[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech II

[Earl of Purple]

This thread covers the four Temples of Dalachrech, one in Inside, one in Riverside, one in Underside and the Hermitage in Outside.

Reformed Temple of Dalachrech- Inside
This building resembles most of the other terraced houses on this road, consisting of three floors, a small front garden, a front door and the same number of windows. However, unlike the other houses, the red front door has a knocker shaped like a two-tailed scorpion and also a sign post in the middle of the lawn. The sign is shaped as a two-tailed scorpion, and proudly states that this is the oldest Temple of Dalachrech in the Nexus, and home to the faithful in this city.

Attached ClergyTerrowin of Xela's Howe, the Twice Survivor, the Living Prophet, High Priest of Dalachrech and head of the congregation.
Destur Spritesson, gnome cleric of Dalachrech.
Jorje Hargonnen, human cleric of Dalachrech.
Gertrude de la Moy, 1/16th giant human cleric of Dalachrech; holds a minor noble title (Madame).
Lauretta, human cleric of Dalachrech played by happyturtle. (Deadtimed)
Samantha, spectre Novitiate of Dalachrech played by Gulaghar. (Deadtimed)
Fade, a fade Novitiate of Dalachrech played by Zefir.


Orthodox Hermitage of Dalachrech- Outside
A vast door forged by a long-vanished race blocks the entrance to this old mine; the door is made of a mysterious, bronze-coloured metal that nobody knows how to make any more. The mine itself is in the side of a tall mountain, hidden in a cleft in the mountainside. Beyond the door is a large chamber decorated with dilapidated mining equipment, piles of rubble and old mine carts; passage further in appears to be blocked by a cave-in, but in fact that pile of rubble was engineered and there's a carefully concealed tunnel through it to deter explorers.

This location was chosen for its isolation. Please PM me before you turn up at the door.

Attached Clergy:
Elezibethele, elvish Head Priestess of Dalachrech and Mistress of the Hermitage.
Azurelle D'Langley, aasimar Grand Mistress of the Order of the Centipede, a knightly order devoted to Dalachrech.
Kail, human student of Dalachrech, aiming to join the Order of the Centipede rather than the clergy; played by Harnel.


Neo-Reformed Temple of Dalachrech- Riverside, Northside Bugside/Southside
The large termite mound is now the largest structure in this part of Southside, and the internal hollows are large enough now that the clergy have moved in. There's a large, reinforced wooden door at the front of the Temple that now stands open from dawn until dusk, and a sign post bearing the two-tailed scorpion of Dalachrech emblazoned in red upon a black background upon it. The Temple in Northside hasn't been abandoned; the cult has converted it into a homeless shelter with enough room for thirty five people inside and meals provided by the Cult.

Attached Clergy:Defelent A'dam, tiefling High Priest of Dalachrech.
Omid Janni cleric of Dalachrech.
Narahar the Twice Martyred half-elf cleric of Dalachrech, currently deceased.
Cassidy, Ritter of Sznovf and member of NO, human cleric of Dalachrech. Played by Rotting Baron.
Shanaya of NO, a Student of Dalachrech. Played by Mahonri Violinist.

Chthonic Temple of Dalachrech- Underside
A selection of spider-silk cocoons tied to the ceiling of a large tunnel just outside the Undercity, to the West specifically. They are easy to spot; the structure is covered in glowing dog-sized beetles. There are two ways up, a silk rope ladder leading into one of the larger cocoons and a lift, consisting of a dried mushroom flesh platform attached to spider silk ropes. A bronze bell is nearby, likely to let those within the Temple know that somebody wants to use the lift. Beneath the Temple is a massive mosaic made of small tiles depicting a two-tailed scorpion, though there's no light to see it by.

Attached Clergy:
Charynrae Baeld'alachrech, drider High Priestess of Dalachrech
Will, Rayaat'Tyr Novitiate of Dalachrech played by C'nor. (Probably deadtimed)

Ranks: Student (learning basics of religion and Abyssal, no secret rites known; addressed as Student), Novitiate (loyalty proven, learning how to channel their faith into spells and armed from the Temple Armoury; addressed as Novice), Cleric (written their personal prayer book, good at casting spells; addressed as Reverend), High Priest (communes directly with Dalachrech, capable of summoning demons, master of a Temple/Hermitage; addressed as High Priest/Your Holiness).

Branches of the Faith:
Reformed: This branch of the Faith has been around the longest, and its High Priest is the progenitor of all the other branches. However, in order to adapt to the political climate of Inside, Terrowin surrendered the traditional practice of keeping Temple Slaves. Sapient sacrifice has not been practised here, though forced conversion has and the equipment used for that is still present and used for other things.
Neo-Reformed: This branch was originally founded in another city, however when that Town fell to the depredations of Deadtime Ooze, its clergy moved elsewhere. They kept Temple Slaves, traditionally illiterate and without tongues, though they don't practice sapient sacrifice to suit the tastes of the local population. The Slaves were released after a visit by NO, and the branch renamed itself, adding the 'Neo' to signify they do not recognise Terrowin's authority over their Temple.
Chthonic: This branch is the only one whose clergy has not ever owed fealty as clerics under Terrowin, and Charynrae converted to Dalachrechianism on her own. They practice slavery, but life in Underside is hard, so do not practice sapient sacrifice. The slaves kept here have not had their tongues removed, though their literacy has never been questioned.
Orthodox: This branch is extremely secretive and cloistered, primarily practised by ettercaps, aranea, Falmer, thri-kreen and other creatures whose link to invertebrates is very primal. They practice slavery, though haven't muted their Temple Slaves, and are the only branch which offers sapients in the traditional manner- a brainbeetle larvae placed on the foot.
Order of the Centipede: A holy order of warriors sworn to protect all Dalachrechians, regardless of their personal spiritual alignment. The Grand Mistress supports slavery; however this is a personal view and not necessarily that of the organisation as a whole. It is their duty to defend the clerics and temples from unbelievers, and to stay out of any factional squabbling between the other branches unless they are directly commanded by Dalachrech to intervene, in a vision that will be shared between all the paladins within to ascertain its authenticity. That vision is the Will of Dalachrech, and represents official doctrine on the conflict.

[Asha'man]

[Reformed Temple]

The insect lunged its jaw at him. He vaulted to the side a little too late and sustained a deep wound, which of course tore his outfit, on his left arm. Pain rocked the void but it did not shatter. There was something worse than the wound. In his head a man was speaking to him of multiple weaves that would obliterate the insect. Since his arm was hurt he would not be able to use his power forged sword. Trying once more he circles the insect to try and blast the door open and run outside. If he could not he would be forced to use those weaves in his head.

[Earl of Purple]

Reformed Temple

The insect will persevere in trying to bite Serph, though he could escape. The door will be blasted open without any ceremony or enchantment activating.

[Asha'man]

[Reformed Temple]

Seeing the exit in sight he runs for it. The insect that lunged another bite at him will miss the intended target, which was probably the torso, and instead make a deep gash on Serph's back as he dashes for the exit. Serph barely even notices it. Once outside he makes a gateway instantly and hops through and immidiately closes it.

-------

The area he pops out in is a small camp where his tent is just outside The Weald. Immidiately he releases Saidin and the voice in his head goe away. Entering his tent he starts to tend to his wounds. He'll rest give or take three days before he decides to hit the next Temple.

(Just a question, now that a temple has been robbed, what will its inhabitants be doing?)

[Earl of Purple]

Reformed Temple

The giant bombadier beetle follows Serph till he disappears, at which point it will wander off somewhere.

The inhabitants will mainly be telling the authorities about the theft and put a description out for the objects stolen and offer a reward and a promise that the thief will regret his actions for the rest of time. They'll hide the evidence of zombies first, though; I'm not sure how Remnant sees mindless undead, even ones used as guards in such a manner.

[5a Violista]

Underside Temple

Shanaya will find, at the top of quite a long ladder, the main altar room. There's two columns of fungus-wood pews (the ones at the front shaped for non-humanoid rears) along the side walls, and at the far end is a large black marble statue of a large, centipede-like creature with three scorpion tails, the claws of a praying mantis, and the head of a beetle with large, flesh-tearing jaws. It has gold projections resembling the veins of a dragonfly's wings, with thin silk wrapped around them to make the main wing. Many small, polished black opals with an oily sheen have been set into its head as eyes. Near the entrance hatch is a small table of imported wood with a guest book on it and a pen.

Ordo will discover that there's no way to get the lift up from where he is, but there is a silk rope dangling down- at the top is a bell, and if it's rung it will alert the Temple Slaves that they have to work the mechanism that brings the lift up.

[Underside Temple]

Shanaya reaches the top, panting and lying on her hands and knees. Man, that was a long ladder! Probably the longest she's ever climbed. But it was fun! She beat Ordo up to the top.

Quickly catching her breath, she stands up and looks around in reverent awe. Not as beautiful as a shrine to her Dragon Queen, but pretty cool nonetheless...oh, look! A Guest Book! Might as well sign in.

The girl walks over to it, and grabs the pen, signing her name in cursive, Shanaya Evilene Klisvane, Knight of The Dragon Queen.

Then, since Ordo's supposed to accompany her, she waits around for him, wondering if his way up leads to the same room or not.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple

Captain Clegg Thenardier has walked through Inside, searching for the temple. Provided it's not hidden somewhere, he'll be able to find it pretty easily, knowing the streets of Inside pretty well. Thee bounty hunter is...a unique sight.

He walks with a crutch that used to be composed of sleek ebony wood. Now, there's a piece chipped off, the handle is slightly dented, and the crutch has odd brownish, rust-colored stains. He wears a long navy and gold coat, now ripped up at the bottom, several bullet holes in the back of the long coat. He wears his wide-brimmed, ripped hat. He has a brown-grey messy beard, that matches his long grey hair. His left leg is wooden, and clunks as he walks. He wears ripped up gloves, and black trousers. He has some kind of leather armor underneath the coat. He takes yet another swig from the hip flask at his belt before moving over to the door of the temple, providing he could find it.


He knocks with a fist and looks about. The man smells of alcohol, gunpowder, and...oddly enough a corpse. His eyes flash around with evident paranoia, and hidden in his coat are about ten different pistols and one rifle, hidden in his boot are two magical knives, and up his sleeve is a special gun, strapped to his arm, covered by the coat cuff. He knocks on the door. Hallo? Anybody 'ere? It's me...I"m looking fer High Priest Terrowin?

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

The front door is answered by a tall woman wearing a long, teal dress (that seems to crawl with beetles when viewed from the corner of the eye). She has long red hair cascading down her back and her eyes are a very bright, slightly inhuman green eyes. Her left arm, from the elbow down, is a pike. Not the weapon, but the fish.

[Hattish Thing]

Temples of Dalachrech

Thenardier stares for about half a second. He had seen quite a few odd seas creatures due to being a sailor. He just leans on the crutch and frowns a little. He smells of alcohol, gunpowder...and oddly enough, a corpse. 'Ello...lass...I'm 'ere fer High Priest Terrowin. M'name's Clegg. Captain Clegg.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"So you're Captain Thenardier, hmm? I am Madame de la Moy, priestess of Dalachrech. Please, follow me." Gertrude turns to let Thenardier into the Temple's foyer. It's a small room, with five floor-to-ceiling drapes. One is on the right, two are on the left and two are opposite the front door. Gertrude will walk to one of the ones opposite and pull it aside, revealing a door which she'll open. Beyond, is a staircase with a carpet patterned to resemble a giant centipede.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple

"So you're Captain Thenardier, hmm? I am Madame de la Moy, priestess of Dalachrech. Please, follow me." Gertrude turns to let Thenardier into the Temple's foyer. It's a small room, with five floor-to-ceiling drapes. One is on the right, two are on the left and two are opposite the front door. Gertrude will walk to one of the ones opposite and pull it aside, revealing a door which she'll open. Beyond, is a staircase with a carpet patterned to resemble a giant centipede.

Captain Clegg is not at all bothered by the evidence of fish and bug worshiping here. He looks around, always hunting for an exit strategy, or looking for a possibly hidden sniper. Adjusting the soul knife in his boot that he stabbed poor Civvy with...Thenardier walks down after her, his wooden leg clunking. Nice place....I suppose...

[FireFox]

Inside Temple

A few minutes later, Tobias Vulpan--HALO commander, Inside Councilor, and overprotective father--walks up and knocks politely at the front door. He does not look happy.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

Gertrude doesn't respond, instead leading Thenardier up the stairs, to a corridor with ten doors along it.

Inside Temple- Outside

The door is opened by a gnome with a large nose and faintly glowing skin. He's wearing a bright red top hat, a green waistcoat, blue breeches and a purple cloak with yellow tassels. His buttons are very shiny polished brass, and marked with two-tailed scorpions. "Yes? How can I help?"

[Hattish Thing]

Inside-Inside Temple

Thenardier's extremely powerful sense of hezaring most likely detects Tobias's voice, and the gnome's. Um...p'rhaps we c'n continue this meetin' some other time? Somethin's come up...an'...I need t' go. Um....yes...Woul' ye mind postponing this? Or...walking faster? I need to be somewhere soon, walk faster! Thenardier prepares himself, secretly dropping a small, flat object onto the ground behind him, which then turns invisible. Um...lead th' way!

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

Yes, I certainly hope you can. Tobias smiles casually, keeping a firm hold on his rage. I am Commander Vulpan from HALO and the man you are about to hire to retrieve your stolen property is an enemy of mine. If he is already inside your temple, I would like to formally request you hand him over to me. I will let you use my personal discount for a local mercenary company, if you would rather not be inconvenienced.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

"Of course. Please, follow me." Gertrude smiles and turns towards one of the doors on the left.

She possesses an item that enables her to communicate telepathically with other clerics. Such as the one answering the door.

Inside Temple- Outside

"Of course, please wait here. We don't want to antagonise HALO." Though they have before.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Inside

"Of course. Please, follow me." Gertrude smiles and turns towards one of the doors on the left.

She possesses an item that enables her to communicate telepathically with other clerics. Such as the one answering the door.

Inside Temple- Outside

"Of course, please wait here. We don't want to antagonise HALO." Though they have before.

Thenardier is somewhat in panic mode. He follows the woman, but prepares to go into battle with Tobias. He readies himself, even putting on a few rings and a necklace. Yes...do...Alrigh', now. I'm following ye. Clegg walks into the room.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

The fox-eyed Druid nods and steps back. He casts two spells to improve his strength and endurance, then starts drawing a rune on his left arm with a marker.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

Walking through the door triggers a sleep spell that should put Thenardier to sleep. If it's successful, Madame de la Moy will try to pick him up and carry him downstairs.

Inside Temple- Outside

"There is something we'd like instead of your mercenaries. Could you spare a diamond? The items were stolen from Narahar the Twice Martyred, and he's currently dead again. If not, we would like to accept your mercenaries." And they'd like to ressurect him.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Inside

Walking through the door triggers a sleep spell that should put Thenardier to sleep. If it's successful, Madame de la Moy will try to pick him up and carry him downstairs.

Inside Temple- Outside

"There is something we'd like instead of your mercenaries. Could you spare a diamond? The items were stolen from Narahar the Twice Martyred, and he's currently dead again. If not, we would like to accept your mercenaries." And they'd like to ressurect him.

Thenardier is in fact, immune to sleep spells, seeing as he does not sleep. Or eat. Or breathe. However, he does realize a spell was just cast, and turns to Madame de la Moy angrily. Thenardier is a corpse. A....dead thing. Nonliving, undead. He's vertainly upset now. He turns to her, and in a flash, his hand cannon hidden in his sleeve will fire at her, while his crutch transforms to a long, ebony blade. 'Ow dare ye betray me!

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

I don't have any diamonds, sorry. Tobias doesn't have any on him, but he could get some. Of course, he doesn't really care about a dead cleric. Letting them use his personal discount with a mercenary group doesn't cost him a thing, so he'd prefer to go that route.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

The spell was cast several hours ago; Thenardier triggered it by walking through the doorway. Regardless, Gertrude now tries to blast him with holy energy, which should (if successful) either force him away from her or force him to obey her orders. As she does so, her holy symbol glows teal, and translucent beetle wings and elytra appear behind her back of the same colour.

The shot fails because whilst his back was turned Gertrude activated the enchantment upon her dress, causing it to turn into a suit of formidable-looking teal plates, complete with blank, face-concealing helm, with a specially adapted arm for her pike-hand. "Stop, and go down the stairs without fighting."

Inside Temple- Outside

"It seems our sleep wards have not worked. Do you have an idea of what will work to incapacitate him? Don't worry, we have every intention of letting him live. Unless he kills Madame Gertrude, but in that case I doubt he'll manage to escape." Gertrude's presence counteracted several defensive wards which Thernadier cannot otherwise bypass.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside-Inside Temple

Thenardier growls and sneers at Madame Gertrude. The holy energy pushes Thenardier away, and the light also shows a skeletal version of Thenardier. AS soon as the light fades, Thenardier has flesh again. Die, scum. I fought fer fifteen years in tha' godforsaken rock, I c'n fight some bug-crazy priestess. His black blade draws life force, and he moves to attack her, trying to smash in the face-mask with the vorpal blade. His other hand reaches for a pistol in his jacket.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

The last time I dealt with him, he was a mortal man possessed by a demon. I don't know what he is now, though... Tobias puts away the marker and shrugs. I'd imagine cutting off his arms and legs would quickly incapacitate him, but you do what you have to.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

"Scum? Scum? HAH! I have a noble title, pirate!" The platemail is far more bendy than normal steel plates, enabling Gertrude to dodge the sword, if barely. Her left hand, the fish, reaches up and Gertrude tries to use it to grab Thenardier's arm and bite down. It's quite painful; it's a predatory fish, and it has backwards-pointing teeth to prevent fish-prey from escaping. In her right hand, however, is a pistol which is aimed at Thenardier's real leg. It's a particle magnum; very powerful, and probably capable of blasting the leg off if it hits when Gertrude pulls the trigger.

