Two weeks have passed since the events beneath the city. Though the memories are still fresh in your minds, life continues in Pheze, unaware of the great danger that lurks beneath their very feet. Even those who faced the exarch of a goddess could not resist the needs of mundane life. A chance to unwind, to force a sense of normality over their new reality, or simply a way to prepare for the coming unknown.

The Last Mistake has become more of a refuge than it was. Word has spread of the four adventurers who sought justice or vengeance for fisherwoman's daughter and returned, their goal achieved. Having saved a niece and nephew of Rilu San Celqo Ava Fhussu'a, the West District Representative, while avenging the girl has proven to be delicate morsels for wagging tongues to savor.

Glil San Tisdreis Ava Asreelm has taken it upon himself to inform any new visitor to his tavern that, yes, indeed, those are the heroes of West District, why it all began right here in this very tavern, not two weeks past, during that terrible storm...

Not wanting to burden the heroes with the day-to-day dealings with the public, he has made sure to run interference for those wishing to seek your audience, only the most important work will do for these heroes. A job he has come to enjoy almost as much as spreading your reputation and increasing the prices of his comestibles.

Rumors of strange goings on reach your ears more often than before as do the tales of neighborly woes and lost pets. Asreelm shoes most of these away with a subtle hand and calming voice. But on this day, he comes to you with barely contained excitement.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:46, Thu 01 Oct 2020.

"My friends! You are well." he phrases it as a question, but the tone implies 'But of course you're well', "I have someone that wishes to speak with you. He is of no small importance to the West District."

He quickly waves Bellach over, the overworked Uruk remains Asreelm's only employee, despite the increase in customers, "His name is Rilu San Celqo Ava Komyo. He is a cousin to Fhussu'a, and it is said he represents the District Representative in his...dealings."

Asreelm pauses as Bellach brings over a round of drinks, regardless of whether or not you were finished with your current round, continuing once Bellach leaves, "You are interested? Of course you are." he finishes, nodding in confirmation, but waiting for your response, none-the-less.

Beuren cautiously looks about the room looking to see if anything is suspicious.  He nods his head to his friends at the table.  I am okay with this if you are?
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Fri 02 Oct 2020.

Batri finishes his current drink, catching his coin between his teeth as he swaps his tankard out for a fresh one.  He spits the coin into his new beverage in a practiced move that the others have seen many times.  “Of course we would like to speak with him.  Can’t  leave a mouthpiece of the District Representative high and dry, can we?”   The others have noticed in the past week that Batri has swapped his crossbow for a new shield, a circle of wood with iron reinforced edge and a central boss which he usually hangs from the back of his chair at the Mistake.  He also seems to have taken to his new living situation well showing up most mornings dry rather than drenched in sweat like when the four lived in the same flop.

The tavernkeep beams with the pride of a newly minted father, he turns to the staircase and nods at a squat, well-dressed individual wearing a broad-brimmed hat who is standing at the top.

The figure nods back and makes his to the seats and tables at the far end above the stage.

"He will meet with you." confirms Asreelm as he makes a grand gesture indicating your path to the stairs.

Speaks downs her drink before grabbing the tankard that Bellach just brought over and heading to the stairs, commenting to Asreelm as she passes, "Correction.  We will meet with him."

Sitra also finishes his drink before grabbing the next one and following Speaks. "Well I'm sure this will be interesting."

Beuren follows Sitra, whistling to himself.

You make your way up the stairs to the remnants of the original second story of the building and notice that there are no other customers around here. Typically the "Balcony" is used by purveyors of sensual activities and their customers.

Instead, there is a single boy standing by an old counter turned into a makeshift bar. By his looks, likely a younger relative of Komyo, the man you are to meet. As you near, the District Representative's cousin, you see a man, dressed well, a large smile on his face and a broad-brimmed hat resting upon his brow. He is a wide fellow, easily half-again as much as a human, and short of stature, though fat would not be an accurate description. He waves for you to be seated with a large hand whose thick fingers are bearing an individual ornate ring.

"Welcome, my friends. Please be seated. I am Rilu San Celqo Ava Komyo, you may call me Komyo." he waits for you to be seated before continuing, "I trust your day has been pleasant? Asreelm has been most gracious to grant this audience with his local heroes."

