[Nexus] Underside - The Second!

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Entrance Room

The spider continues to watch from the silken woven floor. Nothing else happens.

[Beans]

[Temple - Entrance]
She spells out the word BELONG; after writing it, she just sort of stares at it for a while.

She notices the spider, but is seemingly unfazed.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Entrance Room

The spider continues staring with its eight eyes. Meanwhile, a plotclone of Charynrae enters from the rip leading to the altar room. "Oh, my. Another guest. I am Reverend Lady Charynrae Bael'Dalachrech, and you are welcome in the Temple of Dalachrech."

[Beans]

[Temple - Entrance]
My name is... Xathet...

What or who is this Dalachrech?
She looks up at the drider with her rainy-grey eyes.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Entrance Hall

"Dalachrech is the Lord of Invertebrates. He ensures that mushroom-weevils don't eat our crops and cause starvation, amongst other things. Without Him and His creatures, life would be impossible, not mention my very existance." Because drider are partially invertebrates.

[Beans]

[Temple - Entrance]
And... do you belong to his Temple, then?
She blinks slowly.

[iElf]

Temple of Dalachrech- Entrance Room

The book is a guest book, and the last person to sign it did so in Draconic; they wrote 'Does this thing talk?'.

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"Well, Summer, you are in perfect health. Your last mistress looked after you very well." Charynrae will take off her holy symbol and wrap her hand in silk. "Lie down on your belly." Charynrae motions to a stone table in the room I forgot to mention.

Din eeps...she hopes it won't as much as the last time "yes mistress" she lays down

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Entrance Room

"I run this Temple in every particular, and am a senior member of His church. So yes, I do belong to His Temple." Charynrae smiles, her compound eyes glinting.

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

Charynrae chants, heating the holy symbol and pressing it against Din's shoulder. This will hurt, quite a bit.

[Beans]

[Temple - Entrance]
There is a pause before the woman speaks again.
... Could I belong as well?

[iElf]

Din screams a little, despite trying to keep quiet

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Entrance Room

"Of course! Please, follow me." Charynrae will lead Xathet to the Altar Room.

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"That wasn't too bad, was it? Nevermind, Summer. There's something I must ask of you. Can you think of three reasons why I should let you keep your tongue?" Charynrae's giving Din a chance, which is more than Rebecka and most of the other slaves got.

[Beans]

[Temple - Altar]
She follows, limping as usual.

[iElf]

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"That wasn't too bad, was it? Nevermind, Summer. There's something I must ask of you. Can you think of three reasons why I should let you keep your tongue?" Charynrae's giving Din a chance, which is more than Rebecka and most of the other slaves got.

Din looks nervous "um...I'm ditzy, forget full, and I couldn't make cute sounds without it?"

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

Charynrae heads straight down the aisle towards the altar and the gold statuette upon it. As Xathet follows, she may get a vision. The vision begins flying over a sea of beetles, with a rock in the middle to which various humanoids are chained; the beetles slowly roll up and eat them and those eaten regenerate when the beetles recoil. It doesn't take long for the rock to be left behind, and Xathet's flying over beetles stretching as far forwards as behind, and as far to the left as to the right- in all cases, to the horizon.

After what feels like forever later, there's a desert without beetles, and after the relatively narrow band of desert are plains. Lumbering across the plains are massive beetles, large enough for Inside to be built upon their backs, and also their predators- spiders, scorpions and centipedes scaled similarly to the beetles; the skies are filled with multicoloured butterflies, moths, dragonflies, wasps and other flying insects; the butterflies often appear to have metallic wings. Eventually the land gets steeper and rockier, so that the massive plains-beetles have difficulty eating all the trees and small forests appear; a thick band of green on the horizon shows that a true jungle is here.

Yet that is not where Xathet is going; she's headed towards a massive termite mound, larger than Mount Everest. When she arrives, she zips down a ventilation shaft, through tunnels lit by glowing beetles and crawling with horse-sized termites and ants seeming to work together. Also centipedes longer than buses and worms larger than the centipedes. Eventually, through a twisted, narrow warren of tunnels Xathet emerges into a large chamber with a floor covered in crawling invertebrates of all kinds. At the far end sits a huge pedestal with another, smaller and shorter one just in front. On the foremost pedestal stand a group of statues, all wearing the same suit of armour and wielding the same morningstar; despite those similarities, the statues are different in every other way; represented are elves, humans, dwarfs, gnomes, and dromites with a human male standing foremost amongst them. Upon the larger pedestal languishes a massive centipede, ending at one end with three scorpion tails and at the other with the head of a stag beetle and the claws of a praying mantis. Dwarfed by its bulk, a man-sized four-armed insectoid humanoid stands with its hands on a double-ended spear stands next to a centauroid ant-like creature wearing a black helliron helmet with gaps for its antennae.

