[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

[Zefir]

Inside Temple

"Dalachrech sent a vision to you. It is a sign of His approval, don't worry. What did you see? There's several visions He uses and each has a separate meaning." Jorje sounds impressed; it's been a while since anybody received any vision of any kind.

Inside Temple

"There was a sea full of flesh eating beetles. Then some big ones moving and some flying around. After I nearly hit a mountain I landed inside it meeting someone simular to Dalachrech."

Well his player isn't that good with insects.^^

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"The vision means that Dalachrech has selected you as suitable to be a cleric. However, it is entirely up to you and if you don't feel up to it then that's fine; the offer will stand." Unless Dalachrech retracts it later.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple

Tovpir looks at the man with a very strange expression. A mix of confusion wonder fear anger and happiness. (At all very neutral^^)

"Cleric? I don't know what a cleric needs to do."

[The Alexandrian]

Old Hermitage - Eericka

Percy is startled by Eericka's boldness, and while making little protest, he looks at her with wide eyes once he's been laid down. "Eericka, really, I don't need any rest..." And then she's gone again. Mm. Percival allows himself a small smile, seeing how he's 'endeared' himself to Eericka. At least he won't have to worry about a knife slipping during an operation that could save his life someday.

He smiles at the quick work when she returns. "I was bit more worried about saving Elezibethele, at the time." The demonazi will permit her to work on his hand, sowing it back on and cleaning it. "You really are good at this, though. I know sowing a limb back on must not be typical..."

[Old Hermitage - Eericka]

An operation that could save his life someday? By that you mean something along the lines of sewing his head back onto his body if ever it were hacked off in a combat scenario?

Eericka blushes upon receiving Percival's praise! She is not accustomed to positive reinforcement when she exceeds the expectations of others! She feels the urge to explicate why and how she is so phenominal in the art of surgery.

With a smile of gossamery affectation, Eericka begins.

"Percival, I am a slave. I was born a slave. I might die a slave, but I'll watch Fallow's burn before I myself am committed to the flame."

"Our life expectancy is that of a fruit fly juxtaposed against that of our free counterparts. And do we ever truly live? Between the odd broken man or woman with a shank and the demented environment we were forced to live in, in never-ending fear for our lives, it is a miracle that I'm not a perversion of humanity twisted beyond all recognition or dead."

"My hand is practiced. We 'medicine men' had dibs on the corpses before they were fed to the 'exotic animals' that those piggish gnomes sold. Gnomes are all loathsome creatures who should die, by the way."

"You wouldn't believe what I've done. I've cut people apart and sewn them back together. Marked for incisions and removed organs. I read every book they'd allow me thrice. It kept me sane."

"Warm flesh. Cold flesh. To me it makes no difference. This isn't about saving lives. This is selfish."

"This is about saving myself. The voices of the dead give me nightmares while I sleep. And every time my eyes touch a corpse, a part of me dies with them."

"But if they are alive and well, they cannot do me harm."

"That is both how and why I am good at this."

Before cleaning the wound, she'll attempt to douse the wound with some disinfectant (if Percy has access to any disinfectant) or luke-warm saline solution (isotonic with the pH of blood) which she's mixed up out of twice boiled distilled water and salt to remove any foreign particles from it via irrigation. Eericka attempts to swab the wound with alcohol/disinfectant before suturing any flesh in order to disinfect it. Forgot to mention that last post.

After Percy is in one piece again, Eericka attempts to filter the medicine she brewed on his behalf and hand it to Percival.

"That medicine is a painkiller. You shouldn't be able to feel any pressure on your arms or legs after imbibing that solution. A trick I picked up from one my colleagues who hadn't always lived in captivity."

And the medicine might do just what Eericka said it would, probably, if Percy is affected by such things. It was designed for humans, not demons. It tastes like a sweet cup of tea infused with citrus fruits and honey.

"Do you want salve to expedite the healing process and relax the muscles in your hand and your arm or would you prefer that we skip that step and move on to bandaging up your arm so that you aren't tempted to move your hand for a couple of hours?"

