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Inam and Kallik, a friendly, round-faced ifrit priest nods at your questions, and tells you he just saw the two guards you are inquiring about but a moment ago. A few flights of stairs later, and you are at the same doorway you encountered Sophia while the iron bell was ringing. The priest bids you good day.
Sophia and Lui look very happy to see the two of you. As they approach, Sophia glances with scarred eyes over your shoulder as if looking for someone behind you, then shrugs to herself.
Lui limps over to Inam. There is a sharp click with every other step he takes. Looking down, you see that his severed foot--which he cut off with his own sword--has been replaced by finely carved piece of wood. It resembles some kind of bird foot, with three long toes in front and one toe in the back.
The two Temple guards bow deeply to both of you. Smiling, Lui says, "Inam! Kallik! So good to see you!" He throws his hands in the air. "Never a dull moment in the Temple, eh? Not sure why they called off the search for the inquisitor's killer..." He shakes his head, then looks at Inam. "Anyway, anything we can help you with?"
It strikes you that this is a problem very specific to the Blessed - there appear to be no other records of this phenomenon occurring. In order to further this line of inquiry, you would likely have to either alchemically experiment directly on Kallik, or peruse the personal library of an inquisitor who worked with the previous Blessed.
Frustrated, you carefully put away your alchemy set. The suffocating obsidian of the small room you were given is only offset by a rough wooden table, a sturdy chair, and a faded tapestry. With a quiet sigh, you turn your attention to the stack of religious texts you have acquired.
You were right about it being warm in the Temple. You are unsure how they heat such a large building, but after a long morning it certainly is nice to sit down and be out of the cold...
---
You startle awake. Two things grab your attention: the room you are sitting in is no longer black - it is a bright white, and there is a second chair in the room, occupied by a sylph.
The sylph is patiently sitting with his hands clasped on the table. The hands are unusually large for a sylph, and stained with splotches of yellows and browns. Looking into his face, you encounter a dull-looking smile and vacant eyes. You notice an old, hideous scar on the sylph's forehead, nearly traveling from one ear to another. The scar is puckered, and shows signs of hasty stitching.
"Hello" he says without inflection. The voice sounds gummy, like there is something sticking to the roof of his mouth.
He takes a deep breath, rubs his eyes, runs his hands through his matted hair and looks the elen in the eye. "Hello. Sorry about that. How can I help you?"
He shows little reaction to your words, other than a blink. "he'll want you to open the box with his name but you shouldn't"
"Glad to see you are both doing better." replies Inam, eyeing the pair warily.
Pausing to consider her thoughts a moment, she frowns. "Any idea what would happen to the culprit when they catch him? Would a trial even be worth it with So Khong being so high up in the order? I must admit, I'm a bit surprised they stopped their search."
Looking sidways at Kallik, she awaits their response. 'Oh, I do hope they don't ask me if I know anything.' considers the sylph.
Lui shrugs. "That's for the High Inquisitors to decide." He smiles. "I'm guessing it won't be pretty though."
"As for why the search stopped - word came from Inquisitor Ky La that the search was to be suspended for now. He must know something we don't." He peers at you for a moment. "Everything okay, Inam?"
'Yeah...I figured as much' considers Inam, shaking her head slowly.
"No, not it's not. But for now, that's as far as I can say on it. Please don't ask?" she grimaces, looking to them pleadingly. "Were you around when So Khong's blessed four were here? Their...unceremonious departure seems to be stirring up old wounds as of late. Ky La and So Khong were involved in their training I believe. Any other specifics come to mind?" she asks.
Pausing a moment, she adds "Any specifics about that situation that could be useful, please don't hesitate to expand on."
”Okay, thanks for the warning. I honestly don’t know why you don’t use names or specific details when telling me things though, if you trust me enough to give me information why don’t you just tell me more? Honestly, we are sortove floundering against the clock right now.”
