The man leads Tanov across the courtyard to the double doors. The stable is empty of all but a few discarded Tack and blankets. It’s obvious that this has not been used as a stable for a long time; it doesn’t even smell like animals.
Through these doors is our dining room. You are welcome to partake in Korada’s bounty at meal time. The hallway leads to our sleeping quarters. I’m sure we can make room for you if you choose to spend some nights with us.
Liso leads you down the hallway off the northeast corner of the room.
This is the meditation room, a peaceful place to receive instruction and practice… This is our chapel where we hold daily teachings. Dakang is very insightful and wise… This is the library, though I must admit with daily teachings the need for study has become increasingly rare… This is the garden. Our current gardener allows the plants to grow more freely, but it is still a nice place to seek enlightenment… Behind those doors and down the hall is our burial chamber, though we have not had much need of that as of late…
As you are guided along the tour you realize that Liso is missing one finger from each of her hands. As you walk through the halls you are passed by a few other Humans and Halflings who all give respectful nods before continuing on. After the relatively short tour, Liso leads you back to the entrance.
You are free to wander our temple and partake in the path to enlightenment. We do ask that you not disturb Dakang in his chambers, or the Aasimar with him. His meditations are long and deep. Do you have any last questions? I am already late for my morning contemplation.
Yes, the Aasimar were the first worshipers at this temple. Three of them still reside here. But since that time a few travelers, like my family, have found this place and stayed to seek enlightenment under their tutelage. There is no higher calling, or more noble deity.
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"Apologies for making you late, and thank you for the tour. It is a pleasure to meet you Liso. Please, do not allow us to hold you up any longer."
After Liso and her companion move on, Erin quietly speaks.
"Which task would you all like to look into first? As much as I would like to suggest splitting up, accomplishing everything quickly, and being on our way, something still seems to be a little bit off about this place. I just cannot put my finger on it."
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"You mean, apart from the fact that these people seem unaware that they are living in a dimensional space within a magical tapestry? But yes, you're right, something is definitely a little odd. I would suggest we all go together to try the library. There might be some sort of a record of this temple there, and at the very least we can accomplish our task."
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Erin touches Arkwright lightly on the shoulder and begins moving towards the library.
"That is exactly what I mean, just much better stated. The library seems to be a good place to start though. Liso stated it was not used much, so it should be an easy task to accomplish. I am not much of a reader, more of a.....well......practical learner, if you will. I think I should be able to assist you with cataloging if needed though. Who knows, we may find some interesting tidbits about this temple's origins or history in there.
The library is a spacious room crammed with narrow bookshelves and large tables. Many shelves are empty and the remaining scrolls and tomes seem tattered and sagging. A small open door looks into a tidy office. The room is clean and bright despite a general atmosphere of abandonment. Several windows look into a garden to the west. A lone young woman sits at one of the tables, pouring over a tomb. She acknowledges your entry with a glance, but quickly returns to her reading with eager concentration.
The temple garden is badly overgrown with tangled vegetation. Vines and briars climb the temple walls on three sides, surrounding the large windows into the chapel and the smaller windows into the library. The garden itself is a profusion of flowering bushes and weeds. Except for a clear space in the center of the garden, the dense weeds grow taller than an adult human. At the center of the garden sits a crumbling fountain, long dry, with a statue of a noble turtle in the center. Heaps of foliage choke two similar fountains, each with a large stone orb resting in the fountain’s center.
The doors near the library opened easily into the garden, but the doors on the northern side from the crypt and the hallway to the crypt, have long been boarded up.
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Arkwright walks over to the woman and coughs gently.
"Excuse me. I am deeply sorry for interrupting your reading, but I was wondering if you could assist me? I am searching for a book on the teachings of Korada, as I wish to learn more about him and his histories. Would you possibly have some sort of catalogue or list of the works here? I would be most grateful for any help."
While talking, Arkwright discreetly examines the title of the book the woman is reading.
The dry fountain in the middle looks like it has been regularly cleared of all vegetation. The rest of the garden has been allowed to run wild. So much so that it will take some time and much effort to clear the plants away in order to study how the garden beds were designed. By yourself, this task will take at least the rest of the day, and probably most of tomorrow as well.
Most of the volumes here are on the teachings of Korada; take your pick. She pulls a dusty volume off a nearby shelf. I liked this one.
I don't know of a catalog, but if one exists it would be filed somewhere in the office in back. Feel free to browse. Excuse me.
The young woman gets up and exits, intent on finding another quiet place for reading.
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"Or we could just ask politely where the existing catalogue is."
Arkwright smiles after the retreating woman.
"No self-respecting bibliophile could stand a library without one."
Arkwright glances at the cover of the book and skims through, seeing if there is anything unusual in a book on the teachings of Korada.
He then beckons for Erin to come with him, and heads to the office to find the catalogue.
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"Bibliophile. One who'd rather read than lead or breed." Says Arkwright with a grin.
