Company Log, 26th Blossom, 801 continued

At this point, our company had decided that it would be most expedient to split into groups. Bran and Raven determined to go to the temples in town to see if there might be a high level cleric around. Lawrence and Skelly went off on a fact finding mission to the local pubs, and Arnestra and I headed for the library. Arnestra was concerned that someone might recognize Lia's body, and so went cloaked and hooded from view.

Bran and Raven's saga

Bran and Raven went to the temple of Gaia and made inquiries with limited results. The local Gaia worshipers seem to be quite uppity and didn't seem to feel that Bran was worth their trouble. They decided to pretend that Bran was Raven's servant, but the only person who deigned to speak with them was a young man who told them "come back tomorrow." Discouraged, Bran headed for the "old" temple. It is constructed of a strange orange stone, which varies in colour from a very pale creamy apricot to a deep salmon to a bronze red. It's doors are ornately carved. On entering, Bran saw an altar that bore a head, graven in stone. The carving is obviously very old as the features have worn away. Down the center aisle of the temple there runs a red velvet carpet. The temple seemed to Bran to be a school more than a place of worship as there were many students, divided into small groups. The first teacher Bran found was discussing the nature of paradox. When she found her head nodding, Bran moved on to a man who was standing alone and asked him about the history of the temple. The man said that the temple was the first structure in town as far as he knew. He wasn't sure which deity it honored but there is some power that has the capacity to resurrect the recently dead here. He said that the life magick is extraordinarily strong here, and that people who are killed suddenly and have prayed to the stone head seem to be the ones who are resurrected. Bran asked if there were any high priests of the religion around, and was told that the religion is long dead. Bran spent a few moments meditating there and has a sense of very old power here, somewhat like the structure on Tholos. She described it as a mosque, and compared the temple to a cathedral. Not being a religious person, I don't quite understand the analogy. As she looked around, she saw another teacher, whose students were staring at candles. There was a third teacher showing his students some kind of martial arts throws. Suddenly there was a shimmer and a young elf bleeding from a nasty scalp wound appeared in front of the altar. He staggered to his feet and out of the temple, to a waiting crowd of young women.( Bran followed at a discrete distance, amazed that no one inside the temple even seemed to notice this miracle.) They gathered about him and all seemed wrapped in a golden glow.

Meanwhile, Melanie stayed a bit longer in the temple of Gaia, meditating. For some reason he tried to make himself pass out, but was unsuccessful. Having never known a ranger before, I'm not sure if this is normal behaviour or not... On leaving the temple of Gaia, Melanie made his way toward the smell of baking bread. He found a fine bakery, and in the course of purchasing muffins, he conversed with the baker and found that an invasion of pirates was indeed expected, that they would probably be our best choice of transport to Freeport, and for arcane information, the old temple, the monastery or the mystics would be our best bets. He was told that the mystic hall was nearby and that they would be easy to recognize because they carry large milky white crystals.

Melanie headed for the plaza, carrying a large sack of Orga muffins. He looked carefully for any sign of an adventurer's guild, but found nothing. He sat in the park and searched the crowd, noticing that at least a third of the population seemed to be wearing robes, but no one else seemed to be clad in the white of the celestial church. An aside, he said he watched as a figure in a rust coloured robe removed it's hood to reveal a froglike face, apparently a member of a race we've never heard of... He was startled to see himself across the square, but then realized it must be Bran he was looking at. So confusing! He went to see what Bran had found out. The young elf was still there, and the young women were still at work healing him, judging from the golden glow that was still around them. Wnen they are finished, Bran goes to talk to one of the women and realizes they are elves! She introduces herself and in elvish explains that she has heard of the temple, and asks for some information about it. They explain that they are members of the healer's guild, always ready in the town square to render assistance should someone come out of the temple needing help. Important note: She also said that there are always fighters on hand in the square as well, should defense be required. There are still a number of elves on the island, about one in six. Mel began to speak with a woman in a violet blouse. When the woman asked where Mel was from, he gave an evasive answer. Mel asked if the healer's guild had any adepts who could heal both the body and the mind and was told that only the very advanced could do that.

