Asking some passerby's directions to the temple district, Riley began to head there with Telvin. While they walked, they held each others hand. While his hand was smaller then hers, she could feel his strength in his hand making her smile. Riley had convinced Telvin it was a good idea to get his curse checked out by a priest.

Turning down a side street, Telvin asked "So which of these temples will we need to check out?"

"As it involves a curse, the best choice is a priest of the Goddess Willow."

"I'm not familiar with her."

"Not many have. She is not very popular, she scares people away. They think if you call her name, she will curse you. I only found out about her, when a friend of mine was cursed by an ancient tomb during a mission. She was on deaths door by the time the priest was able to get it off her. She had to pay several large silver coins for the removal."

"That sounds like a lot."

"It was a powerful curse. They charge by the grade of the curse. Apparently most people only get curses that are in the copper coin level."

"Since I'm cursed by a goddess, I'm not sure they can remove it."

Entering the temple district Riley said "They can at least find out about the goddess who cursed you."

While they were walking down the street looking for the Temple of Willow, a dark brown carriage rolled past them. The door to the carriage was flung open, and a woman tumbled out onto the ground. The carriage was quickly pulled to a halt. The woman got to her legs, her hair was disheveled and she had a crazy look in her eyes.

Her clothes looked to be fancy, if a bit dirty from falling into the street. Riley could tell she was quite the beauty once, but now her appearance was pretty distraught. She was staring at Telvin and yelled "Eric, Eric you have come back to me!"

She hobbled towards them while a young man climbed out of the carriage looking scared. "Mother!" The young man called out. Telvin stepped away from the odd woman as she attempted to grab onto him. Riley stepped in and held the woman back.

The young man reached them, and a few servants caught up behind him. He placed his hands on his mother and said "Mother, I need you to come back to the carriage, okay?"

"Look Dean, it's Eric!" She said excited fighting against her son's grip and pointing at Telvin.

Dean looked at Telvin, did a double-take and said "No mother, that is not Eric. Eric is deceased, we buried him remember?"

"Did we? He looks like Eric... I'm so confused." The woman said looking confused. Dean gently steered her to the servants.

"Take her back to the carriage; I will be back in a moment." Dean said to them, and they aided the woman back to the carriage. Dean turned back to Riley and Telvin and said "I apologize. My mother is not well at the moment. My name is Dean Evercral."

Telvin looked at Dean for a second, and then gave a wicked smile and said "It's okay, cousin. I've been assured I look like my father. It's easy to understand her mistake."

"What?" Dean was startled and took another look at Telvin and said "I thought your appearance was uncannily close to the portrait of my uncle, are you saying that your are his kin?"

"In the very flesh, so to speak. I am Telvin, the product of my fathers escapades in the Elven kingdom. Right now I am busy, but do let your father know; I will be coming to see him."

Dean stood with a whiteface for a moment before nodding. "Of course, I will let my father know. I would invite you over for tea, but I must attend to my mother. Farewell." Dean dashed to the carriage and got in. The carriage then took off down the street at a breakneck speed.

Riley looked at Telvin and asked "Why did you do that?"

"He knew the second he looked at me. He was going to play it off. Makes me wonder how many brothers and sisters I have out there." Telvin was silent after that.

Riley clasped his hand and began to explore the Temple district. They went to an older part of the district where some of the temples looked like they needed repair. Riley spotted the temple they were looking for. Set amongst the run down temples was one that exuded a sense of melancholy and despair.

A dark aura was almost dripping off the stones of the building, dark vines were climbing the pillars of the building, and a series of black roses were planted around the front. Sitting in front of the temple was a group of people dressed in black clothing. They were deathly pale and wore black makeup.

Walking past the listless people, they entered the Temple proper. Several grotesque paintings lined the entrance room. A mixture of death scenes and dark romance hung over them. Riley admitted this felt pretty creepy to her. Skulls decorated the walls, and a statue of a woman was leaning against a wall, she was wearing an odd ruffled dress, and in the process of smoking.

Going up to the altar past the entrance room, the found, a priestess who was wearing a set of black trousers and a weird ruffled black shirt. She was also sporting way too many studded belts. Riley estimated she was carrying at least ten pounds of belts on her.

The priestess said in a monotone voice "Hey, what's up. Welcome to the Temple of the Goddess of Willow, the everlasting source of cursed pain and darkness. How may we servants of the mistress of despair help you?"

Finding her a bit spooky, Riley said "My boyfriend here was born with cursed blood. We wish to find out more about his curse, and possibly remove it."

The Priestess looked at Telvin and said "That's sick man. Lets head to one of our consultation rooms for privacy." They followed her to a side room. Like the other rooms it was darkly adorned. The priestess signaled them to sit in a set of stone chairs.

