It took a good minute to usher everybody near the temple inside, which meant that by the time they were finished with it and a bunch of rich people were herded into the biggest hall of the temple, the blood was raining heavily over the city.
Buildings didn’t really care, but even from this distance, Sam could hear the pained screams of those who touched the tainted liquid.
As he was looking over the city, the head priestess stepped up next to him, also watching the city as the dark clouds cast everything in a reddish light.
Sam was pretty sure that this would look amazing in a trailer, but here and now, it was just fucking annoying.
“That seems to be a problem…” she stated, her voice completely flat as she surveyed the city.
“Tell me about it. I just wanted to deliver a package and now I’m here…” he answered with a snort.
She looked back at him with a surprised face. “Indeed?”
Sam nodded. “Just wanted to deliver a letter to the Herald. But his room temperature intelligence guards refused to even hear me out,” he grumbled.
The priestess let out a dignified giggle, hiding her mouth behind a hand. “Oh my… They will surely be executed for that. What was the topic of the message?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. The letter is from Master Fitzgerald.”
“Truly?”
“Yes?”
Hearing his answer, she began to softly laugh before explaining her mirth. “Ahh, even I’ve heard of Master Fitzgerald. Now I’m sure that those guards will die the moment the Herald has heard of their action.” She explained all this as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “The Herald detests those who hinder him from creating business deals…”
Sam also chuckled a little. “Well, if we survive this, then I’m sure it’s going to be a humorous sight…”
“You worry about the new weather phenomenon?”
“You are not?” he asked a little incredulously as he looked at the nonplussed woman.
“Why would I be when you have delivered the very thing that will shine a light on our situation,” she stated while looking down meaningfully at his hand that was still holding the symbol created by Asa’s sacrifice, radiating gentle light.
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After that, a lot of things happened in short order.
Several more martially inclined members of the church were called over and placed in charge of the crowd sheltering in the temple after one of them tried to revolt because he wanted catering. Now he was laid out, unconscious in the corner and a severe-looking woman in full plate armor, holding a warhammer in her hands, glared at the cowed crowd, daring them to do anything.
Sam was ushered through the temple, followed by a bunch of priestesses. They went through several corridors, stairs, and such, before ending in a small hall, maybe enough for three king-sized beds. The walls were roughly worked with visible tool marks and at the end of the hall was an old, weathered door made of wood – with visible markings often found on ships – and metal bands holding it together.
The head priestess approached it, and with a mighty heave, opened the door. Beyond it, Sam could see the endless ocean with a small outcropping holding a stone platform with a pedestal and nothing else.
However, the entire area was filled with magic.
The biggest evidence of this was that while the blood rain managed to reach even there, it never got anywhere near the ground. As soon as a droplet approached a few dozen yards above the platform, it sizzled out of existence, vaporized by some invisible source of heat.
He could even feel the warmth radiating through his body as if he was swaddled in a nice cotton blanket.
‘Obvious ritual place for a religion about a sun is obvious,’ he mused as the head priestess herded everybody to the platform and closed the door behind them.
The priestesses fanned out, and the head priestess approached the simple altar and motioned Sam to join her.
He stepped forward, making sure not to step on anything important or bump into one of the priestesses and send them into the depths below. Apparently, whoever built this little place, never heard of occupational safety and health regulations. Or railings.
As he arrived in the middle of the stone platform – which looked like it had never been touched by weather - he began to get worried. The last time he saw priestesses from the sun temple set up like this, they ended up sacrificing themselves.
“You don’t have to worry, you know…” came from the matronly woman.
“What?”
“It’s written on your face. You are thinking about Asa’s sacrifice,” she explained. “Well, worry not. This place has been bathed in the blessed sun’s light since the moment when Sunspot was founded. We oft use it for grand rituals. And with the artifact you brought…”
He raised his hand and let the light of the artifact illuminate everything. Then he felt a shift in the magic and his eyes snapped to the head priestess.
Where before she was a gentle source of mana, calming and guiding those around her, now she blazed with the strength of the sun, though equally as gentle.
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Of course, the biggest clue that something changed was that her wise eyes were replaced by two glowing orbs.
“G-greetings, Avatar of the Sun?” Sam spoke hesitantly.
She smirked. Her voice changed from soft-spoken to loud and boisterous, not unlike an elder sister ready to have fun with her younger siblings she adored.
“Well met, Samuel of Shadows and Wind! It warms my soul further that you recognize our visage! Hahahaha!” she declared loudly as the priestesses around them began to chant.
Then her hand shot out and grabbed Sam’s wrist and raised it higher so that she could examine the symbol.
Her previously laughing lips turned upside down, and she reached gently forward and caressed the crystalline artifact once.
Then she squeezed Sam’s hand strong enough to make him let go of the artifact, which fell with a small clang onto the pedestal. Letting go of him, she began to laugh again.
“Hahaha! Time to show those defilers what the light can do!” She looked at Sam with shining eyes, that, even though she had no irises or anything else, still radiated crazy energy. “And you, my young friend, are going to help me!”
Somehow, Sam didn’t think he could get out of this one…
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The clouds over the city of Sunspot were spreading out, already drenching the area outside of its formidable walls – well the walls which were still standing – with only very few people being out and about.
Most of those who were not protected by any kind of shelter were those who were fighting the invaders or trying to save those who were buried by the rubble.