He raises a pewter goblet, starkly plain compared to the fine linen its owner wears, "To your health, may you ever find solace where the wind takes you and may you never need shelter for when it gets angry." he intones the Elladan toast used for meeting of old friends.

Speaks takes a seat, not caring if her back is to that wall or this, that sort of thought she leaves to Batri or Sitra.  She raises her tankard to Komyo's toast.  "Thank you for the ale.  Would you like to state your business with us?  Heroing is thirsty work and my friends and I plan to be deep in our cups soon.  You have caught us at an opportune moment."

"That is fortuitous indeed." he smiles, "But as you say, down to business." He reaches into a pouch at his belt and lays out four silver pins each shaped like a pair of entwined dolphins. "My cousin is most grateful for the return of his niece and nephew. Should you ever need a favor, present this pin to one of our family members and we will do what we can to help."

He leans back, "Representative Celqo is interested in your willingness to protect the Western District. Pheze is not a safe city and the my cousin would like to change that."

Sitra takes a seat and raises his drink in a silent toast to Komyo. After Komyo speaks his part Sitra leans back for a moment."That is an interesting proposition. What exactly are you suggesting? Guards? Vigilantes?"

"Troubleshooters. The Rulers do not allow any sort of city guard. Hamakawa has ensured that his secret police keep watch on all citizens, but, as you know..." he says as he shakes his head, "...they only deal with crimes against those that rule Pheze."

"Thank for your benevolence.  But, is there anything you require that demands our immediate attention?"

"As a matter of fact, there is something that has peaked my cousins curiosity." he says with a knowing grin, "We live in a world of Small Gods. It seems like a new cult is springing up every sunrise. The Rulers do not care about them, at least until they become a threat to their own cults." He winks before waving to his son for another round.

"There is one that has taken to calling itself the Temple of Duvia. The claim that their god can usher the recently deceased to their own afterworld without being diverted by whatever demons you fear." he shrugs, "How true this is, I truly do not wish to discover. The district folk have been joining this cult by increasing numbers and my cousin wishes to see if they are being taken advantage of, or worse, being forced to join the cult." the son arrives with the new drinks and moves away to his post by the impromptu bar, "Gather as much information about them as possible. If they seem like a threat to the people of our district, perhaps eliminate them."

Is this a volunteer mission?  What do we get?    Beuren is charmingly direct as he drinks.

"Forcing you to do this, were that possible, certainly wouldn't bode well for good results." he observes, "If you do decide to help the people of the West District, my cousin would be most grateful, he is able to pay 50 gold, each, for the information you retrieve. More if the information is particularly valuable or if other...actions...may have been needed." He waves his hand dismissively, "Of course anything you find of value during your investigation, that will obviously have been lost and forgotten by the original owners, you should feel free to keep...safe...should the owner decide to recover it."

The unusually silent Batri speaks up, ““So, you would just have us determine if the cult is something altruistic or if they are fleecing the public, real or not?  You are trusting us to make the decision of whether to allow them to continue or... Persuade the leaders of the cult to stop their activities?”  He waits a moment to see if his understanding of the job is correct before continuing.

He strokes his chin, “We are well equipped at scenting the shit of cults I suppose.  There are some questions to be answered before We can fully commit, but I think you can consider us an interested party.  Obviously we would need all of the details of what you know of them, any people you e identified who are members or leaders, if they have a physical temple, things like that...  I would also like to know what about this cult makes it stand out for extra scrutiny with so many other ‘gods’ popping up all the time.  Oh and lastly the pay...  We have all been settling into jobs and lives and it will be a shame to have to put those on hold.  Two gold per day of our investigation each in addition to the 50 each on completion should make that worth our time though.  I promise we will hurry obviously, but with such an open ended job it is hard to know how long it will take us to do it proper.”

He leans forward, resting an elbow on the table, "As you say, we are trusting you to do such a thing. You have shown an interest in doing what is right, I'm certain the rescuing of our kin was not a decision made from greed." he sits back in his chair as if satisfied with that explanation and continues, "The cult has grown rapidly, without concern of drawing the attention of the Ruler's cults and Hamakawa Yuko does not seem to have sent in his exterminators." he shrugs, "This is of interest."

