Bale and Lin look through the room, but fail to figure out where the Priestess went.
A book lies on the podium at the center of the long room. The cover is engraved with gold filigree and images of the rising sun. The book is filled with hymns and scriptures describing the ascension of a new sun god who will wipe all suffering from the world.
The northern door has a circular, sun shaped window at eye level which reveals a courtyard garden beyond.
The eastern facing door is wide open and the western door is slightly ajar.
Bale grabs the book
bale then runs into the eastern facing door.
Abd goes to the eastern facing door ahead of Bale.
As the snakeoil salesman recklessly throws open the iron and wooden door, a scarred and burned mercenary lashes out and stabs Abd directly the chest with his spear.
Abd staggers back before collapsing on the tile floor of the temple hallway.
Golden, green and red light pour into the room through the long stained glass windows along the outer wall of the corridor.
Bale runs forward, his blade out,
bales sword swings out
his blade cuts deep into the burned man, carving through him as blood sprays across the floor.
Decapitation!!!
Lin throws open the door, revealing an empty hallway, illuminated by the light coming through the long colorful stained glass windows on the wall.
Lin realizes that the door has a smear of blood on it, near the handle.
The hallway ends ahead of Lin, with two doors on the east and west facing walls.
The western door is locked by a padlock and a wooden bar. The eastern door is unlocked and slightly ajar. You hear voices from the room beyond the eastern door.
Looking through the crack you see a pair of the smoldering mercenaries that Abd scorched earlier, clinging to their weapons, and banging on a shut door. They're standing in a dining hall with a single long table in the center and chairs neatly pushed in on all the sides.
Let us in, G&# d&+n it! One of the two shouts, as he bangs on the wooden door with a mace.
Don't kill me! I'll tell you whatever you want to know!
The boss, the Giant Lady, she said we were hired for protection! Some kind of favor for an old Ash Iron Vet. Our job was to make sure nobody interfered during the Priestess' ritual! I think it's some religious thing, can only happen at a specific time! After they dragged that burnt up lady in here they locked her in the western tower! The priestess said it was to keep her safe. Please don't kill me!
Fine, flee now....
Lets hurry to this western tower, before this ritual works out. bale says to lin, already in motion to the tower.
You find yourselves at the door to the western tower. The door is locked by a padlock and a wooden bar.
Break it down.
bale raises his shield, and runs at it.
After many attempts the two of you finally manage to bust the door open.
Beyond the door and inside the tower is a roughly square room. At the far wall is a set of stairs, next to the doorway there is a bookcase and a wardrobe leaning against the wall.
To the left is an empty bed next to a window on the wall. There is a wardrobe at the foot of the bed.
To your right there is another bed pushed up against the wall. There is a bookcase next to the bed. Lying in the bed, curled into a ball, is the Sorceress from the village!
She is wearing a simple shirt and pants and facing the wall. Her arms are covered in black smears of ash and dark bruises. She stirs slightly as you open the door, practically wincing at the sound.
who are you? what did you want with that small town? im sick of not knowing what's going on, and you foul sorrecres are going to tell me.
Bale says his sword out.
Okay. She sighs, painfully. Her voice is raspy and coarse.
She struggles to sit up, but eventually manages to prop herself up against the wall.
My name is The Light. We went to your village to steal only what our leader, our Priestess, needed for a ritual. We were never going to hurt anyone. What else do you want to know?
Even in her weak and wounded state, her voice is filled with restrained anger and disdain. She refuses to meet either of your eyes.
really? flame and fire all over the place, and you weren't going to hurt people? Fine, now what is this ritual, trying to summon some demon? bring someone back to life? what is you oh so noble goal?"
bale says clearly annoyed and tired from all the fighting.
Flame and fire all over...? She repeats, half to herself. She leans forward from the wall and clutches the blankets on the bed with clenched fists.
Do you find me vicious?! Dangerous?! Yes, we stole trinkets and mementos from the village, and I fought back when I felt threatened, but you are the killers! I didn't kill anyone! He is dead because of you!
She tries to shout but her voice is hoarse, and as she opens her mouth a small wisp of black smoke slithers out. She lowers her head suddenly and begins to cough violently and uncontrollably, clutching her sides and beginning to weep.
When the coughing fit finally subsides she raises her head and falls back against the wall again. She seems to have coughed up both blood and ash onto the blankets. Tears fall from her bloodshot eyes, as she regains her composure.
