Cmnf Fantasy [verified] -

She hesitated. “Exposed. Small. …Cold.”

Elara blinked. “That’s heresy.”

They did not arrest her. They were too confused. She walked through the gate, across the gravel no-man’s-land, to the edge of the Howling Wood. The trees were black, their bark weeping silver sap. The air smelled of rust and honey. cmnf fantasy

The reason, the priests of the Order of the Fold taught, was sacred. Women were vessels of raw, unshaped magic— anima fluens , the flowing soul. Men were vessels of structure— anima ligans , the binding soul. A woman’s bare skin allowed the world’s chaotic magic to pass through her without resistance, to be harvested by the clothed male mages, priests, and lords who stood nearby. A man’s clothing acted as a runic cage, concentrating his binding will. Thus, a clothed man and a naked woman formed a circuit: her openness, his containment. Together, they made civilization possible. She hesitated

Guards stopped her. Two men in full plate armor, visors down. They saw her tunic. They saw her bare legs beneath. One of them laughed. “Lost, little font? Women’s quarters are west.” …Cold