He thought abck to the first time he saw the sandstone edifice of the abbey on the edge of windswept cliffs. It seemed such a daunting place. It was raining that day, and the open landscape offered little protection. He had been only 11 years old and hid in the oxcart under the tarp, as much to stay out of the weather as to hide from his fate.

The priest of his village had noticed the child was unusually devout, and had a distinctive aura about him. So had contacted the abbey. Parcival remembers only that the Abbot came to see him a year or two before he was invited to the abbey, they spoke at length and the Abbot asked all sorts of strange questions, though they were easy to answer.

Now an adult Parcival knows they knew he was perfect for training as a Cleric, but it was his link with Pharasma that was of real interest to the church. He was the first Cleric of Pharasma in a century and this made him unique.

The Abbey was a quiet place. The old teachers would tell of the days when it was full and the air filled with vibrant debate. Since the death of Aroden however the priests, monks and Clerics of the evil deities had stopped coming. And representation from the Neutral deities had always been small anyway.

The role of a priest of Pharasma is to prepare and conduct funerals, and attend the bedside of birthing mothers. It is a solemn and dutiful calling. Parcival took to his duties as a series of necessary tasks, for the most part it was the people left behind that it wad done for, but he was also taught that the burials and Varisian funeral pyres were deliberate and ancient customs designed to prevent the dead from rising again.

On this day Parcival looked back at the gates of the Abbey closing behind them, until father Zantus called on him to hurry up. His small group were travelling to the town of Sandpoint, where Father Zantus was going to lead the congregation at the newly completed Cathedral. The others on the journey were also moving there, and all of them had been involved in the design. This however was Parcival's first visit.

He knew there were seven old stones, each with symbols of the gods carved into them. The seven patrons of Sandpoint. They were proof that even this far North the religion had been followed for centuries. Like the old wooden church had done, the new Cathedral was built around this stone circle. On the inside facing each stone was a shrine to the deity. Parcival had been taught that this was to protect the old stones from the increasing number of pilgrims who visited them, who were trampling the ground and the church was worried they might shift or even fall over and be damaged. This teaching is also why Parcival was confused that Father Zantus said it was "to stop people getting wet".