#qailore

Acknowledge the action itself before your brothers, sisters and elders

Forsake the things that bind you, bare your flesh for all to see

Endure the consequences of your actions and receive Erideth's punishment with pride

Cleanse your vessel and return to your purest form

Pray to Erideth for another chance to serve her will

Now onto The 'cleansing' itself….

The subject has to endure a full body scrub inside a hot bath as the priestesses force you to recite and reject your sins which can happen several times a day if you are caught engaging in sin of any kind. Depending on the severity of the sin itself, it can range from prayer, the usual cleansing to actual torment and mutilation.

Qai is experiencing adulthood on his own with no guidance outside of the books he's read, so he's constantly plagued with sinful thoughts and feelings like any adult would be. There has been times where he has been caught in the act of self pleasure out of his own curiosity, loneliness and desire to be touched which didn't end well for him. Not only did he have to endure the ritual but he was forced to recite the prayer of Erideth for hours in a cold, dark room on his knees and given several lashes across the hands. In their minds, any force placed upon the body by their hand is a direct punishment from Erideth herself so they get away with a lot. Even after enduring it for so long, it's still a process he hasn't gotten used to and it has caused lots of trauma he'll never fully heal from.

He's quite the soft and sensitive soul; full of innocence, curiosity and wonder. He's also extremely ignorant when it comes to the harsh reality of the world outside of The Sanctuary of Erideth, where he resides and personal relationships. He was quite isolated due to the rarity of his birth and abilities amongst his kind so he never got to experience the 'real' world or people outside of the Monks who took care of him. Due to the uptick of incidents where sinners inside the sanctuary try to use him for profit and/or exploit his abilities, it made the Monks even stricter than they were before which put an even deeper strain on Qai mentally. His life has been in the hands of The Sanctuary of Erideth since he was born, it's all he knows.

'Your body is a holy symbol given to you by the Gods. You must remain pure and untouched by sinful hands.'

They often told him that his body wasn't his own but a symbol of heaven's blessing and that he should never allow anyone who chooses to live a life of sin to defile him. Even when it came to his daily needs, only the baptized priestesses were allowed to attend him and no one else. Those who broke the rules were severely punished and several times a week he would have to endure hours of painful cleansing and prayer.

When he was not being 'cleansed' or forced to attend his duties around the sanctuary, he would sneak into the grand library to read the many texts the Sanctuary had collected over the years. For a few hours a day, it allowed him to forget his lonely life as a minor god until he began to yearn for something more...