The three of them—Shamain, Kivi, Callan—sat on the stone bench in silence, staring at the map hovering over Xeph’s altar. It was quiet in the great hall, the last of the remaining villagers having long since wandered off to find rooms in the nearby catacombs. Callan had briefly switched out the Urslang map for the one of the temple’s interior, instructing the villagers not to wander too far.
Now the map of the continent was back. Silent. Intimidating. He leaned forward a bit to study it.
“Why aren’t there, like, cities, or border lines? You know, map stuff.” he asked.
Because the temple draws from stored knowledge, Xeph answered, the words slow as he unpacked them, or uncompressed them, or whatever. Do you happen to know where any cities in Urslang are?
“I suppose I don’t.” Turning, Callan glanced at the two women. “What do you two know about the outside world?”
“Very little, I’m afraid, Avatar,” Kivi said, her eyes not leaving the map. She gestured to the lower left corner. “This area here appears to be the Badlands. I think our former village would be... here, perhaps? So this temple should be just a short distance west.”
The map shimmered. A small dot appeared in the bottom left, with a miniscule label beside it. When Callan squinted, he could just barely make out the words ‘Primary Temple’.
Shamain grunted. “Don’t know much, considering I spent my entire life at home. We’ll need to drag a few of the Etruscian caste members in, there are still two or three left among the villagers. It’s their job to travel into the outside world, trading and mingling and cavorting with the other races, and what have you. Fah.”
“You sound like you don’t approve,” Callan noted. The old lud just ignored him.
“Alright, so we know the general layout of the continent, and roughly where we are,” he continued. “That’s something. We can get the rest filled in as we go. Next order of business: Xeph, are you sure you want me to begin a search for additional followers?”
Of course I am, mortal! Why are you even hesitating?
Callan glanced at the message that hovered next to the map.
Would you like to Scry for follower locations? Cost = 5 Conviction
“It just seems kind of costly, is all.”
Hmmph, a small matter of waiting a few days for your internal supply to generate. Once it does, the temple will have adequate supply to search for our lost members.
“Aren’t you the one who just got done telling me that Conviction shouldn’t be used for frivolous purposes?”
This is hardly frivolous, Xeph said, a hurt note in his voice. My followers have remained faithful to me for centuries, perhaps longer. What kind of god would I be if I didn’t attempt to return them to the fold, to reward them for their long years of generational devotion?
Callan didn’t really have an argument for that. Before he could think of something else to say, Shamain spoke up.
“Sorry to interrupt your ruminating, or whatever it is you two are doing, Avatar, but is this really the best use of our time right now?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. Shamain eyed him critically.
“I mean, we are talking about, what, seven additional followers somewhere out in the world? Hardly a problem worth all three of us discussing. You and the god should figure out this business on your own time. Meanwhile, there is the slightly more important matter of sorting out the business of your new followers, if you catch my drift.”
Callan didn’t, but he was smart enough not to say anything that would give the old lud more ammunition. “What exactly do you propose?”
“Me? I’m just an old woman, it’s not my place to be offering advice to the high-and-mighty avatar and his sultry high priestess. No, no, not at all.”
Kivi shifted uncomfortably at the ‘sultry’ comment, but Callan merely crossed his arms and watched Shamain. “Humor us. What would you advise? You were a member of the leadership caste even before you became a priestess, weren’t you?”
“I suppose I was,” Shamain said with a cackle, rocking forward a little. There was an eager light in her eyes. “In that case, let’s start with the most important matter. You, Xeph, need followers. Probably in greater numbers than we can hope to get before Zavastu is breathing down our backsides, but the more the better. I think that should be our primary focus.”
Is she talking to me directly? Xeph muttered. What a strange lud. I knew there was a reason I liked her.
“Yeah, yeah. She’s a peach.” Callan rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to Shamain. “Okay, followers. I can’t exactly disagree with you on the importance of that, but how exactly are we supposed to go about getting more? It’s not like there’s a sign up above saying ‘Temple of Xeph here! Sign up to be a member today!’, is there?”