Inside Temple- Outside

"I'll pass the information on, thank you. He seems to be undead now, and immune to the sleep spell we tried to use against him." The gnome smiles.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple-Inside

I was th' Inspector! No one cares who ye were....no one cares about ye! Yer hated by most 'o' th' Nexus! No one will miss ye. The fish will bite down on Thenardier's arm. Blood starts to flow. The blood is...black...and poisonous, it's a disgusting mixture of ichor and saltwater. Haha! Come then, choke yer little fishy on my blood! I'll make yee bleed! Thenardier does not drop the pistol held in the hand bitten, and instead fires, most likely hitting Gertrude, or freeing himself. AS for the other pistol, Thenardier recognizes the type instantly, and knows to fear it. He activates a ring, causing his body to be shielded from ranged weapons for a short while.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

Tobias sighs and takes the marker back out to draw a different rune on his left palm. That's one of the problems with the Nexus these days. Nobody has the decency to stay dead anymore. I don't know what he's talking about. Even when it was only HALO, AMEN, and the Town nobody ever stayed dead. And he's one of the biggest offenders for resurrection abuse.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

Gertrude grimaces beneath her helmet at the taste of poisonous blood entering the fish. So she begins to chant a spell in Abyssal, directing healing energies through her left arm, through the pike and into Thenardier's arm. The problem with healing spells is that on undead they usually have the opposite effect, and that's what Gertrude's hoping for.

The first shot is blocked, but Gertrude now fires again.

Inside Temple- Outside

"Not here. My brother died a long time ago, and he's still dead. Madame de la Moy was murdered by a demi-goddess who was punished by bringing her back. Due to a happy accident, Narahar the Twice Martyred was brought back after his first death. Until such an occurrence happens again, or we source some diamonds, we won't be breaking the laws of death." The gnome, Destur, sounds rather sad about the loss of his brother.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Inside

Gertrude grimaces beneath her helmet at the taste of poisonous blood entering the fish. So she begins to chant a spell in Abyssal, directing healing energies through her left arm, through the pike and into Thenardier's arm. The problem with healing spells is that on undead they usually have the opposite effect, and that's what Gertrude's hoping for.

The first shot is blocked, but Gertrude now fires again.


Inside Temple- Outside

"Not here. My brother died a long time ago, and he's still dead. Madame de la Moy was murdered by a demi-goddess who was punished by bringing her back. Due to a happy accident, Narahar the Twice Martyred was brought back after his first death. Until such an occurrence happens again, or we source some diamonds, we won't be breaking the laws of death." The gnome, Destur, sounds rather sad about the loss of his brother.

So, Thenardier will be healed! It does have an opposite effect, to the point where Thenardier will be launched backward, out of the fish's jaws, though it's teeth rake flesh to his barnacled bones. Now, he's about ten feet away, and her shot will have missed again. The black ichor is dripping now, but Thenardier does not seem to feel the pain. Instead, he blasts a shot at her, trying to break her gun. So, 'ow do I taste? He cackles loudly.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

Mm. Tobias tries to wait patiently, but doesn't last a minute. Need any help dragging him out?

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

The gun is hit! Whether it's broken or not is hard to determine; it hasn't exploded, but Gertrude's not holding it any more. Suddenly, she's holding an orb that is half white and half red. Gertrude holds it to one side and presses a button. A cratered rock appears where the orb was pointed; a red rock with five yellow protuberances- four legs and one head. "Shuckle, use Flash!" The Shuckle releases a burst of very bright light from the holes in its rock-like shell. Gertrude's looking away, but it's intended to temporarily blind Thenadier and hamper his aiming skills.

Inside Temple- Outside

"No, thank you. It's too dangerous to let you in due to our improved security- anybody that doesn't have an explicit exception or is travelling with such a person could trigger a dangerous magical trap." They're now usually keyed to either specific people or passwords rather than objects and symbols like they used to be.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Inside

The gun is hit! Whether it's broken or not is hard to determine; it hasn't exploded, but Gertrude's not holding it any more. Suddenly, she's holding an orb that is half white and half red. Gertrude holds it to one side and presses a button. A cratered rock appears where the orb was pointed; a red rock with five yellow protuberances- four legs and one head. "Shuckle, use Flash!" The Shuckle releases a burst of very bright light from the holes in its rock-like shell. Gertrude's looking away, but it's intended to temporarily blind Thenadier and hamper his aiming skills.



Thenardier grins for a second, and then frowns at the orb. He stares down at the thing, trying to get a shot out before there's a flash of light. The light blasts Thenardier and he howls in pain. He opens his eyes and sees only bright white for a little while, causing his aim to splutter for a few turns now. However, he speaks out. Stop! Or I'll blow this place up! I planted a bomb in th' hallway t' ge' 'ere! I am no' afriad t' blow this place up! I will do i'!

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

Tobias crosses his arms and Scowls, but continues waiting.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

"The Temple's walls have been magically reinforced and the Temple is far larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Are you sure that it will have any effect?" Regardless, Gertrude is worried enough to do nothing further.

Inside Temple- Corridor

Terrowin receives the knowledge of the bomb from Gertrude via Orb of Brotherhood, and quickly summons a pair of beetles with large antennae to find the explosive. The invisibility should have no effect; these beetles are looking for the scent of explosives in the air given off by bombs- the same thing bomb-dogs are trained for in the Army and at airports.

Inside Temple- Outside

"Would you like some music whilst you wait?" The gnome is more serious than cheeky; he has a music player he can turn on.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple-Inside

Thenardier grins now, and the blindness begins to fade away. An', if ye tamper wit' i', I' will explode. So, ye can't disarm it. Let me go now, er die. I can blow this all up and reform in a few days. Yer not so lucky, eh? Just a signal and th' bomb will go off....so....ye gonna let down the teleportation shields?

Inside Temple-Corridor

The roaches will be able to find the bomb, it's large. Powerful enough to blow apart a fair amount of the church, and true to his word, should the bomb be tampered with, it will self-destruct.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

No. Tobias is fine with waiting in cold silence.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Room

Gertrude is frowning behind her helmet. "Our teleport blocker is a complex spell; it will take some time to lift it completely."

Inside Temple- Corridor

Terrowin is led to the bomb and draws a circle around it before sitting down and casting a spell that will temporarily drop the teleport blocker. It's only being dropped in the corridor, however, and in the room with Thenadier there should be no change in the field of its effect so he cannot escape that way.

Inside Temple- Outside

"Sorry it's taking so long; we don't often work to incapacitate undead." Meaning everything either causes sleep or kills.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Room

Gertrude is frowning behind her helmet. "Our teleport blocker is a complex spell; it will take some time to lift it completely."


Inside Temple- Corridor

Terrowin is led to the bomb and draws a circle around it before sitting down and casting a spell that will temporarily drop the teleport blocker. It's only being dropped in the corridor, however, and in the room with Thenadier there should be no change in the field of its effect so he cannot escape that way.

Inside Temple- Outside

"Sorry it's taking so long; we don't often work to incapacitate undead." Meaning everything either causes sleep or kills.

Thenardier just growls. Do 'i NOW! He'll then prepare the rest of his gear, in case Tobias appeared, including his anti-turning necklace, his special goggles, and he loads his weapons. Ye do wot I say. Do not tamper with the bomb a' all or it blows. I can just reform...ye canno'. So, ye ge' to work un-doin' the spell, or I'll undo yer internal organs. Undastand? Clegg growls some more, and now puts away the vorpal blade for a different one. This one is odd, with a bluish blade, spiny, and covered in barnacles. http://www.algadon.com/images/items/power_of_the_sea_sword.png

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

You know, I'm a little surprised an undead was even able to walk inside this temple. He doesn't sound very shocked; he didn't expect Dalachrech's property to be Holy enough to keep undead abominations out.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Room

"It will take some time. We're working on it. I am not actually powerful enough to lift it, but the man who is, is doing his outright most to do so." Gertrude is speaking calmly and firmly. She suspects that she may survive, due to her rather unique armour.

Inside Temple- Corridor

Terrowin tries to teleport the marked area of floor, and the bomb resting upon it, to Hell. He's not touching the bomb to do so, meaning that hopefully it won't go off.

Inside Temple- Outside

"One of our Novices is undead. I haven't heard much from her recently, but we still cannot ward against them." I think Gulaghar has stopped playing her. Maybe I should ask at some point.

[Murkus]

Underside Temple

Shanaya will find, at the top of quite a long ladder, the main altar room. There's two columns of fungus-wood pews (the ones at the front shaped for non-humanoid rears) along the side walls, and at the far end is a large black marble statue of a large, centipede-like creature with three scorpion tails, the claws of a praying mantis, and the head of a beetle with large, flesh-tearing jaws. It has gold projections resembling the veins of a dragonfly's wings, with thin silk wrapped around them to make the main wing. Many small, polished black opals with an oily sheen have been set into its head as eyes. Near the entrance hatch is a small table of imported wood with a guest book on it and a pen.

Ordo will discover that there's no way to get the lift up from where he is, but there is a silk rope dangling down- at the top is a bell, and if it's rung it will alert the Temple Slaves that they have to work the mechanism that brings the lift up.


[Underside Temple]

Shanaya reaches the top, panting and lying on her hands and knees. Man, that was a long ladder! Probably the longest she's ever climbed. But it was fun! She beat Ordo up to the top.

Quickly catching her breath, she stands up and looks around in reverent awe. Not as beautiful as a shrine to her Dragon Queen, but pretty cool nonetheless...oh, look! A Guest Book! Might as well sign in.

The girl walks over to it, and grabs the pen, signing her name in cursive, Shanaya Evilene Klisvane, Knight of The Dragon Queen.

Then, since Ordo's supposed to accompany her, she waits around for him, wondering if his way up leads to the same room or not.

Ordo, shaking off deadtime yet again, grabs the string and gives it a little yank when he finds it yankable.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Room

"It will take some time. We're working on it. I am not actually powerful enough to lift it, but the man who is, is doing his outright most to do so." Gertrude is speaking calmly and firmly. She suspects that she may survive, due to her rather unique armour.

Inside Temple- Corridor

Terrowin tries to teleport the marked area of floor, and the bomb resting upon it, to Hell. He's not touching the bomb to do so, meaning that hopefully it won't go off.



Thenardier just growls, now impatient with Gertrude and finding her to be useless, so he lifts the blue spined blade and aims at Gertrude. Do wot I say. Walk backwards, turn around, an' block th' door. Understand, or this blade will flood thi' place. Can ye breathe underwater? Or are ye afraid to get a little wet?! Hah AHa! Now! Behind him, Thenardier will try to send a grenade backward, to blast a hole in the wall behind him.

Halls:

Well, yay! Tha'll work, sending the bomb to Hell. :smalltongue: The bomb disappears!

[Asha'man]

[Riverside-Info gathering]

Serph did some research and heard that the next temple is somewhere in Riverside. Thus he is walking the streets here now. Of course after robbing the first temple he isn't stupid enough to show his face. Covered in a weave that messed with light he looks very different. Instead of black-clad clothes and huge build to mark him out, he now looked average. Rugged brown hair and just as tall as anyone else with a somewhat thin build.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Lift

It'll take a while before the elevator is slowly jerked into the air, but when it is it will be a relatively efficient method to reach the top. Speaking of the top, it's a chamber to one side of the main entrance that Shanaya used mostly filled with the hand-cranked machinery that powers the lift, though the hand crank is in another chamber. Waiting for Ordo is a rather attractive drow lady with long white hair wearing a white silk shirt and a pair of silk webs serving as sacks to carry things on her abdomen. The abdomen in question is covered in black chitin, with eight long, delicate legs and emerges from the base of her torso; she's a drider. She's smiling, but it's hard to determine whether the expression reaches her eyes as they are black, glittery compound eyes similar to those of a beetle or another insect rather than a spider.

"Welcome. I am Priestess Charynrae, the head of the clergy within this Temple to Dalachrech, Lord of Invertebrates. Please, follow me. I believe there is somebody waiting for you." Charynrae the drider smiles, and will plunge her hands into the silk wall and rip a doorway into the silk.

Underside Temple- Altar Room

Shanaya will have to wait a while longer before the wall opens for Charynrae and Ordo.

Riverside Temple- Reconnaissance

The Temple is easy to find; it's in Northside, but within view of the magical canopy of shadows covering Westside a few streets over, and Eastside is a few streets in the other direction, meaning people in all three districts know its location. It, like the one in Inside, is advertised by a large sign of a two-tailed scorpion, and it's also a converted normal house, or rather two semi-detached houses each of two storeys.

[Asha'man]

[Riverside Temple- Northside]

Serph sees the two buildings of the Temple which are probably connected somewhere. In his disguise he will approach the temple, during daytime when there are people, for now he will act as just a normal visitor. As he enters the place he will try to get a layout of the area allowed to outsiders.

[5a Violista]

[Underside Temple - Altar Room]

Shanaya continues to wait...while waiting, she starts humming "A Little Fall of Rain". She's nearly finished by the time she senses movement. Stopping without finishing, she turns towards the rip in the doorway.

Shanaya's ready to wave as soon as she can see whoever it is. And so she does; as soon as she can see who's behind the opened doorway, she waves and says, "Oh, hi."

[Murkus]

[Underside Temple - Lift Room]

Holy mother of everything freakish and unholy, that is a strange woman. Ordo resists the natural human urge to reel back from something so big and eight-leggedy. "Hi. Nice to meet you." Ordo isn't sure if she means Shanaya or some monster that's gonna try to eat him, so he hesitates before peering through the silk hole. "Heyyy, Shanaya. I think I met our host."

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- Reconnaissance

They are indeed attached; rather obviously, too. The front door of one is next to the front door of the other. They're semi-detached, not fully detached; there's an internal wall that marks the start of one and the end of the other. Like the houses at the end of a terrace, but without the terrace between them.

There's an enchantment upon both front doors; they dispel illusions and similar magical effects. Holograms are unaffected, but they should reveal Serph's true form. Either way, inside is a single, long room with two rows of pews along a central aisle, with an altar to the left in front of a large mural of a towering termite mound resembling a mountain in scale. To the right, on the wall opposite that mural, is another mural, this one depicting a vast sea of beetles with rocks protruding from it. Sitting upon the plain, polished red porphyry altar is a pair of gold candlesticks anchoring black beeswax candles. Inset into the front of the altar is a flawless white marble two-tailed scorpion. The wall opposite the front door is ornately carved with thousands of different invertebrates; there seems to be no further way forward.

Underside Temple- Altar Room

I thought the correct human reaction towards something large and eight-legged was a big hug :smallfrown:.

"I am indeed your host, High Priestess Charynrae Baeld'alachrech, but please call me Charynrae. How can I help you?" I have no idea what Ordo looks like, but I suspect that Shanaya is human (it wasn't explicitly stated in her description, and humanity's a good default if an age is mentioned which isn't freaky large). If they are obviously not from down here, the following is added. "It is not often we have visitors from the surface."

[5a Violista]

(Sorry! My bad; I always forget to do descriptions.)

[Underside Temple] - Altar Room

Yes, you assumed correctly; she is a normal, 14-year old human girl with a sword that belonged to someone larger than her. Probably her father or her mother, by the size of it. She is obviously not from down here. Her light bronzed skin and sun-kissed freckles show that as plain as day.
(You're really good at making assumptions! Congratulations!)

Shanaya now looks back and forth between Ordo and the High Priestess. "Hello, um..." She pauses, silently pronouncing Charynrae's name just to make sure she gets it right. Then, with uncertainty, she says, "Charynrae. It's nice to meet you. My name's Shanaya." The girl smiles.

Then, she looks down at the High Priestess's Spider Legs. (Her mother never taught her that it's bad manners to stare.) She bites her lower lip in jealousy. Eight legs look so much fun. There's so much you can do with them, like climbing walls and playing soccer. If Shanaya had eight legs, she would be the best soccer player in the whole wide world. She starts to think of a good argument to the Dragon Queen that could get her a Spider Transformation.

After she decides on a good argument, she returns her short attention span to Charynrae's face. "Actually, I was wanting to know more about this religion. Maybe a tour of this place would be nice? I'm sure that I'll have a couple of questions, too. Also, I was wondering if you have any of those pamphlets that all religions have? You know, the ones that say the basic tenants of the faith, and have cute pictures of people being saved from drowning and from cancer and stuff like that."

[Murkus]

[Underside Temple]

Damn, this kid's more on the ball than Ordo is. She's gonna make him look bad. The psion begins to introduce himself with a pretty good poker face, "I'm her uncle. Ordo's my name. We live near a tunnel to Underside, and this was the closest temple we could find. She's, ah, fascinated with invertebrates." Beyond an explanation for why they chose this temple, which he just provided, Ordo can't think of anything else to add.

The psion's pretty obviously from the surface too. He's a pale man, of good height and hefty muscle, with a shock of bright red hair. He's got tired-looking blue eyes, and a reddish scruff around his chin and jaw.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

((Most characters are at least somewhat human, and most humans dwell on the surface. Plus, the original post said Shanaya was 14, and only humans age as humans do- non-humans typically have 'appear' before an age.))

"I can give you a tour. There's a sermon in about half an hour; the tour should be finished by then, if you'd like to attend." Charynrae isn't familiar with football/soccer, and they look too delicate for such a game. "I'm afraid we don't have pamphlets at this Temple; fungi make an inferior paper, and there's no printing presses outside the hands of the dwarfs and goblins, both of whom charge excessively for anything they make. I do have a copy of the holy book written in the language we're speaking now, if you'd like to have a look?" It's a worshipper's tome, rather than a clergy's tome, and handwritten by somebody whose grasp of the language was poor leading to odd choices in grammar and spelling.

