Jewel considers the question for a while. When Clara answers she grins. "Well, that's kind of a hard question. Clara and I spend some time each day focusing on magic with our familiars. Mine is my little bird that I call 'Chirp' because of the way he talks. Through them we learned a few arcane spells and hexes."
"We understand that's not how it works for clerics, but we don't really know how it does work for clerics."
"Well, you pray to your god asking for your share of magic for the day." Breathnacht explains.
"If you got any more questions you can ask them in the lunchbreak. I'll start. With the dangers underground." Breathnacht really likes hearing himself talking and gets the young guardians a heads up on what could befall the forrest and them. He gives vivid descriptions of all kinds of different molds and how to recognize them, before one gets eaten.
Like the brown mold, that sends a chill through your bones, and grows on fire, as opposed to the yellow mold, that sucks the life energy out of you and can be destroyed on fire. You get the strong feeling like it's really important to not mix those things up. Slimes are a thing too, with some waiting as puddles on the ground, some glued to the ceiling and others lurking translucent as a cube standing in the dark waiting for you to walk into.
"There is a reason I don't do a field trip on those. There is a high risk of them killing you. And I'm not properly equipped to fight all of them."
"And yes, some grow in dark cold caves, some in the jungle. Others might even show up in a barn."
Jewel is interested in the lesson, but more for the potential dangers. She tries to imagine what she could do against any of them and realizes that her spells wouldn't help much. "Some of those sound really dangerous, and like it would take magic from a strong wizard or something to beat them. How would just regular people, or novice guardians like us handle them to protect our people?"
Clara continues to pick her nose instead of really paying attention.
"You could pick up alchemy. As a lot of these dangers can be destroyed with fire or freezing them, you could create bottled fire and bottled ice."
"But I'm no expert in that and I don't have the laboratory necessary to create such things." Breathnacht tells.
Gertrud sets up the picknick blanket and opens the basket with all those delicious goods. "All those still in need of eating, come over."
Breathnacht says the blessings and all have lunch. After that a field trip is due to show some feats of magic. For the fun of it Breathnacht casts entangle right where he stands, catching the whole group in it . But he checked that it's not within some brambles.
While he got a captured audience he adds a lecture. "This is a good spell to keep some danger in place. But be aware that it has it's downsides. There are people able to move even through that unfazed. But most are stuck even in their own spells."
"And if you entangle a large creature in such a way it might rip through it, like it's nothing and when the spell wears off, your nice rosebushes are shred to tears."
Once the spell wears off he casts something different. Plant growth. Again you find yourself surrounded by shrubs and grass well over your head, for all but Gertrud, that grew in an instant. "This is the short lived form of this spell, that can be used to cut off persuers or cut off someone's way in general. But you can also cast this spell on a much greater area to help the crops to grow better and bring in a greater harvest. That's the thing Erastil would want you to do. As it helps the community."
"Any questions?"
When the food is brought out Jewel finds that she is actually hungry. Besides, slow chewing does help to formulate difficult thoughts. "I've learned a little bit about alchemy already. I was curious about it an thought I could make salves to help with wounds or rashes and stuff, when magic wasn't enough. I just never thought about making weapons with it. That's an interesting idea for the future, if we ever get a chance to get a kit to make such things."
When class starts back up and Breathnacht casts a couple of spells, Jewel accepts being caught and waits for the spell to terminate. "Those do seem useful. I'll have to see if they are available next time I get a chance to commune with Chirp to see if my patron can grant anything like them. I don't think any of us can actually become clerics of Erastil."
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Taken aback, Tarjun gets entangled by the suddenly overgrown vegetation.
"Hey! No fair!" he exclaims, though the futility of his protests isn't lost on him. He is nevertheless interested by Breathnacht's spells, even asking him to repeat the formulas. But when he tries to cast them himself... Nothing happens.
"I don't get it," he sighs, after several attempts. [b]"Why can't I do none of the cool stuff?"[/dice]
Breathnacht pats Tarjun on the head - kind of. Which makes his hairs stand up like when walking outside shortly before a thunderstorm strikes. "Patience young boy. Magic needs long studies and hard training, or devotion."
"Or if you're one of those born with magic, you have simply to take what your heritage throws you way."
"Or your weasel." he adds looking at Clara and her little critter.
"Hey! Weasel is clever! I can... borrow some magic writings and feed it to her! And she'd remember it!" Clara objects. It's a shame ghosts have no magic writings to 'borrow'.
