Chapter 396: Sylvan Mothers

“Sabina?” Stryg stopped in his steps and stared at Virella, the Silver Mother.

Why had she mentioned that name? Every Sylvan goblin had heard of Sabina. She was always spoken of with respect and fear. Surely, Virella wasn’t speaking of the same person. Could She?

“You mean Sabina the Mother Elect? Of the Sylvan tribunal? Why would I be worried about her?” Stryg asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

Virella’s smile fell. “Auri really never told you anything, did she?”

“First Mother rarely says anything beyond what is necessary. …You make it sound like there is something I should know about Sabina. What don’t I know about the Mother Elect?”

Virella opened her mouth to speak, but she hesitated and glanced at Aurelia and the others walking towards them from the end of the hall. She looked at Stryg and forced herself to smile. “...I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough, though there is nothing for you to worry about. Auri and I will take care of everything.”

“I’d much rather know, if it’s all the same to you,” Stryg bowed his head respectfully.

“You younglings, so worried about what may or may not come,” Virella grinned softly.

“What are you two talking about?” Aurelia asked as she drew closer.

“Oh, not much. Stryg just wanted to know where we’re going. I told him I wouldn’t ruin the surprise for everyone,” Virella winked.

Aurelia looked around the halls, noting the marble displays and paintings hanging on the wall, and her eyes widened in brief recognition. “Wait, a sec. Virella, don’t tell me you’re really taking us to—”

“—Ah! Don’t ruin the surprise!” Virella waved her hands around frantically.

Aurelia sighed, “Fine.”

“Hehe, then follow me.” Virella turned and led them down the hall.

Plum followed them with slow steps, her eyes constantly wandering to the beautiful architecture and works of art decorating the hallways. “This place is extraordinary, not even the grand temple in Hollow Shade’s Central District can compare,” she marveled.

“I have not seen this temple you speak of, nonetheless I am inclined to agree.” Virella smiled proudly, though there was pain in her eyes. “This temple and our stronghold city of Evenfall were built many moons ago. Long before Hollow Shade was even a dream, when Lunis still reigned far to the east. When The Schism occurred and the realm bridges broke, Hollow Shade betrayed our ancestors. The Lunisians were left without a home. And so Evenfall became the last bastion for our people.”

“I’m sorry,” Plum mumbled.

“No need to apologize. You have done nothing wrong. But I appreciate the gesture,” Virella said kindly. “Our people suffered greatly three centuries ago, but we made something of that pain. This city became the symbol of the enduring strength of the Sylvan, in the face of all that was lost. We keep this temple as it was, fixing what we can, and maintaining the rest, all so that we will remember where we came from and who we are as a people.”

“And who are we, as a people?” Stryg whispered.

The question had plagued his mind on many nights. He still wasn’t certain of who he was as a person. He was the chieftain of the Ebon Hollow Tribe. He was the Shield of his friends. An Ebon Aspirant of Hollow Shade. A follower of the Gale Style. But before all of that, he was a Sylvan goblin, through and through. Yet what exactly did that mean? What did it mean to be a Sylvan, albeit an odd one?

Virella stared at him with a focused gaze as if reading his thoughts. She reached out and clasped her fingers with his own. She raised his hand and held it tight. “This is who we are.”

Stryg wrinkled his brow, “I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“She means we are nothing without one another. We are the bonds that we have made, without them, we fall apart,” Aurelia said.

Virella nodded, “Even after all this time I see someone hasn’t forgotten their priestly training.”

Aurelia’s lips curled in a slight smirk. “How could I forget, Mother Sabina would have dismissed any acolyte who had misspoken a line, let alone forgotten our whole central dogma.”

“Wait, Mother Sabina? The Mother Elect was your teacher?” Stryg asked, shocked.

Aurelia nodded reluctantly, “She was. Though back then she was not the Mother Elect.”

“Back when we were acolytes Sabina was the right hand of the last Silver Mother,” Virella added. “Sabina was to be the next Silver Mother, but when she was offered the position of Mother Elect, leader of the Sylvan tribunal, the most prestigious seat of all, well, Sabina took it.”

“You act like it’s a bad thing,” Aurelia said.

“You don’t?” Virella asked, taken aback.

Aurelia sighed heavily, “Sabina is a wise and patient leader. I wouldn’t want anyone else heading the Lunar Elect. Besides, if she hadn’t she would be Silver Mother, not you.”

Virella frowned, “True… but still—”

“—That’s enough,” Aurelia snapped. “We’ve all made our decisions and we must abide by them.”

Virella hung her head and grumbled in agreement.

“Um, pardon me,” Tauri spoke up hesitantly. “I was just wondering, as to what exactly a Mother is? I mean, I keep hearing the word a lot and I’m quite certain it is not the same as the mothers I’m used to.”

The glint of enthusiasm returned to Virella’s bright yellow eyes. “What do you know of a Sylvan Mother?”

“Hmm, from what I gathered they are midwives and caretakers of the young, and sometimes they carry out ceremonial roles alongside the chieftain of a tribe,” Tauri said uncertainly.

“That’s all true, but they are so much more than that,” Virella said excitedly.

“Ugh, here we go,” Aurelia clenched her eyes tight and groaned.

“Come, we’ll walk and talk,” Virella grinned and continued to lead them through the seemingly endless halls. “The Mother is the most respected position in our culture, starting with the greatest Mother of all, the Mother Moon, our goddess, Lunae. Long ago, before Lunis existed, when Solis and Lunae roamed the Dusk Valley in their natural forms, they saw our ancestors fending for themselves, struggling to survive. Lunae and Solis took pity on our ancestors and showed them their favor. Lunae took a special liking to the goblins and she adopted our ancestors as her own, and so she became the first Mother.”