[5a Violista]

Underside Temple

The girl nods. "That's cool," she says as she nods. A tour and a sermon would help them a lot with their objectives, to find out more about the so-called slavery that's here. It also sounds interesting.

As well as the tome. It looks fun, but her attention span isn't leveled up high enough to read more than a couple of pages. Maybe Ordo's more hot on reading. Shanaya doesn't know if he is or not.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

"One of our Novices is undead. I haven't heard much from her recently, but we still cannot ward against them." I think Gulaghar has stopped playing her. Maybe I should ask at some point.

Tobias shrugs and starts casting some more buffs on himself while he waits. Might as well take that advantage.

[Murkus]

[Underside Temple]

Ordo, being an insomniac by race, often fills the long night hours with a good book or two. Typically high fantasy or romance, but he'll give it a go anyway. More importantly, it might help him understand why Dalachrech's people keep slaves, and what sort've slaves they are. He's never had an issue with civilizations that keep their criminals as slaves for a while.

Of course, his player knows that's not the case. :smalltongue:

"I'd love to have a look."

The psion will take the book, if it's offered to him. With that, they can start the tour.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Inside

Gertrude's smiling behind her helmet. She takes out another sphere, also halved into red and white, and throws it down. "Yanma, use Thief! Get that sword!" The suddenly appearing dragonfly-like pokemon swoops down and tries to grab the sword and wrest it from Clegg's grip before flying back to hand it to Gertrude. "It doesn't matter if I can or can't breathe water- this building isn't water tight unless we think we need it to be. Trigger your bomb, if you want; I've received confirmation that we've found it, and teleported it and the floor it was on to Hell. You've lost, you just don't know it yet."

Inside Temple- Outside

"I'm sure we won't need your help. We've disarmed a bomb he tried to use. Well, no. We sent it to Hell." The gnome smiles.

Underside Temple

The book is written assuming that the reader is OK with, and from a culture accepting of, slavery. Therefore, it doesn't mention much about obtaining slaves, but Dalachrech clearly admonishes those that keep more slaves than they can afford, or deliberately neglect slaves for no reason, making the argument that down here sapient life is rare and a gift to be treasured, not a resource to be exploited, but gifts are meant to be exchanged (food, clothing, shelter for work). In this particular instance, the Underside Temple keeps slaves because the demand for workers outstrips supply; there's lots of promising ore veins and vast fields of fungi, and if the workers could demand a certain price for their labour then things would quickly spiral out of control economically as wages would force prices up and merchants would be unable to make money on trading and make it possible for a community to survive on trade.

"This is the main altar room. The surface temples are more lavishly decorated, but they are also harder to defend. Individuals from multiple communities come here to pray, and not all those communities get along very well. Mostly it's minor raids, skirmishes and price wars, but sometimes it gets ugly. Also, there's a lot of drow in the Nexus; far more of them than of other subterranean cultures, and their patron deity claims spiders as part of Her portfolio, when it belongs with Dalachrech, the Lord of All Invertebrates. We are able to stay, literally, above most of the factional fighting that occurs, but defence is still a far larger priority, and not every member of my flock uses the same senses as you do." Charynrae herself sees things in a very different manner due to the nature of her eyes, but there's beings that worship here relying on echolocation, heat-sensitive pits like a viper's, scent, or use the dark to see by instead of the light, or find their way around using stranger means still.

[5a Violista]

Underside Temple

Economic Theory is also something that Shanaya hasn't leveled up very much. Luckily, she's not reading that tome, else she'd be pretty confused.

However, looking at stuff is something that she's very good at! Listening to the tour, the girl nods at all the right places and looks around. "It's still a very pretty altar, nonetheless," she responds. Then, she adds, "Second best that I've ever seen."

Something that Charynrae said sparked a question in Shanaya. Use other senses that they don't use? What's that supposed to mean? "Other senses? You mean, like, smell or taste? Because I don't use the sense of smell very often. It seems very hard to try to see stuff using only your nose." She closes her eyes and puts her hands up over her ears to test it out. She takes a long sniff.
"It's not working very well. I can't see almost anything with my nose. I won't even bother trying it with my tongue," she says before opening her eyes and removing her hands from her ears. "I don't know how you can do it. It's very hard. You're right, it would be hard to go to war with someone when you can only see with other senses."

Shanaya makes a mental note to practice seeing stuff with her tongue, so she can sympathize better with some of the people here. Now she has a checklist of three things to do: 1. Finish this main quest that Dipsing gave her. 2. Get a magic power that turns her legs into spider legs. 3. Learn how to see with her tongue.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple]

A certain woman is approaching, wearing a leather longcoat to ward off the cold of the season. Her son, however, is merely dressed in a four-armed tee-shirt and jeans; the cold doesn't bother him in the slightest, and he's chewing on some jerky as they approach. Kail is currently holding one of Acanthops's larger arms, one of the ones with pincers on it, to keep him from wandering off or going to play in the snow.

It's not really surprising that he enjoys jerky so much. It lasts a long time and he likes the taste of meat more than any other food. Still, it's odd; he's only four months old, but he looks like he's two years old. must be aging at an exceptional rate due to his heritage.

Kail will haul her son into her arms and say "Now, behave, Ace. You don't have the run of the temple like you normally do, and there's no slaves here for you to play with," she says.

The half-demon toddler looks upset for a moment, but doesn't protest. He knows his mother will have none of it.

Kail and Acanthops will then walk up to whomever is at the entrance and she'll say, "I'd like to see Terrowin."

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Inside

Gertrude's smiling behind her helmet. She takes out another sphere, also halved into red and white, and throws it down. "Yanma, use Thief! Get that sword!" The suddenly appearing dragonfly-like pokemon swoops down and tries to grab the sword and wrest it from Clegg's grip before flying back to hand it to Gertrude. "It doesn't matter if I can or can't breathe water- this building isn't water tight unless we think we need it to be. Trigger your bomb, if you want; I've received confirmation that we've found it, and teleported it and the floor it was on to Hell. You've lost, you just don't know it yet."



Inside Temple- Outside

"I'm sure we won't need your help. We've disarmed a bomb he tried to use. Well, no. We sent it to Hell." The gnome smiles.




Thenardier growls now. He was running out of options fast. Perhaps it was best to just go. Well....Might as well make this annoying priestess's life all the more difficult. He begins to say something, before a dragonfly thing flies toward him. He swats at it, but then his sword is grabbed. The blade doesn't do much else but fly toward the woman. Thenardier smiles now, exposing the barnacles and nasty little sea creatures in his teeth. He pulls out the sword on his right hip, the black one again. But, he doesn't attack. Instead he speaks out, and as the ex-vigilante speaks, a crab crawls out of his mouth. Fine the'. Take me t' 'ooever ye want. I di' nothing wrong. He then sheathes his blade and grabs the crab quickly, before crunching it under his grimy teeth. Lea' th' way?

[Murkus]

[Underside Temple]

Well at least Dalachrech's people treat their indentured servants well. Or at least, that's what his bible says. Ordo does get too deeply into the tome - he's paying more attention to the tour.

He can't help but be amused at Shanaya, but doesn't have much to contribute here. For now, the dragon knight's 'uncle' stands back a bit and stays quiet.

((If I take too long again, just skip me a little. We're all on at kinda different times, mostly))

[FireFox]

Inside Temple- Outside

I'm sure they'll hardly notice. Tobias remarks dryly.

Are Kail and Acanthops in this timeline, or a later one?

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

"No, I don't mean smell or taste. Or I don't just mean smell and taste. Some creatures down here can sense magnetic fields, using those to navigate the tunnels. Others, such as myself, can see using dark as well as light, though I have some difficulty in shadows and areas where light meets dark I am hampered no more by a pitch black cave than you are by a sunlit meadow. Some detect heat, or senses so alien we cannot even begin to imagine them, using magical leylines or mental fields or something else entirely." Charynrae smiles. "Oh? And to whom was the prettiest altar you've seen devoted to? And, before we get any further, I think I should warn you that our practices and beliefs are centred upon life down here, not life on the surface. I would recommend you visit the closest surface Temple, as well as this one, so you can compare and contrast. I won't mind you choosing another branch of the religion; we share the same trunk and roots, after all."

Inside Temple

((I was planning on it being two separate scenes, but if Harnel would prefer to merge them then I will.))

[5a Violista]

[Underside Temple]

Now, it's Shanaya's turn to speak. "Using mental fields to see makes sense. Magnetic fields, though, that sounds pretty hard. I'll have to practice that one, too; but maybe some other day. Maybe I could use a lodestone attached to a string, or a needle balancing on another needle to do that..."

Answering Charynrae's question about the prettiest altar is a pretty simple and fast question, quickly answered. "It was to the Dragon Queen, of course." No, Shanaya doesn't know The Dragon Queen's name.

Visiting the other temples sounds like a good idea, which they probably won't have time to do. Luckily, Bianca's going to find about the slave situation of another temple, so they can compare and contrast this later. "Okay." Shanaya turns to Ordo and tries to communicate this to him using her eyes: that it's pretty cool that they can contrast their experience with Bianca's.


((I'm on at completely random times, so posting whenever doesn't matter much to me.))

[Murkus]

[Underside Temple]

Ordo looks back at Shanaya, comprehending about as much as a brick wall might. He just shakes his head, clearly unsure where to take this conversation for fear of revealing their intent. "Why don't we continue the tour? I'm sure there's lots to see."

[Halae]

[Inside Temple]

((I have no preference either way. Sorry for taking so long on this.))

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Cap'n Clegg

Gertrude will take the sword from her Yanma and turns to walk away. As she does so, she unconsciously thickens her backplate and other rear-facing armour plates of her suit. She'll turn and walk away, headed back towards the stairs down. The Yanma darts forwards to scout ahead as the Shuckle slowly drags itself along behind. The cockroaches used to sniff out the bomb and the hole in the floor where it was before the floor was teleported away are still present (though the cockroaches are hiding in the corners). Also present is a man wearing baggy loose robes with brown hair and eyes- Terrowin, the High Priest. Lying within easy reach is a vicious-looking morning star, and propped against his leg is a metal shield emblazoned with a two-tailed scorpion.

Inside Temple- Tobias, Leader of HALO

"He's on his way. It won't be long before we hand him over into your hands." The gnome is a little bit nervous now; he's heard over the Orbs that the prisoner is quite an effective fighter, and Destur has a definite disadvantage due to his lesser reach and preference for knives and daggers.

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

At the entrance is a tall person wearing red, baggy robes with a vast, cavernous hood pulled low over his face, assuming it's a he. They'll nod and open the Temple's door. If she hasn't called ahead, then Kail won't be greeted by this person, whom she may (correctly) guess is Terrowin wearing platform shoes, padded shoulder pads that make him seem wider and generally disguising his appearance.

Underside Temple

"I don't think it will work. I'll have to ask one of my slaves to know for certain, but I'm reasonably sure that humans lack the organs required to see using heat, shadows or magnetic fields. I'm unfamiliar with the Dragon Queen; do you refer to Tiamat, Mistress of All Colours? Some call Her the Dragon Queen, though I can't say I know much about Her- those that worship Her tend to be much larger than I, and far more solitary." Referring to dragons. "Yes, the tour. Please, follow me." Charynrae walks towards one of the silk walls and pushes open a gap into the next room. "Most of the Temple is very dark; would you like more light?" The chamber beyond the new door is very dark; there's no light at all within.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Acanthops]

Kail will have called ahead, yes. Always make sure a person knows you're coming; gives them time to prepare.

She'll also see right through the disguise, and as she closes the distance between them, Ace in tow, she says quietly, "What's with the getup?"

[Morty]

[Underside Temple]

A party of goblins is approaching the temple through the tunnel. It appears to be a well-dressed male goblin with short hair surrounded by four goblins clad in heavy banded armor and bearing bardishes as well as four other goblins in quilter armor carrying muskets. When they reach the lift, the goblin in civilian clothes rings the bell.

[5a Violista]

[Underside Temple Tour]

Shanaya responds to the question about the Dragon Queen, revealing that she doesn't really know much about her. "Tiamat?" The girl pauses and thinks. If she had a beard, she would stroke it. "Maybe. I don't know. She never told me her name. My family always knew her just as The Dragon Queen, and there's a shrine to her near my home town, behind a waterfall. It used to be a dragon cave, by the way. A big one."

She keeps on following the host. She nods for the light. "Yes, light's pretty fun."

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats

Hopefully they're on the lift when it is slowly dragged through the air upwards towards the Temple. Otherwise, they're left on the ground unless they can quickly clamber aboard. It'll be a bit uncomfortable; it's a net, rather than a platform, to aid in hiding the lift's presence (no visible barrier) and also because there's nothing available down here to stretch the silk taut that isn't too heavy for the mechanism. The journey will be rather slow. At the top is a small room spun from silk webbing stretched between guide ropes also spun from silk with no visible doorway. It's poorly lit; the only light is coming from a cluster of transparent eggs within a number of caterpillar-like beetle grubs softly glow under the brighter glow of a guardian adult beetle clinging to the ceiling. The web net will be swung to one side and let down upon a large stone slab resting upon a network of silken wires thin enough to be easily cut but strong enough to carry more weight than they actually are. If attacked, the slab can be cut loose to fall upon anyone beneath. Standing near where the goblins are released is Charynrae, the drider High Priestess of the Temple. She's got very dark grey skin that seamlessly melds into the body of a large weaver spider with delicately thin legs at where her hips were. She has long white hair, currently unbound, reaching most of the way to her spiderlike thorax. She's very pretty, and smiling. Her looks are altered by her eyes- they're round, glittery and compound like a fly's, though whether they detract or make her more exotic depends upon the beholder, though it's hard to read any emotion in them. "Welcome to the Chthonic Temple of Dalachrech. I am Charynrae, the High Priestess of this facility. How may I assist you?" She bobs in a surprisingly graceful curtsy.

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

"I wanted to surprise you. Please, come on in. How are your studies going? The Militant Church of Dalachrech's teachings are quite unusual, though I understand Azurelle put them in place because she was upset about her previous deity's requirements and practices regarding His paladins." Namely, the full pension for widows and orphans, the guaranteed training for anybody willing to learn regardless of race, age and gender and the correspondingly high standards. Plus the rather loose definition of honour corresponding to anything that takes down an enemy quickly and at least risk to the lives of the individual paladin using them (including crossbows, poison and knowledge of where plate armour is most vulnerable) and the focus on training footsoldiers rather than cavalry (horses are expensive, and Dalachrech's paladins tend to use invertebrates besides, but nearly everyone at some point is left without a steed to fight on).

[Morty]

[Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats]

"I am a diplomatic envoy of the Underside Colony," the goblin civilian states curtly. He and his soldiers are rather unnderved by their surroundings, but they don't show it. It helps that the helmets of the poleaxe-wielding goblin soldiers cover their faces. "Boss Flatnose wants you to know that the goblin nation of Underside will not tolerate the presence of slavers so close to its borders. If you do not cease this practice, steps will be taken."

[Murkus]

[Underside Temple]

"Being a human, I'm pretty sure we can't see any of that stuff," Ordo steps a bit closer to the portal, peering into the dark. "Some light would be good." Why reveal his status as a shapeshifting psion unless he has to?

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Tour

Charynrae nods and starts chanting in Abyssal, a language that sounds pointy. I'm not sure how it sounds pointy, but it does. As she chants, a royal blue spiderweb made of light slowly appears behind her head, where it hangs halo-like. It gives off quite a lot of light, but the main light source is the large, spiky blue giant fire beetle that is summoned. Charynrae picks it up and puts it upon her abdomen. She'll walk into the darkened chamber beyond the hole in the wall. The light is quite bright, but doesn't illuminate the entire chamber, which is rather spacious. The room contains lots of cocoons lying upon the floor and collections of black, glistening, moist round eggs. Several large spiders are also present, lurking in the darker corners and far from the light."This is the spider egg chamber. The spiders bred here lay their eggs here, and I help look after them. In exchange, they help defend the Temple from attackers and supply me with meat. Don't stray too far; they accept me as one of them, and try not to stand on anything." Some of the cocoons twitch.

Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats

"I'm not a slaver. I don't capture slaves, nor do I trade in them. I keep slaves, but I would not describe myself as a slaver." Charynrae has more respect for herself than that.

[Morty]

[Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats]

"That's semantics, and not what we're interested in. You keep slaves. That alone is intolerable to us. I repeat: cease your keeping of slaves or steps will be taken," the diplomat says flatly.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple- Cap'n Clegg

Gertrude will take the sword from her Yanma and turns to walk away. As she does so, she unconsciously thickens her backplate and other rear-facing armour plates of her suit. She'll turn and walk away, headed back towards the stairs down. The Yanma darts forwards to scout ahead as the Shuckle slowly drags itself along behind. The cockroaches used to sniff out the bomb and the hole in the floor where it was before the floor was teleported away are still present (though the cockroaches are hiding in the corners). Also present is a man wearing baggy loose robes with brown hair and eyes- Terrowin, the High Priest. Lying within easy reach is a vicious-looking morning star, and propped against his leg is a metal shield emblazoned with a two-tailed scorpion.


Inside Temple- Tobias, Leader of HALO

"He's on his way. It won't be long before we hand him over into your hands." The gnome is a little bit nervous now; he's heard over the Orbs that the prisoner is quite an effective fighter, and Destur has a definite disadvantage due to his lesser reach and preference for knives and daggers.



