Completed [Temple of All Gods] Higher Powers[Rodistair, Dan, Cromley]

[Ellen Ansgot]

11th of Winter, 513 AV Snowing the day before, Ellen rolled out of bed with the expectation for a very cold day. She put on her tunic over her regular shirt, and grabbed her coat just in case. Sliding on her tall boots, Ellen left her room to meet Rodistair, since they made plans a few days before to head out. They had met quite some time ago, however they hadn't spent much time together since they had gone out to Kabrin road with their patrons and a group of others to clear out some slavers. That was quite some time ago though, and Ellen hadn't spent much time with the child squire since then, only seeing him around the training grounds a few times. Cromley had asked her to take Rodi around today, saying he needed to do something other than get into a fight for once. The Temple of All Gods was a place that Ellen had been wanting to visit for quite some time. It had been a while since she had spent time reflecting on herself. By the sounds of it, Rodistair could use some time in reflection too. From what she knew of the squire, he was always fighting, whether it was trying to get stronger, or because he enjoyed getting roughed up was something she knew not. Today Ellen would attempt to teach him that there was more to being a squire than just fighting. Believe it or not, they actually had a purpose, almost a moral code. She herself, had a strong feeling about what was acceptable and what wasn't while acting for the knights. Perhaps some time learning about these values by spending time learning about the god they stood for. Leaving her room, Ellen began the wait for the younger squire. Not really sure why, but she didn't expect him to be on time. He was still a kid, much younger than herself, and Ellen had made a routine of getting up earlier than was expected of her. She also wasn't sure which set of rooms he was staying in, so Ellen waited outside of her own suite. Leaning against the wall, recalling everything on her to do list for the day. Hopefully it wasn't cold enough to make it very uncomfortable out on the training grounds. It wasn't a matter of going or not, it was simply how cold it would be. Going wasn't up for discussion, as usual for every squire, unless directed otherwise by their patrons. Ellen sat herself down against the wall, still waiting for Rodistair. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for him to arrive. Perhaps she should stop preparing for things so early.

[Rodistair]

The season was very busy for Rodistair. He laid in bed, staring up at the stone work ceiling, the chill winter air nipping at his ears, and nose. He slowly climbed out of bed, and stretched, before doing a few short exercises to get his blood flowing. He stoked the hearth in his bunkmates rooms before heading out. He wasn’t heading to the training grounds today however. He had already planned his outing for the day, an unusual meeting with Ellen, a squire he had met a season before. He had an interesting outing with her, and while the itch to fight slowly arced down his legs and back, he would do his best to learn from the older squire.

Ser Iros had reluctnently given permission for such a day, he would have seen his squire train, and practice, but once in a while, he could see the need to let the spirit grow. And so in his normal clothes, and a bright, blood red cloak lashed around his neck to keep the cold at bay, the squire left his room, and headed down the dim halls. He saw Ellen, just out side her room- waiting. It brought memories of their first meeting, she had been waiting then too. It brought a small smile to the boy’s lips.

“Well met Ellen.” Called the young boy quietly, he felt it was too informal, and too disrespectful, but he hoped she wouldn’t mind. “What do you have planned for today? A jog around the city? A ride with Ser Trema perhaps?” He held his small smile, he was only mildly interested in a day without fighting, but with other people it could bring some excitement.

[Danough Trema]

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Danough Trema 11th of Winter, 513 AV Syliras. The Party is joined. Another might have wondered why Rodistair had mentioned the name of Ser Trema, but now Ellen could see a person matching the description of the man Rodistair had sparred with earlier that week now round a turn in the hallway and come into view. He stopped and greeted both of them. "Good day to you, Squire Mooring. How is the nose? It looks hale and healthy now. Well, that is one of the dangers of training as fiercely as the Syliran Knights do; sometimes things get broken or sprained. But you're young and should always heal quickly." He then turned and gave a formal bow to Ellen. "Ah, I believe I have heard of you. Squire Ascot, isn't it? No wait, I have it.... Argot. Wait wait wait... Squire Ellen Ansgot. A knight told me the tale of the slavers. She believes both of you are a credit to Syliras. Surely you already make better squires than I did when I was younger." This was not mere flattery or charm: for one thing Ser Trema had none in him; he was honest to a fault. He simply had been a very weak squire that had the bad luck of being with a patron that took compassion to a fault and never pushed him. But he was pure and he was dedicated and thus tried to make up with hard work the many natural gifts that he was lacking. He was also humble, in his own way. Where another knight might have convinced the squires to follow him around, as he currently had no plans of his own he would agree to follow along to the Temple of All Gods when it was suggested to him. He explained that he had been meaning to do this himself for some time and so he took this meeting as a sign that now was the time to visit the temple.

