Turn 83 - Basics of DeconstructionAfter receiving an affirmative answer from his new friend,
Phiali follows him over to his lodgings, which are located in an otherwise empty home some distance away from the festivities - whoever else lives there, they are clearly not home right now. The two of them ascend to the second floor, coming inside a refreshingly sensible room.
"All right, let's discuss. You see, you have yourself a faith - that's good. Are there any followers? And do you have any temples? Any gold? Resources? Leverage of any kind?"Phiali wonders if anything he's done so far really counts in any of those categories. He's guessing no, considering that the best he's got are a couple of people who grudgingly said 'okay' when he generously offered a chance to convert.
* * * * *
Lars, knowing that there is still work to be done, instructs his victorious flock in the ways of ideologically plundering the enemy.
"People, there is but one last task yet before us. We must tear down this temple, lest the unholy acts performed within contaminate this fair village. We must cast down its stones and scour it to the sand. Do that, and we will be in divine favor, and we may celebrate in the newfound joy of the One True God."And lest they feel themselves inadequate, he throws a little intimidation in there as well, gesturing at the priest who is now mostly charcoal.
"Disobedience to divine command carries a high price."The crowd seems to be okay with the idea of performing some deconstruction.
"Right, let's do this!"It is at this point that they realize they don't really have much to destroy temples with, strictly speaking. At least not stone temples.
"Erm... maybe a night of limitless debauchery will help us figure this out? Eh? Eh?""No! Later! Right now, we must destroy so that our victory (and the debauchery to follow) will be that much more earned!"With that, Lars places his fingers on his temples, seeking divine inspiration - it starts weakly, a little trickle of knowledge into his mind from an unknown source. It intensifies promptly, visions flooding rapidly into his mind - they, however, state only the most obvious of things - a battering ram might be useful. Or maybe just a whole lot of people with hammers and chisels. And rope.
1 MP spent!* * * * *
Gronok, supposing that this must be Blessed Tritizima, goes ahead and speaks his mind.
"Say, I was in town and my religion has no real adherents, so would you like to join faiths? It's totally worth it, I assure you. Religion's a growth industry!"The woman smiles, shaking her head and returning to her scroll.
* * * * *
Shashari, still hanging around, speaks into the darkness.
"Fine, be that way!" she yells, swinging back and forth.
"Just gonna figure out your trap then!" she says, wondering whether she couldn't just miracle her way out of this. Can she even do any miracles? It's not like she's checked or anything.
"Coulda done this the easy way, but noooooo!" she continues, making a note to carry a knife around or something. It's what survivalists do, right?
Speaking of survival, she really doesn't want to be used as some kind of cave decoration. Perhaps it's time to get out of here, but seriously this time. No fooling.
[Shashari strength roll: 1-->4]
Uh-uh. Nothing doing. Looks like her upbringing has done a fine job of optimizing her for being in distress.
* * * * *
Elizas, seeing how the deal seems to be done, follows the women out into the streets of good ol' Berikalam. They walk along the cobbled paths, making idle conversation.
"That person proved very agreeable. Quite unusual for his ilk.""I think he might have been scared of us.""Not entirely unfounded - the immoral tend to shy away from the faithful. Like light and shadow.""He was lucky he was dealing with us - I am sure there are plenty of less tolerant individuals who would love to have a talk with him.""In any case, it's all worked out for the best. Now we have a new temple musician!"Eventually they reach a fairly large stone building with twin fires burning bright outside the main entrance. It doesn't look very old, and is very much built after the current style. The women quickly lead Elizas inside.
"Ah, looks like we are almost right on time."In the main hall of the temple, which is rather small as far as main halls go, three women and four men of varied ages, all wearing gray robes, appear to be seated, with one additional man standing slightly further away. The one that's split off from the rest looks positively ancient, and appears to be impatiently handling an odd-looking zither. All of the gathered ones look over at the arrivals.
"Who's that?" one of the men, a rather young one at that, asks.
"Looks very foreign to me. From the south, perhaps?" one of the women adds.
"Care to introduce yourself, friend?" the leading woman asks of Elizas, looking at him knowingly.
Phiali: 1 MP
Lars: 6 MP
Gronok: 3 MP
Shashari: 5 MP
Elizas: 3 MP
Right, so it's been quite a while. Hopefully all of you haven't completely lost the plot by now, because things are going to get slightly more interesting from now on.
Author
Topic: Prophets of the New God: most unfortunately dropped. (Read 69504 times)