I love it when my companions prove they aren't the so khongs of this world. with this thought, Ibinu turns and follows the group.
The old ifrit, Antioco, seems only half awake, muttering his gratitude now and then as Inam and Bian support him. He is stick-thin and weighs no more than a child. The deep hollows in his pale-red cheeks and dark bruises around his eyes are a testament to the traumatic events he has just survived.
When you come out of the lower levels, no one is at the stairs - not So Khong, not Eo. The regular crowds that constantly throng the Temple ebb and flow like a tide, but no one seems to notice you.
Looking around as they reach the top of the stairs, the sylph muses 'From our last interaction, would have expected So Khong to have someone guarding these stairs...in case we failed...
Shaking her head, she looks to Biann "Infirmary?" and following the undine's lead, drags the poor man to the doctors location.
Glaring at the healers about, Inam orders "See to it this man makes a full recovery. His false imprisonment alone requires compensation. Let us not add to that with shoddy doctoring! I hold you personally accountable for his welfare!" Looking over the staff to ensure she's gotten their attention, she adds a bit calmer "Please, keep me posted on his progress."
Turning to Kallik, she smiles "Granite-boy, should we seek out So Khong and update him? Or have you other suggestions?"
Looking around the corridor with a glare. Incompetence. Moving to follow Inam and Biann to the infirmary.
Not seeing anything that need to be added but raising a green eyebrow at the new title and grinning, "Granite girl actually, Oreads have both genders and I have the one with better hair. And yes we need to speak with So Khong."
Turing to look at one of the healers, "Do you know where we could find Inquisitor So Khong at this hour?"
Ibinu motions for them to move on to the infirmary. He takes a position just to the right of the dungeon stares and prepares to wait. I'll wait and guard til you return. Please chastise the High INqi for not guarding his temple. But then again a real god wouldnt have to have guards he can do everything himself.
"Apologies M'Lady." replies Inam with a curtsy. "Yes, answer her. Where might we find the High Inquisitor at this hour? I expected him to have a servant awaiting our return."
Glancing back to Kallik, she frowns "Oh, my obsidian friend...you seem to have something..." Reaching out to wipe a bit of blood away from the oreads cheek, a sudden crack of bright light shoots out of her and into her companion.
Shrieking with surprise, Inam's face turns scarlet. "Uh....sorry...didn't expect that."
Fighting back a grin, "Never the less it is appreciated."
A dour-faced older ifrit woman take Inam's tirade in stride. Her accent has a faint sylphan flavor to it. "I dinnae know about this man's imprisonment, but ah can guarantee we'll take good care of him, aye?" Though her words are friendly enough, she does not smile at any of you as she gently puts Antioco into the last empty bed of the ward - the same ward where the two guards you rescued are currently residing.
Lui, the male guard, pipes up, "Mistress Inam, I have been to So Khong's chambers before." From his sick bed, he gives brief directions to Bian, who nods her understanding. The high-ranking members of the Inquisition are found on the sixth tier.
Ibinu pulls out his wet stone and begins to caress the blade into an almost perfect azor edge while waiting for his compatriots to rearrive.
"Thank you Lui." Turing to Inam, "Shall we go now?"
"That seems reasonable. Thank you ma'am." she replies. Laying a gentle hand on the guards shoulder, she adds "May The Warrior grant you a speeding recovering."
Turning to the door, she nods to Kallik. "Yes, I believe it is time. Bian, lead the way please."
With a hint of trepidation, Bian nods and takes the lead. Eschewing the main staircase, you take one of the smaller side-stairs on the outside of the Temple to ascend to the sixth tier. The wind and cold of the day have abated somewhat, as if the day is holding its breath in anticipation. Volcano gleams a pure blood red.
The chambers of the Inquisition are, unbelievably, even narrower than other hallways you have traversed within the Temple. You pass a few guards on patrol; both parties have to sidle past one another. The guards furrow their brows at you, but say nothing when they note Bian's inquisitor robes.
Bian points to a simple wooden door. Unlike other rooms you have passed, this one has a guard posted outside. When you approach, he says, "Absolutely no interruptions. Inquisitor's orders." He crosses his arms over his black breastplate, which shows the pyramid-and-flaming-sword insignia of the Temple Watch.
Snapping her fingers in the guards face, though keeping her eyes down, Inam exclaims, "Excuse you?! No Interruptions?! We are following orders which implied we report to his Highness upon completion. Why in the world he didn't have someone waiting for us... Such would have prevented our need to interrupt him, now wouldn't it?!"
