Local 509 in the Temple of St. Edwar

The temple of Saint Edwar is in a very normal looking building. From the outside it could easily be mistaken for a small warehouse or shop. There is a single door in the front and its only distinguishing feature is the symbol of the god which is a painted circle with the picutre of a Lute inside. As you open the door (which is not locked by closed) you are surprised with the weight and thickness of it.

The door opens into the main room of the temple. It is mostly filled with tables and chairs. In the northern corner is a statue of a man dressed similarly to the people of Nelan; supple leather pants and shirt with a fringe of leather hanging from the underside of the arms and along the outside seam of the pants. He carries a staff in the right hand and is holding a book with the left. As you enter, you see two people kneeling in front of this statue with their heads bowed. You can see their mouthes moving as if in prayer, but you can hear no spoken words.

Their are seven people seated at the tables spread around the room. Books, paper and ink cover the tables. They look up as you enter, but without comment or expression, they return to their work. Two are copying church documents onto new parchments. A few seem to be studying several volumes at once and the rest are intently reading a single volume. All the books are similar in form. They are 2' square and 2" thick; holding about 150 pages.

As you wait for someone to greet you, a door swings open in the west wall and from it comes a man in temple garb, dark brown felt pants and shirt similar in cut to that of the statue of St. Edwar, but without the fringes. His head is bare and tonsured. Through the open door you see a room filled with books on shelves. The priest carefully closes the library door and silently motions for you to follow him. When you attempt to ask him a question he looks appaled at your speach and places his palm over his mouth and shakes his head violently. Following him, you move across the room to the eastern wall. As he opens the thick door , you hear people talking for an instant, and then silence. The priest leads you into this room.

He silently closes the door after you enter and instantly the other people in the room resume their conversations. The priest motions toward a large table in the back of the room and says "My name is Kuh'arwor would you care to sit down while we talk?"

"I am sorry to silence you in the shrine, but it is forbidden to talk aloud in front of the statue of St. Edwar. You must be a first time visitor, or you would know that as it is our most sacred rule." He does not appear offended by your attempt to speak, but rather takes it as unavoidable because you are new commers. As you speak, he studies you carefully, noting your jewlery, clothing and weapons. His expression changes as he looks from one to another of you. You see signs of growing excitement. When you are done speaking, he acts as if you had said nothing and begins asking you questions.

"How long have you been on Isis?" Of course this question is rather a surprise to you, as you have been seeking to disguise your origin. Kuh'arwar does not appear put off or disturbed; just sympathetic and interested. Looking around at the others in the room, you can see no sign that they are listening to this conversation. The priest presses you to confess that you are not from Isis. As soon as you state this, he rises and asks you to follow him again. He stands and picks up his chair. Using the back of the chair, he pushes up on a section of the ceiling near the north wall. A secret door opens directly underneith. The room is lit by glow rocks.

Inside, the room is small and empty except for a table with chairs. In the center of the table is box. The priest opens the box and lifts out a small bottle and a goblet made of steel. He fills the goblet and says

"Holy Edwar, I give you thanks for guiding these your wayward childeren to our care. Will you aid me to better know them?" You can feel a swell of magical energy and see his eyes take on a look of insight and greater wisdom. After looking at each of you, he then raises the goblet to the ceiling and says

"St. Edwar, recognize in those who partake of your holy drink souls to be guided through the wilderness they share with you." He hands the goblet to each of you saying "drink that St. Edwar might know you." The goblet is filled with a strong liquor that takes your breath away as you sip it. He will not ask this twice and show no emotion if the drink is refused. He will not answer any questions about the ritual. After all those who would drink have done so, he asks

"Have you experianced much trouble with those you have met because you come from Elsewhere?" The capital on Elsewhere is obvious from his tone of voice. Throughout, he uses this word to refer to your place of origin. He does not ask where you are from or anything about why you are on Isis. He is more interested about what you have done and experienced while on Isis. You can see that he is very sympathetic as you describe your various adventures while traveling to the temple. He keeps the bottle and goblet close to him and invites those who wish to freely drink. He refills the goblet from the bottle as necessary.

When he feels that you have discussed the things that are of interest to him, Kuh'arwor says

"We priests of St. Edwar are familiar with the problems you face as outsiders to our world. It is part of our priestly duties to assist you in any way we can. We can offer you a safe place to stay, food plain but healthful, our company and the company of others not offended by your presence here. Also, we are experienced at aculturation into Isis. This means we will teach you how to disguise your true origin and fit in with those around you. If you are to live here, this is something that you must do or face potential violence from all you meet."

"The first thing you must know is that almost all the people you meet will be frightened and disgusted by your differnt ways of speach and customs. It is likely that sooner or later one of them will fly into a rage and attempt to kill you. It is our way. Wether it is because of something that happened to us long ago that is in the substance of our flesh or simply an ingraned cultural predudice is unknown, but sooner or later you will be forced to kill or be killed by one who finds your ways impossible to deal with in any way other than to eliminate your presence. Accept this!"

"What about me you ask? I am trained as a priest to regard those things most different about others as being close to holyness. Although I am still, ah, put off by your speach, I overlook this to become holier in the eyes of my god. Even so, I must confess", he looks down and a ripple of pain flows across his face, "I do not enjoy your company at this time. St Edwar forgive me, but it is so. I pray that this will pass in time."

"You must be hungry. I will see that food is brought in to you. I am sorry that I must leave you for a short time, but I have abolutions to perform and would rather not see you eat. So, I will return after you have finished your meal and we will discuss what your options are in detail." With this, he leaves the room.