“First Mother?” Tauri glanced at Aurelia.

“You catch on quick,” Virella winked. “The goblins of old followed the advice of the first ebon gods and with their blessings of prosperity, our ancestors built the first Great City, Lunis. Grateful to Lunae, her priests utterly devoted themselves to her and emulated her in every way they could, which meant caring for others, including realm travelers who were lost, like the orcs of old.”

Virella’s voice became taut with pain, “Yet despite their kindness, when the Schism came, the orc warlords Katag and Morrigan gathered their orcish armies and attacked the outskirt Lunisian villages. When the Lunisian armies went to face them in battle, the Ebon Lords surprised everyone; Hollow Shade’s greatest general, the Blue Rose, led her armies straight for the goblin capital. The city of Lunis was burned to the ground before the Lunisian armies had a chance to come back and defend it. Thousands of innocents were slaughtered, killed in the streets without knowing why their doom had come from the ones they had once called friends.”

Tauri’s face turned dark with shame as Virella told the story. Stryg was too enraptured in the Silver Mother’s words to notice. But Plum did, she paid close attention to the expression on every one of their faces, yet it was First Mother’s face that gave her pause. The look of utter pain and mortification on Aurelia’s usual stoic face was startling, though no one else seemed to have noticed the brief break in her expression.

“The Lunisian armies were cut off and had nowhere to run, no one to defend,” Virella continued. “The orcs' forces attacked them from the west and the Blue Rose’s armies attacked from the east. All seemed lost, until the Mother Moon answered our people’s call for help. It is said pillars of silver light fell from the skies that day and decimated the enemy’s forces. Our people took the chance and retreated into Vulture Woods for safety.”

Pillars of light? Stryg thought. He shared a worried glance with Tauri but they said nothing on the matter.

“As the remnants of the Lunisian armies survived in the scarlet forest they fractured and broke into smaller groups, their old regiments. They became the first of the Sylvan tribes,” Virella explained. “Those soldiers went on to have children, though many were left orphans as the dangers of the forest took their parents’ lives. The warrior priestesses that had been traveling with the armies took in the children and raised them the only way they thought they could survive.”

“As warriors,” Tauri guessed grimly.

Virella nodded, “A cohesive group that was free from the ordinary bonds of familial loyalty and instead loyal to their military units, their tribes. It was the only way to survive the cruel forest and it worked. We became stronger for it. As time went on the other soldiers began to leave their children in the villages with the priestesses as they went hunting for food and other supplies. Eventually, as more orphans came to be, the old generations died, and the new generations began to see the priestesses as the tribe’s Sylvan Mothers.”

“But what about the birth mothers?” Tauri asked. “What about the children who weren’t left as orphans?”

“Birth mothers choose to leave their newborns with the Sylvan Mothers so that they may grow up in solidarity with the other children. A tribe’s Mothers raise the children in the ways of the Sylvan, while birth mothers continue with their usual duties.”

“But what happens when a Sylvan Mother has her own child?” Tauri asked.

Virella hesitated, “Um, that’s—”

“—Sylvan Mothers are forbidden from such intimacy, we have no children,” Aurelia interrupted.

“So you will never fall in love? Have a partner to share life with?” Plum said in a pitiful voice.

“Well, most Sylvan don’t believe in a ‘life partner’ or the monogamy that your people practice, but yes, we will never be ‘in love’ I suppose,” Virella said.

“That’s… so sad,” Plum frowned.

“It is not. We all make sacrifices for our tribes and we are proud to pay them,” Aurelia said resolutely. “Having no offspring of our own allows us to remain impartial in the raising of the children. As it should always be.”

Plum shook her head, “Still, that’s—!”

“Plum, do not dishonor their sacrifices,” Tauri said in a serious tone. “I don’t agree with your methods, but I understand them, First Mother. Surviving in Vulture Woods must have taken extreme measures and I will not judge you for them. From one warrior to another, you have my respect,” she bowed her head.

Aurelia simply nodded, though she looked at Tauri with a newfound interest.

“Well, I don’t have to raise children at least, eh heh,” Virella said with a silly grin. “The Celestial Shrine’s priestesses are still called Mothers, but we don’t fulfill the usual role. We are caretakers of the temple and serve the people of Evenhall and all its visitors as advisors. Most importantly, we are servants of the Mother Moon if she ever calls upon us. As Silver Mother, I also serve as leader of all the tribe’s Mothers and am here to advise them when needed.”

“That I’d like to see,” Aurelia raised her eyebrow.

“Here’s my first bit of advice to you, Aurelia of the Blood Fang,” Virella said with an air of solemnity. “Be nicer to your best friend.”

“...Such sage advice, if only I had a best friend to share it with,” Aurelia shook her head in disappointment.

“Tch, that’s so mean,” Virella clicked her tongue. “I’d lecture you on your callous nature, but we’ve arrived at our destination.” She stopped in front of a large door, covered in magical sigils and locks.

“What’s behind there?” Stryg asked.

Virella smirked, “A place very few are ever allowed to see. The most sacred spot in all Mt. Moon Fang.”

Stryg’s eyes widened in excitement, “Wait. You don’t mean?”

Virella nodded, “It is where the Mother Moon sees us clearest. It is where the greatest of our people have come to contemplate and search for wisdom, and a lucky few were blessed with visions. If you have a wish this is where you should make it. As the Silver Mother and caretaker of the Celestial Shrine, I welcome you….” She placed her hand on the door and its magical sigils flared, and its locks turned. The heavy door slowly swung open. Virella bowed, “...to the Eye of the Moon.”