"

You enter a sacred place, pilgrim.

The space amidst the glaciers is vast, only magnified by the tiny figures swimming, standing and sitting in the glacial meltwater, going in and out of the sauna tucked away, some stopping to converse around a brazier, wrapped in their heavy cloaks.

- This is a place where we let Halla inside us. The dragonoid sitting on the rock next to the lake proses. Albeit, as we are not her children we do have a sauna even here, just so the newer and or younger pilgrims don't freeze their toes off.

- We require warmth as any other creature does, but with exposure to Halla we will be stronger when she tests us and torments us, when the firewood is no more and food is diminished. If we have made our peace with Halla, we will survive even when she is at her most violent and terrible.

The dragonoids in the water seem quite meditative as they stand in the freezing cold water, breathing slowly and barely moving, almost as if channeling their inner glacier. After awhile they will climb out of the water and some stay awhile on the beach, letting their bodies soak in the cold even further, while others immediately skitter away into the hot sauna. This repeats with the next steaming person coming out of the sauna who hurries to the shore and without any hesitation submerges their body into the subzero water.

- If you so please, you can leave your cloak and strider next to our sauna, on the brazier we have hot tea brewing too.

The speaking figure, likely a cleric or priest of Halla, sitting on the rock, their body motionless apart from their chest rising and lowering as they breathe in and out, the people in the water following his pattern. Even as the others move in and out of the sauna and the warmth of the fire, this person never moves from their perch.

Curiously, in the water there is a southern dragonoid, a long long away from their homeland. It seems they have come north to study and learn of the northern rituals and culture pertaining to Halla and the other gods. He seems to be doing a pretty good job at it, as he dares the waters almost as long as the natives do.

"

More of my art can be found on my kofi page :)

https://ko-fi.com/themefinland