[Icemule Temple, Meeting Hall]
The Temple Meeting Hall is an expansive space, although its ceiling barely clears six feet.  Its mithril doors open inward, swinging back to frame a promenade down the center of two banks of hand-carved benches.  Leather cushions on the benches provide a more comfortable seat atop the hard oak, and footrests add additional ease.  At the room's far wall, a raised dais holds a podium and a few imposing oak chairs with wide arms and tall backs.  You also see an ice blue taper and a pair of wide mithril doors.
Also here: Twylamar who is sitting, Lenerius who is sitting
Obvious exits: none

You ask, "Allright, which of ye would like to share a tale first?"

Twylamar amusedly asks, "What kind of tale?"

You say, "Of how or why ye came to follow a deity.  Or how faith affects yer life."

Twylamar sheepishly says, "I haven't a deity yet."

You smile.

You say, "Well, perhaps ye have a tale about that."

Twylamar sheepishly says, "Well other than I make donations to the one who keeps reviving me."

You grin at Twylamar.

You turn to face Lenerius.

You ask, "Ye wish to start then?"

You say, "And perhaps Twylamar will want to share a tale after ye are done."

You grin.

Lenerius says, "Sure."

Twylamar sheepishly says, "Anyone but me I'm new and haven't a clue."

You grin at Twylamar.

Lenerius says, "Though, it doesn't involve a deity or god, just an Arkati."

You nod to Lenerius.

You say, "Same thing to most folks."

You grin at Lenerius.

Twylamar sheepishly asks, "What's an arkati?"

You turn to face Twylamar.

You say, "Arkati are powerful beings."

You say, "That most hold as deities here in Elanthia."

You smile.

You turn to face Lenerius.

Lenerius says, "Basically, the ones to whom every chapel in this temple are dedicated."

Twylamar nods to Lenerius.

Twylamar innocently says, "I get ya."

Speaking to Lenerius, you say, "Let's hear yer tale."

You smile at Lenerius.

Lenerius says, "I suppose I should start by saying that I have chosen Koar as my favored patron, partially because his ways are a good match to the views of my people."

You reach out and run your fingers across the pendant, and a golden incandescence surrounds the object briefly...

You nod to Lenerius.

Journeyman Grimlorn just came through a pair of wide mithril doors.

Grimlorn smiles.

You nod to Grimlorn in greeting.

Grimlorn sits down.

Grimlorn nods to you in greeting.

Lenerius says, "Several years ago, you likely remember that the Dark Alliance attempted to attack the Elven Nations."

You nod to Lenerius.

You say, "That I do."

Lenerius says, "I was an officer in Ta'Vaalor's military, at the time."

You lean forward and rest your chin in your hand, a thoughtful expression on your face.

Lenerius says, "Granted, the Dark Alliance failed miserably, and even more recently, encountered fairly terrible suffering as a result of their actions."

You nod to Lenerius.

Lenerius says, "However, this was a few years before that latter event."

Lenerius says, "During the battles, I was captured."

You gasp.

Grimlorn nods.

Twylamar ponders.

Lenerius says, "Unfortunately, it was only a few days before they decided to run away, so I was taken with them."

You bite your lip.

Lenerius says, "In a strange turn of luck, I was brought by a ship that was caught in a storm."

Lenerius says, "I was the only survivor, and I still do not know how."

You shiver.

Lenerius says, "I was in a strange land, and extremely disoriented."

You say, "I could well imagine."

You nod.

Lenerius says, "I actually spent the next few months learning where I was, and learning different styles of combat there."

(Lenerius rests his hand on the hilt of his katana.)

Lenerius says, "The Erithians were a good-natured people, and didn't mind my presence in the coastal lands, at least."

You ponder.

Lenerius says, "Obviously, the cities in the center of Atan Irith were off-limits."

You ask, "Like to stick to themselves there?"

Lenerius says, "Anyway, when I was ready, I decided to head to the western portion of this continent."

Lenerius nods to you.

You nod.

Lenerius says, "I felt that, despite their loss, such arrogance by the Dark Alliance needed to be punished severely."

You rub your chin thoughtfully.

Lenerius clearly says, "My plan was to kill any worshippers of those four Arkati that I saw."