Hmm, maybe there should be...
“Quiet, you.”
“I have several thoughts on the matter,” Shamain said, ignoring Callan’s non-sequiturs. “Boy, how many temples do you have the ability to establish?”
Caught off-guard by the question, Callan summoned his stat screen.
Name: Xeph-Zul-Karatl (3rd Sphere)
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Avatar: Callan Whitlocke (Trueborn Human)
-STATISTICS-
Brawn: 15
Momentum: 12
Fortitude: 30
Concentration: 12
Influence: 12
Piety: 15
-BOUNTIES-
God Bond: Talc – VIII
Manifestation: Mountainform
Orison slot 1: Shape Stone (Talc - X)
Orison Slot 2: Wurmchain (Talc - X)
-DISPENSATIONS-
Perk 1: Wane
-DOGMA-
Total Followers: 73
Available Faith: 0
Conviction: 1/5
Conviction Rate: 4/week
Temples: 1/1
Domain: 15 yd
APOTHEOSIS: 0/25%
“Just the one.”
“As I suspected,” Shamain said with a huff. “The easiest way to gain followers would be to find another town and establish a temple there. People are likely to be more amenable to the idea of worshipping a god if they have a physical sign of his protection nearby.”
“In other words, a temple would bring followers, but we need followers before we can establish another temple,” Kivi mused.
“Huh.” Callan rubbed his chin. “Bit of a Catch-22 situation, isn’t it?”
Both of the lud stared at him strangely. Even Xeph shifted inside his skull. Why would you need to catch twenty-two of something?
“Nothing, it’s a—” Callan glanced at the women. “Never mind.”
“Hmm. Whatever you say, boy. Regardless, there are plenty of villages and small farmholds within a few days’ of travel around here, though most aren’t nearly as big as ours—or how big we were, before the cult came a knocking. I imagine that if we offer them Xeph’s protection against Zavastu and her ridiculous tithes, we can get a few to join our cause.”
“Is that really worth the use of a temple, though?” Kivi asked, tapping her chin in thought. “Would it not be better to reserve such precious resources for locations with sufficient numbers?”
“What, you perhaps expecting us to traipse all the way to Amon Tul, girl, and start recruiting there? If you really want to endure the several weeks of travel, be my guest.”
Kivi stared blandly at the older woman. After a moment Shamain grimaced and belatedly added, “High Priestess. Whatever you think is best.”
“Thank you. And no, I am not suggesting we travel that far afield, just yet. Only that we need not offer every location on the surrounding plateaus a temple in order to secure faithful. If Xeph pledges to send them aid should they ever again be threatened by Zavastu or another god, that might prove sufficient.”
Callan nodded. “On that note, how long do you think we have until Zavastu responds to our message?”
The two lud looked at each other. Finally, it was Kivi who responded. “I cannot say for certain, Avatar. Usually it was a full season between caravans, but I do not know if that was due to travel times, or if Zavastu only deigned to send her representatives so infrequently.”
“Probably a little less, if I had to guess,” Shamain added. “We weren’t the only town that caravan stopped at, so let’s assume we’ll be seeing at least a messenger, if not a godsdamn approaching army, in perhaps half that time.”
“Wise as always, Shamain,” Kivi said with a nod. She turned back to Callan. “So, two months optimistically before we need worry about Zavastu again. We will need to set several watchers to return to the village to alert us when that happens. It would not do for our hostages to be returned only to think the rest of the village has abandoned them.”
“Alright. I’ll leave it up to you two to get volunteers for that task sorted out,” Callan said. “Now, what about these nearby towns? Think you can show me their rough location on the map?”
“Avatar? What do you mean?”
“Well, I can’t exactly just go marching off in a random direction. That only barely worked out the first time.”
Kivi stared at him, and Callan felt more and more self-conscious the longer her eyes bored into him. At last, she said, “You’re serious.”
“Uh, yeah? I don’t understand why you seem surprised. Isn’t gathering followers kind of my job?”
Your job is to be my vessel and voice to the world, Xeph grumbled. And I would just as soon my vessel remain somewhere with comfortable beds if at all possible.