In moments, a young boy arrives with a tray laden with homemade cheese and dried meat. He silently places the tray on the table. He returns in a moment with a small keg and crockwork mugs for all. Any attempt to speak to him will result in him placing his hands over his ears and reciting as loudly as he can "Edwar is good. Edwar finds difference holy. Edwar gives strength to those who are tried." until the sound of voices other than his own is gone. He is visibly disturbed after this, and serves the party as quicly as possible and practically runs from the room.

An hour later, Kuh'arwor returns and seats himself.

"I have sought and received enlightenment from Holy St. Edwar regarding you. His minions sang to me thus"

He stands and sings

"Edwar the Farsight doth declare

The ones you house are from Elsewhere

They seek a battle not their own

Not a return to hearth and home

His sight is far but cannot see

The outcome of their acts to be

Help them in their noble fight

Their goal is reightous in my sight

As he sings the verses above he stands with his hands raised to the ceiling. The melody is strange and otherworldly. After he finishes, the priest places his hands at his sides and says

St. Edwar I humbly thank you for my voice."

Turning his attention to you he says,

"Before I we speak, I must say that I neither with to know or care what your reasons may be for comming to Isis. The Holy Farsighted has not deigned to give me to know this, so it is not for me to seek to find it out. So it is and shall be as Edwar wishes. "

"Now we will discuss how the church can help you. Allow me to make a suggestion. You will be persicuted if you attempt to mix with those around you, so you will stay with us for a while. But, you have a task to perform and so must leave as soon as possible. Of course you may stay with us for as long as you desire, but St. Edwar speaks of a reightous battle. We have in our priesthood those who study aculturation. They can provide you with training in the ways of Isis. By this means can you disguise the taint uh, the appearance of your origins. It is always so that far flung frountier churches such as our own have such a scholler. This is according to the Holy Mandates of St. Edwar."

"The priest will instruct you in speech, history, culture, religion, and all things you need to know to fit in. If you desire instruction, I will summon Neh Ziahdoo. I would not disturb him if you do not wish to speak to him. He is more prepared to answer your questions than I am, so I encourage you to seek enlightenment from him."

Kuh'arwor is obviously ill at ease and will not answer questions until you decide about seeing the other priest. Seeing few other alternatives, you accept the offer to speak to the other priest.

Huh'arwor says "thank you for your wise desision. I shall send in Ziahdoo immediatly."

In a few minutes he returns with an old man with him. His hair is long and very white which contrasts with his deeply lined and tanned skin. He is dressed in leather similar to that worn by the statue of St. Edwar, but lacking the fringes. He appears excited and rushes forward into the small room.

"Welcome my friends! I am made more holy by your presence. Thank you Kuh'arwor, and bless your vigilence." Kuharwor bows deeply to the old priest and leaves closing the door behind him.

"Now, I know you have a thousand and one questions but allow me to speak first. No, you are not the first from Elsewhere that I have tutored. Of course, I can not speak of the others I have known in the same way that I will never speak of our time together. No, I will not answer all your questions. It is given in the knowledge of the eldars that this leads to confusion and a delay of our goal to approach you learning in this fashion. The process will take place over a period of a month. A month is twenty eight days here. During this time we recommend that you completely cut yourself off from those outside the temple. There are many examples in our church archives of those who were killed by a xenophobe even as they were being taught the Lessons. A xenophobe is a person that can not allow themselves to be exposed to someone from Elsewhere. We shall house and feed you during this time. No, it is impossible to do an acceptable job in a shorter period of time. Yes, you may leave at any time, but you will be showing disrespect to St. Edwar by doing so. Will you allow me to guide you through the great Lessons?"

As soon as the party assents he rises and says "Thank you so much and bless you in the name of the Holy Farsighted. I must prepare. I will see you tomorow morning and we shall begin the Lessons together." With a huge smile and a low bow he opens the door. Waiting outside is Hah'arwor. Ziahdoo says "they will undergo the Lessons starting on the morrow. Provide them with rooms and attend me after Noghtins." He turns to you and says, "Noghtins is the evensong prayers. You are invited to attend, but not required. Silence must be observed at all times when in the presence of a shrine to St. Edwar." When some of you ask to join them he smiles and says that you will be summoned when all is ready.

Those who go to Noghtins hear a beautiful song about a lonley man who became god by virtue of his simple tenant which was "What if that were you?" Each verse is sung by a different priest or priestess (there is only one priestess). After the song is over, the priests gather the books that still lie on the table while the lay persons gathered before the statue silently file into the room where the party was first taken. They wait silently until the priests return and close the door behind them. Ziahdoo stands on a chair and says

"With us tonight are some who are blessed in the eyes of St. Edwar. Our lord instructs you to welcome them. If you can not welcome them, ignore them. If you can not ignore them, leave their presence and pray for forgivness. The time to come will be a time of temptation for you, but with your help and that of the Holy Edwar they shall become wholesum in your sight. And so shall we all become more holy in His sight. Ahmins is closed".

A few of the lay people smile and shake hands silently with you, but most file quickly out of the room. With a twinkling eye Ziahdoo bids you goodnight. The young priest that served you shows you to rooms bare of furnishings except for four beds. At the foot of each bed is a desk and chair. The priest quickly leaves you. The rooms are lit by a light rock which has a leather pouch to cover it. The room is otherwise empty. Having little else to do, you ready yourseles for sleep. The beds are comfortable and there is silence. You fall asleep very quickly.