Grimlorn says, "Not the worst plan I've ever heard."

Lenerius chuckles.

You grin at Grimlorn.

Lenerius says, "I was lucky, in that the first one I met was a worshipper of Mularos, and also little more than a young girl."

You say, "Hmmm..."

Lenerius says, "It was at that point I decided to reconsider."

Grimlorn says, "The young can never be truly dedicated."

Lenerius says, "Needless to say, I had much on which to think."

Grimlorn nods.

Twylamar nods to Lenerius.

Lenerius says, "I came to something of a realization..."

Lenerius asks, "What exactly did the Arkati have to do with the Dark Alliance, really?"

You chuckle at Lenerius.

Lenerius says, "Certainly, things were done in their names, but everything was being done by people, and nothing more."

You say, "Rather an interesting question."

Lenerius says, "Basically, it was an excellent illustration of the problems we face when someone dedicates himself entirely to a single Arkati, and worships him as a god."

You say, "Not sure I agree, but interesting idea."

You nod to Lenerius.

Lenerius says, "It is why Koar keeps them from taking much of an active role in the world."

Lenerius says, "So you see, I came to understand that we need to keep things in perspective."

Lenerius says, "Koar has always understood this, and works to make certain we can all come to this realization."

Lenerius says, "I suppose that is the story of my faith."

You smile at Lenerius.

You say, "Not sure I agree with yer conclusion, but the perspective is certainly worth the sharing."

You nod to Lenerius.

You remove an ora anklet incised with images of opposing crescent moons from in your spidersilk greatcloak.

Speaking to Lenerius, you say, "For sharing."

You offer your ora anklet to Lenerius, who has 30 seconds to accept the offer.  Click CANCEL to prematurely cancel the offer.
Lenerius has accepted your offer and is now holding an ora anklet incised with images of opposing crescent moons.

Lenerius says, "Thanks."

You smile.

Lenerius put an ora anklet incised with images of opposing crescent moons in his black linen cape.

You say, "Most welcome."

You ask, "Would anyone else like to share a tale today?"

You ask, "Or perhaps, would ye all like to hear how I came to worship Lumnis?"

You say, "Is a very old tale."

Grimlorn nods to you.

Grimlorn smiles.

You grin.

You say, "Allright then."

Twylamar nods to you.

You fold your hands in your lap.

You say, "Long ago, years back now, I was a shy sylph fresh from sylvan community hunting in the caverns below the well in IceMule when I came upon a ledge shrouded heavily in mist -- and little did I realize how important that mist was. Thinking the ledge but access to another hunting ground, I climbed it. And I fell from that mist-shrouded ledge into a strange room, a room I now refer to simply as the unholy place."

You shiver.

You say, "This room was filled with strange and horrible things: decaying corpses half-stripped of flesh, skeletons, runes, and an altarstone."

You say, "And that altarstone... Ewww..."

You shiver.

You say, "Upon the altarstone sat a irregularly-shaped, fist-sized purple stone, what has since become known as the relic. Silly and inexperienced as I was, I thought it some form of treasure."

You chuckle.

You say, "I was really green around the gills."

You nod.

Grimlorn smiles.

You say, "I picked it up and it began to pulse in my hand like a living thing. And then the room literally thundered with a voice saying..."

(Iscikella glances down at her hand, blinking a bit.)

You recite:
    "Iscikella, I am come to claim your soul."

Your jaw drops.

You say, "...as a pulse of energy went through the relic, burning my hand and causing me to drop that purple horror."

You shiver.

(Iscikella shakes her hand at the memory.)

Grimlorn frowns.

You say, "Panicking, I managed to get out of the room, but was lost good in the caverns. And the voice stayed with me. By contacting someone on the net, I was able to get directions out the caverns. Yet, even when I climbed out from the well, the voice remained. I was terrified, and cowered in the forest for the remainder of that day hoping to clear the voice from inside my head. But it came back the next day and the day after that."

You blink.

You say, "Terribly frightening."

Grimlorn nods.

You say, "Finally it quieted and I thought all was well. Not so."

You shake your head.

You ask, "Strange things began to happen to me. I would be knocked down by invisible forces, sometimes actually stunned, and I often heard messages about "learning my place" and the like. I was in utter turmoil, scared and confused. I told a few my story, but could never lead anyone back to that room, and that only added to my confusion. Where had what had happened to me occurred? Where?"

