Temple of the Seal(Perma-open!)

[prythian]

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High in the mountains, a building had appeared, appearing as if it had always been there. It was a square, fortress-like building, but with one addition: Dozens of twisting protrusions of stone, going high into the air and spiraling around and between each other. These string-like additions of stone were covered in thorns, resembling vines that had tangled in the air, apparently defying the laws of gravity that said they were too fragile to sustain the dizzying twists.

Inside the building, it seemed an ordinary monastery, with barely furnished rooms and robed monks going about everyday business. Above the doorway is a symbol like an ear.

[nascent]

Upon the mountain slopes, a lone figure clad in a shroud of navy-blue navigated the perilous ascent towards the fog-shrouded summit. His dreams had been troubled as of late... images of chaos, a wild mingling of abstract and distorted faces he didn't know, shapes of objects he didn't remember... a sense of foreboding, instability, and unraveling. It was... as though reality teetered on the brink of a great plunge, or so it had seemed in the dreams. What did it mean... and why did he feel drawn to this remote place?

He wasn't entirely sure... but one solid perception from his dreams stuck with him: a sigil of thorns. And for some reason, he felt as though he would find that sigil, whatever it truly was, atop the misty ranges in the Land of Dragons... a place that, until now, he had never visited. Compounded mysteries indeed.

What... or who, drew him here?

Suddenly the narrow shelf of stone beneath him shifted. He froze, but the motion continued. The very rock under his feet began to slide down the mountain face, heading for a sheer vertical drop some twenty feet away. Magus jumped, launching himself into the air and defying gravity as he glided away from disaster, heading for the upper regions. He'd hesitated to do this before -- he couldn't maintain flight indefinitely -- but now, perhaps he was close enough...

Ten minutes later, the shadowmage arrived. As he landed the endless banks of fog cleared somewhat, just enough to reveal the silhouette of a building... a building with a spire of thorns.

"Is this..." He wondered out loud, stepping forward. Several minutes later he reached the front door, and there knocked. He had no idea if this remote fortress was inhabited, yet the curious insignia above the doorway gave him hope that someone would hear him.

[prythian]

The doorway opened after a brief pause. A monk in a brown robe opened in, his hair very short, as if only a small fuzz over his head. He bowed, before stepping out of the doorway and back into the building. "Please, come in. This is no weather to be out alone in." The monk said respectfully. "I am pleased to welcome you to the Temple of the Seal. There is no violence permitted within these walls. Is there any way I could assist you?"

[nascent]

Magus bowed as he entered, after the same manner as the monk. "I mean to cause no trouble, least of all violence. Pray, forgive my intrusion... but I come here with a weary mind and a troubled heart, hopefully to find clarity once more."

The mage dropped the hood of his cloak back onto his shoulders, revealing his face.

"My dreams as of late have been troubled. In them I see horrible things that I do not fully understand... yet they all have a sense about them as if something is coming undone. What's more, they led me here... though I know not why." He paused briefly, tightening the fit of his left glove. "That is my immediate concern... though I am also on a quest to recover my memories and existence. It seems I am only a fragment of a person..."

"Forgive me; I haven't even asked your name, or thanked you for welcoming me, yet I burden you with all this."

[prythian]

"You may call me Orias." The monk replied, pleasure showing on his face at the return bow. "If it is clarity you seek, perhaps we may be able to help here." He paused and shut the door, shutting out the cool air once more. "If you will follow me, perhaps we can talk in comfort." He turned and walked down a stone hallway, motioning for Magus to follow.

"It occurs to me that we may not be the best Temple to help you, as dreams are a matter of sight... But I do have a few ideas on how to help you." Orias continued. "The first thing I believe you need to do is learn to listen with your heart. Oftentimes this is the easiest way to hear the truth, rather than what is thought to be true. As for coming undone..." He turned down another hallway, seemingly going towards a specific room. "You may be sensitive to the reappearance of the Temples in this reality. They were originally built in the same locations as they have reappeared... but now they require a distortion of reality to be here once more."

[neo]

Walking up the mountain was a figure in white. He wore a heavy white cloak and a hood to protect him from the cold. He was almost impossible to see due to the snow around him. Like the shadowmage He had been receiving strange visions himself... These were not in the forms of dreams however but in the forms of glimpses into the future. This man was one of the Tempori, a group of warriors that had been given the gift of the seer's eye, a powerful tool and weapon that allowed them to manipulate time as to how they saw fit. The man looked up as he spotted the formation of the temple. "Exactly how I saw it..." He breathed as he watched it's formation in wonder. He paused before continuing his trek up the mountain. He reached the door and stared at it rubbing his hands lightly over the Insignia engraved into the door. His sword appeared in his hand to see if the Insignia somehow matched the symbols on his blade but no avail. He then made his blade vanish and knocked slightly on the door. He had spotted a navy cloaked man enter a few minutes earlier and had expected someone would answer him. He took off his hood and cloak as he waited revealing the white coat and plate armor that lay beneath. He looked up at the thorned pillars and frowned with an uneasiness that took hold. "Just what is this place..." He mused as he turned to the door again.