-------

Underside Temple

Eating one's lovers isn't socially acceptable for humans. Driders aren't human. In fact, they're part-spider sexist misanthropes for the most part. Eating one's lovers is merely a facet of one's personal life it is considered impolite to mention in company without the use of euphemisms.

"Oh, I have a vague idea." Charynrae will gladly assist in the pulling of the curtain.

[Underside Temple]

But driders aren't immune to the laws and customs of the lands in which they dwell! Were a drider's lover to be reported as missing in Inside, there would be an investigation pending and said drider would probably be thrown in the slammer before the night was out!

Perhaps that is why more driders chose to relocate to Underside than Inside? Apart from some spawning from cursed drow, that is.

The curtains will last for a very, very long stretch of time, if Charynrae doesn't object. When they finally do rise, Charynrae should be enlightened on a fair number of Sylvia's new features.

Sylvia herself is tuckered out from the activity. Hopefully the couple will have some time to rest and recuperate before Charynrae's upcoming sermon, though they might not. Sylvia having no time reference doesn't help the situation any.

"Arrre you hungry, Charynrae? I can fetch you sssomething to sssnack on if you arrre."

Sylvia somnolently purrs, attempting to embrace Charynrae in an attempt to prop herself up so that she does not fall over.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple

"A priest, who spreads the faith and converts the non-believer, especially those whom already are curious about Dalachrech. There are other duties and responsibilities, but most are closely-guarded secrets to be shared only with Initiates or Novitiates. If you are curious, I can start teaching you the basis until I feel you are ready to be anointed a Novice, whereupon you start learning how to channel Dalachrech's power and perform basic rituals and spells for the Temple's good until your Initiation, at which point your chrysalis opens to reveal a full Cleric of Dalachrech with all the powers, abilities, responsibilities and duties that that entails and which you shall learn upon your path to that point." Hopefully that explains everything.

Underside Temple

Driders aren't necessarily the most common of creatures, and most prefer their own company. Those that do dwell on the surface likely prefer to dwell in isolated caves and ruins in Outside. The habits of the drow make them unpopular, and all driders are descended, no matter how distantly, from drow. Plus, the males tend to prefer to avoid the females, meaning the race's continued survival is almost entirely down to the continuation of the Curse of Lolth upon drow failures.

"Thank you, but no. I am now, for once, satiated fully and in every appetite. My sermon starts soon; do you wish to witness it?" Charynrae smiles. She can always tell what the time is; it's a peculiarity of those races which dwell in these lightless depths. It's a trick involving the shadows in the darkness; they're affected by the moon's gravity.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Charynrae is unique. I had recognized it before, but it is all the more evident now. Charynrae is unique!

She's a slave owner who doesn't seem to enjoy owning slaves. She's a drider who is more sociable than your average human. She's kind and generous in a land where everyone else is cruel and greedy.

Charynrae is a miracle. A character I cannot get enough of.

Anywho!

Sylvia returns Charynrae's smile, letting her go when she feels she's met the steadiness prerequisite for standing upright. Slithering upright, more appropriately.

"Oh! I thought there were a couple of hoursss before your next sssermon. Yeah, I'll accompany you. If you'd like, of course. Jussst need to find my clothesss."

Sylvia scans the room for her garments! If she can locate them and Charynrae is in a rush, they can make tracks to the service forthwith!

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

Thank you.

"There were a couple of hours before the sermon." Charynrae gives a slightly wicked smile as she says this, glancing at Sylvia. Also, Charynrae will pull on a shirt made of undyed spider silk.

[Halae]

[Underside Temple]

A young human woman approaches from the adjoining cavern. She has short brown hair and hazel eyes, as well as pale skin from the fact that she's spent most of her time inside during the past 11 months. Despite this, she's managed to maintain at least a modicum of muscle ability, and her short sleeved cotton shirt shows the fair musculature in her arms. On her front is a strap much like this. Inside is her half-demon child, dressed in a set of baby pajamas that are missing sleeves and pants, so that the numerous sharp parts of his arms and legs don't adversely affect the clothing. It does, however, restrict his wings, but that would have happened from the baby carrier anyways.

