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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 1768260" data-attributes="member: 1210">The Horror!6/16/368, 5:30 p.m., atop the Path of HumilityThe monastery is pretty small, with a literal handful of monks its only inhabitants.  There are five of them only.  A small chapel is off to one side, gardens to the other.  A small shed looks to hold tools and such.  And the monastery itself is pretty small- there can’t be much extra room in there, Sandy thinks drunkenly.  But at least the group is smaller than the humans of the monastery.  Brother Astophos, a wrinkled old bald man in simple white robes, greets the group.  He introduces himself, and the halflings introduce themselves and declare that they are here to help guard the monks.“God guards us,” Brother Astophos says serenely.“Whatever, we’re just here to help, just in case,” Sandy slurs.  He got pretty darn drunk on the three-hour walk up the path up the mountain.Brother Astophos shrugs.  “As long as you respect our beliefs and our rules, you are welcome to stay, of course.  Perhaps some of you will even join us.”  The old man smiles.  “Maybe,” Timothy answers brightly.  “Do you play games here?” “This is a place for meditation and insight.”“Oh.”  Timothy sounds disappointed.“Feel free to look around,” suggests Astophos, before moving off to the gardens, where he proceeds to weed.  Our heroes do so.  The place is pretty much what it appears to be, and is very simple.  There are only a few inhabitants.  The only surprise comes in the chapel- a huge skylight, and several images, that seem to indicate that this is a monastery of Galador.  Shaking his head, the stout leaves the chapel.  This is dangerous ground to tread on.*A small bell rings.  “Ah, it is time for dinner,” Brother Astophos explains.  Our heroes brighten visibly.  “You are welcome to join us.”Sandy’s eyes wander over the garden for a moment.  Wow, they’ve got a lot of good looking stuff there!  I bet the meal’s pretty good.  I hope they have some meat or something!  The halflings follow Astophos inside the monastery proper, and soon they are seated at long low benches with Astophos and two other monks before a simple wooden table.“Is this all of you?” asks Sandy.“There is also Brother Melthax, who is preparing the food, and Brother Spot, who is fasting,” Brother Astophos answers.The other three monks are also very old and feeble-looking.  Sandy’s gaze lingers on them.  From what the party’s employer- or maybe blackmailer is a better term- told them, the monks here brew excellent beer, and Sandy is bold enough to ask if the group can taste it.  Brother Astophos shakes his head and tells him that the brew is not yet ready.  Neither of the other two monks speak up, and their rheumy eyes make Sandy wonder how many more years they have in them.  This monastery is clearly dying.A delicious smell is wafting out of the back area- fried onions, peppers, herbs and nuts, mixed in with other vegetable smells... the aroma makes all of our heroes mouths water in anticipation.  A nice large fire has been lit in a bowl at one end of the table.  And then dinner arrives- a large wok-style affair filled with a steaming bounty of nicely stir fried vegetables and cashews.  Sandy’s nose twitches.  No meat, but it smells delicious, he thinks, salivating.The monk holding the wok intones, “Great God, we thank you for your bounty and your protection.  To symbolize our dedication to You and our conquest of our own bodies and minds, we grow and cook this food as a sacrifice to you.”  And he turns the wok over, dumping all the food into the fire in the bowl at the head of the table.  Our heroes look on in incredulous horror as dinner burns away.The monk sets down the wok and pulls out a large bowl of white rice.This is terrible, thinks Sandy.Next Time: The firenewts come!*Strogass’ ‘official religion’ is the worship of Bleak, who is the persecuted devil-figure of the Galadorian faith.  Thus, where Bleak holds sway the forces of Galador must tread softly and avoid being seen for what they are or be destroyed.</blockquote>

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