Daughter of Flies
Dawn of 91 Y.Az. Second Week of Morningbird
Captain Madēna brought a child to our blessed Temple of Nui today. He tells me the girl is the only survivor of a horrendous and deadly raid to a nearby village. All the other inhabitants were long dead and burned by the time they arrived, some piled in shallow graves left open so the beasts could feast on the corpses.
I have taken custody of the child. She does not speak or even look at me, but the Captain tells me her name is Lēlna. She is malnourished and clearly haunted by her memories so recently acquired, but here she has food, safety and comfort. I hope with time she will recover.
Dawn of 91 Y.Az. Third Week of Morningbird
The new girl, Lēlna, remains quiet and distant from everyone at the temple, children and adults alike. Her silence, as I have learned, is wholly by choice, however.
When she first arrived here we bathed her to clean her of the ash and muck and rotten odor. She fought us every step of the process, screamed and fought and near scratched an eye out of one of the servants. Maggots had infested the poor girl's hair, but she did not stop to let us remove them.
I feared it may have been due to pain from some injury, so I gave her some tears of weeping leaf in her water. She fell asleep quickly enough and we carefully shaved her head. Maggots crawled from her thick, black hair in hives and onto the floor. Smell of rot permeated the room, but we saw no injury on her.
I now believe her to have been simply overwhelmed by the entire situation, but it was not as if I could have simply left her in that state.
Height of 91 Y.Az. First Week of the Builder
Captain Madēna paid us a visit on his way back to the Upper Valley. The raids have been getting worse since Sō-Thadi Tēhlebao's injury and retreat, but the captain hopes the tides will turn before next year.
He spent some time playing with the children in the gardens, and to my surprise Lēlna joined them. She only stood and watched the others, but smiled when the captain went to greet her.
Dusk of 91 Y.Az. Third Week of Harvest
Autumn has arrived and the children have been excited for the traditional festival arranged by the townspeople. With how rarely they get to go outside the temple walls, I am not surprised.
We also have two new arrivals. Lēlna, of all people, has been getting to know one of them, a boy named Saelyawa. I admit I was surprised, but it was good to see her engage with another person, even someone as...troubled as Saelyawa.
Dusk of 91 Y.Az. Second Week of the Mother
Saelyawa is gone. I knew him to be the rebellious type, sneaking off and outside the walls in the night. He always came back and caused no trouble outside of it, so I let it go...until two mornings ago when he did not come to the morning meal.
Lēlna was his only friend, and seems to have returned to her quiet ways once more. I have instructed the temple guards to continue their search and even extend it if need be. Meanwhile I must seek guidance from the blessed Nui. The boy was under my care and I failed him.
Dawn of 96 Y.Az. First Week of Veiled Moth
Clouds have come early this year, and the rains are upon us once more. Lately our temple has become a silent place. We are so very close to the Upper Valley, and the faithless wildmen take advantage of our planting season by attacking undefended villages. Some fear for Niwīnu as well, despite the presence of our temple of the blessed Nui.
But there is another problem, one I am hesitant to bring up to anyone, even the temple guards. There have been a good few disappearances in the past few years, only one or two at a time and some may not in truth be disappearances at all, as some of these individuals were planning to escape the fighting downriver.
Dawn of 96 Y.Az. Third Week of the Shieldbearer
Another group of children have gained the title of novice this year. I am proud to see them bloom under the hallowed light of Nui, and the extra hands will no doubt help the temple servants.
Lēlna has been increasingly difficult since before the last year's end. Today, again, she has come to me after breaking the wrist of one of her fellow novices. Her story and that of others is the same as ever. One moment she is quiet, gloomy but at least she works with others. The next she becomes...something else. Wild and aggressive. Violent.
There is a hatred in her, a rage every time she looks at me or some of the servants. I fear that darkness she has carried since her arrival has come to control her. Even the other novices are afraid of her. I have tried everything, even reached out to others in nearby temples. Nothing seems to help.
Height of 96 Y.Az. Second Week of the Second Son
The fiends have set fire on our holy temple! We awoke in the middle of the night to thundering yells and had little time to do anything but run. The younger children are alright, thank the Stars, but some of the novices are missing. Presumably the smoke and heat got to them before anyone could help.
I used to pity the highland barbarians for their false beliefs, but this attack I cannot forgive. We have sought shelter from the woods and downriver, small groups all heading in different directions. Thankfully Captain Madēna and his men, who were resting in town before the attack, know how to survive in the wild woods. I myself am far more suited to the civility of the temple and its archives.
The night has brought with it cooler winds. I try and find comfort in the little things, such as the mild weather. Were we faced with a storm in these conditions we would surely perish. But with or without mild weather, I cannot bring myself to rest. There are too many things lurking in the night, and not only the wildmen upriver. Even Madēna, for all his efforts, cannot help me in this.
Height of 96 Y.Az. Third Week of the Second Son
The temple, while mostly of wood, has survived well enough to become temporary habitations for us until something more permanent can be established. Though I should be relieved, I cannot quite look at it the same way, now.
Despite our circumstances, Novice Lēlna has once again found a way to cause us trouble. The girl keeps disappearing in all hours of the night even as I try to tell her how important it is that we stay together, especially now. She may hate me all she desires, but that will not stop me from worrying over her safety.
I have asked the Captain to look after her and follow the next time she leaves the temple. I do not even know how she does it. I remember Madēna being friendly with her in the past, perhaps the girl remembers as well.
Height of 96 Y.Az. First Week of the Builder
The girl's gone mad. We found her over some improvised shrine in a ruined, half-rotten storehouse near one of the unused fields. She was standing over Madēna's body. I wondered why he hadn't returned, but this I never suspected. He had been cut, over and over, though the blood had long since dried over his clothes and sapped into the ground beneath him. Instead his wounds, eyes, face...they were alive with maggots, writhing and crawling as they devoured his corpse.
The way Lēlna screamed once the temple guards apprehended her was no different from a beast. She thrashed and fought and yelled, but only when she noticed me did her eyes return with that fiery hatred she had harbored for years on end. But it was her words which confused me. "You! You're going to kill them again!" I did not understand what she meant, not until she continued.
"You washed and washed until they drowned and now you're doing it again! You cut my hair so they wouldn't have a home, and now you'll burn their new one!"
Height of 96 Y.Az. Second Week of the Builder
The judgement of Lēlna has been quickly decided. In the midst of our scorned Temple of Nui the highest of us gathered. I remained silent, even as they decided there was nothing they could do to help her, except to cleanse her soul through fire so her next life would be easier.
The others believe some creature, perhaps one of the Old Gods the wildmen worship, enthralled Lēlna to the point she had no choice but to obey and feed those insects with the blood and flesh of Celestials' chosen people.
When the girl was informed of this decision, her hate finally turned to fear. But her words chilled me, for only then I saw how right the others had been in their words. "You cannot burn me", she pleaded desperately, "they do not like charred meat."
in the Niwīnu Temple of Nui
Comments