Grassfoot
"That's right, lady, lord; it was an hour after I'd crossed into the hills, heading north from Celeren. There was no rush, so the horse was just trotting along on the road, when he walked up beside me. He had long legs, but his gait was still too relaxed to keep pace with us if he was just human. I thought he might have been one of your cousins at first - it was the green in his hair put the idea in my head - but from your training in what to look for I saw him as a spirit soon enough. His hair wasn't grass-green, it was actual green grass...
"Yes, lord. His boots, too - woven from the tall grass that grows in the valley, still green but corded with brown vines... No, lady; only his staff, which he'd crossed over his shoulder and hung his hands from... He was young, lord; not more than sixteen summers...
"He hungered for news, mostly. He asked of Celeren, he asked of Lookshy; he wondered if we might not travel south to Harborhead, soon. In turn, he told stories of the hill tribes and beastmen that fought us; laughed when he said that some of them were still lost in the hills, having never found the roads to take them back home. We talked like that a while as we traveled, until we reached the crossroads at the valley's center where he bid me farewell...
"Just one thing, lady: he asked me to thank his father for him, to thank him for his birth. Who do you think he meant by that?"
-- Tatara Lo, of The Baihu Society
The Pleasures of Leisure[edit]
Sweet Voice of Brass and Glory lay back and bent her arm under her head. "I think you should build him a shrine."
"A shrine?" Storm of Amber propped himself up on his elbow.
"Stone thing. Sits on the roadside, bowl for people to burn incense."
"Ah. I thought those were Jokun." The Exalt smiled.
"No, Jokun have hands." The goddess pressed her finger into the Exalt's palm. "I've been doing a study."
Storm of Amber laughed. "Remind me to kill the Jokun."
"After you build Grassfoot a shrine. A small one, on the road leading out of God Crossing."
"You're very serious about this."
The goddess took a golden feather from a nearby table and twirled it between her fingers, smiling as it filtered the light from overhead. "A happy road spirit can draw your enemies off their course; keep our home safe from attack."
"And you think a shrine will make him happy."
"Your prayers always put me in a good mood."
"I've no interest in giving Grassfoot the same personal attention I give you." Storm of Amber closed his hand over Sweet Brass' and stopped her spinning the feather. "Besides, I'm not sure I'm comfortable rewarding him before he's of any help."
"Think of it as a lesson, not a reward. Teach him early the pleasures of bowing to your Mandate."
"And the sages say that education is the root of virtue. Alright; we'll deliver his lesson." Storm of Amber smiled to the goddess. "Of course, next you'll want a shrine."
Sweet Brass let the feather go and it drifted to the floor. "I already know my place under heaven."