[Cromley Stronghammer]

Cromley laid in bed during the cold morning. He had gotten up very early for normal but something was on his mind from a conversation he had had the night before with his patron. They had finished a small training session where they worked a bit on Cromley's footwork, which was still very clumsy and irregular, when for the first time Cromley noticed a strange mark on Victor's plam in a language he did not understand. 'What is that mark on your hand Ser Victor?' 'It is the mark of my God, Cromley, I noticed you do not practice any one specific faith yourself though. Maybe a visit to the Temple of All Gods would do some good. Take a break off training tomorrow. You look like you could use a day to find yourself. After all you mind must be as sharp as your body if you are to ascend as a knight' The thought had actually awoken him much earlier than usual. As he lay awake he thought of as many Gods he could recall from his studies and sadly there were very few. Maybe I'll just head out now and decide when I get there who to learn about. Who knows maybe I'll see Rodi and Ellen there. I know they are planning on doing something besides training. I wonder what they'll do. As Cromley got up to get dressed in his tunic and cloak, armor was not needed today because he would not be training his body, he glanced over at Rodi to see him just starting to wake up. Who knows what's going through that little head of his but I hope he doesn't go trying to pick any fights today. He's supposed to be relaxing. As he walks out the door of his suite he glances over towards where Ellen said her suite was and nobody comes out. Must still be getting ready for the day. Cromley then makes his way towards the Temple. After a fairly short walk he found himself at the Temple. However as Cromley reached the doors he stopped. He got an almost nervous feeling, one he never had before. He had rarely prayed to a God before and when he had it was to Tyveth like most of the squires he knew so this is a very new experience for Cromley. As he goes to enter the doors he hears a very familiar voice and footsteps behind him. He quickly turns around almost having to hold back tears and relief. Ellen and Rodi were walking up towards the temple along with a man he had never met before. Oh thank the Gods. I don't have to experience this alone. Whelp I might as well go greet them. "Ho there Ellen! Rodi! Fancy seeing you two here. And hello there Ser Knight I am Cromley Stronghammer."

[Ellen Ansgot]

After Rodistair had finally left his room, she stood and prepared to leave with the young boy. He asked a series of questions, to which she responded "No, we're just going to head to the temple. I figured you could learn a thing or two without getting a bruise today. And I haven't a clue who this Trema is." After she was sure to satisfy Rodistair's questions, Ellen began the trek towards the Maiden district, where they were to meet this Trema that she had just heard about. Trema was fairly close to what Rodistair had described to her, enough so for him to be recognizable in a bit of a crowd. Once the two squires approached the knight, they exchanged greetings and praise. After being told about how the news of their slaver raid had spread, Ellen replied with "Thank you Ser Trema. I'm sure you were just as fine a squire as us when you were. Shall we get going?" With that, they set off for their final destination, the Temple of All gods. The air was cold, but Ellen found herself enjoying it. The snow was comforting, though it was odd for them to be receiving this amount so early in winter. She pulled her coat over her shoulders, closing it most of the way in order to keep out the cold that was attacking her body's warmth. The walk wasn't too long, only taking a few chimes to reach the location. The group seemed to remain relatively silent to Ellen's surprise, but this didn't disturb her one bit. When they finally arrived at the temple, there was already a familiar face standing at the doors. She didn't expect him to be here, since Cromley was the one to ask Ellen to take care of Rodistair today. It was an interesting coincidence, but welcome all the same. Cromley seemed relieved by the sight of their small group, as if he were about to do something that he didn't quite want to face alone. Though whatever that could be at a temple, Ellen knew not. "Hello Cromley. Looks like we have a proper adventure on our hands now." Ellen continued forward not offering much of a greeting to Cromley. She was beginning to become sick of all the company that followed her. She had nothing against any of them, but she had originally set aside today for herself to meditate at the temple, then allowed Rodi to come as a favor. Then in turn he invited Trema, and now Cromley was here too. How grand. Pushing open the door, Ellen walked in and began seeking out Morian, a man she had visited so many times by now, they could almost be called friends. They never talked much outside of the gods and other histories, but she enjoyed his company. Today she knew what was on her mind, and she had been wanting to ask about it for a few weeks now, but hadn't had the time to. "Greetings Morian, it has been some time now hasn't it?" After exchanging few niceties, Ellen asked for the thing that had been on her mind. "Won't you tell me about Priskil? I've been itching for her since you told me scraps about her ages ago." "Ah, so Priskil is the goddess you come to me for knowledge of today? Well this one is an easy one." Morian proceeded to impart the stories of Priskil, telling of her lover Aquiras and his stolen heart, with Sagallius being the thief. These weren't her only enemies though, since she was the goddess of light, radiance, hope, and vigilance. Naturally, her enemies were those of deceit, lies, betrayal and darkness. Ellen listened with intense interests while she sat in a pew next to Morian, making the others wait to ask him about their own gods of interest. The Order of Radiance was part of this story that entranced Ellen deeply. Morian told of the first lights, lightbringers, lightcasters, and torches, each having their own specific role in Priskils following. Some preaching, some initiating, and others moving on to slay darkness, along with retrieving Aquiras' heart. The stories were entertaining for the young lady squire, keeping her on the edge of her seat and asking questions constantly. It was easy to tell right off the bat, that this was the god for her. Ellen would make it a point to stop by the temple to worship Priskil more often, or at least pray to her when she could not find time to make it all the way to the temple. Having the choice to listen to Morian's stories of Priskil and the Order of Radiance would have been an easy one if she had the option. The others most likely had their own questions and gods that they wanted to learn about. As tempting as it was to deny them this and steal Morian for herself, she relinquished him from his storytelling duties to her, allowing the others to get their fill of the wonderful stories of the gods and goddesses.

