Claude: Questions.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to reach the whole monastery, Claude von Riegan lays out his confusions with the Rite of Rebirth...

Birthdays, huh? Sure, I guess I can find some convoluted way to tie this back into those at the end of this letter. Until then, I get to write about whatever I want, right?

In that case, let me start by saying that this past year of my life has been a real whirlwind from start to finish. It wasn’t too long ago that I found myself a recognized heir to House Riegan completely out of the blue, and ever since I’ve been living a completely different life. One day, you’re a nobody kicking rocks along the street, and the next you’re shipped off to some fancy academy so you’re primed to take the Alliance’s seat of power.

You’d be just as shocked if you were in my boat, seriously. Sometimes I tell the other people in the Golden Deer about all the stuff I lived in blissful ignorance of, and they can’t believe it—I mean, I didn’t know anybody who followed the Church of Seiros. That’s not that weird, is it? Maybe that’s why I’ve been so interested in finding out all I can about the goddess, and the four saints, and the real history behind all these religious tales. Call it ‘sating my curiosity’ if you’ve gotta put a name to it, but I’d say I’ve just got a real penchant for hidden truths.

Luckily for me, there’s no better place to start my investigation than here at the monastery. I’ve listened intently to every last sermon, poured over each copy of the Book of Seiros in case there were any differences in the typesetting between them, and bugged every monk and nun I could find until they started changing their walking routes to avoid me. All in all, I’d say I managed to build a pretty solid foundation of knowledge on the church and its practices.

Did I say ‘practices’? I meant ‘beliefs’. Silly me.

The beliefs behind the Rite of Rebirth are some of the most interesting to me. Lady Rhea said in this week’s bulletin that people pray for the goddess’s return to “our mortal world”, but what exactly would that mean? If the goddess set foot on Fódlan’s soil again tomorrow, would she take over the title of Archbishop? What would that mean for our political climate, with unrest in the Holy Kingdom to the north and no church to ordain down in the Empire?

Here’s what I believe. Having faith in something is an important part of life, but sometimes it can be an excuse to close your ears to the world and stop thinking about the practicalities. I like the idea of it, sure, but I’ve got too many questions that nobody seems willing to answer—and until they do, I think I’ll stick to going my own way.

Oh, right. Birthdays. You know what I always do on my birthday? Take a trip down to the waterfront and look for any ships off in the distance. After that, I don’t mind a round of whatever board game is closest to hand. Think you’ll join me, professor?