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  1. - Top - End - #811
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    "Well, what are the basic tenets of your faith?" Cass asks as she sits down. She figures they're probably something wacko, but she can't voice her thoughts if she wants them to go smoothly.

  2. - Top - End - #812
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    The pews aren't especially comfortable. But I don't think I've ever encountered one that is. "Dalachrech asks that we do not harm invertebrates without cause and avoid using pesticides wherever possible- such things do not just harm the invertebrates in an area. That is the one thing common between all the branches of His faith. At this Temple, we also preach that all life, from that of a worm to that of a human, is sacred and therefore should not be taken without extreme duress. Despite that, we are not pacifists and believe that the best way to protect the innocent from violence is through violence. We also won't ask you to become a vegetarian; all life has its time to end. Cruelty to animals should, of course, be avoided wherever possible. We also believe that the best way to protect our faith to obey all the local laws and to avoid controversy. Regrettably, it seems all religions attract controversy and we have not been entirely successful with the last." He's referring to the uproar about slaves and the bounty upon the members of this Temple issued by Brian Starling.
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  3. - Top - End - #813
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    Cass listens to the lecture. Nothing too crazy yet, but she was just scratching the surface here. "Wait, what kind of controversy? I'm pretty new around here, I haven't heard much about you all."
    Last edited by Devixer; 2012-10-11 at 06:26 PM.

  4. - Top - End - #814
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    "Some of our Temples keep slaves, and one sacrifices travellers to Dalachrech. He doesn't ask for such things, however He does not ask that they cease either. Therefore, we have no religious grounds to shun those Temples or their clerics, and as they are in regions where such practices are legal we can do nothing about them legally either." This Temple is one of the ones that keeps slaves, however Defelent isn't going to state that outright until he knows Cass better. He wants to keep her a convert, after all.
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  5. - Top - End - #815
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    "...Oh. Well, as long as you guys don't condone it, I guess that's okay." Cass is playing a difficult act, being reluctant but possible to convince. Especially since she's seething in her mind.

  6. - Top - End - #816
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    "We don't condone it, but neither do we condemn it, either." He's only just met Cass; it doesn't matter how persuadable she may seem, at this point in time Defelent does not know enough to trust her. She may, after all, be asking to find weak points in their faith so that a rival religion can come along and try to lure his flock away.
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  7. - Top - End - #817
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    All the same, Cass figures she can't act too cool about this. She is playing the long con, after all. "I think I understand that. They're technically of the same faith as you, right?

  8. - Top - End - #818
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Our teachings differ, but we serve the same deity, and the practices aren't outright forbidden by Him. We could argue over our differences, or ignore them and focus on our shared faith in Dalachrech and seek to spread His word." It's a case of 'I feud with my brother; me and my brother feud with my cousins; me, my brother and my cousins feud with outsiders'.
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  9. - Top - End - #819
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    "Right, right," Cass says. "So how do you spread your god's word? Just through sermons?"

  10. - Top - End - #820
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "We teach our followers through sermons. We gain new converts through people like you, who come to us with questions, or we approach those that seem in the most need of direction in the streets and the pubs." But I rarely actually RP the clerics in such places any more.
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  11. - Top - End - #821
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

    Riverside Temple

    "So, if I did want to join up, how would I go about that? Not saying I do yet, just for posterity's sake." Cass is taking a risk here and knows it, but figures it can't do much harm.

  12. - Top - End - #822
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "All you need to do to convert is to come in to the Temple, listen to a sermon, and prey every so often. Whenever you can make it- faith can lessen over time, but the truly devout don't need a Temple to tell them the truth." So no set holy day. "The clerics are chosen by Dalachrech through visions. As the Temple has been consecrated to Him, it is easier for Him to reach across the barriers of time and space and interact directly with His followers in a Temple." More accurately the barriers between universes.
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  13. - Top - End - #823
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    Cass considers Defelent's words. "You think I should attend the sermon today, to get a general feel for how you guys work?"

  14. - Top - End - #824
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "I think that it might help, but it certainly won't hurt. However, I am biased, so it is entirely your choice." Most (PC) people who watch the sermons receive the vision requisite to becoming a cleric. However, I suspect that Dalachrech can sense enough of Cass's motives that he won't this time. Unless you want Him to, anyway.
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  15. - Top - End - #825
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    ((It's your choice. I think Cassidy's really good at hiding her motives, but maybe not enough to fool a God, though that'd be kinda cool.))

    "I think I should. I'm making a pretty big decision, so I'd like to keep informed." Cass looks like she's ready to at least consider converting.

  16. - Top - End - #826
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "I'm glad of your choice. I hope you will join us, Twig." At which point, a few more people arrive and sit in the pews as Defelent stands up and walks to the altar and begins to talk.

    The sermon is about the importance of mosquitoes; how they provide food for frogs, fish, toads, birds and other creatures, and represent one facet of life's ability to adapt- in this case, to stagnant, temporary bodies of water, like buckets after a period of heavy rain. He says they take nutrients from creatures high on the food chain and return it to the bottom via their parasitism, and that they shouldn't be feared- all mosquito-spread diseases are rare in Riverside since the Temple was founded though the mosquitoes themselves are more numerous.

