WANDERER Part 6

Rituals

The new cave near one of the sandy beaches south of where Zurak washed up was a little bigger than the old one.  It was deep enough to keep most of the cold winds away at night with a wide opening that commanded a broad view of the sea.  The altar for Elune was better in this cave too and filled with a variety of offerings to the moon goddess including a small lump of glittering gold.

Zurak knew the metal was of high value, but also knew that it had no real value to her except as proof of her devotion the most beloved of all the gods.  There were numerous rivers and streams feeding into the Peaceful Ocean all over the area; Zurak found the gold during one of her explorations inland.  Even though she still had hopes that the other ships in their group would come to look for survivors, Zurak still faced the possibility that she would be alone forever.

It was possible that none of the other ships survived the storm either; that there was no one left who knew where to look.  Zurak had chosen the most likely beach for a landing just in case, she had arranged some of the rocks in the area in the fashion of the Wanderers and even painted her family rune on the rocks near the cave.  All Wanderers were taught even as small babies how to leave messages in the Earth for other Wanderers; it was the only way to communicate across both distance and time.

Zurak kept to the small rituals of daily life as best she could; she started each day’s foraging with an offering of food to the gods and only shut her eyes to sleep after chanting the protection spell.  She kept her face clean so that she would shine brightly like Elune and said the prayer of time whenever the moon was full.  The ways of the Wanderers must always be preserved, it was another thing taught to the babies.

Her people had not always wandered; they had lived and thrived for a thousand years on the Islands of Savage Ice in the northern sea according to the graces of Elune.  Then Tidalus was kissed by the sun goddess Sola who tried to steal his love away from her sister, causing the ice to melt.  The islands were slowly taken back to the sea and her people did not know what to do until one of the old seers had the vision.

Elune wanted vengeance on her sister and sent her worshipers out into the lands of the sun.  The moon goddess told of the Well of Provenance and that her people must search the Earth until they found it and claimed it for Elune.  She decreed that the Wanderers would find the children of the sun and mix with them, putting Wanderer blood into all the people of the Earth so that Sola would always have to see them.

So the people of Elune began to wander the Earth, leaving their marks and their seed wherever they went, always searching for the Well of Provenance.  It was Zurak’s duty as a Wanderer to search, so her explorations inland were another ritual of life to be honored.  As time passed, Zurak realized that she could no longer stay alone on the beach, the anguish of being by herself was unbearable and she had not seen signs of any other people in the area.  It was time for her to accept that she wandered alone now; it was time for another ritual.