You wring your hands.

You say, "With concern for what was happening, a friend took me to the landing to escape the tormentor and his mischief. (Aye, the voice I heard was always male.) This proved pointless, as the haunting continued unabated. In fact, it was in the landing that mysterious wounds began to appear on my body, wounds I had not -- as an empath -- transferred to myself or received in battle."

You say, "And no one had a clue as to why."

You shake your head.

Grimlorn nods.

You say, "Several around me at that time saw this happen before their eyes and were amazed. Yet I was adamant I would not go into the caverns and confront the thing head-on, though I was advised by several more experienced than myself to do just that."

You smirk.

You say, "As I said, I was really green."

Your cheeks flush with a soft shade of apricot.

Grimlorn smiles.

You say, "One of these wiser folk took to searching the caverns himself and was frustrated with his inability to find the room of which I had spoken. On a whim, he took another young empath into the caverns with him. Strangely, this youngster died at his feet there from no apparent cause as a voice filled the caverns saying, "I will not have substitutes!" When he told me of this, my resolve to keep others clear of my haunting petrified into solid stone."

You look about with a puzzled expression on your face.

You say, "I stayed in the landing about two months before finally returning home to IceMule, which I had sorely missed. Though several times after my return I managed to get up enough courage to search the caverns alone and in secret for the infamous room, I never could find it, and never told anyone I was looking. In fact, I made it sound completely as if I wasn't."

Your cheeks flush with a soft shade of apricot.

You say, "Surely that can be counted a white lie only."

Your cheeks flush with a soft shade of apricot.

You exclaim, "One day I ventured into the temple and was confronted by an old empath. She was human but appeared ancient as I recall. She smiled and chatted in a friendly manner with me a bit, and then told me I would receive a message at Lumnis' altar. She taught me a special prayer, told me to repeat it before the Wise Lady's altar, and then vanished!"

Your jaw drops.

You exclaim, "I mean she really vanished!"

You exclaim, "Poof! gone!"

You blink.

Grimlorn nods.

You say, "Thinking little else bad could happen, I followed her "advice" and went up to Lumnis' chapel, this chapel, the Hall of the Mind. I knelt and spoke the Wise One's prayer for the first time. For many days I heard nothing, and then at last one day I heard a calm sighing rise in the eaves, a very soothing sound, but naught else."

Iscikella smiles softly.

You say, "It was somehow... a very serene sound though."

You say, "Hard to explain."

Grimlorn smiles.

You say, "At last, while praying alone in the Hall of the Mind, I did indeed receive a message from the Wise Lady..."

You recite:
    "Seek the mist
     And be astounded no more."

You blink.

You exclaim, "Well, I was pretty darn astounded!"

You blink.

You say, "The message was cryptic. I wasn't sure what it meant actually, but decided to look for that mist in the caverns in that bog where I knew the room had to be. I found the ledge, a shadowy grey mist rolled in, and I was able to climb that ledge and then drop down into the unholy place once more."

You nod.

You say, "A portal! The ledge was a portal and only open when the mist was present! Lumnis had presented me with the secret and all my gratitude went out to Her in that instant, and all my devotion forever."

You flash a wide grin.

Grimlorn nods.

Grimlorn smiles.

Twylamar nods to you.

You exclaim, "I had been told by those wiser than me that my haunting appeared to be from Luukos. There were signs of that. Yet the voice I heard had not spoken in a sibilant manner, and I now have come to believe with much reason -- since I have heard it more recently without much doubt of its possessor -- the booming voice was that of Amasalen, Luukos' chief minion. I went into the caverns, therefore, expecting undead. Undead is indeed what I found there. Arch wights everywhere!"

You shiver.

You say, "Ye must understand something about me at that time.  I was very green.  And more healer than hunter."

You say, "I really had no aptitude for fighting back then."

You say, "I have learned better now, but took many years of magical study."

You nod.

Grimlorn nods.

Grimlorn says, "Archies boil nastily."

A pained expression crosses Grimlorn's face.

You say, "I knew I couldn't handle the wights.  But fortunately I could heal myself."

Grimlorn nods.

