"Why...Korada, of course. I was just as surprised as anyone else to learn of Dakang's true allegiance," the gnome says with an expression of dismay.
"Only the doors from the crypt and the hall were boarded up. Those aren't. Besides, I could just go out the main doors and come around. It would be worth it to enjoy these beautiful grounds and to help others determine if they are truly worthy of Korada."
He points out a set of doors between the library and the statuary hall that are, indeed, not boarded up.
"Very good!" Gastidem exclaims with a triumphant smile. "Just stick your hand in the turtle's mouth. Don't be shy, the further you go, the clearer your dedication to Korada!"
He steps away from the statue to give Baram room.
Baram tries to get a sense of Gastidem's truthfulness and, as far as he can tell, the smiling gnome is perfectly honest and trustworthy.
The half-orc warpriest sticks his hand in and feels a sense of calm and that he can almost hear Korada speaking directly to him and as though he has shed his physical form. Then he shoves his hand in further before pulling it free.
And when it comes out, it is cut and bleeding.
"Oh! A shame, friend. It appears that you are not quite worthy, after all. Perhaps some further contemplation and meditation and you can try again?" Gastidem says.
He looks to the others with the same beneficent smile. "Anyone else want to try?"
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Castinus looks at Baram's cut and bleeding hand, and the gnome, and back at the station's mouth. He draws his weapon in wariness, "You can be sure that I consider my spiritual inner peace perfectly adequate, without such a trial." He looks at the others.
"Let us undertake our work here without such nonsense. I am weary of this monastery and its painful surprises."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa...no need for that, Friend," Gastidem says as Castinus draws his sword. "No one forced anyone to accept the Kiss of Korada. Our friend here did it of his own accord."
He shakes his head at Kal'ryon. "I have taken the kiss many times and, as you can see, always succeeded," he says, wiggling his unmarred fingers in the Ganzi's direction. "But I do not feel that I've risen enough in enlightenment to try again. And I assure you there is no trick and no technique. It is simply a matter of being properly enlightened."
The Pathfinders have little trouble finishing their tasks now that Dakang and his influence have been removed from the Temple. With Itham's guidance, it takes them only an hour of working together to get the garden pruned back into at least a resemblance of the proper order. And that order is quite lovely and calming with the spiral and 3 spheres of Korada prominently displayed, though the middle one is actually the turtle shaped Kiss of Korada.
But the surprises are not quite over. In the process of clearing out the garden, Itham discovers a wiry shrub with red brown leaves that he identifies as flayleaf, which can be processed to produce a recreational hallucinogen.
And as they are finishing up, they hear a scream from elsewhere in the temple. Following the sound, they end up in the kitchen and make a macabre discovery.
The temple kitchen is long abandoned and smells faintly musty. The kitchen’s massive stove and rows of cooking implements are all covered with a patina of rust and dark flecks of mold. Dangling in the center of the room, above a solid oak table, swings a halfling man on a stout cord.
Gathered around the man is his wife and one of his sons, both residents of the temple. By the way the rope is tied, it is clear that he has succumbed to Sifkesh's other focus, suicide.
As the sad residents gather around him, the Pathfinders will notice that many of them, including Zhuang and Miriya have, apparently, also attempted Korada's Kiss as their hands are scarred and some are even missing digits or entire fingers.
Finally, their time at the Temple is through, though and the agents return to the basement under Absalom to report their findings and bring back their reports.
Zey seems slightly saddened by the corruption they found at the Temple but it is quickly washed away under his academic fervor for the information they've brought back.
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Speaking to Zhuang, "This day is a sad one, for we have found that corruption is elusive, but it is also a day to rejoice. Now that we have found and cleared out the corruption, Korada will once again smile on this temple as it helps its followers find enlightenment. I will return, both to check on the temple, and to take part in its activities in service to Korada." he says as he thinks about the poor state the kitchen is in, [b]"...I think I'll bring some new cookware and hire a new chef as well. Farewell for now, Brother Zhuang.