The sylph begins breathing very rapidly, pulling in his lips, as if he is in great pain. Hands trembling, he violently rips open the book you were sleeping on. Every page is covered in the smiling rune you have been looking for. In his slurred voice, he yells, "him! the smiling one! don't let him in!"
don't let him in!
don't
let
him
Ibinu, you startle awake. Two things grab your attention: the room you are sitting in is black again, and there is only one chair. You are alone.
The book you were reading is completely blank, save for three small lines of text hiding in the corner of the page. The tiny, cramped letters almost seem to be timidly whispering.
don't let the candle burn herself out
beware smiling inquisitors
open the box and let me sleep
When you blink, the book is back to normal - a meandering history on the foundation of modern Temple practices.
Inam, Lui furrows his brow at your question. Sophia is the one to answer, "That was a bit before our time, darling." She rubs at the corner of one of her scars, likely without realizing she is doing so. "You two have met Vecc though, haven't you? I know he was around back then."
Lui puts a hand on Sophia's shoulder, stopping her for a moment. "Would the two of you like to grab a bite to eat at the breadbox first? Don't take this the wrong way, but you both look like you've had a rough day."
Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed while saying nothing throughout the conversation. Shaking her head no before looking to the back of Inam's head waiting to see what she has to say.
Spotting Kallik's head movement out of the corner of her eye, she agrees. "Sorry, but we're up against a clock at the moment. We'll have to take a rain check."
"Could you point us in the direction of Vecc? It's quite important." she pleads. Looking down to the stone floor, she adds "You're not wrong though. It has been quite...a day. And it's not about to end soon from the looks of things."
The two guards nod, and exchange a brief look with each other. The four of you make your way to Vecc's room, accompanied by the click, click of Lui's wooden foot.
Lui knocks on the door. Vecc's reedy voice calls out, "Come in!" Sophia and Lui stay outside.
Vecc is sitting in his rickety rocking chair, with his right foot propped up on a stool and several pillows. "Sorry if I don't get up. Damn wet snow outside is making my ankle swell like a cagna." He looks at Inam and Sophia. "Excuse my language."
"Anyhoo, you're here about the Blessed, right? Lý Văn Sinh--we go way back--came by last week. Said I might need to help you out if he...had trouble. Anyway, much as I love talking to a captive audience, what do ya already know?"
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Glancing back to their guides, Inam speaks up "Uh...you want us to share in front of...OW!" stopping suddenly as Etrah pokes her in the neck, she shrugs. "Ok."
Clearing her throat, she continues. "So, So Khong, Ky La and likely two others...maybe more...have been running experiments with the Darkspawn. Releasing them within the city in various places to see how they react to different types of elen."
"The four 'Blessed' disapproved of this and moved against the Temple leaders. In retaliation, to avoid losing their status, those involved mutilated them. Carved...uh...Jin inscriptions? Something like that into their flesh and buried them in a secret chamber below the Arena."
"Recently, for reasons unknown, Ky La lead a group of brainwashed citizens with a kindly ifrit to release an efreet. Once that occurred, the four elen mutilated by So Khong, Ky La...and whomever else came back to life...in a manner of speaking. They are seeking out vengeance now!"
Turning back to the two guards outside the room, she asks "Were you aware of any of this? Is this the Temple you gladly serve? A temple that desecrates the dead, murders and mutilates elen...releases DARKSPAWN INTO THE CITY?!"
Taking a few deep breaths, she turns back to Vecc. "We managed to send two of the undead souls to rest. There are still two out there...somewhere seeking revenge."
"Aside from the other problems that creates, if they manage to succeed, they'll never be with Volcano. The poor creatures will rest with Sky and the Darkspawn. This must be prevented so they may have the afterlife they've earned!"
As the young sylph spoke, her voice had become louder and her face grown more and more red. It's no question he has strong opinions on this topic. Upon completion of her speech, she leans heavily against the doorframe, glaring at the elen called 'Vecc', awaiting him to fill in the blanks.
Lui and Sophia gape at you, open-mouthed. The bewilderment on their faces is plain from these revelations, but they both show a deep hurt from your shouted accusations, as well. Struggling to absorb all this, they simply turn their backs and resume their posts at the door. Lui puts a comforting hand on Sophia's shoulder.