Taking a deep breath, the agitation obvious as a vein in her forehead pulsates, she sighs. Maintaining her averted gaze she adds "Sorry. You're doing as ordered. I'm just....it's been a long couple of days. Do you know how long he'll be? Perhaps he gave you instructions to pass on to us?"
Glaring at the guard and glancing over at Inam. Quite the temper on that one. So much fire, though she is quick to smother it.
That familiar fury rolls though Kallik's veins fueled by the trials of the day, So Khong's behavior, Inam's social fear, and Ibinu's apathy. It has become far to much. Her family always complained of her temper.
Sucking in a breath and yelling at the door,
The guard is taken aback by Inam's and Kallik's vehemence; he was obviously expecting you to be cowed by his station, as most civilians are. He glances to his left and right, unsure, as if searching for the answer to his dilemma.
He takes a slow breath, about to say something, when the wooden door opens on silent hinges, just wide enough to let So Khong's slender form through. "There is no demonstrable need for shouting." The old inquisitor steps through the crack, locking the door behind him.
Standing before Inam, Kallik, and Bian, So Khong frowns and says, "There was an urgent matter to attend to. Eo was instructed to find a suitable escort for you, but you appear to have eluded that plan. If only inconvenient timing could be harnessed to some positive use."
He begins walking back the way you came, presumably back out of these chambers. "And the male sylph?"
Kallik will move to follow him inside as if that were the plan. If need be she will tug Inam along.
Following the inquisitor, Inam replies "He stayed to keep watch on the dungeon. Although we took care of the...problem down there, without knowing how it occurred, thought someone should mind the entrance."
Once they are out of range of the sentry, she adds "There was but one survivor in the dungeons. We've liberated him and taken him to the infirmary."
Growing bored with the wait, Ibinu finishes sharpening his rapier and then sharpens each of his daggers. still no one seems they take forever to do a simple task.Oh well I think I will run my forms again. He then begins to run through forms rushing from heron in the reeds to diving hawk in the meadow. The forms continue to flow as Ibinu finds the rhythm of the moves.
So Khong nods at Inam's summary. "Very well. A full report shall be given, and next steps determined."
After a short while at So Khong's brisk pace, you arrive back at the entrance to the sub-levels. The inquisitor frowns at Eo. "You were commanded to find a suitable guardian, not awkwardly gape at the stairs yourself. Explain."
Eo stammers, and his pinkish skin turns a deeper red, but no intelligible words come out.
As they continue on, Inam speaks up. "So Khong, pardon the intrusion, but what were you doing? You seem too attentive to have been sleeping. Also, what valid reason did you hold Antioco for?"
He found a valid guard already on duty. Others seemed to think what he had to say was optional.Ibinu states not breaking his practice.
"I was meditating, seeking answers from Volcano on the problems currently faced."
When questioned about Antioco, So Khong frowns. "I fail to see what urgent relevance that has, compared to a full report. I will have it now. Is the issue resolved?"
At Ibinu's quip, Eo gives a brief smile of gratitude, but quickly goes back to looking at the ground, avoiding So Khong's gaze.
"Aye sir. The urgency is improper use of authority or inappropriate incarceration is a violation of ones power" she replies, stressing the word 'ones'.
Pausing a moment to let her words sink in, she furrows her brow and continues, maintaining an appropriate level of respect for her lower status. "However, you are of course correct in the priorities. The third level door was still secured with numerous darkspawn expired before it. We handled all the spawn we encountered, including a much larger, sinister one."
Glancing towards the child sympathetically, she finishes with "Antioco was the only survivor we located, aside from the previous guards, capable of being saved. The other conscious one was be no means a survivor."
The sylph shudders as she thinks back to tentacles erupting from the prisoner. That poor soul...what the spawn did to it...
Watching his hands as she and Inam walk. Quietly reaching out and trying to point out the little bits of blood there.
Glaring at So Khong, "I am curious why you could not pray here. And do not send us to a place to take care of a problem where we cannot access the whole area. You owe me a set of keys."
Crossing her arms, "Again why was Antioco locked in that cell. We have discussed the issues with not answering questions."
