Zinli approached someone:
"Hi," she said in a polite and cordial way. "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know what's happening inside, please?"
The stout woman looks behind her, hearing Zinli's voice, and seems confused.
After a few seconds, she looks down, and finally sees the gnome. She answers, smiling
Oh.. Hello. Jaen Ordova delivered her first child last night, and the priest is blessing them. It's a young baby girl... Her name is Branwen, or Bredwen, something like that. You're a little one, could you get trough the crowd and try to hear the name of the baby? You'd be a lamb..
"Sure, I can do that! Stay here! I'm gonna see if I can hear it..."
It doesn't takes you long to hear the name of the baby: Branwen Ordova is said over and over again as the priest does whatever holy stuff he's doing.
Zinli returned to the woman:
"Her name is Branwen Ordova! So she's Jaen's first child? She must be so happy..."
Very happy indeed. It's nice to have some good news, from time to time. Do you worship Pharasma yourself?
The ceremony slowly comes to an end, and people chats in small groups, giving their wishes of good health to the mother and the child, bringing, when they can, small token or a few copper pieces
"No... I'm not really a religious person."
Zinli took a look around:
"Um, I'm not very familiar with the cult... Do you know why there's no man inside the temple?"
Pekoe is far to distracted with trying to peek around people's legs to catch a glimpse of whatever the heck is going to to notice the demographics of the group.
"...Big people..." she said with a huff. "Davlamin, gimme a boost!" Rather than wait for any response, she starts jumping up and down in front of the half-elf like a two year old asking to be picked up. "Oh, wait, they are clearing out. What's so exciting about a baby?" she asked, giving up her endeavors of gaining the higher ground at the expense of Davlamin.
Alright alright!
Not hearing the gnome say nevermind he picked her up and put her on his shoulders.
Lets hope I don't drop you.
The baths are a welcome distraction after tonight's gorish sight. Suddenly you realise your friends haven't come back from the Temple yet, and start worrying a little.
Should you wait a little more? Or should you go and search them?
As the women are gossiping around the newborn and her mother, the priest comes to your strange little trio
Have you come to pray Pharasma, or for Branwen Ordova naming ceremony? I can't give you acces to the Temple with your weapons, I'm afraid.
After her bath, Joza has to admit that she at least feels cleaner of body if not of spirit. Returning to the Inn's common room, she's very glad to see that the blood from earlier has been mopped away. In fact, if it weren't for the memory itself, it's as if the whole thing had never happened at all...
No, don't think that way. That's an insult to that man's memory.
Looking around, it begins to dawn on her that none of the others seem to have returned yet.
They were only going to the temple of Abadar, right? That shouldn't take this long....though poor Dav did have both of the little gnomes with him...
She waits for Rahiv to finish his own bath and rejoin her before asking, "The rest of the group still hasn't returned...should we go and have a look for them?"
Rahiv came out of the bath looking perhaps like a different person altogether. His color was a crisp blue, his head fins full up and he was still putting on his tunic as he walked out of the bath to hear Joza's concern. He raised a brow and thought about how long it had been. He expressed a bit of concern to his friend but she seemed to only express contentment back.
Rahiv smiled "I do agree that it has been perhaps too long, however I don't think they are in any danger...she hasn't expressed any concern or being frightened." he said plainly. "But perhaps we should check in on them. I imagine all that curiosity in one bundle has delayed them in some way." he said as he managed to get it the rest of the way on.
He picked up his pack and followed her lead out of the tavern.
I guess I'll be paying a visit to Abadar's house after all...
"Okay, let's see...I think the Temple was this way," Joza murmurs as Rahiv follows her out into the streets once more. "Keep watch for them on the way too, I'd hate to just walk right past them!"
While we would love to take part in the celebrations, I'm afraid we are here to ask about the... Dav lowered his voice so not to alarm anyone, ...recent undead attacks that has everyone, including the Hellknights on edge. Speaking of the Hellknights, we saw them dragging a dead body through the streets. Not sure what happened, but I think they should show proper respect to the dead, even if the person was once a criminal.
Dav wondered if the temple of Pharasma liked the Hellknights.
