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( Disclaimer: This character is loosely inspired from the Oracle featured in the graphic novel/movie 300. The god Le'krysh is completely fictional in the sense that I made him up and is not any actual god featured in fiction or myth. )
She was named Sophie, in honor of a famous priestess she did not know.
The temples of Le'krysh were located on the old side of Rhy'din where they were popular for one reason: the temple girls. At the age of three, young girls were brought in to the temples, recruited by the priests to act as honored conduits between their world and the gods above. Only the most beautiful, pure, and pleasing were ushered from their parent's sides and into the stone temples. Although the parents were never allowed to see their children again, they were assured that their girls were given the utmost care and respect -- worthy of the gods who would be speaking through them.
Sophie was one of those girls. "You will live a life of great honor and joy," her mother cried with delight. Her father puffed out his chest and set his shoulders back, telling all his co-workers and drinking companions that his girl had been chosen as a servant for Le'krysh. His blood and flesh was going to speak with the very gods themselves!
What neither parent nor any parent who gave their daughters realized is that the gods were not kind.
From a young age, each girl was trained in the art of beauty, respect, and silence. Never speak unless spoken to, or the consequences would be harsh; never forget the care of ones body, for it was a sin. The priests explained with great admiration how each girl must provide only the best of themselves for the gods to use and enjoy. Often, the priests would 'test' the temple girls of their quality; fearing the punishment of the holy men, they would quietly allow themselves to be lead to the priest's night time chambers.
Sophie showed stubborn resistance. She was beaten for her smart mouth and locked away when she refused to play pet for the holy men like the other girls. However, on her fifteenth birthday, like all the other girls, she was brought into the heart of the temple. She was made a servant of the god Le'kyrsh.
Servitude was a considerate word; a more accurate one would be slavery. Chained to the temple walls, holy men and rich men alike would come to speak with the gods. She remembered quite clearly the first time. She, chained to the wall, the priest before her mumbling some ancient pray she did not understand; her naked body would go numb and the smell of incense and herbs seemed to go thick. Slowly, she began to feel something in her mind -- dark, clumsy fingers picking through her, going deeper until she was sure whatever it was ate at her very soul. It settled there, for minutes or hours. It spoke through her, pleased itself through her body or mind, gave questions or answers she did not understand. Every time, it hurt more.
But Sophie had not forgotten her resistance. She hadn't forgotten life outside the temples: the sky, the rain, or her mother's touch. There was no glamour in her life as promised; there was nothing but pain.
The priests were never sure how Sophie escaped. Perhaps some foolish holy man had thought to try and take her to his chambers for a more private communion with the gods above. All she left behind were pieces of his broken body; perhaps the gods had given her a taste for flesh since his muscles and organs had been hacked away. It didn't matter; they had bigger worries now.
The temples were burning. The priests were disappearing, showing up dead with their own prayers carved in their flesh. The girls were going free.
They beat her, used her, chained her, and forgot her.
She did not forget them.
( Disclaimer: This character is loosely inspired from the Oracle featured in the graphic novel/movie 300. The god Le'krysh is completely fictional in the sense that I made him up and is not any actual god featured in fiction or myth. )
She was named Sophie, in honor of a famous priestess she did not know.
The temples of Le'krysh were located on the old side of Rhy'din where they were popular for one reason: the temple girls. At the age of three, young girls were brought in to the temples, recruited by the priests to act as honored conduits between their world and the gods above. Only the most beautiful, pure, and pleasing were ushered from their parent's sides and into the stone temples. Although the parents were never allowed to see their children again, they were assured that their girls were given the utmost care and respect -- worthy of the gods who would be speaking through them.
Sophie was one of those girls. "You will live a life of great honor and joy," her mother cried with delight. Her father puffed out his chest and set his shoulders back, telling all his co-workers and drinking companions that his girl had been chosen as a servant for Le'krysh. His blood and flesh was going to speak with the very gods themselves!
What neither parent nor any parent who gave their daughters realized is that the gods were not kind.
From a young age, each girl was trained in the art of beauty, respect, and silence. Never speak unless spoken to, or the consequences would be harsh; never forget the care of ones body, for it was a sin. The priests explained with great admiration how each girl must provide only the best of themselves for the gods to use and enjoy. Often, the priests would 'test' the temple girls of their quality; fearing the punishment of the holy men, they would quietly allow themselves to be lead to the priest's night time chambers.
Sophie showed stubborn resistance. She was beaten for her smart mouth and locked away when she refused to play pet for the holy men like the other girls. However, on her fifteenth birthday, like all the other girls, she was brought into the heart of the temple. She was made a servant of the god Le'kyrsh.
Servitude was a considerate word; a more accurate one would be slavery. Chained to the temple walls, holy men and rich men alike would come to speak with the gods. She remembered quite clearly the first time. She, chained to the wall, the priest before her mumbling some ancient pray she did not understand; her naked body would go numb and the smell of incense and herbs seemed to go thick. Slowly, she began to feel something in her mind -- dark, clumsy fingers picking through her, going deeper until she was sure whatever it was ate at her very soul. It settled there, for minutes or hours. It spoke through her, pleased itself through her body or mind, gave questions or answers she did not understand. Every time, it hurt more.
But Sophie had not forgotten her resistance. She hadn't forgotten life outside the temples: the sky, the rain, or her mother's touch. There was no glamour in her life as promised; there was nothing but pain.
The priests were never sure how Sophie escaped. Perhaps some foolish holy man had thought to try and take her to his chambers for a more private communion with the gods above. All she left behind were pieces of his broken body; perhaps the gods had given her a taste for flesh since his muscles and organs had been hacked away. It didn't matter; they had bigger worries now.
The temples were burning. The priests were disappearing, showing up dead with their own prayers carved in their flesh. The girls were going free.
They beat her, used her, chained her, and forgot her.
She did not forget them.