I am from an isolated
Sphere called Hardscrabble, more specifically, a Realm called Edifice
by the few Spherewalkers who've passed through. The dominant (nearly
only) religion of Edifice is the Church of The
Maker, which exalts the
act of creating things: buildings, swords, carts, pots, whatever.
Some Spherewalkers have commented that the Maker may be a guise of Hephaestos
or similar deity, but if so, he takes very little active role in things,
as the priests have no magical powers and miracles are basically unknown.
Into this situation I was
born. When my natural talents were discovered at an early age (I
made toys for myself out of water or soil), it was taken as a sign that
he was truly blessed by the Maker. I was
promptly given over to
the Church to be raised as a priest. (This is also when I got my
name; priests are normally given titles based on their specialty, such
as Smith, Wright, Potter, Weaver, etc. Shaper was a new title, but
an obvious one.)
It was always assumed that
I was marked for truly great things, that he would build some truly monumental
work and earn the most highly esteemed title of Builder. But as I
grew to maturity, no great vision developed: no image of a great
cathedral, or fortress, or tower came to me. I came to the conclusion
that it was because I was too sheltered, that I hadn't seen enough of the
world to develop a vision. Since priests usually spend some years
wandering from village to village, it wasn't too hard to
convince the Church to
let me go. It was a bit harder to get them to let me leave the Realm
and go out into the wider world, but they eventually agreed. I was
taken to the First Gate in the Great Wall, supposedly where the founder
of the Church had first appeared, and he bid farewell to everyone.
The people of Edifice are
ignorant of Spheres, Gates, and such. No one expected that as I stepped
through the Gate he would simply disappear, but I did. Now, finding
myself out among the Spheres, I am determined to see enough to develop
my vision, but I'm still really new at all this, and my inexperience may
cause problems.