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Forbidden Temple of the Great Falls

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"Of course, venerable Zato, that is exactly what I had in mind. Now then, I shall head off to the library right away and begin the huge task of searching for anything that may have come from my father. Who shall be my guard, honored monk?"

Arngeirr sees the squabble between Korsarro and Vernaus continue, the two rambunctious monks behaving in a manner that reminds Arngeirr of hugehound pups play-fighting. He chuckles to himself, doing his best not to bring attention to what seems to be a minor scuffle.
 
"Hm, Brother Vernasus! Would you be so kind as to stay with Arngeirr while he searches the library?" Zato called.
 
"Indeed," agrees Arngeirr, "Let us begin the huge task before us, honored brother. Please, lead the way!"
 
Brother Vernasus nods and walks briskly out of the room, huge man in tow. He leads Arngeirr through the various twists and turns of the ever confusing corridors of the temple as they make haste towards the library.
 
Korsarro let out a long breathe, thanking almighty Buzzia that his body was still in all of the peices it had been when he had entered the Reliquary. He patted the book, and then stretched, he had much work to do. It would not be easy to pry knowledge from the book safely, but he had promised to change his methods and Vernasus was a much stronger man than he would like to have coming after his head. He cleared his throat and made his way to the Tannery, he had much to do and not a lot of time. With the possibility of a demon already in the Temple the new armour would have to be done quickly. He opened the door to his Tannery, finding it to be the same small hut that contained his workshop as it had always been, the insides still being cluttered with the usual piles upon piles of materials he needed, each wall lined with tools, some generalised, some used for specific animals or specific body parts. He nodded and breathed deep. It was good to be home. The book he had pilfered was placed under his pillow, he didn't want to leave it laying around where just anybody could see it. He looked over to his desk and found the arm he had politely requested laying on it. He smiled, the guard had done as he had asked quite nicely. He moves the arm to the side and grabs a handful of leather from a basket marked "Cat" and begins his work...
 
The guards let him enter with little trouble, his armor's insignias tell-tale sign of his rank as a senior knight of his order, he passed by the gates to enter the town proper. It took him less than a minute to notice the tell-tale signs of rot, houses run-down, haggard figures seeking makeshift shelter in half-burnt ruins, cadaverous parents begging in the dirt for the barest crumbs of bread.

Disgusting. Not the people he was capable of seeing, but those he could not. Those that shut themselves off this world in the higher part of the town, another ring of walls keeping it secure.

He would have given each of the figures that swarmed him with their pleas, had he yet possessed himself. His pilgrimage for atonement had led him to many families, most of them demanding satisfaction for their son's lives, the soldiers whom he left to die at the Pass. Everytime he would come to beg before them on his knees, confessing himself to be the one responsible for their loss. By the time he had arrived at this town, he had suffered beatings and given his money to those who were in need of it, although sometimes his mere confession and own obvious torment had driven a mother and a father to forgive him without accepting any of his offers.

Scanning his surroundings wearily, there was little he could do as it was. That could not be allowed to stand, he was strong! He had to stand tall for each and every one of these poor people! His anger grew with each step he took in this decaying husk of a town.
 
Valetni stared at the pile of books in front of him, everything he could grab that would in some way be related to the topic he was studying. With a sigh, he opened the first one and got down to the business of quickly skimming through it. Any book that could help him he put in one pile for further reading, every book that was useless he put in a second pile. When he had finished skimming the last book, he placed it in the second pile, before lifting the entire pile and returning the books from where he had found them. No sense antagonizing Brother Wolfram by leaving books sitting around.

With all extraneous books away, he carefully opened one, laying it out before him. A journal, similar to the ones he kept in his lair lay next to it, as he prepared to take notes. Most of the information he found was redundant, or paradoxical, but information was information. He would be able to test any of these, weed out what works and what did not. It would be a long, thankless task, with no guarantee of success. Like the last twenty-eight years of his life. Valneti took a deep sniff of herbal powder, then set about his task.
 
As the others departed, Zato headed back to his brewery. Here, he worked, mixing various alcohols, with jars of olives and spices. He considered a few bottles, before combining his apple infused vodka with whiskey and lemon juice. He added one olive and salted the rim. Sipping the new drink, he said,
"I think I'll call this.... an Amber Tale."
 
She stared at them again, maybe she didn't know enough about the Quacks to understand whether they were alright or not.

But where to find someone who knew...

Then she remembered that Mister Zato had always told her to look in the library if in doubt.

The tiny girl removed her head from the cupboard and dashed off, feet tapping and habit flowing in her wake.

She entered the Library and stared up at the huge list of books available, she located the Q (for Quacks) section and trundled off down an aisle eyes peeled for the all important book.
 
She went through the Q section, twice...

it took her a while since she was never great at reading, but there was nothing on Quacks...