The sword she took from Thenardier will melt into brackish, dirty, slimy seawater, before evaporating and disappearing. Captain Clegg smiles. He and his blades could never be separated from their master. Clegg whistles softly as he walks, his voice wet, gurgling, and somewhat disturbing.
Like someone whistling while gargling saltwater. He nods at Terrowin. Morning guv. He'll follow her before eventually reaching the hallway across from Tobias,supposedly. He sees Tobias from across the room and waves his fingerless gloved hands. 'Ello, ol' frien'.

[FireFox]

Inside Temple

I am not, and have never been, your friend. Tobias growls and draws a steel dagger. Did you really think you could talk trash on the Wall and I wouldn't hunt you down and destroy you like the infection you are?

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple

Captain Clegg simply does as the priests said, he's here in the hall. He nods at the gnome by the door. I'd advise ye t' move now, little gnome. Obviously I 'ave some business t' attend t'. He'll attempt to move in front of the female cultist in the magical armour. His sword appears again in his hand, shimmering, looking like muddy seawater before solidifying into the blue sword. Kin' priests, please d' no' interfere wit' thi', move aside. Clegg glares now at Tobias. Ye were once actually, from th' little I can remember, 'o' course tha' was befer I stabbed yer girl. She screamed, kno' tha'? My blade enjoyed her blood tha' day. I wa' wrong, I know tha'. It just doesn't matter t' me anymore. So, Toby, mind if I call ye tha'? Ye gonna attack me? Heh? Oh, so I'm an infection now? He smiles at Tobias, before raising a dagger in his other hand, it's stained with blood. Thi' wa' th' dagger...pity, wastin' goo' blood.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats

"Then I shall leave. Do you have a map of your territory so I know where I can relocate the Temple complex without upsetting you?" And hopefully she'll be far away that it'll be a good few years before the goblin territory expands towards it again.

Inside Temple

As soon as Clegg is outside, Gertrude turns and re-enters the Temple, with Destur closing the door soon after. The former inspector and the god-killer are left alone for now. If they start threatening the Temple's stability, that might change.

[Morty]

[Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats]

"That might be acceptable," the goblin says. "It will need to be far enough that we can be sure you're not going to attempt to enslave the citizens of Underside Colony. Our territories are well-marked on all available maps of Underside."

[5a Violista]

Tour de Underside

Shanaya looks around in wonder at the now-visible things. Looking up and around caused her to start to stray a little bit away from Charynrae. In fact, she was about to step on something!

Luckily, Charynrae warned her in time. "Oops! Sorry," she says, looking a little embarrassed as she quickly moves away from whatever she was about to step on, and she begins to watch her feet carefully to not accidentally step on anything.

Shanaya gasps in surprise as she sees a cocoon twitching. "Oh, look! They're hatching! Or waking up. Or maybe they're hungry. I don't know. What do so many spiders eat? There can't be that many bugs down here. Or maybe there are?"

She falls into her usual habit of asking too many questions in a single breath. "Maybe there's people-bugs? Are there? People-bugs? There must be, right? Where do they live? Are they servants or something? Do you pay them a lot? Or do they not get paid at all? Like slaves? Bug-slaves? Bug-Slaves get paid a lot, right? Up where I come from, they do, unless they were prisoners of war." The girl takes a deep breath, giving time for questions to get answered.

[Murkus]

[Tour De Underside]

Ordo barely moves, once he sees what the chamber contains. He grows increasingly wary, and takes a step back or two, eyeing the arachnid fiends. With their host there or otherwise, he doesn't like this place.

((Just feel free to skip over me if I take that long next time, fellas))

[Earl of Purple]

Underside- Goblins

"My maps are made by myself. They mark different locations I can flee to should it be necessary and which caverns contain water, dangerous predators, fungi forests and so on, but I haven't left this Temple in a long time, and my maps have been updated by reports from my scouts. But giant spiders can't tell a goblin from a svirfneblin, so many of the new settlements I have marked could be you, or dwarfs, or svirfneblin, or others." Not drow, though; she's trained her spiders to recognise drow on sight and keep an eye on any drow settlements within a certain distance of the Temple and her back up locations.

Tour De Underside

"They eat whatever they catch. I'm trying to teach them not to try catching each other, but alas, it seems that's something they can't learn. That's fire beetles, chaurus, rats, cave lizards, bats, drow, squigs, snotlings and similar creatures. The cocoons that are moving are prey. People-bugs do exist, if you mean sentient invertebrates. Drider, thri-kreen, dromites and others, but there's few around here. None are part of my staff, save myself, but three drider and a dromite are part of my congregation. The driders are loners, and the dromite lives on a farm. They all work elsewhere. There are no bug-slaves, save those that serve me willingly such as these spiders and the fire beetles illuminating the room. Where I am from, prisoners of any kind are either executed, sacrificed or enslaved. We preach that all life is sacred here, and so any prisoners I capture are either imprisoned or enslaved, occasionally released if I feel it's too dangerous to keep them here, or ransomed." Charynrae is having a bit of difficulty keeping up.

Also, they aren't fiends. They're just perfectly normal giant spiders. A few might have fiendish blood, but it's hundreds of generations away.

[5a Violista]

[Tour de Underside] *smirk*

Now that Shanaya has taken a breath, she can start talking again. Before talking, however, she listens to what was said. After all, what's the point of asking a question without listening to the answer?

The girl nods as Charynrae answers. Especially at the 'life is sacred' part. She seems a little put out that the moving cocoons weren't really eggs that were hatching. Just food for the spiders. It's so sad. Watching little babies come out of eggs is really fun. Little cute animals and spiders. One time, Shanaya saw a little duckling hatch, and it was the cutest thing ever. Watching giant spiders hatch wouldn't be any different.

Their hostess's answers brought on several more questions to Shanaya's mind. However, she only asks two: "If there are no bug-people slaves, then what kind of slaves are there? How else are slaves gotten down here, besides prisoners of war? Because there doesn't seem to be a lot of war from what I've seen so far, she comments, pushing the conversation further on slavery. After all, that's what they're here to find out.

[Morty]

[Underside - Goblins]

"You will have an up-to-date map delivered within the next few days, then," the goblin diplomat says. "If any of our people is taken by your spiders, we will respond with force. Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

[Halae]

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

"I wanted to surprise you. Please, come on in. How are your studies going? The Militant Church of Dalachrech's teachings are quite unusual, though I understand Azurelle put them in place because she was upset about her previous deity's requirements and practices regarding His paladins." Namely, the full pension for widows and orphans, the guaranteed training for anybody willing to learn regardless of race, age and gender and the correspondingly high standards. Plus the rather loose definition of honour corresponding to anything that takes down an enemy quickly and at least risk to the lives of the individual paladin using them (including crossbows, poison and knowledge of where plate armour is most vulnerable) and the focus on training footsoldiers rather than cavalry (horses are expensive, and Dalachrech's paladins tend to use invertebrates besides, but nearly everyone at some point is left without a steed to fight on).[Inside Temple - Kail and Acanthops]

"My studies are going fine," Kail says, "I haven't particularly been enjoying the different close combat training; I'm a much better ranged fighter. Acanthops is already getting into fights with whatever he can though. Little guy can be downright vicious." Ace smiles up at Terrowin, a sharp toothed grin. Apparently, he enjoys the praise, and his mother sounds proud.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Diplomats

"My spiders have been trained not to hunt anything elfoid, such as humans, goblins and svirfneblin and even drow. They will only attack if they feel threatened, although they might still hunt any of your livestock that wander around unattended. If people are nearby, it should be safe, but I can't make any promises about unattended or escaped livestock because neither I nor my spiders can tell the difference between an escaped riding lizard and a wild riding lizard." The word 'elfoid' would be 'humanoid', but Charynrae is not human. She's not an elf, either, but drow are elves, and Charynrae was a drow.

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

"I'm sorry to hear about the melee. I train all of my staff here with a melee weapon of their choice, though not to the same standard as Azurelle. It can be dangerous, and it's not always possible to keep your foes at a distance. If you'd like, I think Blagzrukel is in town. He could give Acanthops some lessons on whatever Blagz thinks is suitable." Where to aim his claws to cause maximum damage, manipulation and how to properly word a demonic bargain, as the one making the deal with a mortal, rather than with a demon.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail, Acanthops, and Terrowin]

"Yeah, I want to see father!" Ace says enthusiastically.

Kail smiles, "Well, we both think it's a good idea. Do you have a way to contact him?"

[Morty]

[Underside Temple- Diplomats]

"That's good enough. We'll be taking our leave now," the goblin envoy says. Unless something happens, they'll do just that.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Goblin Diplomats

"Goodbye. I shall leave the new location for my Temple on-site. Please try not to expand in that direction too quickly; I hope not to have another visit like this for a long time." Of course, Charynrae can't really enforce that, nor is she in a position to make that demand, but she can ask and that's what she's doing.

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

"Yes- a secure telephone line. Please be subtle, though; he's infiltrating Charlie's Family, the human supremacists, to keep an eye on them. They've posted a bounty for Middling and Orthodox clergy, and I like having an inside man to help rescue any that are captured. Also, we have a multiracial congregation, and if they act against any Dalachrechians he's an advance warning system. He's staying in a Temple safe house- one of several in the City. I can provide you with funds to set up your own, if you'd like. For reasons of security, the Temple itself doesn't maintain any but the individual clerics maintain several. Blagzrukel is staying in one of mine." It's standard practice- all the Temples have several back-up locations, and the individual clerics have safe houses so they can flee somewhere not recorded anywhere in the Temple should it become necessary.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail, Acanthops, and Terrowin]

Kail scratches at her chin as an idea occurs to her, "I was pretty adamant about him seeing his son... is it possible I could pose as his wife or something? I'm good at acting, and it'd keep Ace close to his father."

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

"Unfortunately, no. Charlie's Family are very much against inter-species relationships, and whilst both you and he seem human, Acanthops does not." Terrowin doesn't want to tell Kail that Blagzrukel's cover story is that he had a one-night stand and was later contacted by the woman he had it with who claimed her pregnancy was his and then gave birth to a four-armed baby. It's true enough to hopefully bypass lie-detection spells that Charlie's Family might put into place.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail, Acanthops, and Terrowin]

Kail nods, "I understand. Still, I want to get Ace in to see him. Is there some time he has to himself?"

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail, Acanthops & Terrowin

By this time, they're probably indoors and sitting down somewhere. Like the kitchen, which is behind one of the drapes in the foyer.

"Actually, he's on his way over now. He can't be too obvious, so we set up a Gateway in the shower of his safe house and another here, so he can come and go without people noticing. So long as he doesn't leave the Temple whilst he's here, anyway." The Gates don't lead straight here; he has to walk about a mile through the Abyss. That way, if somebody stumbles through it, they hopefully get devoured before they find him.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail, Acanthops, and Terrowin]

Kail nods, and she seems about to say something when she's cut off bu the child sitting on her lap, "Is there any meat I can have? I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry. What have I told you about asking for food from people?"

"... That it's rude." Ace slumps down where he's sitting, looking a bit defeated.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"Of course. What kind of meat would you like? We've got mutton, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, lizard and turducken." Although his father occasionally sources other meat that he might be able to give to Acanthops, he doesn't have any at the moment.

[Hattish Thing]

Inside Temple Stairs

Pop!

A package sits on the stairs, it's brown and has a tag. The tag reads; E, to Red Writing Man. Inside the package are two diamonds and a teleportation device, as promised.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

Terrowin arrives here, a three-storey brick terraced house exactly like all the others along the road, differentiated only by a signpost outside it shaped like a two-tailed scorpion bearing the following.

Reformed Temple of Dalachrech

High Priest: Terrowin of Xela's Howe, the Divine Cockroach, Prophet of Dalachrech & member of WATCHTOWER

Terrowin will enter the Temple into a foyer- a small room with five floor-to-ceiling red drapes each emblazoned with a black two-tailed scorpion. Pushing aside one of the drapes, Terrowin will open the door concealed behind it and head down the stairs to the basement. Walking through an illusory wall, he and Zane's headless corpse should be in a chamber with three large, metal doors leading to walk-in freezers. In the middle of the room are two tables, one with a body lying on it, the other empty. Terrowin will try to put Zane's body on the empty table before positioning his head so that it can easily bind with the body again.

Before he does anything else, however, he makes sure that the body really is dead by chanting a prayer in Abyssal. The prayer should cause the body to glow if it's already undead.

[Aric Kale]

The body does not glow. But if he can Sense Dead he would observe Zane's very impatient Spirit...

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

Terrowin can't exactly Sense Dead, especially not here where there's so many wards preventing teleportation that the entire building should be slightly murky to Zane's incorporeal, not-alive eyes, but he does know when there's something nearby spatially that's distant dimensionally. Such as ghosts, certain demons and devils, and animistic spirits.

Terrowin draws a square onto the floor of the chamber with a chalk, marking the corners with symbols of truth, honesty, justice and law, casting another spell to create a Zone of Truth, with Zane's body in the centre. He'll then take a diamond out and place it in Zane's mouth, chanting again in Abyssal. Zane should, if the prayer works, find himself in his body again.

Oh, and I forgot to mention; whenever he casts a spell, his eyes glow red and a swarm of non-existent beetles flies around him in a clockwise direction. If, on whatever semi-plane of not-quite-deadness Zane finds himself on, he can see the souls of others then he'll see Terrowin standing there, constantly surrounded by this swarm of red beetles rotating clockwise. In fact, Terrowin's entire soul is red.

[Aric Kale]

Inside Temple

Terrowin can't exactly Sense Dead, especially not here where there's so many wards preventing teleportation that the entire building should be slightly murky to Zane's incorporeal, not-alive eyes, but he does know when there's something nearby spatially that's distant dimensionally. Such as ghosts, certain demons and devils, and animistic spirits.

Terrowin draws a square onto the floor of the chamber with a chalk, marking the corners with symbols of truth, honesty, justice and law, casting another spell to create a Zone of Truth, with Zane's body in the centre. He'll then take a diamond out and place it in Zane's mouth, chanting again in Abyssal. Zane should, if the prayer works, find himself in his body again.

Oh, and I forgot to mention; whenever he casts a spell, his eyes glow red and a swarm of non-existent beetles flies around him in a clockwise direction. If, on whatever semi-plane of not-quite-deadness Zane finds himself on, he can see the souls of others then he'll see Terrowin standing there, constantly surrounded by this swarm of red beetles rotating clockwise. In fact, Terrowin's entire soul is red.

Huzzah! Zane finds himself in his (hopefully) no longer decapitated body. Whether he saw Terrowin's soul or not can't be answered, as Zane remembers nothing of his time spent dead. He will sit up and attempt to stand, unless told otherwise.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"Don't stand up yet; your neck might not have fully regenerated. Wouldn't want you decapitated by standing up too fast, hmm?" Terrowin's lying, but also outside the Zone of Truth. "I would like to know your name, seeing as I just saved your life. Or, um, enabled you to ignore your death." The Zone of Truth is quite weak; the Temple is dedicated to a power that approves of lying and the Temple is warded to prevent others from casting truth detection spells upon the clergy, though as High Priest Terrowin can override the wards. There's no punishment for lying, but Zane should find himself unable to bend the truth too far- he can omit information, but not outright lie.

[Aric Kale]

Inside Temple

"Don't stand up yet; your neck might not have fully regenerated. Wouldn't want you decapitated by standing up too fast, hmm?" Terrowin's lying, but also outside the Zone of Truth. "I would like to know your name, seeing as I just saved your life. Or, um, enabled you to ignore your death." The Zone of Truth is quite weak; the Temple is dedicated to a power that approves of lying and the Temple is warded to prevent others from casting truth detection spells upon the clergy, though as High Priest Terrowin can override the wards. There's no punishment for lying, but Zane should find himself unable to bend the truth too far- he can omit information, but not outright lie.

Even though his neck feels fine, he'll do what the Priest says and stays seated. Zane has been in a Zone of Truth before, so he won't lie, not knowing the consequences of such am action...luckily, he sees no need for deception at such a basic question.
Zane Darkstar, and yours? if it is not impolite to ask.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"High Priest Terrowin of Xela's Howe, the Divine Cockroach, Prophet of Dalachrech and founder of this Temple." Terrowin smiles. "The chap who wanted you raised gave me a teleporter to give to you. I will, when you've left the Temple. I don't want you to trigger it by accident and activate the defensive wards I put up on this whole building. The best you could hope for is exploding instantly. I would like to know your master's aims, if you know them. Do you?" Of course, Zane can refuse to answer; Terrowin won't do anything.

[Aric Kale]

Inside Temple

"High Priest Terrowin of Xela's Howe, the Divine Cockroach, Prophet of Dalachrech and founder of this Temple." Terrowin smiles. "The chap who wanted you raised gave me a teleporter to give to you. I will, when you've left the Temple. I don't want you to trigger it by accident and activate the defensive wards I put up on this whole building. The best you could hope for is exploding instantly. I would like to know your master's aims, if you know them. Do you?" Of course, Zane can refuse to answer; Terrowin won't do anything.

Zane nods politely enough and receives the teleporter. Enshadu aims to destroy all imperfect beings. I am nit privy to his definition of perfection... Unless he is further questioned, he will exit the temple and use the teleport.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"Very well." Terrowin will escort a (preferably blindfolded, but he won't press) Zane out of the Temple. He's in a clergy-only bit, really, outside the crypt for dead clerics.

Afterwards, Terrowin will walk to the other body and remove the other diamond, before casting Raise Dead again. The body, a half-elf with a tattooed face, sits up. "Ooh, it's good to stretch real muscles again. What took so long, Terrowin?"
"No diamonds, sorry. Also, I'm afraid that whilst you were dead you were robbed. I can issue you with a replacement Orb of Brotherhood and Ring of Poison Resistance, but we don't have a Sickle of Blood Speed. Sorry."
"Four asterisks, that's not good. We have leads?" Terrowin smiles and nods, receiving a grim, determined smile from Narahar.