Priestess Danica took us in and treated us well. She promised that the ritual would bring a new light into the world, regenerating Nethos, wiping all suffering, pain and hunger from the world. She spent years finding all of the tome and scrolls she needed. Years preparing. Eventually she told us that all she needed to finish the ritual, was a relic of past glory, proof of a lost love, and as many memories as we could get her. She told us that we needed it all by the equinox, by today. She said we could find it all in the village, but there wasn't much time. So we had to steal.
The Light says, though it seems as though she may not quite believe the promise.
pain and strife is part of life, to remove it, is to remove life.
bale says,tired
bale sighs, Now what lin, i'm not sure of our next move....
The Fury is dead and you're still alive. I don't know what happened to your friend, but I never meant to kill that orc. I hadn't eaten in days and he found me unconscious on the road. I panicked when he woke me and he attacked. We never wanted to kill anyone. things just got out of control.
The Light considers your question.
I don't know. I think Danica is going to complete the ritual somewhere around here, though.
I'm coming with you. I'm sick of sitting in here. I want to know what's going on, and someone should keep and eye on you two. Something isn't right.
The Light struggles out of bed and begins to follow Lin.
ok fine, lets just trust you, y'know you didn't just try to kill us like 4 pages ago, fine.
bale says gesturing with his arms.
The four of you walk through the dining hall and into the courtyard.
The sun is reaching it's zenith, and bright light floods the outdoor space. A plum tree stands next to the door, providing some shade. There are wide, flat round stones set into the dirt as a walkway, and grass sprouts between them. Colorful flowers can be found all over the garden, as well as many different kinds of vegetables.
A grape vine climbs the southern wall, clinging to the stones.
This is where The Fury would spend most of his time. He planted the entire garden, tended it constantly, and meditated the rest of the time. I doubt you'll find anything here.
Says The Light, as she supports herself on the plum tree.
Close? He was a brother to me. We were all each other had.
She sighs and struggles to recall a repressed memory.
We'd been traveling for a few years by the time the law finally caught up with him. We were in the north, on a plains road. They surrounded us and he told me to run. I was scared so I did. I couldn't find him after that, so I tracked our attackers to a nearby outpost. By the time I found him, he was already... scarred. They took his eyes. I lost control when I saw him. I burned the fortress to the ground and the same for every soldier. I must have been nine or ten at the time.
She doesn't sound particularly proud of her actions, only distant and pained.
unfortunate, personally i would take out my Asavara on beasts, and put my Keriva to good use on monsters, but what done is done, to feel remorse, is... one should learn from their actions if you feel bad for mass murder don't commit it again, same for you lin, if you feel bad for taking the fury's life, be more merciful in the future.
bale says slowly, tried, like an old story or lecture he has heard or told a thousand times and no longer enjoys the telling.
not to press, but what are we doing? where are we going? lin we've found the sorceress and yes there more going on here then we thought, but....are we going to stop a ritual that we know nothing about, i'm not saying we walk away, but we should have more of a plan then "follow the sorceress to a ritual"
bale says while jestering the air quotes, and slowing his pace.
I don't even know where the ritual is happening.
The Light chimes in.
I'm done fighting. Revenge is for fools and your death wouldn't bring The Fury back. And even if I did want to kill you, I can barely even walk.
The Light says, bitterly.
You hear a noise from the chapel, beyond the door to the courtyard.
What was that?
Asks Rook.
lets just cut and run
Lin pulls open the door to the round chapel room. A small rug on the circular podium in the center bounces sporadically off of the floor with sound of wood striking wood.
After two more strikes, the rug is thrown off of the podium as the trapdoor beneath it flies open. A grey, three fingered hand rises from the opening and a lean, strange creature pulls itself out of the darkness and onto the podium.
Oh, demons, that changes things. bale says too quickly, unnerved by the sight, his blade and shield raised in one fluid motion. Lets kill it, quickly.
bale unleashes his deathly arua hoping to intimidate the beast and buy us some time
The strange and vile creature is unfazed by Bale's dark aura, and quickly lowers itself to all fours, it's bones snapping and dislocating themselves as it prepares to strike.
Rook stands behind Bale, and asks,
What is that thing?
His voice is shaky and frightened.
This is wrong! How could a demon be here...?
Asks The Light to herself.