She sighed, downhearted she left the aisle and went over to sit at one of the tables to think about what to do next, all the walking had made her legs tired as well...

"Mister Valetni!" the creature squeaked as it's tiny hands pulled on the sleeve of his habit

"MisterWolframtoldmetomakesuretheQuackswereokbutIdon'tknowmuchaboutQuackssoIcametofindabookaboutthembutthereisn'tabookonQuacksanywhereintheQsection..." she blurted out, obviously anxious for help.

"I-I don't know where to look since I'm not supposed to be in here on my own after I got that book with the pretty light-blue cover and writing all sticky, You always come to the library so you know where everything is, right?"

She looked up at the monk, her large eyes staring intently at him.
 
Korsarro lifted the leather garment he had been crafting, he frowned "This will never do." He flapped an ear on the hood back and forth with his finger, it was far too loose. He placed it down and got back to work. The rest of the garment was nearly done, he only had to reinforce the chest area. He shook his head, it wasn't often he made things for Mary, the idea of draping such a young child in dead flesh seemed wrong. Even to him. But still, he worked, if worst came to worst then she might need the protection it brought. He layered the ears and chest, the ears would not flop quite so easily now, instead they bounced, landing back in the crooked position he had intended.

He stood up from his work and lifted the garment, placing it on his bed, where all his finished works went when they would soon be delivered to their new owners. He looked upon it and found himself smiling. It was funny how a Temple of hardened monks and warriors managed to melt just from one little girl. He sat back down and dragged the arm into his workspace. It would be hard work making full use of the flesh... but he was confident he would manage.

He began by stripping the skin, placing each strip in a small baisin of the preserving oils he so often used. The skin would have to soak, the bones and meat he could use now though. He stripped the muscle and various other small pieces of flesh and threw them into corresponding buckets he kept around his workbench. The bones... the bones he could use... But not yet. They were left on the desk, he would shape them appropriately when they were needed. For now. This would do.

He stretched once again, the time he had spent hunched over his bench had caused his back to complain somewhat, and a walk was exactly what he needed. He scooped up the garment he had made earlier from his bed and left the Tannery, surely it wouldn't take him too long to find Mary.
 
"Do you mind? I'm very busy here." He said tersely, returning to his task.

"If you are looking for a book on ducks, you should check under D, for ducks. A, for Anatidae. Or W, for water foul." He said without looking up, or in this case down. "A 'quack' is an onomatopoeia, not a proper noun."
 
"O-oh...sorry Mister Valetni...."

the small girl looked down at her feet, an automatic reaction to being scolded,

"T-thank you though..." she trudged off, the spring in her step gone as she headed towards the other end of the library and the D section.

well at least she'd find a book to help the Quacks, no, they weren't called that, they were ducks, Mister Valetni had made that fact very obvious to her.

her little habit habit trailed behind her as her bare feet moved silently across the floor.
 
The man was not even screaming for help, simply apathetically waiting for the end of torment the guards inflicted upon him with their endless beating, the sounds of the wooden shafts of their halberds meeting flesh resounding over the streets interrupted only by the guard's shouts of "Thief! Be glad I don't cut your hand off!", while other haggard figures looked on, fear mixed with anger and frustration.

The past riots had riled the guardsmen up, always eyes wide-open for any sign of trespassing on the lower populations pass, lashing out with extreme prejudice whenever there was the chance.

Thinking the broken heap that remained of the man was enough,five of the guards let off, waiting patiently for the sixth to vent his own frustrations. Again, the halberd's shaft sank down,

Only for it to be held off with one huge plated hand, while another balled itself into a fist, was propelled into the man's face, resulting in a sickening crunch as the man's nose broke easily, the man himself sinking to the ground with a barely-managed groan. Morr drew his sword, protectively positioning himself between the beggar and the remaining five guards.

A crowd had begun to assemble, voices of anger, hope and fear clearly to be heard.
 
Al had thought about wandering after the monks toward the reliquary, but decided against it. He had already had his fill of demons, at least for a while. Instead he went to the library. It had been his destination yesterday before he had passed out. He found it with thankfully little difficulty. As he entered he heard a charming melodic voice that could only belong to that angel of this monastery. Around the corner he saw her, as well as Valetni. Waiting patiently for their conversation to end, Al wondered how he might phrase his question. When the chance presented itself, he just decided to go for it. "Brother Valetni, I hope it isn't too forward of me, but would you happen to know where the new monk's quarters are? I feel terrible for imposing on Zato, so recently come to harm. And...I'm sure this library holds much literature on demonic subjects, but I would be glad if you could direct me to a tome that focuses soley on the river-dwelling kind." Very good. He had mept the tremor out of his voice and hopefully an equally blank expression.
 
