Tuithea

The first day at the sanctum, I have the privilege of meeting with the Head of Sanctum Finances—a title that carries with it an important job. And it's one Koynnos prides himself on.

The wildclaw is a middle-aged, masculine-presenting Amplifier with a hefty number of beads on his grey-white sash. When he arrives to the outside of his office where I'm waiting, he apologizes profusely while trying to re-order a series of papers in his paws.

I assure him that I would have waited all day if that's what it took, and let him usher me into his office. For a personal office, it's quaint. Besides a large, floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk, the room lacks the flaunt and flair of what most would assume the head of a finance department would have. Along an entire wall is a bookshelf, stuffed near breaking with bookkeeping, mathematics, and law books. On a whim, I ask him what his favorite is.


I take in the rest of his office while he files the papers in his paws. When he is done, he eventually sits down with a crooked, warm smile and tells me to "ask away".



(i'll insert stuff here later but i'm lazy)




When asked if his job is actually more important than the Shade hunting Sentinel, due to the fact that he shoulders the job of keeping the entire sanctum up and running with food on the table, water in the pipes, and clothes for all those fast-growing fledglings, he disagrees.

On the road back to the Colonnades of Antiquity, Girenze and I are greeted by a young, dusty pearlcatcher who will later introduce herself as Sahnari. She appears to give a warm wave and bright smile to everyone she passes, but as soon as she notices the grey sash on Girenze's hip, her entire demeanor changes—going from friendly to familiar. When asked if she recognizes the gaoler, she shakes her head.


Yet, despite the fact that both my traveling partner and Sahnari both agree they've never met, the change in their language and movements paint a different picture. Neither balk at speeding through typical pleasantries to talk about the "motion" of Sornieth instead. The terminology quickly goes over my head, but it's clear that each dragon understands what the other is saying.

Sahnari joins us for a portion of our journey, reassuring us that it's fine that she's going in the opposite direction.


She and Girenze quickly delve into talking about certain faces at the First Sanctum, most notably Dalahali the Seer, and Dedit the sash weaver at the sanctum who they find out designed and made both their sashes.

When the Colonnades appear on the horizon, Sahnari sends us off with another warm wave goodbye and a note to Girenze to ask the head chef at the sanctum to make blacktongue pepper curry the day she plans to get back home.

Home.

While the focus of this book has been to break down the Ekessal life, and to resist reducing them down to mere sashes, the Ekessal sash serves more purpose than just letting a viewer know their discipline and age, it signifies "home", or in the case of Girenze and Sahnari: family.

Even while on the road, with little to no correspondence or presence at the sanctum, Sahnari saw the sash on Girenze's waist and knew the gaoler in front of her was family, even if they had never met (though Girenze will later tell me he thinks he recognizes her from one of his mathematics classes.)