With no strong objections, the party sets off with the guards for the temple. The relatively spacious dock district gives way to a set of narrow streets and buildings so tightly spaced that they may as well have been crushed into each other. You see several more soldiers of the Imperium walking in and out of the buildings, so you figure these may be barracks or have some other military-oriented function.
At one point, you pass a large, boarded up gateway on the right side of the street. Another pair of soldiers stand watch at this portal. Just as you walk by, a distant scream can be heard coming from somewhere on the other side of the gate.
The half-elf comments,
"Poor souls. I wish we could do more for them, but we can't risk the plague spreading until the priests come up with a remedy."
After walking down a few more winding streets, you reach the Temple of Maros, a square fort with arrow slits on all sides. Like most of the other buildings in Cay Harbor, it looks like a military fortification (which isn't very surprising since Maros is the god of war). Your escort doesn't follow you inside as you open the heavy wooden doors.
Despite the martial exterior, the inside of the temple looks relatively normal. Several rows of pews lead up to a raised altar at the far end of the large room. Statues of soldiers with various weapons are placed in the corners. You see ramps on either side of the altar leading up to a second floor, on the same level as the arrow slits. Standing near the altar is a priest who wears a strange combination of chainmail armor with a red robe underneath.
He doesn't immediately notice you come in.
[sblock=Damen]While in the tavern, you strike up a quick friendship with a drunkard named Gil. He looks utterly destitute, wearing ragged clothes and apparently not having bathed in weeks. After you shell out a few coppers to buy him a drink, he goes off all about his tragic history and how his life is ruined.
Cay Harbor was founded many years ago as an outpost of the Imperium. It was meant to be the staging area for a full invasion of the Savage Lands, "for the glory of the Imperium!" It attracted the best soldiers and support personnel that the empire could muster. Gil was a young soldier at the time, ready to do his duty. But soon after the outpost was established, the Imperium ceased offensive operations in the vast majority of its armies. Not willing to recall the soldiers and lose the outpost entirely, the harbor was left with a small garrison and largely forgotten about.
As Gil continues, you learn that the city has had an extremely tough time surviving. Barbarian lizardfolk raid anything outside the city walls, and they even attack the city once in awhile. The garrison is lead by an able commander (the Commandant, as he calls her), but they can't protect people once they leave the city, so it's impossible to exploit any of the natural resources outside. The city has a very large poor population as a result, and more people leave on outgoing supply ships every year.
Gil eventually lapses into a crying fit, so you decide it's time to take your leave. When you go back to the dock, the party is already gone. However, you learn from a passing soldier that they were heading to the temple. (You can enter the temple just after they do).[/sblock]
Right after the door closes behind you, it opens again as Damen rejoins the group. This time, the priest hears the noise and looks up to face you.
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OOC:
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I'm going to try to move things along faster so you can make with the killing.
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