Aspholessaria.

The journey continued. There were, as Trinelli expected, a number of times her healing skills were called upon. True to her word, Asphodel helped as much as she could. It was little enough, because the girl had not been trained in healing. She knew nothing at all. Not even the simplest remedies used by almost every housewife in the land.

She had been brought up as a privileged daughter of one of the ruling families of Quantissarillishon. Although only minor royalty, she had not had to work, The result was that she knew little of how life would be for most people. She was fascinated by Trinelli's healing, both the mundane and that which the goddess channelled through her priestess.

One day, after they had been travelling for a week, Asphodel asked Trinelli about her religion.
'Well,' began the other woman, 'What do you know about Sylissa?'

'Not much, really. We elves tend to worship Grillon, as the god of nature. We know a little of the others, but Grillon is our god, really.'

'Well, Sylissa is the god of Life and Healing. She is the twin sister of Kalhera, god of Death. They are like two sides of one coin. Sylissa's colour is white, as you can see from my robes, while Kalhera's is black.'

Asphodel settled down to listen as Trinelli told her about how Sylissa and Kalhera were the daughters of the Chief of the Gods, Kassilla and her consort, Zol the god of Knowledge and Learning. how each chose some aspect of life to be their jurisdiction.

Because she chose to aid those who were sick, occasionally there were disputes between the two sisters, if Kalhera thought Sylissa were denying death to people, but generally they were on good terms.
The clerics of Sylissa were the doctors and nurses of the world, but they did not rely wholly on the power of the god to cure sickness and injury. No, they learned other ways too, such as herbs, and manipulation. They could set broken bones, although sometimes they would call upon Sylissa to help.
Asphodel became fascinated by this and began to ask questions about the various herbs and other methods Trinelli used, She fould the rest of the journey passed quickly, especially as Trinelli sometimes gave her little things to do.

Just as they approached Bluehaven, Trinelli turned to Asphodel and said, 'You seem to have some aptitude for healing, you know. Have you ever thought of becoming a healer.'

Asphodel was amazed. The idea had never crossed her mind.

'I'm not sure I'd make a very good cleric,' she said.

'You don't have to. We have some lay people who help us. Why not come to the temple with me and see the Great Mother there. You can decide then what to do.'

So Asphodel went to see the Great Mother and decided to become a lay healer.

Soon that was not enough, and one night she dreamed of Sylissa.

'Come and join me,' the goddess told her. 'You have great potential. It's wasted here. Join my clerics.'

So after a year in Bluehaven, Asphodel joined the novices at the temple of Sylissa.

All went well during her first year as a novice. Mother Caldo, the Great Mother of the temple praised the young elf, saying she thought she had great potential, and could rise through the ranks quickly. Mother Caldo told Asphodel that she could probably become a Great Mother herself, such was her potential in healing.

'There's just one thing, though,' Mother Caldo said one day, in conversation with one of the archbishops. She sighed. 'The girl is lacking in discipline. Sometimes she seems to think she knows better than her superiors.'

One day, the Great Mother called together all the clerics of the church of Sylissa in Bluehaven. She stood in the pulpit of the temple and began to speak.

'As you all know,' she began, 'the annual meeting of all the Most Highs of all the religions was held recently in Asperilla on Holy Island. There, they decided that all the sickness and other problems that surround us are a punishment by the gods for the evil that we do.'

She looked at the paper before her before continuing.

'The consensus of this meeting was that we should try to eliminate evil from the world. The best way to do this, they said, is to refuse aid to those who perpetrate evil. The discussion, apparently, decided against the active persecution and killing, as this would make us as bad as them. The Most High of Sylissa, therefore, has decreed that we will not give aid or healing to such people.'

She shuffled her papers and left the pulpit. An astounded Asphodel followed her fellow novices from the temple deep in thought.

This cannot be right, she thought. Surely we are supposed to give healing to all comers, regardless of anything they might have done. At least, that's what I understood I was promising when I took my vows.

She listened to her friends talking, and they all seemed to think it was a good idea to eliminate evil in this way, and so she said nothing.