Feast of Flowering, Mage

The elder did not answer, not immediately. Perhaps Nigel was still too far away for the elder to hear - with the crush of bodies, any distance was immediately doubled, tripled, more, if only in his own ears. Perhaps the elder had answered, but Nigel's sensitive ears had been unable to handle the strain? No matter, he could go closer and make sure he was able to be heard. He feet shuffled forward - technically backwards, if one was saying the direction to go was the gate, but he decided forward made more sense as he went in the direction he was facing. "Hello, old one," he tried again, absolutely unsure of the proper way to address the elder camel but trying his best not to imply that he should be almost covered in mushrooms. "Is everything alright? I mean, um.... is something wrong that I can help you with?" Of course something wasn't right, that was stupid, but it felt polite to assume the entire world wasn't decaying slowing around their ears. Why he thought that, he didn't know. He'd never needed to be "polite" before.

The older camel did not quite... acknowledge Nigel's presence, but he did move enough that the snake-tailed young man could see the cause of his weeping and wailing. It was a few.... sticks. And some hay, maybe? He was confused, but it made the older camel upset so it was apparently important. "Please, please!" the old man cried, finally noticing Nigel. "My family made this shrine, time and times ago, and those bumbling idiots destroyed it!" Nigel was somewhat uncomfortable, not knowing for sure who the bumbling idiots were or, in fact, what a shrine was. Religion had not been a part of his time growing up, and, while he'd murmur words of thanks to the elements when they allowed him to survive, he would never have thought to build something in their honor. The traders he had seen visit his family occasionally called on deities, but Sidney shook his head and Morgan scorned the idea. "Let others believe what they want - they were not there for me, so I have no need of them." And that was the end of that conversation.

Remembering the "let others believe" part of his learning, Nigel edged closer. "How... how can I help?" he replied awkwardly, shuffling his wide feet. He was a helpful person, naturally, but there really hadn't been an opportunity with his family

"Remake it," came the gruff, snot-filled reply.

"....How?"

The elder shook his head, mumbling under his breath about "kids these days," before sighing dramatically and explaining the process to Nigel. The hare-eared camel attempted to follow his instructions, frequently making him do it again and again until it was right. "Keep your rabbits away from it!" was a frequently snarled phrase, to which Nigel, of course, answered, "Oh, Harriet and Fanny are not my rabbits. They're not even rabbits! Actually, hares are related to rabbits but are a different species!" The older camel was not amused, and harrumphed before setting him to building the shrine once more.