The priest rubs his head and says, "Good question."
Cyrus lets out a sigh of relief, and Dumnorix's smile fades with disappointment creeping up in his soul. "I thought I was going to get a good fight."
"D-Don't be upset over this."
Opening his mouth, the priest says, "Eh, hem."
Both Dumnorix and Cyrus move to attention. "It's because when this country was first cursed, we were abandoned by many. To the people of the time who barely understood what spirit energy was, they couldn't think anything like us; we're nothing more than demons.
And due to the time period of our land being cursed was soon after the 2nd human-beastkin war, very few were willing to even entertain the idea that we weren't another race of monster who aimed at the destruction of their newly built empire.
During that time when humanity had just come together, we were forcefully separated from that, and were stuck in this land, where are curses tended to make it impossible to live the lives we had before.
But people appeared, lead by a priest, and he spoke the words, 'The devil comes in a beautiful form, that being pleasing to the flesh or conceited morals of others matters not, all that matters is the way your own soul is in the end, because that is where the truest form of you exists. So please don't despair.'
Those words and the help that man and his people brought gave us far more strength than we ever could have, and are the sole reason that we didn't break down during our formative years. It is of great importance to us to give thanks to the god who has supported us through the generations, and we shall continue to until we die."
Dumnorix, standing up, says, "I enjoy your resolve, and as a fellow believer in the messiah, I believe your words are rather empowering."
Shaking his hands, the priest says, "Nice to hear."
As the handshake finishes, the priest walks away and says, "I will be returning to work. The handout for the supplies will start soon. When you guys finish up here, you can come and join us."
"Right."
As the priest leaves, Dumnorix sits down, and Cyrus turns to him and says, "How do you b-beileve in the messiah?"
"What kind of question is that?"
"It's just I heard from O-Orb you have a-another god before?"
"Aww, you mean Danu? Correct."
Cyrus nods his head, and Dumnorix says, "It was strange hearing Orb's story and how he goes over the way the beastkin talked about how the beastkin view both the messiah and the Danu herself. It was strange, and eye-opening because, for most of our texts, it is changed for the messiah to be something of a father to Danu.
This almost burst out into a giant debate, but if it wasn't for Orb saying he would restrict all of the information from his memories unless we do things in a calm manner, it could have turned slightly violent.
The idea that humans have altered our history, and that we have, in some form, been enslaved by them. Of course as you can tell the idea that this may one day burst into anti-human sentiment is high, and a lot of our druids try their best to somehow explain how our history is probably still correct and that the history we teach now was made with more information than what we had at the height of the empire, though it fell on deaf ears.
There are fears that some people may try burning books over the tension in our history, as there have been constant debates in Nialathrú over alleged inconsistencies in texts that people shut down. Though it's not like anyone will be able to attack the library with Senán constantly keeping watch as of late.
Still to answer you're question properly, I need to ask, what is a god to you, Cyrus?"
"A power entity that we all descend from."
"How spiritual. Yet you do realise it is just as likely you dragons descend from us Beastkin as well, maybe a group who ate a bunch of dragonic wonderbeasts."
Confused Cyrus says, "No, that isn't true, dragons have met the dragon god."
"Huh? You do realise that the dragon god is brought up in texts that also mention Danu, do you know how old those are?"
Cyrus nods his head and says, "There are a handful of dragons who have been alive that long, who can attest to this. We have four dragon kings, and two of them can attest to meeting the dragon god along with another handful of dragons. One of the dragon kings is actually the dragon god's son and is the current leader of the dragons. In fact, the tail of the dragon is still lying in the country."
Confusion moves across Dumnorix's face, and he says, "So you guys have actually physical proof of your god?"
"Yes? Do you guys not?"
Dumnorix shakes his head no, and Cyrus says, "Then why do you believe?"
"I think I am starting to see the problem here."
Cyrus says, "So all the time you humans have been ta-alking about the messiah, you haven't even seen him."
"Well, I can feel his presence come upon me?"
"Couldn't you ju-ust be crazy?"
"Do I look craz-,"
"Yes."
An annoyed look appears on Dumnorix's face, and he says, "You know the dragon god exists, but why do you serve him then?"
"Because I was told to."
"So you're just a compulsive follower of religion, that's exactly what I would expect from you."
Cyrus grits his teeth, but then, relaxing, he says, "I love the dragon god for this body I was given."
"Your body?"
"I am weak-minded, with a weak soul. If I were a human or even a beastkin, I would completely crumble down into nothingness, but I was granted this body of a dragon, one that can protect and guard what I care about, regardless of whether my soul is strong or not."
"So you're love for your god comes from the physical conditions it has given to you."
