Post by The Stranger on Apr 12, 2008 18:15:49 GMT -5
Brandon stood at the steps at the Temple of the Moonsingers. It was a might mass of snow-white marble topped by a huge silvered dome whose milk glass windows showed all the phases of the moon. Beyond it stood a Temple of Rh’llor, a red stone edifice as stern as any forces and atop its huge square tower a fire blazed in a great iron brazier. He almost felt like betraying Rh’llor for not visiting that temple first, but he steeled himself and walked in.
The temple was no less magnificent inside than outside, music could be heard from a chamber far off but it was still soothing and compelling. He almost walked towards it before he remembered his goal. He looked on the floors and walls and windows, but he found no burning suns. He had no wish to search the entire temple, then suddenly the sun glanced through the clouds and shone on the windows far above. The moons could be seen on the white marble floor almost dancing of yellow light. “Burning suns,” he thought and followed the moons illuminated on the floor.
He found himself staring at a wall, he pushed and tried to find any signs of secret passages but ultimately he failed. Leaning his head against the wall he spotted an out of place torch. He tried to move it but it was almost like it was made of stone. He bit his thumb causing it to bleed then put it on the torch, wishing for it to burn. As the fire burned a door was opened at the opposite wall. Brandon cursed and ran before it had a chance to close.
The hallway was dark but as he touched the wall torches was lit up. It was not much to do but to follow the lights. He tried to figure out in which direction he was going, but had to give up soon as the corridor shifted in directions, crossing paths that he was sure he had just walked on etc. At the end of a stair that he had just walked down there was a beautiful weirwood door. There was some ebony on it too, a moon hiding behind the sun. Baelor frowned a bit at that but opened the door and found himself in a great chamber. “I have been expecting you for a while Brandon,” the priest, who he had seen in his dreams, said. Instead of wearing the red robes with silvery notes his robes were now half silver and half red.
“We are the only ones here, as the others are busy working in the temples,” the man said. “Temples?” Brandon asked. “Yes, we are a cult of worshippers of both the Moon and Rh’llor. That is the door to the Red Temple if you were wondering,” the man said and pointed at an ebony door with a sun hiding behind a moon done in weirwood. “Why would two such diverse group of priest join together?”. “Tell me Brandon, why does the moon shine?” the priest asked and continued as Brandon shrugged. “Some say that the moon is an egg with dragons that will crack when it collides with the sun, some say that the moon is a lover or family of the sun, but they are wrong. Curiously enough the ones who claim that it is a dragon egg are the closest. Dragon eggs need warmth and fire to hatch, so does the moon embrace the light from the sun to shine. The sun is a gift from Rh’llor and the moon helps to keep the darkness away, some days more than others.”
“So it suffices to say that the moon is also a gift from Rh’llor and that the red priests and the Moonsingers just differ on some points, though not all as you may have guessed. The Valyrians praised the largest of dragons as gods, but are they not creatures of fire? So they indirectly praised Rh’llor. To control the dragons they used magic, some say they used magic horns which granted them the control needed and with that they made the dragons breathe fire to make their precious Valyrian steel. That’s where the sound and fire came to power. Sound is a very powerful thing, it can grant courage to the craven with the right words, horrible sounds and terrifying horns can make strong men shiver in their boots and carefully whispered words to a maiden can cause her to give herself more willingly than a poxy whore.”
“Do you know the tales of the Moonsingers leading the slaves of the Valyrian Freehold to Braavos? Of course you do everyone from Braavos knows that. But what most people don’t know is that the Moonsingers were bastards of the Valyrian sorcerers. There are other stories of our people’s escape from Valyria but those are not my secrets to tell. Now do you have any questions?”. “What can I learn to do with these powers?”. The priest frowned. “Great things. great things indeed if you have a mind for it, though you won’t learn them unless you stay here for at least a decade and study under one of the priests. I guess you won’t then, though the offer still stands. None the less here is something that will help you. It’s the powder some “mages” use after entertaining crowds and for the cutpurses to do their job unhindered. The recipe is on your left. Remember not to inhale it, it’s not poisonous but it will lead to addiction,” the priest tossed a pouch into the air that caught fire and suddenly a bright light exploded from it causing his eyes to hurt so much he had to close them and even after a minute his vision was still blurry. When he finally could see again the priest was long gone. He grabbed the formula before leaving the temple, rubbing his eyes while muttering about crazy priests.
Later that day when he had bought all the ingredients he needed to make the powder, which was oddly enough not that hard to get they could all be purchased in Westeros except the last vital ingredient which was native to Braavos, the golden leaf it was called. The powder wasn’t hard to make it was just extremely methodical; following the formula produced the powder just fine. He tried to ignite it but made sure of closing his eyes first, and was dismayed as there was no flash could be seen. All it did was smell really good. Remembering the man’s word he sniffed up some of the powder.
He could feel something different in him, the world was blurry yet sharper, the sounds grew all around him, everything turned beautiful, and he giggled a bit. It was an amazing experience, the old man wasn’t joking when he said that it was addicting. Brandon steeled himself and tried to shake of the feeling, but collapsed in a fit of giggles. After a while the effect wore off and Brandon smiled he could use this. He would have to talk to Reret Nekna his previous employer before he headed back to Westeros.
