Peek: Examples

Vera smiles as she sits in a pew with the other followers of Lord Thedeim. Her husband, Heno, gives the sermon, and she'd feel worse about leaving it to him if he wasn't so good at it. And if she could stand for the hour it generally takes.

She can feel the little ones moving, her litter close to coming into the world. It's strange to think she's not even a year older than they are, but she likes to think it's just another miracle from Lord Thedeim that the ratkin and indeed all the dwellers feel so complete. She's actually asked the High Priestess about that, and she says it's something about Sanctuaries in general, not only Lord Thedeim.

Though having three full enclaves at only just over a year is definitely a Lord Thedeim thing. She smiles and reminisces as her husband speaks, knowing what he's going to say because she helped him rehearse. It's been such a unique journey to get here, and she finds herself thankful for every step of the path.

The ascension from denizen to dweller feels fuzzy, like she imagines childhood memories must be. The gentle guiding love of Lord Thediem, obstacles that seem so simple now, yet seemed almost insurmountable then, finding purpose, finding love. Her gaze lingers on her husband, feeling so blessed to have him, just as he feels blessed to have her. She recalls the fear when he said he wanted to go help destroy the Maw and liberate Silvervein.

If she wasn't pregnant, she'd have joined in as well. Instead, she had her own struggles as Heno trained, trying to cope with the fear of losing him. They even had a fight about it, when she insisted Lord Thedeim didn't want nor did he probably need his help! But Heno was right: if he could make any difference, he'd offer it anyway, even at the cost of his life.

She still thanks Lord Thedeim every day that her Heno was able to return safe and sound. Not everyone was so lucky. There is bittersweet solace in knowing they're still with Him in the afterlife. She misses the departed, and is proud of their bravery, even as she's so relieved Heno was able to come back to her.

Even if he had an even crazier idea once he returned. Leave Lord Thedeim's enclave and go to Silvervein? Did the Harbinger scramble his brain?! His reason for wanting to go back was just so... Heno, she probably should have guessed. Silvervein was rudderless without the Maw, and without some good examples to follow, they might continue down that path of their own will this time!

She had never thought about trying to spread Lord Thedeim's ideals, but it sounded like Silvervein really needed it, and that was only confirmed once she and Heno came back. The Shield had been keeping order well enough, as had High Priestess Aranya. She had been building a small following, but she was preoccupied with helping the kobolds. She only had so much time in the day, so Vera can hardly blame her. But it did show that there was a need to help guide the general townsfolk, a need she and her husband have been trying to fill ever since.

And as she looks around the small temple, she thinks they're doing a good job. Every day, there's a new face in the crowd. Some never return, but more often than not, they come back and find the interpersonal connections that people really need to thrive. Their outreach efforts are proving a great success, too, enough that they might need to expand if they want to have the room for everyone.

The sermons are popular, sure, but the real draw for new faces is from the classes and other training. Lord Thedeim works with his territory to challenge everyone, not only the rugged adventurers. He forces delvers to look at things at a new angle, encouraging even the civilian classes to learn at least to defend themselves. Classes may not be so restrictive as people often think of them.

How many Priestesses have solid knife fighting skills? She didn't, and neither did her husband, until they started the class outreach classes. She's pretty sure Unsil only dabbled in knives before he started teaching the classes, helping them out and showing the people that two different churches can cooperate. With him leading the training, he quickly saw how many cooking classes had knife bonuses, so he started focusing on those. And though Lord Thedeim seems to prefer spears, in the tunnels and caverns of Silvervein, a knife or a dagger is just so much easier to use.

She quietly oofs as she feels one of the little ones kick, and rests a hand on her belly to try to help calm them down. Will they learn knife skills some day? Perhaps. She hopes her children will only ever have to use them on denizens or maybe stagnation monsters, but you can never tell.

She imagines Lord Thedeim must have felt the same about when the enclaves declared their intention to join the fight. She'd want to keep them safe and away from such things... but such things are just too big a part of the world to try to isolate from. She'll need to try to follow His example and prepare her children as well as she can.

After they grow up. It's all well and good to let them out into the world once they're old enough, but it's a mother's prerogative to protect her babies from the harsher aspects of reality while they're young.

So she sits and smiles at her husband as he speaks to the congregation, idly imagining the future she wants for their children, knowing she and her husband both will do all in their power to give them the best they can. Just another example from Lord Thedeim she intends to follow.