A large hairy hand attached to an even larger and harrier arm reached out pressed against my chest., The mouth that belonged to the arm spoke, “Halt, what is your business in The Temple.” You could just hear the capitals in his voice, like there was no other temple in the world.

“I’m here to turn in my sacred scroll to the High priest for my reward.” Gorok had decided that except for a few obvious details, like who we worshipped and our names, we’d keep the story very simple, the truth. It’s easier to remember apparently than a huge, sprawling fabricated story, like the one Jimmy and I had taken to him to begin.

“Name, and Let me see the scroll.” Said the hulking guard at the gate to the temple grounds.

“My name is Joseph, and it’s this scroll.” Here I held up the scroll in both hands, unrolling it so the guard could read it. The guards’ eyes got large and shining instantly and he reached to take the scroll from my hands. I pulled it back. “Oh heck no, do you think I’m an idiot? I’m not letting this thing out of my hands. Do you think we’ve never heard the old switcheroo? Uh uh.. -mine-. You can read it. No hands but mine and the high priests will touch it.”

Gorok had been very firm on this point, apparently it was standard scam for guards and lower priests to pay a few silver, and then exchange the scrolls to the high priest for greater rewards themselves.

“You have to give it to me so I can take it in to get verified” said the guard looming in and glaring at me intently.

“Not by your blue cloak, buddy. -I- know what this is! Just because I’m from the country doesn’t mean I’m some rube you can cheat. If someone needs to verify it, take me to them, or them to me. That’s it.” at this I rolled the scroll back up and stuck it firmly into my pouch and kept my hand on it. Jimmy was gripping his axe handle and staring intensity at a nondescript man who was trying to sidle close. Pickpocket for sure, from Gorok’s briefing.

I turned to look at the Pickpocket and moved my shit by scratching myself, allowing my hand to briefly show the Knitting Society charm hanging at my neck. The little man’s eyes lit up in amusement for a moment, then he began to back away in apparent fear of Jimmy. The corruption around sacred scrolls was apparently surely something exceptional.

We repeated the scene with the guard several more times, at each level the person demanding the scroll, and me refusing to let it out of my grubby paws. At each exchange we moved deeper and deeper into the temple grounds, until eventually we were in the temple proper. Above the door were two shields, both showing 2 flaming fists. But even from here I could see that the one on the right was thicker than the one on the left, which had been the Architects on the old temple I’d found my first day. It might be my imagination, but the one of the right looked just a bit… blurry as if it had been built up with plaster.

Soon we were within the temple itself. A large domed Structure, by far the biggest open area in a building I’d see on Devona. The ceiling was exquisitely painted, but again, the art on one end, didn’t quite match the art on the other.

We were taken to an older priestess, so wrinkled and slender she looked like an ascetic hermit. I smiled at her and said my piece. “I have a Sacred Scroll, it says I must serve the high master”.

So far all according to Gorok’s plan.

“The high master is busy, may these hands guide you”, and she held her hands out to him.

Phrase 2 checked out, time for phrase 3 “The hands of our friends hold us up.” and I passed another of Gorok’s toys to the ancient priestess, a beaten old Copper knut. But this was no ordinary Knut, it’s a storage item. Inside its inventory was a bribe for this negotiable priestess. Gorok told me not to look, unless I had an exceptionally strong stomach. Despite the test of fire, I decided I didn’t want to know.

The coin disappeared in the old priestesses’ hands, which then went inside her robe. Soon she smiled and they reappeared, as she waived us inside, as she opened a set of double doors, leading to stairs down. “I shall petition the high priest, wait here. You have more need of these coppers than I my child” and she handed me back the battered copper knut. Gorak had asked me not to peek before I passed the knut-tainer, but to make sure it was empty afterwards, as his contact might pass back a note if something was wrong.

I checked the coin and its inventory was empty.

We moved down the stairs at her urging, past another set of heavy double doors, and sat in the small private waiting room behind them. She exited eying them with a knowing leer, and left us closing the doors behind her.