“Oh c’mon, Xeph, those beds are falling apart and you know it. It’s barely a step above sleeping on the ground.”
“If my avatar wishes to visit these villages himself, I will of course aid him in any way I can,” Kivi said, her voice using that gentle tone one reserved for speaking with small, excitable children. “However, I would caution that—”
“It’s a bloody stupid idea, is what!” Shamain said with a snort. “I may just be an old woman from a small country village, but even I can tell you that much!”
Callan frowned. “Oh? Care to elaborate?”
“Think about it, avatar,” Kivi reached out and set a hand gently on his arm. “You are Xeph-Zul-Karatl’s physical embodiment in this world. You are this cult’s strongest asset, but also our greatest weakness.”
I can’t decide if that’s a compliment or an insult, Xeph muttered.
“What the girl means, lad, is that if something were to happen to you, think what would become of the rest of us,” Shamain added. “Sure, one day you might be able to crush mountains in your bare hands, but for now we can’t risk some villager sticking something sharp in you because said the wrong thing. Gathering new followers is better left up to those of us that are expendable. Old fogeys like me who are only a strong breeze away from death anyway!”
“I will go as well,” Kivi said. “To better increase the odds of success before Zavastu’s return.”
“Is that really the best use of a high priestess’s time?” Shamain asked. “I can think of a few Etruscian elders who’d be up to the task. We could even have the avatar make them priests, help bolster our numbers a bit.”
“As you reminded me earlier, Shamain, I have connections to the village of Aos. I will travel there and see what headway can be made.” Kivi glanced at Callan. “Do not fear, avatar. The journey there and back should take no more than a week, I won’t be gone long.”
“I have no problems with that. Though I do agree adding a few more priests should be a priority, at least to replace those we’ve lost. That is, of course, assuming anyone else among the villagers is even interested.”
“I will speak with them and see what I can learn.”
Callan nodded. “Xeph, any issue with that?”
While I would prefer to have a larger pool of applicants before we begin filling our inner circle, I suppose desperate times require certain sacrifices. Let us see if the high priestess can even find any volunteers before we worry overmuch, however.
“In that case, I think I’ll make for Seabrest,” Shamain said. “It’s the only place outside our village I’ve ever been, though the last time I visited was before my hair turned white. Still, I should at least still remember the general direction.”
“Then it’s settled. You two shall gather followers, we’ll set a watch in the village, I’ll ordain a priest or two if there are any volunteers. And then...” Callan hesitated. “I’m not sure what I’ll do after that, actually.”
You have plenty to keep yourself occupied, Xeph noted dryly. We also need to power the temple enough to search for my old followers.
Callan rolled his eyes. “Right. That.”
Beyond that, there are more than enough administrative duties to oversee to keep you occupied. I’ll not have lud children getting into every nook and cranny this temple has unsupervised!
“Hmm. I’ll do my best to contain my excitement over the prospect.”
Why does your voice sound sarcastic? Are you saying that the idea of fulfilling your administrative tasks as my representative doesn’t fill you with joy?
Callan ignored the god and turned back to the two lud women. “If you’re going to be setting out again, we best make sure you’re well supplied. Let me show you around, I’m sure there are some travel supplies on hand. If nothing else, High Priestess, you are welcome to my pack. I never ended up needing anything I brought along the first time I left the temple.”
“Thank you, avatar. Any supplies and equipment would be appreciated.”
“Yeah sure, I notice you offer the pretty one assistance but not little old me,” Shamain grumbled. “Why, if I were thirty years younger and still had all my teeth, I’d have you twisted around my finger like that, boy!”
“I’m sure we can find supplies for you, too, Shamain. Maybe an old boot or two.” Callan couldn’t hide his grin. Especially at the sour expression on the lud woman’s face.
Behind them on the map, two more dots appeared unnoticed. One marked Aos, and the second Seabrest. A moment later, a third appeared to the north. Not a dot, but a wavering question mark hovering near the center of the continent.
Beneath it, the label simply read Zavastu.