[Aric Kale]

Inside Temple

"Very well." Terrowin will escort a (preferably blindfolded, but he won't press) Zane out of the Temple. He's in a clergy-only bit, really, outside the crypt for dead clerics.

Afterwards, Terrowin will walk to the other body and remove the other diamond, before casting Raise Dead again. The body, a half-elf with a tattooed face, sits up. "Ooh, it's good to stretch real muscles again. What took so long, Terrowin?"
"No diamonds, sorry. Also, I'm afraid that whilst you were dead you were robbed. I can issue you with a replacement Orb of Brotherhood and Ring of Poison Resistance, but we don't have a Sickle of Blood Speed. Sorry."
"Four asterisks, that's not good. We have leads?" Terrowin smiles and nods, receiving a grim, determined smile from Narahar.

A blindfolded Zane is led out. he will then remove said blindfold, thank the Priest and teleport away.

[Halae]

Inside Temple

"Of course. What kind of meat would you like? We've got mutton, lamb, beef, pork, chicken, lizard and turducken." Although his father occasionally sources other meat that he might be able to give to Acanthops, he doesn't have any at the moment.[Inside Temple]

Acanthops cratches his chin for a moment before saying, "What's a mutton?"

"It's sheep meat," Kail says patiently, "Like pork is pig meat and beef is cow meat."

"I've never had mutton before. I want some of that!"

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

Terrowin will stand up and take some mutton from a cupboard. "How do you normally eat your meat? Raw, or cooked?" If the answer is 'raw', then it will be placed in front of Acanthops immediately. If the answer is cooked, Terrowin will walk to the cooker and begin frying it. I have no idea how long it takes to fry a normal steak of meat, and I've never had mutton, so I can't answer any questions you may have regarding it. "Blagzrukel says he's nearly here, by the way." Not every Orb of Brotherhood is linked to every other Orb- for security's sake, the only Orb Blagzrukel's can contact is Terrowin's, though Terrowin can use his to contact every person in this Temple, Defelent, Azurelle and (theoretically) Elezibethele. That last is more likely to ignore him than listen, however.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Acanthops]

"Raw!" Ace says, grinning. when the meat is put down in front of him, he'll immediately start digging in.

"That's good." she says, watching her ravenous son munch down the meat rather quickly. If there's any bones, he'll eat those too - he's not picky, and he's has both strong jaws and a strong stomach. She's mostly just waiting for Blagzrukel at this point; she'd start a conversation with Terrowin, but she doesn't know what to discuss with him.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

"Wow. I thought I'd seen Blagzrukel eat, but if his son can eat like that, then he was being civilised." With a cheeky grin at Kail as he speaks, showing he's not saying she's raising him improperly.

At this point, Blagzrukel walks in. He's wearing a magic ring he got for Thanksmas that returns him to his true form- sixteen feet of black, chitinous exoskeleton seamlessly melding into a humanoid mouth in a triangular insectoid head with compound eyes and antennae. Human like legs support him, ending in six splayed toes and four arms grow from his shoulders- two ending in massive crab-like claws, the lower, smaller pair ending in clawed, six-fingered hands, upon one of which is a gold ring. "Hello, Kail and Acanthops. It's good to see you again."

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Family Reunion]

Kail frowns at Blagzrukel. She doesn't much like him, on the whole, but he's the father of her son, and she wants him to grow up with a father, even if he is growing faster than he by any rights should.

A wide grin moves onto Acanthops' face and he rushes over to Blagzrukel, a grin on his face. He'll go to hug the demon, as a son would his father after a long absence. There's still some raw meat in his mouth, which he'll finish chewing on while doing his best to hug the large demon.

Kail, meanwhile, will incline her head towards another room, indicating either they should talk privately, or they should leave Ace and his father alone together. Possibly both.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Acanthops

Terrowin sees Kail's head movement and will stand up and move to leave, heading out through a door to the stairs.

Blagzrukel will hug his son back, using his smaller, more humanoid arms because they're more dexterous. He also doesn't care about Kail's dislike; so long as she fulfils her end of the bargain, he couldn't care less. She's already done the one thing he wants from mortal women, and most aren't willing to repeat the experience.

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

Assuming Kail follows, Terrowin will ask her a question. "Where would you like to talk? There's my bedroom, a guest room, or the altar chamber available." Terrowin's headed up the stairs at the moment.

Inside Temple- Blagzrukel & Acanthops

Again, assuming Kail leaves with Terrowin, Blagzrukel will sit down. "I'll be back here tomorrow; will you still be here then?" He's smiling, and he also genuinely loves his son- he loves most of his children, or loves them as much as a demonic manifestation of greed can love anything.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

"Let's go to your room. I trust it to be more private than the other two," Kail says, indeed leaving with Terrowin.

[Inside Temple - Blagzrukel and Acanthops]

Ace will try to climb onto his father's lap, "Mom said that we probably won't be, but she likes Terrowin, I can smell it on her, and she spends a lot of time with things that she likes." Mostly stuff like her bow or a good book, but Ace is probably right in this case, "So... I think I will be. I definitely will be if you tell mom you'll be here tomorrow.." he tails off, stopping short. He's not sure what to call blagzrukel. Father seems weird, calling him by his name does too, and he doesn't know if he should call the large demon 'dad'.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Terrowin & Kail

"OK then. Please, follow me. Though I think you know the way already." Terrowin smiles and will go upstairs, to the foyer. From there, he'd push aside another of the drapes and open the door behind it and go up the stairs behind it, along the corridor at the top and up another set of stairs to the third floor, along a corridor of clergy rooms, into a plain door seeming to be a storeroom, up a ladder and into the attic. Specifically, to begin with, Terrowin's office, but his bedroom is then only a door frame away.

Inside Temple- Blagzrukel & Terrowin

Blagzrukel will allow his son to clamber into his lap. "OK then. I have something to give to you. It's not a toy, so be careful with it." Blagzrukel takes out a ball of polished black marble sculpted into the shape of a beautiful woman's decapitated head. It's very accurate; there's a rough edge along the stump of neck suggesting it was crudely hacked off, and the windpipe is linked to the mouth. It's about the size of a tennis ball. "If you get in trouble, crush it. It's enchanted, and will summon me to wherever you are. It can only be broken by somebody more than mortal deliberately trying to do so. If you use it just to see me, I won't give you another, but if you use it because you genuinely need my help then I shall replace it. Don't lose it."

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail indeed remembers the way, "So, I ah, wanted to talk about us." Kail says, blushing, "You already know how I feel about you, and I know you're at least attracted to me, but I'm rather concerned about what a relationship would mean."

She seems nervous, her hands pulling at the edge of her shirt.

[Inside Temple - Blagzrukel and Acanthops]

Ace will grab the head curiously with both of his hands, curiously spinning it about in his hands. He could easily crush such a thing with his pincers, since he, with a little effort, has bent metal with them, but right now he's being fairly gentle. He really doesn't want to screw up a gift from his father. "Do you expect me to get into trouble?"

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"Dalachrech shall always come first." So far first that if He asked Terrowin to kill Kail in His name, for no reason given, that Terrowin would nod, perform the deed, and regret it slightly before he finds somebody else to sleep with. "And I enjoy what we have, but if you wish for more, then I can provide more. But Dalachrech saved my life twice when everyone I knew died, and He must come first. Always." I'm not sure if he's told those stories yet, but the first is about an old scar on both sides of his shoulder that Kail has almost certainly noticed.

Inside Temple- Blagzrukel & Acanthops

"Yes. I don't expect you to go looking for it, but I do except it to find you of its own accord sooner or later. For your heritage, if not your deeds, but if it's for your deeds I shall be very proud." He's a demon, and expects smite-happy paladins behind every tree, exorcists behind every rock and Daemonologists in every crumbling old ruin, deserted library or forsaken temple. To be fair, Daemonologists often are in such places.

[Halae]

Kail breathes out slowly, unsure if that's what she really wanted. It felt right, but that may have just been her body, "Well... what do you want? I know what I do, but I want to know what [I]you do."

[Inside Temple - Blagzrukel and Acanthops]

Ace grins, setting the head down in his lap, "Mom's been telling me stories about how she was a brave hero before coming to the Nexus. Do you have stories like that?" He wants to emulate his parents, but he needs a base to work with for that.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Terrowin & Kail

Terrowin thinks for a minute. "I... I really don't know. I think something a bit more formal and regular than our current arrangement would be a good idea, but you do still need to train to become a paladin, Elezibethele won't accept me in her Temple- I still don't know where it is, by the way- and Azurelle cannot come here because we swore not to keep slaves on our property, and Azurelle owns several and is always accompanied by at least one of them." And Terrowin is devout enough to put his duties to Dalachrech before his fun with Kail and automatically assumes that Kail will do the same.

Inside Temple- Blagzrukel & Acanthops

"Ah. Well, I have many stories, for I'm much older than your mother. And whilst I am the protagonist of all of them, in none am I a hero. Why, when I told your mother that I'd turn her back into a man for a child, Terrowin assumed I meant I wanted Kail to find one for me to eat!" But Blagzrukel certainly is brave. Or more accurately, he's extremely confident in his abilities and is used to dealing with lots of individuals much less powerful than himself.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail puts a hand on one of her hips, frowning, "There's days when I'm not in training; I'll come by to see you then, like today, or if I have some time after the day is over to come see you. Just what exactly do you mean by formal?"

It should be noted that Kail actually is doing very well with Elizabethelle's training. it helps that she has quuuuiiiiite a bit of previous training for combat, but it's becoming a paladin that's difficult. She's a bit rough around the edges in matters of faith.

[Inside Temple - Blagzrukel and Acanthops]

The young boy blinks, looking confused, "A man?"

Evidently, Kail's been keeping that particular detail from her son.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Terrowin & Kail

"More formal than occasionally popping over to visit and jumping in to bed together. Going out to nice places and doing things as well as jumping in to bed together. But yes, that would be good." Dates, rather than random sex, which is pretty much what I think their relationship has primarily been.

Also, it's Azurelle's training and Elezibethele's Temple. Faith isn't too important to Azurelle- so long as Dalachrech favours her students with divine magic (which He does, in Kail's case) and they are willing to kill anybody Dalachrech (or a priest thereof, as Dalachrech's Hands-on-the-Earth) tells them to without moral quibbles like 'he's only a baby' or 'she's unarmed'.

Inside Temple- Blagzrukel & Acanthops

"I think that story would be better related to you by your mother. She's more likely to get the details right." Since she's only been in the position of giving a demon a child due to a bargain once, but Blagzrukel has been in the position of asking for a child in a bargain with a mortal multiple times. "There was a woman, once, whose eldest son was killed by a knight. She didn't know the individual, just the order to which he belonged. She went to a local witch, who summoned me to deal with things. The woman was old, and not very pure of heart- her soul was destined to the Abyss no matter, and she was past her child-bearing years. But the order of knights that killed her son also killed one of your half-sisters about two hundred and eighty years before, so I asked that she find a way into their fortress for me, and in exchange I would wipe the order out. Does that sound like an interesting story?"

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail nods, then chuckles, "Maybe do something other than go for a tumble whenever we see each other. Anything you had in mind?"

[Inside Temple - Blagzrukel and Acanthops]

Ace grins widely and nods with vigor, but he stays quiet. He doesn't want to interrupt his father by talking when the story starts.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"Um, not really. There's lots of pubs and restaurants around Inside we could visit for a meal, or there's films and such things." Terrowin doesn't know much about films, being from a late medieaval world.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"The old woman found a way in- The knight's fortress had an old escape tunnel that ran beneath her storage cellar. She asked her second oldest son to extend the cellar slightly, and he broke through to the tunnel by accident, as his mother knew he would- he didn't know of the tunnel, and thought it was part of a dungeon and had the cellar boarded up. I got past the boards easily, they were but wood, after all. From there, I went along the tunnel and into the fortress. The tunnel led to a corridor outside the armoury. The two guards outside the armoury were my first victims- I wasn't disguised, but full helmets like they wore seriously hamper peripheral vision. The first I took out quickly; I cut his head right off." His right claw clacks closed in an imitation of the manoeuvre that killed that first knight. "The second one I had more fun with- I grabbed his arms, pinned them to his sides, and used him as a battering ram to knock over a stone wall. It wasn't a subtle death, but the armoury was miles from the sleeping quarters, and there were few guards. I drew a Symbol of Pain onto the armoury door with his blood to prevent any of the knights entering it to grab the enchanted weapons within. After that, I walked slowly to the barracks. There were ten knights in every room, all asleep, all unarmoured, all with a sword within easy reach. I claimed the least tarnished souls for myself- I still have them, I think. When you're older, I must show you my trophy cabinet." It's a personal demiplane used solely to torture souls. "I killed most of them slowly, painfully. I pinned one to the ceiling using the broken bones of the other nine knights, and left him there, his left kidney stuffed into his mouth as a gag. Good times. After I'd killed most of those, I went to find the Grand Master."

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail doesn't know much about films either, also being from a medieval world, "A meal and some drinks sounds like fun to me," she says, "I'd need to find a babysitter for Acanthops though. I don't trust him on his own."

[Inside Temple - Acanthops & Blagzrukel]

Acanthops looks on reverently, obviously in awe of his father's accomplishments, "What did you do to the Grand Master? Did he die too quickly?"

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"I could ask one of the clerics to do it, or Blagzrukel. I'm sure he'd have fun with his son, but if you'd prefer I could ask Gertrude. She's not likely to be doing anything more important or cancel last-minute." Terrowin's world has flintlock weaponry, but they were rare and expensive, though Terrowin had training in how to use a pistol and had his automatic customised to have a flintlock's grip.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"No, he lived a bit too long. He survived all the torture I had planned for him, so I was forced to improvise, force-feeding him the eyes of his personal guard and slowly flaying him. After I'd finished, I took his skin and headed to the ramparts where I started kicking paladins off the roof and out of windows. Most were too large to fit through the arrow slits, so I had to push really hard." Most were a mess before they hit the ground. "After running out of defenestration victims, I headed to the chapel, where I smashed the altar and threw the heads of dead knights through the stained glass windows and buried the holy books beneath a pile of viscera taller than my waist. I smashed the urns of previous Grand Masters and mixed their ashes with my blood to pollute their earthly remains and carved the names and symbols of the Demon Princes into the walls. I cast a spell on the room to prevent natural decay from taking place within it for one hundred years, before I headed to the tallest tower and pulled the flag down, replacing it with the Grand Master's skin before I barred all the doors leading to the outside world and left the way I came, closing the secret door behind me. The old woman wasn't expecting me to be quite so brutal, nor was she expecting the desecration of the chapel- she didn't even realise she'd had a demon strong enough to enter the chapel summoned to bargain with." That last made her very worried, sure that she'd made a mistake and promised more than she had. She spent the next few years constantly looking over her shoulder, convinced that he'd come to claim her soul. Instead, several years later, he took the time to tell her second-eldest son what she'd done and he told another order of paladins, which carted her away on charges of demon trafficking, witchcraft and immoral usage of magic and tortured her until she confessed.

New Hermitage of Dalachrech- Azurelle's Room

This chamber is decorated very similarly to the previous room, though there's no outside lighting at all in this converted mine. Instead, there are several voice-activated enchanted lanterns. The walls have been plastered and smoothed, as have the floor and ceiling. On the walls are various pieces of erotic artwork, very few of which contain males in any way, interspersed with captured trophies of battle- weapons, shields and helmets, mostly. Taking pride of place next to her plain teak wardrobe is a white lacquered suit of full plate emblazoned with a green, leafy face. Dominating the room, however, is a double four-poster bed with green bedding. At the moment, it's morning, and Azurelle is headed towards the small, cramped, unlit, neighbouring room used to house her slaves. In her hands is a bucket of water, and she's wearing a thin, revealing cream nightgown and a silver amulet depicting a two-tailed scorpion. When she opens the door to her slave-room, if Toy and Wussy aren't already awake or awakened by the sudden light from the lanterns, they will find a bucket of water poured over them.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

"Either one is fine. I know Blagzrukel can't always be around to watch him," Guns don't exist yet in Kail's homeworld. Instead, those who want to shoot things or make things exploding are using magic.

[Inside Temple - Acanthops & Blagzrukel]

Acanthops grins. Everything his father had just said was awesome. "Can you teach me to be as good a fighter as you, dad?"

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"OK then. I'll certainly keep that in mind." Terrowin smiles.

Also, it occurs to me that I used 'has' in that last post when I should have said 'had'. Terrowin's world got destroyed, earning him the title Divine Cockroach, and therefore now 'has' nothing.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"There's many things I can teach you. How to word a contract so that you get the best end of the deal, or at least something you want, when and how to uphold the spirit of a contract above the letter, how to fight with your claws and the languages Abyssal, Infernal and Celestial, both written and spoken. I can't teach you how to use weapons effectively, as that is a skill I lack, but I can tell you how to identify whether or not an object is magical, though not what it does." Blagzrukel smiles, and will gently stroke Acanthops' head/hair.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

You know, "Ok" is slang originating in World War 2. Theoretically, it shouldn't exist in a continuity beyond that :smalltongue:

Kail smiles, "Do you want to do something now? Or just stay in and enjoy each others company?"

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

Ace nods, "That'd be mighty!" He doesn't mind his father stroking his hair; he views the demon in awe, as the strongest being ever to exist.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

Terrowin's been here for years. He's one of my older characters, and was amongst the first to join WATCHTOWER. It's not unlikely that he's picked up phraseology from elsewhere during his time here.