Vecc stares at the wall after you are done speaking. He mutters, "Người, playing around with darkspawn again, eh? Thought he learned his lesson last time."
He looks at you. "But what do you mean, 'into the city'? Sure, you killed those spawn under the Temple, but I don't think even our bespectacled inquisitor would just toss one into the streets. He likes to keep control. 'Sides, the whole damn city would be panicking if that happened."
"Now, as for the rest...you seem to be partial to one-sided stories, Miss. A pretty black-and-white way of looking at things, and that can be dangerous if you refuse to use yer head. Now take you, for instance. You've got this gift, this blessing. Seems like yer taking to all the Warrior's teachings - defend the weak, fight bravely, all that. So let me ask you - would you ever use your Blessing as a bargaining chip? Would you ever refuse to do your duty unless things went yer way?"
Ibinu will make a few notes on what happened, pick up his items and head back to their room. Brain on fire, he knows tomorrow will require a significant amount of focus so he lays down to get some rest.
In the morning to help focus his mind he will do his normal prep for the day, crafting reagents, mixing elixirs, and packing up all his gear. If no sign of the Angry/Naive Duo he will go looking for them, probably starting where food would be present.
Twitching when Inam yelps but biting her tongue only for her jaw to drop as the sylph starts to rant. The familiar fury tries to tug at her. Begging for the blood of the guilty. Waging war with the fear of becoming a thing worse than her desired quarry.
Stained fingers drug crescents in Kallik's palm and she finally breaks her self imposed silence. Snapping at the older elen, "It can be a bargaining chip if need be but we came her for answers not more lectures. Clearly you know about what the Inquisitors have done in the past.
Please tell us about that. Any narrow minded views we have are due to the close minded way So Khong and the others have shown since we arrived. So please be different and just help us." By the time Kallik is done speaking her tone has long shifted from her normal wrathful growl to a rumbled pleading.
"Sorry if I'm lecturin', habit of old age I suppose. The reason I ask is because that's exactly what the previous Blessed did - they refused to go on a mission in protest of what the Temple was doing. Dozens of elens ended up dead."
He shrugs. "Temple ain't perfect. Any group gets big enough, you have your share of bad seeds. But do we protect elens? Yes. Do we feed 'em? Yes. Do we do our part against the Dark? Sure."
When he sees both of your faces darkening as he defends the Temple, he sighs. "And do some folks in here do terrible things?" He pauses, and nods. "Yes. So what's this 'help' yer lookin' for, exactly? Findin' these last few and doin' something about it?"
Inam's mouth drops open. "They...they risked innocent lives to bargain?" Suddenly, the stress of the long day creeps up on the paladin and she finds herself sitting down abruptly in the doorway. "No. No. That's not right." she mutters, shaking her head. "I would not withhold aid to prove a point."
Nodding silently from the floor, she whispers "Be they justified in their revenge or not, we can't have them running around murdering people. At best, they only kill the ones responsible. More likely though, innocents will get caught in the crossfire."
Vecc clears his throat. "So, eh, if ye don't mind me askin'...ye said you put two of 'em to rest...which two are left?"
"Huh? Oh, right. The one after Ky La and the one after So Khong have been dealt with." answers Inam, sounding far away.
'He seems knowledgeable about all this...was he one involved?' she considers, eyeing the man.
Unfortunately, Inam is unable to penetrate Vecc's friendly facade. You have no idea if he is hiding ulterior motives, or if he is one of the few decent elens you have met, like Eo.
"Hmm. So Bi'nh and Kilja are gone. That leaves Michan, and..." His eyes flicker to Inam, then Etrah, then back to the wall, "Etain."
Oblivious to the implication of the mans actions, Inam frowns. "Ok. So who would they most likely be aiming for? Undine and a Sylph...right?"
"You're not exactly being overly forthcoming with information here. Is there a reason you wish to drag this discussion out Vecc? Are you one to expect retribution?"
