Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
On the way they naturally stop off at Longbottles’ inn before they reach Bridlerest. The food is as superb as ever and Galladin Longbottles nose for rumour and gossip in the town haven’t faltered either. It is the last days of Harvest, the sweet summer air is just starting to get a bite of Autumn in the evening. This has apparently been a great summer in Bridlerest – the economy is up, crime is down and there is a society wedding in the offing in a few weeks time.
Well rested and equipped with the latest news the company proceed on to Bridlerest and find a suitable inn to accommodate them. They are wealthy now after the profits from the griffon hunting and the fee for their stay no longer makes them blanche.
Trajan is keen to track down Daros, the evil priest of the Black Circle subcult of Asura who has been corrupting temples all across the Southlands. He is certain that their best lead will be the temple in Bridlerest which when they last visited with manned only by Singharese half-wits, or so it seemed. Since Trajan is rather obvious the party divide up their resources to keep an eye on the temple day and night for a while. There are two notable events they see as the week progresses. Firstly there is a steady stream of individuals arriving on noble steeds who appear to be staying within the temple courts. They arrive but don’t leave. Secondly, near midnight on Markday a strange collection of ragtag people arrive at the temple for some kind of secret service. It seems that Bridlerest has its poor, and even they find a place in the Temple to Asura, even though Zherinda explains that in her day there never used to be night time services.
One other notable thing – they keep hearing that people are being hassled by the Artisans Fist, the local town militia. A couple of them tried to put the squeeze on Taran one evening as he was small and on his own but he easily gave them the slip. Asking around it seems that although the economy and local government is really going well, there are concerns that the Artisans Fist is perhaps working less well then before. Quite a conundrum.
Taran decides that he wants to find out more about the undesirables who were meeting in the temple at night. He didn’t need a keen sense of smell to notice that many of them were tanners, so he pays a visit to the, uh, industrial area just south of the city walls. He doesn’t have to go as far as the steaming forges, but the tannery is well downwind from the city walls.
His easy manner quickly ingratiates him with the tanners on their meal break, and it isn’t long before they trust Taran like a long lost friend. He dresses well but he doesn’t talk down to them like everyone else from the city! “Sure, we go along to a special service that the temple holds for us and the people like us – the nightsoil workers, the undesirables who keep the wheels of Bridlerest turning” he says. “It’s great to have something, you know, spiritual in your life innit?”
Further questioning reveals that there is a different priest who takes the evening service, a tall guy. He leads them in community singing and prayers, then they all draw near for a blessing. It is really exhausting stuff and everyone comes away from the service with a feeling of being slightly drained emotionally – but none would give it up. It is the only fellowship these poor guys get.
Back with the party, it is decided that they need to infiltrate the temple. First they arrange to see Don Cullon, the head of the Artisans Fist and gain agreement to their infiltration of the temple and ousting of the evil-doers that Trajan thinks have taken control. Don Cullon grants permission as long as they don’t do too much damage, which would be bad for business.
The plan is set. Taran and M’ir will both go in with the congregation in disguise. Anne-Marie, Trajan and Tania will hide up on the temple dome and leap down to the entrance hallway at the right moment.
The plan is simple. Wait long enough to confirm that there is something evil going on, then take the high priest down. What could go wrong with that?
Well rested and equipped with the latest news the company proceed on to Bridlerest and find a suitable inn to accommodate them. They are wealthy now after the profits from the griffon hunting and the fee for their stay no longer makes them blanche.
Trajan is keen to track down Daros, the evil priest of the Black Circle subcult of Asura who has been corrupting temples all across the Southlands. He is certain that their best lead will be the temple in Bridlerest which when they last visited with manned only by Singharese half-wits, or so it seemed. Since Trajan is rather obvious the party divide up their resources to keep an eye on the temple day and night for a while. There are two notable events they see as the week progresses. Firstly there is a steady stream of individuals arriving on noble steeds who appear to be staying within the temple courts. They arrive but don’t leave. Secondly, near midnight on Markday a strange collection of ragtag people arrive at the temple for some kind of secret service. It seems that Bridlerest has its poor, and even they find a place in the Temple to Asura, even though Zherinda explains that in her day there never used to be night time services.
One other notable thing – they keep hearing that people are being hassled by the Artisans Fist, the local town militia. A couple of them tried to put the squeeze on Taran one evening as he was small and on his own but he easily gave them the slip. Asking around it seems that although the economy and local government is really going well, there are concerns that the Artisans Fist is perhaps working less well then before. Quite a conundrum.
Taran decides that he wants to find out more about the undesirables who were meeting in the temple at night. He didn’t need a keen sense of smell to notice that many of them were tanners, so he pays a visit to the, uh, industrial area just south of the city walls. He doesn’t have to go as far as the steaming forges, but the tannery is well downwind from the city walls.
His easy manner quickly ingratiates him with the tanners on their meal break, and it isn’t long before they trust Taran like a long lost friend. He dresses well but he doesn’t talk down to them like everyone else from the city! “Sure, we go along to a special service that the temple holds for us and the people like us – the nightsoil workers, the undesirables who keep the wheels of Bridlerest turning” he says. “It’s great to have something, you know, spiritual in your life innit?”
Further questioning reveals that there is a different priest who takes the evening service, a tall guy. He leads them in community singing and prayers, then they all draw near for a blessing. It is really exhausting stuff and everyone comes away from the service with a feeling of being slightly drained emotionally – but none would give it up. It is the only fellowship these poor guys get.
Back with the party, it is decided that they need to infiltrate the temple. First they arrange to see Don Cullon, the head of the Artisans Fist and gain agreement to their infiltration of the temple and ousting of the evil-doers that Trajan thinks have taken control. Don Cullon grants permission as long as they don’t do too much damage, which would be bad for business.
The plan is set. Taran and M’ir will both go in with the congregation in disguise. Anne-Marie, Trajan and Tania will hide up on the temple dome and leap down to the entrance hallway at the right moment.
The plan is simple. Wait long enough to confirm that there is something evil going on, then take the high priest down. What could go wrong with that?