"We can go out, if you'd like. I've not got anything too serious or immediate to do. I haven't done any research into good places to go yet, but we could wander around trying to find one." Terrowin smiles.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"Have you manifested any magical abilities yet?" Because he can go give lessons on using those effectively now with minimal preparation.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

"I'd like thaat," Kail says simply, "We can leave the boy with his father for a good while I imagine."

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

Ace thinks for a moment, before extending his hands upwards, and, unless something stops it, darkness will engulf the room, "This is all I can do..."

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"Excellent! I'll fetch my wallet and some money to fill it with. Have you visited the Abyss before?" There's a portal in his wardrobe to the Abyss where the Temple's funds are stored in the shallows of the Scuttling Sea.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"Can you see through it? Or end it at will?" Demons generally can't see through magical darkness, but most (including Blagzrukel) practice other methods of finding their way through the dark. It also helps against invisible enemies.

[Halae]

Kail blinks, "No, I've never been there before. I imagine it's rather dangerous, isn't it?"

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

The boy shakes his head, "I haven't figured those out. [I]Yet."

That yet is spoken with determination. He really wants to get better.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"I'm about to go and withdraw some money from the Temple treasury. It's on the Abyss, but you should be safe. You have your holy symbol or the mark of your order, don't you?" The two-tailed scorpion amulet is identical for all branches of the faith, though the double-ended centipede sigil of the Order of the Centipede militant order is unique to the Militant Church of Dalachrech and usually emblazoned upon the shield or tabard of a paladin at war.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"I cannot see through magical darkness, but I can teach you how to open your other senses to find your way around instead. Close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing." It starts similarly to meditation, but Blagzrukel doesn't know how to properly meditate; his connection to Dalachrech is far more primal than that between deity and cleric.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail indeed has her amulet, and reaches into her shirt to show Terrowin, before leaving it on the outside of her shirt for all to see. Sure, she's not very religious, but when it served a practical purpose, there was no reason not to wear it. Kail will move behind Terrowin as he goes.

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

Ace does as instructed, closing his eyes, but he fidgets a bit. He's too young to really concentrate like that, so Blagzrukel might have to guide him through it.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

Terrowin walks to the wardrobe and takes a key out of his pocket. Inserting the key into the wardrobe's lock, he rotates it several times before pushing the door inwards. Rather than the inside of the wardrobe, beyond the door is a sandy desert, though within an easy walk is a sea of beetles. Quite nearby, on the left, is the edge of a jungle. Judging by the sky, it's early morning, and several vast black clouds travel across the sky randomly, paying no attention to the wind. Terrowin will step through the portal and hold out his arm to Kail. "You'll be fine, but when I tell you to stop, do so and stay where you are."

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

Blagzrukel will be a patient teacher; this is something he's taught many times before to all of his half-demonic offspring. "Try not to move, and reach out with your senses. All of them, sight, sound, touch, taste, scent, and the others." English doesn't have a name for the sense of magic, though that's an ability which Blagzrukel and most of his offspring have.

[Halae]

Kail will put her hand in his with a smile, "I'll follow your lead then."

Godmode permission is granted for the purposes of traveling here.

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

Ace quiets, and he seems to be finally focusing, though the wings on his back tiwtch open when he raises his head, "What[I] is that?"

[Earl of Purple]

Abyss- Terrowin & Kail

Terrowin will walk a good distance from the jungle; Kail may spot the occasional giant mantis hiding amongst the trees, though given their camouflage it's more likely that she won't. A great buzzing heralds a low cloud; Kail will be able to see that it's a vast swarm of locusts; most of the clouds are, and those which aren't locusts are something else. When they reach the sea of beetles, Terrowin will ask Kail to stand two metres from the beetles themselves; something shiny and metal is poking up not too far away- the greave of an unfortunate; their shin bone is still wearing it, though the rest of the corpse is not present. Terrowin wades into the sea of beetles, the beetles parting around him, though bundling up nearby. When he reaches an iron chest, he unlocks it, opens it and takes out a small sack of coins before closing it, locking it and turning around and heading back. The beetles are quick to refill the empty space. "Do you think I need to be worried about thieves?"

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"What do you feel?" This might be a bad location for sensing magic for the first time; the space within the Temple has been stretched to make it larger without actually increasing the Temple's size.

[Halae]

[Abyss - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail grins, looking at the boot, "I'd say if they know where it is and have the measures to actually get past this, they deserve it."

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

"Everything!" He says, "It feels like the whole building is glowing! Why didn't I notice this before?"

[Earl of Purple]

Abyss- Kail and Terrowin

"Well, I suppose if they get this far, they're unlikely to be too inconvenienced by the Curse of Dalachrech." Stealing from Dalachrech tends to attract His ire, and His invertebrate subjects. Especially the ones that spread disease, such as mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, mites, midges, corpse-flies and so on. As he speaks, Terrowin is walking back to the standing stones that mark the portal back to the Temple; he left it open, as there's no way to open it from this side- the door literally doesn't exist.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"What you feel is magic. This Temple is heavily warded and enchanted. The rooms have been stretched, so the Temple's larger inside than out, the walls are reinforced, the building has been cut off from most extraplanar access, there's a defensive glyph inscribed on every door frame, and though most of those are inactive, the ones on the windows are not. With practice, you will be able to distinguish the different magic, though I cannot tell exactly which spells are which I can guess by where they are. I can find myself around this building with my eyes closed, simply from the shapes of the spells." Although 'shape' isn't very accurate; he can tell the area it covers and how far away it is. A perfectly normal house with no magic on it, shrouded in magical darkness leaves Blagzrukel as much in the dark as I would be.

[Halae]

[Abyss - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail will walk back with Terrowin to the portal, keeping stride with him, "I like the idea of people earning what they get. If someone steals from me, I'll be angry, but I'll respect them for besting whatever measures I have in place."

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

"So I wouldn't notice this anywhere that isn't enchanted?" Ace asks, somewhat obviously.

[Earl of Purple]

Abyss- Kail & Terrowin

"A lich named Calublufiok once stole something from Dalachrech which weakened Him greatly. Dalachrech does not like thieves, especially those that steal only to destroy." The thing Calublufiok stole was a world, and it was stolen by being destroyed. Dalachrech saved one worshipper from that world, purely by chance.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"No, you would not. But if it is not magical at all, inherently so rather than simply unenchanted, you will sense that. If what you sense now is bright- you described it as a glow- something so inherently non-magical would be dark." Basically, only anti-magic is actively dark.

[The Alexandrian]

[New Hermitage of Dalachrech - Azurelle's Slave Quarters]

It's that time of the day again. It's the best time of the day and the worst time of the day. Being liberated from her shackles only to feel the hand of her mistress streak across her face. Being fed food so rotten and rank that starving animals would not deign to feed on it only to be dealt a hard kick in the stomach. Being "generously" allowed to take a breath of less stale air (for I certainly wouldn't have the gall to call it anything approaching fresh) mixed with perfume by a gorgeous owner whose "kindness" knows no bounds only to have it beaten or pressed out of her in short, tortured breaths some of which at times she prayed were her last.

But most of all, to see her. To see that hauntingly beautiful face. Those cruel hands and that sharp tongue that forge her nightmares and that sculpt her dreams. That lovely twisted face. That face, her world.

Toy nurtures hatred most humans could not begin to fathom. The darkness is like a mother's caress about her. Azurelle is as unto a nursemaid to her on the payroll of sin and the wicked thoughts she taints Toy's mind with are as a bottle for her to suckle. As Azurelle's light, graceful footfalls echo through the stone hallways, Toy's eyelids split open to slits. She smiles manically as she flinches, her mind numbed from holding a silent, night sleepless vigil through the night, resting only when exhaustion overcame her by force and awakening to the tingle of her blood-deprived fingers two hours later. At least it was not her legs as it normally was in her last cage.

As the ice-cold water lobbed at Toy by her goddess splashes over her pale frame, Toy meekly gasps out a sting of words but holds still, for she is sure that the bucket will follow in short order.

"Good morning, mistress."

[Lex-Kat]

[Quest to find Secret Slave Society]


Bianca might have noticed that there are gargoyles flying around all over northside in groups of three. They appear to be a part of some sort of law enforcement.

"Ah... she's probably right Alice. We should leave. I don't like this." Saarah says, Alice is less eager to walk away though. "But it's only a little bit! Those old stonies won't hurt us. They're just watching. They won't harm us. Besides, I really like to see that temple."

Bianca stops and turns to face the two. Saarah, do you feel you'll be safe enough to return home on your own? Be honest with me?

[Shadowcaller]

[Quest to find Secret Slave Society]

"I think so." The centaur replies as she glances at the gargoyles. "I have never seen them actually attack anyone so far. I don't live far from here anyway."

"You all worry too much." Alice says with a shake of her head. "They're just looking at us. No big deal."

[Earl of Purple]

Quest to Find Secret Slave Society- Middling Temple of Dalachrech, Northside, Riverside

The building I believe the group is destined for is a semi-detached house, or more accurately, two semi-detached houses. Half of the building's roof is tiled with new red roof tiles, whilst the other half is tiled with older, more worn, grey roof tiles. Beyond that, however, all evidence that this structure was once two distinct properties has been carefully erased. The two front doors are painted an identical shade of green, and have an identical bronze fly-shaped door-knocker. The windows on the ground floor have been replaced with stained glass displaying various types of invertebrate, though the ones further up remain normal windows. The building has two seperate garages, each with a white door painted with a large black two-tailed scorpion, a symbol repeated on a flapping pub-style sign mounted above and between the front doors. Waiting outside the front door is a servant; the servant is a catgirl, with dark brown hair cut short to reveal her matching ears. She's young, not yet twenty, and wearing a long red robe.

The patrolling gargoyles are nothing to do with the cult, and most of the Temple's entrances have been specifically warded to prevent gargoyles from entering unless they bear a holy symbol of Dalachrech, though given the sheer amount of defensive wards, protective glyphs and mystic symbols warding off ill intent it is probably hard to detect what they all mean without serious looking.

[Lex-Kat]

[Quest to find Secret Slave Society]


"I think so." The centaur replies as she glances at the gargoyles. "I have never seen them actually attack anyone so far. I don't live far from here anyway."

"You all worry too much." Alice says with a shake of her head. "They're just looking at us. No big deal."

Don't confuse caution with worry. It's kept me... she pauses, remembering Alice's current state in one piece for the past fifteen years. I like it this way. Come one, Saarah. We'll walk you home. She heads toward Saarah, expecting the Centaur to lead the way home.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple]

Wenomir is approaching this temple, presumably followed by Shawna and Yazon. He looks grim(er than usual) as he nears the building.

[Shadowcaller]

[Quest to find Secret Slave Society]

"There is really no need." Saarah insists with a shake of her head.

"I think you're overreacting Bianca. If anything, those things seem to be watching you." Alice says with a smile even if there is really no way to tell who the three flying monsters are looking at. They have now taken a seat at a nearby building, looking over the group as they're walking.

[5a Violista]

Speaking of secret slave-societies, that reminds me:



Tour De Underside

"They eat whatever they catch. I'm trying to teach them not to try catching each other, but alas, it seems that's something they can't learn. That's fire beetles, chaurus, rats, cave lizards, bats, drow, squigs, snotlings and similar creatures. The cocoons that are moving are prey. People-bugs do exist, if you mean sentient invertebrates. Drider, thri-kreen, dromites and others, but there's few around here. None are part of my staff, save myself, but three drider and a dromite are part of my congregation. The driders are loners, and the dromite lives on a farm. They all work elsewhere. There are no bug-slaves, save those that serve me willingly such as these spiders and the fire beetles illuminating the room. Where I am from, prisoners of any kind are either executed, sacrificed or enslaved. We preach that all life is sacred here, and so any prisoners I capture are either imprisoned or enslaved, occasionally released if I feel it's too dangerous to keep them here, or ransomed." Charynrae is having a bit of difficulty keeping up.

Also, they aren't fiends. They're just perfectly normal giant spiders. A few might have fiendish blood, but it's hundreds of generations away.


[Tour de Underside] *smirk*

Now that Shanaya has taken a breath, she can start talking again. Before talking, however, she listens to what was said. After all, what's the point of asking a question without listening to the answer?

The girl nods as Charynrae answers. Especially at the 'life is sacred' part. She seems a little put out that the moving cocoons weren't really eggs that were hatching. Just food for the spiders. It's so sad. Watching little babies come out of eggs is really fun. Little cute animals and spiders. One time, Shanaya saw a little duckling hatch, and it was the cutest thing ever. Watching giant spiders hatch wouldn't be any different.

Their hostess's answers brought on several more questions to Shanaya's mind. However, she only asks two: "If there are no bug-people slaves, then what kind of slaves are there? How else are slaves gotten down here, besides prisoners of war? Because there doesn't seem to be a lot of war from what I've seen so far, she comments, pushing the conversation further on slavery. After all, that's what they're here to find out.


Let's continue this [Underside Tour]?

[Lex-Kat]

[Quest to find Secret Slave Society]


"There is really no need." Saarah insists with a shake of her head.

"I think you're overreacting Bianca. If anything, those things seem to be watching you." Alice says with a smile even if there is really no way to tell who the three flying monsters are looking at. They have now taken a seat at a nearby building, looking over the group as they're walking.

Fine. Bianca says, not sounding happy. But if you get killed, I'm having Alice bring you back, got it? she made it sound like a threat, which it was.

She turns and heads toward the two-in-one house and the waiting Catgirl. Come on, Alice. Let's go introduce ourselves.

As they get closer, assuming that Alice follows as she said she would, Bianca waves to the Catgirl.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple]


Wenomir is approaching this temple, presumably followed by Shawna and Yazon. He looks grim(er than usual) as he nears the building.

Indeed, Shawna is with him, one hand holding her deactivated lightsaberplasma blade tightly. The technopaladin's normally multicolored hair having changed to muted shades of gray, although she's still in her white uniform...

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple]

Wenomir is approaching this temple, presumably followed by Shawna and Yazon. He looks grim(er than usual) as he nears the building.


[Riverside Temple]



Indeed, Shawna is with him, one hand holding her deactivated lightsaberplasma blade tightly. The technopaladin's normally multicolored hair having changed to muted shades of gray, although she's still in her white uniform...

[Riverside Temple]

Yazon takes up the position of rear guard. he dwarf is outfitted in a shirt of mail and a helmet that leaves his face open. Atop that is a wide brimmed hat. He's armed with a bearded axe at his waist and a few tomahawks. he doesn't look particularly friendly at the moment.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple]

"Alright. According to the information we got from NO, this temple is actually one building," Wenomir says. "Let's head inside and tell them what we want."
With that, he tries to open the door.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

The group is met outside by a young catgirl in a red robe holding a visitor's book as though she expects them to sign. Until they either politely decline, storm past her, or sign in the book, she won't move out of the way.

The book also has a 'Reason for Visit' line.

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

The catgirl smiles and waves back, reaching into her robes and withdrawing a guest book for Alice, Bianca and Saarah to sign should they desire.

Underside Temple- Tour

"The current Temple Slaves are human. My personal slave is... Not human, and is something else with fur and scales and is absolutely beautiful. But she's mine, and rather possessive, so I'd advise against flirting with her. I bought them from some slave traders from the surface, where I believe they were captured in a raid. Sylvia was, at least, though I can't say for sure the origins of One nor Two. As for the slave trade in general? Well, my former people, the Drow, often attack other settlements to procure slaves, the Duergar predominantly buy slaves from others and improve their value or breed them and the Illithids farm their slaves and sell the less intelligent ones to others. Skaven buy and capture slaves, and among their own slavery is a common punishment. Kobolds, Svirfneblin and Goblins are more often slaves than slavers, though Kobolds will sell their eggs and young in times of famine to raise funds to buy food, and are very picky about to whom they sell to." It's also rather obvious to those that are observant to such things that Charynrae loves Sylvia, and not in the same way as a pet owner towards their pet.

[Shadowcaller]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

Saarah is actually on her way home, but Alice is briskly walking towards the temple, waving back to the cat girl. "Yes let's hurry. I want to see who these people are."

But the entire scene is still being watched by the gargoyles. The gargoyles in question aren't actually magical constructs but living creatures. so I'm not sure what effects their wards would have on them. Not that they're actually attempting to approach the temple anyway.

[Lex-Kat]

{Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group}

Bianca reaches out a hand to grab Alice's shoulder. Don't look too eager. she warns. Most don't come here on holiday, you know.

[The Bushranger]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

Shawna steps forwards, the technopaladin giving the catgirl a genuinely warm smile as she reaches for the visitor's book, taking the pen and writing with a perfectly-composed (too perfectly to be human, some might observe) calligraphic flourish.

"Shawna von Letters. Reason for visit: Spiritual liberation."

[Shadowcaller]

{Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group}

"Huh? So why are you here anyway?" Alice asks, looking rather confused. "Weren't you looking for that girl?"

[Lex-Kat]

{Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group}

Vidalia. And I believe she's inside.

Bianca walks the last distance to get to the Catgirl. Hello. My name's Helene. she'll let Alice sign in first, if she wishes to. And your's is?

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

The catgirl smiles and takes out a business card to give to Bianca. It's quite a simple one. My name is Grace. I'm one of the Temple Servants, and I have willingly sworn a holy vow of silence so as not to distract the priests during necessary rituals to ward crops against locusts. The business card is a lie; she's had her tongue cut out so she can witness secret ceremonies without the High Priest worrying about her telling anybody- she's also illiterate, so she doesn't know what the card says as she holds it out so the writing is upside down.

[5a Violista]

[Underside Temple - Tour]

Shanaya tries to puzzle over what kind of person Charynrae's personal slave could be. A lizard-person? No, lizards don't have fur. Maybe a tiger? But they don't have scales...hm. She's stumped. A velociraptor? Those don't have fur, either.

