You conjure up a small hood for your grey robe and cover your silver hair. The peasants grudgingly give their spears to the macemen, who march you into town in the guise of labourers. The guards stop you at one of the roads, enquiring where the two soldiers have been and where their captain is. The macemen glance at each other.
There is a pause, a sense of hesitation. Then one of them taps the other's right wrist.
"Just back from Fere's Pike. Captain Logue's busy in the temple there, says he found a lot of bones. We're just buying supplies and bringing in some labour."
You pass through without issue, the peasants clearly relieved. The shades surrounding the guards relax as well and silently continue to follow you.
The temple is easy to find; a larger domed structure of similar design to the one in Fere's Pike, with attached ancillary buildings, dominating one end of the marketplace. The moment you see it, you get a lurching sensation in your stomach. As you get closer, you have haunting suspicions as to why. The sunsign sigil of Tokchoko above the doorway has been broken in half. You hurriedly pass by the few stalls as weary peddlars shout bargains after you until you reach the temple proper.
The stench of Evil here is only overpowered by the stench of blood. One of the peasants dry retches. The rich tapestries and hangings have been burned or torn, those that have not already been stolen. The statues and carvings of saints and angels have suffered a similar fate. Dry, black blood spatters the walls. You can guess from the sprays where people died, and where the pooled blood stained the marble and has not been scrubbed away. Maybe it never can be scrubbed away.
You glance back. The shades remain outside, refusing to enter. The evil in this place is so strong even you feel the need to run, to get out of here as quickly as you can. You force yourself to look back, to take in more of the room. Tokchoko's symbol is missing from the altar - probably melted down for whatever precious metal is was made of. The altar itself is broken, with a massive crack running down the middle as if it was hit with a pickaxe. So much dried blood covers the veined pink marble that it seems black now. At the base, there are pieces. Unidentified human pieces, drenched in rather fresher blood and ground into mush by footsteps and clumsy evisceration. Atop the altar in pride of place is a statue in black bronze; a coiled serpent bristling with spines, three headed and eyeless. The statue leers at you, as if mocking your very presence in this desecrated place.
The statue is undoubtedly the source (or at least focus) of all the evil in this terrible place. You advance towards it, intending to destroy it where it stands, when you spot the runes. A tiny ring of runes carved around the idol's resting place and a larger ring around the altar itself, steeped in blood and bristling with evil energy. Wards, and strong ones. Perhaps stronger than you are right now. You aren't sure what will happen if a mortal crosses them, but you expect it to be bad. You are certain it will be worse if you do, before breaking them.
The priest, if there is one, does not seem to be present. You get out of the temple before you get sick. Your followers seem more than happy to vacate it as well.
Will you:
-Search for information on the priest, if any?
-Examine the wards?
-Something else?
Name: Lvantha Talaoia
Strength: 13 manpower ()
Mind: 9 menminds ()
Followers: 1 luxpanap (John) (training, 2 wks)
5 peasants (training: spearmen, 2 wks)
2 macemen
Slaves: 0
Servants: 0 (Beings under your command - be they mutated mortals or lesser angels.)
Holdings:
1 village (1 Resource)
Items:
Unnamed Angelic Sword: +2 vs undead & demons if you wield it. More effective when a mortal holds it.
Shade: 0 Str, 1 Mind. Cannot be attacked physically save by silver or desecrated weapons, cannot physically attack. Special Attack: Haunt - Drives victims insane or inspires terror. Invisibility.
Greater Shade: 0 Str, 2 Mind. Abilities as Shade.
Author
Topic: Divinity. - Dreams Invaded: 2 (Read 57895 times)