Cyrus nods his head, and Dumnorix says, "Seeing the humans of Niflheim, I have gained quite a bit more love for my physicality. Due to the nature of beastkin being so well tied to our environment, we have always been in tune with it, which has given us far more understanding of our surroundings.
It is probably the reason we were able to live in such a cramped space for over 2000 years. When I think of things like that, Danu's blessings us with these bodies is something that I will forever love."
"So can your people love the Messiah more than Danu?"
"I can't speak for everyone, but I can at least say for me, it's because of what the Messiah has done for me. Back during the time after I found my parents dead by Abbán, I was actually very angry despite what I had said to Abbán.
For months after that, I acted in ways that made me utterly unworthy of the title of the greatest in all creation. I was training every day, fueled by nothing but revenge, as I thought of ways to hurt Abbán and the Fanalis for what they did.
But when I was clearing out some of the books, I went through some of the holy scriptures, the Arba'ah Olamot. I have no idea till today why I felt the need to actually read that book out of all my parents, but in it was something along the lines of 'The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.'
It's basically common sense that any adult or person with a brain could tell you, but those words made me take a step back and look at the situation from a fresh perspective.
Would Abbán really kill my parents intentionally? Would someone who would sue for peace really be that violent? How did a child his age even end up as the leader of the Fanalis? Would my parents lose in a fight to Abbán? Could this all just be due to an unfortunate circumstance?
Those questions allowed me to truly act in the way I wanted, and it came from the scriptures. It might sound silly, and I can't speak for how people feel about such things, but in my life on this planet, it allowed me to change my future. So I will worship such a god till the day I die, and I will use the opportunity he has given me to never lose and hang my head low again."
Dumnorix smiles and says, "Though I do find the very idea of gods fascinating. How could people who control life and death die? If the Messiah isn't as omnipotent as we thought, how does hell and demons exist? I would love to one day find the answer, but the greatest in all creation pays back depths, and fights for his loved ones before pondering the questions of existence."
Dumnorix walks away and says, "Come on, let's get to work."
Cyrus, staring at him, says, "Dumnorix, I want to defeat you."
Turning, Dumnorix says, "You can't just bash your head against a superior opponent and hope to win. Go train."
"NO! I know that I might not be able to beat you in a fight, but that isn't what matters to me right now. I need to beat you in some way. Because right now it isn't just with fighting that you're better than me."
With a giddy smile, Dumnorix says, "You're a fool, but I like it! Then let both of us have a competition."
Cyrus nods his head, then Dumnorix says, "But what would we use to do this?"
The priest appears between them and says, "Leave the contest to me."
"Y-Y-You're were s-stil here?"
"Of course, I felt like you're conversation was going to end in a fight, so I need to be here to watch the dra-, I mean, intervene and bring it to an end."
"So, father, what do you have in mind for me and the dragon?"
The two lobster claws on his hand release a translucent green substance, and he says, "My curse allows me to know the location of anyone marked with this substance and tell their current level of worry. I use it during large gatherings like this to make sure all of the visitors are ok, and for the second wave of charity distribution.
During our hands out's both of you will be competing with handing out our charity to the people who have come for Radonitsa, and you will be marking them with this as you do it. Then the person who has helped more people will be the winner."
"How will you differentiate between me and the dragon counts?"
"If you mix your blood with my substance, I will be able to tell the difference between the people you both marked. The effect usually isn't potent with a homogenous people like those of Blestemate, but considering that you're both nonhumans, I will be able to tell your blood apart from others easily."
Both Dumnoirx and Cyrus start to shake, then Cyrus says, "W-W-What a-a-are, y-y-y-you taking about, I am a ni-i-i-ightmare?"
Dumnorix, looking at the ground, says, "Abbán is going to kill me, Abbán is going to kill me, Abbán is going to kill me, Abbán is going to kill me, Abbán is going to kill me!"
The priest rubs his chin and says, "Don't worry, I wouldn't care about such things. The only thing that matters is the strength of your souls, but at the very least, beastkin, please don't go around telling people what you are."
Calming down, Dumnorix says, "Right, mister lobster."
"It's Käärid." Clapping his lobster claws, he says, "Scissors, you get it?"
Dumnorix says, "What a strange name for parents to give their child. Though the king of the world, Dumnorix, won't make fun of it, unlike mister nurse over there."
"Cyrus means he who bestows care! Sister said it's the best name!"
"Like I said, nurse."
"IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH N-NURSES!?"
"No, I just think it is a better job choice for you."
The Nurse grits its teeth at the King of the world, but the Scissors cuts the tension and says, "Now let's get are game started."