Jewel smiles at the others' interaction with Breathnacht, wondering how much they all might happen to miss the ghost that had been harassing them, once he was gone. They still had a lot to learn, but....
"I know we have a lot more to learn to be proper guardians. But I'm sure a lot of it will be taught by just trying to follow Erastil. But for now, How much do you still have to teach us? And will you assist in the ceremony of atonement, once you have taught us the rest? We've studied the book and think that we have the details of the ceremony worked out."
"You've taught us so well, I'm sure Erastil has been watching. Maybe it's time for you to rejoin him?"
"I'm not a that great of a teacher. If I'd been alive I vould have taken you along and shown you. As the former guardians did. Some things take years. An oak you plnat today, you great grand kids might live to see it become a mighty tree in this woods. The cycle of sowing and reaping. You know, all that which can't be shown in a week or two."
"But you're right. Erastil will look after you and send people helping you. It has been time for me to go for decades. But I think I'm ready now to accept that." Breathnacht tells.
Breathnacht chuckles. "You didn't seem worried about that before me teaching you. And the woods did fairly well without a guardian for some decades. You'd manage to not make it worse than that." Breathnacht reassures Tarjun.
"And I don't know about the now, but for sure soon. Have you everything with you?" he inquires from Jewel.
When Jewel hears the reluctance in Tarjun's voice she moves up beside her brother and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Tarjun, you need to read the books. Erastil isn't just a God for the forest, and being the Guardians isn't just about watching over this shrine and the small wood here. We'll be the guardians for this area, the woods, the animals and the village, and the whole area around here. Erastil is the God of the woods, but also of the harvest and the hunt, the farmers and everything else for our community."
"Our little village is good. But if others move in and start clearing out the woods too fast, even if it is for farming, could be a bad thing. We have to watch over things so life can stay good. It's going to be hard.... But it'll be good for everyone." She smiles at Clara, "And you're going to have to be careful with Caspar. There's a right time for fire, and a wrong time."
She shrugs and glances back to Breathnacht. "We've all got work to do. But with Erastil helping.... I think it's time to go back home and get ready for the ceremony. We'll need our parents help with the other adults of the village. Some of them will be worried about a ghost, so we'll need to explain the ritual. We have to set up for the feast after, and get the incense ready, and the anointing oil. Oh, and Mrs. Johnson has the goat! We have it all, but I think we should re-read the chapter in the book, and maybe write notes so we get all of the steps right...."
"I wonder if Mr. Dawnbreeze would let us use the shrine for the ritual? He's been mostly silent, or absent during the classes.... But I'm sure he's been around, probably watching. And this will be important to Erastil." Stepping away from the group she calls out,
The ghost of Dawnbreeze appears out of nowhere. "Yes?"
While startled by the sudden appearance of Dawnbreeze, Jewel is able to stifle too obvious of a reaction.... "Thank you Mr. Dawnbreeze, and I'm sorry for yelling. I didn't know any way to find you other than to get your attention."
"So, We don't know how much you've seen of the classes and how Mr. Breathnacht has been teaching us. We think he's ready to move on now, and that maybe the ceremony can work. But to give the best chance for the Atonement to work I was wondering if maybe we could hold it here at the shrine? Unless there's a better place that we don't know about? The book wasn't really clear about location...." She glances over to where Breathnacht is/was, to see his reaction. "Maybe it's just my thinking, since Erastil is a God and can see or hear anywhere. But since this whole thing started out with our misunderstanding about burial in the shrine and rules and such.... I figured we should ask."
"I've seen it all. And you worked a little miracle here." Dawnbreeze admits grudgingly. "I can do that ritual for you, if you help me with the handywork."
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"No need to read books when you're here to sum 'em up for me," Tarjun jokes. He still affectionately pulls her into a quick hug, his silent way of thanking her when she is here for him. "Anyway, we can get back to the village, get everything ready so we can do the ritual proper. Do you have your book with ya?"
Grinning at Tarjun Jewel shakes her head. "The book is at home. I didn't want to risk something that important. There's really lots of interesting stuff in it!
She faces both of the ghosts, happy with Dawnbreeze's praise. "Mr. Breathnacht has been a good teacher, and we've tried to be good students. Now we need to go back and get our parents and the required stuff, and the other adults from the town. Mrs. Johnson would know better than we can tell about how much time we'll need to get everyone and everything ready for the ceremony. But we'll all work as hard as we can to get everything here. This is a really important ceremony for all of us!"