Kail is doing the rounds of looking into the different temples, as she said she would. Omid is likely following her as a sort of protector, given the general danger of the Nexus in general. A mother and her baby, even a warrior and her half-demon baby, are not safe on the road alone.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple- Outside

It's poorly lit, so the Temple's true majesty is hard to appreciate for a full-blooded human. At least, until Omid reaches out and chants a quick prayer in Abyssal that should enable Kail to see by the darkness as well as by the light. The Underside Temple is truly magnificent. It's suspended from the ceiling of the tunnel, and is not a standard construction like the ones of the surface. It's a system of vast silk cocoons, most the size of a good-sized room and a few a fair bit bigger, wrapped around the great stalactites that grip the tunnel's ceiling. What light is available is provided by beetles with atrophied elytra and bioluminescent organs in their bulbous abdomens. They are hunted across the silken surface by several large spiders, doubtless the source of so much silk. Dangling from one, large cocoon is a ladder made of more silk, long enough that it touches the ground. Beneath it is a mosaic of small black stones formed into the two-tailed scorpion symbol of Dalachrech. Several people are climbing the ladder, and more are being winched up in a net. Those in the net are the decidedly more alien members of the congregation; a trio of lobster-like chuul, several driders, a slowly oozing blob of undefined flesh that is a mimic, but also a one-legged duergar. Using the ladder are a motley collection of low-ranking and male drow, disenfranchised duergar, some svirfneblin and a strange, blind creature with exaggeratedly pointed ears with white skin and wearing thick armour made of what is certainly chitin.

It would seem that, in an attempt to tie this scene with the one already occurring in the Temple, a sermon is about to begin.

Oh yes, and Omid is a tall, dark, silent man wearing loose robes over a chain shirt. He has a scimitar at his waist that has been shaped to resemble a scorpion's telson.

[Halae]

[Underside Temple - Outside]

In that case, Kail intends to sit in on the sermon, going to sit in a pew if there is one available. Once that occurs, Kail will take Acanthops out of the carrier and place the carrier at her feet, so she can hold the baby on her lap during the sermon. "Do you want to sit and listen, Omid, or do you have somewhere to be?"

Kail has started to enjoy the sermons. She's never been big on religion, always feeling like the entity behind them didn't care, but after speaking directly to Dalachrech, she always felt like there was more to these ones. It was also something she felt Acanthops could benefit from. The baby flails around a bit before grabbing onto his mother's shirt with all four arms and going back to sleep

[Zefir]

Inside Temple

"A priest, who spreads the faith and converts the non-believer, especially those whom already are curious about Dalachrech. There are other duties and responsibilities, but most are closely-guarded secrets to be shared only with Initiates or Novitiates. If you are curious, I can start teaching you the basis until I feel you are ready to be anointed a Novice, whereupon you start learning how to channel Dalachrech's power and perform basic rituals and spells for the Temple's good until your Initiation, at which point your chrysalis opens to reveal a full Cleric of Dalachrech with all the powers, abilities, responsibilities and duties that that entails and which you shall learn upon your path to that point." Hopefully that explains everything.

Underside Temple

Driders aren't necessarily the most common of creatures, and most prefer their own company. Those that do dwell on the surface likely prefer to dwell in isolated caves and ruins in Outside. The habits of the drow make them unpopular, and all driders are descended, no matter how distantly, from drow. Plus, the males tend to prefer to avoid the females, meaning the race's continued survival is almost entirely down to the continuation of the Curse of Lolth upon drow failures.

"Thank you, but no. I am now, for once, satiated fully and in every appetite. My sermon starts soon; do you wish to witness it?" Charynrae smiles. She can always tell what the time is; it's a peculiarity of those races which dwell in these lightless depths. It's a trick involving the shadows in the darkness; they're affected by the moon's gravity.

Inside Temple

Tovpir looks very unsure and heitates a bit before speaking up.

