After three days of traveling, finally they reached their destination, Notre Dame. From what Kyle heard from Richard, this was the capital of Avalon, a very religious nation. When they stepped foot inside the city, the big statue of a beautiful goddess stood in the center of this city. Other than that, this city stroke a lot of resemblance to Casablanca, it was big and crowded, filled with life and business, one thing that was clear those that unlike Casablanca, this city did not seem like it was over run by guide, but rather straight by the city government like it should be, in this case it was the temple as it seem.
Their travel here was rather easy and peaceful, but the moment they stepped into this city, they had a feeling that someone was watching them closely.
“So same as always right, keep our head low and try to not make a scene” Liam said to Kyle.
“Yeah, well I got a feeling that we are going to fail miserably with that” Kyle replied.
“First, a place to stay.” Liam nodded his head toward an Inn directly where they were heading. “Then we will find out if there is any mission board or hidden mission lying around”.
When they reached the Inn, the familiar feeling they received, all eyes started to focus on Kyle once again, it seemed as though he was not welcome here either.
“Avalon is not a suitable place for a man such as yourself my friend” the Innkeeper told Kyle.
“Hey now, I just want a place for me and my friends to stay, I don’t want any trouble.” Kyle replied. “Oh but trouble always finds you, doesn’t it” the Innkeeper said.
“So are you going to let us stay here or are we going to have to find another Inn?” Liam said.
“Welcome to Notre Dame” the Innkeeper said as he gave them their keys.
“This again huh?” Liam told Kyle. “Don’t even bother, ok.” Kyle replied. They all headed to their rooms and settled down for a while.
“Oh Kyle, did Richard tell you what kind of religion is this?” Allan asked.
“He told me that they believe in the Goddess of Healing, that big statue in the city should be we holy priestess that fought among the heroes that defeat the Devil all of those years ago, legend said that she was bless by the Goddess and given her power, she could heal any wound and some said that she was so powerful that she could revive fallen heroes.” Kyle said.
“So how much of that do you think is true?” Liam said.
“How should I know, based on what we have heard and experienced, some wounds can’t be healed by magic, or maybe that was just because no one has ever got powerful enough to do so. As for the Goddess of Healing, well if there really are devils and monsters why can’t there be angels and gods as well.” Kyle replied “With that said, I really think we should visit the temple first, there might be a lot of intel there”.
The temple of the Goddess of Healing.
The temple was something that came straight out of a Greek mythology, with ancient Greek architectural style. The Temple was enormous, it would take you one hundred steps just to reach the Temple entrance. Inside, statues of the Goddess and the Legendary Holy priestess were everywhere. Everyone in the city, young or old, rich or poor, all seem to pay their highest respect for the temple and for the Goddess.
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“Well this seems peaceful enough right, the citizens look happy and safe, the God that they follow is a Goddess of Healing. I don’t know but I got a good feeling about this place.” Liam said. It was true, unlike in Casablanca, there was a noticeably decrease in the number of armed men in this city, it looked like only the city guards or like the team, adventurers that carried them around.
The Temple was run by priests and priestesses wearing white rope. Walking through all of the halls in the temple, various rooms for different purposes were discovered, but the most important was the main hall, where the High Priestess was giving out wisdom to her followers. She was a middle aged woman, her face and posture just screamed elegant and pure, but you could also tell that there was power in her eyes. She talked about many subjects and the team decided to sit in and listen to find out if there was anything useful. And oh boy, what they found out was truly surprising. It seems as though the Temple and the Kingdom have very different opinions, based on what the High Priestess said, the Temple wanted peace and killing humans was something prohibited for those followers, only killing monsters or in self defense, while the Kingdom of Avalon seemed to want to seek wars and power. Like what Richard said before, this country was very religious and the Temple here was almost as powerful as the government. The people here would follow what the Temple told them without hesitation. Then she told everyone to always believe in the power of the Goddess, that every wound and be healed, every disease can be cured by the Temple magic. Liam and the team looked at each other and whispered.
“Bro, do you guys have a strange feeling like we are in some kind of a cult?” Liam asked.
“Don’t judge them prematurely, we have just been here for less than an hour.” Luna said.
“She is right,” Kyle said “For all we know, this is the norm here and we are the only ones who think there is something wrong. All she said in the end was “believe in the Temple”, pretty standard if you ask me”.
They continued to listen until it was all over, the rest seemed to be nothing important, just some reminder that demons and evil were still everywhere and the people must speak out if something seemed suspicious.
“Lovely place huh” Liam said as they were walking away from the Temple.
“Enough about that, let’s go and find some ways to make some money shall we?” Allan said.
This time around, they could easily find the mission boards, which were placed in front of guides’ main hall of tarvens entrance. It seems like guides in this city do not hold as much power as they did in Casablanca, and the people here could seek help and safety from multiple fronts, from the city government, from the Temple of the Goddess of Healing or from independence guides. Notre Dame was a big city with a large population, so missions were abounden.
“Yes finally, some simple gathering quest” Liam said.
“Hmm…” Kyle made a sound, he was clearly thinking of something else this entire time and did not focus on what the team was saying. “What is this Kyle, what are you thinking about, did you notice something we don’t again?” Luna asked.
“No nothing like that,” Kyle awoke from his deep thought. “It's just that I found it strange that this is supposed to be the Capital of this country but the head of the Government is located in this place but rather a nearby city.”
“Hmm.. you’re right, I haven’t thought of that. This city only has a representative and city council mansion and castle. The king and Avalon’s other head figures don’t seem to be here” Luna said. “Maybe there are two capitals in this country ?”.
“Could be” Kyle responded “But no matter, again, it’s none of our business anyway”. Luna nodded knowingly.
“What do we get Liam ?” Allan asked. “A simple herb collecting quest from a local potion shop. They will pay you based on how much medical herb you collect for them.”
“First we need to know what is out there in this area first, split up into 2 groups and see if you can find any useful information” Kyle said and the team divided into 2 groups. Kyle and Luna and the other three, they agreed to meet back at the Inn in three hours time.