Page 247 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“How so?” I frown.

“A requisite of any living soul working in the House of Moirai is to relinquish their emotions. Without emotions, there is no incentive to cheat.”

Wait, what?

“You mean the Moirai Supreme and the council members are emotionless?”

“Together with any living clerk who works here, yes.”

That is interesting, and something to keep in mind when interacting with Groyo. He will not be easily swayed by my awkward charm, and perhaps not even by the delicious food I cooked for him.

Damn it!

“If they are emotionless, do they mate?” I ask suddenly.

“No, every worker for the House of Moirai is required to live a life of celibacy.”

“Then how do they reproduce?” I frown.

“They do not.”

“I don’t understand. They don’t have any offspring? How do they appoint successors? Do they even have successors or is it the same people all the time?”

“Each council member has a term of ten thousand years after which they are relieved of their duties. Each Moirai Supreme has a term of fifty thousand years after which they are relieved of their duties and a new Supreme is chosen. Each clerk has a term of five thousand years before they are relieved of their duties. All House of Moirai deities are from the other Houses in Aperion and after they finish their term, they are allowed to return to their respective Houses.”

“What?” I squeak.

“It is public knowledge,” Balabas adds. Of course everything Balabas is telling me is likely public knowledge, but that does not mean widely available. Certainly, I have never been heard most of the things the wraith told me so far. In my defense, I’ve never been interested in the affairs of the House of Moirai before.

Balabas continues, “Fledgling deities are recruited within their first thousand year of life if they display certain abilities that might be a good fit for the House of Moirai. They are then trained and molded into their role.”

That sounds vaguely familiar, and I think I remember some rumors about these recruitments during my school years. But I never paid them any mind.

We are getting closer to the tower. Since my time to ask questions is limited, I bring up another thing that’s bothered me since my parents decided to betroth me to that clown. But it seems that the wraith cannot answer any question related to the threads of fate, so I carefully choose my next words.

“How does the House of Moirai decide which matches to approve for deities?”

“A hypothetical model is built to test the potential of the offspring between two deities. Should the potential offspring have equal or better potential than at least one of its parents, the match is approved. Should the potential offspring have less potential, the match is denied.”

“What about true matings?”

Balabas stops and turns to me, the first time he’s done so.

“True matings are forbidden in Aperion. They disrupt the order of things.”

That much I knew as well, since true matings are triggered by blood-sharing and sexual intercourse. The first is forbidden by Aperite law, while the second is frowned uponbeforemarriage.

“How do they disrupt the order of things?” I inquire.

“I cannot answer that.”

“When did true matings become forbidden?” Balabas should be able to answer that since wraiths have an encyclopedia-type knowledge.

“When the Primordials left.”

I frown.

“What do you mean by that?”

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