First days as an Aisling

When next I awoke, I found myself in a room in an inn. I had no clothing on, but found a ragged blouse in a drawer and quickly pulled it on. I wondered at the feelings surging through me, at the dream I had had. Could it be? Dare I imagine that I had received the Aisling spark? It was too much to think of.

I wandered downstairs and met the innkeeper, Riona. She told me that I had arrived in the town of Mileth. She looked into my eyes and assured me that I was, indeed, an Aisling. Stunned, I could hardly listen to her tell me a bit about the town and the other mundanes to whom I should speak. I heard her speak of going down the path and crossing a bridge, something about an old temple... but it all passed by me so quickly I could not comprehend it.

Dazed and confused, I wandered out of the inn and met a kindly young warrior named Tareth. He could tell by my look that I needed assistance and came up and introduced himself. He asked what path I wished to follow, but I knew naught about the choices open to me. As he explained each of them, I tried to picture myself - was this my true calling? All my life I had admired warriors... was this my path, or was there another better suited to me? "Guide me, oh Ceannlaidir," I prayed. "How may I best serve?" When Tareth described the priest path to me, I felt something. Was it just a breeze blowing by? Had the wind whispered "Yes" to me, or was it all in my imagination?

"I ... I think I would like to be a priestess," I told Tareth, "but I am not quite sure." He told me that when I had decided, I would need to ask an Aisling of the path I chose to guide me. Sensing somehow that the priesthood would indeed be the path I would walk, Tareth bought me a gorget gown. "Keep this for when you become a priestess," he said. He also bought me boots to cover my bare feet and a dirk to wield.

"Now, you need to hunt," he told me. "Crypt or the woods?" Confused, I shrugged and let him choose. He led me to what I now know as the Mileth crypt. Tareth watched over me as I killed my first rats and spiders. "Watch out for the centipedes!" he cautioned. I picked up a bit of food that I found on the ground... should I eat it? But no, one look told me it was rotten. Tareth told me to keep it for now.

We hunted for a while, gathering up what fell as the creatures died. "Now to sell," Tareth instructed. He led me from the crypt and showed me the way to Dar's and Cian's shops. Amazed, I discovered that the wizard and alchemist would give me coins for the rotten food and insect parts I had found!

Having gotten me off to a good start, Tareth needed to go. I thanked him for his help and said goodbye, feeling quite lucky to have met such a helpful Aisling.

I remembered Riona telling me that I should talk to the other mundanes in town, and I was eager to learn more about the town. I spent some time visiting all the shops and talking to the shopkeepers. I thought more about what path was calling me, and it became clear that the priesthood was indeed my destiny.

About this time, I ran across a priest named Kyulan in one of the shops. Timidly, I asked him if he would be able to guide me to be a priestess, and to my relief, he agreed. We went to the temple of choosing and he waited and watched over me as I walked the path through the temple, carefully weighing the decision of which door to choose in each new room. My instincts guided me truly, and soon I felt a wash of magic over my body. I was a priestess!

I put on the gorget gown that Tareth had bought for me and thanked Kyulan for his guidance. He generously gave me some coins and took me to see Devlin, the Fae Priestess of Mileth. I knew I had much to learn, and did not wish to keep Kyulan waiting, so I thanked him again and bade him farewell.

I studied long that day with Devlin, listening to her teachings on Beothaich Deum, Entreaties, the Graymayre. I talked with her about secrets which she will teach only to priests, and I learned my first healing spells. She told me of many more spells which I would be able to learn in time, when I had more experience in the Aisling ways. I took notes carefully, wondering how I could ever learn it all.

Not long after this, I was walking near the crypt and ran into Tareth again. "I am a priestess now!" I exclaimed. Smiling, he asked me if I would join his hunting party. I agreed and soon was hunting with Tareth and his friend Orlandu. I could hardly believe it - after all the years of hearing warriors tell of their exploits, here I was watching them firsthand, keeping them healthy with my beag ioc spell so that they could battle on! I murmured a silent prayer of thanks to Ceannlaidir, hoping he would hear.

My new life as an Aisling priestess had begun.

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