"My apologies. This is the first time i have been in a temple such as this one. I am a servant of Paladine," Marcus offers with a slight awkward bow. He rises and waits to be directed to the proper room.


[Private to GM: I was asked this before, I think. I thought I was already in the right room. Sorry about that.]

"I'll show you," the woman said. She led him down the left corridor, not the corridor Peter had come from, and to the door the priest on the other side of the door had indicated.

[Private to Marcus Valarian: He gave directions of where Marcus should go, but he has only opened one door at this point, he has not gone down any corridors as he had been instructed. But time clouds memories and we all make mistakes. And if nothing else, it points out that things are different here, which was the point of the exercise. Or one point at least.]

As she opened the door and let Marcus into the place of worship, he was on more familiar grounds.

Marcus heads down the corridor. He looks in some curiosity at the corridor that Peter came down. "Which god is the temple down that way devoted to?" Marcus asks, gesturing at that corridor. He then enters the room he has been shown to, and immediately starts to examine the room, to ensure there are no surprises.

"Each of the three corridors serves six gods,” the priestess said. “With three smaller rooms on one side, two larger rooms on the other, and the biggest room at the end of the corridor.”

“In that corridor we have Gilean at the head, followed by Shinare and Zivilyn, as well as Branchala, Habbakuk, and Majere.”

On the inside a priest and a priestess waited near the door. Both of them were dressed in white and the man wore a holy symbol of Paladine.

Only one other person was in the room, kneeling in apparent communion with Paladine. As she turned her head towards you, you saw that her face was your mother's face. Identical in every facet, as if they had been twins.

Marcus nods in relief. For a horrifying moment he was concerned that his old friend may have turned to a dark god. But the gods in the corridor were those of the light and the more harmless deities of neutrality, and nothing to be worried about. As he enters the room, he nods slightly to the two priests by the door. He then looks at the woman kneeling in prayer. His heart catches in his throat. He watches her for a long moment, then sheathes his blade so as not to frighten her. He carefully approaches the woman and kneels beside her. In a gentle and quiet voice he says, Excuse me, Milady. I know that it is rude of me to ask this of you, and for that I apologise. But I need to know your name. You are the exact image of my mother, yet she has never said anything to me of her having a sister."

The woman looked at Marcus again and replied in whispers.

“My name is Hope. And as far as I know, I don’t have a sister either.”

Marcus frowns slightly. The name is not familiar to him. "Do you know of a woman by the name of Kaylan?" he asks quietly. He looks embarassed and adds, "Incidentally, it is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Hope."

"It is a pleasure to meet you too sir knight," Hope said and looked towards the priests at the door and then a quick glance around the room. "But as you may have noted there are not many elves around here."
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:38, Wed 21 May 2008.

Marcus nods slightly, "My mother is of the elven people. It is unusual to see elves away from the homelands, which is part of the reason why I thought you may be related."

"The elves doesn't have much of a homeland right now," Hope said. "With the knights of Takhisis in control of Qualinesti and the minotaurs in control of Silvanesti, most elves live in exile. Though I, myself, have never been there."

Marcus offers an intrigued look. In a thoughtful voice he says, "My friends and I have been trying to find a group of elves in this area. I had a vision from Paladine which leads me to them. We found a key, a sort of music box. Do you have any knowledge of such an item?"

"This is not much of a place for elves," Hope said. "At least that's what I've heard. I'm only passing through myself. But if Paladine is leading you here to find elves and a music box, I'm certain that there will be a way to do so. And if you have elven heritage, you probably should keep that to yourself."

"I had a music box as a child, but I don't know how they work nor how such a thing could be a key."

"Yes, I noticed that elves are not very welcome. We saw one murdered yesterday by the Knights of Takhisis. They were trying to find out where the other elves are. If you don't mind my asking, what brings you to such a hostile place when our kind are so hated here?"

"I was just passing through," Hope said. "What about yourself, stranger?"

"Just buying some horses. WHere are you headed, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Do you expect me to share my comings and goings with a stranger," Hope asked.

Marcus bows slightly. "Of course not. Please pardon my curiosity if I have given offense. I am merely curious as to why a member of a hunted people would come here if it could be avoided. And even more so since you look so much like my mother. I will leave you to your devotions, Milady."

Marcus moves away, giving the woman some space. He kneels down and starts to offer his own devotions.

"You have not given offence," Hope said. "And sometimes things cannot be avoided. As your own presence here is the first evidence."

As Marcus left for his devotions, Hope returned to her own.

Marcus smiles slightly at the woman, before immersing himself in prayer. He hopes to get some small sense of how his comrades are doing, and offers Paladine a prayer asking that he protect them.

Some time later Hope rose and left the temple. Marcus continued in his prayers for the rest of the day.

[OOC: If there is anything else you'd want to talk to her about, you have the opportunity to do so when she leaves. And unless there is anything else you want to do before nightfall, we can skip ahead until that time.]

Marcus notes Hope's leaving, but doesn't allow it to interupt his prayers. He remains at his devotions until nightfall, when he finally rises, stretching sore muscles, and prepares to return to the Inn. He hopes that the rest of the party are doing okay.

Having spent the day in prayer had not given Marcus any further dreams or visions of how to pursue, but he felt at peace.

He left the room he had prayed in, walked down the corridor and out the door to the lobby where his things were returned to him.

[If there is nothing else, I can return you to the main thread.]

Marcus puts on all of his equipment before leaving. He thanks the priests who run the temple, and makes his way back out into the street. He heads back to the inn at once, not hesitating at all. He wants to know how the day progressed.

As Marcus exited the temple, he noted his friends just arriving in the square. Though Regan wasn't with them.

[You can now rejoin the main thread.]