All over the city, people, both NPCs and players, were fighting with each other. The only upside of the bloody rain was it was really easy to identify the enemy. As naturally, the rain created by blood magic didn’t affect those who were immersed in it.
Sadly, that didn’t mean that the defenders had an easy time. While the rain made sure that the attackers couldn’t hide, it also empowered them and distracted the defenders.
Still, with the numerous battles raging all over the city – except for where the nobles lived, thanks to the Sunwarriors and formidable magical barriers – a lot of people, including the players felt that they were on the verge of victory as none of the blood magic users were having success.
However, not everything was as it seemed.
One group, made of several players who were mostly in the city because they killed the wrong people (and those people had some powerful friends) and a few NPCs, mostly guards and security officers, were clashing with a group of blood warriors supported by a cadre of blood mages. The only reason they survived so long was that one of the players was a water mage, and used his considerable power to keep any liquid away from his impromptu teammates.
All around them, everything was destroyed – some by them, but mostly by the enormous explosions - yet they still fought on.
“What the hell are they doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“That fucking mage hasn’t cast anything in a while!”
“Fuck!”
“Hey Rainman, any idea?” one of the players called over to the water mage who while concentrating on keeping the bloody rain off them, glanced over to the enemy and shrugged.
“Fuck if I know…”
“Fan-tastic…” came the sarcastic answer. “Whatever, let’s kill those fuckers…”
Unfortunately, they didn’t have to wait long for the answer. Just as the player clashed with the nearest blood knight, their weapons clashing together with a thunderous noise, a new noise emerged from the direction of the blood mages.
RAAAAAAAAAAWR
The fighter immediately disengaged, and to his surprise, the enemy fighter didn’t put any effort into stopping him and returned to his party’s side.
This way they all watched together as a giant elemental made of the blood fallen from the sky emerged, towering over them with maw big enough to swallow a smaller horse.
“THEY HAVE BLOOD ELEMENTALS?”
“No, that’s a cat…”
As they stood there gaping and wondering how they would deal with the addition of what seemed to be a greater blood elemental, they heard similar roars from all over the city, audible even over the wind and rain.
They were on the verge of panicking when one lone beam of light broke through the dense cloud layer and fell directly on the elemental burning it where the light touched it. They all looked up, even the blood mages, and saw as one by one, beams of light broke through the dense cloud illuminating the city destroying the elementals, and spreading warmth throughout the entire city.
Then a roar and everybody turned toward the ocean as they saw a giant column of sunlight shoting up into the sky. It stayed like that, the roar suppressing all noise before it let out a pulse with a rather unique sound.
The pulse instantly vaporized the part of the cloud cover it managed to touch before dying out. But thankfully, another pulse followed… then another and another, until the cloud pouring the tainted blood on the city was no more.
People around the city blinked in surprise as the phenomenon happened. Though some people were rather quickly realizing what this meant.
As the water mage summoned two giant, segmented whips of water, one of the blood mages let out a nervous chuckle.
“He he, I think we’re in trouble…”
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Sam blinked the light out of his eyes and looked around.
There he saw Asa, in spiritual form, bowing deeply to the head priestess’s body, before turning to Sam, bowing and mouthing an inaudible thank you before exploding into numerous sparks of light that vanished into the ether.
He watched as the rest of the spirits approached other priestesses and said their goodbye before he found himself once again looking into the eyes of the crazy avatar possessing the head priestess’s body.
“What a splendid day! Hahahaha! I rather enjoyed my little sojourn!” came from the avatar as she looked around proudly, hands on her hips while grinning.
Sam despite everything let out a relieved sigh. He didn’t know what he would have done if the avatar decided that she wanted to stay.
She stared at Sam for a second before nodding to herself. “Samuel of Shadows and Wind, alas the thoughts of a job well done shall have to be enough for you as I cannot reward you!”
Sam didn’t even have time to react to that before she excitedly pointed at him and began to talk (yell).
“You see, you don’t know the greatness of the sun. However! If you choose to submerge yourself in the light then you shall be rewarded!” she said with an enormous grin on her face which looked really weird on the aged matron.
‘Ahh, here is the converting…’
He shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible,” he said apologetically.
Truthfully, nothing was stopping him from joining the Sun Temple, but he felt, looking at the avatar, that it would be more trouble than it was worth.
The avatar just nodded thoughtfully. “I see, I see… Not a decision that can be hastily made. You’re indeed wise my friend!”
‘We are friends?’
“Then, how about this?” the avatar asked and gestured toward the crystal symbol he had brought. Where before it shined with unrestrained life energy and the light of the sun, now it was just a simple inert crystal, albeit an expertly crafted one.
Slowly, the crystal began to morph, until it took the form of the coin with the sun temple’s symbol on it.
“This should aid you in your quest! Hahahaha!” she declared, before slumping forward suddenly.
Feeling the blazing mana vanish, he stepped forward and made sure that the elderly priestess was stable.
She let out a shaky cough before straightening. Her eyes returned to the original color, though Sam noticed that her hair was visibly turning more and more white, while her skin began to age. Not much, but enough to show.
Naturally, she noticed where his gaze wandered.
“The sun burns fast and hot, my young friend…” She looked back over the city where the sun was finally illuminating everything and let out a weak chuckle. “But I think it was worth it…”