The Despairing Priest
 The Despairing Priest
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| File:The Despairing Priest (lorebook).png Hint: A dusty tome in Irasce's library
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| Category: | History
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| Area: | |
| Visibility: | Hidden Until Found
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The Despairing Priest is a Lorebook found in the Statehelm region. Despite the hint suggesting it can be found in Irasce's library, it is rewarded by completing Steven Poplar's hangout "Let Steven ramble on about the god Talerra."
Content
A fable
One cold night when the moon was new, Talerra, the god of Depression and Knowing the Truth, took to the skies to answer the requests of those who had committed her Rites of Truth. Her flowing black hair was so long that she seemed to be an inky void in the dark night sky, flying faster than any mortal. After a few hours, she was becoming fatigued, so Talerra decided to answer just one more question.
As she flew through the cool night air, she saw a bright beacon before her. It grew in intensity until there could be no question of who it was: Arisetsu, the god of Hope and Warmth. Talerra stopped before the glowing light and watched as it took the form of an elven woman, golden colored like the sunrise, and just as bright. "Cease your evil actions, Talerra," boomed the golden woman.
"Good evening, Arisetsu. I am going to answer a supplicant. Then I shall go home and leave the skies to you for another month." Talerra moved her long flowing hair to shield her eyes, unable to look directly at the glowing woman.
"The woman you approach is one of my priests. You would tell her things that would take away her hope. As the god of Hope, I will not allow this."
Talerra looked downward, toward the small city miles beneath them. "That person performed my rites, Arisetsu," she said gently. "So I am entitled to answer her."
The golden woman lowered her voice as well, though it was still far louder than Talerra's. "She has been a high priest of mine for most of her life. Now she is in pain, despairing because her sons have not returned from war. She is not thinking properly! I will not abandon my priest in her moment of weakness. You would harm her, so I will protect her from you. By force, if need be."
This was a dangerous threat, as Arisetsu's power was far greater than Talerra's. But neither god preferred violence, so Talerra tried once more to reason with her.
"Her sons are dead. She has a right to know that. If you agree to tell her yourself, then I shall leave it to you, and -- "
"No! She would --"
"Yes, she would grieve! She DESERVES to grieve!" Talerra found her voice rising. "You think I'm cruel, but you --" she stopped and shielded her eyes with her hands as the glowing woman before her became unbearably bright, brighter even than the sun.
When Arisetsu spoke again, the anger in her voice was clear despite her calm demeanor. "You would tell her something that will strip away her hope and ultimately kill her from grief. She is old. She has lost her husband, and her sons were all she had. Show compassion, Talerra! Let her live!"
Talerra scowled in frustration, for her fatigue was growing immense. Before she could respond, the two gods noticed another presence. A cloud of rose petals, shaped vaguely like a man, hovered between the two. The rose petals flowed and moved, but not from the wind -- they moved of their own accord. A booming man's voice greeted them: "You speak of the death of a mortal. I have say in this matter, too."
Arisetsu's golden form visibly sighed. "Vol. I can handle this. You are not needed here. Nobody is going to die."
Vol's form turned to Talerra. "You would kill a mortal that asked you for aid, and yet you wonder why we consider you an evil god. You will go, or you will perish."
Talerra's sphere of darkness grew larger until it was overlapping with Arisetsu's light. Vol, in the middle, was caught in a spectacular light show that no mortals would ever see. "I am the goddess of Depression. Do you imagine I fear Death?"
"Are you not also the god of Knowing the Truth? You know that you would perish! You would dare waste your gift of life in a fruitless endeavor? Then perhaps you deserve to die regardless."
Talerra ignored Vol's goading. Words are powerful weapons, but they always founder against the power of the Truth. Talerra shook her head, her hair waving in all directions, and addressed Arisetsu. "If you kill me here, for this cause, you will never be rid of me. You will become the goddess of False Hope."
Arisetsu's golden glow bloomed from yellow to a violent red. "You lie!" But Arisetsu caught sight of Vol, who shook his rose-petal head. For Vol knew already that Talerra never lies.
Arisetsu seethed, but she feared sullying Hope, and so she could use only words against Talerra. "Your cruelty is incalculable. My priests will teach everyone of your evil!"
Talerra smiled a gentle, kindly smile, and flew off to tell her supplicant the Truth.
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