Rinel comes to the Cathedral, an enormous bundle of objects held in her arms. She is without her cane, and so she moves quite slowly. She unwraps the bundle to reveal twelve simple objects and a second, small bundle of simple wool.

She turns to those present and smiles nervously. Then she turns to the altar and begins to speak. Each time Rinel pronounces her return of a sacrifice, she lays it before the altar. By the end, they will lie in a row, side by side.

“First is the Lady Mangata. To Her I sacrifice this tablet, with which I recorded my trip to the holy spire of Mardomum. I felt Her presence there, while I held this. To Her I return it, with joy for the memory.”

“Second is the Lord Petrichor. To Him I sacrifice this lichen, which I have never studied. When I was first arrived in Arx, I heard rumours of a lichen that grew only in the winter. And, at last, I found it, two years later. But though it still glows, I have new responsibilities--and I have not had the time to do what I could with it. To Him I return it, with regret for my inaction.”

“Third is the Lady Lagoma. To Her I sacrifice this cane, which has let me walk where I could not. I thank Her for the skills of the Physician Cybele, who saved me from death. I thank Her for my convalescence. I thank Her for the stability that only change can provide. To Her I return it, with anticipation for new growth.”

“Fourth is the Lord Vellichor, against Whom I committed sins beyond utterance. To Him I sacrifice this surcoat, the symbol of the Scholars, which I wore in His service. To Him I return it, with shame for my betrayal.”

“Fifth is the Lady Gloria. To Her I sacrifice my spear, forged by the master Felix Meadson, a weapon far beyond anything of which I am worthy. With it I slew two who preyed upon the Faith. To Her I return it, with the honour of my homeland.”

“Sixth is the Lord Jayus. To Him I sacrifice this nail, first of all things that I forged. My mother’s hands guided mine as I poured the iron and struck the blow. Countless nails have I made since, for farrier and cooper, for carpenter and wheelwright--but this one was my first. To Him I return it, with pride for my creations.”

“Seventh is the Lord Limerance. To Him I sacrifice this sketch of me. It was made by… It was made by Wynna Blackwing, whom I loved. I miss her. I will not love like that again. To Him I return it, with… with grief.”

“Eighth is The Sentinel. To Him I sacrifice these maps. They are of the Grey Forest, with predictions of shav’arvani encampments. In my rage I swore to hunt the Abandoned, to do whatever it took to see them wiped from Arvum. I would have seen innocents slaughtered in a fruitless quest for vengeance. I surrender that rage. To the Sentinel I give them, with acceptance of life’s justice.”

There’s a long silence before Rinel begins to speak again. Her voice is hoarse, but grows more clear as the pain recedes once again into the past.

“Ninth is the Lady Gild. To Her I sacrifice this hair-comb, given in charity by a lady far above my station, in response to some small words of consolation. It is a beautiful gift, and often I have worn it. To Her I give it, with desire to see more beauty.”

“Tenth is the Lord Skald. To Him I sacrifice this copy of a journal, in which I railed against the Faith. It was a foolish thing, which has cost me much. Yet I was free to make it because of Him. And it is far better to live a life in which one may make choices that cost much than to live in a prison where one is safe from her own freedom. To Him I give it, with resolution to choose better.”

“Eleventh is the Lady Death. To Her I sacrifice this memorial pendant, made in honour of Driskell Stillwater. He was my mentor. He was my friend. He was a traitor to the Compact and the Faith, corrupted by the Abyss, devoured by a demon. I miss him. To Her I give it, with hope that he may rest safely in Her arms.”

“Twelfth is Aion, Dreamer. To Them I sacrifice this bottle of wine, delivered to me by my former patron, one who once was close and now no longer is. That person rescued me from death, and threatened me with death. He taught me much of the world, and though we no longer are in accord, I thank him for opening my eyes to a truth--that the Dream encompasses all, not merely those we wish it did, and that no matter our personal feelings, we all remain connected in a way that can never truly be severed. To Them I give it, with the understanding that no one is ever truly apart.”

Rinel at last takes a small, woolen bundle. She unwraps it with trembling hands. A simple dagger lies there, and it takes all her will to grasp it with her hand. “To the Thirteenth God, I will not name You. This sacrifice was never mine. You put it into my life to keep but for a brief time, and now I return it by my own hand. To You I give it, with the fear that You will enter my life once more.” And so, with violently trembling hands, the woman places the dagger beside the bottle of wine.