Meanwhile, as she thinks, she nods as Charynrae speaks. "Prisoners of war makes sense, and so does criminals. That's how my village does it. Selling yourself into servitude is also kosher. I had a friend who did that once. But...breeding and farming slaves? That doesn't make sense. Everyone's supposed to be born free. Because otherwise is just...just...just..." She searches for the proper word. "Unethical," says the girl who has hardly realized there's other cultures besides her own.

Then, Shanaya remembers again her quest in coming here: finding out more about the slaving habits of this temple. She poses a question in order to bait Charynrae into revealing more about how the slaves here are treated throughout their whole life. "Can't you do something about that? Because it's really sad to see people who have never had the choice of being un-slaved." Can they ever earn freedom if they desire it?

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir stays behind Shawna for now, waiting to see if they're let in. He'd rather not barge in just yet.

[Lex-Kat]

{Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group}

The catgirl smiles and takes out a business card to give to Bianca. It's quite a simple one. My name is Grace. I'm one of the Temple Servants, and I have willingly sworn a holy vow of silence so as not to distract the priests during necessary rituals to ward crops against locusts. The business card is a lie; she's had her tongue cut out so she can witness secret ceremonies without the High Priest worrying about her telling anybody- she's also illiterate, so she doesn't know what the card says as she holds it out so the writing is upside down.

Bianca smiles at Grace, and pockets the card. So, I have to sign in? Bianca asks, reaching for the clip board. I was wondering, Grace, if we may speak to one of your masters?

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon grunts and adjust his belt a little bit. He'll let Shawna be the diplomatic one. The dwarf would be useless at it in this context.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

After Shawna has signed, the catgirl opens the door and stands aside, though she'll attempt to interpose herself before Wenomir or Yazon follow her. She is illiterate, but the book will be read later by the High Priest so he knows who they were.

Underside Temple- Tour

Well, Charynrae doesn't know what Sylvia is, and I don't know what Sylvia is, so I can't actually help you.

"I was raised amongst the Drow. I have seen how they treat their slaves, and I have seen how the Duergar treat their slaves. I would prefer to be a slave to the Duergar, as neither will ever free me but the Duergar will treat me as a commodity rather than as a resource. I can do nothing about the slaving traditions of anybody- I am a priestess, and it is my job to cater to the spiritual needs of my flock, and not correct their society's flaws. In this instance, my regular flock consists of a Mimic, Drow, Duergar, Svirfneblin, Goblins, Kobolds, Drider, two Chuul and Dwarfs. All have different cultural stances upon slavery, and treat those slaves they own differently. I treat my slaves with respect, punishing only when they have broken the rules, all of which they know, and not when I have had a stressful day and want to beat something. They eat the same things as I do, as often as I do, and when they get old I will buy new slaves, but only after I have freed and escorted to the surface my old ones." The difference between a commodity and a resource is that a commodity is worth money, whilst a resource is to be exploited to create commodities.

[The Bushranger]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"They are with me," Shawna says, her voice the model of propreity and apologetic as well. "And, vice versa as well. I belived that it was appropriate to sign the guest book myself as being all for one, and one for all."

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"Yes, and we don't really have the time," Wenomir says. It's not the girls fault, of course. Those bastards put a mute slave who also seems to be illiterate in charge of greeting guests...

[Shadowcaller]

Bianca smiles at Grace, and pockets the card. So, I have to sign in? Bianca asks, reaching for the clip board. I was wondering, Grace, if we may speak to one of your masters?

{Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group}

Alice is looking around the entrance, barely noticing the conversation taking place. "Do you wear any special hats around here?" She suddenly asks, apparently unaware that the cat girl can't speak.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

The catgirl nods and steps aside to allow Yukon & Wenomir to pass her as well. She'll take the pen and clumsily add three lines next to Shawna's signature to represent the size of the party.

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

Grace nods to Bianca for both questions before tilting her head to one side as she thinks, before shaking it to Alice. There's the helmets worn during combat practice, but she's not sure they count. She will continue to stand in front of the door until after Bianca and Alice have signed, however.

[Lex-Kat]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group


Grace nods to Bianca for both questions before tilting her head to one side as she thinks, before shaking it to Alice. There's the helmets worn during combat practice, but she's not sure they count. She will continue to stand in front of the door until after Bianca and Alice have signed, however.

Bianca takes the pen and signs in. Do you still wish to enter, though they have no awesome hats? she asks Alice as she signs in, using the name Helene DeMont. It looks to be a legit signature, and it should. She's had lots of practice writing it.

She offers the pen to Alice.

[The Bushranger]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Well, that appears to have been sufficiently simple," Shawna observes, as they head into the temple.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"Maybe, but let's not get overconfident. We need to find one of the two priests of this temple and deman the release of the slaves," Wenomir says as he walks.

[5a Violista]

[Underside Temple Tour]

"Oh, well, that's good, I suppose," says the girl, having found out what she wanted to know. Maybe that was enough for the job? Shanaya hopes so; now that work's out of the way, it's time for pleasure.

She suddenly takes interest in the architecture, while changing the subject. "So how is it, living so far deep underground? I can hardly imagine living without the sun forever. Do you ever go up to see it? Does having more than three legs make it easier to live down here?"

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple Tour

"We are about a mile beneath the surface. I grew up over ten miles further down; I have never seen the sun. I can't answer what it's like to live here, because I don't know any other way of life. Most people down here are bipeds; I was one, once, but the drow deity tests Her people regularly and curses those that fail into driders like myself. Dalachrech accepts me, and knows that I am more powerful now than I was when I was drow." It's considerably further if one is forced to use the tunnels. Also, Charynrae is, at a later point in her timeline, visiting Riverside with Sylvia and is seeing the sun and rain and things there.

[5a Violista]

[Underside Temple Tour]

"Oh, so you're saying it was a curse," says Shanaya, wondering about how that could be a curse.


The girl thinks for some moments, trying to imagine what it would be like so far down. "Ten miles down...I wonder if there's, like, an inverse sun or something down there. Like, not in the sky, but under your feet. Do you think so?"Since the timeline is all askew, shouldn't we correct it soon?

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple Tour

"It was intended as a curse. I see it as a blessing. And if there is a subterranean sun, it's even deeper than my home city; deep enough that not even rumours about it reached us. Maybe a hundred miles beneath the surface any sentient beings have heard of it, but I don't know anybody with a civilisation that goes so deep except perhaps the Aboleths, and they aren't very social." Charynrae acknowledges her drider shape being more powerful than her drow shape was- she has a poisonous bite, can climb up and down the walls, and produce silk.

Also, we can take as long as we need here, I think. Charynrae doesn't usually get much play time, and unless you decide to attack Charynrae I don't think this scene will have too much impact upon her future self.

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

((Apologies about the delay. I always manage to forget to post in threads I'm not used to checking.))

"I'm sure it'll go splendidly." Yazon says. He doesn't have much hope for them just letting the slaves go. Chances are, things are going to get messy.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

The two doors open up into a large room that has been magically enhanced to increase the space within without altering the space outside. It's got a high, vaulted ceiling, and the windows are the same shape but seem much larger, enabling detailed views of the various invertebrates depicted in stained glass. The doors are in one of the long walls, with an intricate mural in the opposite long wall, but the altar is against one of the short walls and the pews are aligned towards it. The altar is on a raised dais, and has gold statuette of a centipede-like creature with three scorpion tails at one end of its body and the head of a stag beetle at the other, with a pair of praying mantis claws replacing the first set of legs resting on a red velvet drape. Some parishioners are in attendance, including a small gaggle of elderly ladies nattering amongst themselves whilst clattering their knitting needles or gripping embroidery hoops; a half-orc with a mohawk wearing biker's gear covered in patches and symbols, including a red dragonfly on the back of his jacket is up by the altar, clearly praying; a pair of dark green thri-kreen with their odd double-ended polearms sitting by the donations box and chittering to each other and a red-skinned tiefling with stubby horns and a pointed black goatee is sitting near the door reading a book bound in red leather and branded with a two-tailed scorpion symbol. I think Wenomir has met Defelent before, and if not then they might have a description of the High Priest of this Temple.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Shawna looks around the temple room, impressed in spite of herself. But, there is little time for wool-gathering, and she steps side, motioning for Wenomir to take point, one hand resting on the cylinder clipped to her belt, and her gray-toned hair fading back into its normal hues.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir looks at the tiefling and nods. Yes, this is one of the priest that the NO people described.
"Priest Defelent, isn't it? We've come here representing Watchtower, to discuss the unpleasant matter of your keeping of slaves."

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon looks around at the others there/ He wonders how many here knew about the temple's slaves, and how many cared if they did. He turns his attention on the priest. He doesn't look like the friendliest dwarf anyone will plainly see. Slaves go against all his morals, and he's got an axe he can use to express his views. Not until he's given the order, though.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Yes, I am Reverend Defelent. I would prefer to discuss this in private, if that is OK with you?" Says the tiefling, placing his holy book inside his robes and standing up to bow. His attention keeps drifting towards Shawna, but he's not focussing upon her alone. He also seems to be unarmed.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Shawna notes the attention being pointed in her direction by Defelent, but merely nods to him, the rainbow-haired woman in the white uniform remaining completely quiet.

Without the tecno-stuff or deployed eyepiece at the moment.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y262/Wukei/shawna0001.png

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"There's little to discuss," Wenomir says coldly. "You will release your slaves."

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"There're plenty of people that don't take too kindly to slaves. We just happen to be some of them, and in a position to do something about it. Best you don't make a fuss about it." Yazon adds.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Or what? You'll kill me? I doubt it. You are in the House of Dalachrech, and He sees all that occurs within these walls. As for slavery, we have rules. We do not kill our slaves. We do not torture our slaves. They are the property of Dalachrech, and deserve the respect we give to Him. They are fed better meals more regularly than half the congregation. They are provided with clothing, and shelter. They never wear chains. When injured or sick, they are healed free of charge. They witness our most sacred rituals, ones that none of the people in this room, besides myself, have ever seen. Ones they cannot see, ones that must be kept secret to prevent our faith from being undermined by interlopers that seek to destroy us. We need our slaves, and we treat them well. Strip them nude, and they're unscarred. Well, apart from the branding, but that is to mark them property of Dalachrech- I've been branded in the same way." He neglects to mention the lack of tongues, for now at least.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"And how do they join your ranks? Do they voluenteer? And what occurs if they decide that they no longer desire to serve the Temple of Dalachrech?" Shawna asks, tilting her head slightly. "Are they allowed to leave, in that circumstance? What if they have children; are the children considered free beings, or are they merely additional material for reinforcing the ranks of the Temple's servants?"

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"And yet, everything those slaves have depends on your whim," Wenomir says, glaring at Defelent. "If you so choose, they'll be all dead or worse by tomorrow. We in Watchtower won't let anyone be anyone else's property. And we're not afraid of your bug god either."

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon snorts. "Don't bother, Shawna. I'd bet my left arm he can stand there making up justifications all day." He pats his axe so Defelent takes note of it. "You're seriously underestimating our willingness to use force."

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"They did not volunteer. I bought them from a slave market that was priming them for a brothel. They can't leave, no, but they will retire and be treated respectfully and provided with a home, food, and anything else they need. Any children will be born free, and I will pay for their education. Nothing they have depends upon my whim- all they have, I gave willingly, and by Temple Law, I cannot take away save to replace. And I just told you that I cannot kill them without breaking that law." Wenomir's last comment is ignored, because Yazon made a comment. "You are a thug, whose first, and last, resort is violence. I am not underestimating that. What you are underestimating is your intelligence. You walk into a Temple to Dalachrech, one of His houses on this world, and threaten His priests, and it doesn't occur to you that this might not be the best idea, never mind that I am currently unarmed. My first resort is negotiation, like the civilised being that I am, and I will not draw steel first." His mace is upstairs, but the Temple's inherent enchantments boost any spells he may cast and will hinder spells cast against him.

[Shadowcaller]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

Grace nods to Bianca for both questions before tilting her head to one side as she thinks, before shaking it to Alice. There's the helmets worn during combat practice, but she's not sure they count. She will continue to stand in front of the door until after Bianca and Alice have signed, however.


Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

Bianca takes the pen and signs in. Do you still wish to enter, though they have no awesome hats? she asks Alice as she signs in, using the name Helene DeMont. It looks to be a legit signature, and it should. She's had lots of practice writing it.

She offers the pen to Alice.

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

"We have come this far so why not?" Alice asks as she writes herself in as Sonja seeing Bianca using fake name she might as well use one as well. "I have always been curious about this temple."

[The Bushranger]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Nor shall I be the first to resort to violence," Shawna observes with a nod. "However a just and honest man would haave, upon the acqusition of the slaves from the market, either released them promptly, or inducted them into a form of indenture, rather than slavery, giving them the opportunity to become free men after paying their way, as it were," she points out. "Requiring them to remain here for life as the temple's slaves is not a situation that is just or right; it is true perhaps that many of them would choose to remain and serve, given the choice, however the choice being offered is what is important. And, of course, that they be capable of understanding and comprehending that choice; from what I have observed from your choice of gate guardian, literacy is not something that is encouraged in your worker force." Yep, she noticed.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple

A knock on the door happens. The priest might know the person in front of the dor. It's Fade. He was turned away due to his fast learning ability and if I remember correct they offer him to come back if he takes the time to learn.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir snorts.
"It doesn't concern us whether the slaves are enslaved by you, personally, or by your god. If it is your god that put the shackles on them, you as his earthly representative will remove them. And we would prefer to resolve it without violence. But we will not let you keep slaves. That is not up to negotiation."

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

"Better to be a thug than to keep slaves, no matter how you twist your words." Yazon says with conviction. "I'm a plenty reasonable fellow, when the situation calls for it. Freeing people from slave keeping scum ain't one of those situations." The dwarf's fingers twitch on his axe.

[5a Violista]

Underside Temple Tour

"It was intended as a curse. I see it as a blessing. And if there is a subterranean sun, it's even deeper than my home city; deep enough that not even rumours about it reached us. Maybe a hundred miles beneath the surface any sentient beings have heard of it, but I don't know anybody with a civilisation that goes so deep except perhaps the Aboleths, and they aren't very social." Charynrae acknowledges her drider shape being more powerful than her drow shape was- she has a poisonous bite, can climb up and down the walls, and produce silk.

Also, we can take as long as we need here, I think. Charynrae doesn't usually get much play time, and unless you decide to attack Charynrae I don't think this scene will have too much impact upon her future self.

[Underside Temple Tour]

(That's perfectly fine. Shanaya won't attack Charynrae, unless Charynrae suddenly dons a cape and turns on boss-battle music over a loudspeaker.)

"Aboleth? What's that? Is it like a Monolith? I know what a Monolith is. Are they related, genetically?" asks Shanaya, who really doesn't know what a monolith is. She thinks it's a species of giant moth, who lives in dark caves and comes out at nights to eat children who were disobedient to their father. Luckily, Shanaya doesn't have a father, so there's no danger in her running into one of these "Monoliths". "By the name, I'd assume it's large and purple and with spiked tentacles attached to its wings."

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Then I am not a just nor honest man. But I kept them alive, when had they been released upon the streets with no further support they likely would not be. They are not here for life; I already told you that they will retire and be supported by the Temple. You are right, they are illiterate. As I have mentioned, they have witnessed our most sacred secret rituals, ones that I cannot allow to be compromised. As his earthly representative, I can free them. I would like some guarantees to do that, otherwise I will not release them. I would like to be able to alter their memories so they cannot reveal the secret rituals." Yazon has been dismissed as a dumb muscle lackey and is being ignored during these negotiations.

Inside Temple- Fade

The door is answered by a tall woman with long black hair and green eyes a shade a bit too vivid to be human. Her left arm, from about the elbow down, is covered in scales, and has some fins growing from it. In place of a hand, that arm ends in the head of a fish, which the fins are correctly aligned with. The fish in question is a pike. "Hello. How can we help you?"

Underside Temple- Tour

"Close, but not quite. Aboleths are large, and sometimes purple, but their four tentacles aren't too spined. They are covered in mutagenic slime and prefer an aquatic existence. They are incapable of forgetting anything, and absorb the memories of their prey and retain the memories of their parents. There's no wings." Charynrae smiles. She also tends to avoid aboleths because they prefer prey with interesting memories- such as people.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

Fade, as allways, shows no emotions as he spots the fishy hand. He is a bit suprised, since fish don't count as Insekts.

"I search for the Dalachrech priestr. They offerered me a place along their kind a while back."

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Fade

It was an accident involving an exploding mermaid-ray.

"You have found them. I am Madame de la Moy. Please, come in." Reverend Gertrude will open the door further, revealing a small chamber with five floor-to-ceiling drapes upon the walls. She will push one of the drapes aside and walk through the door behind it into the altar room, a chamber with two rows of pews upon each side and a stone altar inset with a gold two-tailed scorpion design.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"Provided that the alteration altered nothing else, I believe that would be reasonable," Shawna observes with a nod.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"We care little about your rituals. You can wipe them from the slaves' memory provided you wipe nothing else. If you release the slaves and guarantee you will not take any more, you will have no trouble from us again," Wenomir says.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

It was an accident involving an exploding mermaid-ray.

"You have found them. I am Madame de la Moy. Please, come in." Reverend Gertrude will open the door further, revealing a small chamber with five floor-to-ceiling drapes upon the walls. She will push one of the drapes aside and walk through the door behind it into the altar room, a chamber with two rows of pews upon each side and a stone altar inset with a gold two-tailed scorpion design.

Inside Temple- Fade

Fade hasitates a bit before he enters.

