Day 215 & 216 (193rd & 194th)

Day 215 (193rd):
We awoke as the other two young clerics, a male dwarf and a female elf, entered at sunrise. They brought items from their families. Drognall, the dwarf, had a large metal bowl that fit perfectly into a depression on the altar table. He also had wall sconces to hold either magical lights or candles. Eletan, the female elf, had a bag full of ornamental items: tongs, knives, candle sticks, two of which nested beautifully onto the altar table, plus some items for the girls' hair and boys' hair or beards. They both reported counting on their families for future items. Nina and Lorevatala were sad that they had no families to add items to the temple. Gretta told them that they were not chosen because of what their families could provide but for themselves just as she had nothing when we found her.
She told them, "You are the true treasures of this temple, not what your family can or can't provide. Fate chose you, not your family."
Even the boys had tears in their eyes. For the next few hours, emotions gushed, fears were voiced, and all their hearts were laid bare to us and each other. There was a clean feeling between us and it made the next big task easier.
Inside the separate room, the granite man had carved a pedestal in the center of the room. The six clerics and I encircled this bare stone.
"This is what anyone, without your presence, will encounter upon entering this room. Each of you will be able to activate the magic that will produce the Wheel of Fate. Now, we must make the Wheel. Fate gave you the instructions as you slept last night, even to those of you outside the temple. Are you ready?"
They indicated their readiness. I instructed my sister to just channel energy to support our young clerics. They took positions around us as we placed our hands upon the pedestal. As Fate had instructed, we pictured the Wheel in our minds and willed it to become solid. In the center of the pedestal, a spindle of light appeared. We poured our energy into that small spark. It began widening, growing into a larger and larger circle. Within moments, it covered the top of the pedestal. We all stepped back and made it grow beyond the edge of the pedestal. When it fit the size we had envisioned, we began the shaping of the Wheel and adding the details: handles to spin it, a pointer to see what the outcome is, and divisions for the multiple outcomes available. It grew to twice the size of a wagon wheel. We continued after it had reached its maximum size by thickening it and finishing details and finalizing the spells needed for its operation. We were done a little over two hours after we had started.
We paused to take a break. My sisters and Set examined the Wheel. Set told us he liked the smell of it. That made us all laugh. That was when the young clerics realized they could hear him in their minds. This was a novel thing to all but the elf Eletan, who said her people communicated that way for eons.
As we ate lunch, the clerics exercised their new voices and began discussing the "ritual" that they would go through to activate the Wheel. My sisters seemed puzzled. We explained that all any of them needed to do to activate the Wheel was to place their hand on the pedestal and speak the word that triggered the spell. However, people would be expecting some sort of display to summon it. They understood. Nina had an excellent idea.
"If they come in finely dressed, spouting lengthy prayers, and carrying on so, we could have a longer show to match. If they are simple people with a simple request, then we just say the word. Make the 'ritual' match the person."
Everyone thought that was a wonderful idea and praised her for such an intelligent solution. Wellon set to write down a medium, a long, and a really long "play", as he called it, to perform for the people seeking answers.
"Not everyone coming to you will need the Wheel," I informed them, "as you will be able to see glimpses of their fates as you grow stronger on this path. I was able to see many of those as I culled through the crowd to find you six. Many will be satisfied with such. The bowl Drognall supplied will show these simple glimpses."
They nodded, understanding that I was helping prepare them for their new roles.
We were talking when the doors and shutters arrived. The workers were respectful and efficient as they attached wood and metal to stone. The shutters were simple, without any designs or carvings. The doors bore insets of the faceted mirrors and were engraved with the words for Fate in every known language. We ran our hands over the words after the doors were in place. I could see the care and joy clinging to the wood left over from the carvers. I was glad that they enjoyed the task.
"Good clerics," the foreman addressed us, "we hope this meets your approval. We had a curious event with these doors. For the first time, all of our designers had the exact same design idea. No arguments, no fighting, but a true collaboration. Are you please?"
We assured him that we were completely pleased and impressed with all the languages, even some very obscure ones, that were carved in their own characters and forms. The foreman stated that they seemed to carve themselves as most of the workers only knew one to two languages, and one knew five, but the doors had over one hundred languages neatly carved to fit within the confines of the doors.
Before we could ask if they needed payment, the foreman handed us a sheet of paper and asked for a signature.
"This is a guild form that states we donated the materials and man hours. No payment is required," he explained.
With relief, the six young clerics made their marks across the bottom of the form. The foreman looked at it and nodded. He thanked us all and all the workers left. We spent a few more moments looking over the doors and shutters.
The sun was setting as we headed back inside. A voice stopped us before we shut the doors.
"Excuse me, but I have been sent by the cleric council to aid the youngsters in establishing their ceremonies and rituals. May I enter to speak with you?" a female in her thirties said as she walked up the stairs.
We invited her inside. She explained that she was not taking over or becoming any authority over them.
"The council just wants me to teach you what is expected of clerics and to help you with any questions you may have regarding rules and laws. It is my understanding that none of you have had any formal training in this area."
With that established, we began an easy conversation about clerical laws and she helped them with the "play" before activating the Wheel. We talked as we ate, finalizing seals, titles, and other formalities. She left when we ready to go to sleep, saying she would return in the morning.
The six clerics expressed their delight at having someone helping them with the formal parts that none of them, or us, had any training or skill. We seven felt that we could leave them and they would be in good hands.

Day 216 (194th):
In the morning, the female cleric returned with breakfast. We talked a bit more and told them we were leaving to continue our journey year. While they wished we could stay, they understood our position. We gathered our things, including the mats which the clerics said we should keep. We went back to the palace to tell them we were taking up our journey once again. They all expressed their wishes for us to stay, but understood our needs. They asked us to stay until tomorrow morning to allow them time to prepare some parting gifts and a "proper send-off". One more day in Selvis Prime would not be too much time to spend.
During the rest of the day, we received many wishes for a safe journey, wishes to stay in Selvis Prime, sadness at our leaving, and little trinkets of friendship, thanks, and gratitude.
Lunch was a casual affair, but dinner was formal with the entire council, both royal families, plus many others. Everyone wanted to know where we were headed. We honestly told them we didn't know, but felt we would be led in whatever direction we were to go. We were told of gifts being sent to the new temple to get it going properly. That made us happy.
It was well into the night when we all parted and we returned to our suite. We were excited and sad as we went to sleep.