The Cult and the Curse [Spice!]

[Vyraena]

"Once inside the city, the illusion surrounding it is dispelled, I suppose you could say. With no forces acting on you, you would see it for what it is. However, our psionic mages are fairly good at infiltrating the minds of people that we find to be... unworthy... of beholding the spectacle that is our city." Aezir explained. Regardless of this woman looking like a human now, she was still dead, and he was sure that giving her this information would have very few negative repercussions for him.

"Most people who come here are affiliated with us, anyway. However, that's not to say others haven't been in the city." He chose to leave out the part where they were mostly sacrifices to Az'gorr. He still wanted to learn more about this woman, and he could tell that she was innocent and kind. Showing off some of his... less desirable qualities, he supposed they could be called... would no doubt hinder his chances.

[visualspice]

"I suppose that makes sense," she replied thoughtfully. She herself, had to keep a lot of facts hidden as well, and for similar reasons. Though she wasn't sacrificing anyone by any means!
"But speaking of you and your people..." she found herself rounding the question back to herself. "Would I need an escort out... or... is it alright if I were to venture on my own?" She did have things to do, after all! "And my err... sarcophagus.. " She went on, clearing her throat. "I'll um.... need that returned to me... somehow." Oh dear- how on earth would she get that back to her 'home'?

[Vyraena]

"Should you leave, I would recommend being escorted out personally by me. However, I would hope that you would stay at least a little while longer." Aezir said to the woman, the tone in his voice conveying that it was more of a command than a request.

[visualspice]

"Well, it might be wise to take my time before going," she agreed, not seeming to hear or be phased by the command. "I do have to figure out how to get my things out of here, anyway. But any help you could offer would be wonderful. I dare say I can't move my sarcophagux very well on my own, so an escort.. yes.. yes it would be nice." And she shook her head at the idea, doing another inventory check on her things but her attention went back to the poor little scarab. She just hoped the thing was still.. in tact. She supposed she should be considered lucky that nothing had happened to it so far- after these some three thousand plus years she's been living and dying....

[Vyraena]

Aezir nodded and smiled at the woman. "Good, I'm glad you've chosen to stay a while. I have a pressing matter to attend to, so please excuse me for a few monents. In the meantime, feel free to explore the Temple, if you wish. Should anyone give you trouble, tell them that you have Aezir's blessing. They'll understand."

With that, Aezir turned and walked down a dark hall that lay behind him.

[visualspice]

"Oh, okay," she said, blinking as she watched him walk away. She stood there for a few moments, still awkwardly peering through her things before finally beginning to look around. The temple was as every temple usually was, though she figured she might as well take a look around as she was waiting. Though something in the corner caught her eyes as she blinked and tilted her head at the tapestry. It seemed to be made of bone.
And when she reached out to touch it- she realized- it was made out of bone! Several bones in fact, woven together from various types of creatures that- the second Averella realized what it was, she gasped and yanked her hand back- which incidentily pulled one of the bones loose as it rattled when it fell onto the ground.

The noise echoed throughout the temple, and before she new it- two acolytes had rushed in to see what was the matter. Seeing how their tapestry had been defiled, they were quick to approach the woman, demanding-
"Who are you?"
And
"What do you think you're doing here!?"
And their voices were so loud they boomed and echoed all around her, and the woman found herself gaping at the pair and stammering- her tongue too tangled to properly reply.

"Messing with our temple means death, especially those who have defiled our relics!"

[Vyraena]

Walking down the dimly lit hall, Aezir heard a clanging sound behind him, no doubt coming from the room he had left. The temple was mostly empty, and the halls tended to amplify sound, so it would stand to reason that he should be able to hear faint noises from the room.

Waving a hand, his skeletal guardian animated in front of him, with a sword, as well as armor, made of bone. "Go check out that noise. I don't want our visitor to get into any trouble, and judging based off our previous conversations she's not the best at talking herself out of situations."