"It includes a feast where you prepare a goat for a meal. Three, maybe four hours?" Gertrud replies. "That would become a late night dinner if we do it today, but I can do it."
"I'd rather not be out in the open in bright daylight. Dawnbreeze tells. "Let's do it now."
"We'll come along in about two hours. That's the time I need to prepare the goat to have it on a spit. Then Dawnbreeze can prepare the ritual with Jewel while the others help me set up a fire to roast the goat."
"See you then."
Gertrud waves the ghosts goodbye, and leaves to get home.
There an unlucky goat gets butchered and prepared for a feast. With the head and innards removed Gertrud salts it and adds a marinade made of rapeseed oil and fresh herbs. Last she puts it on a spit and wraps it in a thin blanket.
"OK! Be right back then...."
Jewel runs to her home to get the book, the incense, and oils required and immediately returns to set things up. "All right. Let's set this up then. Let me get to the right page...."
Gertrud packs what else is necessary for a feast. Some wine, water for the kids, bread, some fruits and bell peppers, in addition to the picknick gear she had with her anyway. Also Randolph as well as Will and Shelly come along. They are less than happy to meet with ghosts.
Back at the old shrine Gertrud orders "Clara, Tarjun, get me some wood and some stones to make a proper barbequeue fire."
"No worries." Clara tells the Branston's "Dawnbreeze and Breathnacht are cool ghosts."
Once there she runs off to collect an arm full of branches, that she immediately sets on fire, once they are in place. The rest of the work she leaves to Tarjun.
Jewel opens the book to the page with the Atonement ritual, then looks around for Dawnbreeze and Breathnacht. "OK, for the ritual the book says we need incense made with myrrh and elemi, a holy anointing oil. I'm not sure how that will work if the oil is for Mr. Breathnacht. ?? And the goat for sacrifice and the meal after. So I think we have it all." She looks at the incense with a critical eye. "It should burn right...."
"Mr. Dawnbreeze, Here is the book with the instructions, and is there any particular way that I need to arrange things?"
"And Mr. Breathnacht, here it says that you need to 'renounce the evil' that was done and pray to Erastil for forgiveness. With the good you've done now for us I hope that's a sure thing? But maybe we can all join your prayer? You'd need to lead us with the prayer." She pauses for a moment, then looks at both ghosts, "You know, I couldn't have thought this just a few days ago, but I'm going to miss you. Both of you if you go too Mr. Dawnbreeze!"
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Even if he's slowed down by his leg, Tarjun can carry more weight than Clara, and quickly gathers enough wood and stones to start the fire.
"Is that enough, Mrs. J?" he asks. He appears to be still uncomfortable with the idea of both ghosts leaving. "Wait, Dawnbreeze, you'll go too? I didn't know you wanted to leave the woods!"
Jewel moves up to Tarjun, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Remember when Mr. Dawnbreeze said we'd be the new Guardians? I think that was 'cause he knew his time was s'posed to have passed and he was s'posed to join Erastil. The books say there's more after life, but the living don't really understand it. And since the books are written by the living...." She just shrugs.
"But since Mr. Dawnbreeze is, ah, in a sort of afterlife, maybe he knows more? We can't hold him back if he's ready to go. So we really have to work hard to be good Guardians! We're young, but we'll grow up. And we had two really good teachers!" She glances around at everyone there, "And we still have good parents of course!"
"It's not half the fun to be here than it is for you. Sure, you're nice company. But I can't smell the wood, or the roast over the fire. I can't touch anything. I have no part anymore in this world. It's just my failure to lead Breathnacht so he'd become a good guardian that kept me here. And I didn't even know that, until he showed up again."
"And kids like you should have living friends. No residue of dead old men. So let's get to it. You have a feast prepared, now we need the cause to celebrate." Dawnbreeze tells.
Taking a short look over the pages in Jewel's book he nods and gives order as how to arrange the incense. "You just sprinkle Breathnacht with the oil, while I read the incantation. That should do."
As everything is in place Dawnbreeze starts with the ritual. At first you understand what is said. It's abou tthe importance of living with the community and nature in peace, respecting each other, taking and giving in balance. But then he continues to speak in some strange sounding language. In fact it is a long reading of more or less the same text over and over in many different languages, for all the creatures in the wood to understand.
Then it is Breathnacht's part to repent the transgressions he has done against that. First in common, which makes a chill run down the spine of all listening. Because he was really horrible, when he tried to take over the guardianship by force, using necromancy. And then he also talks in strange languages, repeating what he did and would undo if he could in all those languages of the wood.
