The Temples of the Gods
The religious center of Helios was also located at the center of the city, on one of the larger islands.
I had thought that there would be one big church, but I had been wrong.
It seemed that each god had it's own temple, and there were -apparently- a lot of gods.
Some seemed to have large stone monoliths for their worshipers to enter, while other buildings were far more modest in both size and decor.
"There are so many." I said as Leon and I made several passes over the holly grounds below us.
I assumed that this place was often crowded, but with Serenity's Awakening happening later today, it was fairly jam packed.
I could see various citizens of vastly different economical backgrounds milling about, as well as a lot of what appeared to be food stalls and souvenir shops.
It really was like a festival down there.
"There are many, many gods." Stated Leon, quite comfortable on my back now.
I'd begun to build up stamina- as well as muscle and size- so that we could fly together much longer now.
"Most people respect them all, and believe in them.
However, most households offer prayers and tribute to only a couple, typically the ones that their own parents worshipped, or gods who oversee their chosen career paths. "
Hmmm. Perhaps their religion was like several back on earth, with gods of war and gods of beauty...
"What gods do you follow?" I asked the prince, not really sure where to even begin.
"The royal family always pays homage to the four main gods: Asteria, Regolith, Nin, and Mystria.
" He said, listing them off on his fingers.
Asteria? Where had I heard that name before?
"All gods oversee many aspects of life, and some even cover the same fields of others too.
But these four mainly govern Life, Harth, Death, and Nature, respectively. "
"I see." I said, still trying to work out where I would have heard the name of a god from. Had Loric mentioned it? Or maybe one of the other dragons...
"Just below us is Regolith's temple. He governs the Harth, or some may call it: Family. He is also a god that has strong ties to earth, fire and blacksmithing. Most dwarves worship him as their main deity."
I looked down and saw a rather large stone building with several indistinct statues around it. My guess was that they were effigies of the god himself. If the dwarves worshiped him, did he look like a dwarf?
"Over there, basically right next to Regolith's temple is the temple of Mystria, the goddess of nature. She has dominion over the elements and many farmers pray to her for a plentiful crop."
This time my eyes landed on a small structure. Indeed, I couldn't even call it a temple as it simply looked like a stone floor surrounded by roman-esk pillars with a statue in the center. There weren't even all that many people around it, and the shops seemed to have avoided it like the plague.
"Not many worshipers there right now..." I pointed out.
Leon laughed. "Mystria frowns upon open worship. She values serenity and minimalism, and asks that if her followers wish to pay homage then they should plant a tree and send up a prayer, giving back to nature."
"Oh... well, that actually sound quite nice."
"She is seen as a very serene and kind goddess. But she is also one of the most feared. After all, it is said that natural disasters are actually Mystria raging at the other gods, or sinners, for perceived slights."
"She sounds like a dragon." I said, angling my wings so that I did not fly directly over her temple. Last thing I needed was to be hit by a bolt of lightning for disturbing the peace. No wonder the shopkeepers avoided setting up their stalls anywhere near her place of worship.
"Over there is Nin. He is the God who oversees death, and it is to him that we pray to when a loved one passes, asking that he lead their souls peacefully to the afterlife.
Despite the stigma of death, Nin is seen as being one of the kindest and gentlest gods.
Amongst humans anyway. From what I understand, the dwarves have an unfavorable image of him, and Dark elves see him as the single greatest amongst all the gods. "
Nin's temple was about what I expected a god of death's temple to look like.
It was a large building constructed of dark grey stones with little-to-no people around.
I did note, however, that any time a person came near it they would bow their heads, as if even being near the temple meant they needed to pay their respects.
"He is also the god of darkness and eternal love, if you can believe it." Leon added. "Many races set up small offerings to Nin during weddings or even births, praying for long life and love."
"I guess I can understand that... What about Asteria then?" I asked, still wracking my brain for the connection i had with her.
"Believe it or not, Asteria and Regolith are said to be the creators of the very first dragons. Her temple is right there- The biggest one." He added with a slight chuckle. "It is also where the royal family holds all of its Awakening ceremonies."
I followed Leon's finger and immediately saw what he was talking about.
This temple may as well have been another palace.
It was massive and constructed of shiny white stone with huge, spiraling towers and hung with pink and gold banners, all over the place.
It was beautiful and pretentious. As I flew closer I saw that there were many trees covered in pink petals.
They looked like the cherry trees back on earth but with white bark.
Yeah... I could see why this god was thought to have spawned in dragons.
Leon chuckled as we circled above it, watching the huge crowds who were also looking up at us, pointing.
"You match Asteria's aesthetic." He laughed, patting my pink hide.
"She is the one who looks over life and birth, but she is known for a lot of other things too.
She is the goddess of light and air, of beauty and laughter.
And, of course, as being the mother of the great and wonderous dragons. "
It suddenly hit me where I had heard the name before! That ridiculously overpowered and expensive skill tree on my skill list. What was it called again? Asteria's Devine Right! That was it. Had I been given that because Asteria was said to be the mother of Dragons?
"So the gods give out skills, right?" I asked. I usually avoided talking about skills around Leon for obvious reasons, but I was quite curious.
"So they say."
"Well, how do you know which god gave you which skill then?" I asked. My other skills had no names attached to them.
"You don't." Leon stated simply. "I don't think the gods deal out skills directly.
Not usually at least. Though, it is true that there are very rare times when the gods set their hands upon a soul themselves, and bestow upon them a truly wonderous skill.
Most of the time those people grow to become heroes of legend.
Assuming they can earn the right to wield the power given to them, that is. "
I assumed that meant that they needed to work to gain the points needed to unlock those stupidly expensive skills.
For normal people it could take years of dedication before they had the points need, and all the while they had to resist dumping points into other skills in the meantime. It couldn't be easy.
I felt irritation grip me once again. Asteria should have bestowed her damn skill on Leon, rather than wasting it on me!
...
...
...
Wait... Bestow?