Consecration

It had taken some time to locate a suitable building for the new temple of Sehanine in Nachtur - something that could accommodate large gatherings, that would be relatively private and secluded but not out of the way or in any of the areas that were still infested with demons...  Aleyn was pleased with the site they had eventually settled on, though.  It was a large building with a decent-sized courtyard at the center where the public ceremonies could be held, and it had plenty of smaller rooms, including an extensive underground complex that might once have been a wine cellar or the like, for more private occasions.

Most of the major structural issues - holes in the roof, dangerous staircases - had been sorted out by carpenters and masons hired for the task.  There was a lot of construction work to be done in Nachtur right now, and workers seeking to profit from that demand had flocked there once it was even minimally safe.  And he'd persuaded some of the commanders to use the cleaning project as a mild form of punishment for their troops, which had the place much neater and more hygenic in a short time.  The temple still needed a lot of work before it could open, though.  Aleyn was really hoping to have it ready before the next full moon, if he could, but he knew he wouldn't be able to manage it all on his own.  As busy as they were, he was happy when Ardith and Vedran agreed to help with getting things sorted out and set up.    

"Thank you," he told them.  "It really means a lot to me.  I still can't believe this is happening - I keep assuming they're going to send the real priest along any day now to take over."

"I know what you mean," Ardith answered, looking up from where she'd just placed a load of supplies. "I had years for training and education and I still felt like an imposter when I led my first service. Setting up a new temple on your own is insane." She smiled brightly. "Wonderfully so, and I suppose you're not on your own, exactly."

"'Yeah, I, uh, I've never actually been the one to lead a ceremony before. I've helped out lots of times, but not actually been the one in charge. I can't decide whether to worry that no one will show up, or that everyone in the city will be there and they'll all be staring at me," he said with his usual self-deprecating smile.

Vedran smiled as well, looking up from a checklist of things that were supposed to be in this room. "I think the solution to either problem is probably to make sure you have a really good bartender."

"Lots of alcohol is definitely on the list of supplies," Aleyn agreed, grinning. "As long as I can avoid drinking too much of it before the ceremony, we'll be all set. That's one of those things that would seem like a good idea at the time, and a terrible idea later."

He looked around the room - it was sparse and bare at the moment, but he could imagine what it would look like with more decorations. Turning to Ardith, he asked, "Are those the boxes with the blankets and cushions and stuff?"

"Oh, yeah, I thought they felt light," Ardith responded. "Kallista and Brenn are coming down for the ceremony, right? I think you'll have good bartenders regardless."

"Well, I didn't want you lifting anything too heavy, especially while you're still recuperating," Aleyn said with a smile.  "At least, nothing heavier than Edric."  The baby was large by all the standards Aleyn had previously been accustomed to, but apparently perfectly normal for a dragonborn infant.

"And, yeah, Kallista did say they were going to try to make it. It'll be nice to have some familiar... faces... in the crowd."

Vedran shook his head - he was certain Ardith was probably stronger than him, baby or not, and decided he would let the anatomy issue pass for the moment.  He checked his list again.  "I think that's almost everything for this room, then - do you want to start setting up or make sure we have everything else where it needs to go, first?"

Aleyn considered.  "I guess we can set up in here first, and then move on to the room on the other side of the courtyard?  If some of the back rooms or underground chambers don't get done in time, that's probably less of a crisis - it's more important that the main rooms where people are likely to gather are comfortable."

He stepped over and opened up one of the boxes, drawing out a pile of silky black fabric that, once he had it straightened out, proved to be a wall-hanging.  "Or we can just toss all this in a pile and call it good," he teased, rubbing it between his fingers.

"I thought that was the job of the attendees?"

Vedran grinned, going over to see what else was in the boxes.

"It's kind of inevitable," Aleyn shrugged. "Clean-up after a ceremony is always a big job, even with magical assistance." He decided against recounting some of the more distasteful things he'd seen after ceremonies in Highmark, on the assumption that nobody wanted to hear about that, nor did he especially want to remember it. "What I really need is some acolytes to take care of all that. That would be great," he said with a chuckle.

