Going With the Flow
[open thread! mission board: prologue - faith +1]
Saint Seiros has come to town! The lady herself! Lucky! Azama’s heard she's a real looker, too, and truth be told he isn't surprised.
Who in their right mind, after all, would willingly worship some ugly old hag?
He bides his time, filtering about the crowd that's drawn up on Garreg Mach's doorstep in anticipation of their most beloved saint. The impressive gall of this lady! Certainly, she's got stones. She isn't here yet, but rumour has it she's not far off from arriving.
"Hear ye, hear ye!" he shouts to the crowd, enjoying how they part slightly as he commands their attention, if briefly. "Our lady! Our Saint Seiros! She will arrive shortly to gladden our souls and ease our hearts."
Hat in his grip flips upside down, tendered to those nearby.
"Wilt you show your gratitude? Forget not, even a living legend requires funds to spread the good word. Alms for the lady? Alms for your saint?"
He shakes the hat emphatically. He's gotten a few donations already. Wow! This lady's followers are a special kind of sucker, huh!
Going With the Flow
slaughterdolly:
No matter how Peri looks at it, she still thinks the castles and mansions back in Nohr are hundreds times prettier than the dull Garreg Mach Monastery!
She truly believes nothing fun or exciting ever happens here. Sometimes her training is fun as long as she’s using a weapon, and the occasional sparring is nice too, but it’s rare that anyone wants to do some sparring with her! She can’t help but wonder why that would be. Lame!
Waltzing through the Monastery, she expected nothing less than another uneventful day where she’ll probably get scolded later.. but to her surprise, today may be going just a bit differently.
Her attention was quickly drawn to the loud fellow who was on the Monastery’s doorstep - How come that guy doesn’t get in trouble for being loud!? This isn’t fair to Peri!
Her attention was definitely piqued, speeding her way to the noise in curiosity - whatever it was, it would definitely be worth skipping a bit of training.. she’s sure her instructor wouldn’t mind!
“Ohh..” Peri ogled as sweet coin was dropped in the hat the man in front of her was holding, tilting her head, intrigued!
“Hey, mister! Why are they giving away money to you? Are you poor?” Peri questioned innocently, looking up at the monk with a beaming eye.
The sound of coin landing in his silly floppy hat made him so very giddy. People were so easily fooled… Truly, he must enlighten this crowd full of dumb, witless sheep. And for that, he needed ammunition.
And so, Azama continued to collect the free flowing tithe, even after some of the so-called false saint’s ilk have started to side-eye him and whisper amongst themselves. Good. Let them talk.
He’d have gone happily about his business awhile yet, were he not interrupted prematurely by a strange little thing. As she bounded up to him, Azama studied her a moment, brow quirked. Cotton candy hair… Where’s he seen that before…?
Bah. Surely he would remember were it an important detail.
“Well, young miss, I wouldn’t particularly consider myself rich in coin, no.” His salary as Hinoka’s retainer had paid well, but not that well. Playing at being a teacher is similarly far from being in any way lucrative. “But this isn’t for me! This is for Fodlan’s beloved, cherished Saint Seiros, come to walk amongst us silly mortals. Perhaps if we should offer her a token of our collective gratitude, she’ll take pity on us and not smite our heathen souls.”
He kept his smile throughout the whole of it, kept up his act of enthusiasm - and all the while, the donations continued to flow.
“And what of you, miss? Have you not heard the good word of our lord and saviour?”
Peri watched as more and more people threw their good coin to the man without a word — it was only making her more and more curious about how he can just be getting free money like this!
“It’s for Saint.. Seiros? So she.. won’t.. smite us?” Peri dragged out her words as if she was trying to comprehend them herself as she spoke, clearly not quite getting what the man in front of her was trying to explain.
“Why is she gonna do that? I should be the one doing the smiting! Are you saying that even though I didn’t do anything wrong, she’s gonna hurt me?” This is coming as something that's genuinely shocking to her. Peri didn’t do anything wrong, why is she in trouble with this Saint Seiros? “I.. I don’t want her to smite me! That’s not fair!”
Peri knew she had some spare change since she’s been needing to buy stuff for herself now, which was something she had to learn how to do coming here, and for just a moment she reached to grab it, but then stopped.
“..What is she gonna do with this anyway?” Peri questioned, halting the second she was about to throw all her coin into the man's hat. “Is she gonna buy the biggest and prettiest weapon there is? Or a bunch of servants to smite instead of me? I still don’t understand, mister! She sounds pretty mean, I don’t know if I want to give her my money.. How about I fight her instead? So she won’t kill me?”