As all is said and done, Dawnbreeze offers a hand to Breathnacht. As Breathnacht takes it, a bright light emanates from the hands. Both tell in unison "It is done."
Breathnacht turns to the kids, his lips forming a thank you. Then both glow with the light for a short moment until the light concentrated into a ball, and explodes, dousing the whole area in hundreds of firefflies. The ghosts are gone.
Jewel stands, in awe of what they are witnessing. As the ceremony progresses and the different languages are used she has time to think on Dawnbreeze's words. Slowly she begins to understand his sacrifice as he stayed past his appointed time. Breathnacht's testimony, while disturbing, is just what was past. It was, sort of expected to be horrible....
When Breathnacht turned to mouth the Thank You to the kids Jewel realizes that she has been crying for most of the ceremony. She tries to smile and move a hand in a quiet wave, then ducks as the area explodes in fireflies. Holding up a hand to touch one of the insects she smiles and wipes the tears from her cheek, "I think that's Erastil's way of saying that they were accepted. Let's move the ceremony remains into the shrine. Then we can join everyone with the meal and celebration."
Back at the celebration Jewel laughs with Tarjun, Clara and Tobar. "Mr. Dawnbreeze said we needed living friends! So let's keep that in mind if we ever start to get angry with each other. We'll stay Best Friends forever!"
Clara is bored through the cerenony. The incense makes her throat rough and all that talking she doesn't understand is even worse. But as the light appears, her jaw drops and she stands in awe in all the fireflies. "Look at all those glowing bugs!" she says to noone in particular, pointing everywhere.
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Tarjun holds Jewel close. His cheeks are wet, though he firmly defies he's been bawling.
"It's weird, innit," he says. "I was sorta hoping it would fail."
He stays a little behind, to watch the fireflies go up in the sky. If he could, he thinks, he'd capture one inside a jar, to have a reminder of his times with Dawnbreeze and Breathnacht. But it would wrong to take the risk of preventing them from reaching the afterlife, and he doesn't do it. He is very quiet on the way back.
The idea hits him during the banquet. Suddenly, he reaches for his backpack, where he puts all the pieces of wood that can be good for carpentry, and he starts carving.
It takes him a little while, but the result is worth it. After an hour or so (maybe more, he lost track of time), he proudly looks down at two little figurines. It might be his best work yet.
"Look, Clara! Jewie!" he exclaims. "Can you recognize 'em?"
One is an old man, with long hair and a beard, who looks like a hunter with a bow. The other is a little younger, but has a bit of a disgruntled frown that makes him look sullen.
"The goat is ready. Let's celebrate that this horrible episode came to a good end!" Gerrtrud tells.
She cuts goat pieces from the spit and hands them out.
Once the meal is started Jewel enjoys the feast. She had wiped away her tears and was happy that both ghosts had moved on to.... whatever they went to next.
Happy with a full belly she considers Mrs. Johnson's statement, adding, "True. There was some horrible things in the beginning. Things were not understood and mistakes made. I'm personally sorry for my mistakes, and I hope I do better if there is a next time. But we worked together, and we learned. Mr. Dawnbreeze and Mr. Breathnacht.... are in a better place now. And we helped them!"
Glancing at the figurines she furrows her brow, "Is the old guy supposed to be Erastil? He's a god so he can look anyway he wants, I think. And the younger guy? Maybe Mr. Dawnbreeze? I'm not sure."
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Tarjun's proud smile falls.
"No! The one with the bow is Dawnbreeze, and the other one is Breathnacht. I thought they looked like them..."[b] he says, bringing the figurines closer to his face and inspecting their features with a critical eye. [b]"I'll have to add details, but I thought it'd make us a nice memory of them."
"Can I play with them?" Clara asks full of excitement.
Jewel looks at both figurines again, a little closer this time. "Did Mr. Dawnbreeze really look that old? I see the resemblance but...."
"Maybe we can set up a covered shelf in the shrine? And we should probably record the names of the previous Guardians. Maybe a warning against using evil powers like necromancy to warn the future. But we don't want to make it big and glamorous. That isn't Erastil's way...."
"Not only the previous ones. Us too!" Clara protests.
Jewel chuckles when Clara mentions that there should be small statues of themselves with the others. "You sure you want someone playing with a Clara doll?"
"Maybe when we're older, and have done something special for the town.... You know, boring stuff like making the crops grow bigger and better than before. The kind of stuff that Breathnacht was teaching us. Being the Guardians isn't just the fun stuff and we've barely started!"