Chapter 3.5: The Temple of Merikka

As the party waits for the dawn, each character gets the benefit of a short rest. Each PC consumes a ration/portion of food. If you want to spend one or more hit dice (if you have any available), use the healer's kit doses, declare the dice, and roll them. The wizards Eugenios and Lyrel each regain a L1 spell slot. Aanbo regains all of his ki. Myrtha regains her second wind. Morton regains his spell slot.

Myrtha removes the man's spit-soaked gag so he can respond. "The sanctuary is open to all during the day," he agrees, "But few come at dawn. Most farmers are out in the fields or tending their stock at sunrise. Anyone coming now would be because there is a problem on their farm and they're seeking Merikka's blessing to remove a blight or disease."

Day breaks; Morton, Chase, and Lyrel, the lookouts, see the brightening of the sky first, but soon everyone can see the rising light. The dew has condensed on Morton's cloak. So far, he has seen no one emerge from the Temple to open the gate in the wall again.

What is the party going to do?

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Aanbo (25/27)
Arya (15/19)
Chase (17/17)
Ember (9/12)
Eugenios (8/8)
Ferranzo (8/8)
Lyrel (11/13)
Morton (9/9)
Myrtha (29/30)

Several minutes more pass as Aanbo makes his way, foraging successfully through the various overgrown garden areas of the courtyard. From his hiding place in the scrub, Morton hears/sees the large double-doors of the Temple open from within. A young woman in Merikkian robes emerges and glances around. Could this be the priestess that everyone has been telling him about?

She gives a little start, and looks toward the wall. "Why isn't the gate open?" She gives a little sigh and heads back inside, shaking her head.

OOC:
Morton might also want to go back to the outbuilding to let the others know what he's seen.

Wasn't aware there were no other that saw the priestess. Yeah. He will head back to the others to let them know that he saw here check the front area.

Just to restate: there are four things that could be called "doors:"
1) the gate in the wall
2) The doors leading in to the Temple
3) The door to a storage shed (closed now, but Aanbo checked it earlier and found it empty except for gardening tools)
4) The door to the outbuilding used by the night watch and as a kennel for the dogs (now dead)

Number 4 - the door to the outbuilding (where everyone except Aanbo and Morton were resting) - is open.
Now, Morton has just observed number 2 - the double doors leading in to the Temple - being opened.
The gate out of the complex is still closed, but Chase demonstrated earlier that it can be opened easily from the inside.

Unless I misunderstood which door Chase meant, this is where everyone was when the Temple doors opened.


Morton stands up from the crouch he's maintained for the past hour and a half and feels that sensation of pins and needles as circulation flows back into his feet. He swiftly moves back across the courtyard, gestures to Aanbo, and then enters the outbuilding to tell the others about the open Temple door.

The one watchman who hasn't been gagged and stuffed into a kennel (though he is still hog-tied) responds to Ferranzo's question, his face pressed into the floor by gravity and his giving up on trying to crane his neck to the side: "Not a ceremony, no. It's part of our job to snuff the torches and open the gates at the end of the night. Merikka doesn't care about the dawn or really any daily observations. Her ceremonies are all seasonal: sowing, growing, harvesting, all that kind of nonsense. It was a good gig, until I realized the truth." He chuckles grimly at Lyrel's comment. "Maybe you should go in to the Temple and explain to her that there's nothing wrong, and why the gate isn't open already."

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Aanbo (25/27)
Arya (15/19)
Chase (17/17)
Ember (9/12)
Eugenios (8/8)
Ferranzo (8/8)
Lyrel (11/13)
Morton (9/9)
Myrtha (29/30)