Jimmy and I waited a good 30 seconds before we rose, took a heavy oak beam out of my inventory, and blocked both sets of doors from the inside. Next was the most dangerous part. I carefully placed myself on my knees before the door and positioned my hands carefully. I pulled a huge block of stone from my inventory that we’d used a massive block and tackle to lift so I could take it in the first place. I dropped it touching the door and covering a good 1/3 of the way up the door. I repeated this trick 2 more times, and the doors were as secure as I could possibly make them, buried in tons of stone.

I turned to Jimmy who was prying up one of the elaborately carved stone wall panels open, with a crowbar. As I joined my hands with his, the thick slab of stone fell with a great thumping crash to the floor. The hole behind the slab was a pit of darkness leading straight down.

I activated a light stone and dropped into the hole, the bottom was only a dozen feet away, I slid into the tunnel down, using my hands and feet to slow my descent, dropping into the secret chamber below that was our target. The secret inner sanctum sanctorum of the Builder.

I pulled a second Lightstone and used it to look about the room. Dust, debris and, frankly, junk was everywhere. I looked more like a grandmother’s attic, full of 3 generations of junk. than a proper sanctum sanctorum.

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I moved to the nearest wall, wiping away the dust hoping for some kind of decorations, or inscriptions but nothing, just boring blocks of stone.

I said a quick prayer “Gar, if you are watching, I could really use a hint about now!”, as expected nothing.

Jimmy’s face lit up and he said “Let’s just start throwing all this junk into our inventories, you said the altar activated at your touch last time. We keep chucking stuff in our inventories until we get a dialog. BAM done.

Soon the room was empty of rubbish except for dusty carpets. We ran our hands over every rock of the wall, and after using Edgar, Jimmies sand stone golem as a stool the ceiling too.

I started pulling up the carpets before I at last found something interesting, one of the paving stones under the carpets at the end of the room was larger than the rest. MY heart pounding and my hands shaking I reached out and touched it.

[As a Disciple of Garabal, do you wish to rededicate this Temple Altar to Garabal, the Elder God?]

“YES!” I shouted pumping my arm in the air.

I thought yes at the dialog as hard as I could

Trumpets played and light flashed, the entire room was awash with sound and light. As I watched the altar stone slid up out of the floor, and began to emit a golden warmth many times stronger than the one in the small church I dedicated so long ago.

Another dialog appeared.

[Are you sure you wish to rededicate this temple to Garabal the Builder? Y/n]

I thought yes again

A new popup I’d never seen before ornate and flowery, like It was carved in the gothic period, flashed before my eyes, bright and golden

[World Announcement: Due to the actions of Joeseph Walker, A new temple has arisen to Gararbal the Builder in the City of Pekaton! A joint Temple with the Architect has been dedicated! All Hail Garabal the Builder newest major deity of Devona! All faithful pilgrims seek this new holy place!]

[Hidden Quest Completed, Restore Temple for your God! Title ‘Prophet’ earned! Title ‘Leader of the Devout’ earned’! Title “Warrior of the Faith” earned!]

Before I could even look up the effects of those titles, the walls around me began to extrude familiar but empty bookcases, just like the one in Garabal’s library at the end of the worlds. Soon the shelves and the altar were emitting a blast furnaces heat of faith. The top of the walls began to glow and shift. Then the entire room began to shake and shift upwards like some kind of immense elevator, rising beneath my feet, but also twisting and moving sideways beneath me. The ceiling began to rise away from us and soon opened up into the temple above.

As the altar room Rose, the decorations on the wall began to flake away on this end of the temple, revealing the covered murals and frescos to Garabal The Builder. The people in the temple were screaming and scuttling away from the temple.

A line of light arose sliding upward out of the altar, soon brushing the ceiling above us, then opening like the doors of an elevator and a giant and glowing Garabal walked out shining from within, pausing only a second to wink at me before echoing in a voice like a mountain. “Behold, I have arisen Faithless backstabbers and traitors beware!”