He takes a drink before waving his hand in circles as if continuing his thoughts before speaking them, "The 'temple' is an old bath house at the bayside edge of the district. The area has been mostly taken over by the swamp and jungle as most of the edge of Pheze has been." He looks to each of you in turn as he continues, "This is all the information I can provide. We know of your professions and I must confess, I am unable to offer more than 5 silvers per day, each."

He leans back again, "There is a difference between gratitude and trust, my friends, you have the first, the second must be earned."

Sitra leans back as he listens to the pitch. "Well that is certainly an interesting offer. I am amiable to it, what about the rest of you?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 22:46, Sun 04 Oct 2020.

I think the offer is good for me.  If everyone is amenable, when do we start?

Batri smirks at the mention of trust.  “I suppose that will do.  At least we won’t slip back too far if this drags on. “

He slaps Beuren on the knee.  “We start now if Speaks is willing.  I already have a plan.”

Might as well check it out.  What is your plan, Batri?

He shrugs, looking to their new employer.  “No offense, but I’ll wait to spill the plan till we are with people we can trust.”

He smiles, “So, when we have information how best do we contact you?”

"Oh, absolutely, the less I know the better." he says matter of factly, "Asreelm will know, or you can find someone in m family wearing a pin like those." he says as he points to the four dolphin pins on the table.

He makes no indication that he will be leaving the Balcony any time soon.

Batri nods, sweeping up the pins in his giant fist, “With luck, it will not be long before we have information for you.”  He finishes his tankard, again catching the coin in his teeth, but this time palming it along with the pins.

“Let’s retire to our normal table and plan out approach.”  He moves to leave the balcony.

Komyo bids you all a good day and good luck as you leave for your table.

Asreelm has kept the table clear for your return, but leaves you to your cups.

Sitra settles back in with his drink. "Well this will be interesting at least. How do we want to start this?"

“I think we go for a walk.  See what we can see.  Then, so long as it doesn’t seem suicidal, we send Beuren to join the cult.”  He pats Beuren on the arm, “He’s that spell that lets him look different even.  Plus you and Speaks are spoken for and I’m too distinct and not a good liar.”

He looks at Beuren, “Start thinking now of all the bad things you’ve done so you can convince them your soul needs saving.”

Hmmm . . . Lettting an innocent prisoner get crushed as a result of my incompetence seems liks a good start.  I guess it is cult time for me.  Just let me sober up a bit. 

Batri shrugs, “If that’s the kind of thing that weighs on your conscience then go with it...  Just don’t mention you did it while destroying another cult and maybe releasing one of these soul destroying gods.  Anyone have other ideas?”

"We should try and find where they proselytize. The fact that they are letting people know about a new underworld anyone can go to makes me think they send out recruiters."

“I agree.  That’s why I suggested searching the area a bit first.  Once we hone in a bit then we turn it over to Beuren.”

I am thrilled that you all trust my under the covers abilities.

With a wide grin, “I don’t, but when you scream like a girl I’m sure we will be able to hear you and rush in.”

In reply to Batri Shom (msg # 35):

The safe phrase is "blue dog".  You hear it come running.

"If we are close enough I can talk to you in your head so you can keep us up to date." Sitra finishes his drink and pushes the tankard away from him.

“Well, we can worry about code words and mind reading when we know a bit better what we are sending Beuren into.  For now, let’s see what the streets have to say.”  Batri takes up his shield as he stands from his chair.

"I see we're jumping right in then. Very well." Sitra also stands.

"One last thing.  I brewed these up over the last few weeks."  Speaks takes out three potion bottles full of red liquid and hands one out to everyone.  "Potions of healing.  Thought they might come in handy.  I have four more just in case."

You head out to the northeast side of Pheze, making your way further from the river and more into the outskirts where the jungle has encroached upon the ruins of the city.

The old bath house is easy enough to find among the vine covered structures. A pair of newly constructed wooden doors lay wide open at its entrance where a pair of yellow robed cultists sit on the cobblestones to either side. Each is shaved bald, with a black circle either tattooed or painted on the tops of their heads. Onyx bowls sit in front of them as they chant, passersby dropping a coin or two into the bowls are thanked as they do.