NPC

The Apprentice Monk knocked on the heavy wooden door.

"Err, Brother Devlin?, are you there?"

Not hearing an answer he turned the handle and poked his head inside.

there was the Apothecary, asleep on his bed.

He moved over to gently shake the healer

"Brother Devlin are you ok? you must wake up, it is past mid-day and you have yet to rise"
 
"hrmf, who is it?", "it better be important" Devlin muttered a bit harshly to the person shaking him awake from his well loved slumber
 
NPC

"It's past noon Brother, and Master Wolfram has requested you check up on your patients in the Hospice."

"I shall let myself out and allow you to get dressed"

The young monk left the room and headed back to Wolram's Office to report the completion of his task.
 
Brother Vernasus turned his head, and spoke to the huge man.

"Here we are, The library is just through this door."

As they entered the library, Brother Vernasus noticed two things. A dejected looking mary, solemnly sulking off towards the bookshelves, no doubt because of him...

A wicked smile spread across Brother Vernasuses face.
Him... sitting there, utterly oblivious. The Beesiah must surely be shining down on him today, to have such a chance encounter with this vile monk.

Brother Vernasus patted Arngierr on the shoulder and pointed at the incredibly upset looking child, before silently approaching the table that Valetni was sat at, completely and utterly lost in thought. He slammed his hands down hard on the table in order to catch the mans attention.

"Well, well, well... what DO we have here?"
 
Devlin waited till the monk left the room, got up almost groggily and closed the door to get dressed.

after he finished getting dressed, he left his room to check up on the plagued man and Knight known as Morr before going to the kitchen to get something to eat.
 
"Thank you, honored Vernasus," said Arngeirr as they entered the library. He tucked the box under one huge arm, making sure to keep a firm grip on it. "I must begin the search for whatever information my father hid here. The first conundrum I must solve... where do I begin looking?"

He stalked down the rows upon rows of books, hoping that something would inspire him, give him a guess as to what his father would have done here. As his huge frame passed from one isle to the other, he came across a tiny figure in a robe that was much too large. "I say, is that sweet Mary I see before me?" The huge man stride down the isle she has taken to, and as he nears she sees the wee lass fretting about dejectedly as if in search of something. "Dear little Mary," he says, "What can Mister Arny do to help?"
 
"He's a thief, the law must be-" the weibel of the guardsmen began, only for Morr to shout "Nothing could justify what you did to this man! NOTHING!" his furious words dimmed only slightly by his helmet echoed over the streets, the assembled crowd watching in tension, some of the people yelling bitter insults at the guards.

To his credit, the weibel only took back one step before Morr's gargantuan frame, retorting "Your noble intentions held in honor, sir knight, but this man is, by law, a criminal an-"

"NO LAW IS RIGHTEOUS ENOUGH TO ALLOW SUCH INJUSTICE TO COMMENCE UNPUNISHED ITSELF!" Gripping his blade tightly, Morr's self-control was hard set to hold him back from throwing himself at these men.

The crowd was now visibly furious itself, all fear now supressed by the sight of the knight standing up for them, furious calls against the guardsmen reverberated, more and more people joining in.

"It is the law and everyone must abide by it, even you sir knight. Move aside." the weibel ordered his men to surround the lone knight, halberds' viscious ends pointed at him.

Morr was not threatened, halberds may have the capability of bringing him to fall in his plate armor, yes, but there was a reason they were mostly used by guardsmen to keep enraged crowds controlled, while his own weapon, the bastardschwert that could, with its elongated grip, easily be used to substitute as a zweihandschwert. Even without these odds, these men with barely any combat experience could not stand against him.

Charging straight for the weibel, both hands gripping his sword tightly, he shattered the halberd's shafts easily, disarming the men, after all, simply slaughtering them would be still injustice himself, he would give them a beating and then send them on their way.

It was then that the assembled crow, emboldened by the knight's actions and their own bitter hatred, swarmed the guardsmen.
 
"M-Mister Arn-geirr" she looks up at the Huge Man, her eyes dull.

"Could you reach me that book on ducks...I-I'm too small to reach it..."

her shoulders low, and a chair mere meters away, she could have stood on it surely...
 
"Ah, yes. If you are interested in that sort of thing, I suppose you would want to check over..." Valetni points to a section several feet away, and goes back to reading and studying once AL has walked off.

He does not go long without interruption, as brother Vernasus rudely and without any reason interrupts his vital studies. What an asshole.

"Hello brother Vernasus." he said calmly, taking a pinch of herbal supplement, ah that's the stuff, much better. Everything was so much better, so much more manageable.
"Can I help you with something?" He asked, taking in the brothers red and mottled complexion. "My you appear to be suffering from some sort of full body allergic reaction, I believe I have just the thing for you right here..." He said placing a hand in his robes.
 
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