☀️ Arselia and Akonia

"How curious," the former inquisitor said, tilting her head in amazement as she examined the tome dedicated to the moon goddess, "I'm starting to think that the universe has a very interesting sense of humor." Alaria's amazement was simple: in her native world, she once read about a foreign empire of vampires, named after the family of its founder, Asalia Sarseid. According to those treatises, under mysterious circumstances, Asalia became, if not the first vampire in the world, then at least the first vampire on her native continent, Tiaral. It was difficult to deny the similarity between the surname and the name of the local goddess, especially considering her portfolio. Was this just a coincidence? It was difficult to deny this possibility. But it was also impossible to rule out the possibility that one of the visitors from her native world once influenced the formation of the local cosmology, drawing inspiration from prominent figures from her homeland. Of course, some local theologians might argue that the situation was reversed – Asalia received her immortality from a foreign goddess, in honor of whom she changed the name of her family. And someone else might object that both of them were projections or agents of a third force, existing beyond the boundaries of ordinary existence. One could put forward a whole range of different hypotheses, but the Taranisian had no way to prove or disprove them. There was only the fact of a curious coincidence, which might not mean anything. Unless, of course, she could find some fantastic way to get to the moon, survive, and see for herself whether or not there was undead there. However... even the presence of the undead would not prove anything. After all, if a mortal like her found such a way to travel, the undead, who wanted to move closer to their beloved goddess, could find it too. That is, even their presence would have a rational explanation, as far as possible in relation to the madmen who moved to a dead piece of rock. Despite her skepticism, however, Alaria did not regret the time spent. It helped her to better adapt to the new world, and also to understand what the locals think and feel. Not to mention the interesting parallels with her native world.