known goddess became the new fashion, particularly at the two high holidays for Quiera each year."
"Two high holidays?" Ninian queried.
"The winter solstice, the longest night of the year, is Quiera's most important day of celebration. The second one is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year; the day when Quiera came into being. She was drawn from the body of the Enumbra, the goddess of darkness and light. The legend says Enumbra decided that mankind needed some respite from the darkness and sent part of her light to the world through Quiera in the aspect of dreams."
"I don't quite understand how hoping for good dreams could have such an important influence on their lives," Remelin commented.
"In the olden times, believers equated everything in their lives to aspects of interference from the various gods, sometimes good and sometimes bad, so if they prayed to Quiera to provide them with good dreams, then their everyday lives would always have a positive aspect and if, occasionally, a dream came true... Of course, the believers also prayed she would send a message to them in their dreams to help them overcome difficulties or show them how to make their wishes come true."
Remelin frowned, and Ninian added, "I know some of the beliefs of our ancestors are not always easy to understand. You just have to try to put yourself in their place, trying to understand how they thought. They believed in the gods and goddesses, the good and the bad."
"I'll skip the early chapters," Jhond went on, "which were merely reports on the performance of the nuns in their duty to the people on behalf of their goddess. The story really begins two centuries later, shortly after Garileon had gone to war with one of its neighbors, and the war wasn't going well. A young nun called Sister Eurebia petitioned the mother superior to advise the worshippers to ask Quiera to send false dreams to their enemies with the intent of causing bad decisions, which would cause their army to lose battles.
"At first, the mother superior was dismissive, not believing the beneficent goddess would entertain such an idea. Eurebia insisted the idea had come to her in a dream and suggested the mother superior ask Quiera for a dream to help her understand the truth of their goddess' desire."
"That's the name of the nun--"
Ninian interrupted. "Later, Remi, I'll explain about her shortly."
With a slight narrowing of his eyes, Jhond continued, "Then, the next night Mother Superior Thyria had a dream, in which the goddess told her that she'd had a change of heart and couldn't allow her people to be destroyed by those who worshipped an unworthy god. Quiera vowed to do anything in her power to help her people repel the invaders. From then on, Quiera would grant any prayer to send a false, misleading dream to a person she deemed worthy of such a punishment.
"It seems not all the nuns believed Mother Superior Thyria, challenging that Quiera would never do such a thing. She chastised them for their disbelief, stating the goddess would do the right thing for her worthy people. Any nun who still doubted was expelled from the order.
"The next day Thyria gave a sermon to all who had come visiting the shrine, telling of her dream and instructing those listening to pray for false dreams. That was only the beginning."
Jhond paused, reaching for a drink.
"Why do I get the feeling there's more to this than what the mother superior says?" Ninian asked.
"Because you're experienced in the ways of mankind."
"But this is the will of a goddess you are talking about," Remelin said with a frown.
"Are we?" Jhond asked. "We only have Mother Superior Thyria's word for that."
"And Sister Eurebia's," she added, with a glance at Ninian.
"Let's wait and see what happens next," Ninian said.
"Well," Jhond continued, "the people listened and prayed for the goddess to send false dreams to the enemy. Mother superior's words were proved correct in that the war began to go Garileon's way,
"Two high holidays?" Ninian queried.
"The winter solstice, the longest night of the year, is Quiera's most important day of celebration. The second one is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year; the day when Quiera came into being. She was drawn from the body of the Enumbra, the goddess of darkness and light. The legend says Enumbra decided that mankind needed some respite from the darkness and sent part of her light to the world through Quiera in the aspect of dreams."
"I don't quite understand how hoping for good dreams could have such an important influence on their lives," Remelin commented.
"In the olden times, believers equated everything in their lives to aspects of interference from the various gods, sometimes good and sometimes bad, so if they prayed to Quiera to provide them with good dreams, then their everyday lives would always have a positive aspect and if, occasionally, a dream came true... Of course, the believers also prayed she would send a message to them in their dreams to help them overcome difficulties or show them how to make their wishes come true."
Remelin frowned, and Ninian added, "I know some of the beliefs of our ancestors are not always easy to understand. You just have to try to put yourself in their place, trying to understand how they thought. They believed in the gods and goddesses, the good and the bad."
"I'll skip the early chapters," Jhond went on, "which were merely reports on the performance of the nuns in their duty to the people on behalf of their goddess. The story really begins two centuries later, shortly after Garileon had gone to war with one of its neighbors, and the war wasn't going well. A young nun called Sister Eurebia petitioned the mother superior to advise the worshippers to ask Quiera to send false dreams to their enemies with the intent of causing bad decisions, which would cause their army to lose battles.
"At first, the mother superior was dismissive, not believing the beneficent goddess would entertain such an idea. Eurebia insisted the idea had come to her in a dream and suggested the mother superior ask Quiera for a dream to help her understand the truth of their goddess' desire."
"That's the name of the nun--"
Ninian interrupted. "Later, Remi, I'll explain about her shortly."
With a slight narrowing of his eyes, Jhond continued, "Then, the next night Mother Superior Thyria had a dream, in which the goddess told her that she'd had a change of heart and couldn't allow her people to be destroyed by those who worshipped an unworthy god. Quiera vowed to do anything in her power to help her people repel the invaders. From then on, Quiera would grant any prayer to send a false, misleading dream to a person she deemed worthy of such a punishment.
"It seems not all the nuns believed Mother Superior Thyria, challenging that Quiera would never do such a thing. She chastised them for their disbelief, stating the goddess would do the right thing for her worthy people. Any nun who still doubted was expelled from the order.
"The next day Thyria gave a sermon to all who had come visiting the shrine, telling of her dream and instructing those listening to pray for false dreams. That was only the beginning."
Jhond paused, reaching for a drink.
"Why do I get the feeling there's more to this than what the mother superior says?" Ninian asked.
"Because you're experienced in the ways of mankind."
"But this is the will of a goddess you are talking about," Remelin said with a frown.
"Are we?" Jhond asked. "We only have Mother Superior Thyria's word for that."
"And Sister Eurebia's," she added, with a glance at Ninian.
"Let's wait and see what happens next," Ninian said.
"Well," Jhond continued, "the people listened and prayed for the goddess to send false dreams to the enemy. Mother superior's words were proved correct in that the war began to go Garileon's way,
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