Thouno

Chapter Two

As the day of the summer solstice festival finally arrives, the grounds of the Vorno Temple – even more than usual, is brightly decorated. Sacred statues from a large array of polytheistic traditions in and around the main Vorno Temple are decorated with cloth sashes, vibrant summer flowers and a wide assortment of food offerings or other votives from the local community. Various vendor stands line the square as children and their families explore them with cheerful wonder. Escaping from the dry desert heat in Fronozh, some of the patrons outside make their way into the Vorno Temple bookstore as well.

Unlike most days however, the current focus of the Krounon bookstore during this festival is less about quiet refuge and more about lively celebration. This change in tone is shown in the ways Krounon mirrors the bright festival décor outside. Sacred charms and jewelry for the occasion are on full display, and festival relevant books are available for purchase.

In addition to me and Bakna, the current head priests Zhomon and Lukno are also participating in the event. Whereas me and Bakna are set to perform a ritual in honor of creation in the evening, Zhomon and Lukno are providing healing and blessing services to attendees of the summer solstice festival.

In contrast to kloumoi like Taman and Bakna, Zhomon and Lukno are tall, statuesque zarme with snaky features, olive scales, and dark eyes. They are both modestly dressed for the occasion, but not without sacred jewelry to adorn themselves with. 

Taking a break from services in the temenos, Zhomon and Lukno visit me and Bakna inside the Krounon bookstore – approaching the front counter with cheerfulness.

“Greetings Taman” Zhomon says. “I see you’re busy as ever.”

“That’s certainly true, but I’ll have some free time in a little while” I reply.

“That’s good to know” Lukno says brightly. “Zhomon and I wanted to know if you’ll be at the martial arts demonstration in the community center on the west side of the temenos.”

“Tana and a few of his new students will be showing off their skills and giving a basic introduction to the festival attendees who are interested” Zhomon says.

“I thought you were busy with healing services today” I say.

“Zhomon and I are finished for the day” Lukno says. “All that is left for the festival is the martial arts demonstration, some festival entertainment and the evening ritual you and Bakna will be performing.”

“Well, I was just about to close up the shop for the day – since the festival entertainment will be taking precedence over quiet book reading after sundown” I say.

A young, corvine skulmu female named Vakna chimes in, saying, “Bakna and my girlfriend Zhinan will also be a part of the demonstration, and they both want us to watch them.”

I fondly recall how Vakna and Zhinan met. I remember Zhinan’s reticence to interact with anyone – much less someone as striking as Vakna. In those early days – fresh out of high school in fact – the difficulties Zhinan had in school were still fresh on her mind – something Vakna explained to me when she started working at the Krounon bookstore.

Being quite the tomboy, there was a fair amount of teasing from girls – especially other skulmoi – who thought she would be better suited to catty bathroom conversation than the sports she was far more interested in. 

Though Vakna is hardly the sporty type herself, many of her older brothers are, so it just so happened that they were learning martial arts at the same dojo as Zhinan. Despite her bookish nature, Vakna quite boldly asserted herself into conversation between Zhinan and her older brother, and in the days that followed, Zhinan and Vakna began talking regularly.

In time, Zhinan grew more trusting, so being encouraged by Vakna to enter a fight competition was a big step for her – both in her relationship and her ability to be more confident. This confidence was also reinforced by my boyfriend Bakna – a great fighter in his own right.

“Give me and Bakna a little while longer and we’ll meet you over there” I say.

Sometime later, Bakna and I enter through the large double-doors of the west building in the Vorno Temple temenos. It is a large open area with multiple rooms for things like crafting, workshops, meditation and the martial arts demonstration we are all about to watch.

Much like both the main Vorno Temple and the Krounon bookstore, the Vorno Temple community center is built with a mixture of elements. There is a lot of warm wood and the colors of terracotta clay – evoking not only the importance of eremic Kaemazh cultures but also the themes of pure water and fertile mud that dominate Vorno Temple.

There are several small shrines in different locations around the space, but one of the largest is a shrine dedicated to a powerful war god that the martial artists honor regularly. In the back of the area set aside for martial arts and other more physical activities is the particularly watchful gaze of their chosen, martial patron – carefully adorned in honor of the summer solstice festival.

With a similar intensity to their Shonna patron is Tana – dressed in a loose martial arts uniform along with Zhinan, Bakna, his newest students and a number of excited guests.

