[Alvadas Location] Temple of Ionu

by **Cadence** on July 22nd, 2010, 5:53 pm

The Temple of Ionu is constructed of heavy, weathered stone that appears to be quiet grounded, but - as with most things in Alvadas - looks can be deceiving. The temple has the habit of disappearing at the most inconvenient moments. Sometimes, a worshiper will be exiting the temple only to turn around and see an empty patch of ground where the building previously stood. People report still being able to feel the stones when they bump into seemingly empty air and many have sustained injuries from collisions with the invisible temple. On the days that the temple is present in its entirety, it presents itself as a massive structure with moss-covered spires, ornate arches, and small windows. The paved road leading up to the temple’s entrance branches off to the bell-tower. The bell-tower was constructed after the fiftieth unsuspecting tourist walked into a wall of the then-invisible temple. A boy is supposed to sit in the tower and ring the bell whenever the temple disappears. Nobody is sure exactly how that’s supposed to help keep tourist intact, but it’s become a tradition over the years.

The interior of the temple is spacious and rather empty of décor. At the very center of the main hall stands a small raised platform, where the head priest often speaks from. Wooden benches are arranged in a half-circle around the platform. Doors are scattered across the walls of the main hall, leading into tunnels and rooms that are seldom open to the public eye.

The temple had become a gathering place for visiting scholars, eager to learn more about the elusive Ionu. They flock around the entrance, eagerly waiting for the head priest to come out and impart a piece of his wisdom upon them. The locals do their best to ignore the bumbling academics and worship in peace, in an effort to stay in Ionu’s good graces. But there are days when the temple isn’t flocking with scholars and dutiful worshipers. It stands eerily empty, a stark contrast amongst the otherwise busy city of Alvadas. When that ominous air hangs around the temple, few dare to approach it. But those days are few and far between, as the temple is usually filled with hushed, excited whispers and ogling tourists.

Cadmus – the temple’s head (and sometimes only) priest - can often be seen scurrying in and out of the temple, greeting visitors and gauging their reactions as he pinches them. The priest has become as much a part of the temple as the bell-tower at its side.

NPC :

by **Sesha** on February 15th, 2011, 3:40 am

The 30th of Winter

Light permeated the translucent blinds, fluttering across the expanse of Sesha’s meagre apartment and resting softly against her eyelids. She awoke with a start, stirred from a lucid dream in which she had been flying, gracefully soaring above an unending sea. “Blessed is the world of dreams,” she muttered to herself groggily, tossing the sheets aside and languidly extending her limbs in a ritual fashion.

Moments later she had already begun attending herself in the oval mirror, plucking stray hairs and applying the barest of aesthetic enhancements. Sesha knew that she was beautiful, but that meant nothing in a city where even the poorest of beggars could suddenly appear as bejewelled as a queen. She toiled vigorously, oversleeping had sapped time from her intended schedule, and much would need to be accomplished today.

Abandoning the wooden vanity, Sesha opened her chest of drawers and sighed, so often did she tire of the bland collection. Today would be a day of flare, she determined, picking an ensemble of roses and smoke. She bound the lacy corset expertly, hauling up the vast skirts and stockings to an effective height and plied her black slippers with caution, making sure they would allow her the perfect silence she sought.

Bursting from her second story abode, Sesha was not surprised to find herself facing the butcher’s shop. “The Temple?” she asked coyly, garnering the fat shopkeep’s immediate attention. The place smelled of putrid meat and flies mulled about casually, certainly not one of her best wakeups.

“Up the way a bit, love,” his mottled retort mixed with a hurried rearrangement of his apron and gesture to the north was all that she expected. “Might want to hurry though, my girl.” His painfully obvious effort to impress was insufferable. “Heard tell it’s been there for nearly two bells.” She would need to hurry.

A smile was all that she offered the man, more than reasonable compensation by her books, and likely more affection than the man would see in his failing lifetime. She bolted up the street, passing buildings aflame and walls which had turned into waterfalls. Nothing could distract Sesha from her mission, however. She had missed the temples appearance too many times to let this opportunity pass.

She saw it finally, entering a square with an unusual collection of tailor’s shops. Perhaps Ionu was testing their capabilities. The winner would surely be rewarded in some form or another. She pushed the thought aside, hurtling toward the Temple’s archway. “You almost missed it!” came a voice from the bell tower.

A wave of the hand was all that Sesha had time for, probably appeasing the lonely boy more than she’d intended. She crashed against the wooden doors, throwing them open and shut behind her. No one seemed to notice her unusual entrance, and so she glided softly to the left and took a seat in one of the pews, catching her breath and beginning her morning prayer per usual. The prevailing toll of bells from beyond the Temple walls stood as a subtle reminder that she had just barely gained Ionu’s blessing.

by **Julius Aldoid** on February 26th, 2011, 5:19 pm

30th of Winter OOC: Continued from Here

His hands were held in front of him as he stepped forward, groping though the air as he looked for it.

"Mister! It disappeared," the young boy called to him.

