[ He lets himself live just a little too long in that moment, studying the way he smiles and his face as he takes that deep drink of wine. Tries to read his thoughts through his closed eyes and the way his chest moves as he breathes, exhaling as he allows the taste to fill him.
Suns himself in this small approval, as he recounts a time when not even his own household fully appreciated his efforts.
Godfrey glances away then. The lingering smile fades as he delves deeper. ]
I like to think that my time in the clergy taught me a thing or two. [ Perhaps more accurate; he likes to hope. ] My heart was well-placed and did not falter, but... well. I prioritized what it told me over what my rational mind did.
[ Here, his gaze gets trepidatious and shy; he glances toward Gale for a thin moment, gauging his reaction in slim seconds before looking away again, allowing the buzz of the night outside to take the moment again. ]
The temple had many... implicit, shall we say, initiatives to help the underprivileged. [ His gaze distances as he rolls the glass in his hand, feeling its weight slosh precariously in its glass belly. ] We offered direct help to the children and the newly born, and that was well. We sheltered travelers and adventurers, for they often proved lucrative prospects and particularly helpful hands. But never the parents of those children. There was an air that we ought not take responsibility for them, that their problems lie with themselves where their children were blameless, that the church ought keep funding our other initiatives instead. It all appeared, to me, rather... self-serving.
[ And the hesitation is no trepidation regarding blasphemy - the Morninglord uses His clergy first and foremost to revise the old traditions, that Lathander may be improved continuously as His priests use Him for their own betterment. Criticism and debate of scripture and its use is, always, a healthy part of any good Lathanderian worship. ]
It was my assessment that a man cannot be expected to improve himself when he knew not where his next meal came from, or when he had no cover from the sun or the rain. And it also was my assessment that our scripture demanded we pull those around us in our wake, tow them toward a tomorrow ever brighter. That this was our divine duty. I followed this call. I became the Temple's Dawnlord, and I fought to keep its doors open to the poor and the destitute.
[ He exhales, slowly, through his nose. His shoulders fall, and his brow tightens a little. The note of the statement swings downward instead of upward. ]
no subject
Suns himself in this small approval, as he recounts a time when not even his own household fully appreciated his efforts.
Godfrey glances away then. The lingering smile fades as he delves deeper. ]
I like to think that my time in the clergy taught me a thing or two. [ Perhaps more accurate; he likes to hope. ] My heart was well-placed and did not falter, but... well. I prioritized what it told me over what my rational mind did.
[ Here, his gaze gets trepidatious and shy; he glances toward Gale for a thin moment, gauging his reaction in slim seconds before looking away again, allowing the buzz of the night outside to take the moment again. ]
The temple had many... implicit, shall we say, initiatives to help the underprivileged. [ His gaze distances as he rolls the glass in his hand, feeling its weight slosh precariously in its glass belly. ] We offered direct help to the children and the newly born, and that was well. We sheltered travelers and adventurers, for they often proved lucrative prospects and particularly helpful hands. But never the parents of those children. There was an air that we ought not take responsibility for them, that their problems lie with themselves where their children were blameless, that the church ought keep funding our other initiatives instead. It all appeared, to me, rather... self-serving.
[ And the hesitation is no trepidation regarding blasphemy - the Morninglord uses His clergy first and foremost to revise the old traditions, that Lathander may be improved continuously as His priests use Him for their own betterment. Criticism and debate of scripture and its use is, always, a healthy part of any good Lathanderian worship. ]
It was my assessment that a man cannot be expected to improve himself when he knew not where his next meal came from, or when he had no cover from the sun or the rain. And it also was my assessment that our scripture demanded we pull those around us in our wake, tow them toward a tomorrow ever brighter. That this was our divine duty. I followed this call. I became the Temple's Dawnlord, and I fought to keep its doors open to the poor and the destitute.
[ He exhales, slowly, through his nose. His shoulders fall, and his brow tightens a little. The note of the statement swings downward instead of upward. ]
They closed when I was stabbed.
[ He takes another drink. ]