Actually I don't have any weapons on me.
"Don't worry, I do," Pekoe announced as she unsheathed her rapier and handed it over. "And my sling I suppose, too." From her back pocket she produced a rather shoddy looking excuse for a sling. "Carved that one up myself!" she beamed proudly.
Rahiv nodded as he looked about the people moving about.
Fort Inevitable isn't that big, and its only a matter of minutes before you reach the Temple of Abadar. A young priest, quite pot-bellied, welcomes the visitors and faithful
My name is Toras Calbion. Welcome to the temple of the Master of the First Vault.
The priest's eyes flares with anger when he hears about the attitude of the Hellknights towards the dead
I will still be busy till the evening with my faithfuls. Could you come back later tonight, after your meal maybe? There's a curfew, but we should have at least a free hour to talk. Besides, you would be out on Hellknights business. May Pharasma bless you.
He traces a spiral above your heads
"Um... Thank you for your help... And for the blessing!"
Pekoe was right... Pharasmans are really nicer.
"So what do we do now?" the gnome asked her friends. "Should we go back to the others?"
Not sure though, the half-elf said in reply to Zinli's question, They actually maybe looking for us.
Turning back to the priest the sorcerer replied, That should work I guess. Hopefully since we are on Hellknight business we shouldn't have any problems, but we'll stay nearby just in case. Even the Hellknights wouldn't dare to anger the Church of Pharasma. And I do apologize to having to tell you about the Hellknights and their...disrespect for the dead.
"Um, yes...hello..." Joza responds to the priest, shifting a bit awkwardly as she does so. "This may sound strange but have you seen a man, sorta-pointy ears with two little gnomes in tow? We were waiting for them at Juliver's and they haven't returned yet; they were supposed to visit here. Did you see them?"
Pekoe's eyes light up like the first of Rova. "At an inn, right? With a real bed? A soft real bed? WITH REAL SHEETS?!"
Pekoe paused, frowned, and looked confused with herself. "Huh, who'd have ever thought I'd be so excited for such mundane items. Oh well. Let's go, let's go!" She tries to grab both Zinli and Davlamin by the hands to drag them out the door and to the inn, where ever it may be.
The priest answers right away
Was one of the gnome sporting a tail? She looked even stranger than the other one...There were in less than an hour ago, then they went to the Temple of Pharasma, or so I heard.
"The Temple of Pharasma? Why...no, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough! Thank you for the help," Joza calls over her shoulder as she grabs Rahiv by the arm and starts pulling him along.
"Come on, if we hurry maybe we can catch them! And find out what they've been up to..." she chatters.
"A bed? Great idea! Do you think there will be a pillow?"
The gnome was almost immediately distracted by an even more pleasant perspective: a warm meal.
"There'll be food?!" she exclaimed. "Maybe there'll be soup! Tomato soup! With croutons!"
Her stomach let out a rumble.
"Sorry..."
Rahiv had been a bit off in his own mind as he had followed Joza around and when she grabbed him by the arm he went wide eyed and alarmed for a brief moment as they were suddenly moving and he saw who's hand it was before calming back down. "Ah, good...good away from that temple. I'm glad that we didn't have to be there long" he said before moving along on his own steam.
Davlamin did everything in his power to keep from laughing at Zinli.
He then realized that he never introduced himself to the priest.
My humblest apologies! I never introduced ourselves.
The half-elf introduced the three of them to the priest.
Wandering into the streets of the Fort,towards the Temple of Silence where Pharasma is worshipped, Rahiv and Joza hear the very distinctive high pitched voices of Zinli and see Pekoe trying to drag both Zinli and Davlamin into the street-with, of course, little success.
Davlamin seems very amused by the antics of the diminutive but dynamic duo.
"There you three are!" Joza calls as she hurries over to the trio, still pulling Rahiv along if needed. "We started to wonder when you didn't make it back to the inn! I'm glad that you all seem okay. What have you been up to that took so long?"
"We're going to the inn!" Pekoe declares as the other two approach. "I'm going to sleep in a REAL bed tonight!"
Pekoe rambles on about the comforts of freedom a bit longer before getting around to answering Joza's question.
