Antaran's Journal

Early in the morning, even before the sun had completely exchanged places with the moon, the same priest who we had met yesterday evening woke us up. Two other priests were with him, bringing dry clothes. The priest from yesterday told Carana and me that our other clothes would be given back to us when they're dry again. Just then I realized that Carana already wore what seemed to be a simple red dress.
After I had put on the clothes that I'd been given, we followed the three priests through a small hallway with about three doors to the left and right, leading us outside.
It was snowing. Fortunately without sharp cold wind, so it was bearable. The next thing I noticed was that there were two houses right next to the one we'd just walked out that looked just the same. Suddenly the doors of those two houses opened and a dozen children walked out of them, all going past a statue of a man, right into another house of the same size as ours on the opposite side. That moment I saw something that I definitely won't forget anymore. Next to the statue of a man there were about twenty priests in their red clothes, performing hand stands with closed eyes, neither shivering nor moving a muscle in any other way. They were just standing there, ignoring the weather, ignoring the cold snow surrounding their fingers and wrists.
Carana called my name. She and the three priests were already a few steps ahead. I followed them quickly, passing another two smaller houses, one of which was obviously filled with wood, as I could see through the windows. We arrived at yet another building, which was a bit bigger than the houses we slept in the past night. To the left I saw a slim bell tower leading a few feet up into the air filled with snow flakes, surpassing even the height of the house we were about to walk in.
Another hallway with a few doors, and a staircase at the end of it. Carana and I were told to leave our shoes in the hallway and follow the priests into one of the rooms.
Inside I saw a long, square table, candles on the floor in each corner, a few old paintings on the walls, and simple chairs. Sitting on one of those chairs, another priest was already waiting for us. His clothes seemed to be a bit thicker, and brighter, probably indicating that he had some sort of a higher rank than the others. A high priest?
"Please, have a seat," the priest at the table said with a pleasing voice. The three priests that had led us there bowed deeply, left the room and closed the door behind them. We sat down.
"My name is Vetar, the third, I heard your names are Carana and Antaran Sivand. Is this correct?"
Carana and I nodded silently.
"I'll come straight to the point. Visitors are very unusual in Namtolan. Nobody would travel here without a very good reason," Vetar said, waiting for us to respond, but after realizing that we wouldn't do so, he continued. "So, my question to you both is, what brings you here?"
I really started to hate those questions. Always trying to come up with a convincing lie, which would fail completely anyway, and then resign and spill out the truth. That's why I decided to confront the priest with reality. I told him everything that had happened ever since I found the very diary I'm writing in right now, up until our arrival in Namtolan.
After the rather lengthy story - he just started to laugh. Carana blinked and I didn't really know what to say or do, so I just waited for the laughter to end.
"It seems to be a widespread tradition of travelers to convince people of a fictional tragedy, just so they can eat and use our beds for free." He laughed again. "Even though I've never heard such a detailed and entertaining story like yours ever before - even your unconsciousness looked rather real yesterday - I just cannot trust you. If you want to stay here you will have to pay for it, be it with money or work. We may already be a few workers up here, but there is always a need for another helping hand. That or I will have to ask you to leave, taking your stories with you."
Well, this was definitely a somehow new experience.
I looked at Carana and I read in her eyes exactly what I was thinking. We can't leave, we have to stay here at least until we have decided where to go next.
"What can we do?" I asked with a broad smile in my face, trying to convince the priest that our true intentions would have been revealed. Ironically, that worked perfectly. He reached out for my right hand and shook it.
"A lot," he said and stood up.
When we left the house - after putting on our shoes again - we saw Tartek and Sereliaen coming out of the house next to the one Carana and I had been spending the night in. We nodded at each other. The three priests were also waiting for us and bowed when they saw Vetar who had followed us outside. Tartek and Sereliaen were given a short introduction from Vetar, and told us what we had to do. Tartek raised his eyebrows, but after looking at me he perfectly understood our position and that we had to do this, until we knew where we would be heading next.
For the rest of the day we had to use ladders and shovels to fight against the snow. We had to remove the snow from the housetops, before the weight of the snow could cause a break-in. We had to remove the snow from the streets, so that everyone was able to walk around better. It was really snowing a lot, and by the end of the day there still were some snow flakes coming down from the dark night sky.
The work on the housetops gave me the opportunity to look around in Namtolan. I noticed that the town was built very close to the cliff. They have a small goat farm, probably to get milk, a small bakery, in which they also make cheese, and which also is the house next to the one filled up with wood. There is another house next to the building in which the children went in the morning, but I still don't know its purpose.
I tried to talk to Tartek today during our work, but he seems to be thinking about something. Carana and Sereliaen talked a lot about the weather, nature and other things. I was quite surprised though, because I've never heard Sereliaen say so many things during one day...
Anyway. The most disturbing thing about Namtolan is the children. I'm trying to think of a possible reason for them to be here, but it seems to defy every logic. I haven't seen any women so far in this town (except Carana and Sereliaen, of course), so there is no chance of those children being born up here. I've also heard that priests decline reproduction anyway. At least, they are trying to stay clean and untouched by passion, lust and all that, so they can experience the full spectrum of their belief.
I didn't ask Carana about those children yet, maybe I should do so now. She seems to ignore them. Not even Tartek or Sereliaen talk about it. Am I seeing things? Maybe those priests use children to work for them. Is that what he meant when he said that 'we may already be a few workers up here'? Isn't that illegal?
Oh, I think a priest just rang the bell tower, that's probably a reminder to go to bed, sleep and recover your strength for the next day.
Good idea.

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