Result:
Increase mysteries of fire and sound to expert.
Poisoning/poison lore to master
The temple was no less magnificent inside than outside, music could be heard from a chamber far off but it was still soothing and compelling. He almost walked towards it before he remembered his goal. He looked on the floors and walls and windows, but he found no burning suns. He had no wish to search the entire temple, then suddenly the sun glanced through the clouds and shone on the windows far above. The moons could be seen on the white marble floor almost dancing of yellow light. “Burning suns,” he thought and followed the moons illuminated on the floor.
He found himself staring at a wall, he pushed and tried to find any signs of secret passages but ultimately he failed. Leaning his head against the wall he spotted an out of place torch. He tried to move it but it was almost like it was made of stone. He bit his thumb causing it to bleed then put it on the torch, wishing for it to burn. As the fire burned a door was opened at the opposite wall. Brandon cursed and ran before it had a chance to close.
The hallway was dark but as he touched the wall torches was lit up. It was not much to do but to follow the lights. He tried to figure out in which direction he was going, but had to give up soon as the corridor shifted in directions, crossing paths that he was sure he had just walked on etc. At the end of a stair that he had just walked down there was a beautiful weirwood door. There was some ebony on it too, a moon hiding behind the sun. Baelor frowned a bit at that but opened the door and found himself in a great chamber. “I have been expecting you for a while Brandon,” the priest, who he had seen in his dreams, said. Instead of wearing the red robes with silvery notes his robes were now half silver and half red.
“We are the only ones here, as the others are busy working in the temples,” the man said. “Temples?” Brandon asked. “Yes, we are a cult of worshippers of both the Moon and Rh’llor. That is the door to the Red Temple if you were wondering,” the man said and pointed at an ebony door with a sun hiding behind a moon done in weirwood. “Why would two such diverse group of priest join together?”. “Tell me Brandon, why does the moon shine?” the priest asked and continued as Brandon shrugged. “Some say that the moon is an egg with dragons that will crack when it collides with the sun, some say that the moon is a lover or family of the sun, but they are wrong. Curiously enough the ones who claim that it is a dragon egg are the closest. Dragon eggs need warmth and fire to hatch, so does the moon embrace the light from the sun to shine. The sun is a gift from Rh’llor and the moon helps to keep the darkness away, some days more than others.”
“So it suffices to say that the moon is also a gift from Rh’llor and that the red priests and the Moonsingers just differ on some points, though not all as you may have guessed. The Valyrians praised the largest of dragons as gods, but are they not creatures of fire? So they indirectly praised Rh’llor. To control the dragons they used magic, some say they used magic horns which granted them the control needed and with that they made the dragons breathe fire to make their precious Valyrian steel. That’s where the sound and fire came to power. Sound is a very powerful thing, it can grant courage to the craven with the right words, horrible sounds and terrifying horns can make strong men shiver in their boots and carefully whispered words to a maiden can cause her to give herself more willingly than a poxy whore.”
“Do you know the tales of the Moonsingers leading the slaves of the Valyrian Freehold to Braavos? Of course you do everyone from Braavos knows that. But what most people don’t know is that the Moonsingers were bastards of the Valyrian sorcerers. There are other stories of our people’s escape from Valyria but those are not my secrets to tell. Now do you have any questions?”. “What can I learn to do with these powers?”. The priest frowned. “Great things. great things indeed if you have a mind for it, though you won’t learn them unless you stay here for at least a decade and study under one of the priests. I guess you won’t then, though the offer still stands. None the less here is something that will help you. It’s the powder some “mages” use after entertaining crowds and for the cutpurses to do their job unhindered. The recipe is on your left. Remember not to inhale it, it’s not poisonous but it will lead to addiction,” the priest tossed a pouch into the air that caught fire and suddenly a bright light exploded from it causing his eyes to hurt so much he had to close them and even after a minute his vision was still blurry. When he finally could see again the priest was long gone. He grabbed the formula before leaving the temple, rubbing his eyes while muttering about crazy priests.
Later that day when he had bought all the ingredients he needed to make the powder, which was oddly enough not that hard to get they could all be purchased in Westeros except the last vital ingredient which was native to Braavos, the golden leaf it was called. The powder wasn’t hard to make it was just extremely methodical; following the formula produced the powder just fine. He tried to ignite it but made sure of closing his eyes first, and was dismayed as there was no flash could be seen. All it did was smell really good. Remembering the man’s word he sniffed up some of the powder.
He could feel something different in him, the world was blurry yet sharper, the sounds grew all around him, everything turned beautiful, and he giggled a bit. It was an amazing experience, the old man wasn’t joking when he said that it was addicting. Brandon steeled himself and tried to shake of the feeling, but collapsed in a fit of giggles. After a while the effect wore off and Brandon smiled he could use this. He would have to talk to Reret Nekna his previous employer before he headed back to Westeros.
Result:
Increase mysteries of fire and sound to expert.
Poisoning/poison lore to master