"Really," he chortled, "you don't say. I wouldn't have figured. With the bells and the whole absence of the building and everything."

"Here temple, temple, temple," feeling around for it some more.

"You're not gonna find it that way"

"Hey," he snapped, "I am doing science."

The whimsically-haired man wandered about for a good few minutes before just breaking with all pretense and charging though the field until he smacked right into the door, the clatter of head-on-wood contact likely echoing within. He resting on the ground, laughing till it was sore enough to match his head, before he finally entered inside, stifling his laugh with his hand as he sat down on a pew nearby some lady who was praying.

He looked around a bit and saw others as well doing much the same. It had always struck him with confusion; not faith so much but instead what they were praying for considering whom they were praying too.

In any case, he removed the letter he had been sent to deliver, turning the parchment in his hand, noting the seal of wax over the back. The symbol of a snake forming a question mark, wrapped around an X-- the Aldoid Family Seal.

"Blessed is what I do not know, that leads me though what I cannot know, and though illusion reveals illusion in turn. Turn The World From Me So I May Know Myself and Prove the Wise a Fool," he muttered to himself.

by **Sesha** on March 1st, 2011, 9:56 pm

“Ionu guide me,” she whispered from amongst the pews. “Ionu hide me.” The prayer was more of a mantra for the young woman now, repeated so often in her youth that it felt almost like a divine spell. She’d begun to pray for full pockets and slow wits when a loud crash erupted from the vaulted archway behind her. A smile grew on her lips as Sesha imagined the poor fool. It could have been you, she thought, remembering a handful of times she had done the exact same thing.

Heads returned to their piety as the giggling intruder made his way to her very pew. She cursed the interruption and apologized immediately after for defiling Ionu’s hallowed temple. At least he can laugh at his own stupidity, she thought, distracted from her reverence. What’s this?

The intriguingly sealed envelope caught her eye the moment it was revealed. Her love of secret things held her attention for longer than might be considered polite, but continued to prick her curiosity nonetheless. The newcomer’s spoken prayer served to further illicit her interest. A local. Nobility? she asked herself, indigo eyes noting his strong bone structure and pale coloring.

She allowed her gaze to rest on him until his periphery returned the favor, coyly averting her eyes to their original direction. A practiced half smile drew attention to her lips followed by a seemingly nervous adjustment of her skirts. Sesha hoped that her attempts at garnering the affluently dressed man’s attention would pay off. Ionu, forgive me, she intoned privately, the notion of a challenge exciting her.

by **Julius Aldoid** on March 7th, 2011, 6:11 pm

Julius sat their most of the time, minding himself. Was never particularly fond of the temple, something of its nature always having classed with the reputation The Inverted had always carried. He had wondered when they might be returning to Alvadas, as last he heard, they had been in the east last fall.

He then noticed that the woman siting beside him was doing that 'look away game' to him. It always started off the same: they stare at you, but when you look at them, they look away. So you look away. But if they look back, it means they like you. That is at least how cousin Berty explained it.

So he looked, and then glanced back where he had been, eyes noticed a fluttering of skirt in his periphery.

'Is she,' he thought, 'no, she couldn't be. But she is. I am being flirted with,'

His grandfather had always spoken of the dangers of pretty women flirting with you out of the blue. But his grandfather also had explained that most pirate ships were filled with drunk, sweaty men, some of whom would not see women for possibly a year at a time. He never told him directly the moral of that story, but he could guess.

While he was thinking things over, he realized yet again that though his thoughts were heavy, and took long to ponder, the world did still go on, and there was a lady who was going though the trouble of flirting with him.

Maybe she could answer his question.

"Pardon me, madam," he whispered, leaning towards her, "but do you know if Priest Cadmus is in? I've a letter to deliver to him." She could feel proud: she had his only partially devided attention.

by **Sesha** on March 10th, 2011, 6:41 pm

A look of surprise crossed her features as the man spoke, she had expected it, but would never let him think as much. “Miss,” she corrected tartly, the sharpness of her words eased considerably by her amused smile. “Miss Delaine,” Sesha added without hesitation, offering the man her brightly painted hand. Now that she could see his entire face it became apparent that nobility flowed in his veins. He was somehow exotic, eyes ablaze with some strange fire.

“I haven’t seen Cadmus yet,” she said quietly, their private conversation not apparent to those seated in the pews. “But I will be staying for some time. Perhaps I could deliver it for you?” Her honest façade and rational tone were well measured. Not once did she allow her eyes to flicker to the envelope, though it almost pained her not to. Sesha’s full form was now facing the man, artfully presented in a way that might distract him enough to trust her.

“Who should I say it’s from?” she asked sweetly, and for the thousandth time wished that her face were more rounded so as to more accurately feign innocence. Her speech flowed like music alighting on the ears. She’d given him no time to interrupt, but now waited with anticipation, barely covering it with a firm gaze of shining blue.

by **Julius Aldoid** on March 11th, 2011, 10:41 pm

"Well," Julius replied quite flustered, his eyes somewhat wide in a less-then-feigned innocence, "You could deliver the letter, I suppose-"

He twirled the letter between his fingers.