Stories about the "old temple":

If there is a massacre, large numbers sometimes come back. No one seems to understand how the temple works. Umbrion once kidnapped a young man and held him in his tower. The despondent young man committed suicide, but although he was resurrected, his body did not come to the temple, but stayed in the tower. There is a proximity factor for the altar, it won't work if one is killed on Thieve's Island. It does work in other places though. One of the elves related her personal experience, she has been killed ten times!! She said she experienced the pain and the dying, but then found herself floating in a sparkling mist where she could walk and walk but not seem to get anywhere. She said there was a sudden sensation of falling and that she ended up on the red carpet in front of the altar. (I'm guessing the carpet is red to hide the blood stains...) There is some relationship between the length of time you were dead and the length of time it takes to be resurrected, but it seemed to involve paradox and I got confused... The only limitations on who will be resurrected seem to be that it can't be a death from old age or natural causes (I'm guessing it needs to involve blood) and that you must have prayed to the big giant head at some point, and that you be somewhere in the isles(?).

Bran asked if we should avoid the Nox Sorora. One of the elves eyebows went up, and the others looked askance at her, but then Bran was told that it was a secret society that held moonlight worship services. She is willing to drop the subject, but Mel, as usual, won't let it go. He heads over to the elf who reacted to the name and asked if she had a second to speak with him. He prodded her for information and finally she muttered something and all of the women laughed. The young elvish man played with the hilt of the dagger and the rest of the elves got rather cold and distant at this point, so Bran apologized for Mel's invasiveness, explaining that we were new to the area and tired, and took her leave. The elf she had been speaking with said," After a good night's sleep, maybe you will know how to behave."

Mel drifted into the old temple and began to pray to the stone head. He felt a tingling sensation and heard chimes. Bran was quite peeved with him by this time and came back to the Purple Tor.

Skelly and Lawrence's Tale

Skelly and Lawrence wandered through town, trusting Skelly's unerring nose for the happening place. They went past a ramshackle watchtower, very old and recently shored up, according to Lawrence. The docks are to the SW of town. They passed a little fairy tale cottage that sells tokens of love, wedding rings, etc., and then saw a group of dwarves drinking outside of what looked to be a brewery. Upon entering, they saw a large contingent of dwarves, making merry, with some scattered humans, some who seemed very comfortable with the dwarves and some who stuck out, maybe just there to sample the ale. Skelly approached a dwarf who seemed to have more barrels behind him, thinking he might be the bar keep, but he was mistaken. He then became aware of some rather bad singing coming from one of the corners, so they made their way between the dwarves, who were attired in bright colours as well as the traditional earth and stone ones they seem to favour. They found the source of the noise, a very drunk dwarf was singing a doggerel about doing some anatomically impossible thing with a naga (Skelly tried to sing me a bit of it later and was surprised to see his own face blushing, I'm sure). He struck up a conversation and Lawrence was disconcerted when the dwarf looked at him and slurred "you look familiar." Skelly changed the subject by asking the dwarf what was the proper dwarvish greeting. The dwarf obliged by head butting him. Skelly butted him back and they were fast friends. The dwarves name was Altir, and he bought Skelly a massive tankard of stout. Skelly drank slowly, not knowing Jotork's body's tolerance for alcohol, and made small talk with the dwarf. He finally got around to asking if there were any "holy people" in the area. The dwarf replied that there wasn't a single priest of Morroden in town. Skelly persisted, asking about priests of other persuasions and was told that the Gaian's were "stuck up." Altir didn't associate much with "spiritual types" but said that many of them worshipped in the woods. The Nox Sorora worship underground, sometimes at the new moon, sometimes the full. He said the dwarves had mostly retreated into the isolated parts of the world, and then began a rousing song that Skelly said was called My Sharonna. It sounded rather annoying, yet catchy. Finding no one else in the place who looked likely to help. Skelly and Lawrence went on to a pub called Jacks. It looked as though it had once been quite upscale, but had fallen into disrepair. The crowd was mostly human, many fighters. Lawrence talked with a few fighters and then they decided to head back to the Purple Tor. As they walked, Lawrence pointed out landmarks. There was a large building, the "party hall" which is used as a performance center. They passed by a monastery that houses fighting monks rather like the Fianna. They passed the gate we entered through, the stone golem standing watch and nearby a stone structure something akin to a keep, a defensive compound that housed the fighter's guild. Across the street, they heard a blacksmith's hammer ringing , and around the corner were many odd structures and a walled park where, according to Lawrence, people go to make love. They passed the eastern gate to the city and back to the town square, past the healer's guild and the estate. Lawrence said the estate belongs to the governor. There is an iron golem inside and a stone golem close by. (There is a golem for each of the four gates and four more that patrol the streets.) As Lawrence walked toward the gates, the stone golem remarked, "Lady Lia, it is after hours, you must not enter." Lawrence and Skelly move quickly to the ramshackle huts nearby and froze. Lawrence said he hoped no one heard that. The golems know everybody who's been in town for any length of time, and a powerful spell guards them. They hurried back to the Purple Tor. Skelly felt something, but he wasn't sure what, just some uncomfortable feeling.

