"You are more than welcome to share our meal," one of the strangers told Meyrin when he sat down at the fire.

Meyrin had brought with him to the fire the last of the food he had been given by his aunts and started to refuse, but then he recalled what the old man had told him about accepting gifts on the road. "Only if you have enough to spare," he replied instead. "I have some, but it's the last I've brought with me and there isn't much."

"There is plenty," the man told him, apparently acting the part of the group's speaker. "Elrin is a fair shot with a bow and brought down a fine stag this afternoon. We don't have the time to smoke any of the meat, so you are welcome to some of it."

The meat that was cooking did, indeed, smell wonderful. It seemed these travelers had brought their own spices along with them. The comment about bowmanship certainly peaked Meyrin's interest, as well, and he glanced at the man's companions. The one who spoke for the group was slightly older than the others, perhaps in his forties, while his two companions were no older than thirty. Of the younger two, one appeared to be a man and the other a woman. All three of them wore similar robes of a deep red color, with what appeared to be roses embroidered on the cuffs. They wore their hair in the usual braids, decorated with charms, ribbons, and chains in the more material way of those who spent most of their time in cities, with metal and gems littering in the firelight. 

The most striking detail of all three of them was the tattoo across the forehead. Though tattoos were so common on all parts of the body that it was strange to see someone in Nairiume without at least a few of them, forehead tattoos were rare. It was the only part of the body reserved for truly significant marks, and only those who were among or connected to the royal family or one of the various priesthoods could acquire a tattoo on the forehead. All three of the strangers had a simple line across the forehead with what appeared to Meyrin to be swirling circles breaking the line periodically. The older man had six such circles, while the others only had three. 

Taking the forehead tattoos and the robes into consideration, Meyrin assumed the three were priests of one of the many gods of Nairiume. He'd seen some priests come through the Cracked Hoof over his lifetime, and had listened to their stories of the gods, but his aunts had never been truly devoted to worshipping any of them and so neither had he. He respected them, however, and believed that perhaps they existed, he simply wasn't certain why spending so much effort praying and devoting himself to any god would benefit him. Not doing so had certainly not harmed his aunts too terribly.

"I'm Sarlin," the older man introduced himself. "My companions are Elrin, of course, and Tallia. We are priests of Durasyan, god of love, devotion, and pleasures of all kinds. Elrin and Tallia are traveling to a city where they will help establish a new temple to Durasyan. We come from the temple in Solaris, and I will return there once I see the younger priests to their new home, as is our tradition."

"To ensure we don't become to distracted," Tallia added, smiling at Meyrin from across the fire.

Sarlin shook his head, but was smiling. "It's to ensure you arrive safely and the High Priest doesn't need to worry about finding others to take your place. These temples are very important to giving local people the place to worship when they choose."

"Why don't towns establish their own temples?" Meyrin asked.

"They do," Sarlin explained. "That is what is happening now. The townspeople wanted to establish a temple to Durasyan and wrote to the main temple in Solaris requesting assistance from the priesthood."

"Do most towns have a temple for a love god?" Meyrin asked. "Please forgive me," he added quickly, "if I seem uneducated. I've lived away from town in an inn my aunts ran for most of my life. They were not particularly religious."

Sarlin chuckled. "It is quite all right. We are accustomed to people not quite understanding Durasyan these days. He is not only the god of love, devotion, and pleasure, but also of fertility. We speak most often of Durasyan and his male form, but his female form is that of Danya, also a goddess of love, devotion, pleasure, and fertility. We are trained in the ritual worship of both forms the god takes, though Durasyan is the one most known due to the celebration of Durasyan's Day each winter. Once, it was called Durasyan and Danya's Day, and it was celebrated in the spring, but over time it was shortened and moved to winter to bring some love into the cold freezes of the season. Why Durasyan was chosen over Danya when the idea was to shorten the name, I can only assume was a decision made by a man."

Meyrin watched as Elrin carefully turned the meat that was cooking over the fire, careful to keep his robe's sleeves from contacting the flames. He had to admit that he was quite curious, as he'd always been intrigued by stories of the gods. Surely these priests would enjoy having the opportunity to tell him all about the god they had devoted their entire lives to.

"I know the story of how the gods walked among us many centuries ago," Meyrin began, "long before the kingdoms of the world ever formed. They taught our ancestors many things and brought magic into being by having children with them. What did Durasyan, or Danya, bring to the world? I assume love, but what is the story?"

Sarlin smiled brightly, then looked to his younger companions. "I believe, between the three of us, we might be able to recall the tale and what Durasyan gives to the world."

Both Tallia and Elrin were also smiling and looked eager to talk about their beloved god.

"I think you may be correct, Brother Sarlin," Elrin declared. He turned his smile to Meyrin. "In the First Era the gods walked among our ancestors, and the ancestors of all the animals. One of those gods was the duality that is Durasyan and Danya..."