Chapter 7:

While other clans love to boast about their great feats in combat or their great wealth, this clan’s passion lies in the academic. While they’re training grounds and living quarters are plain and simply constructed, their library is a massive and ornate building filled floor to ceiling with scrolls, manuscripts, and tomes on all manner of subjects. Even the stringent Trudo clan pay their respects to the Westin’s pursuit of knowledge. Many wealthy families will send their children to the Westin’s for their education and any tutor or scholar worth hiring is one that studied at the Westin clan’s temple.

With this being their main discipline it’s no surprise that the Westin clan temple is a quiet place. At any other temple the sounds of sword play and combat can often be heard echoing through the halls, but at the Westin clan’s temple there is only the hush sounds of pages being turned and the discussion amongst students. During the winter season the quiet is even more pronounced as teachers and disciples shutter themselves in and huddle around the fires in the great hall of their main temple with their books in hand.

The Westin clan’s temple is a small place tucked away amongst the dense woods on the West side of the continent. The temple sits between two of the three small distributaries that flow from the main continental river and run off the cliffside into the ocean. Unlike the lands in the Song clan’s territory which are lush with greenery and farms, the Westin clan’s territory has hard packed soil and only the toughest plants can survive in the harsh environment. Walking through these lands one will be lucky to see any foliage other than the towering trees that are covered in uninviting needles that are so dark green that they give the landscape an ominous atmosphere.

The West side of the continent is also by far the coldest part, there is usually a chill in the air year round and during the winter the snow falls in droves, burying everything under it’s crystal white elegance. It’s no wonder then that the Westin’s primarily worship the unpopular Yula and subsequently her brother Polo rather than Inzka, the goddess of forests, or Slite, the god of the river. For most people this temple would seem uninviting and truly only the bravest of souls are willing to venture so deep into the woods to study under the Westin’s tutelage. It’s no surprise then that the isolated temple receives no visitor’s during the winter while everything is buried under snow and the cold becomes deadly to those inexperienced with it.

The loud banging on the main temple doors then shocks every resident to their core. Many sleepy eyed students stir in agitation while teachers stop their lessons and perk their ears. When the banging continues those in charge hesitantly dispatch servants to receive whatever guest has come knocking on their door. There’s a tension in the air that stifles the normally curious minds. Since this clan has been plagued with a monster there’s a paranoia in their thoughts that prevents them from their usually polite behavior. These weary academics can’t help but feel that whatever has come to their door can only be a bad omen.

When the door is finally opened those inside are momentarily blinded by the dazzling white that swirls around a pitch black figure. When they clear the spots from their eyes they can finally see the stranger for who he is.

Sae grins unabashedly and enters the main temple without any invitation. “Lovely weather today. Is the head of your clan in by chance?” He asks completely unperturbed by the shocked faces. He dusts off the snow from his hair and shoulders as he waits for an answer. Per Yula and Polo’s insistences he’d changed from his out-of-season country bumpkin attire to his shadow woven robes and Yula had politely provided a decadent white cloak which gives him an ethereal presence. “Oh, you’re here?” Sae catches sight of his older brother Trae who stands there scowling. As he asks though he realizes that of course Trae would be here. He and Hona are close friends and the Crest clan and Westin clan have always been allies. If one has a problem it’s no surprise that the other would come to help.

“Aye. I’m here. What the fuck are you doing here? Do you plan on stealing these lands as well?” Trae asks. Students and servants alike skitter away from the two brothers in fear that they might start fighting.

Sae just laughs this comment off though, “Of course not. I have my mountain, what else could I want? Nothing.”

Trae grinds his teeth together at Sae’s flippant attitude, “So what are you doing here?”

Sae momentarily ignores him as he steps more fully into the temple, from behind him someone hurriedly closes the doors. The room darkens considerably now, but the heat from the fires chases the chill out of the air much to everyone’s relief.

“I was hired.” He explains vaguely. Sae walks fully into the great hall and takes in the sight before him. In this room there’s at least fifty people scattered about sitting on cushions with piles of books and scrolls around them. There are a few slim windows along the wall that let in a little sunlight, but most of the lighting is provided by the caged braziers that are dispersed around the room for the residents to stay warm by while they teach and study. “Cozy place, I don’t think I was ever here during the winter, was I?” He glances up at Trae who stalks behind him with an unhappy expression. “I think I only spent a summer or two here?”

“Aye. Not that anything in this place ever changes. Besides the number of books.”