Carorna took up the call, "Let the ceremony continue." This was the time when the two hundred male worshippers could choose of the three hundred Priestesses, including the Attendants, a woman to take the part for them of the Goddess and the ceremony would broaden to include most of the worshippers. The four male Priests whose duty to guard the Giver was finished, would also take a Priestess. The High Priestesses were not obliged to participate but usually did. If they wished to they could choose first from among the male worshippers but not the Priests. Carorna indicated that she would participate and quickly went down to the floor of the circle where she selected a tall farmer to be her Giver. She took him back to a table behind the altar. Karesa was under no obligation to participate further and usually the officiate would recover and watch from now on. It appeared that she had decided to remain on the altar and had ordered the "Giver" to minister to her own needs more gently than before. Now he had given up his seed he was no longer required to give more seed but with his hands and his tongue he could be expected to minister to the desires of the officiate if she chose.
The High Priest Taregir also had first choice over the Priestesses only if he so desired. Otherwise he must watch from above. He strode forward and chose one of the attendants, the slim dark haired one who had been next to Dianorla. He took her to a table behind the altar. Dianorla was pleased she had not been picked by him.
Although she had been picked by him on a number of occasions before she found him forceful and selfish, although it would again have been an honour. She no longer hoped she could avoid being chosen because she had found the first ceremony so powerful. Her arousal was strong and she had resisted, so far, the temptation to masturbate, but the magic in the air, or was it her own unsatiated natural desire, meant that she must participate in the next part of the ceremony, for her relief. It was very unlikely that an attendant already naked and considered attractive would escape the choice of two hundred male worshippers and four priests. If her own excitement was anything to go by the audience must be desperate to participate by now. She wondered if they had been as filled by the wild magic of the ceremony as she had. She assumed that they could not have been unaffected by the scenes she had witnessed or by the magnetic insistence of the echoing sounds. She wondered how many of them might have been overcome, like the two attendants, by the desire to masturbate. She saw that some of the farmers did indeed already have their hands beneath their tunics. Bulges indicated arousal. A few had them revealed and their tunics parted or raised.
Attendants often found that they were chosen by male priests because they stood nearby. After Taregir had chosen, the males were free to choose. Always there was a rush as certain males would head for the attendants or for the prettiest Priestesses, but there were more than enough Priestesses for all of them.
As the farmers who were here this evening milled around surveying their choice of Priestesses Dianorla remained at the altar, naked. For the farmers this was an exciting event. Rarely would they have the choice of so many Priestesses or be able to take part in an orgy on such a large scale. They came to the Temple at Sharlon only occasionally and were used to smaller ceremonies in the villages where they lived. Priestesses probably visited them regularly to conduct ceremonies but their participation in gatherings at the temple might happen only once in a month, or perhaps two. This particular ceremony was frequently performed by the Priestesses but the different occupations of the area had to wait their turn. The men were usually very excited therefore at the prospect of sexual communion on such a scale. Many of them took some time in selecting their first partner. There would be plenty of Priestesses to choose from and they probably considered that they might as well select a woman who would excite them the most. Others, the young ones who were new to this and awed by the Priestesses might take the first Priestess they could find. Some farmers mounted the steps, approaching. They all had such strong muscular legs under their tunics. Many were tall. Some were good looking, others were average.
