Zorlon - Bashkher

[Greywolf]

"Sea Temple," Dion said leaving it at that. He didn't need to go further really, he was after all a water-race and the sea temple was a natural choice for him here. Yet the sun temple had held sway on his curiosity. He did love the sun, the warmth, the fire and passion of it. He almost retracted his earlier hasty comment but then reargued for sake of the sea and left it at that. Better not to show the turmoil of water and fire that coursed through him and be resolute.

[Emry]

Tikitaa is very quiet through the tours and at dinner that evening. Finally, after fidgetting through most of the meal, she haltingly tells the others about her nocturnal visit.

 

"I'm not sure which 'temple' we should go to, but I have a feeling that we might find out some answers if we went to the Sea Temple. But part of my reason for going there is that I don't trust Bharat. " She pauses to take a drink. "It seems like we need to find answers in a book of some sort... eight for nine?... maybe that refers to the swords?..... oh, I don't know..." she ends frustratedly.

 

 

OOC- I'll still be on sporatically for the next few days. We're waiting for our internet connection to be set up. Til then it's catch as catch can...

[Malchik]

There is no doubt as to which alternative the party chooses. It means an early morning coach to the coastal suburb of Masayrah and then a boat ride. Fortunately your slumbers are undisturbed.

 

The trip to Masayrah goes as well as such trips do. There are ten of you in a carriage meant for six. Also travelling with you are three chickens, two ducks a small dog without a tail and a pot-bellied pig. You arrive at Masayrah in one piece if more crumpled and a little smellier than you were.

 

Fortunately the trip was 'enlivened' by a middle aged woman who described in graphic and frequently repulsive detail a list of ailments that afflicted her family.

 

Masayrah is little more than a village. It is situated on a beach that extends in either direction as far as you can see. The sand is pale blond, the beach untenanted and empty save for the twisted skeletons of trees and the odd upturned hulk of a rotting boat. Only one vessel, a disreputably mangy looking craft, is tied up at the dock. Its owner, an equally disreputable old man is prepared to row you to the temple - at a price.

 

There is no alternative.

 

It is not long before the beach gives way to the mangroves of the Gurjana delta and the complexity of the waterways becomes apparent. (OOC think Okefenokee Ga or Everglades Fa).

 

Throughout the trip the man refuses to converse, grunting that he needs to concentrate. Then after nearly two hours he turns to Auriel.

 

"Nearly there, child. Is there anything you want to know?"

 

It is clear that he will not talk to anyone else.

[Kethruch]

Auriel looks at the man with a puzzled look on his face, then decides that there must be something that he's picking up that must be wrong.

 

"Excuse me, sir, but what is the history of this place? Was it dry a long time ago? It seems to be rather odd to have a temple that is so hard to get to." He then looks at the rest of the party for affirmation that it was a proper question that he asked.

[Malchik]

The old man takes out a cheroot, obacco wrapped in some kind of leaf. It stinks but he seems to enjoy it. The rest of the party are generally 'kippered' by the foul-smelling smoke.

 

"I don't know what is was like before they discovered it. That was about a hundred years ago. I wasn't around, of course."

 

To look at him, he might have been.

 

He rambles on at great length saying very little. Two things he mentions do catch your interest. When the site was first discovered priests were sent to maintain its purpose. After two committed suicide, one disappeared and two went mad the attempt to use the site for worship was abandoned. Now it is kept clear of vegetation as a tourist curiosity.

 

The second comment, almost an aside, was about the strange statues.

 

When he finally grinds to a halt - after four cheroots - you realise he had not been rowing at all. Futher questions, whilst perhaps desirable, will delay your arrival limiting the time you have to explore and would be best left to the return journey.

 

He drops you at a point where a grass path leads through the mangrove on a slight rise. By the time you reach the building, his boat is no longer visible.

 

Just after the boat had vanished from view you notice you are walking over what looked like masonery not properly cleared of vegetation.

 

Around another twist in the path you come to a broad clearing in the mangroves in the centre of which is 'the Sea Temple'.

 

What you see is a building of a yellowish white stone with a series of very weathered carvings along the edge of the roof. You cannot see the roof so it is presumably flat. You are facing a rectangular corner. The wall to the right is quite short. That to the left is about four times longer. At the far end of the longer side the wall continues at an angle of 135 degrees and then turns a further 45 degrees to be parallel. This new wall is short. Only in these last two surfaces can you see windows; narrow slit-like apertures.

 

The corner facing you has collapsed, it seems as if a tree once grew through it. The tree has gone an you can see the interior wall opposite. From the lighting you can guess the small part of the building to the right is roofless but that to the left is not.

 

There are more statues along the bottom of the building about an arm's length from the wall. Like those on the roof they are too weathered to make out.

[Emry]

Tikita looks at the temple, and breathes in the humid, swampy air. "It reminds me of home....I wonder how my family is...." she sighs. "Grandmama and Mother would love these groves....."

 

She wanders a bit on the outside looking at the building and the stautes. She's not really paying much attention as she is more caught up in thinking about her own swamps and her family.

[Greywolf]

Dion was disappointed, he had been expecting something grander perhaps, or something that reminded him of home. This however, seemed named due to its close approximation to the sea and not really, for all he currently knew, for attributes of the sea itself. Tikita was wandering around a bit, Dion would have to ask her about herself sometime, learn more about her. That time was not now, they were here to explore and discover if within these walls sat the answer to their question. Dion waited for Top to declare the next move, while he look around at the ancient temple. Decay was all he saw, he loved life but this place had a feeling of death.

[Peregrine]

Top walks over to the section with the windows and intact roof. To him, it seems that if whatever they are looking for has remained hidden, it would be much more likely to be in the enclosed area.

[Malchik]

Having studied the building more carefully you see it comprises three parts. The windowed part is octagonal. The windows are too high up to see through. From one side extends the long narrow section with the small porch-like part at the end at right angles. If you drew it on a piece of paper it would look like a key.

 

The small section was once roofed but is now open to the elements. At the front is a small door, though you can enter just as easily through the breached wall. The long section has been sealed with a modern looking temporary wall. There is a small door, currently shut. There is no other entrance into the temple.

 

Tikita and Dion may not have paid much attention but they take in subconsciously the evidence that a stone wall once surrounded the building.

[Kethruch]

"This looks really old." Auriel says innocently. "I wonder why they put such a small door when they could have put a bigger one in?" The age of it all makes him think of his mother and father. How long has it been? Oh well, time is time as he always has told himself. Perhaps when this is all done, everything will go back to normal. He runs ahead toward the breach and starts climbing on the rocks.