"I.. I.. I never did something like that. I only followed orders. Even thought I had some decissions I allways had a straith order above them."

The scorpion seems to be very confused.

((OOC Do they mind if he works for remnant? Not to spy them he just works for them.))

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple of Dalachrech

"Oh, I see. Well, if you don't think the priesthood is for you, it is possible to refuse and the offer will stay open in case you change your mind." Jorje smiles.

((That depends on how they find out and which Tovpir would choose if told to choose between the two organisations.))

[Zefir]

Inside Temple of Dalachrech

"You missunderstand me. I can't say if this thing is for me or not. I just never made experiense in this."

The scorpion seems to fight with himself. He never had to make such drastic desissions himself.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside Temple of Dalachrech

"Of course, you can go and think it over. It's a big decision, and feel free to take the advice of anybody you want, anyone at all. Come back and let us know when you have decided, and if you choose not to join the clergy and later change your mind you will be accepted. This offer will last as long as you are alive or until you accept, unless you are killed and brought back in which case it will be reopened when life, or unlife as the case may be, has been restored." Jorje nods in complete understanding. This was one of the largest decisions he ever made, so he does understand and emphasize with Tovpir's position.

[Zefir]

Inside Temple of Dalachrech

The scorpion nods and will leave the temple. This is a part of his live he needs time and maybe a good advice. But who should he ask? He doesn't really know many people. Maybe he can find someone in Remnant.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Old Hermitage]

Toy sighs yet again. She was the one to blame for all of this. Despair could sugarcoat it all she wants! Toy's the one who took her life away.

She should have stood against Azurelle when she had the chance. Her sisters could take care of themselves. But if she left them here to waste away...

Retrospect is 20/20...more often than not.

"I confessed because it was the right thing to do. You might have slain me for it, but then you'd have been the solitary object of all of Azurelle's sadistic appetites. And that's even worse than a swift death. At least with a partner we can divvy up the abuse, although one of us will probably end up squished under the other one in the sleeping quarters."

"You proved yourself a creature of reason before. You chose life over freedom and submitted to Azurelle. I anted up and raised, bluffing with not a hope in the world with the current hand I was playing. I gambled that the next card flipped would save my skin. And for once, luck was on my side."

Toy counters, sliding along the floor on all fours. Aha! Matches! A priceless find! Their worth is relatively nothing what with this structure being stone-based and not wood-based. But if the conclusion of this experimentation is a smashing success...

Toy loots the box of matches and jumps back to her feet.

"Besides bringing Azurelle to her knees? A light. You think those potions over there might be flammable?"

"Fair enough. And if it does turn out that one of us is going to end up squashed, I'm fine with being the one of us who ends up under the other, if we get to choose... You're lighter than I am, and I'm pretty sure I'm stronger, so it'll probably work out better that way.

As for a light, if you like, you could use those, but I'm pretty sure I could provide a more... Expedient solution," Despair points out, a small flame springing to life on her finger as she does.

[Earl of Purple]

Old Hermitage

If I recall correctly, Wussy/Despair has an anklet on (if not much else) that has been enchanted to give her a mild electric shock whenever she tries to do magic. Not a powerful shock, but enough to hopefully disturb her concentration. Azurelle can temporarily nullify its effects, or command it to zap away without Wussy using magic.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Old Hermitage]

Indeed she does; however, it doesn't require all that much concentration to channel Netherflame for her, being a tiefling, and as she's used it before with the anklet on, I can't see any real reason she couldn't continue to do so.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Sylvia will just chalk it all up to Charynrae being born and raised in Underside. The indigenous population would have to have a technique of keeping the time so that they could arrange to meet each other and toil and all.

Sylvia slips into her silken top. She doesn't require the bikini bottom anymore, so she attempts to neatly fold it up and store it somewhere in Charynrae's room.

"Let'sss go."

The exhausted jaguar-serpent-human hybrid breathes as she moves to slither to Charynrae's side and escort her to the shrine.