"Now, let's go find that catalogue. Oh, and Erin? While the Gods of Libraries usually frown on noise, I will personally argue your case should you feel the need to cry out 'Trap!' or 'It's going to blow!' or anything similar."
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Erin flips through a couple of books on the way to the office, picks one off the shelf and hands it to Tanrov.
"Tanrov, could you please keep an eye out for us while we check the office. If you could be discreet that would help, here you go, this one has a lot of pictures" She says with a smile.
As the two enter the office.
"Well, she did not seem to pleased to see us. Lets see if we can find the bibliophile's notes. Luckily I believe we may be able to see Ahsur from here as well, as the garden is right outside."
She then begins to search the office.
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Erin lets out a small laugh.
"As amusing as it would be to shout 'It's going to blow' in the middle of a questionable religious establishment, I think it would be wiser to stick with hand signs."
She then falls silent for a moment and looks contemplatively out to the garden.
"I guess emotions do give us humans away pretty easily, don't they?"
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Arkwright pauses, then half-closes his eyes and stares at the book in his hand he was searching through.
"I was taught that our face and body is a blank canvas, and emotions are painted upon it in millions of different hues. The presence of each color means something, a lack of colour means something else."
He turns and smiles at Erin.
"And who in the world wants to look at a blank canvas all day?"
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Erin begins meticulously replacing all the items in the first desk drawer exactly as she found them, and moves to the next one.
"That is quite the eloquent way to put it, and I agree with you on that point. Life would be quite boring without any variety added to it."
She then picks up another piece of paper from within the drawer and looks at it thoughtfully.
"And despite all the colors I still am unable to figure out what your true calling is. Jack-of-all-trades perhaps? I've seen seen a hint of magic, a brush of swordplay, an inkling of artistry, and a touch of philosophy emerging. Not meaning to pry, but I like to know the people I am working with."
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Arkwright flicks through the book, discards it and picks up another one.
"It is a fair question... and I'm afraid the only honest answer I can give is that I will tell you once I figure it out. In the meantime... we have a library stocked with the knowledge of the followers of the Lord of Foresight, and the prospect of things going 'Boom!'. Life is good."
"And what about you? What is your calling? I assume you want more out of life than the ability to sniff out traps? Though i've never discounted that ability..."
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"My calling? I have been just trying to survive until recently. Threw my lot in with the society, to see where it takes me, and here I am, in an Aasimar temple in another plane of existence. The whole trap thing, well... Lets just say it involved demanding older brothers and a lot of sketchy incidents I would have rather not been involved in"
Erin looks slightly down after the last statement, replaces the contents of the second drawer, then continues.
"Nothing in here either, I am going to check on Tanrov real quick. He's been real quiet since I handed him that children's book on angelic beings."
After a bit of searching, Arkwright finds nothing useful. If there is a catalog somewhere in this mess, it’s not in any logical place you can find. This is disappointing because from what you can tell, cataloging all of these volumes from scratch is going to take a while, a long while.
Liso’s cheeks flash a slight pink at your question, embarrassment or shame perhaps?
I have suffered a little for my lack of enlightenment. The holy pilgrim that resides with us offers a rite sacred to Korada in the garden. It provides visions for the pure of mind, but those with impure thoughts loose a finger as a penalty for seeking enlightenment while they are yet unclean. You are welcome to attempt the right if you deem yourself worthy. Excuse me.
Intriguing rite indeed. A new opportunity to increase your knowledge in this area.
As Ashur finishes up his search, he hears bells behind him. Do you wish to undertake the rite of the Kiss of Korada?
Turning, he sees a Gnome approaching, dressed in a green tunic. It grants blessings for the pure, but carries some risk for those with divided souls.
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Petr and Freya enter the Library. He begins to open his mouth to speak, then he looks to the woman sitting at the table and appears to change his mind mid sentence.
Petr enters the room to see Tanrov, Arkwright and Erin poking around shelves and drawers.
"Begun the cataloging already? What can I help with?"
Petr doesn't get a good look at her hands as she exist the room.
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After a few minutes of searching, Petr addresses the party members in the library in a voice purposely soft so as not to travel outside the library.
"Something is off about this place. Did you notice Liso is missing fingers? Its true, she is missing one finger on each hand. When I asked her about it she told me she lost her fingers attempting a sacred rite offered her by a 'pilgrim' in the garden.
I admit my knowledge of Korada is thin, but any sort of bloodshed seems quite strange in a temple of so-called Enlightenment."
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Erin steps out of the office and approached Tanrov and Petr.
"We searched most of the office and have been unable to locate a catalog. We will probably have to recreate it from scratch. Petr, that sounds really off. We should really check that out. Let me grab Ark."
She heads back to the office.
"Arkwright, Petr has some pertinent info and Ashur may have gotten himself into a bind. I had a bad feeling about splitting up..."