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[01:11] She takes a moment to ponder the words given to her. Certainly this was all useful, though not so much for her but the friend who wanted to start his own ninja operations, maybe this could be a good stepping stone for him.

"Interesting. Thank you! this was very helpful" Epona gives him a courteous smile.

That was all she really wanted to ask, but figuring while she had him she might as well follow it up with something else that had been on her mind recently.

"Just one uhm.. final thing if you wouldn't mind my asking. But do you know much about the shenlong drakanites?"
(Epona Maple)
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[01:15] Yawen-An Zhenlin asks, "Hmm I am one young one and I am a follower of the religion that worships him. Why do you ask ?"
[01:20] "Well I think I sort of might be one?" She wasn't fully certain of course and well she dare not express how exactly she found this out lest it hurt her pride.

"Do we... I mean does that mean Shenlong are required to be religious?" trying her best not to come across as disrespectful.
(Epona Maple)
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[01:34] Zhenlin looked at her from the corner of his eye as he though about her question it was a more difficult one to answer but one that should be answered correctly. So he reached out and called to the storm that rested high above him he called out to the spirit of the divine and it answered him in a flash of lightning that scorched the ground as his horns and tail came into being.

"That is an interesting question young one I would say that all being that walk this land are called to be religious but that is a weak answer. You wish to know if that those that were blessed by Shenlong must be religious and the short and easy answer is no. You are not required to do anything but the harder answer is that in the being of our race our line took a journey of great hardship to present ourselves to the divine dragon and the dragon took note of our perseverance and granted us a blessing. A blessing that extends to our linage even to this day.

We are not required to show our faith or worship to keep this blessing for it was given freely and without malice. For this act I have faith in the divine dragons for they could have easily turned us away. It is a calling to turn to the divine for strength young one and should never be forced but taught and learned."
(Yawen-An Zhenlin)
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[01:51] For a moment she stands there patiently, Yawen was a hard man to read especially for an eleven year old, it would have been somewhat impossible to tell whether or not what she said infuriated him, delighted him or brought about no real expression of emotion. Though her perception was changed almost immediately, a familiar crackling sound beat against her eardrum and in the moments that followed a flash of lightning that had changed his outward appearance significantly. Horns and tails now protruding from where there was none.

"Woeee!" It wasn't the first time she'd seen the form certainly, her mother after all was also a drakanite, but she had never seen it taken in such a way.

While she could barely contain her excitement, eager to go about doing the same process and undergoing such a transformation as well, she held herself together and listened to the words with which he had to bestow. Following diligently and word for word her head nodding alongto show that she had been in fact listening.

"Oh?" Epona had albeit been a bit shock, from what she knew of religion or at least what she heard others say it almost seemed like the divine beings only issued such power and strength to the faithful.

The words he said managed to resonate with her, particularly when he mentioned how their blessing had been given to them freely without any hint of malice, and again highlighting how easy it would have been for them to simply cast them aside. She twiddled her thumbs together thinking deeply on everything he said, she'd never considered herself religious in the slightest but there was something about this that almost drew her to it.

"How would I, or anyone of us go about worshipping then? I... I've never really done that before so... I want to do it right"
(Epona Maple)
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[02:09] Zhenlin turned to look at the girl fully this time as he thought about what he was going to say to her, it was something that he had said many times before but he never got tired of saying the words. But he would have to change things a bit for someone of a younger age.

"There are three tenants that make up the pillar of the religion, these are Loyalty, duty and perseverance. These tenants are what those that were first blessed by the divine dragon showed so these are the tenants that we tried to reflect in our faith. Those that follow the Skywardens path are called to show these action in what we say and do. I will not lie to you young one the path is not easy for none of them are but it will leave you with a strength of will that none will be able to break.

But as with everything we start from the beginning with meditation that act of clearing one mind. For there are three rituals that are central to the worship of shenlong and if you are willing I will teach themto you in time."
(Yawen-An Zhenlin)
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[02:21] With him now fully facing her she takes a moment to fully take in his features, his height what he was wearing, the way he kept his hair and so on. Though once he started speaking she diverged from that and went back to her intent listening.

"Loyalty. Duty. Perseverance" she'd repeat in a low tone so as to not speak over him.

He mentioned how this would not have been easy, none of the tenants would have been.

"If it were easy, our ancestors wouldn't have done them" Epona firmly believed in that sentiment.

Yawen was offering to teach these things to her over a period of time, and while decisions such as the one she was faced with she often preferred to consult with her parents about, she knew in her heart that this was something she would have to do without seeking the approval of them, of course she'd tell them all about it later though.

Epona gave her elder a quarter bow. "If you are willing to teach me I would be foolish to not accept. I will follow any and all instructions that you give me along this path"
(Epona Maple)
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[02:25] Yawen-An Zhenlin says, "I will wish you the best young one for this will be an intresting path."