"Two sylphs left. Same make-up as your group. Truth be told, I don't know the name of the inquisitor who was in charge of Michan. The head of the Inquisition of Conversion isn't a fellow who makes himself--or herself, I suppose--known to others."
Vecc stands up, slowly and laboriously. He winces as he puts weight on his swollen ankle, even using his cane. He hobbles over to a beautiful watercolor painting of Volcano at bright. Still facing the painting, he says quietly, "Would you believe me if I said I would have rather died than seen that young girl come to harm?"
"You still haven't told us...who...the second..." trailing off as the suspicions grow within her, Inam looks up towards the man.
"Would it be safe to assume, this Etain is coming for you?" she asks outright. "Yet you lived and she was mutilated. At your hand, maybe? You have the right to give your side." answers the sylph, her hand instinctively going to the blade at her waist.
Glaring at the man, she mumbles, "Bolcán, taispeáin dom a nádúr fíor."
"Volcano, show me his true nature."
A long silence. "I'm surprised she hasn't come yet. I wouldn't fight her." His eyes take a faraway look. "She had a dog. Small, but damn fierce." He smiles, but it quickly sags. "She lost Yi in a fight, and she wasn't the same after that. That's when the real trouble, the bitterness and anger, started." He sighs. "So Khong came to me one day, and said the Blessed had been killed by Dark cultists."
Tears stream down his face as he continues to look at the painting, avoiding your eyes. "I didn't question it. I didn't have the heart to see how ugly the Temple had gotten. When Lý Văn Sinh came by and told me what had been done to those kids ..." He shakes his head, unable to speak for a moment.
"If you want more answers, I can get you into So Khong's chambers. Whatever notes he gave you before were incomplete. You might be able to find more answers about the Blessed, and where they might go."
"I see your hand on your blade, by the by. I ain't that old. After I get you the notes, it's up to you how you handle me."
Sliding her hand away from the hilt, Inam frowns. "Sounds like you didn't do all that you could, but you don't seem to have been directly responsible. On top of that, The Warrior doesn't deem you evil sir."
"It is a sad tail. We'll gladly take your assistance in So Khong's room." she answers. Silently, she follows the man to the all too familiar quarters, waiting outside upon arrival.
With a nod, she thinks Vec for his time and heads back to their room. 'Tomorrow is going to be rough...least the guards will know where to find me.' she considers as she tries to decipher the information on the parchments.
Flexing her fingers, tensing and relaxing, over and over. Quick as her pulse while Inam and Vecc go back and forth. But she quietly follows Inam to So Khong's room.
Taking half the papers once they return to their quarters and starting to read though them.
Vecc does not acknowledge Inam's last statement regarding his morality. Taking a deep breath, he tears himself away from the bright, joyful painting and plods toward the dark halls. Just like Lui, his passage on the unforgiving floor makes a click, click as he uses his smooth, timeworn cane.
Sophia and Lui look down and say nothing as you pass by. Just before you turn the corner, Sophia calls out, "Inam, we didn't--" Her voice catches, and Lui touches her shoulder again. The two turn their backs to you and walk away, back toward their original post.
Mercifully, the route to So Khong's room is short. After several minutes, you come to a wing of Inquisitor's chambers. With a muttered, "Yeah, yeah," and a wave of his hand, Vecc makes the two blank-faced guards stand aside. He cocks an eyebrow when he sees you both stop at the door, then shrugs. He enters as you wait outside, alone with your thoughts and the guards who pretend not to look at you.
Five or six minutes later, he comes out with a bundle of papers tucked under one arm, still hobbling on his cane with the other. After you are out of earshot of the guards, he clears his throat of recent tears and says, "Surprised you trusted me to find these papers alone. Guess yer bad memories o' that room outweigh yer distrust? Giang isn't..." he pauses, and shakes his head, "wasn't a very original thinker. His hidey-hole wasn't tough to find. I'm giving them all to you - I think one thing we can all agree on is that Temple-folk shouldn't be in charge of this anymore."
