Blinking, Riku looked to Lea with some surprise. Ovjang may have boasted similar numbers to Idall, but it was hardly known. Unlike Idall, it was a fairly closed religion, didn't allow others in as easily as Idall did. Most people were born Ovjan, it was rare that anyone truly converted. "You're right," he said, getting over his surprise. "It is. There's Eslas, Raen, Ula... I think most people know Eslas--the Day of Miracles. Raen's the Day of Sacrifice, you fast for those less fortunate who've suffered and do charity, that's summer. Ula's the Day of Remembrance, that's around spring." Scratching his cheek, Riku looked awkward. "I'm a devout Ovjan, so... you don't have to celebrate them all, but I do."

explaining symbolism and then branching off into the tenets of Ovjan--humility, compassion, charity, and self-embetterment. Family was paramount--Riku could see out of the corner of his eye, the families that came here together. Dads would take their child and their wife's hand and clasp them with his own, and people who were solo would stare straight ahead like it didn't bother them. Riku was one of them.

Twice more, Riku went up when the priest beckoned him. 'Lessons' had been a hymn of the past, of remembering, bittersweet and nostalgic. 'Understanding' was somber, of loss, of remembering those who had passed, of being compassionate in times of great stress. 'Vigil', however, was bright and full of hope, not at all just because most of the voices who rang the loudest were children. It spoke of the dawn after Eslas, after everyone could revel in their newfound miracle, made by human hands.

After the priest's sermons came to a close, everyone started to hustle and bustle to a room in the back of the church (sharing food on Eslas was important, too) though Riku just turned to Lea.