Helping the injured man gently to his feet, Gad will shake his head and smile genetly.
"In my experience, you never know what life will do to your projected course that might offer a different option.
You just have to keep a weather-eye open for it Evlar and decide which way is the correct direction for you. Agreed?"
Evlar nods and sounds better after Gad'larr and Allister's help. "Thank you. I'll think on everything you've both told me."
Vivian comes rushing back through the door and resumes scrubbing. She is followed quickly by Krant and Belathorian. "Alright, everyone get to da main hall. Time for afternoon prayer."
Everyone files into the main hall, already waiting within are 10 other acolytes in addition to 4 grey robed priests and Krant. One of the priests in black robes stands upon the eighth step and starts a (rather pompous) prayer and series of psalms to the Living God.
Despite noticing the bobbing heads of some of the others present for the prayer, Qina's head begins to bob too. The sermon just draws on and on and the longer it goes, the heavier her eye lids become. She tries hard to stay awake and occasionally blurts out "hail Razmir" just to keep from falling asleep.
Brezik listens to the conversation with Evlar but is more intent on trying to Stretch the Kink out of his back then contributing to the conversation. As the ceremony starts he works hard at finding a position to be comfortable... but is too comfortable. Part way through the ceremony he begins to snore...
Gad's heads nods a bit at first, but he quickly realizes his dilemma and buckles down his thoughts and starts reciting Vudrani poetry
in his head silently. Silly repetitive stuff really, but easily memorized.
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Allister struggles to pay attention. His eyes are heavy and he can't concentrate. Before long he is looking around the room, shifting his weight, cracking his knuckles, and anything else to distract him.
Knowing that their punishment may be severe, Allister steps in.
In a harsh whisper he says "Sir, allow me to take this one into the hall and teach a lesson for you." The paladin flexes under his robe and punches a fist into his open palm.
Belathorian's mind wanders, the bruises from his recent beatings are throbbing and his head feels thick. As soon as his head lolls forward he snaps alert Krant's growling mask right in front of his own...
"Very well."
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Vivian is sadly accustomed to this sort of thing, in her old Militia days Earl Bartholomew was quite long winded and boring as well. She sits quietly and watches the whole thing unravel.
The group is quite uninspired. I'm getting the feeling that they are not really here out of zeal but instead out of greed. Is this a case of just needed to root out a few bad apples rather than toppling the entire sect? She is surprised when her stomach rumbles. (sigh) Brezik is starting to wear off on me..
As several of the Keepers appear to be struggling, Vivian jumps on Al's lead.
"Yes, please Krant. I would love the oppertunity."
She says cracking her knuckles.
Dark chuckling comes from behind Krant's mask. "Aright, let's see if ya got wut it takes ta advance in da church."
He drags Belathorian and Brezik out by their robes beckoning Allister and Vivian to follow. He drops everyone off in the courtyard before heading off to the weapon and armor maintenance area. He returns with a white-hot brand of the mask of Razmir and a leather whip, tipped with iron spikes. He hands the whip to Vivian and the brand to Allister before retrieving his own overly large club.
He rips the back Belathorian's robes open and the front of Brezik's tunic. Pointing at Vivian he says, "You will give this man," pointing now at Belathorian, "five lashes wit da whip. If ya fail in dis task you will be whipped yerself. You," he points now at Allister, "will brand dis one," he now shoves his finger in Brezik's direction, "so he knows not to interrupt da prayers o' Razmir."
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Vivian takes the whip in her hands and tests its strength, giving it a snap off to the side. S*@%, this better work out in our favor. Gorum, don't forsake me for this. Looking Bel in the eyes..
"Anything to say?" She asks Bel as she begins to walk the yard.
Once she is as far from Krant as she can get, if he isn't more than 30ft from her she'll make she first swing deliberately wild, trying to push him back.
"Whoa! Back up there, it's wild but all the more power to make it hurt more!"
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"Krant, Sir! Allow me to take the brand in this one's stead, show him what true faith looks like!"
Allister rips open the front of his white robe from the neck down and turns the brand towards himself, then presses it with a smoking hiss onto the bare skin of his left breast. His muscles tighten and the cords of his neck stand up. Beneath his mask a tear of pain rolls down his cheek.
"rrRRAAAAAAAAHHhhhh!"
When he pulls the brand away, an upside-down and weeping mask of Razmir is burned into his chest. He turns towards Krant, breathing heavily. "MY FAITH IS STRONG!"
As if some fire now burns within, he charges towards Brezik whom he towers over. "Insult Razmir again and I will brand your face so you can never take off the mask!" Was that a wink, or has the paladin forgotten their quest and fallen into service of the Living God?
Krant is driven back by Vivian's wild whipping and nods with each flash of the lash against Belathorian's skin. Allister's actions seem to dumbfound Krant until he shrugs and goes to retrieve a barbaric looking mask from the temple. It has slight holes for breathing and a very strong looking lock on it.
He looks at Brezik, "Now ya see, ya let dis one show ya up in yer faith. Now ya got a choice, brand yerself like 'e did or ya can wear da mask o' shame for..." "free hours."