The skeleton knight made a low, guttural growl and took off running to the chamber, bones and armor clanking together. Aezir turned back to face his destination and kept walking. "If only I could have gone back to check myself, I would have. But anyone here will know to respect and fear that skeletal warrior." He said to himself.

[visualspice]

And respect and fear she did, for as the men were advancing upon her- for she hadn't uttered a clear peep as to why she was there- the warrior was there, a menacing form, looming just behind them. And it was only whens he saw the warrior reach out for them did she scream-a nd that scream echoed throughout the entire place, bringing other acolytes running into the room.

[Vyraena]

As the acolytes ran into the room, the skeletal knight let out a loud growl, before walking up to the woman and turning to face the acolytes. Holding its sword out in front of it to defend the woman, the acolytes all stopped what they were doing.

"Isn't that... Lord Aezir's guardian?" One of the acolytes murmured.
"It is. What is it doing here?" Another whispered.
"And why is it protecting that woman?" Said a third.

The skeleton turned to the woman and let out a low, quiet growl. It appeared to be a question of some sort.

[visualspice]

Averella winced back, her back pressed up against the wall as she cringed at the very sight of the skeletal soldier.
"I... I'm sorry if I.. if I woke you up," she stammered, the only logical sentence she had been able to form in the last five minutes. She just hoped the skeleton was not there and angry at her! That sword... it seemed rather sharp and well...
As much as she died as often as she did...
She still wasn't quite accustomed to be in the presence of other such dead things!

[Vyraena]

The skeleton roared at the acolytes. They all bowed their heads.

"If it is the will of Aezir, than let it be done." One of the acolytes said.

They began to leave the chamber and head back to what they were doing, and just like that the skeleton had turned to go back down the hall to Aezir. Just as quickly as the room had been brought to life, it returned to silence.

[visualspice]

Averella stood there, quite confused in the quiet as her chest rose and fell with heavy breath. Her cheeks were also pink from the ordeal (despite her darker shade of skin) as she simply stared off into the empty room before nearly collapsing to the floor.

She was a delicate thing, that was for sure, but even more so at the beginning of her 'reanimation', as it were so she took this moment to find a place to sit- but when she did, she rested her hand upon some stone lever that was well concealed in the wall and-
suddenly the wall came alive! And with a yelp, the wall turned and whisked her away to a dark room- and back in the main sanctuary- it was missing one scattered brained, brought back to life mummy!

And here, from inside the secret dark room, she blinked and looked around.
"He... hello?" her voice echoed softly around her. She winced. "Oh dear... what on earth happened?" And she tried to blindly grope around against the wall that now imprisoned her- seeking for a way to get out. She never fancied dark places...
Reminded her too much of her multiple deaths and well- awakenings.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" she asked against the thick, stone wall-
but only silence replied.

[Vyraena]

Aezir arrived at the grand chamber just before his skeletal guardian returned. It made a low growling sound and placed its weapon down. "It's taken care of, then? Very well, you are dismissed." Aezir said, and with a wave of his hand the skeleton fell into a pile of bones once more.

Aezir walked through the grand chamber to the center and sat down at one of the five chairs surrounding the large circular table. His father, Cyrus, was sitting directly across from him. This was one of the places where the Council would meet, but today there was no scheduled meeting. His father had requested to speak with him alone.

"Ah, Aezir. You finally made it. C'thir has spoken to me, and would like for me to share the news with the prophets of Az'gorr." Cyrus said with a smile.

Aezir looked at his father with unblinking eyes. "I am sure that anything C'thir said to you, Az'gorr has said to me. But I shall listen to whatever it is you must say."

"Actually, C'thir wanted both Az'gorr and his Prophet together before the news was spread." Cyrus replied. "Get comfortable. This will be interesting to you, I am sure."

