Graduation Year
2019
Document Type
Campus Access Only Senior Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Arts
Primary Major
English
Thesis Advisor
Thomas Burke, MFA
Abstract
This thesis project is comprised of sections of a fantasy novel intended to be expanded upon into a full work. Enclosed within this document are chapters one through five, as well as ten through fifteen. The story follows Orrin, a young priest who has fallen in love with the Goddess he worships, who speaks to him through an oracle. Both confused and afraid, Orrin views his feelings as sinful, and wishes to spend time away from the monastery, hoping that distance from the oracle will allow him to better come to terms with what his feelings mean and what to do about them. In order to simultaneously achieve this distance and to repent for his sins, he volunteers as a chaplain and healer in the church’s ongoing holy war against a neighboring nation. But it does not take long before Orrin realizes he is ill prepared for the challenges that lie ahead of him, and he will have to forge friendships with unlikely companions in order to survive. His journey leads him to uncover secrets about his own religion and that of the enemy, as well as an unexpected connection between the two.