"It's OK, we're good. Patience. We need to fill every one in before we move. Tommorow."
Brezik watches in horror as Allister takes the punishment intended for Brezik upon himself. As Krant leaves to retrieve the mask Brezik addresses Allister in a whispered yell.
YA FOOL!!!... NOW WE BOTH GET PUNISHED FOR NOTHING. I WORK IN A FORGE. GETTING BURNED BY HOT METAL IS NOT SOMETHING I FEAR!!!...
Brezik shakes his head and looks away and says one more thing that only Allister can hear.
But I have to admit. You may be a fool... but your brave and loyal too.
When Krant comes back with the mask Brezik takes one look at it and shudders.Yeah ... Blind... Deaf... and Dumb.... A little too close to being dead if you ask me...
He quickly grabs the brand and presses it against his own flesh.
Krant laughs and brings everyone back into the main hall where the prayer service is finishing up. He waits for all of the other acolytes and priests to leave before addressing the newly initiated once more, "Alright. Now we get to yer trainin'. We'll be doin' so in da field where ya worked dis mornin'. Dis'll show ya how ta interact wit' da public."
Heading into the training area he squares everyone up in a double file line with Qina at the front of it. "So ya can see." He begins marching everyone around using his large club to poke people back into position and if their limbs stick too far out of the group. The entire thing feels like phalanx training. He then starts throwing out insults and small rocks in an attempt to make everyone lose their composure. Anyone that does is again poked with the club.
The final section of the training is much less savory. It includes forcing people to donate (through intimidation), mocking other faiths to make Razmir seem more powerful (various means), and how to deal with local guards and others who would interfere with the temple (ranges from bribery to intimidation).
Growling softly under his breath to Avlar, Gad will let his righteous indignation flow a little.
"Looks like your dad was right this time around, I'm sorry to say my new friend. I'm not sure I can take advantage of the common people to earn trust among these thieves and liars."
Belathorian takes to the training poorly, more so than with anyone else Krant is forced to use his club on the Samsaran's wayward limbs. Every Blow is met with head held high and a growl of pain.
Give me a reason to hate you Krant...
Though his misdemeanors become less frequent as the day wears on he is sure to give Krant more than enough reasons to strike.
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The physical training comes easy to Allister after spending so much time with Captain Vivian and the Dawnguard. It is the donation collecting exercises that give him trouble - but even that Allister is able to overcome.
I can be selfish and mean like Baeloth.
Still, he gets a couple clubbings. After watching Belathorian and Qina be struck, Allister has to fight the urge to take Krant's club away and beat him over the head with it.
"Krant, Sir, was your faith for Razmir ever so strong that you burned yourself? Surely you would be willing to do more to show your faith than some new recruits?"
Brezik really hated the drilling in the courtyard. He really wasn't that aware of how he looked most of the time... and when he slouched he got poked. Where he had burned himself kinda itched so when he scratched he got poked... When he sighed in frustration he got poked... when he didn't answer fast enough he got poked... This whole looking good just to look good was not his strong point.
When it came time to learn about how to actually be a priest of Razmir he did much better at feigning his interest. That was just lying, and he had always been pretty good at that.
Evlar is breathing heavier under his own mask, but his voice comes out soft, "Then how else can we gain the power necessary to control our destiny?"
Krant, meanwhile, is laughing in Allister's face. "I got nuttin' ta prove. I'm on da forf tier cause a my faith. You recruits is da ones dat got ta prove your worth ta me."
Smiling beneath her mask Qina nodded as Krant directly to her. Wow, how considerate she thought.
As they formed up and practiced marching, Qina tried hard to get it right but it was incredibly hard without someone else to follow. The insults didn't bother her too much; Pressi had helped with that. The rock throwing and club poking however, through Qina very much off her game. She suffered numerous "corrections" throughout the training exercise.
She struggled even more once outside the temple. Watching as they extracted coin from the local populace made her angry and sorrowful at the same time. She tried her hand at the practice but speaking through gritted teeth made it a challenge for people to understand her. Still, she made a pretty good distracted. Perhaps the people were not used to seeing a priest of her size or maybe it was the funny way she spoke. In the end she had only collected a handful of coins and was frightened of what punishment awaited her.
Trying to look incredulous behind a mask, Gad whispers back to Avlar again.
"Power? There is no real power here that I've seen. Only slavery I think. Razmir demands...we follow...or we suffer for it.
The only way to earn more than that here is to force others to suffer too it seems. Why should I ameliorate my suffering and multiply
that upon other innocent Nirmathans who have not asked for it?"
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Vivian excels at the first part of the training. She tries to help the others as well with careful nudges and whispering of hints, hoping to correct them before Krant's club.
She tries her best to fake love for Razmir during the second half, but is unable to sound sincere. The whole time she thinks to herself, 'This is corrupt, these are lies.'
Frustrated she starts to act out, "First of what again? 31? You're basically as 'enlightened' as us.
Krant's entire body stiffens and his mask again glows with bloody runes. He grabs two large cinder-blocks and shoves them into Vivian's hands. "Now ya get ta carry dese for da rest of today's training session. Open yer mouth again and I'll show you real punishment." Krant finishes his statement by hefting his club menacingly.