Though Vakna works with me at Krounon, Tana and Zhinan run the Paenan martial arts studio on the west side of the Vorno Temple temenos – with the Krounon bookstore in the east and the core temple complex to the north. In contrast to the floral quality of Krounon, Paenan represents thorns and brambles. It serves a valuable purpose – especially for those that seek strength and precision. 

“Like many of the practices from ancient times, what I’m about to show you is focused on grappling and wrestling techniques” Tana projects into the room. “So, it’s always best to learn how to fall more than anything else.”

Zhinan steps up towards Tana and they both get into appropriate stances – trading off between coordinated throws and opposing grapples to demonstrate the core concept.

“What I’m about to show you now is how this works in practice” Tana says. “With the help of a few of my experienced friends, I’ll show you what sparring looks like.”

Turning up the heat and intensity, Tana and Zhinan jump into much more of a combative posing – getting quite close and really showcasing their skill. Tana lands the first throw – making a loud slam on the floor. With a look of excitement, Zhinan comes back towards Tana with more zeal – exchanging a few more grapples and averting another throw by Tana before tripping him successfully. She grabs his hand and pulls him up to his feet.

With much the same excitement, Bakna gets into a combative stance before Tana, and the intensity gets even stronger than before. Despite Tana’s small size compared to Bakna, he produces just as much strength and intensity. Tana and Bakna exchange a series of powerful trips and throws, with slams and grunting that reverberates throughout the community center – drawing the attention of attendees who seem quite entertained by the display.

Once they are done sparring, Tana’s eager students practice with him. As well, a few of the attendees jump in to experiment with his techniques – emboldened by the excitement of the event. This sparring continues for a while longer – before a brief moment of silence falls over the building. Tana, Bakna and Zhinan make a silent prayer before the shrine and the demonstration ends with a sense of peace and calm.

All of the people who participated in the demonstration head to the locker rooms, take showers and get back into their normal clothes before exiting the community center into the open-air festival that is still going on outside.

“We have a little bit of time before we need to prepare for the ritual” I say to my boyfriend Bakna. “Would you like to enjoy some of the festivities until then?”

“Definitely” Bakna says. “I’m absolutely starving.”

Under the warm glow of festival fires and lanterns, Bakna and I – as well as his other friends – enter into the main square beneath the imposing grandeur of Vorno Temple – in the hours of early evening after the particularly energetic martial arts demonstration moments earlier. Vendor stands with various items and delicious food are quite popular – even more than then during the hours before sundown, and the cheerful noise of festival goers fills the air.

Quite the extravaganza, there are jugglers, illusionists, fire breathers, dancers, musicians and artists from all around Fronozh and elsewhere – filling the festival with the vitality that Vorno Temple is best known for. Not content to make the summer solstice a solemn festival, everyone involved has brought their excitement to every aspect of the celebration. This is something that fills me with great joy and satisfaction and makes me eager to explore the rest of the temenos with Bakna and his friends.

“We are incredibly lucky” I say with a soft smile.

“Why do you say that?” Bakna says.

“We have so many people who are dedicated to making Vorno Temple and the Krounon bookstore inviting places for people to be” I reply. “This year has even more excitement than ever.”

“It’s truly wonderful” Bakna says “I’m sure that you and I will be able to show our gratitude when we perform the ritual later on tonight. But for now, let’s just enjoy some revelry.”

“Sounds good to me, babe” I say happily.

Before the festival comes to a close, Bakna and I quietly break away to set up for ourritual – getting into more formal clothing, lighting candles and incense and setting up various other ritual items.

Sometime later, all of my friends and various attendees assemble into the Vorno Temple and stand in rows before the main altar space.

“On the night of the solstice,“ I begin “We honor the fecundity, fertility and abundance of the season and the many blessings of Shonoim – the craftsman of zhamim.”

“We present you many offerings and votives on your most sacred day” Bakna says before presenting and addressing several offerings around the temple floor.

“We honor the Shonoim that emerged from chaos and formed sapient zhamim from sacred matter – out of the land at the edge of the abyssal waters of creation” I intone.

“We ask that you keep us in your blessings, protect our community – particularly our women and children, and are honored by what we present to you now” Bakna says.

In the Vorno Temple, sacred music and dancing fills the space. More offerings are brought into the temple and his statues are blessed with fine oils and fragrant flowers of various types.

“As this most blessed evening ends, may all sacred divinities, powerful spirits, wise ancestors and assembled festival attendees depart in peace and benevolence” I say – finishing the solstice rite with my solemn words and extinguishing all the candles with the help of my partner Bakna.