"Well, just like with getting this place ready, I think Selgrumel said she'd be happy to lend some soldiers on punitive detail to help clean up," Ardith offered with a chuckle. "She said she was sure plenty of them would be helping to make the mess anyway."

"That's... probably fair," Aleyn agreed. "And honestly, the help will be appreciated. I suspect the soldiers are better at following orders than acolytes would be anyway," he laughed.

He offered one end of the drapery to Vedran so that they could make an attempt to hang it from the hooks mounted on the wall. He stretched up onto his tiptoes to try and reach it, barely managing to catch the fabric on the hook. Vedran, a few inches shorter, couldn't quite make it until Ardith nudged a bench over for him to stand on. Aleyn stepped back to consider the drapery's effect - he was no expert at interior decorating, but at least it covered the wall and would make the place feel less cold and uninviting. Probably help to muffle sound, too...

"There should be carpets somewhere too," he said, looking around. "I'm sure we got those..."

Vedran smiled thoughtfully as Aleyn stepped back to consider their work, and glanced at Ardith to try and gauge her reaction.

"Do you have a plan for how you want to set all this up? Or do you just want things on the walls for now, and worry about details later?"

"If either of you have suggestions, I'm all ears," Aleyn said, eyeing the piles of furnishings and decorations uncertainly. "I was just hoping to get things more or less useable - having it actually looking nice would be a bonus."

"Oh, uh, well," Ardith began, looking bashful. "If you want some ideas, I may have made a chart...that may be numbered...and color-coded..."

Vedran grinned broadly, feeling a little relieved. He had a good eye, but he wasn't quite that organized. "Of course you do. Now - where were we supposed to out this one, then?"

"Well, I was thinking you could literally color-code the rooms," Ardith replied. "That would make it easier for you to direct people. 'We're out of wine in the blue room,' that sort of thing. And I thought you could start with the lighter colors near the main entrance, then proceed to darker colors as you get further away from public spaces. Lanterns towards the front, giving way to candlelight...I think it'd be a nice effect."

"That does sound nice," Aleyn nodded, trying to visualize what it would look like. It was good that someone with a better sense for these things than him was here to help. "So... should we take that one down, then?" he added with a gesture at the dark wall-hanging.

"That sounds lovely, I think," Vedran agreed, wondering again when she ever had time to think about all these details without getting overwhelmed.  Ardith was much better at keeping her focus, and he respected and envied her abilities in that regard. "But maybe let's have a look at these charts before we get too carried away moving things around?"

"Sure, they're in the satchel I brought," Ardith replied happily. Retrieving her pack, she produced several pages of lists and hand-drawn diagrams, the last of them done in different-colored inks.

"A lot of the supplies got funneled through Council sources, since we're at least nominally in charge of resource distribution, so I knew what you were working with. And I'd seen the space already so..."

She shrugged.

"We all have our own ways of relaxing."

Aleyn smiled, coming to look over (well, more 'around') Ardith's shoulder at the notes and diagrams.  "Wow.  I guess having a new baby is good for getting things done," he teased. "I mean, because you have all that spare time now..." He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek to show he wasn't serious.  "This is amazing, honestly.  Thank you."

Vedran looked at the general list in his hands, and then over at the organized stack their wife had produced, and sighed, shaking his head.

"Alright then - we have the space so - Unpack, sort, and then arrange? Do we need to swap out any of the boxes first?"

"Well, I didn't want to dictate you preparations," Ardith replied, leaning into Aleyn's kiss on her cheek. "But I like organizing things, and I wasn't sure you had a plan for decorating..."

Ardith trailed off with an apologetic shrug, quickly latching onto Vedran's question.

"Given the layout, most any room should work as a base. We can just unpack these, sort them into piles, then do the same with the next set of boxes."

Under Ardith's much more organized direction, the temple started to take shape. They worked at unpacking the decorations and furnishings and sorting them by color and function, which even Aleyn could manage (with occasional peeks at the charts).

As they continued their work, Aleyn fell quiet for a while, absorbed in his tasks, but also lost in thought. It was a rather mechanical job, so it allowed him plenty of time to dwell on things that had been worrying him.

"I do appreciate you both supporting me in this," he said as they paused to take a little break before moving on to another room and another set of boxes. "I hope it's not going to cause any problems for either of you."