The old ifrit points with his chin down a hallway. "That'll get ya back to yer place fastest. I wouldn't read that stuff before you head to bed - give ya bad dreams." And with that, he clicks back to his own room. The slight bend in his back seems more pronounced now, making him seem small.
Back in your chambers, you find a simple meal of fruits, root vegetables, and--of course--ashbread. Egret is breathing lightly with the rhythm of sleep. Ibinu is snoring softly, and speaking quiet nonsense.
Though it is hardly a candle after suppertime, you both find yourselves exhausted, unable to keep your eyes open. You both read a paragraph or two, but soon begin reading the same line over and over, without retaining any meaning. Depending on how stubborn you are, you either give in and go to bed, or fall asleep at your desk.
In your mind, a deep, resonating pulse blares, like the heartbeat of a whale. In a chorus of voices, you hear,
""
Egret whimpers in her sleep, waking you up from black nothingness. You put your hand on her shoulder, intending to bring her closer to your side. Your fingers catch on something, however - did you hit a snag on her nightshirt? A wetness. Is she crying?
Why won't your fingers come loose? Why is it so wet? Why isn't she breathing?
No
Egret whimpers in her sleep, waking you up from black nothingness. You put your hand on her shoulder, intending to bring her closer to your side. Your fingers catch on something, however. A wetness.
Why isn't she breathing?
Egret whimpers in her sleep, waking you up from black nothingness...
From somewhere to your left, a fiddle begins sawing the old jaunty tune Crows in the Corn. The upbeat song sounds distorted, as if coming down a long tunnel.
As your eyes adjust somewhat to the lights, you look down, and see you are dressed in a white surgeon's gown. Your hands and feet are tied tight with slimy white filaments that travel up to the ceiling. Squinting up toward the catwalk, you see a large elen brain from which the white filaments extend.
The audience claps thunderously. The threads jerk your limbs, and you start to dance...
You all awaken at roughly the same time, unable to go back to sleep. Egret continues to breath quietly, traceries of veins visible under her pale face.
Bian's belongings are gone. As promised, she has moved back to her old chambers.
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Keeping her eyes down, she waits, expectantly. 'You knew this was coming. It's in Volcano's hands now." she considers.
The chorus breaks the silence in the room suddenly. 'Wait?! Superior?! I...' The pounding in her head increases tempo. screams the sylph, her head snapping up. Spotting an ifrit directly ahead, she drops her eyes again. Pausing...trying to collect her thoughts...head spinning....ground spinning..."Superior..." she mumbles.
rings out from her shoulder, deafening. Etrah leaps to the ground in front of his charge and locks his wings behind him. The bird begins pacing before the paladin. "Bukaw. Cluck, CluCK buKAW" stopping, it points to her accusers, then back at himself. "BraWk bukaw bawK. Cheep Cheep Bukaw."
Etrah resumes his pace...back and forth; back and forth. "Brawk brawk bukaw. Caw mAkAWKAw." Pointing to the distant volcano and back to Inam, the avian shakes his head and announces defiantly. "BuKAW chEEP! CHEEP!" and flutters back to Inams shoulder.
Smiling, Inam looks back up to the ifrit. Stares straight ahead and speaks. "I did not 'murder one who was superior'. I did in fact defend myself and my superior from one lower than a Fallen Sky sylph. Though unfortunate, I DID kill the lowly one called So Khong. He refused to seek redemption so I did THE WARRIORS WILL and saved my superior."
"That...that thing...that cac soith cladhaire rusting the metals....it released Darkspawn into the city! It mutilated, murdered, and tortured elen for the fun of it! It tried to do the same to my herald and myself! I did what must be done. I DID WHAT YOU COULDN'T, or wouldn't."
"The temple was infested with the darkspawn loving filth and I cleansed it. If you wish to save the world from the darkspawn, you must first remove it from your ranks. I did as Volcano instructed. It's sad you couldn't follow Volcano's will, but you now have the chance to take the proper path. I forgive you. I forgive you all for your blindness! Now is the time for you to cleanse your souls! Seek redemption and it shall be yours!"
