As you feel the pain of the stimulants run through your bodies, the visions you have continue...
Roidira speaks, You are not Roidirans. Did you all really think to take me for a fool? No matter. Hear me now, for no one, least of all my wretched faithful, shall ever believe you: I have no use for followers. Where I now walk is beyond your imagining, beyond the realm of your comprehension.
So-called “Roidirans” became what I despised: inflexible dogmatists who put posturing performance before the pursuit of truth. Instead of walking Roidira’s Road as a way of life, they thought of it as a road with a destination.
So, I gave them one: this place, where I could crush their stupidity in one fell swoop. They think signs with childish drawings that mock other divinities are my way? They think my path is one of street brawls and shouting evangelism? They are worse than you, lower than you, for they know less than nothing. Emptiness was not to be an end in itself, but a
beginning. These fools, she gestured to the mute Roidirans, never understood that. Thus, I took from them the one thing they loved most. Myself. What I do now is beyond their comprehension, as it is beyond yours. Farewell.
A scholar stands in a grassy field gazing up at a field of stars, a quill in hand. The scholar stabs at a star with her quill, causing the star to pop like a bubble and vanish. A cluster of new stars appears elsewhere in the sky. The more the scholar tries to destroy the stars, the more appear. The scholar snaps her quill in frustration, which causes her to vanish. After she is gone, the stars fade.
A horse carrying a rider gallops across a desert landscape with sand of gleaming gold grains. Many days pass, and eventually the horse dies. The rider continues the journey on foot. As the rider grows older, his pace slows, until he ultimately collapses upon the sand and sinks. Winds blow the sand over the fallen form, and a horse emerges from the golden grains, galloping away.
You are standing in a pitch-black room. The sound of water slowly dripping onto a hard surface echoes around you. Each time a water drop falls, a spectral figure appears in the corner of your eye. These figures feel vaguely familiar, but any time you try to look directly at a figure or focus on it, it disappears.
The fog of the water-induced fugue state clears, but a distinct “buzz” remains. There is no indication about whether anything you have just seen and heard is real. The water’s glow fades, and its smell becomes stale.
As the vision dissipates, all heal up to full hit points. Is this one final gift of the shrine, or the influence of Dark Sister of Knowledge
herself? Either way, there is nothing left in the pool but you.
You notice a change in the environment, as movement comes into the Roidirans around the shrine. You can hear mutterings like:
So, you know too now. She does not exist. How are we to contemplate existence without even the solace of emptiness?
It seems that they believe that their goddess has revealed to them that she does not exist, and are lost within the paradox.
Quickly it becomes clear to those who experienced visions, that the Roidirans seemingly did not see and hear everything you did...
They Roidirans seem quite vulnerable and shattered about what just happened.
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Juno watches the others act strange with a nervous look.
"Can't say I ever thought I'd call you the sane one," Juno grumbles to Sinset.
When the others finally seem to return to normal, Juno looks at them warily. "Have you gone mad like those fool Roidirans?"
Looking around at the vulnerable Roidirans, Juno scoffs. With a shake of her head she waves her hands at them, gesturing for them to stand. "Get up, you lot! Come on. No sense dying here. Time to go back to your homes."
Under her breath she mutters, "Want real knowledge? Join the Pathfinders."
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Cole shakes his head trying to gather his thoughts again and shake off the lingering haze.
"Well.. that was something. Thankfully I have stronger character than these poor hapless Roidirans."
He turns to the Roidirans. "You heard her, off with you, go live your lives and fill that emptiness with joy and meaning... oh and drink!" he says with a chuckle as he winks and Juno.
Al-Sahba eagerly awaits news back at the temple. She is enjoying a late dinner with Meriwether as you arrive and bids you to join them “as the first of many rewards for your hard work.”
You reveal the situation at the shrine, including the visions you saw, the news of what happened astonishes al-Sahba.
What unspeakable cruelty. I have no love for the Roidiran faith, but surely her followers deserved better than losing their goddess among a sea of riddles. Questions of divine philosophy can be the most challenging questions we face. It is not surprising that a divinity known for cloaking herself in secrets would make such questions even more unapproachable. Yet, I believe there is much to consider with what you have said.
Perhaps the paradox of Roidira’s nature could be understood through the lens of other absences that we tend to give names.
It could be, in that sense, that as cold is the absence of heat, ignorance is the absence of knowledge, and darkness is the absence of light, Roidira represents the absence of something else. While I have studied theology extensively, you have seen more of Roidira’s nature than I have. No matter the faith, she who experiences the touch of the divine becomes an authority the wise should heed. What are your interpretations of what you have witnessed?”
After digesting your words, and her plate of roasted dire boar, she takes a deep breath and speaks again. [b]The satrap wished for me to find a way to discredit both the White Feather and the Roidiran cult. In truth, I am uneasy about treating both in the same way. If you were to have your say, how would you have me use the knowledge you uncovered
at the shrine?
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Juno scoffs at the first question. "Bah! I saw no signs Roidira was anything but illusions and drug-fueled visions!" With a glance at her companions who were foolish enough to drink tainted water and see such things, she shakes her head. "This cult's a foolish thing. People died to participate. It should be disbanded, buried and forgotten."
She shakes her head again, thinking about the foolish souls who followed it.
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"I am no expert on religion, Al-Sahba, but can we stop for a moment and talk about this amazing dire boar? There's been no shortage of fine hospitality since we joined the Pathfinders. A fantastic festival, local bars, a wonderful party with the elite, and the rather fine concoction of wine and stimulants we found in Roidira's temple. Are Pathfinder quests always like this?"
"As far as what to do about the cults? I think word that the pitiable fools worshipped an absent goddess will dissipate them naturally. Why do anything? Except maybe abscond with whatever liquid they have in that fountain. I confess to having poured some into my wine skin. Would you like a pull?
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"I'm not sure what I saw, it was strange and made no sense to me. Seemed like a horse died and then it's rider, and then the horse came back. I guess that... No, I have no idea. The whole experience was nonsensical. Thier whole religion is still a confusing mess to me. I'm still not convinced that what happened wasn't just because of the drugs.
I agree with Sinset and Felix and think that we should let those poor souls alone, they seemed to have suffered enough as it is."
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Cole had a swig of ale from his lucky tankard and wipes his mouth before adding his thoughts.
"I am a simple man, and all of this was very confusing to my senses. But, my takeaway is thus. People who follow a religion so blindly are fools. Believing in something is goof for the soul, but you should always think for yourself and have something to live for. These Roidiran's... followed something that really gave them nothing to live for. I pity them, but it also frustrates me to see people not value themselves more. As for what or who we saw... I have no answer to be sure." He ends and takes another swig.
Many would have doubts, al-Sahba muses, but doubt and confusion are like acid to a cult’s rigidity. I am grateful for your input! Please keep my signet ring as a sign of my patronage.
The banquet goes on for a while with pleasant food, conversation, wine and entertainment of course.
Late at night you fall into your beds exhausted and tipsy, probably, and the next day you are already on your way back to Absalom or wherever the Society needs you next.
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Many would have doubts, al-Sahba muses, but doubt and confusion are like acid to a cult’s rigidity. I am grateful for your input! Please keep my signet ring as a sign of my patronage.
The banquet goes on for a while with pleasant food, conversation, wine and entertainment of course.
Late at night you fall into your beds exhausted and tipsy, probably, and the next day you are already on your way back to Absalom or wherever the Society needs you next.