Arnestra and James Douglas's Tale

Arnestra and I went to the library. Actually there are three libraries in Puddleby, one that has basic information, one advanced and the third for the recently discovered elvish collection. You can guess which one Arnestra picked. He browsed texts that were over 2000 years old, some in an ancient dialect that he could barely read. He found a scroll tube with a butterfly on it. Inside was a painting of a battle scene, a group of orcs at a mountain pass with elves to the left, dwarves to the right, and the glowing figure of an angel holding a crown in the background. He was surprised to note his own family's banner amongst the painted heraldry of the elvish army. He moved through the stacks and found a bill of lading. The halflings wanted unusual and complicated trades for the gemstones they were mining, and the elf writing the record was none too pleased...

Meanwhile, I was in the advanced library, looking for information about the temples in the area. The Angelican church near the Purple Tor was Celtic at one time, but the Celts moved out of town and into the forest. The building was pretty and so the Angelicans took it over about 1000 years ago.(Explains why there are no angel statues) There were Angelican priests here, but they are sparsely populated, so worshippers are usually left to their own devices. It is mostly used for weddings. There was another temple in town that burned to the ground and a small chapter house of the Nox Sorora that the healer's guild regarded as a temple burnt down just last week. It was near the gate. I found several references to "The Order of the Glove" ... The temple of Gaia is curiously not mentioned anywhere.

I realized it was getting late and decided to join Arnestra in the elvish library. He showed me the painting, very interesting, he said it seems familiar, but he couldn't think why. He said he mostly uncovered dry elvish poetry and dull writings, but thought I might be interested in the last book he was looking at. I certainly was! It was a book containing a spell of invisibility. I put it by where I could find it again, too complex to deal with just then, and we went back to the Purple Tor.

Together Again

There was a crowd in the main hall of the Purple Tor, a most wonderous strange assortment including a young female that looked to be half cat, and a barkeep that looked to be half orc. The purple tortoise that the place was named for was wandering from table to table begging for scraps. Suddenly the entire party felt the hair stand up on the back of our necks. There was a sense of something... A youngish woman with perfect posture approached the table. At first I thought she was a fighter, but on closer inspection, she proved to be a cleric of the Angelican church! She had a mass of long wavy chestnut hair, controlled by a green headband and wrapped low with a leather thong. She wore fitted leather armour and a cape of cream and green with the crossed shepherd's crook insignia of Raphael.

She said "I have to hear the explanation for this." And "So, who are you?" At Skelly's invitation, she ordered a drink and sat down with us. Skelly told her that we were a group of travellers and why did she ask. After telling her our assumed names, she told us in a bemused way that we could call her "Sister". After some brief conversation, she suggested that we adjourn to her room to talk in private. In her lovely suite of rooms, she told us that she was in town doing research on the old temple. It became apparent after a while that she could see through not only our disguises, but also see our true selves. Her demeanour became much more friendly when we told her our true story. Her name is Fara, but she said we could continue to call her sister or your excellency... It seems possible that she might be able to help us regain our true forms! Glory Be!

Respectfully submitted by Maxfield Jaden Fox,(aka James), Purple Tor, Puddleby, The Isles