Role

Chapter 5

In a cruel echo of Aeldan's fate, a year after the highway robbery, Nephinae
had angered Darsek to the point of him beating her within an inch of her life.
Her devotion to Greed was questionable - she never bothered to covet anything.
While he was no Preacher of Sloth, even the most languid of Morians confirmed
that she did not follow their tenets either. When Nephinae was blessed with a
surge of passion, she was anything but slothful.

The straw that broke the camel's back couldn't be blamed entirely on the young
acolyte. Darsek had lost a precious bauble in a deal gone wrong and had
arrived at the Church to hear another report of Nephinae's arguing with the
adherents of Pride. The ordinary girl was at odds with the Prideful followers
of Morius to the point of succumbing to useless, bitter fury. In her eyes,
Pride was barely worthy of being a sin at all. She spoke words that edged on
blasphemy. Her common refrain was simple: "I might be a fraud, but you're
stuck chasing perfection, and that's worse."

Darsek cut ties with Nephinae after dragging her to the Church's healer. After
she recovered, Nephinae was even more steadfast in her bizarre take on Vanity.
She no longer wished to lie about her successes. Instead, she argued that the
essence of Vanity was accepting oneself without the need for the tiresome
peacocking of the Prideful. She believes that anyone who accepts their own
failures and finds perfection within their flaws has ascended past the lesser
sin of Pride to the oasis of Vanity. Nephinae knows from experience:
celebrating and striving for success will only keep you happy in the short
term.

Blind to her own Pride, Nephinae managed to seduce a mage into teaching her
about shapeshifting over a period of a few years. He advised that she
'shouldn't try too hard' and would benefit from 'sticking to a single path'.
After she was accepted into the shapeshifter's guild, Nephinae focused her
efforts on the path of Utility, intent on proving to the mage and all those
who suffered from Pride that she could live a more fulfilling life than they
ever would. In between lessons, she preaches to people on the importance of
self-acceptance and has even started arguing with other followers of the path
of Vanity.

In conclusion: Nephinae is still a mess, but she fucking loves that and anyone
who doesn't isn't worth her time.