"Aren't fish natural enemies of some kind of insects?" he asks right away. She should note that his voice is emotionless. Fade will follow closly, looking around a bit. His shadow, which doesn't seem to follow the rules of light and shadow, tries to watch Fade's surrounding more carefully. Everyting might be important for his job.

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

"Hmph." Yazon doesn't like the idea over much. Bastards shouldn't have had slaves to begin with. It's their own fault if they were waving their rituals around in front of them. But Wenomir agreed, and he's Yazon's superiour officer.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Very well. I shall start the process immediately. Please excuse me. Unless you'd like to accompany me to ensure I hold up my end of the deal?" Defelent hopes they won't.

Inside Temple- Fade

"Pike like this one eat smaller fish, not invertebrates. Besides which, my arm was changed by an exploding gun that was previously turning people into mermaids- nothing related to my faith. It's too cute to turn back, though." Gertrude will sit down on one of the pews, motioning for Fade to sit next to her.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

Fade takes the seat.

"Cute? Don't know." And that is totally true, because he can't understand what terms of cute are.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Fade

"So you say you have a place to train as a cleric. What happened immediately before you were told you had been accepted by Dalachrech?" Gertrude needs to ascertain that Fade is in fact telling the truth.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"I would like to accompany you, provided that the memory-alteration ritual does not count as one of your most secret rites."

...sorry, Deffy, no such luck. :smalltongue:

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"Yes, we will accompany you to make sure no harm comes to the slaves," Wenomir says with a nod.

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

"And making sure you're freeing all the slaves at that." Yazon adds. There's no pulling a fast one on them.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"It's not one of the secret rites, no. The Initiation Ceremony which preludes a novice's assertion to cleric and the Novitiation Ceremony separating students from novices are secret and generally require more hands than I have available. Follow me." Defelent will walk towards the mural on the opposite wall and surreptitiously press a hidden button that will cause a panel of the mural to pop forward revealing a hidden staircase heading upwards.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade


"Well. There was this event during the mess. A travel though a worls with many bugs. Most of them where bigger then a human."

Just hope she means that.^^

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Fade

"I see. That sounds promising. Did you see anything else? Besides the wildlife; I mean the geography, topography, meteorology and that sort of thing." The mountainous termite mound and the black clouds that ignored the wind are what she'd like to hear about.

[The Bushranger]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

Shawna follows, but cautiously.

She's fully expecting It's A Trap.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir follows as well, looking around suspiciously. He's also expecting a trap or an ambush.

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon isn't at all subtle about his suspicion. He puts his hand on his axe openly, ready to retrieve it at a moment's notice.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

Defelent will lead the way upward, the stair case eventually opening onto a corridor that is smaller than the altar room below. Six doors line the corridor on each side. There's no trap here. "Stay close; somebody broke into the Inside Temple and looted their crypt. Ever since, all the Temples have been on high alert and many magical traps have been placed and armed. I can't trigger them, and nor can anybody in my company unless I'm incapacitated, dead, or say a command word."

[Lex-Kat]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group


Bianca takes the pen and signs in. Do you still wish to enter, though they have no awesome hats? she asks Alice as she signs in, using the name Helene DeMont. It looks to be a legit signature, and it should. She's had lots of practice writing it.

She offers the pen to Alice.

"We have come this far so why not?" Alice asks as she writes herself in as Sonja seeing Bianca using fake name she might as well use one as well. "I have always been curious about this temple."

After "Sonja" signs in, "Helene" hands the sign-in guest book back to Grace. Here you go. So, do we get a speaking escort, or do we just walk on in?

[Halae]

Abyss- Kail & Terrowin

"A lich named Calublufiok once stole something from Dalachrech which weakened Him greatly. Dalachrech does not like thieves, especially those that steal only to destroy." The thing Calublufiok stole was a world, and it was stolen by being destroyed. Dalachrech saved one worshipper from that world, purely by chance.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"No, you would not. But if it is not magical at all, inherently so rather than simply unenchanted, you will sense that. If what you sense now is bright- you described it as a glow- something so inherently non-magical would be dark." Basically, only anti-magic is actively dark.[Abyss - Kail & Terrowin]

Kail nods, her expression darkening a bit. There was a story there, but Kail doesn't pry; there's always stories, and those who have them can tell them if they want to, "Let's head back then, shall we?"

[Inside Temple - Acanthops & Blagzrukel]

Ace nods, "Is there anything else you can show me?"

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

That shows again how player knowledge and IC knowledge differ. Fade knows more then his player.:smalltongue:

"There was this mountain like building, I flew right into. I can't say what made it, but I met someone simular to this there." With this, he points at the symbol of Dalachrech .

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society Group

It's a guest book, not a clipboard.

Grace shakes her head and motions towards the door. No escort, and they can just walk in now they've signed their names. Or not, as the case may be.

Abyss- Terrowin & Kail

Terrowin might have told Kail that his homeworld was destroyed, and he's stated outright on the Wall that it was Calublufiok who did it. Kail might be able to put the pieces together.

"Yes, let's. I don't like reminiscing upon the past too often." Though he had lost his family long before the destruction of his homeworld, he did still have friends there.

Inside Temple- Blagzrukel & Acanthops

"Can you remember how you created this field of darkness?" If not, then it's no big deal. If so, then Blagzrukel will help teach him finer control.

Inside Temple- Fade

"Yes, I believe you are speaking the truth. Do you wish to apply for priesthood?" Gertrude's curious and wants to know.

[Halae]

[Abyss - Terrowin & Kail]

Kail will put a hand on Terrowin's shoulder, before trying to bring him back in the direction of the portal.

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukewl]

Ace nods. Blagzrukel should feel the globe starting to recede, not through conscious effort on Ace's part, but because it's expended the power he put into it.

[Earl of Purple]

Abyss- Terrowin & Kail

Terrowin will take Kail's hand and head back to the portal.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"Um, did you just nod? Because I can't actually see you." I don't recall them moving out of the magical sphere, anyway. Especially as Blagzrukel was teaching Acanthops how to use senses besides sight.

[5a Violista]

Underside Temple- Tour

"Close, but not quite. Aboleths are large, and sometimes purple, but their four tentacles aren't too spined. They are covered in mutagenic slime and prefer an aquatic existence. They are incapable of forgetting anything, and absorb the memories of their prey and retain the memories of their parents. There's no wings." Charynrae smiles. She also tends to avoid aboleths because they prefer prey with interesting memories- such as people.

Underside Temple - Tour

"Oh," says Shanaya. "They would probably be much cuter if they had wings. I mean, wings can make anything cute, right? Then, maybe people would like them more. Although, I don't know if I would like a friend who can never forget anything. That would be annoying. You know, imagine if you called someone a name when you were, like, three years old and they still remembered it! That would be terrible. If all of my friends remembered every single little thing I've ever done, I would probably have less friends than I have now." This girl dislikes them for an entirely different reason than Charynrae.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Tour

"They're immortal, I think. They claim to pre-date most deities, I know that. But they do prefer eating people because they have more interesting memories. It's generally a bad idea to seek one out, anyway. Also, spiders cannot be more cute." Personally, I disagree with Charynrae, but only because snails are cuter.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

"A pity. I wonder what was sought by the thieves," Shawna suggests, half seriously wondering and half making conversation. She continues, however, to scan the area, both with normal vision and also on infrared, ultraviolet, and X-ray wavelengths.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir shrugs and remains silent. He finds it hard to sympathize with the Cult.

[Lex-Kat]

{Riverside- Hat Society}

Well that's not very friendly-like. How are we supposed to know where not to go? Bianca takes a few steps toward the inside, not going too far without Alice.

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon mumbles something under his breath. Robbing a crypt is pretty low. But it's hard to care about that considering the victims. It really highlights how many lowlifes there are in the world.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"The thief managed to find the body of a cleric awaiting ressurection. He claimed the body's holy symbol, Orb of Brotherhood and Bloodspeed Sickle. The only one he can actually use is the Sickle, though all register as magical." The holy symbol, when worn by a non-believer, attracts fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and other parasitic invertebrates, whilst Dalachrech can touch the dreams of anybody sleeping near the Orb of Brotherhood, sending them nightmares.

Defelent opens a door into a room with two bunkbeds and a single bed within. Also inside is a young catgirl wearing green pyjamas; she's currently asleep on the single bed.

[Shadowcaller]

{Riverside- Hat Society}

Alice follows along quietly, not having anything to add right at the moment. She seem to eager getting inside though, focusing far more at the architecture then the people nearby.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- Hat Society

The two doors open up into a large room that has been magically enhanced to increase the space within without altering the space outside. It's got a high, vaulted ceiling, and the windows are the same shape but seem much larger, enabling detailed views of the various invertebrates depicted in stained glass. The doors are in one of the long walls, with an intricate mural in the opposite long wall, but the altar is against one of the short walls and the pews are aligned towards it. The altar is on a raised dais, and has gold statuette of a centipede-like creature with three scorpion tails at one end of its body and the head of a stag beetle at the other, with a pair of praying mantis claws replacing the first set of legs resting on a red velvet drape. Some parishioners are in attendance, including a small gaggle of elderly ladies nattering amongst themselves whilst clattering their knitting needles or gripping embroidery hoops, a dreadlocked dwarf wearing a pair of scruffy jeans and a hoody bearing a dragonfly logo and is kneeling before the altar, a trio of shirtless half-elves gazing at the mural and occasionally pointing something out to each other and gesturing to different places on their own and each other's torsos and a thri-kreen carrying a sack containing its old skin talking to a seemingly-human man wearing long red robes emblazoned with a two-tailed scorpion and armed with a scimitar.

[Lex-Kat]

{Riverside Temple- Hat Society Tour}

Bianca shakes her head in disbelief. They worship... insects? Ewww. she whispers to herself more than Alice.

Who to approach first? The half-elves seem a lively group. She walks over to them. Hello. Are you worshippers of Dalachrech? Or like my friend here, she nods toward Alice, wherever she is, Just interested in the architecture?

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

"That was what I came for, but maybe you could help me with some questions beforhead."

He makes a short pause, but doesn't give her the time to answer properly.

"A while back in the past I got a clash with another person who calls himself 'God'. Dionysus is his name. I would like to know Dalachrech's relationship to him."

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Fade

"Dalachrech and Dionysus have not come into conflict, but neither are they allies. The only direct contact between the respective clergies was less than hospitable, however; the Riverside Temple was briefly attacked by an infuriated mob during the Dionysian Riots not too long ago, and were repelled by the defensive barriers. Those injured that did not flee were taken into the Temple and healed free of charge and released." Some of Dionysus' fey watched and waited for their release, thinking they'd been kidnapped or arrested, but when they were released they bowed, if I recall correctly, and changed the tune they were playing.

[Halae]

Abyss- Terrowin & Kail

Terrowin will take Kail's hand and head back to the portal.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"Um, did you just nod? Because I can't actually see you." I don't recall them moving out of the magical sphere, anyway. Especially as Blagzrukel was teaching Acanthops how to use senses besides sight.[Inside Temple - Terrowin & Kail]

Once they're back in Terrowin's quarters, Kail says, "Alright then, let's head out. The earlier we go, the longer we can be out." It's a transparent attempt to cheer Terrowin up, but if it works, it works.

[Inside Temple - Acanthops & Blagzrukel]

"Sorry father. Yes, I did," the globe will shudder and dissipate at this point, revealing a frown on Ace's face as he looks up at where it had been. Why did it always disappear after a little while?

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"Yes, good idea. Where to?" I can't remember if anywhere was decided upon.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"Next time you conjure one, try reversing the process afterwards- you might be able to reverse the process and end it early. Most spells have a time limit, after which they stop working, unless they are marked down as runes or extended in other ways. There's apparently a spell that makes other spells permanent, but neither I nor my trapped souls know it." If any did he'd have promised to not torture them in exchange for the knowledge.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

"A shame that there are such disrespectful knaves in the world, but such is the way of life, is it not?" Shawna asks, possibly implying (if one were to be thinking along such lines) that the Watchtower group could have broken in and 'stolen' the slaves, but that they are above such things.

The catgirl draws a curious look from the technopaladin as they enter the room, but she says nothing.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir makes no further comment about the theft. "Let's make this quick," he says simply.

[Halae]

[Inside Temple - Kail and Terrowin]

Kail stops for a moment, "... I was actually hoping you knew where we were going. Why don't we just visit a restaurant somewhere, and decide where else to go over some food?"

[Inside Temple - Acanthops and Blagzrukel]

Acanthops nods again, aware that this time his father can actually see him, and throws up the globe.

...

there's a long moment where nothing happens, "Father, it's not working."

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon has nothing new to express with words that glowering at Defelent doesn't already accomplish.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

Defelent will walk over to the catgirl. "Come on, Fiona. Time to wake up. These nice people are here to take you away. Don't worry; you'll be safe with them. If I find out that you've been mistreated I will come and get you, don't worry about it. I just need to do something first..." After his little speech to the slightly-groggy just-awoken catgirl, Defelent prays in Abyssal. He delves into her mind, and rearranges her memories. He removes all the ones showing divine rituals, and pushes her memory of having her tongue removed further back to before she was bought, replacing her memory of him with another figure, one taller, wearing heavy robes and an iron mask.

Inside Temple- Kail & Terrowin

"Well, let's see... Have you ever tried kobold cuisine?" Terrowin hasn't. He's got no idea what to expect, should that be their chosen destination.

Inside Temple- Acanthops & Blagzrukel

"Is it not? Never mind; you cannot expect success at the first attempt. It may be that this particular method of creating darkness cannot be reversed in that manner; Demons are inherently chaotic, and no two are the same, a fact carried over into most of those with our blood." It's why I usually give a description of every demon in a small group, or list generalities when they're in larger ones.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

"Dalachrech and Dionysus have not come into conflict, but neither are they allies. The only direct contact between the respective clergies was less than hospitable, however; the Riverside Temple was briefly attacked by an infuriated mob during the Dionysian Riots not too long ago, and were repelled by the defensive barriers. Those injured that did not flee were taken into the Temple and healed free of charge and released." Some of Dionysus' fey watched and waited for their release, thinking they'd been kidnapped or arrested, but when they were released they bowed, if I recall correctly, and changed the tune they were playing.

Inside Temple- Fade

"These guy were under the same stuff I was. A very sneaky poison which force people into doing things they would never do." Well that is the way Fade understands it.

"It's just good to know that Dalachrech isn't an ally of this guy. So I don't think there would be a problem."

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple- Fade

"So I understand, yes. However, Dionysus is quite a powerful deity, and Dalachrech would prefer to have Him as His friend rather than as an enemy and if the opportunity were to present itself He would ask for an alliance. Or at least a pact of non-interference." Though whether either party would uphold their part of such a bargain if the other deity did something they inherently oppose is something I doubt.

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

Shawna crosses her arms and watches, a neutral expression on her face. If she knew the extent of things going on, she'd be most cross, but she is many things but not a mindreader. So she watches, and waits.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir folds his arms across his chest.
"You've got some nerve, suspecting we will mistreat her," he comments dryly.

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

Yazon mutters under his breath about slave keeping, bug worshiping bastards. He doesn't say it too loud, though, even though he'd like to give them a piece of his mind.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"I trust you, and have heard of WATCHTOWER. I know you are unlikely to hurt her deliberately. I also know that she has been living here for five years, doesn't know you are WATCHTOWER, doesn't know much about that organisation at all in fact, has been treated far better than she ever expected, and that she doesn't know you. I am reassuring her." Defelent really doesn't expect WATCHTOWER to deliberately hurt them, but he does expect them to just dump the ex-slaves at GLoG or on the streets. Freed from slavery, with a poor idea of economics and no experience of independence makes him think that unless WATCHTOWER is far more caring than he thinks his slaves (whom he genuinely cares for, if as good-quality tools more than people) will probably wind up neglected.

[The Bushranger]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"You need not worry; we will assist them in every way to help her and all others adjust to their new state of life and to recover their abilities to exist as free and independent people," Shawna says in a reassuring (and contraction-free) tone.

[Morty]

[Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group]

Wenomir waves his hand.
"Spare us that. Just do what you have to so we can take them someplace safe."

[Gullara]

[Riverside Temple - WATCHTOWER Group]

"Somewhere they'll be free at that. That's worth a hell of a lot more than the good will of slavers." Yazons voice could practically be dripping with sarcasm at the words 'good will'.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple- Fade

"So I understand, yes. However, Dionysus is quite a powerful deity, and Dalachrech would prefer to have Him as His friend rather than as an enemy and if the opportunity were to present itself He would ask for an alliance. Or at least a pact of non-interference." Though whether either party would uphold their part of such a bargain if the other deity did something they inherently oppose is something I doubt.

Inside Temple- Fade

Fade nods.

"Let us just keep this in mind. If Dalachrech would ally with him, you should keep me away from him, while if he decides otherwise I'm the first one who will strike for Dalachrech."

Even thought it's not the best time to mention such things, Fade has his own rules and the fact that he mention them right away is something good.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple- WATCHTOWER Group

"Now I just need to go and find the others. I've alerted them to meet me in the kitchen; I just thought it better to awake Fiona in person rather than through a mental connection provided by a magical artefact that relies upon proximity." Defelent will leave the slave quarters and walk back towards the stairs. This time, he's not stopping at the ground floor and is going down into a basement level.

Inside Temple- Fade

"If you would prefer to fight Dionysus, then I suggest you find somewhere else. Dalachrech much prefers alliances to fighting, and will seek to make one with Dionysus should the opportunity present itself." Also, I made the offer before I realised how powerful Fade is, and I'm not comfortable with powerful characters- it's far easier to scale up than down, and most of my characters are built with that in mind, if they are likely to seek, or be sought for, fighting. Unless Fade isn't as powerful as I thought he was.