than sit around, one of the priestesses at the temple must have felt bad for me because she let me do some of the dusting that needs doing.

So the temple is pretty small, apparently tiny from what I understand, so most of the alters and stuff are in rooms about the size of broom closets with little doors that close behind people. Some of the closets, as a result, are not opened for months, so they get pretty dusty. 

So, I got to go around on the topmost floor, which is mainly filled with gods and goddesses of the sky and light, and are also up like 8 flights of stairs, and dust everything so the alters would be clean for the festivities. 

The priestess I talked to said that this festival was one of the few nearly universally practiced. It's pretty similar across the continent. 

The first evening will be mostly people drinking, dancing, and festivalling through the night, eating various festival foods, and then, in the darkest depth of the night, watching the play about the origin of the world and deities. From there, the little ones are put to bed, and there's even more festivaling and people leaving offerings on the various alters. Most will be left on the altar of the patron god of this city, but people hoping for specific things, love, success, etc., will leave their sacrifices on the alters of the deities who are most likely to provide for them. 

I don't know if there's a god of portals, but I've got a couple days to look for them and see if they'll help us. 

The second day is all about the different other gods. Then more festivities and sacrifices. Then, the third day is about this area, the fourth is about whatever god is the patron here, and the fifth and final night is about the temple and city itself. Then, more festivities, with the morning of the fifth day all about praying to the gods and resting. 

Then, clean up for however long that takes. So that's going to be pretty neat. I mean, I'm not going to drink, so I'll probably have a harder time sleeping those nights, but I doubt anyone will bother me if I want to sleep in. 

So there I was, making sure that I was carefully dusting everything because just because I don't really believe in these gods doesn't mean I'm going to risk messing up the alters. When I found Zunair in one of the somewhat cleaner ones. 

I wasn't expecting him, mostly cause I thought he was over at the bard hall or working a corner or something. 

I think I startled him as much as he startled me because we both jumped, and he yelled at me a little. He had his instrument, a small stack of papers, and what I'm pretty sure was my spare pen. 

I asked him what he was doing there, and he said he was trying to come up with a new song. He thought it might be a good thing to give up, a sacrifice. I asked him if he thought a sacrifice would help us get home, and he said it couldn't hurt for us to try. We'd seen some weird, amazing, really out-there stuff, and we knew someone was magically healing people. It seemed related to the temples, so maybe it was gods or other beings like gods. Maybe they'd answer our prayers even though there were sure to be so many other people praying. 

I hid myself away with him in the room. Zunair's obsession with music wasn't something I hadn't heard from him or for him before, and I was curious. I asked him about it, and I figured it would be something he was just picking up, something passing like the magic for me, something to do here that could make a little money if he was half decent at it. 

Zunair told me about his mom. His mother used to play and sing to him when he was little, and Zunair wanted to learn to play, too. He told me about her incredible singing voice and how she'd bring any room alive with music. He'd learned how to play a little bit from here while growing up, but when he tried to pick up her guitar after she passed, he thought his father was going to have an aneurysm. 

He didn't, and Zunair hadn't tried again. The pain of that interaction, the memory of his mom playing, had been too much for a long time. 

But here, he missed his mom, and this was something he could do to remember her that wasn't hurting anyone and wouldn't make his dad cry.

And here, and now, where he wasn't home, and he still missed his mom, and where he wasn't home and just had to be here, more or less alone with the pain he felt and the loneliness, he could try it again. So he was. 

It makes sense to me now why the other Bard Hall let him in so easily then and why he was putting so much of himself and his focus into it now. He needs something to focus on, just like I did, do. His just happens to be music.

I hugged him and told him I'd help cover with the others if he wanted help at the apartment. It's nice for him to do, and he has been getting a lot better. 

I dusted around him and left him to keep working on the song. I'm sure it'll be something. I can't say good. I really don't think it will be, but it'll be from the heart, and I think that'll make it good enough. 

And maybe the gods will appreciate something new and made from the heart. 

Thankfully, there weren't any other surprises while dusting. But it was still so exhausting that I napped for a little while, waiting for Riley to finish whatever her tasks for the day were. 

Reese gave me a piggyback on the way to the apartment, which is probably for the best because I'm not sure I would have been able to make my way up the stairs. There aren't many, but it would have been too many for me. 

This weakness is just the worst. 

I hate it.

I don't think much else worth talking about happened. Grace helped clean up the pools on the bottom floor of the temple, and Zunair told me he was much closer to being done with his song, which is also great. 

Overall, it was a good day, and I got to hang out with Zunair and get to know him a little better, which was a surprise and a pleasant one at that. 

Good night, Dad. I hope you're sleeping okay and that you haven't had to spend too much of the time I've been gone on cases. Or maybe you have, so you're not too worried about me.

Love, Jack

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