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"I'm not sure what 'ditzy' is supposed to mean, I don't want a forgetful slave, and cute sounds are overrated. Are those your final three answers?" Charynrae pulls a knife out of the wall; it's viciously hooked and serrated.

[Beans]

[Temple - Altar]
Xathet seems impassive about the whole thing, at least in facial expression.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

"Are you certain you wish to be a Cleric of Dalachrech?" Charynrae does not know about the vision Xathet just had, and won't until Xathet mentions it.

[Beans]

[Temple - Altar]
... I am to be a cleric?

Is that why I had a... vision a short while ago?

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

Charynrae doesn't raise an eyebrow, she can't, like her player. She does look somewhat startled, though. "What kind of vision did you have?"

[Beans]

[Temple - Altar]
She explains the vision in rather good detail.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

"Good news; Dalachrech has chosen you to be a cleric and priest of Him to spread His faith." Making Xathet to be the fifth to be so chosen outside my characters. "Can you speak Abyssal? It is the chosen tongue of Dalachrech." Most of the clerics I play speak at least three languages; Nexusian, Abyssal, and one other, though that's not really necessary.

[Beans]

[Temple - Altar]
I cannot. I have never heard it.

I will serve this god as he wishes.
She shakes her head.

[iElf]

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"I'm not sure what 'ditzy' is supposed to mean, I don't want a forgetful slave, and cute sounds are overrated. Are those your final three answers?" Charynrae pulls a knife out of the wall; it's viciously hooked and serrated.

Din eeps again "um....I'm a good slave, and have never spoken out the secrets of my master! I want to serve you in the best way I can, and I wouldn't be a very good slave without my tongue!"

[Morty]

[Visitors' Square]

The lizard gives another rumbling sound. Its rider says something in Goblin to the girls and Brinika translates: He says we should get in.

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

"Then I shall teach you alongside the other lessons." Boring things, like how to lead the prayers, the layout of the Temple, what Dalachrech prohibits (very little; maybe something on excess alcohol consumption) and what He allows (quite a lot; this would also include directions to Fallow's Furry & Feathered Family Friends in the Eastside of Riverside, a pet (and secretly) slave shop.

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"But whilst you have a tongue, it is always a risk that you will. You can serve just as well without a tongue as with, provided you are properly... Motivated." The way Charynrae strokes that knife suggests that the knife is involved in 'motivation'.

[Murkus]

[Visitors' Square]

The lizard gives another rumbling sound. Its rider says something in Goblin to the girls and Brinika translates: He says we should get in.

"C'mon guys!" Sarah says to the others as she follows after Brinika.

[Beans]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

"Then I shall teach you alongside the other lessons." Boring things, like how to lead the prayers, the layout of the Temple, what Dalachrech prohibits (very little; maybe something on excess alcohol consumption) and what He allows (quite a lot; this would also include directions to Fallow's Furry & Feathered Family Friends in the Eastside of Riverside, a pet (and secretly) slave shop.

[Temple - Altar]
She nods afterward.
I understand.

[The Bushranger]

[Visitors' Square]

The lizard gives another rumbling sound. Its rider says something in Goblin to the girls and Brinika translates: He says we should get in.

"C'mon guys!" Sarah says to the others as she follows after Brinika.

Jamie smiles and nods to Brinika, then the rider...and climbs aboard!

[Earl of Purple]

Temple of Dalachrech- Altar Room

"Allow me to show you around. If you have difficulty seeing, tell me and I'll increase the population of fire-beetles." Pretty much the only lighting inside the temple is the bioluminesence produced by ladybird-like beetles the size of a labrador. Fire would be a bad idea; silk burns, and the beetles are cheaper than glowing crystals although there's some of those in places that need a static light source.

[Beans]

[Temple - Altar]
I see well enough.
I will follow where you lead.
The woman gets up.

[iElf]

Temple of Dalachrech- Slave Punishment Room

"But whilst you have a tongue, it is always a risk that you will. You can serve just as well without a tongue as with, provided you are properly... Motivated." The way Charynrae strokes that knife suggests that the knife is involved in 'motivation'.

Din eeps "...please...i'll obey without question!"