12:04, Today: Beuren Evos rolled 10 using 1d20+2 ((8)) This is on Charisme  Approaching the Monks and speaks with them.  Brothers.  Who goes your day?  I am but a student in the matters of the world.  What enlightenment do you have to offer? 

Sitra stands well back from the monks as he stars at Beuren as half heard whispers swirl around him. After a moment he looks around to see the layout of the neighborhood or what passes for it.

Action: Focus on Mind Link with Beuren.

What is around the temple? Is it just a formerly abandoned temple in the jungle? Are there other buildings nearby? If Sitra wanted to be close enough to keep the mind link up would he have to just lean against the wall outside the temple or could he hang around somewhere else? The range is 120'.

While not as heavily populated as the more central parts of the West District, there are still shops and homes around the bath house turned temple. These outskirts are generally populated by those who can't afford to live in better accommodations, have no desire to live in the more crowded areas, or don't care to be found.

The proximity to the jungles that surround the city offer up their own dangers from predatory monsters and animals.

Upon Beurens introduction, one of the monks looks up and smiles, "Duvia offers safe passage to the realms beyond, without worry for your loved ones."

This message was deleted by the player at 20:06, Wed 07 Oct 2020.

I am being rude.  My name is Beros, what is yours?  Beuren addresses the monk that is talking to him.

"Welcome Beros, I am Eln Tarr." the monk replies, using the Elladani term 'Eln' to indicate his voluntary choice to disassociate from his clan and thus his clans patron spirit, in this case 'Tarr'.

In reply to GM (msg # 47):

Please tell me more about your order Eln Tarr.  Perhaps this is the path I am meant to follow.

A sense of peace fills the monks words and expressions, "Duvia is most learned in the ways of the gods. He knows that a soul is not safe to tread the spiritual roads." he smiles as his drift off, "His faithful give ourselves in service to Duvia so that others may insure their loved ones will be able to travel the roads, guided by Duvia."

In reply to GM (msg # 49):

Beuren looks in thought at Eln Tarr.  Oh, Master of the word, what do you do for Duvia? Does Duvia teach you how to travel the road or does he safeguard all souls personally?  What may I learn?

"We help the living grieve and prepare the bodies. Duvia prepares the souls."

In reply to GM (msg # 51):

How do you prepare the bodies,  keeper of wisdom?  How does Duvia prepare the souls? 

"These are the secrets of Duvia and his servants."

In reply to GM (msg # 53):

How can I learn the secrets?  What must I do?

"You must feel the call of Duvia."

In reply to GM (msg # 55):

I feel that Duvia maybe calling me.  I feel it in my soul, can you take me and show me the way.

"I am sorry for your loss." he says as he stands, "Where is your loved one to be guided?"

In reply to GM (msg # 57):

My loved one is deep underground.  He was buried in an accident several weeks ago.  I wish there was something I could have done.

The monk bows his head with his eyes closed, when he raises it up again a look of sorrow fills his eyes, "I am truly sorry. If Duvia had called to you, then you did not hear, for it is well past the time needed to save him."

In reply to GM (msg # 59):

Sir, how can I learn the ways of Duvia so this doesn’t happen to others.  Can you teach me.?

"I have already taught you what I know. If you are ready, Duvia will call for you." a passerby drops a coin in one of the bowls and both monks intone "Duvia hungers. Duvia hungers no more."

The second monk speaks, "Perhaps Brother Huass'a can be of service, or you are welcome to come inside and pray, perhaps you will be able to hear Duvia then?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:54, Sun 11 Oct 2020.

In reply to GM (msg # 61):

I would like that very much.  Please lead the way.    Beuren will follow the monk in.

Sitra glances at the others waiting outside. "He requested that we wait 20 minutes and then go in to find him."

“So...  we give him half that before we go with a different plan?”  Batri grins.

Outside, a short downpour has just finished and lead into a much longer one as a reminder of the time of year. The discomfort of being hot, bug bitten, sweaty and now completely drenched has set off the timepiece in Batri's head. Perhaps it's been long enough for the bard to have been alone?