"So what can you tell me about your cursed blood." The Priestess said.

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Telvin said "I just recently found out my blood was cursed. I signed a contract with a god who informed me I have cursed blood. Apparently my father angered a goddess, and she cursed him, and when he sired me, the curse came along for the ride I guess. At the moment, it fills me with rage, and sometimes I lose control of my temper. It's getting harder to control."

"That is an odd curse. Not really suffering, at least not yet. Stay still for a moment; I will examine you with the powers bestowed upon me by my goddess." She reached out and caressed Telvin's head and closed her eyes in concentration for several seconds before a black glow began to reach out around Telvin.

Suddenly there was a green flash and the Priestess was flung across the room into one of the walls. Riley swiftly got to her feet and went to help the Priestess up. "Are you okay?" Riley asked in concern.

"Oof, that curse is a monster." The priestess rubbed her head. "Damn, I'm not headed of the mortal coil anytime soon."

Riley went back and sits down, "So what can you tell us about the curse?"

"It's a very impressive curse. Fortunately, for you, it doesn't appear to be fully directed at you. However, It's still bad for you, as it's going to get stronger over time."

"Can you remove it?" Telvin asked.

"No, it's beyond even my Goddess power to remove. If you need it removed, you need to speak with the one who put it on you. My Goddess tells meshe's sorry for being unable to help you. We were unable to identify the goddess who placed it on you, but we were able to tell it was a nature goddess. You may have to seek out the help of the nature temples for further guidance."

"Do we owe you anything?" Riley said.

"Nah, it's was a thrill to be hit by that curse backlash. I'll be able to compose so many poems from that alone." The priestess said.

Leaving the gloomy temple, they asked for some directions to the Nature temples and headed that way. Walking down a few streets they entered a region that was more open parks then temples. In the middle of the park was a Large temple carved out of a tree. Several smaller temples surrounded it.

In front of this tree temple was a statue of a tall elf, with a headband. He had a loose outfit on and had a set of spectacles on. In one hand he was bearing a flower and in the other he was doing a v sign with his first two fingers. Riley said "I've never had any dealings with any nature priests. They were never popular down south."

Telvin said "I unfortunately have. The elves have three chief gods, Nominos god of Magic, Nephala goddess of warfare, and finally Naphat god of Nature, and the one I dislike the most. Currently Nominos and Nephala are far more popular compared to Naphat. Naphat has become far less relevant over time."

"Why do you loathe him so much?" Riley said.

"I do possess a love for nature, but Naphat's laid back attitude gets on my nerves. He's too peaceful for my liking, and lets everyone walk over him. It's also because one of his shitty priests was a proper asshole to me while I was growing up."

They entered the Tree Temple and found several Elves and others just laying about passing a pipe around in a smoke filled room. One of them was strumming a guitar pretty badly, and another was dancing just as bad to the offbeat music. They were all dressed in a set of intense colors. Each piece of clothing looked like it was splashed with multiple colors forming strange patterns.

One of the priest's spotted them with bloodshot eyes and said "Welcome brother and sister, to the temple of Naphat. Are you here to mellow in his good vibes? We have plenty of his stash to go around."

"No. I have come here to find out more about the Nature Goddess who cursed me." Telvin said.

"Woah dude, that seriously sucks man. That doesn't sound like what a nature god would do. Are you sure it wasn't those war gods?"

Riley snorted and said "I have seen the damage nature can do. I think you are underestimating the power of nature."

The priest withdrew a pipe and took a long puff. "Nah man, you have to go with the flow of nature. If it wants you to move, then move. It's a cycle man, it's all cycles. What were we talking about?"

"The curse in my blood." Telvin said annoyed.

"That's right! Are you sure you don't desire some of my stash man? It will chill you right down."

"No, I just want you to take a look!"

The priest shrugged and began to channel his god. A warm green glow began to flow out of the priest and went towards Telvin. When it touched him, the very ground shook and the priest stepped back shutting off the glow immediately. "Woah, that is some curse dude."

"I know, what can you tell us?"

"My god informs me, that the power from your dreadful curse looks like it comes from a hidden goddess known as Tellus Mater. Naphat doesn't know much about her, but he knows she was a incredibly powerful nature goddess. Not one to mess with, as she possesses quite the temper."

"Is there any way to get in contact with her?" Riley asked.

"You have to discover one of her old temples if it still exists. Or you could try contacting her through the curse, but I would say man, that ain't a good idea. It's very easy to drown in rage."

"Well thanks for that I guess." Telvin said.

They left, and Riley took his hand and said "At least we found a name to go with your curse."

"That is a plus I guess. How about we make this day better?" Telvin said.

"Oh? How do you want to achieve that?"

"I've heard Taras has some street performances, let's go check them out."

"Sure." Riley said smiling down at Telvin.