"I got to say a lot," Arialla said, a bit ruefully. "But ... I didn't know how to react to her. She's not like the gods at home. They were straightforward -- they just wanted worship, devotion, obedience. And then they might answer your prayers. Safrin wanted to know what I wanted."
Arialla sighed, glancing around the fantastical landscape. She really did need to think about what she wanted from Safrin. Perhaps she could get Amalia's advice, after LongNight. If Amalia survived LongNight in the Hollowed Grounds. Gods, Arialla would pray for her.
But, also: "What's a tundra?"
A nod at the stranger's -- we really ought to introduce ourselves, if the conversation's gone on this long -- description of gods. "We -- ordinary people, not heroes or demigods -- considered ourselves highly blessed if we met a god once. Our oracles and augurs would look at the fall of leaves, at the flight of birds, and divine the gods' intentions from them, seeing their influence in the way the world came together."
please don't take my sunshine away
