Chapter 3.5: The Temple of Merikka

The older watchman writhes as he speaks, not just because he's trying to keep everyone in view as he's lying on his face with his hands and feet tied behind his back, but because he's having a hard time answering some of the questions...as if they're causing him additional discomfort. "I haven't kidnapped anyone. We're just in charge of keeping people out of the temple at night, so I don't know how much I can tell you...but-but I will tell you everything I can!" He takes a deep, shuddering breath. "I think the people who are taken are brought into the Temple, at least at first. If they come in during the day, we wouldn't know, because we only work the night shift. But I think maybe sometimes a group will arrive at night. I don't always recognize everybody when these groups arrive. Then they come out, and they...nngh! NNGH!!" He convulses as he tries to speak, all his muscles contracting. After twenty seconds of this fit, he relaxes, and continues: "We come back from Her changed, all our troubles, our worries, and our shame washed away! All praise her!" At this, the other three, who've been grunting and panting through their gags, all hum through their gags in unison. "You'll find out. You'll join us, one way or another." He begins to cackle and the other three gasp and guffaw around their gags. Eventually his mad laughter slows and stops. "Then we'll all live together in harmony."

At some point during the interrogation, Aanbo wanders off to explore the courtyard as he suggested he might.

With Chase's urging, the energy of green and growing things flows up through the floor and into his feet. The hairs rise on his arms as the power fills him, and then Chase directs this vitality into Mother Arkon. Arya revives, coughing and wheezing and clutching her neck, which is still very painful to the touch under Morton's bandage. She starts to speak: "What happened? Where are we?" revealing that her clear mezzo-soprano voice is now a husky, rasping contralto. But the others shush her, pointing to Myrtha's ongoing interrogation of the watchmen that have been hog-tied and dropped on the floor.

"No, she doesn't brand us!" the man says, his mouth muffled somewhat by the floorboards. He tries to crane his neck to the side again so he can speak more clearly. "We did this ourselves, long ago. It's the symbol of Telchur; a bunch of us..." his voice drops into a mumble.

"What did you say??!?" Arya interjects, her low, scratchy voice cracking with indignation.

"I said," the man sighs, "a bunch of us tried worshipping Telchur years ago. The spiral is clearly the sign of a wind god!" Arya, a Pelorite, stares at him with burning eyes. It's unclear to the rest of you what she is angrier about: being nearly killed, or the worship of a wind god.

While this was happening, Aanbo has made a quick survey of the courtyard and the exterior of the Temple of Merikka itself. The outbuilding with the kennels where the others are interrogating the watchmen stretches along the inside of the western face of the wall surrounding the Temple. Along the north wall are smaller buildings: an enclosed shed and an open hut with an overhanging roof. The monk's quick glimpse into these buildings reveal that they are filled with agricultural tools and gardening supplies...exactly the sort of thing you'd expect in a Temple to the goddess of agriculture. As Aanbo continues his circuit of the huge building, he sees that there are no further buildings in the courtyard.

The Earthshaker monk turns his attention to the Temple building itself. The Temple is taller than the walls surrounding it, but like the walls, it has been formed from massive granite blocks. He counts out the number of steps he has to take to pace the length of each side. The Temple appears to have a square floorplan, with each side about 50 paces long. Aanbo estimates that the Temple is about 15 paces tall. The first ten or twelve paces of height are very nearly vertical, but after that, the roof slopes in a shallow peak that is bisected by a squashed-looking onion dome which makes up the remainder of the height. In the southern wall, curved steps lead up to large, ornately-carved wooden double-doors. There are no windows or other doors in the Temple's walls. Sconces set into the Temple's exterior walls hold lit torches, which will burn out well before dawn, which is now a bit over an hour away, judging by the advent of false dawn in the night sky.

Having seen all this, Aanbo hurries back to the outbuilding to join the others.

Eugenios recognizes that Telchur is one of the four Oeridian gods of wind: the winter wind.

Arya croaks a response to Myrtha's question, wincing with each syllable. Despite the pain from her nearly-mortal wound, she is too accustomed to speaking with authority on every subject, and she can't seem to abbreviate herself. "I don't know anything other than Telchur is cousin to Merikka...Merikka, whose temple they are defending! Imagine what kind of degenerate would abandon their god for some other! I can't stand people who are fickle in their faith."