“Seriously though, what is our backup plan?  Not that I lack faith, but there have been concerns in the past.”

Before anyone can respond, Beuren steps out of the temple into the torrential downpour and makes his way to where the party were supposed to meet.

So,  I am alive.  What do you know about Duvia?

Sitra raises an eyebrow. "We know that he says he has some way of ushering the souls of the dead to a different afterlife. And that there is a time limit on when he can do it. What did you learn?"
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 16:24, Sat 17 Oct 2020.

Well, here is what happened:
I went  into the temple and there was a room with a counter.  A monk entered through the door behind the counter, there was a small gong above it.
He said, "I am Brother Huass'a, how may I be of service?"
I said, “I wish to learn more of Duvia.  Can you enlighten me?”
He says, "there is little I can offer you that Duvia has not already given you.  But if you feel that you must be nearer to him, you can join the others in the Grieving Hall." Then he exits the door.
I being brave and such follow him.
So, the door opened into a short hallway, with a door on either side and one at the opposite end. I saw on the right dozens of dark robes in various sizes hang on pegs here, and benches are pushed against the walls. A monk was inside.

"This is where the mourners don their mourning robes before going forth into the Grieving Hall." comments Brother Huass'a.

"And this is where we sleep and take our meals." says Brother Huass'a as we pass the door on the left, there were a dozen cots standing against the walls and the long table with chairs where four monks are eating.

He continued "Beyond this door is where those who have lost a loved one will pray for their loved ones and give over the body to Duvia. I ask that you do not interrupt their mourning, this is a trying time in their lives."

Now the Grieving Hall was large and had a thing called the Entrance to the Underworld. It was an arched opening that resembled an enormous mouth. The mouth looked more human than anything else, but the painting is primitive, making it difficult to tell what sort of creature it was.

A gong hangs above the Entrance to the Underworld. Six benches filled the floor of the grieving hall, enough seating for twenty-five or more mourners. There are two monks sitting with half a dozen mourners, softly chanting with them as a body is carefully wrapped in linen.
So I ask the Brother if I could wear a robe for my loss.
He tells me:  “I was not aware that you had had a loss. Do you wish Duvia to guide your loved one to their promised afterlife?"
The Monk takes me to the hallway and sits me down saying: "You may certainly grieve as you feel a need to, but you must understand that Duvia does not care for the living.  Duvia guides the souls. He safeguards them from the Sakhil. The Sakhil do not care about the living and so, Duvia does not either. Your sorrow means nothing to him for your loved one has already left and may have been taken by the Sakhil. You did not hear Duvia, so you did not save your love one's soul."

So I ask how I can find Duvia and he says: “"Renounce your worldly connections. Remove all loyalty to friends and family and bring them here so that they may be guided to their afterlives through Duvia.  It is only through absolute dedication to Duvia's cause can we, his servants, help those who transition."
I ask where the money and belongs of those who find Duvia go.  He tells me:  "Duvia has no need for the trappings of this world. We use the donations from those we help to provide food, but that is all.  Duvia's servants are many, only He knows the true number, but I don't think you understand.  To be a servant of Duvia, you must have no connection to this world. No friends. No enemies. No family. They must all be brought to Duvia where they can shed their mortal trappings and be escorted to their afterlives."
So then he leaves and sends in Sister A'ihliam.  I ask her how Duvia collects and guides ones soul after death.
She basically says she doesn’t know but that "Duvia rings the gong above the Entrance to the Underworld when a soul has been successfully guided."  Which sounds all kinds of nasty.
So I ask her if she has ever seen Duvia and what does Duvia look like.
She says:  "he rings the gong. A god does not need to appear to his servants."
So, there is a dead body, and a giant entrance and gong that is being rung.  As my twenty minutes was ending, I decided it was time to get out.

Batri listens in silence to the tale, “So...  Did the gong ring while you were there?  I’m sure that there are more than a few ways to fake that, but I’m curious. And the leader you spoke to, did you have any sense of if he believed in what he was saying? “

He tugs on Sitras robe, “And have you heard of anything like this?  Or you, Speaks?”

My gut feeling is that something comes out of the mouth in the Grieving Hall and takes the body.  The gong is hit I. The process. 

