The Hall of Heroes

19. - Temple of the Martyr Goddess

"Of course. Ehm." Crefar cleared his throat. "I can tell you a lot of interesting things about the land we come from. But do not expect too much. You know, people are all the same everywhere."

"Of course, of course." the Grand Wise Woman eyed him with interest.

"Anyway, we travel from the south, from the town of Medióla. We did some work there for the new master inventor Vietroplach. He told us about your temple and he mentioned that the collection in your library is renowned." Crefar continued.

"There is a new master inventor in Kefalin's tower?" The Grand Wise Woman seemed quite surprised. "What happened to Kefalin? We got a visit from him not few months back."

"Oh, I'm sorry to be the one to bring the ill news." Crefar said apologetically. "He is no longer with us. He has been magically transported into another realm by one of his inventions. But his, eh... well-known acquaintance has taken over his business and he seems to be doing well on his own."

"A well-known acquaintance?" The older woman had a look of disbelief in her eyes. "Named Vietroplach? Kefalin had always been a recluse, locked up in his tower with his inventions. I never knew him to have close acquaintances."

"Well," Crefar said, looking for words, "he obviously kept a lot of secrets, keeping all to himself. Hah."

The two priestesses looked at each other and then back at Crefar and smiled awkwardly. "Anyway," the Grand Wise Woman said, "A friend of our friend is our friend, so please welcome to our monastery. It is a great pleasure for us to entertain such interesting guests as yourselves."

They were around into the inner courtyard by the delegation that came to meet them and Crefar could take a closer look at the gigantic tower forming the centerpoint of the monastery.

There were many doorways dug into the surface of the tower from all sides and all around the structure, a winding ramp had been built that circled all around it from top to bottom, connecting all the doorways like an external corridor. Like so many other ancient structures, this one was also adopted by the modern people as a basis for their own construction endeavors.

"That tower," Crefar turned to the older priestess. "Do you have any idea as to its origin?"

"Not really. The written records do not go back that far, I'm afraid." the librarian explained, looking up at the tower.

"It is a real marvel, isn't it? We are grateful that it was our order that found it first." the Grand Wise Woman added. "Only a few ancient structures in the Baronies even compare to it and most of them are used as foundations in the large cities. Now, if you are not too tired from your journeys, I can show you around our monastery."

Crefar nodded and Duzz reluctantly followed his example.

While walking up the ramp, the Grand Wise Woman continued her narration. "This monastery has been standing here for some two hundred years. It was founded as the very first monastery of our order, less than a decade after the death of Brukeln herself, and even though these days we have many other monasteries all across the Baronies, this one remains our center of administration and the seat of the head of our order. These days, this funcion befell on my shoulders and I humbly carry it out."

Duzz couldn't hide a smirk as she heard her boasting.

"As you can see, our order consists mostly of women. It has been a tradition since the first acolytes of the order, who were all women and taught that the wisdom of our mistress should be passed down this line," the Grand Wise Woman continued.

"Forgive my ignorance, but please understand, we are strangers to this land. Who exactly was Brukeln? What kind of deity is it?" Crefar said, starting to get the hang of diplomacy talk.

The two priestesses looked at each other. The librarian took up the mantle. "Brukeln was the great prophet and martyr of our time. She unveiled the mysteries of life unto us and saved many souls from damnation. She mystically protected a host of people from harm that would have befallen them at the hands of monsters and in doing so she herself perished. And her host became the first acolytes of our order.

Crefar seemed put down by Brukeln's story. "So she was human?" he said.

"In her life." the librarian corrected him. "Upon her death, of course, she ascended from the realm of the living and became a shining star in the heavens. She is now a fully fleshed god."

"Yes, of course." Crefar added. "Just one more thing that you could perhaps help me understand. You said you were this order's 'Grand Wise Woman'?"

"Yes."

"Then, all of the Wise Women we've met before were also a part of your order?"

"Oh, no. A Wise Woman is simply a role within the society," the Grand Wise Woman Ludmilla explained. "In our order we call ourselves Wise Women in order to help those who seek enlightenment identify us. There are Wise Women of all beliefs and inclinations, most of them of course lean more towards the traditional forms of mysticism. Natural medicine, spirits of the elements and the country, all of that."

They were taken on a full tour through the monastery and shown almost all there was to be seen from the tower and the buildings around, which were mostly food processing and lodging facilities.

After hearing that the order of Brukeln was a mere fellowship of worshippers congregated around a human martyr with no magical or occult overtones, Crefar felt bored and disappointed and this change of mood was well visible on him throughout the tour. When asked about it, he apologized that he felt tired after the journey, but keen to see more.

There was one moment, however, when his interest was roused by something he could not explain. It happened as they were passing around a simple door right at the base of the tower that, as the Grand Wise Woman explained, led into the laundry. "There is something peculiar about that room. We use it as a laundry room, because there is a draft in there that it has no reasonable source. It is quite mysterious." She said about it. 

Crefar felt an urge to go see what was behind that door and he felt this urge was magical. It was as though something on the inside was pulling at his soul from a realm beyond. When he insisted on seeing the inside of the room, however, the Grand Wise Woman seemed reluctant to fulfill his wish, claiming there is nothing interesting to be found about wet hanging gowns. Realizing it would probably be out of place to push the issue any further, Crefar nodded and let the Grand Wise Woman lead them on.

Evening found Duzz dozing off on a side-table in the monastery's large library, accompanied in dreaming by her squirrel, who was slowly getting used to being around humans. Crefar was sitting under a simple candle lamp at a table not far away, still going through books and parchments he had collected from the shelves around him.

Though he was genuinely interested in the 'Kuryone's Metaphysics' on his table, his eyes were constantly darting towards the old librarian, who sat at a table not far from his and was obviously keeping watch over her visitors. She seemed still up and aware, but he knew that could not last forever.

Kuryone was, according to this mythology book, a guide in the afterlife. He was a god that guided the souls of the dead in their path through the netherworld beyond. The book recounted the events and encounters that a soul of a deceased prince experienced, as explained by Kuryone himself. The soul was instructed how to deal with the many trials and tribulations of being dead and... Hold on! The librarian fell asleep!

Crefar didn't waste a minute and quietly woke up Duzz.