maelekai.
“Why this is grand,” Maelekai muttered to no one in particular as he stood lost on the outskirts of camp, muddied green eyes fixed on what seemed to be 4 houses enclosing a square of sorts. “I must be a loon, imagining things. But here I am, right where the mad faerie told me it’d be.” He stood there, part of his weight propped up by his ornate quarterstaff, the rest balanced onto his left foot. His curly brown mane of hair seemed to envelop his gaunt bearded face, ready to swallow even the navy-blue scarf it lightly rested on. He wore a simple leather jacket with a grey v-neck peaking out from underneath. His stalky legs barely filled out the worn out denim jeans he wore, and his leather boots seemed to compliment their age well. Even so moderately dressed, the frigid Norwegian air didn’t seem to bother him much. He seemed lost in his thoughts, but only for a few moments before he shifted his lanky, towering form. “Bloody gods and demis…. it could still be a tall-tale yet.” Maelekai began his entrance into camp, slowly shifting his gaze from the houses ahead to what seemed like the small village to their right. “Full up with kindred souls, descendants of the gods, the works. Or so Hermes said at least.” Hermes… Everyone knows of the Greek myths, but how daft must Mael have been to have uprooted his life to give this “tall-tale” a try. A life fret with such mundane troubles and an estranged family. “But I suppose it was worth giving a chance, not like I had much going for me back home.” As he makes his way into the camp proper, breaching the aforementioned square, Maelekai looks for the nearest signs of the divine. Realizing he had no idea where to begin, he reasons it’d be best to search for someone outside, before rushing into anyone’s home. With a calm gait, he made his way towards what seemed to be some kind of hall of some sort, with a lake as its backdrop, hopeful that he would encounter somebody as he wandered aimlessly around. And the fates be with him, as soon a form exits the building, Maelekai already waving them down with a beeming smile and a bright enthusiasm. “Hi, hello! How are ya? Mind helping a poor soul out?”
Everything about Mount Olympus was still freshly new to Loreto. The nymphs, satyrs, centaurs, and other magical beasts flying around were probably some of the most shocking things. Then he saw fire coming from Nomiki’s shop, potions that did wondrous things, and countless of other instances that he couldn’t explain. Exploring the camp didn’t make things easier either because then he had to face the hard truth. He was a catholic priest in a camp full of people that claimed others as gods and goddesses. That claimed he came from one of those goddesses.
As he was trying to come to terms with everything again, almost as if he was going through the steps of exposure therapy, he stumbled upon someone else. Their style was different from what he was used to, but it was put together. Loreto’s head titled as he stepped closer to the stranger, already curious as to what their story was. “There’s no soul that’s poor, everyone is rich for different reasons.” Now was not the time for him to get up on his soap box and start giving homily.
He moved his hand up to scratch the back of his neck. “I’m doing well, how about yourself? I don’t know how much help I could be, but I’ll always offer it.” The man smiled softly as he stepped closer to the other male. “I’m Loreto by the way. I promise to do the best that I can.” Although he was pretty new around these woods, so that might have led to getting them both lost.
Nay a poor soul? Maelekai was caught off guard, not expecting such a... religious reply. It reminded him of his mother, but she was a hardlined Catholic. This man standing before him, supposedly in a camp of Greek gods seemed almost comical, ironic at the least. Mael gave an amused look as he replied, “A poor soul is to be had wit such a hard world to shelter ‘em. Is not like a shepherd is around to herd ‘em anymore.” He was testing the “holy” waters– maybe our stranger was just a kind soul. Or maybe he was a former devotee. Would be a gas to see the latter.
“My name’s Maelekai, and I’m a bit knackered, was quite a leg up here but I’ll manage,” he replied, glancing back the way he came. As if to emphasize his point, he leaned onto his staff once more, leaning his right foot onto the tip of its toes as his long locks shuffled into place. He wasn’t quite expecting a show of the divine to just reveal itself to him, but everything here screamed of the ordinary so far. “I’m sure ya can manage to be of aide. I was told to visit regarding some... legends of yore. Not sure how much to ride with or if the man who told me was short a shilling or two but it was a worth a look. Can ya explain to me how this place works?” gesturing with his free arm in a wide arc around him to the camp.
He had a friendly smile on him as he talked, a welcoming demeanor overall. But to a wizened eye, it was obvious he was putting on a bit of a face. A strange new land requires a bit of an act to match, wouldn’t you say?