“I get that.  Did the people you spoke to seem truthful?  That’s the question I asked and really the only thing that matters.  What do you think, Beuren?”

The storm rages as Beuren considers the conversations he had in the temple.

Batri gives a look of frustration, “Let’s find somewhere with some shelter while everyone has their think.”

OOC! Batri will lead them to somewhere nearby where they might be able to get out of the rain.  A tavern or even a covered area.

A short walk away is a small inn with an attached beer garden. Judging by the clientele it seems to cater to travelers and farmers or hunters that stay overnight after bringing their goods in for sale.

Like the rest of this side of the city, the jungle seems to be as much a part of holding the building together as the stone and wood that it was originally built from.

"Food or drink?" asks a waitress as you seat yourselves under a palm frond covered roof that mostly keeps the rain at bay.

“Drink.”  He looks up at the roof before continuing, “Though, if this continues that might change.”

She nods and heads back into the inn before returning with four tankards of wine.

Wine is the most common drink in this part of world.

"Sakhil are a real thing. They torture souls they catch." Sitra sips his wine.

"Yes.  My people call them the Soul Eaters."

“That makes sense...  The best lies start from truth and the fear has to ring true to gather the masses, but what about the rest of it?  Does that seem familiar to anyone?”

"Maybe with more information. If it's just some monster that eats corpses and has tricked people into feeding it? That could be anything. So far the only thing we really know is that either it is intelligent or something intelligent is speaking for it.

"Well we also know that if the monks are there to assist people whose families have died, then there will likely be someone around at all hours to receive mourners."

Batri looks at Sitra, confused, “Wait.  Monster that eats corpses?  Did I miss something?”

He looks to Beuren, “We should refrain from reading too much into anything until Beuren answers.  For all we know, the priests take money, wrap the bodies and then have a mechanism to ring a bell so the mourners feel like something has been done.  There is nothing inherently supernatural so far.”

"We don't know that there is anything eating corpses, but the Faithful of Duvia seemed completely uninterested in Beuren when they thought there  was no dead body involved.  Curious."

Look, I tried to pay attention to everything I could. I think the priests genuinely believe they are helping folks find Duvia.  Did I see a wrapped up body.  Yes.  Did I see a huge hole in the wall that looked like a mouth.  Shit, yes.  Is there a gong that is struck when a soul is. saved.  Yes.    Do any of the priests see anything.  No.  Is there fucked up shit going on.  Yes.   I certainly wasn’t going to run into the mouth. 

“If you ran into the mouth you would have deserved what you got and stick to the facts, you heard a bell ring, but that doesn’t have anything to do with souls necessarily..” Batri frowns, “You said that they claimed helping your lost relative was impossible, that it was too late...  You also said they wanted you to separate yourself from your friends and family and to bring them here to send them to Duvia.  That sounds a lot like wanting converts to sacrifice their friends and family.  Did you see any weapons, Beuren?”

In reply to Batri Shom (msg # 86

It was a gong, and no weapons. 

He shrugs, “What made the noise is unimportant.  What is important is that now I can see why this cult has caught the eye of our employer.  What do we think is our next step?”

In reply to Batri Shom (msg # 88):

What makes the noise makes a difference.  I tiny bell on the floor can be run by anything.  A gong hanging from a mouth cave entrance would need to be rung by something at least human size if not bigger.

I think that reporting this to our employer is a good idea.

He winks at Batri.

"Did you see any other way into the temple? Do you think we could sneak in?"

“We have nothing to report that they couldn’tQ learn in an afternoon.  Sitra is right we need more information.  Did you notice any other doors that they didn’t point out to you?  And weapons, you never mentioned if they were armed?”

OOC: also Jason, did the panhandlers do anything when it started to rain?

In reply to Batri Shom (msg # 91):

No, doors to mention that I did not see.  They were not armed.

The monks did not seem bothered by the rain.

“I think we will want to see if there is any activity at night.  That and see if there is a back entrance of any sort.  It will be a little difficult since they are on the edge of the city, but...  well it will be worth the effort.  We should also see if any of the locals have opinions on them.”

"Agreed. Also, if we decided to sneak in we could always come as mourners and wait for the right time to descend through the mouth."