"But you might confuse Cadmus by delivering an empty letter to him," drawing his fingers though his opalescent hair, "because my grandfather didn't write anything inside. There is nothing here," dropping the letter upon his lap, seal side down.

Julius turned, staring out into the mid-distance.

"Nope, again it is another test- just to see if I will deliver it or not, and force me to chat with Cadmus,"

The strange man's brow furrowed.

"Ya know what? You deliver it," handing the letter to her, but then quickly drew it away.

"No, that is just petty and mean. No use you delivering it, wasting your day. Besides, I already lost a few gold mizas getting here. I am horribly committed to this, whether I like it or not."

His big eyes snapped back to her.

"And here is me, prattling on. I am not interrupting your prayers am I?"

by **Sesha** on March 16th, 2011, 12:09 am

Sesha’s fingers clasped onto thin air, considering the man’s curious act as some kind of ruse to dissuade her from the task. A look of concern touched her eyes and was quickly made unreadable, though the anxious feeling crawling up her spine did not fade away. She had overstayed her welcome. Already the couple were receiving chaste stares. Some people were too easily annoyed, especially for citizens of Alvadas.

The stares were not the full source of her unease, however. Sesha felt a strangeness about this man, something was most certainly wrong with the fellow, as though Ionu Himself stared back at her through wild eyes. “Unfortunately my prayers have concluded for the day,” she said, her face falling as if she truly regretted distancing herself from this peculiar gentleman. “You may call on me, though,” she added, rising to her feet so as to cover the effect of a metaphorical boot slamming into her mouth.

Sesha was prone to making others feel at ease, even when she did not. Only a member of the underworld would truly understand this, but her apprehension concerning this man was also a thing of interest. If he was actually insane he’d likely forget this encounter had ever happened. If not, he might wander the streets of Alvadas asking for Miss Delaine, in her own realm. It was really a matter of chance, and she’d just made the first bluff. “I must off now, Lord –” she asked his name, informally offering her hand again, but nothing about this man seemed completely formal. What is your game?

by **Julius Aldoid** on March 27th, 2011, 4:04 am

"Emperor," he said matter-of-factly, breaking into a knowing smile and a light chuckle, "Julius, Son of Henry, Heir to the Aldoid throne." It was an obvious fib, and the young man made no attempt to play it off as anything else.

Still, it was telling, the man the son of a local merchant, on of whom had a rep as a pirate and often times madman, operating on one of the most dangerous shipping routes. A more then casual association with piracy was a given to the point of necessity, though how deeply those ties would go were anyone's guess. The madman son of a madman- all the more dangerous due to some lack of true dysfunction.

Still, though the madness sat firmly in his eye, a good liar could tell easily that his graciousness and light-hearted nature was hardly disingenuous. A reasonable mind could assume he was a contradiction at best and a diluted psychopath at worst. Still-- as both were 'children of Alvadas' as it were, though illusions were plenty, true secrets were rare, and had he really been as dangerous as he seemed, the sanity center was not known for letting people slip though their fingers.

A guess could also be made that as he was delivering a letter to High Priest Cadmus directly, maybe it was another illusion of the city.

Ultimately, the second-guessing could become unending, and it was often just best to assume everyone in the town was just a little bit mad on their own.

He gently grasped the hand as given, and then fully bowed before her, not unlike an actor upon a stage.

"Fair thee well and Godspeed Mada- Miss Delaine," Ever mindful of his slip-up, gesturing to allow her to pass into the isle unimpeded, he just noticing that though he was by no means the tallest chap in the world, the woman before him edge him out in height by just two inches. In any case, he minded her with his indigo eyes, not unlike her own.

He wondered if she would notice his eyes were normally azure.

by **Sesha** on March 29th, 2011, 6:32 pm

Sesha was nearly too relieved to be free of this fellow to notice the reflection of her own eyes staring back at her. She had spent a considerable amount of time studying Julius’ unusual eyes and now they had changed, as if by magic. She grabbed him then, by the lapels, and sat him down abruptly and with considerable force. The rogue was stronger than she looked, and knew how to handle herself in a fight.

“You are one of the Inverted!” she hissed in excitement, ignoring the stares this time. Her hands still held the collar of his jacket firmly. This one was not getting away anytime soon. “You have seen Ionu? You know the trickster god?” Now it was her turn to seem zealous and a little bit odd. Sesha’s reverence for the Alvadan deity was second to none. She had breathed the words of Ionu since her childhood and lost herself in glorious illusions daily. This man was her chance at true greatness.

“Tell me all you know!” she blurted, nearing the man with such fire in her eyes that he might find it somewhat unsettling. “I’ll give you whatever you ask!” The thief wasn’t prepared to do anything the man asked, but she could bluff her way out of the situation if need be. “Please,” she said breathily, hoping her charm might sway the man.