At these words a wave of translucent flames shot out in a circle away from us. Soon in the panicked crowd about us, the clothes of the of some began to smoke and then smolder before bursting into flame. I realized it was the priests of the Architect who were bursting into flame.

Garabal’s mountain voice continued “I have seen the faithless acts of the gods, who though me dead, I declare this temple mine and protected by my hand!” At this a huge hammer shimmered into Gar’s and he smote it upon the ceiling of the temple.

The fancy dialog appeared again [Garabal the Builder has declared the alliance with the Church of the architect null and void, and has marked the church of the Architect as an anathema and enemy to his religion]

As the crowds fled to the far side of the temple, a small man in the Architect’s robes began to scream and gesticulate at the far altar. Soon he too was covered in glowing light emitting from his altar.

A standard dialog appeared [The high priest of the Church of the Architect in Pekaton has declared a Jihad of the Sword upon the Church of Garabal the Builder, all faithful charge to Pekaton to cast down the infidel pretenders!]

Garabal’s laughter pealed like a mountain then his voice thundered again, this time sounding like the man I’d men topside “Ha! Sucker! You fell for it!” and the shining bearded god began to stride toward the priest at the far end of the building laughing as he went! When he reached the far end of the temple, he batted the clergy away with his foot then reached down and plucked the altar from the floor and ate it swallowing it in a single bite.

[Your Deity Garabal the elder has increased to Tier 2, Major Deity]

Garabal’s hand pointed to Joe, and the rings flew off my fingers and onto Garabal’s, soon both his hands and his hammer were writhed in bright white flames, He slammed his Hammer onto the spot where the Architects alter had been, and an explosion of light forced everyone to hide their faces.

Blinking I opened my eyes, and the decorations of the architect were all gone, and that end of the temp was pure and white and as generic as a hospital, smooth white and without feature. Garabal took an immense compass and scribed a circle upon the ground with the sharp ends, around where the altar had been, before gesturing at joe again, and the two remaining butterflies, which Joe had AGAIN forgotten about fluttered and began to swirl around the circle, soon more and more butterflies began to appear before snapping into a giant but familiar woman shaped cloud. The giant Gar handed her his hammer and she tapped it delicately upon the ground, and a new altar carved with butterflies arose from the stone. Hini, for that’s who it was put her hand on the altar and sang in a voice like… well.. a goddess… swelling larger and larger echoing like the whole valley was singing at once.

The ornate gothic dialog appeared again…

[World Announcement: Due to the actions of Joseph Walker, A new temple has arisen to Hina the Butterfly Goddess of communication in the City of Pekaton! A joint Temple with the builder has been dedicated! All Hail Hina newest major deity of Devona! All faithful pilgrims seek her this new holy place! An Alliance with Hina and Garabal has been founded in the City of Pekaton! All Hail Pekaton Holiest of cities!]

Soon a cascade of normal dialogs showed

[World Announcement: The high priest of the Temple of the Architect in Goradim has declared a Jihad of the Sword upon the Church of Garabal the Builder, all faithful charge to Pekaton to cast down the infidel pretenders!]

[World Announcement: The high priest of the Temple of the Architect in Marabar has declared a Jihad of the Sword upon the Church of Garabal the Builder, all faithful charge to Pekaton to cast down the infidel pretenders!]

[World Announcement: The high priest of the Temple of the Architect in al Asahnia has declared a Jihad of the Sword upon the Church of Garabal the Builder, all faithful charge to Pekaton to cast down the infidel pretenders!]

[World Announcement: The high priest of the Church of the Architect in Shardicar has declared a Jihad of the Sword upon the Church of Garabal the Builder, all faithful charge to Pekaton to cast down the infidel pretenders!]

Lasty a dialog just for me appeared.

[You gain the title Mujahid, +10% damage to and from members of religions that have declared Jihad upon your god.]

At this point the two immense gods shimmered out of existence, Gar again throwing a wink at Joe as he did.

Jimmy bursts out his voice high and strident “Bullshit, I didn’t even get mentioned!!”