[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

"Sure, I guess." Cass doesn't sound terribly enthusiastic about sensory deprivation. It reminded her of a few of the really bad drugs in Seatlle.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"The pods, once closed, can be opened from the inside, though if you wish you can set them so they open only after a set period of time using this timer here." Defelent points at a timer on the wall near each pod. "It opens like so, and you just climb in. Opening it is achieved by pushing on it, unless it's on a timer in which case it won't open for a while. There's no water in them, but it can be added if you want. Sometimes, invertebrates make their way inside. Don't worry about it if they do; it's completely normal." He'll go through the various other pieces of information regarding sensory deprivation pods.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

"So, how often would I need to use one of these? If at all, anyway." Cassidy looks at one of the pods.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"That's entirely up to you. Meditation's important, as that allows you to concentrate on Dalachrech's Glory and gain the favour needed to create miracles through prayer." Also known as divine spells. "The pods aren't strictly necessary, but I find that they can help sometimes."

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

"I think I'd rather just try to meditate on my own," Cassidy days. She'd rather not use something that reminded her of a Better-Than-Life chip.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"That is entirely up to you, of course."

Well, that's pretty much everything that Cassidy is going to learn at this stage- meditation and Abyssal.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

"Okay, thank you." Cassidy probably will learn about Abyssal more quickly than meditation, somewhat surprisingly.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

Well, she is more interested in it. Although, it's probably also slightly harder, so...

Would you prefer to leave further RP with the characters for a while so she could potentially meet others that visit the Temple, do the Novitiation Ceremony now, or have some further roleplay of Cassidy snooping around between classes?

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

I'd prefer to just skip to the Novitiation ceremony right now, but if you have any other ideas, I'm fine with that too.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

Novitiation, it is! I'll just assume then that Omid has come back and has met her.

Anyway, Cassidy won't be told when the ritual is, nor that she's ready for it. Several months have likely passed, which is why I suggested the wait because time skips of so long can be chronologically confusing, and it's night time. Defelent, Omid and the catgirls will wait until they are certain that Cassidy is asleep before they start.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

By now, Defelent and Omid should probably have learned that Cassidy doesn't sleep much, especially for a human. This is probably the result of having lived an almost nocturnal life in Seattle.

In any case, it still shouldn't be terribly difficult for them to know when she falls asleep.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

They'll wait until they're certain Cassidy is as deep asleep as she's likely to get before they unlock the door, slowly remove the bed covers and grab Cassidy's limbs and start pulling her out of the room. They're being careful not to wake her until every limb is held. They're also heavily robed and hooded; Cassidy should be unable to identify them, especially as there's two of the catgirls helping, so there's four robed and hooded figures pulling her roughly from her bed.

Another aspect of the spacial distortion around the Temple is brought into play as the entire room gets larger so that the people hauling Cassidy can leave through the door without getting stuck. It's the room that's getting bigger as the bed and other furniture doesn't enlarge with it.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy normally sleeps very light, but tonight is different for the purpose of drama. So she doesn't wake up until all of her limbs are held. Oddly, she doesn't look particularly scared when she sees the robed figures carting her off. She looks between them with a mixture of surprise and anger. Had they found her out? Was it time for her to get the hell out somehow? She'll just wait for now.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

If necessary, they'd have slipped something into her food when she had supper.

They'll carry Cassidy down to the basement, opening a secret door when they arrive. The door's hid magically as well as through mundane means, so it's likely that Cassidy didn't have any idea it was there. The room's currently quite dark, with none of the glowing candles around the rest of the Temple. In the centre of the room is a large stone slab with adjustable manacles attached to it; there's four at the moment, but there's space for more. The group will put Cassidy on the table and put her wrists and ankles into the manacles. The chains then retract, pulling Cassidy's limbs taut. The other two catgirls are here robed and ready to help if she struggles too much.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy definitely struggles the whole way, letting out a couple of Japanese curses. I imagine four people would overpower her and get her chained, since she hasn't thought to use her powers as an Adept.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

Well, there's another two on standby anyway.

