Keeping the faith|Lhach Linnod | Naurorod

[Devon]

Christian stumbles into Lhach Linnod tired, dazed, and sweating profusely. He hadn't stopped running since he left Athrug, his adrenaline being the only thing keeping him from passing out from fear and anxiety. Thessa...Thessa please make it. He thought to himself as he collasped in front of the Taed temple in Lhach Linnod. Sprawled out in front of the temple he musters the last ounce of energy he has to shout out for help. "Open your door followers of Taed!"

[adris]

The doors opened as was asked, as they weren't one to turn anyone away. They weren't quite aware of the problems going on with Efil, although they had heard rumors that are nothing short of disturbing. Christian was greeted by a familiar face from the last time he visited this temple, she was much more sympathetic in demeanor this time.

She signaled for the few followers that were in the temple to come to her, while they had no way of knowing whether the icy grip of Taed was on this man or it whether this was unnatural, the only way they could find out is to try to help him. The two other followers in the temple came outside and with her help began rushing Christian in to a cot.

[Devon]

Christian opens his eyes slowly and looks around the room he is in. Sitting up he cautiously rubs his head feeling to see if he was all there. Calling out to anyone nearby he slowly begins to speak. "Have I made it to Linnod?"

[hisdivineshadow]

"This is the place," a voice answered. A scarred man walked in, carrying a bundle of cloth under one arm and a large clay mug in his free hand. "Here, fresh sheets. You rather soaked those ones, I suspect." He nodded at the bed where Christian was laying, which were indeed dark from sweat. "And water, too." He held out the mug for Christian to take.

After a moment, he asked, "Can you stand yet? It'll make changing the bed easier."

[Devon]

Christian sits up slowly and watches the man in front of him oddly. Taking the mug he thanks the man and cautiously sips it. Feeling refreshed Christian stands up , "Thank you. I'm Christian and don't worry I'll change the sheets soon."

[hisdivineshadow]

The man just shrugged and set the bundle down on the small table beside the bed. "If you wish. My name is Kiel, by the way."

Kiel tilted his head curiously at Christian. "I'm only just passing through here, so it might not be any of my business, but . . . you seemed to cause quite a stir when you showed up. More than I would expect for an ordinary traveler. Why is that?"

[Devon]

Christian picks up the bundle and begins to change the sheets while talking with Kiel. When asked about why he was here, he stopped working and his face turned grim. "I..something terrible happened concerning the temple at Athrug. So I came here since it was the closest place."

Christian stops talking about it now that his mind had drifted to thoughts of Thessa. "Kiel, I don't mean to trouble you, but could you go get this temple's head priest."

[adris]

A thin man in the attire of a Taed priest wandered into the room with the cots. He had heard the commotion, due to the fact that the temple itself is quite small. He offered a smile to Christian, it was the best he could manage under the conditions.

"Ahhh, it seems our sleeper has awakened. Welcome, welcome my friend to Lhach Linnod. I am so glad to see you are well after that dreadful fall you had outside. I am Salvador, head priest here, I believe you have met one of my two priestesses once before."

[Deleted]

Having more or less followed Christian closely and silently as a shadow, Luc maintains his silence. However, he does produce a black leatherbound book and inspects it carefully for damage. He proceeds to open it, blink several times, then close it and slip the book back into his pocket, resuming his statue-like state behind Christian.

[Devon]

Christian greets Salvador with the respect a head priest earned even given the situation. Turning to look at Luc, Christian puts his hand on his shoulder. "I am Christian and this young man is my apprentice Luc." Taking his hand off of Luc's shoulder Christian stands firm and calms himself down before he speaks. It was hard for him, but right now he had to be strong and take charge of a bad situation.

"I'll say it clearly and simply. Athrug has fallen. Efil's army stormed the temple at Athrug, Luc and I escaped just before their attack. As the High Priest of Taed I'm here to warn you and begin preparations for a counter attack."

[hisdivineshadow]

Kiel frowned as he listened, leaning against the wall and trying not to be intrusive. The idea that the followers of Efil would seek to kill the priests of Taed seemed backwards in more ways than one. What was more, wouldn't their actions only strengthen the force of Death? It was a bizarre situation, to say the least, but it likely foretold a great deal of bloodshed.

The wanderer idly fingered his sword belt, a small smile creasing his face. Maybe this time, he'd find himself a worthy death.

[adris]

Salvador chewed at a fingernail nervously, he wasn't entirely sure how he should react to such a situation. For one, this confirms rumors and he had no real choice then to believe the man. At the same time, the Taed temple at Linnod wasn't populated nor ready for war. It was run by a skeleton crew for the members of the fires that felt they wanted to make a contribution, and most all of those that make the trip come only from Linnod.

"Oh dear, this isn't good at all is it? I will definately brace the door for possible attack, indeed that will be my first step. But war? We are no more then a dozen members of the church of Taed when fully equipped. We will offer support but in no way are we ready for war."

He hoped this didn't upset Christian too much, but alone there wasn't much that he could do. He had to be realistic, he wanted to tear the enemy apart as much as the high priest did, he just didn't have the means to do so right now.

[Devon]

Christian nods heeding Salvador's words, but his resolve was strong right now. He wanted revenge on Efil for striking first and he wanted it to be as swift and exact as possible.

"I understand that, but we are going to respond. The first thing we're going to do is send word to any Taed temples that haven't been attacked and alert them to the situation. I plan on having the temples prepare for war and when we are ready we shall join forces and attack."

Christian pauses to sip more of the water Kiel had brought to him. "The second thing we're going to do while we prepare is strengthen this temple. I'll need a strong base to operate from and the resolve of the priests here isn't to my liking. I'm sorry if that sounds disrespectful, but after taking a trip to Maelstrom's temple some months ago I noticed the training of the priests were lacking."

[adris]

Salvador raised a brow to the criticism, it wasn't that what Christian said wasn't true. Its just that there wasn't very much he could do about it in Linnod. The priests that were there were only the most devout of fire people to keep to a life of settlement in order for the temple to continue running.

"I really don't know what you are suggesting good sir. It isn't like we can go on a recruiting drive or anything. What you see is the souls that have went out of our way to keep a rather unfavored temple running. I say I am rather pleased with the company that I have."

He wasn't going to mention part of that is because he is the only male out of the skeleton crew. Taed was close to his heart though, the amount of mercy one force can have to have his power and yet choose not to use it if necessary. One of the priestesses walked into the room at about that time and whispered something into Salvador's ear.

"Oh dear, thats not good at all."

[Devon]

Christian nods to Salvador, understanding what he said about Linnod to be the truth, but still something had to be done. "I see that and again I apologize if I come off as rude, but we may have to recruit. Efil's forces are many and they are devoted. If we are going to strike back at them and we are. Our forces have to be better in every way."

Watching the priestess come in Christian follows her walk with his gaze. "Is there a problem Salvador?"