TEMPLE OF RUTHIA
[ZONE 2] [TOP]
James seethed.
Four times they had asked one of the temple's golden robed priestesses to send for the high priestess, and four times they had been left waiting in the alcoves of the temple's central courtyard. When at last it became apparent that their repeated summons were not going to be answered, James shook his head. "We don’t have time for this. Let's get going."
CHAPEL OF ISHAP (Malac's Cross)
[MALAC'S CROSS] [TOP]
Meet: ABBOT GRAVES
TALK - CHAPTER 1 (only):
The attendant priest looked nervous.
Probably a boy of no more than fourteen summers, he gawked at the strange visitors to the Abbaye. "I don't know where Abbot Graves might be. The last time I saw him, he was hurrying off into town. I'm not sure when he will be back."
TELEPORT FROM - CHAPTER 6 (pre-Quest):
James motioned for some assistance.
"Regretfully, until our problems with the Pantathians are resolved," responded an acolyte, "we will not be able to perform to any service, except for vital healings. The Abbot can explain further."
TELEPORT TO - CHAPTER 6 (pre-Quest):
The acolyte stopped.
"I...do not fully understand," he started. "A disturbance surrounding Malac's Cross precludes any teleporting there. I am sorry, but from this end there is nothing I can do."
TEMPLE OF LIMS-KRAGMA
[ZONE 2] [TOP]
There were no walls in the high priestess' chamber.
James struggled to imagine how any such room could fit within the confines of the Temple, seeming as vast as any river valley through which he had ever passed. Even more startling had been the winding maze-like corridors the death acolyte had led them through to reach the room.
"Few rush to speak to our lady. I am curious to know why you wish to converse with us." the high priestess said softly. A gauzy black pavilion draped her throne, obscuring from view all but her lithe form limned in witchlight and a single pale foot which she rested upon a skull carved of onyx. "Why do you call on the Drawer of Nets?"
Seeing no point in lying to her, James shrugged. "Curiosity, as much as anything High Priestess. I wished to learn a little more about what awaits me when I am no longer living and you, short of the Mother Matriarch in Rillanon, are probably the one with the best answers. I do not like surprises."
"Unless you are prepared to devote your life to her services, I cannot help you. It is not something I may merely unfold for you in an hour or an afternoon," she said. I will say this. There is no joy or love in her realm, but neither is there sorrow or pain. You have nothing to fear of her unless you swear the oaths of a Nighthawk."
"Why? What would that mean?"
"Pain everlasting," the high priestess replied. "Those who are Nighthawks have sworn a dark oath, and those of them that are known as the Black Slayers swear the darkest oaths of all, allying themselves to other gods or goddesses who would hold them free of the portal of death at the price of their souls. Once a man becomes a Black Slayer, he may only be called into her halls by an invocation of Lims-Kragma herself, the Prayer of Final Rest."
TEMPLE OF EORTIS
[SILDEN] [TOP]
Meet: BEYLA
CURE:
The priest shook his head. "I am only just now training to be a healer," he said, directing his gaze at the floor. "Until I have learned more, you will need to have High Priestess Beyla attend to any healing you require."
TEMPLE OF BANATH
[ZONE 4]
[TOP]
The hour was sounded.
Clapping his hands over his ears, James looked resentfully up at the brass bells as they passed underneath them, mourning the fact that he hadn't a bit of beeswax to block out the clanging noise. If the priest leading them took any notice, he made no sign.
The Lector of the Temple of Banath greeted them at the door to his study, a greying man with rounded features who patted each on the back as they passed inside to his study.
"How may the Servants of Banath be of service?" he asked.
"I'm not certain," James said, taking a seat by the window. "We have a difficult journey ahead and I was hoping that perhaps your god might have some insight into our predicament."
The priest motioned for him to continue. Quickly James related most of their tale, with Gorath breaking in occasionally to correct certain inaccuracies.
When the tale was, at last, finished the lector was squinting at them. "I am not sure of how we could be of assistance to you," he said. "It is the place of the temple to give aid when possible, but it seems as if many of the things you are having difficulty with you have brought on yourselves or are matters that are beyond the reach of what I may do for you. I am sorry."