The training finishes at seven bells and Krant collects everyone to bring you back down to the mess for dinner. It is a simple vegetable stew with very stringy rabbit thrown in as well as bread and ale or wine. Within a half hour the meal is done and everyone is back in the main hall for evening prayers. Again 10 white robes, 4 gray and Krant are in attendance, though it is Egarthis' smooth voice over the crowd.
Unlike the afternoon prayer Egarthis' words are filled with fire and inspiring rhetoric. Also unlike the afternoon prayer the evening prayer is two hours long, though the time seems to fly by.
When everyone else has left the service Krant again pulls you aside. "Now fer da last part o' yer days. Yer gonna spend the last two hours copying holy texts by candlelight, hopefully something'll stick. I'm leavin' another forf tier priest here to oversee ya so I can get mah beauty sleep. Then we'll be back at it tomorrow."
Ugh, this is worse than schooling! No wonder I never really got religious. Physical labor was one thing. Qina didn't mind work as long as she was moving about but this sitting at a table for hours in front of books and papers was enough to drive her mad. She had a steady hand from lots of tattooing practice but she had no desire to write hundreds upon hundreds of words over and over again. She found herself doodling dragons and snowmen and snowflakes and fires and anything else she could think of.
Brezik goes through the service keeping himself focused by poking the burn mark on his chest. He does take note of the different bodies under the four grey robes and the fact that everyone seems more focused during the session. As the group files out he shares his observations with the others in the party.
During the scribing session Brezik starts copying quickly. He feels pretty confidant by how fast he's going and finishes right when he is supposed to. He gets up and hands the book back to the Priest left to watch them. The man opens Brezik's book and it is just one giant smear. In that moment Brezik realizes that he has failed to blot the extra ink off the pages.
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Allister's heart drops into his feet.
He stares at the blank parchment for a long time, and watches his friends work. After a very long time he picks up the quill and tries to write for the first time in many years.
As the sun rises Allister falls asleep next to his quill and parchment.
In the morning Krant and the others realize Allister has not written a single word, just scribbled in a half-baked attempt to emulate written language.
As soon as Krant leaves, Belathorian gets his head down and writes. His joints ache from the beatings and his work is not the best but his finishes eventually and walks unsteadily back to the dorm.
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Vivian gets frustrated with the task. Several times she finds herself editing the texts and making corrections, soon it leads to writing down rants about how ridiculous the claims are instead of simply copying them at all.
After several hours of furious scribbling and crumpling of papers she takes a deep breath and looks at everyone still stuck on this mundane task and suffering.
She quickly finishes up despite her personal feelings on the issue and then walks over to Brezik, though her efforts to aid him just cause more frustration in herself as she reads the heresy.
"No, ugh, see where it reads 'The goat headed succubus derives sustenance from the collective world entropy sink known as the Dal-Kholraghthoth through the process known as Vital-Indoctrination-Glad Milking (VIGM for short). This VIGM enriches the goat headed succubus' ability to drain incorporeal essences from the dream world in parallel with the dreaming host subject and thus exponentially increase Razmir's power across the planes through Dynamic Cross-Soul Ecto-Fusing (DyCSEF for short).'.. what the hell does that mean?.."
The priest watching over everyone lazily turns a page in his book, glancing up every now and then to ensure everyone is working diligently.
Qina's mind wanders frequently but thanks to Gad's efforts to keep her on task she begrudgingly finishes a few minutes before bedtime. With a huge sigh she pushes her chair back and stands up. She stretches loudly and cracks her neck before exclaiming "thank Razmir that's done!"
The next day starts much the same as the previous, though Krant is a little harsher with his mattress flipping. The breakfast is bland, the labor in the yard remains simple, the prayers and tutelage in the temple verbose, and lunch is not very filling. As you are about to grab the cleaning supplies Krant stops you and says, "Time ta put yer trainin' to work. Egarthis will tell you about it."
Egarthis descends the main stairs in his black robes and iron mask with 3 grey robed priests with him. "Today you will be putting your new found knowledge to work. We will go out among the people for our daily sermon to the masses. You will move through the crowd and extol the virtues of Razmir, though you should feel free to use whatever talents you have to keep the crowd interested in the rhetoric. These three will be moving within the crowd to look for more potential followers. Sound good?"
He leads your group to the gate and opens it without much pomp and fanfare. Because it is noon the streets are filled with merchants and crowds hawking their wares and buying in return. Once outside, Egarthis stands atop a small crate to speak to the masses, drawing a large crowd around him. The other priests inform you to circle around the crowd and proselytize yourselves. They then scatter within the crowd.
Seeing the Razmir thieves working the crowd, Gad sighs and decides that doing something is better than nothing and letting the thieving continue.
Turning suddenly during the proselytizing, Gad moves as if with a specific puepose, but bumps into Allister nearly bowling him over!
"Watch IT! I walk with Razmir!"
Gad then growls and proceeds to tackle the big man. Betweeen gasps he whispers harshly at he paladin.
"Work with me!"