She bows.

“I give to You, the Holy Pantheon, Thirteen Sacrifices for Thirteen Gods. I beg that you look upon your humble servant, wounded though she is, broken though she is, failure though she is, and grant mercy. I beg that you cleanse her of the poison that clouds her soul. I can offer nothing beyond my service, Holy Ones. But no matter what You choose to give me, my service is Yours.”

And then she stands, and watches, and waits.

Vayne attends the ritual with enthusiasm, paying close attention to the objects chosen, as well as the reasons. He even nods his approval at the selection for Tehom, as though he knows the story behind the knife.

Rinel slowly makes her way into the Cathedral. It's a difficult time for Rinel, as it often is - the Scholars are upset with her yet again, after all, and she realizes as she takes a breath here that she is fortunate to be allowed in this place, in this moment. And so on the thirteenth day, in the thirteenth hour, she begins her rite by laying her sacrifices on the great altar.

First to Mangata, a tablet where she recorded her journey to Mardomum and felt the presence of Mangata.. Next to Petrichor, a lichen that grows in the winter but that she has not studied. For a moment, regret flashes across her face but then she doggedly continues.

Each sacrifice to each god she lays down, one by one. She speaks of new growth. Of sins against Lord Vellichor. She speaks to Gloria and of the spear she loves. She speaks of things she created, gifts she has been given. Love and sacrifice. Adventure and knowledge. Rage and charity. Of railing against the Faith, of fond memories of traitorous Driskell. At last, she lays a dagger on the altar, and when she does that, the Great Cathedral starts to shake and tremble.

"How long will you stop up your ears and refuse to listen?" The great voice is not angry - just disappointed. "You are no humble servant. You are too full of pride to listen. To learn. You tear people apart with your incautious words. To Us, you speak gently and humbly. To Our Chosen, you speak pridefully, ignorantly, unkindly. You are proving more trial than solution. Your arrogance has made it impossible for you to walk the path We hoped you would."

There is a pause, a horrible pause that has Rinel's heart sinking. And then the voice speaks again. "You must find a new purpose. Give up all that you hoped to be. Let go, and you may yet find a way forward. Listen more. Learn. Expand your vision. Your way is not the only way."

And then the voice is gone, and the Cathedral stops shaking - was any of it even real? But the offerings laid so carefully on the altar are gone as well, and there are tears on Rinel's cheeks.

Winter is drawing to a close, which means Rinel is on a mission. A mission un-lichen any other. That's right. She's back on the trail of the mysterious lichen, but this time she is determined to be successful. Ask most anyone around, and they'll tell you of the young scholar who arrived in Arx last year bubbling with excitement about rumours of a strange lichen that grows in the drainspouts of Arx during the winter. Said young scholar is a year older, and perhaps not quite so enthusiastic. It has been a long year. A dark year. A year full of mystery and terror, of fear and of loss.

She's still going to find that damned lichen. Besides, a Rinel Tern with slightly dampened spirits is still practically ebullient!

Rinel will be enlisting everyone she can to climb up into precarious places in search of this strange lichen. She'll be doing much of the climbing herself, of course; after all, the lichen won't find itself! What will she /do/ with the lichen once she finds it? Catalogue it for the botanical records of the Archive, obviously, and return home with the satisfaction of a job well done.

That is, of course, assuming said lichen exists. Or is as normal as the scholar blithely expects...

Rinel looks. And looks, and looks. She's been looking for this lichen for over a year now, and it's hard to find. It's more than hard. It's insanely difficult - is it impossible? For a while she thinks it is, but Rinel Tern isn't that easily discouraged. So she keeps looking, and looking, and looking.

And then, as she climbs up a drain spout that is only barely attached to the stonework beneath, there in the setting sun she sees it - is that it? IS THAT IT?

It is faint at first, but as the sun sets and she stares at the open mouth of a draining gutter, her own mouth falls open in response. It's lichen. It's THE lichen. She can tell, because as she looks it starts to glow. The darker it gets, the more it glows, and the only reason she even sees it at all is because she's looking for it. Normally this gutter is covered, but the heavy spring rains have popped the end off of it, and so she can see the glow. SHE CAN SEE IT.

