When Franklin had finished showing Bastion around the village, he left him at the church in the center saying he had to get back to The House. Looking at the birch building, it was all Bastion could do not to break down. Hobtown, as the residents and workers called their village, was a desolate, cheap and dirty village. And at twopences a barrel of barley, it was no wonder! He could find that much if he spent an afternoon scouring Market street back in Rosendall- as if he would do that! But he couldn’t go back there, and he knew it. Disgusted, angry, and hopeless, Bastion pushed the flimsy door open to reveal a dark inside, with wood benches and dirt floors- like the rest of Hobtown it seemed- and a high table at the opposite end of the hall, with a priest studying a book on top of it.

Bastion eyed the somewhat aged man as he walked up the center of the pews, his boots thudding even against the packed dirt ground. The priest had silver-white hair tied with a maroon ribbon at the base of his neck that spilled over his shoulders and down his back. His tan tunic was patched and worn and reached almost to the ground. He leaned back from his studies, and watched Bastion approach with a pleasant, expectant smile, his pale eyes scrutinizing the boy.

“Welcome, Bastion. You're late.” Bastion stopped walking mid-stride and stared at the man before him. The old man just smiled amiably at him, despite the glower Bastion shot in return.

“How do you know my name?” Bastion asked in a whisper, his heart pounding almost louder than his voice. Despite the distance still between them, the priest chuckled at the question and stepped around the table and started approaching the young man. Bastion took a step back, unnerved and honestly a little scared.

“Don’t be frightened. Nothing is hidden from the Lord's anointed, my son.” The priest's voice was smooth, and his eyes the first friendly - if unsettlingly pale- eyes he had seen all day. Stopping at the first pew in line, the priest grabbed a knotted and gnarled walking stick he didn’t seem to need, before continuing along the pew, gesturing for Bastion to follow.