Sylvia's description:

Spoiler

Show

The jaguar-serpent-human hybrid rubs her right arm sheepishly with her left. By now her entire lower body from her hips down is the tail end of a sapphire-hued snake. Her arms are covered in the jaguar fur and her hands, though shaped like your average human hands, have sprouted dangerously sharp claws which jut out of the tips of her fingers, perfectly adept at ripping out throats and less appropriate for manipulating delicate objects should the need arise. The rest of her remains as it was before, her face splendidly ornamented and framed by rambunctious strands of hair spilling down from the top of her head until it reaches the middle of her upper back where it animatedly sways back and forth as she shakes her head from side to side.

-------
[Old Hermitage]

Toy glances up at Despair in awe. She can...make fire? Fire? Out of thin air? How the...

This is a puzzlement if ever there was one!

"How did you... How did you do that? Are you a goddess? What is your name?"

The molotov experiment is put on hold indefinitely. This... This is amazing.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

Omid will lead Kail and Acanthops to the foremost row of humanoid seats. It's not the front row of pews; there's several unusual-shaped ones designed for driders and other creatures without humanoid legs. Charynrae will smile at Omid, and urge Sylvia to sit nearby, on a pew seemingly designed for a large, worm-like being.

Charynrae is a drider. She has the torso of a young, attractive drow woman attached to the cephalothorax of a gigantic black spider with delicate, thin legs, replacing the spider's mandibles and eyes. Her face is very pretty, with large black compound eyes being the only feature that might mar her features, though that depends on the onlooker. Her hair is long, white and cascades down her back, and she wears a loose top of raw silk with several silk bags slung over her abdomen. The sermon itself is on the scarcity of life in these tunnels and its associated sanctity, praise wholesomely heaped upon the fungi that form the bottom of the food chain, then listing the benefits of the myriad invertebrates which help carry fungi spores, provide light to see by, generate liquid to drink or whose thick chitin is easily worked into effective armours.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Old Hermitage]

Toy glances up at Despair in awe. She can...make fire? Fire? Out of thin air? How the...

This is a puzzlement if ever there was one!

"How did you... How did you do that? Are you a goddess? What is your name?"

The molotov experiment is put on hold indefinitely. This... This is amazing.

"My name, before I was taken, was Despair," she answers, smiling at Toy, and letting the flames spread up her arm, a new set forming over her other hand, and following a similar path, as she does. "Now it's whatever Azurelle says it is.

As for being a goddess, no, I'm not. I'm half desire demon; I can channel Netherflame, or what some might call hellfire, as part of my heritage."

[Earl of Purple]

Old Hermitage

Wussy may find that, the more Netherflame she channels, the more electricity is pumped into her ankle by the anklet. The amount of electricity also goes up the longer the flame is manifested.

[The Alexandrian]

[Old Hermitage]

"You're a demon?"

Toy interrogates with an air of disbelief. She's a demon... And Azurelle doesn't worship her? What madness is this?

"So, let me get this straight. Because you are a demon, you can pull off witchcraft?"

That's...amazing! Ranks among epic even! Wow! This is perfect! Perfect!

"What do you want? I can trade you my soul if I can have Azurelle! Or worship you! Anything you want!"

[Lady Serpentine]

[Old Hermitage]

"Half-demon," Despair corrects, nodding, and letting the Netherflame die away. "And I don't deal in souls, or worship, generally. I could, but for the most part, I feed on desire, of any sort, whether that's your desire to kill Azurelle, her desire for us, your desire to escape... It doesn't matter. So long as it's desire, I can be sustained by it.

And if I had the power to stop Azurelle, I would have already."

[Halae]

Underside Temple

Omid will lead Kail and Acanthops to the foremost row of humanoid seats. It's not the front row of pews; there's several unusual-shaped ones designed for driders and other creatures without humanoid legs. Charynrae will smile at Omid, and urge Sylvia to sit nearby, on a pew seemingly designed for a large, worm-like being.

