[Nexus/Town] The Temple of Inari XLIX

[Lady Serpentine]

(OP by Fenric)

You have entered the temple of Inari, in her capacity as the Goddess of Foxes.

You walk down an elegant white gravel pathway between full-grown pines. Stone lanterns provide a pure white light to the path, while casting elegant shadows among the trees.

At the end of the pathway, a bright red gate stands. A large fox carved from white alabaster gleams at each side of the gate. As you pass between the foxes and through the gate, you feel the presence of the goddess. Gentle and caring, but mischievous and lighthearted, you are never quite certain what will happen.

Past the exquisite formal gardens, you finally step into the pagoda itself. There, at the end of chamber is a raised dais. There rests a statue of a beautiful werefox woman, flanked by two snow-white celestial foxes. Offerings of rice and incense stand before the statue.

In a niche off to the right side of the door sits a Fox-Cola vending machine. Next to the coin slot, the sign reads "10 cp".

To the left side of the door is a magic mirror. This mirror is actually a portal to Trog's Tavern.

Profile for Inari

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Alignment: Chaotic Good
Primary Domains: Good, Plant, Chaos, Healing
Secondary Domains: Magic, Sun, Animal, Trickery, Knowledge, Water
Forbidden Domains: Evil, Law, War, Death, Destruction

Goddess of the cultivation and growth of rice, including rice products. This gives her minor coverage for fertility. She is also the racial goddess of foxes, werefoxes, and kitsune.

Priest Granted Powers

Rice Paddy: Once per day
As Entangle, but the ground changes to knee-deep mud, and instead of creepers, mature rice plants twist and writhe to grapple anything in the area.

Sushi Bar: Once per day
You create rice, fish, and sake. You can create enough to feed one medium sized creature for each two caster levels.

Summon Celestial Fox: Special
You summon an image of Myobi (if you are a priestess) or Myobu (if you are a priest). The fox has HD equal to your level plus your wisdom bonus. In combat, the fox fights the same as a normal fox, but with appropriate bonuses for HD.

Cumulative Fox Abilities
{table="Head"]Priest Level|Times per Day|Special
1|1|Fight, scout, and Cure Minor Wounds
3|2|Cure Light Wounds
5|3|Status
7|4|Magic Circle Against Evil
9|4|Cure Serious Wounds[/table]

Temple Facilities

Everything but the Sanctuary and Garden has Dimensional Lock. The entire facility is Hallowed as per the spell with the Bless effect. A permanent Flame Quench (the reversed form of the 2nd edition Fire Storm spell) is on in a quiescent form on all the buildings. It can be triggered by any full priest.

- Sanctuary: the main sanctuary has the altar. This is where you must pray to speak to the goddess directly. There is a general magic circle in the center of the room.

- Meditation Gardens: accessed through a door at the far end of the sanctuary. This is a standard zen garden with raked gravle, shady nooks, picturesque pines, stone lanterns, and small intricate bridges. An artifical stream hosts large koi, and a grand cherry tree resides on a picturesque island in the middle of a good sized pond.

- Priest's Quarters: accessed by going down the stairs - halfway down the sanctuary, to the right -, which leads to a covered pathway (technically under the garden)

[Beans]

In through the front gate walks a girl who looks about 17, though her eyes and the way she moves tell a different story.
She looks nervously around before stepping into the sanctuary; her violet eyes are anxious, nervous.

[Lady Serpentine]

Another girl, this one perhaps a year or two older than the other seems to be, with pale hair, and golden eyes, rises from her place on the floor nearby, and slowly starts to approach her, smiling gently.

[Beans]

The turquoise-haired girl fidgets with the buttons on her coat.
I'm not intruding, am I? Sorry, I just...

[Lady Serpentine]

The other girl shakes her head, extending a hand.

"Not at all... It's nice to see someone new around, in fact. Welcome to the Temple."

[Beans]

She smiles weakly.
Oh, thank you... m-my name is Neca, what's y-yours?

[Lady Serpentine]

"Kinari," she says softly, letting her hand fall back to her side. "It's nice to meet you, Neca. Do you want something to drink, or some food? There's plenty here..."

