concordancegrimoires | [Action | Rabanastre Cathedral

[Despite the deluge being present south of Rabanastre, the skies over the city are clear and full of sunshine. It's the perfect day for an impromptu gathering, one such as the one massing outside the cathedral. The sun is nearing its zenith in the sky, but the crowds are ignoring the heat, for a chance to listen to the priest on the cathedral steps.

Ajora is unlike the other Kiltia priests. Rather than clothe himself in ornate and ostentatious robes with cloth-of-gold and jewels enough to feed a small city, he and his acolytes merely wear plain cloaks of simple cotton cloth. They appear, by all appearances, to be simple and humble, more concerned with the people and their needs than extensive and costly show of rank.

He is delivering a most stirring sermon about the goodness and light of Faram. The Father of Light alone is worthy of worship and his Paradise is nigh for all. It is a radical theology to many, but there is such an air of goodness about the priest, that is is hard to deny his doctrine. There is a promise of hope, of salvation from suffering and grief, which has e'er been the close companion of the Dalmascans since the Imperial Occupation. It is the tantalizing promise of relief, the promise of hope for the future that compels them to listen and believe.

After he is done speaking, he spends the next several hours blessing children, soothing and comforting the hurting, easing the discomfort of the downtrodden. He and his disciples distribute alms to the poor who come with open hands. If he grows weary, there is no sign of it, as a kind smile and a warm welcome is extended to anyone who approaches.]

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[It makes about as much sense as Espers running rampant (by his reckoning), so while there is a twitch of his face, he easily moves past the ludicrous nature of it all. At the very least, he is more inclined to believe than push it aside.]
"Twelve centuries?" [He makes a sound.] "The choices do baffle me - why, whom?" [But he looks directly at Ramza, eyes studying.] "A time when Ajora is known to you and when Ultima causes some repulsion of flesh - pray, what are they to your time?"

The legends are thus: Ajora was a preacher of a new faith and a worker of miracles, who saved the land by leading the twelve Zodiac Braves against a demon. Later, Ajora was cruelly executed when one of his disciplines betrayed him. He has since been revered by the Church of Glabados as a saint and child of the gods.

[Ramza glances over to the crowds. Has he already garnered that reputation here, or is he but slowly accumulating a following? It's hard to say. He looks back to Vayne.]

Ultima is known to me not as an Esper, but a Lucavi, a fell demon who was intent on bathing in the land in blood to fuel her own revival. She has since been slain.

[But here, this being the past, she still lives. Why was he brought back here? Was there something more he needed to do? But in doing so, it could very well change the course of Ivalice's history itself... He's aware he must tread very carefully.]

[That had been a guess at best, and for a moment, in containing his surprise (and lack thereof in some twisted fashion, they are all connected to the Gods, after all), Vayne is silent, struggling to control his urge to pace. Cid was always the one who was more active, more alive, and yet Vayne has so oft been inclined to pulling away, staring off in contemplation.]

[But what Ramza said was a legend, correct? He prompts softly -]

"And the truth?"

[Ramza studies Vayne for a long moment, then looks around to check once more that they have no eavesdroppers. Then he says in a low voice,]

The truth is that Ajora is no more a child of the gods than you or I. He did not save the world from a demon. He is a saboteur, interested in the theft of state secrets and sower of disorder.

[He shakes his head, brow furrowing in deep worry.] And the paradise he preaches of is just the opposite. A great disaster looms in Ivalice's near future, and he will be its source.

[Something that Ramza will do everything in his power to prevent -- alone if he must. If that was the reason he was brought back here into the past, then he cannot turn his back on events he knows will transpire.]

[It's too much to ask for, too perfect - but he knows of Ultima's breath upon his flesh, calling it back to life, bringing he back to life in a time where it seems only more hazards are to be found.]

[It makes a strange echo of sorrow whisper and cling to his heart - he had been not wholly correct and yet still longer Cid would wait his word upon the tasks they set upon themselves.]

[At least Gabranth...still lived. His brother, Archadia, for now, would be safe.]

[This Ajora, however - the man's devices, if they were even his own, perhaps at one point he would need to meet with the priest, alone, in quiet. Learn, and adjust as he needed. He has played the terror once, and damn everything, he may just need to do it again.]

"If the words you speak are thus true, we are all truly imperiled." [There is a moment of sadness that shifts through his voice. Vayne is tired of gods, tired of toys and playthings - and he himself? Perhaps he is one and he is not even aware, but he must persist, must continue.] "Pray, forgive my overindulgence -" [Habitually a hand touches his own chest, head dipping a little -] "- though doubt does not cross my mind you will be vigilant, seeking to ensure the page is not wrought, and Ajora will be without his marked path - your words have troubled me in ways I have not thought to be. Ajora is a personal, driving quest for you, is he not?"

[Ramza shakes his head.] I bear no personal vendetta against the man, nor do I have anything so grand as a quest.

[Part of it is the truth, part of it is Ramza's own humility; he has no delusions to importance any more than he believes in Ajora's plays at saintliness. He has only the path before him, the path of trying to do what is right by others.]

But if Ivalice is imperiled by the horrors I have already seen, I will do aught I can to stop it. Of that, you may rest assured.

[Vayne...smiles a little.]
"You have my thanks, though indeed Ivalice herself shall perhaps thank you as your intention is for her benefit and longevity."

"Were one to meet Ajora, would you offer any advice as to how the encounter mayhaps would play out?"

[To his first remark, Ramza says nothing, though doubt is writ across his expression. He's accustomed to thankless quests, and if the Ivalice of this time doesn't thank him for this, it wouldn't be the first time. Nor Germonique ever looked kindly upon by history for what he intends to do.]

This is the first time I have laid eyes on Ajora myself -- anything I have read or heard of him is from scripture. What manner of encounter would you intend?

[It's a curious question, though in some ways it is apt. What would one do upon meeting the priest who seems to play host to the being who has thought to torture Ivalice so by grinding into old wounds. Wounds, of course, he had split wide in an attempt to cut an infection from.]

[His shoulders almost shrug, putting instead a question to the other.]
"What is the man's character, then, as described such in scripture?"

[The idea of Ajora having scriptures about him sounds...unnatural. If this man is truly delusional and suffering from some illness, it is well thought out.]

[Action | Rabanastre Cathedral | OTA]

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