The Faithseers

81st Light of Grenia 2020 AR

To gaze upon a Faithseer of Tel'Nagia was a rare sight to behold. Rarer still, was the privilege of watching one perform a vision transfer. But for me, today, all seven Faithseers performed the ritual. I felt excited but not all that eager for the ritual to continue. Maybe it was more anxiety than anything else. They were all so stunning, each member of the order was decorated with gold rings, necklaces, and other fancy trinkets populated with gemstones and jewels of various sizes. They all wore light blue robes with large hoods that hid most of their features but I could make out the five men and two women who served our Lord Nagia and guided our people closer towards his light. Each of the seven robed figures took a position around the sight pool and knelt down, placing their bare hands onto the rim. One by one the Faithseers pulled back their hoods and briefly gazed up at the opening in the center of the ceiling that revealed a purple night sky. One after the other, their hands dipped into the cool water of the pool and then it began. None are permitted to witness a Faithseer's communion with Nagia except for the highest ranking members of the church. Even a Faithseers's handmaide was required to wait outside the chamber, only entering once the ritual was over. Bright blue auras of light began emitting from their hands until it spread throughout the pool. The still water began bubbling as if it were being heated but there was no steam and the monks did not appear to be in pain. Instead they seemed quite serene, swaying in different directions almost as if something were holding their hands beneath the rumbling water. The light traveled from their hands to every inch of the water surface and suddenly the near violent white ripples within the pool began to subside. Along with its normal blue coloration, an image began to form atop the liquid. An image of the one who may very well be the human fated to do battle with the unnamed one. This was the first time I had laid eyes upon one of their species and it turns out the legends were true. They do resemble us in so many ways but they still appeared alien to me, even though our peoples are supposedly related. I was looking at some sort of military base and a group of about maybe one hundred humans in formation, receiving orders from their commander. I had to restrain myself from approaching the sight pool for a better look. No one but the Faithseers are permitted within a fifty foot radius of the pool so onlookers were relegated to a large viewing monitor raised high above the back end of the chamber. The image wavered on screen and settled onto the clean-shaven square-jawed face of a male with dim blue eyes and a greenish hat covering his head. "This one may lead" One of the Faithseers whispered. Her voice filled the entire chamber as if on loudspeaker but there were none. It was mystical power granted to her from Nagia that carried her voice across the room. May lead is what she said. May It seemed that what they said about the function of these monks was also true. The Faithseers receive their visions from Nagia in a divinely jumbled mess and use the Earthsight pool to clarify the colors and sounds into words and images. They must have faith that what they are shown both in their minds and the pool is the will of Nagia. Only then will the image become clear. For all seven to combine Nagia's message into one single image was truly a sight to behold, if not utterly frustrating and damn near pointless in my opinion. This man may be the one we all seek. Or maybe the human shown to the next team of five will be the one. Throughout all of history, even before the population Tel'Nagia, the dark has attempted to consume the Earth. Now the end times were approaching and the stage for the final battle will be on Earth. One warrior from each of the five worlds will stand beside The Chosen. But we don't know who he is and Nagia won't tell us. They say Nagia has a plan shrouded in mystery that must unfold as naturally as possible. We cannot intervene until we can intervene. Each of us has to develop a natural familiarity, a sort of working relationship I guess, with The Chosen. We must become companions if we are to trust each other on the battlefield. Only then will we know. Because the final decision is ours. Mine and my teammates from the other worlds. We will send our recommendation to our leaders and they will decide which time the last stand will take place. But why must we choose? If we are wrong all will be lost. Why not just tell us? Why so many frustrating tests? I don't think I'll live long enough to find out. But I will strive to bring honor back to my family and remove the stain of my ancestor's transgression against Clan Genaka-Nagia. When the vision ritual was over there was nothing left to be done except wait for the next phase of the operation; Time travel.