Charynrae is a drider. She has the torso of a young, attractive drow woman attached to the cephalothorax of a gigantic black spider with delicate, thin legs, replacing the spider's mandibles and eyes. Her face is very pretty, with large black compound eyes being the only feature that might mar her features, though that depends on the onlooker. Her hair is long, white and cascades down her back, and she wears a loose top of raw silk with several silk bags slung over her abdomen. The sermon itself is on the scarcity of life in these tunnels and its associated sanctity, praise wholesomely heaped upon the fungi that form the bottom of the food chain, then listing the benefits of the myriad invertebrates which help carry fungi spores, provide light to see by, generate liquid to drink or whose thick chitin is easily worked into effective armours.

[Underside Temple]

Kail sits quietly and watches, at one point shushing Acanthops when he starts to cry by letting him suck some blood from her hand. Beyond that though, there isn't really much to say about what Kail does in the meantime.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Swanky swag! A chair engineered for worm-like beings! This is the lap of luxury! What will they think up next?

Sylvia only half-listens to Charynrae's sermon. She's heard it multiple times over the course of the day when Charynrae executed her previous sermons, probably (unless Charynrae prepared a different lecture for each sermon). She's more involved in stealthily ogling Charynrae than she is in listening to the sermon, but that should be no surprise as it has been her personal agenda for plenty of the sermons she attends!

-------
[Old Hermitage]

"I promise you that Azurelle doesn't desire us. She desires power over us and power over everything she lays her eyes on. Maybe you couldn't defeat her because you haven't fed enough. You can feed on my desires all you desire, on the condition that it won't hurt too much."

Toy is eager to see Despair level! If she did, Toy would be stoked because she could set Azurelle on fire and conk her over the head with a sword! Despair did confirm that she was half-demon, so perhaps sacrificing things to her and worshiping her will help her out somehow. But if desire is what Despair needs to put Azurelle down once and for all, Toy will have to learn to lust for her and love her. Love might very well be Toy's most valuable resource if Despair can make use of it!

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

It's not necessarily the same sermon every time, but there's certainly a limit before which they start being variations on a theme. As for stealthy ogling, I suspect that Charynrae is aware of it on some level, even if she doesn't necessarily approve and hopes that Sylvia will actually convert.

The sermon won't take too much longer, and when everybody starts filing out, Charynrae will approach Kail and Omid. "So, what did you think about the sermon? It's only a small part of the different practices between the surface temples and my humble little shrine." Just so you know, the other two Temples (the Hermitage doesn't really count) are smaller than Charynrae's; they're both converted houses, and Charynrae built her own Temple without using the magic tricks to increase the space inside. Her 'humble little shrine' is the only purpose-built religious structure in the faith, besides maybe the odd shrine by the side of the road or in a house.

[Halae]

[Underside Temple]

"Oh please. This place is far from a 'humble shrine'." the words are complementary, but the tone is a bit offensive, oddly, "I'm here with my half-demon son to take a look at all the different temples, given I'm going to be part of the Order of the Centipede. The little monster is going to grow up to be a paladin if I have any say in it." Words and inflections conflict; when she calls her son a monster, she's definitely saying it in a loving way.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Ergo, it would be correct to generalize that while Charynrae pontificates anent Dalachrech several times each day/night at multiple sermons, the subject matter is omnifarious material?

Charynrae must have a mountain of verses/concepts to sift through when she outlines her lessons and lectures!

As for Sylvia, she'll mill about tidying up the auditorium after the public has filed out. Messy worshipers! Messy, messy, messy!

Sylvia can be skipped over for a time.

[Earl of Purple]

Underside Temple

"Thank you for your words. I'm glad you're here; very few of you surface-worshippers come down here for any reason. I don't mind too much, as I don't visit you up top, but I am planning a holiday to the surface with Sylvia in a few shift's time. The Order of the Centipede is a valid aim and a highly important branch of the Faith, for without them we are nearly defenceless. That's why I built the Temple up here- I control who has access, and the spiders I breed take care of anything that could get up here on its own power. I have no guards; it's just me, Sylvia, the cleric I'm training and One and Two, the Temple Slaves." Charynrae smiles, although it's hard to tell how genuine it is- compound eyes aren't as expressive as humanoid ones.