"Your beloved curiosity will be satisfied. Antioco, as the acolyte can attest," he nods toward Bian, "was arrested for heresy; he preached for the Warrior, and, more importantly, against the Cauldron Lady and the Silver-Bringer. The three of you may be new to Hearth, but surely the theological implications do not escape even you - any Temple priest who speaks out against any part or aspect of Volcano cannot be tolerated. Divisions within the Temple, and within the faithful, could lead to a weakening of Volcano's light, which in turn could result in darkspawn overrunning the land."
Blank-faced, he looks at each of you. "Does that answer your question?"
To Kallik: "If the spawn failed to approach that warded door, there is no need for concern. The third sub-level has dangerous prisoners; it is not worth the risk to you if no spawn have infiltrated it."
"I chose not to commune with Volcano 'here' because my chambers contain specialized equipment for reaching the proper meditative state."
To Inam: "What of the 'conscious one who was not a survivor'?"
Recalling her actions to open the door and Ibinu's healing of the guard, she shrugs. 'Perhaps it's a more powerful way to commune. After all we've managed to evoke Volcano with blood magic'
Listening to So Khong's explanation, the sylph's nods. "I suppose."
Petting Etrah, a faraway look in her eyes, Inam answers "He was calling out for someone...his son? Anyway we approached the lost soul and...and.. the females face contorts as she gags. "Tendrils! Black things shot out of its mouth! It..it was one of them!"
"We failed to save...it." She finishes, as if deflated. "sorry sir...it's been a troubling day."
So Khong nods. "With the threat in the basement contained, contingents of guards will continue to monitor those levels."
He looks at each of you in turn, attempting to suppress a frown with little success. "If there are no other questions, I have preparations to attend to in other matters. If you have any needs, the boy has been given additional authority on my command." He does not look at Eo as he says this. "If he learns how to exercise it properly."
He brusquely walks away.
Bian inches closer to the three of you, slightly out of earshot of Eo as he glumly watches Inquistor So Khong stride away. In a conspiratorial whisper, she says, "My mentor has told me in the past that theory So Khong just spouted hasn't been proven to be true. I think So Khong was holding Antioco for a different reason."
Nodding at Bian and following after So Khong. Once next to him again Kallik keeps her voice, "You appear to have injured your self or failed to clean up after."
So Khong does not bat an eye. "As the female sylph can attest, Volcano's rites often involve a small sacrifice. There was an insistent knock on my door in the middle of said ritual."
Upon hearing this, the sylph's brow furrows. Stealing a glance at their sacred leader she shakes her head.
'It's not your place to question him. At least not yet. If it's not Volcano's will, it will be revealed.'
"Then we make it right!" Inam mumbles, in standard stealthy fashion the group has grown to expect from her. Her cheeks turning scarlet, she quickly begins fiddling with Etrah's feathers. Cooing "Awww you's a good guide. Yes you are!"
'Please Volcano, don't let him have heard that' she prays silently.
Snapping at the paladin's fingers, Etrah hops away. Clearing not appreciating her attentions.
So Khong stalks away, his smooth gait cycling like a gears of a clock.
Eo looks abashedly at all of you. "Um, anything I can help you with?"
After So Khong is gone, Bian fails to conceal the distress on her face. "It was a...pleasure meeting all of you. I suppose I'm part of your team now. I'm going to find my mentor, Inquisitor Lý Văn Sinh."
So..if the second level is finished and the third isn't worth the effort due to the dangerous criminals there, what we gonna do? Has So given us reward for helping? I beleive he was supposed to. Ibinu intones with extreme boredom,well lets get some food then figure things out. These temples tend to be a bit on the fanatical side but atleast the food is usually good.
Eo shrugs and takes all of you to the refectory on the second tier of the temple.
Inside, stretching across the entire length of the temple are row upon row of long tables made of rough wood. The refectory is silent, save for the occasional dull clatter of a plate. The only food in sight is piles of ash-bread. The smell of the bread is nearly overwhelming, and you suddenly realize how hungry you are.
Taking a seat near the entrance, Eo bows his head in silent prayer for a few minutes before breaking bread. You catch a few glances and friendly nods in your direction, but no one seems to take particular note of you. There are many priests, but there are ordinary citizens of the city eating here as well.
Silently, Inam and Etrah bow their heads. After a few minutes, the two look down at the food and begin eating.
Pausing a moment, "Ibinu, making things right should be it's own reward. Although, upgrading our gear would be useful."
When you are outside the refectory, Eo says, "One of the things Inquisitor So Khong commissioned me to do was authorize more rituals to grant you protections and stuff on your armor. I think we could do that right now...maybe?" He shrugs in a bewildered sort of way. He is clearly a bit over his head with the sudden "promotion" So Khong has given him.