"Well, we went to see the Priests of Abadar and his boss, both of who were very unpleasant despite my charming demeanor. Then we went to see the Priests at the Temple of Pharasma, they were much nicer, but they were a touch busy. Said we ought to go back later, after dinner of course, and we'd have a chance to chat then. Also, did you see the Hellknights dragging around that dead guy?!"
Dav smiled as Pekoe told the others of what happened.
Indeed the church of Abadar is a bit more...accepting the Hellknights than I would have thought. Of course I don't think they know about them dragging a dead body through town. We did informed the Temple of Silence about this. Oh how I wish I could summon my Auntie Banu here. She would probably teach them a lesson.
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Joza mutters when told of the chilly reception the others received within Abadar's temple. "So you weren't able to learn anything then? I guess we can all return to the Temple of Silence a little bit later; hopefully they'll have time to speak with us then."
When they mention seeing the Hellknights dragging a dead body through town, her blood runs cold. "Did...did he look like someone that might've been a slave or other sort of servant?" she asks quietly, not really sure if she wants to know the answer.
Dav thought for a moment.
Im not sure actually. I assumed he was a criminal who ran afoul of the Hellknights. But we did find out something from the Temple of Abadar...not good I'm afraid. Seems the High Mother of Abadar believes that someone is leading the undead and possibly the other monsters and bandits. I believe it is a lich judging from what she described of the symbol that there divoners were able to learn: a crowned skull. From what I could gleemed from our conversations with her their scrying attempts weren't productive beyond that as whatever or whoever that symbol belongs to is powerful enough to shield against their attempts. We accepted the quest of course. It's possible all of our quests are somehow linked together besides being in the ruins of course. And no we haven't seen Ekran around. Have you?
"A...lich? Whatever that is, I can tell by the sound of your voice that that isn't a good thing at all. But you might be right, it seems like a lot of strange things are connected to the Emerald Spire. Of course the only way to know for sure would be to explore it, which we can hopefully get back to doing soon."
Joza's voice then drops as she looks around nervously. "I asked about the dead man because earlier in the inn, a man burst in with a knife...from the way he talked, he must have been an escaped slave. Rather than return with the Hellknights and face punishment, he...slew himself. And we all just watched..."
She sighs and shakes her head. "We've not seen Ekran since he ran off after that woman. He seemed to recognize her, so hopefully he's okay and hasn't ran into any trouble."
Dav listened to Joza.
Typical Hellknights. I wonder what would make him kill himself. Maybe his master was a harsh one. Well I told the Temple of Silence about what we saw and they weren't happy in the least. And a lich is a mage who has performed a ritual to gain immortality...well sort of. His body still decays but he lives forever unless you destroy the vessel that contains his soul and destroy it. Liches don't like it when you do that though. But in short a lich is a undead mage who has gained tremendous power at the cost of his soul.
After a decent meal at the Inn (where you spot a slightly drunk Ekran in good, feminine company) and some small talk you are ready to go to the Temple of Silence, before the curfew.
your bellies are full of a hot meal, and you know warm and cozy beds are waiting for you in the Juliver's Inn.
A few minutes walk later, the group meet the priest of Pharasma
Please do enter the Temple. The night will be cold, I think. My name is Father Falindor.
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Pekoe gives the priest a double thumbs up and strolls right in, tails swaying contentedly behind her.
"Nice place ya got here," she exclaimed politely, before she even took a good look. Complimenting someone's abode or workplace was always polite as far as she was concerned.
"I'm Pekoe, and these are all my new accomplices," she said waving a hand behind her towards her comrades. "But down to business. Is it true zombie will use special straws to suck large brains, like my friend Davlamin's here, right out of someone's skull?"
The skeptically inquisitive look she gave up to the priest marked her questions as serious despite its ludicrous nature.
Seeing only a very much serious look on Pekoe's face causes Joza's to take on a look of puzzled curiosity. "Zombies with straws? I've never heard of such a thing, but maybe...maybe such things are created differently in this area of the world?"
Her expression then hardens. "But even so, they're unnatural horrors! We must slay any we come across, if at all possible - whether they have straws or not!"