[visualspice]

Continuing to knock at the stone walls, Averella continued to call out.
"Hello? Somebody? Any body?"
And again- after more silence, she found herself sighing and wilting against the wall.
"This is just great. How am I ever to get my things out of here if I've gotten myself stuck inside the wall? It figures I can't keep myself out of trouble for more than a few minutes," she went on, scolding herself. "But honestly, what goes around comes around, right? So there must be some sort of a lever here that could propel my back to where I have come from." And she went on, continuing to grope at the dirty wall until she heard the same familiar noise from before, and with a gasp, she found herself whisked back into the room as the wall turned around once more.

Blinking, she found it hard for her eyes to get adjusted to the torch lit room, and was relieved to see it was the same room as before. Wiping off the sweat from her brow, she had no idea she had just smeared a path of dirt across it as she walked over to her things and decided to just stay put. If she sat there, surely she couldn't get into any more trouble.

So as she waited, she idly kicked her feet as she looked around.

"Hrm... lots of skeleton things," she mused. Though she supposed that made sense- considering the type of God in worship here. But it was a tad dismal. Really- why were all temples like this the same? Kind of ominous, spooky... almost as bad as a tomb- though in truth, most Essyrni tombs were even far grander and delightful than this. But then again, Hakeshna and the earlier gods were all about life after death.

[Vyraena]

When Cyrus had finished telling Aezir the news, he stood up from the table and began to walk away. "That's all. Will Az'gorr accept?" Cyrus asked.

"Of course. The will of C'thir is the will of all the gods." Aezir answered as he stood up and turned to walk back down the hallway. "I'll gather the prophets and the acolytes later and share the news."

Aezir walked down the hallway he had come from. This time, there were some acolytes working in the formerly empty rooms. All of them bowed to Aezir when he walked past, and he rose a hand to wave and signal they could continue. I hope that woman hasn't gotten herself into too much trouble. He thought to himself as he mulled over the information Cyrus had just told him.

[visualspice]

Aezir seemed to be taking his good old time, and despite what she had commanded of herself, her legs just wouldn't listen. She was just itching to move around, to get some progress done- after all, what if this was it? What if this was the time she'd be able to crack the code and break the curse and finally be free of this death and life cycle once and for all? Though she supposed most would be happy to be able to come back to life just as she- but it was hardly her will! She never would have wanted this and well...

Here she was, alive again and browsing all of the skeletons along the wall. There were some actual tapestries inbetween them with some interesting looking creatures and men holding bloodied daggers over people. She gave a curious tilt of her head as she looked at one of a man stabbing a woman and it appeared as if he had cut out her heart while she was still alive.

"Gruesome," she whispered to herself, then moved onto the next tapestry- but was still a bit distracted by the first when she suddenly bumped into something as she gsped and turned around- unable to catch the closed vase she had bumped into before it crashed onto the ground- breaking into a million tiny pieces.. and expelling the bones and dust it once held within.

[Vyraena]

Aezir walked back into the chamber where Averella was waiting, and looked around to see the bones scattered around the floor, as well as the broken pieces of the vase. Rather than being angry, he simply looked at the woman and smiled. "You seem to be making yourself comfortable here."

With a swift movement of his hand, the bone tapestry was repaired, with the bones swirling up off the floor to meet with the ones still on the wall. As for the bones in the vase, he simply looked at them. "Those bones have been here since I have inherited the temple, as well as the High Prophet before me, and the one before him. I have been quite unsure as to why they are here in the first place. They hold no particular significance, luckily."

[visualspice]

The lady grit her teeth.
"I apologize for the mess. I... I didnt mean to." And her eyes dropped down to the broken pieces of the vase. "It was very pretty." That much she could deduce from its details and glaze.

[Vyraena]

Aezir offered a warm, comforting smile. Which was quite the sight, if you knew him well! It was rare for him to do such things.

He walked over to the woman. "Like I said, don't worry about it. Decorations can be replaced easily, we're just lucky it wasn't anything significant or important."

[visualspice]

Despite his kind words, the woman was still wringing her hands.
"Yes, but that doesn't stop me from feeling awful." And here, she sighed. "Though I suppose once I'm on my way, your temple might be all the safer," she went on, trying to joke but it was evidently forced.