Jerking awake, Inam screams at the top of her lungs
Gasping for breath, she looks around the room, face beat red. Sweat pouring off the elen in such a state, one would expect to see a bucket nearby.... Wildly, her head jerks back and forth a few times before she manages to pant "What...what...where...."
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At the sudden sound of Inam waking, Etrah flops off the desk, landing headlong on the concrete floor. Jumping to his feet, the religious guide glares daggers at the elen.
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Ibinu is carefully mixing volatile chemicals when Inam jumps up screaming, one vial falls to the floor shattering.
Instinctively shielding his eyes he waits for the explosion... which never comes. Glancing over his arm at the floor he merely sees the liquid eating it's way slowly into the stone. He quickly douses it with a counter agent and all that is left is a burned gouge on the floor. He glares at Inam and then his face softens. He sighs, "looks like we all have had some interesting 'dreams' lately."
He points to the food, some of which is missing. "I've already eaten, help yourselves. Tell me what happened yesterday... all of it please."
Jerking awake just as Inam screams herself awake and falling right out of the chair she had passed out in. Groaning into the floor and then quickly scrambling up to her feet so she run over to where Egret is sleeping. Kneeling down next to the bed and staring at Egret
Egret, deeply asleep, only barely wakes up from Inam's yell. Squinting and rubbing her eyes, she says, "Morning time already?"
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Reaching out for her, trying to shake off the feeling of deja vu. Panic floods her veins when she thinks she feels blood. Tugging Egret to her only to open her eyes again.
"What?" Reaching for the whimpering youth again. Trying to pull her hand back to see if there is blood. But her eyes open again with her hand nowhere near Egret.
An endless repeating cycle.
Crouching down near the bed and throwing her arms around Egert in a tight hug. Keeping her hands around Egret's ribs and just feeling the young girl breath in and out. Trying to steady her racing heart and using Egret's to do so. Tucking her face into the top of Egret's head. Using the girls hair to hid the few tears that leak out.
"Sure." mumbles Inam, still a little disoriented. She moves to her desk and starts picking at the food.
"I suppose you mean when we got back to the Temple...We met up with those two guards we saved. You now, the one you used your blood to bring back from death? Any way, the told us Vec could probably give us the information we were looking for."
"Poor elen feels guiltier about the whole deal than I did about So Khong. I suspect he's a victim in all this as well, but there is more he could have done..."
"I suppose that's a major issue, isn't it? Knowing when to do what...at the right time things can be beneficial...while at the wrong time, it simply makes things worse..." drifting off into the thought, she goes silent a moment, her mouth still moving.
After a minute or so, her voice kicks back in, "...Kallik took the papers from him at the point and we came back here."
Glancing towards the door as she pushes her food away, Inam frowns. "You know they'll come for me, right? It's just a matter of time. Lets see if we can at least find the other two un'Blessed' before our time is up." Promptly opening the parchment before her, she begins to scan the pages for something...anything useful.
Ibinu responds calmly, "is that the issue though? Is it really about 'knowing' what to do and when? Or is it about having the confidence to believe your judgement is right and that Volcano picked you for a reason?" He continues, "while I have known you, I have never once seen you do anything but make the 'right' decision. By that I mean, we follow you not because you are the blessed key whatever or because you reference that little booklet or because Volcano is 'strongest god'. We follow you because in the thick of the shit, you will make the right decision. So maybe next time you go pray, instead of asking for guidance you should ask for confidence and then forgiveness for doubting yourself and Volcano."
He glances over at Kallik, then back to Inam. "The temple may 'come for you', but you have nothing to fear. Stop wasting time is self-doubt and misery and help me look over these notes."
Smiling, Inam turns towards Ibinu. "Well...thank you." she replies, rubbing Etrah's head. "A bit vulgar....but straight to the point."
Moving towards the fellow sylph, she pulls up a chair. "Let me take a look at those and see what pops out at me."