One of the people, Defelent if she can tell such, reaches out with a knife and starts to cut Cassidy's pyjamas off her. Depending on her choice in nightclothes, this step might not be necessary. However, during the entire process, nobody has touched her anywhere that wasn't necessary to touch.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy has definitely slipped into ranting in tongues at this point, an odd combination of Japanese and shadowslang from her hometown. But she can't really do mmuch to stop Defelent from cutting her minimal choices in night clothes.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

... And it's at this point that I realise I neglected something as important as the table in the ritual. More so, in fact. In a corner is a brazier with a length of steel protruding from it. Defelent goes and picks it up, taking it back to the table with Cassidy lying upon it. At the end of the metal rod is a white-hot two-tailed scorpion, also of metal. Defelent will press the hot metal scorpion against Cassidy's side, branding her with Dalachrech's Holy Symbol. At this point, Dalachrech will search through Cassidy's mind, looking for signs that she is playing Him false and seeks to infiltrate the cult for her own reasons. If He finds nothing, He'll miraculously heal the brand and leave Cassidy's flank unmarked by the branding iron. If He finds something, however, He shall not heal the wound and leave it to scar upon Cassidy's skin.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy twitches a bit when she sees the brand. If this was the initiation, it was a lot worse than the last bike gang she was in. Nonetheless, she manages to fall silent before the brand is pressed into her side, causing her to hiss and grunt in pain. She'll be fine, this was nothing...

Dalachrech won't find anything that indicates that she is anything but an eager and perhaps mouthy prospect. She's been using a combination of meditation and mental drilling to hide her true motives.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

Well, if you think that Cassidy can trick the same deity twice, then the brand slowly heals over. Underneath the robe, Defelent smiles. He'll click his fingers and the manacles will undo themselves and the four catgirls (still robed and hooded) will help Cassidy to her feet and supply her with a simple white sleeveless nightgown. Defelent and Omid pull their hoods down, but are sure to look away as they do so. Just because they've just cut off her nightclothes and branded her doesn't mean they should continue to violate her modesty until Cassidy makes it known that they can look.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy grudgingly accepts the help as she gets to her feet, and quickly takes the robe and puts it on. She glares at Defelent and Omid. "What, you never seen a naked woman before?"

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"I have, yes. Several of them, in fact. However, usually they were naked by choice and not because I'd rather brutally cut their nightclothes off after I'd carried them from their bed in the middle of the night and chained them to a table so I can brand them." The one exception being Defelent's pleasure-slave, but he usually goes to her rather than the other way around.

"I have too, but never a human. The last human man I saw naked was a bit... Protective, however, and I thought it might be something along the same lines." He wasn't naked for the reasons you're probably thinking of.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy lets out a snort. "Well, you can turn around now. All you'll see is my tattoos." She breathes for a few moments and feels at the spot where she was branded. "This was for Dalachrech, right? Didn't just feel like branding me up?'

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"It was a test of your loyalty. The ritual allowed Dalachrech to peer into the deepest recesses of your mind, and the branding allowed Him to enter. If He had been displeased with what He found inside, He would not have healed it in the way He has." Defelent explains. And turns around. He'll look at the tattoos, as I didn't know Cassidy had any and would like a description .

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cassidy's arms are covered in tattoos. The most prominent ones are Norse in origin, depicting scenes of Vikings and their war boats. There are also chains, a few Japanese characters, and a winged skull. Pretty much all of them are gang symbols from her past.

"So I've passed His test then? I still hold Dalachrech's favor?"

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"Indeed you do, Twig. We'll start teaching you how to enact His will upon the world through prayer and perform miracles." Though Dalachrech will not enact a prayer that goes against His wishes- i.e., one that harms invertebrates or His clerics.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

Cass closes her eyes for a moment, looking pensieve. "I don't know what to say."

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"I'm sorry about the secrecy, but if everybody knew of the exact ritual that we perform, our opponents might be able to find ways to hide duplicity from His gaze and infiltrate the clergy." Which is something that Cassidy just did without realising it.

[Devixer]

Riverside Temple

"...I understand, Defelent. But you don't have to worry about me," Cassidy says.

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

"I know that now. I did not know that yesterday, however." Basically, Defelent only now fully trusts her. Well, not fully; he's not quite ready to admit the catgirls are slaves, though Cassidy may well have guessed by now.