Helregann

Quid Custodiet...

I grew up in a shrine. Wood floors, sacred rites, and trinket shop; the works. I'm not the son of the priest, I'm the son of the temple dog. Generations of us lived and worked at the Summer's Reef Shrine as guardians. I mean, who really wants bite marks and burns when you get right down to it? And there's the belief that fire purifies evil spirits, like salt but with flash.

What it really comes down to is growing up with the temple monks making you scrub floors, wash out the laundry, and stand at attention for important rites. I know that sounds dull, and those bits were, but there were also the crazy weeks leading up to festivals and the shrine itself is on the most beautiful beach to be had, in my very humble opinion. It wasn't what people call normal growing but it was good.

Dad took things seriously. It wasn't just a place to live, everything was Temple Duty and Honor. Starting a cooking fire was Temple Duty and an Honor. Raking the leaves was Temple Duty and an Honor. Giving the head monk a hotfoot was not Temple Duty and I ought to be ashamed. He was serious a lot but I think being the top temple dog made him feel like he had to always be this larger than life example of what's right. I know we used to think he was invincible. It couldn't have been easy raising my sister & me on his own.

Well not completely on his own. The monks were part of the family too, even if they looked different. The head monk Ihro was a bit like a grandfather, he looked the part. Old, skinny, bald, and always smiling with this wrinkly face like an old apple left out in the sun. He never really scolded us as cubs, he just had this way of smiling and asking polite questions until you felt your tail pulling up between your legs and your ears hanging as low as they could reach. Nothing fazed Ihro (not even the hotfoot), but his smile looked a little tired any time we asked him about our mom.

Never knew her, she gave birth to twins and that was it. I've heard it said dad was never the same, who could blame him? He still managed to be there when we needed him and like I said, there was Ihro filling in the gaps. I still keep a watercolor of her in a picture frame (tempered glass and flame resistant, I'm not stupid) Ihro painted. He did one for each of us. Ihro said we should know her face in case we pass her in the next life.

Yes, twin sister. Obviously Sivaldr doesn't have my rugged charm but you can't win them all. We grew up together, got in trouble together, and fought like the little flame-blasting hellions we are. What? It's what cubs do, right? We figured out we could team up on our chores to finish early then it was off in the woods or down to the beach to play. As we grew up she turned into the business tycoon of the family, shrine maiden on the occasional weekend. As for me I'm usually on the road. Maybe I should be making the attempt at things like 'responsible' and having my own shop. There's just too much of the world to not try and see it all.

By Any Other Name

I grew up in the Summer's Reef Shrine with my twin brother, Helregann. Bringing us into the world was more than our mother could manage on her own so our father raised us, along with the monks. Dad was all about honor and discipline which I think ruffled Hel's fur the wrong way. I think he was just trying his best to give us everything he thought we'd need.

You see our family were the guardians of the shrine for generations. It sounds neat but really there's lots of ceremony and rules to follow. It's a bit like being a sacred statue, rolled out on special occasions and dusted the rest of the time. It's not a bad life, I just wanted to see if I could do more. I still help out on weekends as needed but to be honest a lot of my time goes into my business.

Grandmaster Ihro was a bit like a grandfather for us. A bald little, old man that always smiled no matter what happened. He usually talked to us in questions. Sounds weird I know but he had this way of making you think about what was happening instead of just doing things. Maybe it's a Zen habit? Like, he would never raise his voice even when my brother and I were catching koi from the shrine's pond. He just smiled and asked us if we were really that hungry. We weren't so he asked us if we needed the shrine's fish for something else. By the time he was done we'd both felt terrible for stealing the shrine's fish, which were quite dead by this point, and never touched them again.

Growing up with Helregann is a bit like living with a tornado. Nothing could ever be quiet or simple, it always had to be something dangerous and usually involved fire. I still don't know how we managed to avoid burning down the shrine. As wild as he could be, it was fun running through the woods or swimming at the beach with him. Even if I was born first he called me his 'little sister' on account of his height. It bothered me to no end but he always looked out for me. We spent most of our youth growing up together and I don't regret it, though he might regret the times I got even with my little-big brother.

I wouldn't mind spending more time with my family around the shrine. Maybe when things are a little more stable I can take some time away...