    However, Cassidy won't see or hear all of it as she may suddenly see herself flying through the air above a vast ocean, although as she gets lower it becomes clear that what seemed like water is in fact billions upon billions of beetles, spreading to the horizon- the only point of reference, a mountain. In the centre of the beetles are some rocks, to which people are chained and slowly devoured by the beetles, though their flesh regenerates. Cassidy will soon go zipping off across the ocean of beetles towards the mountain, discovering that it is far vaster than it first seemed. Eventually, or perhaps five minutes later; it's hard to tell, she reaches a shore and soars over a jungle with vast trails of destruction left behind colossal beetles that devour and push over the trees, until they are killed by packs of giant ants, wasps or insect people, that in turn are preyed upon by giant preying mantises and each other. Past the jungle is a vast, flat desert, dotted with termite mounds that go and drag anything that seems edible back into them and so maintain the desert. By this time, she's close enough to mountain to make it out- there's no other mountains nearby, and it seems too regular to be a mountain; it's more like a massive termite mound. As she approaches, its sheer vastness makes it clear that, mountain or mound, it's taller than Everest. As she gets nearer, she may note the holes dotting its surface, from which pour giant termites, wasps, ants, bees and other invertebrates, but not for long- when she's close enough, the vision sends Cassidy down one of the holes, through a labyrinthine maze of passageways and tunnels, lit only by the odd shaft to the surface or, more often, glowworms, fire beetles and other bioluminescent invertebrates. She slows as she approaches the centre, and emerges into a vast chamber, lit by thousands of fire beetles crawling on the walls, floor and ceiling so it appears as bright as day. And sat curled upon a podium in the centre of the cavern in the heart of the termite mound is a vast being longer than two school buses. Its dark purple-hued body is that of a centipede; its head has the vast antler-jaws of a stag beetle. Flanking its head are two claws, bent like those of a praying mantis, and at the end of the creature are three huge scorpion-like tails. Dalachrech eyes Cassidy for a moment, before inclining His head in a nod. At that point, the vision ends.

    ((I thought it was cool, too; and for the lack of attempts, Dalachrech was sending a pre-recorded vision in which Cassidy had no control- if she saw it, that's what she saw. Cassidy's body and mind went nowhere.))
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  17. - Top - End - #827
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    Well.

    That vision is certainly a thing. Cassidy certainly didn't have any problem with bugs, that many in one place was a bit much for her. Oh, and the whole "God nodding at me" thing. When the vision ends, she's breathing a little heavily and clutching at her chest.

  18. - Top - End - #828
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    Whenever I type up a vision, I always get surprised with how long they get.

    The sermon continues in that vein for a while longer before it ends. When it does, however, Defelent will approach Cassidy with a smile. "Did that help explain things for you?" He is as yet unaware of the vision, and it's entirely up to Cass to answer.
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  19. - Top - End - #829
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    Cass just looks up at Defelent with a very surprised expression. "I, I don't know." Man, that was a weird experience.

  20. - Top - End - #830
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Oh. That's not quite the answer I was expecting. Well, how can I help?" He's assuming that she's confused.

    Egads, I forgot to describe him, didn't I? He's a tiefling with red skin, a pointed black goatee, two stubby horns growing from his forehead and green eyes. He's wearing a loose, formal-looking white robe emblazoned with an embroidered two-tailed scorpion. Sorry.
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  21. - Top - End - #831
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    That's fine. He doesn't look much different to a few orks she'd met in Seattle.

    "I didn't catch most of the sermon. I- I saw something," Cassidy says.

  22. - Top - End - #832
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Oh? What, exactly, did you see?" Because there's several different visions available, each with a different meaning. Most of the others are generally customised to the recipient.
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  23. - Top - End - #833
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    Cassidy proceeds to describe the vision she saw, still a little shaken by it.

  24. - Top - End - #834
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Before I go any further, I want you to be aware that the choice of what you do is entirely up to you. It is entirely possible to go and join the Masks, or the Arnaudins, or another group entirely. However, should you choose to join us, the vision you saw has but one meaning- you have Dalachrech's favour and could, therefore, join the clergy. Even then, it's still your choice as to whether or not you join me and Omid as a cleric." Defelent is very serious as he says it, and it is genuinely Cassidy's choice as to what she does.
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  25. - Top - End - #835
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    After hearing all that, Cassidy just looks down at the ground, eyes wide. She didn't think she could be any luckier, but she still needed to play the part. "I don't really know. What happens if I become a cleric?"

  26. - Top - End - #836
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "First, you will learn how to speak Abyssal, the sacred language which Dalachrech Himself speaks. During this time, we'll teach you some of the knowledge regarding miracles, prayers and how to enact Dalachrech's will through your body. During this period, you're not quite a cleric, but you will have a room in the Temple, and you may be called student. When we feel you are ready, you will rise to the rank of Novice. To reach the rank, there's a secret ritual which I am forbidden to inform you of further. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll pass. As a Novice you will learn more about Dalachrech and we'll teach you the practical behind performing miracles. When we feel you have progressed far enough, you'll become a true Cleric, and there's another secret ritual I can't tell you about. If you get that far, though, it's nigh guaranteed that you'll succeed." During the secret rituals, Dalachrech looks into the heart and soul of the supplicant to discover if they will serve Him loyally or not.
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  27. - Top - End - #837
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    Cassidy considers the situation. She was definitely going to be playing the long con here, then. She wrings her hands before speaking again. "Can I sleep on it? That sounds like a big change in my life."

  28. - Top - End - #838
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Of course. The choice is entirely up to you. Come back here and tell one of the servants that you wish to see me, and they'll come and find me and send me down." The 'servants' are all young catgirls that have had their tongues cut out.
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  29. - Top - End - #839
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Okay, then. I'll be back when I've decided." With that, Cassidy stands up and starts to walk out of the temple, unless she's interrupted.

  30. - Top - End - #840
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    Default Re: [Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

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    "Goodbye Twig. I hope to see you soon." He'll smile and watch her leave.
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