Suddenly remembering her manners, she coughs and smiles. "Joza Fersig of the Fersig Tribe. It's nice to meet you."
"Straws? Why not! Everything's modernizing, even undeads! Nobody said they would have to keep doing it with their teeth, in the old-fashioned way! Do you know how hard it is to get a dentist when you're a zombie? Without dentures, no wonder that a lot of them have to use straws!"
At the end of this completely logical reasonning, Zinli gave the priest a handshake.
"Oh! To say I was babbling around... Zinli Steelworker, at your service. Nice to meet you!"
Davlamin did his best not to laugh. Before anyone said anything else, the half elf introduced everyone to the priest. He then went on to explain everything they had been told by well everyone who had given them a quest, before asking the same questions he had asked the head priest of Abadar earlier.
Some zombies, and other undeads, enjoy eating the flesh and organs of the living. But I've never heard of zombies using straws. Beside, I suppose that, for the victim, using a straw or not is the least of their concern
When everyone is in the Temple, and has introduced himself, the priest speaks
I've heard about the restless dead roaming the country, and the strange crown symbol. As a Pharasmin, it is my holy duty to destroy these creature, or at least to help those who fight the undead. The temple has a small library with tomes by specialists of these unholy creatures. If you need information, you are free to consult these books when the temple is open, as long as you don't disturb a ceremony. Besides, I'l give you two of my last flasks of holy water, and I will create more as soon as possible. I'm sure this generosity will be payed back. As everywhere, some of the poorest resident can't alway pay for a decent burial...
Pekoe took on a rather somber demeanor and she nodded slowly at the last statement from the priest.
"How much is a burial? Back home, we just duh a hole in the backyard for fluffy when he passed on. Said our goodbyes and let nature have him for the garden."
She takes one of the vials of holy water, swirls it around and gives it a sniff as if inspecting wine.
Rahiv listened in on what everyone was saying for the most part. When Pekoe said her piece he actually had a bit of an approving look. "It sounds a lot like out customs, though we laid them carefully to rest in the swamp to give back to nature for providing for us." he said in an almost nonchalant manner.
He did however thank the priest for the holy water and his services to those that wished for them.
"Seems some of us have more in common than you'd expect," Joza adds, nodding at both Pekoe and Rahiv. "We always returned the bodies of those that passed to the plains." Turning her attention back to Father Falindor, she says, "Thank you for your generosity, though I hope we won't need to consult your books very often, if at all!"
Rubbing his ale-soaked eyes and coughing a moisture rich lungful of air, Ekran clears his throat and turns a shade redder for the loud interuption. How a many so large and loud remained so quiet is a mystery.
"Excuse my impertinence, but are there any battle clerics here that might give us less magically-endowed being some insight on fighting the undead effectively? Perhaps I should have a different weapon....do you have any texts or manuscripts on combating the unholy monstrosities? Perhaps a prose Edda on a famous warrior?"
Ekran's clarity remains sharp and focused on the holy man. He earnestness seems genuine.
These are simple, but wise questions. To give you a quick guideline, there are two kind of undead: corporeal, as skeletons, zombies, ghouls, up to the mighty vampires and liches, or non corporeal, as ghosts, spectres and haunts. So far, only corporeal undead have been sighted near the Fort. Most of the undead are resilient to weapons, but they all have their weaknesses. Skeletons are fragile and easy to smash with a blunt weapon, when your sword won't be easily able to cut them, as they have no flesh. Zombies, at the contrary, are resistant to pure blows, so swords and axes are the best choices. In short, if you see the bones, use a mace, if there is still flesh on the cadaver, use your sword.To answer your other question, young man, I am the only cleric of Pharasma here, so I cannot join your holy quest, to my deepest regret. The faithful need me here and now. I'll check for specific texts of famous warriors as soon as possible. Do you have other questions?
As an afterthought he had for Pekoe
A burial, with a simple coffin, costs along twenty gold pieces. I don't ask for that much money, but any spare coin would be welcome. If Pharasma invites you to Her Eternal Garden, do you have specific customs you wish to be observed?