And so she harvests it, for testing, for research... for posterity! For her. See, she's not crazy!

Or maybe she is crazy - but believing a strange lichen is growing in drainspouts isn't the reason why!

Rinel is afraid. Very, very afraid. She'd take solace in the Great Archive of Vellichor, but the scholar has recently learned an uncomfortable truth about the nature of the Labyrinth upon which said Archive rests.

In "uncomfortable," dear readers, one should perceive "terrifying."

But Mistress Tern is made of Oathlands steel and honour, as well as an inquisitive scholar's pluck. So she will be approaching the problem (very) carefully. And this is the problem--Rinel has been granted, presumably by grace of the God of History, access to her own personal section devoted to theology. Said section resides within the Labyrinth. Said Labyrinth is home to, or is, (or, depending on one's esoteric metaphysics, perhaps /both/) none other than Azazel, Eater of Stories (and plucky Oathlands scholars who delve his depths). Rinel wishes to access her archive. Rinel very strongly wishes not to get eaten.

And so Mistress Tern will not be entering said Labyrinth for the forseeable future, thank you very much. She will, however, be /monitoring/ it. By meditating at (a not insignificant, yet still visible) distance from its entrance. Perhaps waiting and watching will reveal a way to navigate it safely--at least to her section.

Rinel intends to meditate before the Labyrinth's entrance for three hours a day--one for each tetrad--for thirteen days.

Rinel sits vigil at the entrance to the Labyrinth, watching and waiting. And something seems different to her. Where normally she might feel a sense of menace -- a sense of waiting, watchful hunger -- now she feels a /presence/, but the sense of active malice is gone.

It takes to the seventh day before she realizes the feeling of malice isn't actually entirely /gone/, merely... distant. Waiting.

On the ninth day, she begins to think she can sense a restlessness, an anger, as if something were trapped. Unable to move. Unable to get free.

On the eleventh day, it finally strikes her that it feels like she's sitting in the cave of some immense beast while it sleeps -- and doesn't sleep deeply, at that. Could it be that the Maw of the Labyrinth's attention has somehow been forced elsewhere? Into dreams, perhaps -- or maybe nightmares? How does that even work? What could have caused that?

/Who/ could have caused that?

And that, of course, raises other questions: if the creature of the Maw is asleep, does that mean the Labyrinth is safe for the moment? And if it /is/ safe... for how long?

Rinel is planning to attend a nautical adventure, and she plans not to disappoint! The scholar is tasked with recording all that occurs on and off the ship--a logistical nightmare involving carrying around paper, ink, and quills, to say nothing of the ever-present danger of waterlogged and ruined notes. So she's set her mind to fixing the problem, and after endless discussions with carpenters, beekeepers, and merchants, she thinks she has it! Wax tablets, which can be opened and closed like a book, and written upon with a stylus. They're reusable--a benefit to merchants and teachers alike--and they're waterproof. All that needs to be done to reuse the tablets is to heat the wax--or if one is on a boat, or in a pinch, to scrape the wax back with a scraper on the reverse edge of the stylus. The design is certain--Rinel's sure of that--but producing it? Now, that's the real trick. It will require all sorts of industries: beekeepers, carpenters, chandlers... So Rinel's plastered a big smile on her face to hide the fact that she's terrified, and the scholar is off to create a whole new industry herself. Here's hoping.

Elgana is assisting with social aspects of Rinel's project

Ever the doting paramour, Wynna is finally getting off her rump to help Rinel out with her wax-y ambitions. She'll lean on the various merchants and such to convince them that it's a sound and useful investment to be contributing towards.

Rinel goes and talks to beekeepers, carpenters, and others. With the help and support of Princess Elgana Redrain and Lead Archivist Wynna, they listen. Dubious at first, they still work with Rinel on creating her vision and bringing it to life - and it has some interesting success.

While not appropriate for archiving things, or keeping writings in the long-term, it does provide a reusable tablet for quick notes and writings that will later be transferred to traditional vellum. And it is especially liked by those who travel by sea - waterproof tablets are an excellent way to keep track of things while aboard a ship.