the narrator (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} a_shade_of_gray) wrote,@ 2005-06-09 11:53:00 |
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Intro to a later chapter.
Of all the cities and kingdoms I've been to, Toroia remains the most fascinating. Perhaps I feel obligated to its beauty; knowing that I'm inferior -- who else but a lover could compare a simple woman to Toroia? And not just the endless greens of its forest, the exotic colors of its flowers and birds. There's a cleaner sort of living here. A peace that no other kingdom has felt in recent years. Maybe it's because Toroia was one of the few spared of invasion, after all, no lives were lost in the theft of their Crystal. I'm grateful for that small good to come out of all of this.
Adjusting to the city's overwhelming beauty was difficult enough, but more than just that makes Toroia . . . different. The twelve sister clerics that rule the kingdom are chaste; chosen for their rank as young girls, and serving the kingdom, untouched by men, for the rest of their lives. The soldiers in the castle aren't there to protect against invaders, or thieves, but to keep the sisters safe against defilement. Toroia's guard remains the only one in the world to be made up entirely of women for this very reason. Had Cecil not been a paladin on such an important mission, I doubt he would have been permitted in to see the clerics.
By wild contrast, the citizens of the kingdom live much differently. The first time I came here, I hid behind my heavy skirts and shied away from those boldly dressed as to advertise their wares. I didn't understand; how could a country ruled by such religious, righteous women could tolerate such... base behavior?
I learned so much in Toroia, and perhaps most importantly, that not everyone's sense of morals, of right and wrong, has to be the same. Prostitution is not an evil thing, in this kingdom, nor unwed mothers and relations outside of marriage. In this matriarchal society, children are given their mothers' names, and it's nearly impossible to tell who has born out of wedlock -- if anyone cared in the first place.
The government carefully monitors all businesses, from hunters in the forest, chocobo breeders, the miners in the Magnetic Cave, to the whores and inns that entertain the many tourists. The sum of it all creates such a rich economy, what place was it of mine to judge where men spent their coin? The city of Toroia boasts luxury, to its citizens, to its visitors, with the message of: Work when you must, and enjoy life when done. Self-indulgence never better expressed than the lounging sunbathers, rolling over to lazy lovemaking in the shade, and cooling off in the water afterwards.
I didn't exactly approve, not ever, but I came to understand. If the Earth Crystal disapproved of their way of life, of worship, then it certainly wasn't obvious in the abundance of its blessings.
---
Of all the cities and kingdoms I've been to, Toroia remains the most fascinating. Perhaps I feel obligated to its beauty; knowing that I'm inferior -- who else but a lover could compare a simple woman to Toroia? And not just the endless greens of its forest, the exotic colors of its flowers and birds. There's a cleaner sort of living here. A peace that no other kingdom has felt in recent years. Maybe it's because Toroia was one of the few spared of invasion, after all, no lives were lost in the theft of their Crystal. I'm grateful for that small good to come out of all of this.
Adjusting to the city's overwhelming beauty was difficult enough, but more than just that makes Toroia . . . different. The twelve sister clerics that rule the kingdom are chaste; chosen for their rank as young girls, and serving the kingdom, untouched by men, for the rest of their lives. The soldiers in the castle aren't there to protect against invaders, or thieves, but to keep the sisters safe against defilement. Toroia's guard remains the only one in the world to be made up entirely of women for this very reason. Had Cecil not been a paladin on such an important mission, I doubt he would have been permitted in to see the clerics.
By wild contrast, the citizens of the kingdom live much differently. The first time I came here, I hid behind my heavy skirts and shied away from those boldly dressed as to advertise their wares. I didn't understand; how could a country ruled by such religious, righteous women could tolerate such... base behavior?
I learned so much in Toroia, and perhaps most importantly, that not everyone's sense of morals, of right and wrong, has to be the same. Prostitution is not an evil thing, in this kingdom, nor unwed mothers and relations outside of marriage. In this matriarchal society, children are given their mothers' names, and it's nearly impossible to tell who has born out of wedlock -- if anyone cared in the first place.
The government carefully monitors all businesses, from hunters in the forest, chocobo breeders, the miners in the Magnetic Cave, to the whores and inns that entertain the many tourists. The sum of it all creates such a rich economy, what place was it of mine to judge where men spent their coin? The city of Toroia boasts luxury, to its citizens, to its visitors, with the message of: Work when you must, and enjoy life when done. Self-indulgence never better expressed than the lounging sunbathers, rolling over to lazy lovemaking in the shade, and cooling off in the water afterwards.
I didn't exactly approve, not ever, but I came to understand. If the Earth Crystal disapproved of their way of life, of worship, then it certainly wasn't obvious in the abundance of its blessings.
---