[Danough Trema]

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Danough Trema 11th of Winter, 513 AV Syliras. Speaking of Priskil. Ser Danough listened carefully to the conversation about Priskil, and wrote down a few notes so that he would remember them for later. He had never thought must about Priskil before, and so he found the conversation very fascinating. He said nothing, but he was very intrigued and paid a great deal of attention, watching and listening carefully to both Ellen and Morian Devan. While the others talked, he stood off to one side, quietly writing.

[Rodistair]

This was a weird, almost bizarre experience for the squire. He was almost disappointed he would not be spending the day bludgeoning someone with his wooden sword, but even Iros had seen the importance of spiritual growth, atleast enough to let the boy spend the day at the temple. And Rodistair admitted to himself that he knew nothing about the gods. He could maybe name one or two off the top of his head, the rest had been knocked out by the various blows to said head he had suffered over the years.

He listened as intently as he could, as he struggled to contain the itch and electric spark that crawled up his back. He tried to concentrate on what the man was saying, but he found the talk to be a bit more boring than his usual – beat em up- training days. But as the man droned on, he finally came to the bit about Sagaillus ascending by ripping out the heart of Aquiras. The itching electricity dissipated with a shiver.

The story continued, and Rodistair followed the story with almost mind numbing clarity, something in the squire’s soul was transforming. He shook his head, he had suddenly realized that he was missing something in his training regimen. He would wake every morning, and train. Bur for what reason? To become a knight? Why? He couldn’t answer that question. He listened intently as Morion continued to speak about Priskil, and how she sequestered her love away from the world to protect him, and how she organized an order of like minded, people to try and find the heart of Aquiras, and bring light to the dark corners of the world.

Rodistair cleared his throat, trying to hide the light headedness at this thought. The idea that he had been training for no real purpose turned his soul into a churning storm. What else was he missing by neglecting to come to the temple? What other questions where out there that needed to be answered? He listened closer, though no questions came to his mind- there were too many to be answered, and they all fought to be asked first. He swayed, silently overwhelmed.

[Danough Trema]

Danough Trema Winter, 513 AV In the Temple When it was his turn to speak, he asked Morian Devan a few follow-up questions about Priskil. And Ser Danough was clearly not just asking to be polite; he had a little parchment with him and dutifully made some notes, joting down words and phrases such as 'Sagallius' and 'Watchtowers' and 'Order of Radiance.' Devan and Ser Danough went on a bit of a tangent about Aquiras and his heart-- both physically and emotionally, but it was all connected to Priskil in the end. Ser Danough appeared to understand how a goddess of light could be a goddess of hope and a goddess of radiance but he didn't quite get the 'goddess of vigilance' part and so it was explained to him again about her vigil. Some chimes passed as the man dutifully absorbed what Morian was saying, and then the two appeared to engaged in some philosophical questions of each other, but all of it related to the Priskil of old compared to how the events of the Valterrian had changed the conception of her and how she was worshipped. Eventually Ser Danough was satisfied. He then turned to Ellen. "That was truly fascinating. Thank you Squire Ansgot; had you not asked after Priskil earlier, I might otherwise never have had such an illuminating conversation with Morian Devan." And then he begged off leave for a few chimes to meditate on what he had learned this day, leaving the rest to ask their questions of Devan while he himself quietly contemplated the love story of Priskil and Aquiras, the arrogance of Sagillius and other such spiritual matters. No one could grow up in Syliras without knowing of the namesake Sylir and his fate, but Ser Danough had no idea that such an attack was possible; he had thought it a single anomaly. And so now he had much to meditate on and he lapsed into a quiet reverie.