“I agree.  Now that we know more about them, another of us could approach, concerned for their dying relative, no, friend and see how they react differently.  I’d bet a copper they tell you to bring them to the temple, alive.  If they do that, well that could get all of us in there. Easily enough.

"I think that works. Who should go and who should be sick?"

“You’re a better liar than I, Sitra.  If they tell you to bring someone we can make Beuren the sick one and Speaks and I could be people you paid to help carry him.”

I am on board with this plan.

"Alright, take a few minutes and figure out how you want to disguise him. I will wait a moment and go talk to the monks."

"As a thought, maybe the fact that I went there before and expressed interest might be an in for why you are bringing me there now.

"That's a good idea. I'll wait about half an hour and then approach the temple. Make yourself look as convincingly sick as possible."

After giving them time to prepare, Sitra composes himself and heads to the temple.

“Speaks, make sure you’ve hidden any symbols of your god.  It wouldn’t go well if they thought a priest of some other religion was bringing someone in.  You and I are just friends helping carry a stick person.”

Sitra speaks to the monks out front of the temple for a bit before returning to the beer garden.

"They said you could rest there until you died. We can bring you in and wait around to mourn."

"Ok Beuren, make with the corpse-like disguise and we will carry you in."

“Wait a second.  First, Sitra, what exactly did you tell them?  It’s important to know exactly what we are getting into.  Also, we need to have a plan for getting out unless Beuren really commits to the role and dies on us.”

"I told them that my friend was dying and asked if we could bring him there so he could pass peacefully and they could prepare the body," says Sitra.

"If things go awry, we just act surprised at our friend's miraculous recovery, 'Praise Duvia' and walk out.  Anyone tries to stop us, they are thwarting the will of Duvia and we attack them for being heretics.  Simple."

“I agree, Speaks, but that might not get us all of the information we want.  I still think they are going to encourage an active role in sending him to Duvia.  What if, Speaks, you play the role of someone who believes your friend can be saved, but has gone along despite that.  Beuren, Sitra, you are our believers on some level.  I’ll be the help.  I will wait for, say, a half hour before I go running in.  I will be a messenger  bring a “potion” to revive our friend.  One you hired, Speaks.  That will give us enough chaos that they should be happy to get us to leave.  Assuming that they are telling truth.  It may even give us enough time to see something mystical happen.”

"We don't have to wait for that, we could bring the "potion" with us and you could just give it to him while we wait and pray. Then as soon as we have the opportunity we can try to explore."

“If we already have the potion why didn’t we give it to him before?”

"Fair enough. So we bring him in, a few minutes later you arrive with the potion, then we wait for an opportunity to investigate?"

Batri thinks for a moment before speaking, “A bit more complication than that I think...  Everyone needs a role.  Sitra you are the devoted friend.  Beuren has asked you to bring him here so he is saved.  You are no believer and have questions.  Nothing too prying, but maybe details on what they will do after your friend dies.”

He turns to Speaks, “You are the skeptic, you’ve hired me to get the potion.  Don’t mention that, but be impatient, get up, wander, see what you can find but don’t cause a confrontation out of respect for your friend.  Keep me quiet we want my arrival a surprise.”

“Beuren you are the dead man...  well, dying.  Don’t overact but don’t be too lucid either.”

He leans in close, conspiratorially, “Here is the important bit, when I arrive, sitra you have to act surprised but beyond that nothing much.  Beuren when you are given the potion don’t leap to your feet or anything, but come out of your stupor a little.  Speaks can make a pronouncement of you seeming better even.  The real important part falls to Speaks.  You need to decide where the story goes once I arrive. There will be four options each with their own signal.  First, if. You think it best that I just leave then hand me coin immediately and tell me my work is done.  Second, you want me to be a bit brutish to see what that will get us then scold me for taking too long.  If you want me to start murdering just ask me to go thank the alchemist.  Lastly, if you do anything else I will just feign interest in their cult and see if there is anything I can notice.”

He dusts his hands off like he is finished with a task, “after that we just all leave hopefully without blood on our hands.  Does that work for everyone?”

"Works for me."

“Ok.   Let’s try it.”

I understand this plan.   I will do what I am supposed to.  No overacting.