[D4EE] A long due offering

[Moto Mitsuki]

"It's complicated. The Ujik have no sacred book, no central school for their priests, nothing to centralize and standardize their myths and religious practices. A lot of their beliefs are still consistent from north to south and west to east. But other very much depends on the storyteller.

And everything regarding the guardians of death very much fall down in the second category. Each village has its own variant. Sometimes Erlik is basically an evil demon. Other times he is a harsh but fair judge. He can be one of the most important gods, second only to the sun and moon. Or barely more than a servant of the Lords of Death.

My own theory is that very little is actually known about the inner workings of the sacred frontier between life and death, and that from this mystery sprout a thousand groundless legends."

Mitsuki smiled:

"That's a lot of words to just say: Emma-O keeps his secrets well."

[Kitsu Murato]

Murato listens intently, quite interested in the explanation. "That is a completely confusing system. Fascinating. I really need to learn more about Moto religious ideology." He returned the smile.

"The spirits I see never seem keen on sharing what they know, or simply remember nothing. I don't think asking more will turn anything up."

[Suzume Senseki]

The Sparrow thanks the Kitsu for his approval of his story humbly, and follows their conversation closely, but in silence. It's no surprise that a Sparrow would be interested in stories - even, or perhaps even more so, those from people from far away. He either doesn't feel he has much to contribute, or doesn't feel that more questions would help, though.

So, for now, he just pays attention.

[Moto Mitsuki]

Mitsuki took note of the silent observers. Keeping or breaking their silence was their decision alone however, so she continued exchanging with the Kitsu:

"Do you wish to tell us more about your own experiences with the spirits Kitsu-sama? Quite rare are the persons not trained in the priestly arts that can fully perceive them.

I am myself but a learner in that regard: If I can sometimes feel the spirits, I've yet to see them with my eyes or hear them with my ears outside of some special, extreme circumstances, of the variety that leaves oneself with confused, imprecise memories."

[Kitsu Murato]

He nods at that. "I can do that. I have a good number of experiences. Thou even when you can observe them normally, some still influence your perception, sometimes in uncomfortable ways. I had one animal spirit that, well, it wasn't malicious, but it seemed to be intentionally annoying. It crawled about my head trying to find a place to rest and it would put it's paws over my eyes from time to time. It didn't feel like it had weight, but it had a burdensome feeling to it," he explained.

"I believe it was actually from sakkaku and just felt like tormenting me for a while because it was offended I could see it."

[Moto Mitsuki]

Mitsuki thought about that and spontaneously whispered something in Ujik before providing the translation aloud just after:

"A blind person cannot be dazzled by the sun.

One of the many idioms I've heard during my travels, and one of those I'm not sure how to interpret. But I'll hazard it means that within every curse a blessing, and within every blessing a curse."

In this case, I guess the price to pay for being able to see the spirits is to not be able to pretend you don't see them. And while it would have made for a good story if you had managed to trick a trickster into believing you didn't know it was there, that it ended up being simply annoying instead of actively harmful already make for a good ending."

[Kitsu Murato]

"Well, it would have been difficult to trick them," he says with a chuckle. "I trip over my own feet when I have both eyes open. You saw it on the trip here a couple times. Without seeing? I may as well have just crawled on my belly like a snake if I tried to hide that I couldn't see."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Maybe your clumsiness is the work of other spirits, the like of which you cannot see, also playing tricks on you, as some sort of vengeance for their visible friends? Did you ask your family about it?"

[Kitsu Murato]

"I did. My father said it's not uncommon in his own line. He apparently grew out of it as a child, and I'm not so fortunate," he says with a shrug. "So I simply need to work extra hard to improve myself and overcome my limitations. I'm not averse to a little hard work."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"I feel like your last sentence applies to all of us really. No one's perfect, but we're working hard at becoming at least better.

On that I think it's time for us to slow down on the digressions and to go back to town if you don't wish to miss the beginning of the play. The Sovereigns of Death are more prompt to manifest their wrath than their appreciation, but since no wind untied our khadag while we were talking, it shows they have at least accepted our gift."

A look in the direction of a horse that seemed quite bored, having nibbled to death a bush and about to take on the next one.

"I don't feel Avel in a good enough mood for two riders tonight, so you'll have to walk to boot."