[prythian]

The door swung open and another monk in a brown robe was there to welcome him. "Greetings. Welcome to the Temple of the Seal." The monk bowed. "Come in, quickly, this is no weather for you to be outside. Welcome to this sacred place." The monk quickly moved out of the way for the man to make his way inside. "How may I assist you?"

[nascent]

Magus silently followed Orias deeper into the temple, listening to all that the sagely monk had to say. So there were other temples like this one... and each, he inferred, based upon a particular sense. That made sense of the ear he'd seen inscribed above the doorway. He tried not to react at the monk's suggestion that he listen to his heart, yet a faint deepening of his nigh-perpetual frown marked his thoughts. It seemed that Orias, and possibly other monks as well, could not distinguish a Nobody from an intact human existence... Magus had no heart to listen to, only a hollowness where it should have been.

"My family have always had a certain sensitivity to future events -- not exactly prophecy, more like foreshadowing." Magus explained. "So, you're suggesting that this distortion of reality's weave and the Temples' reemergence are likely the triggers for what I've experienced? Could this distortion... be the unraveling I've foreseen?"

"Please, Orias, tell me about the Temples of the Seal."

[prythian]

"The distortion is most likely a temporary unraveling of reality to allow the Temples to come to light once more." Orias replied, turning into a simple room with a bed and a few chairs, as well as a small table-like desk. "Please, make yourself comfortable while we talk." He indicated the bed or the chairs, which were simple and made out of wood.

"The Temples are, or were, very ancient. This is where this Temple of the Seal was originally built, as I mentioned before. Due to specific circumstances, the Temples together worked a great magic, and a side-effect of this magic was sealing us out of this reality, and into the hearts of the worlds we lived on. This Temple was sealed within the heart of this world, existing in a different state of reality."

[nascent]

Magus adopted one of the proffered chairs, continuing to listen with complete attention to Orias' explanation. So the Temples had all left reality and transitioned into... whatever form an existence could take within a world's heart. Fascinating... He didn't fail to note the monk's vague reference to 'specific circumstances', or when he said that the Temples 'are, or were, very ancient'. There was mystery here indeed, something Orias was hinting at but didn't seem eager to disclose directly. That was understandable; every order of faith has its secrets to which outsiders are not privy.

Still, his dreams had directed him here for a reason, and he was the monk's guest. It wouldn't do to pry into Temple affairs without good cause, and he wasn't yet certain he had such cause.

"So the distortion is just temporary, then? There is no danger, no permanent unraveling... that's good to hear. You've done much to put my mind at ease, Orias. Thank you." Magus nodded slowly, leaning back into the chair a little. He paused before continuing. "You mentioned another Temple of the Seal, one associated with sight. Can you tell me on what world I might find this place?"

[prythian]

"I do not know the name of the world, and even if I did remember, a long time has passed. Doubtless the name has changed. It may be found on a world without humans, I believe, in the middle of a vast plain." Orias replied. "The Temples were not built near most civilization, and that has remained the case, at least, for this one. The others are likely to also be far from towns and cities as well. Each Temple looks drastically different from the others, so be prepared. It will not be like ours. In fact... I'd say it's impossible to miss." He smiled.

[nascent]

"I see... hmm..." Magus rubbed his chin as he thought. "I should be able to find someone who knows of a place with such a description. Thank you, Orias."

"Would it be permissible for me to stay the night? I am weary of travel, and as you observed the weather is getting worse. I don't mean to impose -- I'll gladly do anything I can to help while I'm here, no matter how mundane."

[prythian]

"Stay, and be welcome." Orias replied. "Those weary of the road always have a choice to stop and rest, and the consequences of such an action are the only things that prevent it in some cases. In this case, we, at least, will hold nothing against you for staying. This room is, in fact, a guest room, and you may make yourself at home for the night in here."

[nascent]

"Thank you, my friend." Magus replied, rising from the chair and bowing respectfully. "You are wise and generous; if I can repay the favor, simply let me know how."

As he began removing his travel cloak, Magus took note of the familiar jingle against his hip. Hanging the robe-like overcoat on the back of the chair, he reached for the silver amulet which was perpetually at his side. It was one of the many mysteries he had yet to solve... perhaps, given its nature, a monk of this temple could help in finding the truth.

"Before you go, Orias," He unbound the talisman from his belt and held it in one hand. "You mentioned that this Temple is related to listening... I have something that perhaps this temple's focus could help make clear to me. I know not why I carry this, yet feel it is extremely precious somehow."

He began to feel that familiar sensation, like a distant whisper. "When I hold it, I hear something... a kind of heartfelt chanting in a language I don't know, in sound like a prayer. A woman's voice, peaceful and calm. Perhaps it is connected to the writing on its surface... though I confess it's meaning is beyond me." Hesitating briefly, Magus held out the amulet to the kindly monk. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, especially considering I am only a stranger... but I think this may be a clue to many things I need to know. Will you help me? Please."

[prythian]

Orias took the amulet carefully, and closed his eyes. A strange golden glow sparked around his ears for a few seconds, and then he opened his eyes and handed it back. "That amulet has seen strange, terrible power... It appears it was the property of a young woman that used in it some sort of ceremony to call on this power. More than that I cannot tell you. I am sorry."