She sounds rather shy and nervous as well, apparently not very good at social situations either.

[Beans]

Er, not at the moment, but thanks...
S-so. Er.
What's it like here?

[Lady Serpentine]

"It's... Nice. Peaceful, quiet. I don't know if it's just because of... what I am... but it always feels safe here, too. I think it's protected somehow."

[Beans]

"Er, and what are you, if I can ask that?"

[Lady Serpentine]

"It's kind of complicated, but I don't mind explaining, if you've got time for a long story... Do you want to sit down somewhere?"

[Beans]

She nods, and will sit down wherever she is led.
Long stories are okay with me... I have one of my own after all.

[Lady Serpentine]

"Would you mind telling it to me, once you've heard mine?"

Kinari leads her to a quiet, shady, spot in the Gardens, where something similar to a hammock, but anchored at all four corners, and sized for five or six people, with cushions and pillows strewn over it, hangs, presumably what she intends them to sit on.

[Beans]

Neca nods, slipping out of her shoes to get on the macro-hammock thing.

[Lady Serpentine]

Kinari slips her shoes off as well, and settles onto it next to her, curling up in a comfortable-looking ball at the center of a nest of pillows.

"So... Do you know what Kitsune are?"

[Beans]

Some sort of... I think, um, fox spirit with multiple tails or something?
She shrugs, rubbing her neck.

[Lady Serpentine]

The odd girl smiles, nodding.

"Yeah, basically... I'm sort of half-kitsune. But not exactly. My mother's town was attacked, which is how she got me.

'Fox-woman, sister, we are one.
Give me vengeance though my life is done.
Fox-woman, sister, name your fee.
Grant that I may strike my enemy.'

She managed to get away, to a warded temple, but as part of a bargain she made to get there, she was just about ready to give birth by the time she did.

Once she started to, she gave up her life as the rest of it, in order to bind the kitsune to me - the priest had to cut me out of her, in fact - which is why I'm not exactly human.

It also put me under a geas, but being here seems to break that, at least for now...

[Beans]

Oh, I... I-I see...

I'm not entirely human either... not normal.
I was born to be part of the army of the Stroheim Empire, a heavy gunner. I underwent operations a few times in my life, joint replacements, getting my eyes out for synthetics, telomere radiation treatments...
I went through years of training, and I spent the next seven at war before I got out on the first honorable discharge I could manage.

Because I'm sick of fighting and war and hurting. I just want to live life being able to help people instead of gunning them down.

[Lady Serpentine]

Kinari hesitantly reaches for her hand, nodding.

"This is a good place for that... I'm here for similar reasons, actually."

[Beans]

She blushes, squeezing back gently.
So, er, what do you do here?

[Lady Serpentine]

Kinari blushes just a bit as well, and smiles, revealing her teeth to be more like fangs, presumably an artifact of her unusual nature.

"Just live here, mostly... I haven't had a chance to actually get a position yet or anything. And it's not like I have any useful skills or anything anyway."

[Beans]

I'm sure you do, more useful than mine---mine are only any use for hurting people.

[Lady Serpentine]

"And mine aren't?" she says quietly, shaking her head. "Since I was born, I've been under a geas to track down that raiding group, or their descendants, and kill them. That didn't exactly leave much time for learning anything but fighting and sneaking, even just dealing with people."

[Beans]

Well, I guess we're sort of in the same boat... I want to help you, but I don't think I can lend my hand to killing, even if it is justified.

[Lady Serpentine]

She shakes her head, squeezing Neca's hand again.

"That's fine... I don't want to do it anyway. I just don't have much choice if I ever leave here - hence my self-imposed exile."

[Beans]

Oh... that sounds so difficult! What if you need things from outside?
W-wait, I could get those for you!

[Lady Serpentine]

"It can be, yes...
And that sounds lovely. It won't be as nice as travelling again, but it'll definitely be quite a help."

Kinari awkwardly goes to hug her, seeming very grateful.

[Beans]

She hugs back, blushing.
I'm glad to help... anything you need me to get you soon?

[Lady Serpentine]

Kinari blushes as well, shaking her head.

"Not really..."

[Beans]

Well, let's just talk then... what things do you like?