Ceol, you are hereby summoned for your baptism. Please make haste to come by the orchard for the ceremony.
Karcier had sent the page to come find and delivery the message to Ceol, Karcier had choosen a diffrent place for Ceol instead of the Temple he had picked a nice place in the beautiful forest of Widu. A few scattered orange trees showed up on the path to the small lake, but it was easy enough to find. Karcier stood by the edge of the water and looked at his reflection. For Ceol, he would make this special and diffrent.
He waited patiently, enjoying the spring breeze as it swept past him. Leaves danced in the air as the wind pulled them off their branches, the gentle sway of the trickle of water was appeasing. He shoudl bring Faia here one day, so she can enjoy the peace and quiet and most of all the beauty.
Ceol curiously accepted the note from the page and read it. "Oh!", she exclaimed. "It's from Karcier, I'm about to get baptised!"
She dropped a heavy orange in the waiting page's hands. "Please wait here while I change." She fluttered to her tiny dresser and, after some searching, pulled out a white dress made of snowdrop petals. She covered herself with her wings while she changed. Then, Ceol folded Karcier's letter into a kite-like shape and fluttered back to the page. "Could you do me favour?", she asked.
A moment later, Ceol was flying on the paper kite towards the place Karcier chose, where the orchard meets the forest. She landed near the edge of the lake, breaking Karcier's reflection with ripples on the water surface. She hopped off the kite towards Karcier's feet before the kite sank and smiled up at him. "Hello Karcier, I'm here! I hope I'm not late?"
There was a faint smile as he heard Ceol's sweet voice, tiny yet so full of life. He turned to face her and bowed his head, his priest staff in one hand. "Welcome Ceol, I thought we would do your baptism diffrently...somewhere more ..natural to you" he smiled warmly followed by a soft chuckle. "Now let us begin..it won't take too long..." A chilling cold swept through the trees, it caught Karcier by surprise and stopped him dead in his sentence as he braced himself. The wind whistles as it colided with the leafs of trees, brown and green leaf's dancing in the air.
"Brr...I shoudl've worn more..." he muttered.
Bowing his head towards ceol , he smiled. He let the bottom of his staff rest on the ground as he took one step forward. "Now step forward Ceol of Widu."
"In all of us, lays a journey... a path which we must take whether we accept it or not. This journey you alone must take, step by step. Dangers will come forth to stop you, but with your joy and good desires you shall prevail.The path you are taking today is an important journey. It is but one among many. Do not enter lightly as you will be a role model for others to follow the Faith." Karcier always liked to make each sermon unique to some degree, his words were never exactly the same there was always a hint of difference.
Karcier waves a hand revealing a potion in it.
Do you understand the commitment that you are about to start? His eyes gently remained on Ceol. Karcier had been blessed to find such a being and be able to call her his friend. He waited patiently, with a smile on his face.
"It's a lovely place, Karcier." Ceol said. She waited patiently for the ceremony to start and when asked to step forward, she took a big step towards Karcier, nearly four inch!
Ceol then listened quietly to Karcier's words. She nodded, but didn't say anything while he spoke. His words did not only represent her journy as a follower of the Faith, but also the journy each creature makes in life. Don't take it lightly, but still light enough to carry. Because no-one could possibly travel forward while carrying a too heavy weight.
She nodded once to Karcier's last question and spoke. "Yes, I understand the commitment and I'm ready." Then she eyed the potion curiously.
Karcier smiles and pulls out a second potion from his/her other hand. One was clear. The other was a bubbling green potion. He knew what the green potion tasted like, bitter and sour. Compared to the clear which was somewhat sweet. It was part of the challenge, would they pick the easier path or the more challenging one ?
"In my hands, I have two potions. The clear potion represents the appearance of many to be clear without any blemishes, but lacking any zeal, energy, or desire to improve."
There was a pause as Karcier let his words sink in, this was an important part of the baptism it should not be taken lightly. After a minutes silence karcier resumed.
"The other potion represents your life in the future if you embrace the path of the Faith. You will always strive to improve, full of energy to do what is right, and the promise of your vows. These potions should not be drank lightly. For once you have chosen the path, you have admitted your wholehearted decision to accept the Faith. Walking away from what you know to be right is the path to inner destruction."
Karcier Aisu extends his hands out so that Ceol may examine them more closely, he/she smiles as they speak the final words.
"I give you your choice. Pick your potion and drink."
Ceol listened to Karcier and smiled as she looked at the potions in his hands. "To be clear without any blemishes is what many creatures wish for, but none shall ever achieve. Nothing is without blemishes, not even the mages, not even mother Nature! To not have flaws is to never learn. It's the collection of assets and flaws that makes us what we are. To not have will to improve but be without blemishes at the same time, is simply not possible."
She fluttered over and landed on the vial containing the green potion. She grabbed the cork with both hands and pulled. Slowly it moved until it came off with a *pop* sound. She hoped it was alright if she only drank part of it. After all, she was a small creature and it would take her several days to empty that entire vial.
Carefully, Ceol drank as much as she managed from the green bubbly potion and then wiped her mouth. She tried her best to not wrinkle her nose at the bitter taste. "Oooh!", she exclaimed. She could feel the potion bubble inside her stomach. Her eyes rolled in opposite directions until they stopped to make her look up at Karcier cross-eyed. Her hair curled and uncurled itself, stood up straight, then sprang back to their original style. Ceol pressed her hand against her mouth and a small, high-pitched belch escaped her lips. She giggled. "I'm so sorry! I think I drank too much. But we need to learn from mistakes, no?"
Karcier smiled at the choice. Watching Ceol drink, he reached to grab his staff and rested upon it. It glowed green and watched as a green aura surrounded Ceol for a moment. Karcier smiled warmly as the aura faded,Ceol had made their choice one which Karcier respected and understood.
"By the power of the Mages, I hereby declare you to be a follower of the faith. May your days be blessed and your path clear. You are also a special convert as you are the first of this new generation to have taken this step. You will not be the last. I, hereby charge you with the Temple of Widu . Serve her well and she will give you bountiful children in the faith."
He bows his head making a circular motion with his staff in the air. A red fire emerged and slowly disappeared. The ceremony was over, short and sweet as he remembered. Now the journey was up to Ceol.