"Oh? That could be helpful." glancing towards Kallik, she presses "What kind of ritual are we talking about?"
"Seems you're adjusting well to your promotion. Congratulations Eo of Volcano." offers the sylph, smiling with averted eyes.
Eo shrugs. "Minor sacrifices, like small pogonas and stuff." He says nothing about your other comment.
seems fair and good timingIbinu states as he continues with the group
Eo looks nervously at Kallik, expecting some acidic comment about sacrifices. When no such remark is forthcoming, Eo shrugs, relieved. With a slightly hunched walk, as if fearing rebuke, the youth starts taking you down the main staircase, back to the second tier
Stanza di sacrificio
Crossing her arms but keeping her opinions to herself. Scowl firmly in place and only paying enough attention to the others so she is not left behind. Why must it be creatures that cannot chose to be killed. I wonder how many of the faithful would let us kill them willingly. I am sure if a death is needed a freely given one would be more powerful.
Glancing back to Kallik after Eo's response, she inquires "Must they be tied down for the ritual? Is it possible to give them a fighting chance?"
'Sacrifices are necessary at times, but if there's a way to make this easier on her...surely The Warrior would understand.'
A slight frown on her face, she follows the young elen, lost in thought.
Eo stops and cocks his head at Inam's question. "It's not, uh, strictly necessary, but most elens don't want to get their hands bitten off by a crocodile or whatever." At this last comment, Etrah playfully snaps at one of Eo's fingers. The young ifrit jumps back in utter surprise, and hits his head on the hard obsidian wall. He glares at the bird, but his expression softens when he glances at Inam. "So, uh, anyway..."
He gestures for you to enter the Stanza di Sacrificio. The same six altars, carved from uncaring black blocks, stand sentry. Tied to four altars are knots of small pogonas. The lizards, no larger than an elen's hand, stare dumbly at all of you.
He looks at each of you, slightly nervous. "They're not big, but, they do have teeth you know. You sure you want to actually fight them?"
Well, don't have to like it. As we've already seen, blood magic is quite powerful
Looking towards Kallik sympathetically, she asks "What's your preference between these options? I'll follow your lead as it seems my spiritual guide not only approves, but finds the option amusing."
Raising a surprised eyebrow at Inam's statement, "You mean that?" Why would she do that?
Turning back towards the pogonas with a frown, "To let them go and hunt them down seems even crueler. Since this blood sacrifice seems necessary. Though I am certain a willing sacrifice would be stronger. Though I doubt many would be willing."
Tightening her grip on the shaft of her weapon and glancing back, "Why are there so many?"
Ibinu watches slightly bemused at his companions commentary.
Eo shrugs. "They're small, so we need a bunch. According to the, uh, Mysteries of Volcano, this is the appropriate sacrifice for certain kinds of protection magic."
The youth turns to Kallik. "Uh, what do you mean, a 'willing sacrifice'? Volcano gave elens power over all animals, so they're basically willing, right?" He looks puzzled.
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Grinning sympathetically at Eo, Inam responds before Kallik has the opportunity. "My dear, would you say Etrah here is an animal? I certainly would. Yet, he is my herald. My advisor. I would argue he has power over me. Thusly, your generalization is faulty just via one example. Somehow I think Volcano would have an issue with us trying to sacrifice my companion, not to mention what he may think on the task."
As if to punctuate the statement, the feathered spiritual advisor lets out a loud "SquAACK" and nips at the sylphs shoulder.
Chuckling, the woman continues. "Now, all things have the right to live and all things have the ability to submit. Sadly, some sacrifices are required in this life, even if we don't submit to them. Though a beetle seems mindless. That doesn't make it's existence any less significant than our own. It too has a purpose. Under the Warrior all life is sacred and its on us to protect those unable to protect themselves."
Turning to Kallik, she finally replies to the question. "I certainly would by dear crag. Not only have you proven yourself to be sturdy, you have also proven yourself to be full of gooey goodness. As long as your wishes don't violate my obligations, I will always hear you out."
Drawing her weapon, she proceeds to walk up to one of the knots before them. Leaning down on bended knee, she looks them in the eyes, whispering "I am truly sorry for your sacrifice. My companions and I need the protection you offer. Without this sadness, we may never be able to rid the word of the Dark. Through your selflessness, we can make this world safer, better for your kind."
Pausing, Inam waits for a response from the creatures of any kind.