Matriarch: Prayer

The three empyrians laid in a pile. They were exhausted from all their digging and the games they created while they were doing it, so they rested in a heap. Their minds wandered and they contemplated who they could help without doing so much manual labour. It didn’t take them long to all come to the same conclusion. Prayer. 

“Do you think we could make an altar, or should we find one?” Aule asked as if knowing they were all on the same page. 

“We could probably find one,” Griffith said, staring at the dark ceiling, “We can’t be the only ones looking to do something less… intensive.”

Oeric let the two older friends talk while he stayed on his back, looking at the upside-down cavern. He tried to find an altar or a group that would likely pray to Empyria like they would. His eyes bounced between groups of reoseans but he found it impossible to tell who they all believed in. At one point, he spied a group of reoseans that looked soft, but he quickly learned not to make assumptions when the group made their way to an Oris altar. 

“The problem will be finding something not dedicated to Oris,” Oeric said. 

Griffith and Aule paused and glanced around the cavern. It was clear Oris was preferred over Empyria. The three had an inkling of why that was, but history was at the bottom of their interests, so they could only guess. 

“You’re right,” Aule sighed. 

“We could try offering something to Oris,” Griffith suggested instead. 

“Might as well,” Oeric agreed from his position on the ground. 

The three were in agreement, yet none of them moved. They were too tired. The trio continued to lounge on the ground, staring at the coloured light from the crystals fade into darkness near the top of the cavern. The colours rotated, flickered, and rippled across the black stones around them. They weren’t certain how long they laid there for, but eventually Oeric sat up. 

“We should get going,” Oeric said with a sigh. 

Griffith and Aule mumbled their agreement as they sat up and stretched. 

The three friends wandered to a red and gold altar. The stone structure had ribbons of red crystals weaving around it, and it was further decorated with red and gold artifacts. They stood next to it, thinking about what to offer. They wouldn’t normally pray to Oris, but then they wouldn’t normally pray to any god. 

“We could offer some crystals,” Oeric lamely suggested, looking at all the colours around them. 

“No, we need something more in tune with him,” Griffith rejected the idea, though it was clear Oeric thought the same thing. 

“How about some gold?” Aule wondered. 

“Yeah, we have nothing else,” Oeric agreed. 

Griffith nodded his head, and the three pulled out a small pouch of trinkets. The items in the pouch ranged from ore to more valuable small statues or jewelry. 

Oeric went first. He pulled out a golden chain, stepped forward, and placed it on the altar. In his head, he whispered a few words asking for Oris to help his Chosen by any means. He created a mantra in his head and repeated it over and over again until he was satisfied. 

Aule didn’t hesitate when Oeric stepped back to the group. He placed a small piece of gold ore on the altar. He bowed his head and asked for Oris to assist the Matriarch. In the back of his mind, he doubted this would do anything, but on the off chance it would, he prayed. He asked Oris to accept his offering of gold and help the haedians. Silence enveloped him so he opened his eyes and stepped back. 

Griffith was the last to step up to the altar. He placed a few gold coins. They were shiny and sparkled like they were new. He hoped it would be worth something to the god. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, asking for Oris’ attention. His prayer wasn’t silent, he mumbled the words he was thinking, though they were unintelligible to anyone listening.

When Griffith was finished, he stepped back to his other friends. They all watched the altar expecting something magical to happen, like the offerings would glow or shimmer, something that would let them know it was acknowledged. When nothing happened, the trio sighed and turned to one another. 

“Well that was a bust,” Griffith deadpanned. 

“We don’t know that,” Aule countered, trying to keep an open mind. 

“Whatever, we should look for something else to do,”  Oeric added. 

They all agreed they would go find Cailu to see if there was something else they could do to help. They hoped it wouldn’t require digging, but they also would put aside their exhaustion to dig if it was truly needed. 

[806]