[Cromley Stronghammer]

While Cromley enjoyed learning about the goddess Priskil and her lover Aquiras. There was a singular issue that was gnawing at his mind. When Cromley was a boy, he was spending the day with his father doing work around their home, when they had a knock at the door. It was a man that Cromley had only met once before however this time he came injured knowing that Cromley's mother was skilled at healing. As they undressed the man to administer healing to a claw mark on his shoulder he noticed a strange and colorful hurricane pattern on his back. He became very curious about this mark but decided to wait till they had finished the man's treatment to ask him about it. When he was well enough to walk, Cromley approached the man. "Sir? What was that hurricane mark on your back. It looked quite beautiful." The man replied short and curtly, but not in an antagonizing way "You will learn much about it when you are older but it is the mark of my god. The great wind god, Zulrav. He has blessed me with abilities beyond many men and as such I am a target by Zulrav's enemies." Cromley had all but forgotten about this event till he was talking to Victor about his mark. It was then that he remembered the man with the strange hurricane mark on his back. Since then the question of who is Zulrav had been plaguing his mind and made him restless. When Danough had finished his conversation with Morian and excused himself to meditate, Cromley decided to speak up. "Morian, I have a question about a different god actually. I was once told that there was a great wind god named Zulrav that exists. I had forgotten about it till recently but what can you tell me about him?" "Ah an interesting question young squire. Not many here come asking about the great Zulrav. But nonetheless I do still know a great deal," responded Morian. "While calling the Zulrav the god of wind is accurate it is not entirely an accurate depiction of his power. For Zulrav is not only the god of wind. He is more accurately the god of weather. It is said that he controls all the weather on Mizahar. I am certain that even the snow that we got last night had something to do with his power. But what is even more interesting than that is the fact that he has close ties to the goddess of the Earth, Semele. In fact in some cultures, such as those of the Drykas of Cyphrus, they are believed to be lovers." Morian went on to describe the relation ships between Zulrav and the other gods. It was at this point that Cromley realized he had not yet answered his question about the marked man. It seemed that as soon as Cromley had the thought Morian knew he was troubled by something. "Do you have a question young squire?" asked Morian. Cromley quickly was brought back from his thoughts "I do actually. What of the man with the hurricane mark on his back? He said that Zulrav had marked him." "Well then I can tell you that as well. But first might I ask what the color of the mark was Cromley?" Cromley took a moment to recall and when he did he responded "The mark was a swirl of silver and blue if I recall correctly." Morian's eyes lit up with almost excitement. "In that case I can tell you that this friend of you're father's was a Stormwarden, or chosen of Zulrav." Immediately Cromley was overtaken with excitement. He had heard his father and several other knights over the years mention the title but Cromley had never known what it had meant himself. "Tell me Morian. What is a Stormwarden?" Morian quickly replied, "Stormwardens are the chosen of Zulrav like I had said. And as such they are granted a limited amount of Zulrav's power. I do not know what it entails but I do know that currently Zulrav has no champion. In fact his last champion was slain during the Valterrian, when Zulrav, his champion, Morwen, and her associated helped in imprisoning the god Ivak. Beyond that I do not know much." "Well I appreciate the help that you have granted me Morian. I will have to look into this more," said Cromley. For whatever reason Cromley felt that a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He turned to Ellen and Rodistair, and simply said "Well guys do you require more of Morian?"

[Ellen Ansgot]

"No, I think we're all done here. We may as well give Morian a break from all our eyes. C'mon Rodi." Ellen stood from the seat she had brought Morian into, and began to leave the temple. Leaving Cromley behind, dragging along the youngest squire, she headed back towards the training grounds. When walking Ellen paid some attention to Rodi's walking, noticing he still looked a bit shook up. Something in the temple had caught him a bit off guard, and he wasn't hiding it too well. After a few chimes of walking, Ellen changed the course they were on. Originally heading back towards the dormitories, they were re-routed to the training grounds. There wasn't much Ellen knew about Rodi, other than he was always fighting, always getting beat up by someone. Though they weren't great friends, Ellen figured that heading back to something he was comfortable with might ease the younger squire up a bit. "You okay?" Ellen questioned her companion as they entered the training grounds. The cold was worse yet out in the open, and some snow was crunching under her boots as they walked out into the open grounds. She continued with "Something bothering you? I hope it's not too much. Even though I'm not great in hand to hand, I know where it hurts to get hit." Laughing a bit, she headed towards an open area safe to spar, hoping that a few good hits would get him back to his usual state. A silent prayer went out that she didn't have to take too many hard hits, or give them in order to cheer up this younger partner. Not having much experience in hand to hand, both options were just as likely as the other, so long as Rodi was no more experienced than herself. OOCThis is the end of the thread, and also a lead in to a second thread, Which will be continued on a like that I will edit in once it is posted.