You say, "But, as mana became scarce, I knew I would die and was prepared for that inevitability. The mocking laughter, which was echoing in that room, I fully expected to provide my death knell."

You exclaim, "Suddenly I heard the familiar sighing, and another mist -- shimmering like silver as I recall -- filled the room. A hand gently caressed my cheek as I felt the undeniable urge to pick up the relic, which yet lay where I had dropped it. Upon the instant of doing so, my abilities with the sword tripled!"

Iscikella smiles as she touches her cheek lightly.

Grimlorn smiles.

You say, "I realized it at first when my defense suddenly seemed incredible. So I tried again to abandon the safety net of my defensive stance, dodging behind my shield, and attack the wights. With utter shock and hysterical happiness, I found I could kill these undead! Me! And I did kill them, all of them. But that was not the end of the story."

You exclaim, "Oh, not by a long shot!"

You grin impishly.

You say, "When the last undead had fallen, a screaming -- banshee-like and wild -- filled the room. I was knocked to the ground, stunned. I got up and it happened again. And the screaming just went on and on. A voice, the male voice of my tormentor, said unto me..."

You shiver.

You recite:
    "Having surrendered halfway to the dark, your soul, Iscikella, is forfeit. Submit fully to me now."

You shudder.

A pained expression crosses Grimlorn's face.

You say, "Cheeky bastard, Amasalen."

You nod.

Grimlorn chuckles.

You say, "I became again convinced I would surely die. But then another voice whispered in my ear, ...a wise and serene woman's voice, ...calming and reassuring, ...Lumnis' voice..."

You recite:
    "To restore the balance
     Restore the order."

You say, "Surmising I needed to return the relic I had foolishly moved from the altarstone back to its proper place, I made attempt after attempt to return it there. It proved an astonishingly arduous task, worse than killing the wights, as I kept being knocked down and stunned by that unknown and screaming power."

You glance about with a look of concern on your face.

You say, "At last, somehow, I did the deed. I was bleeding from many places and very weak, but I managed. Immediately there an implosion, a vacuum suddenly forming within the place, and I was thrown from the room and found myself flat on my back in the bog. Yet somehow I had survived."

You shudder.

Grimlorn smiles.

You say, "Luckily."

You nod.

You say, "And neither that room... nor the relic... have ever been seen again since that day."

You shake your head.

You say, "Since that time I have come to learn a bit of that relic from a messenger who came to me and spoke of a vision... A vision of the relic given in favor to the members of the Council of Ten in IceMule. That relic is believed to be the petrified heart of Amasalen himself, indeed a potent charm for those of the dark. And some say it must consume souls to retain its full potency."

Twylamar applauds.

You say, "The messenger's words were cryptic and to this day I do not know for certain whether she spoke entirely of the past or some possible version of the future. For myself, I pray the relic is not again uncovered and that its power is not placed, whether initially or again, within the hands of any."

You nod.

You say, "But, for obvious reasons, the path of my devotion to Lumnis was set."

You nod.

Twylamar melodically says, "I can't say much I would have grabbed it faster than you could blink."

You chuckle at Twylamar.

Twylamar grins.

Twylamar shrugs.

Grimlorn smiles at you.

Speaking to Twylamar, you ask, "So, would ye like to try sharing a tale?"

You smile at Twylamar.

Grimlorn says, "A good tale."

Twylamar looks over at you and shakes her head.

You grin.

Twylamar melodically says, "I don't have anything good yet."

Twylamar melodically says, "Maybe another day."

Speaking to Grimlorn, you ask, "Know ye told yer tale yesterday, but have ye another ye might want to share today?"

You nod to Twylamar.

Speaking to Twylamar, you say, "I will look forward to it in future."

You smile at Twylamar.

Twylamar smiles.

Twylamar nods.

Grimlorn says, "Sadly no."

You nod to Grimlorn.

Grimlorn says, "I am a bit young for having many tales yet."

Grimlorn smiles.

You smile at Grimlorn.

You say, "Understandable.  One day I'm sure ye will have many to share."

You wink at Grimlorn.

Grimlorn nods.

Grimlorn smiles.

Grimlorn says, "Hopefully."

You say, "Well, then that concludes the storytelling for this afternoon.  I hope ye all enjoyed it."