The walls surrounding the city were tall even taller for Aliya because of her short stature. They entered through the southern gate without a hitch. This was because the guards stationed there seemed exhausted and barely even looked at the adventuring party as they passed by. This was the largest non-religious city the gnome had ever been in. Cadamem was the largest city she had ever been but its size was due to the fact it was where most religious people went and there were many temples to all sorts of gods.

There were a lot of people walking around the streets but they did so sluggishly. Everyone moved with their heads down and it gave the city a somber feeling. Perhaps a famous noble had died and the whole of Erend was taking it poorly.

A woman bumped into Gene. “I’m sorry,” apologized the monk, but the lady just kept walking. Gene looked around confused before standing in front of a man nearby. Again, the person collided with the monk but the man didn’t even look up. The leader of the Jellybeans grabbed him by the arm. “Can you tell me what’s wrong? Why is everyone like this?”

The stranger barely glanced at Gene before going on his way. “Do you think it’s like the magic Lady Bruntworth could cast?” asked Fern.

“I don’t think so,” said Kira. “It feels like they are all suffering from depression. I was like this once and it’s tough but it’s had to imagine everyone in the city is like this.”

Even though her trusted friend said all that, all the gnome cleric could see was sadness in every face that passed by. She clutched her holy symbol that hung around her neck, but even the usual warmth and comfort she got from holding it seemed diminished. This worried her greatly because it was the first time she ever felt like this. Even though wasn’t comfortable talking about her religion with nonbelievers who would just judge her.

The team made their way to the centre of the city. The plaza was crowded and everyone just seemed to be going through the motions. Buying the food they needed to survive but nothing really that a survivalist would deem a non-essential.

A beautifully designed fountain sat in the middle of the plaza. Unfortunately, there was no water shooting out of it and the water inside was stagnant with a small amount of algae forming along the water’s diameter. Also, no one seemed to notice the fact that several dead fish were belly up and other fish were feeding on them. Aliya thought that a city this big would have had someone to clean it or a least maintain it in some way.

Beside the decaying fountain was a big notice board. On the board were two pieces of parchment. The smaller paper had a picture of a sheep and said:

Sheep are disappearing from a farm north

of Erend. Farmer is offering a 2,500 gold

reward if the creature taking them is

hunted down. Visit the Erend Hunt for

more details.

A Hunt? Aliya vaguely recalled a similar establishment running in Cadamem called the Cadamem Hunt. She had a feeling that some of the people in the Jellybeans would like to do some work for them. The party seemed capable of handling such tasks and the gold seemed worth the effort. The cleric wasn’t exactly keen on the idea of killing creatures to earn currency but she saw the appeal of it. She would probably need a lot of gold if she ever hoped to complete her dream of wiping out some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

The second piece of parchment was much bigger and had a giant golden lion standing proud in the middle of it. Many smaller images were placed around the lion. All of the pictures, including the lion, had a red X painted over them. Aliya recognized most of the images because they were symbols of different faiths. The notice read:

Any knowledge about religious groups or persons and

deemed accurate will be rewarded with 100 gold pieces

per person captured as a result of the information.

Any person captured by yourself or a team with proof

that the captive is religious will be met with a 200 gold

reward.

If you see a zealot but don’t wish to report or capture

them, then you must as a minimum refuse to give aid

or service to them. People seen helping clerics, paladins,

or other types of followers will be arrested.

Finally, a reward of 500 gold pieced for any person who

is captured from the church of the Righteous One. Both

useful information or capturing one will be given this

reward.

Henrik Malorne

Aliya’s worried feeling turned into a full on panic attack. She looked around at the people passing by and she could have sworn that everybody was looking at her with disgust. The only kind of relief she had was that she was from a lesser known religion which is why her gods had names with their titles like mortals do. High ranking deities were simply known by their title like the Righteous One. The gnome then tried to hide herself in the middle of her group.

Kira was the first to notice the dread that was consuming her friend. The cleric was squeezing her necklace so hard it would have become embedded into her skin with enough time. “What’s wrong Aliya?”

Everyone else in the Jellybeans turned to her. She was now nervous on top of the fact that she was mentally breaking down. The urge to vomit was also quickly rising in her stomach. “Can we find somewhere to rest,” the gnome pleaded.

“Of course,” said Gene warmly. This made Aliya a little better. Her leader’s kindness was one of his more charming traits. Of course, she wasn’t attracted to the man. For her, dating any man that wasn’t a gnome was repulsive. She was only attracted to her own kind and she found nothing wrong with that. People can love who or what they wish so if she only like male gnomes then who could really judge her.

“I think I saw an inn near the gate we came in from,” mentioned Meowlynn.

“Good because I want to get out of this place as fast as possible,” said Fern. “The dark clouds that are blocking the sun and are not moving are very unnatural. Look.” The druid opened his hand and revealed an orb. It hovered slightly above his palm and a magnificent sun was shining in the centre of it. “It’s suppose to be sunny right now but it’s not and this nature magic is never wrong.”

As the party was staring at the orb a man ran by and bumped into Ciylia. Instead of the elven thief saying anything to him, she just stood there surprised. “I thought everyone was supposed to be moving slowly around here. I guess some people aren’t affected.”

Aliya noticed a scrap of paper next to Ciylia’s foot. She picked it up and read it:

It’s not safe for you to be so open about your

religious views. Meet me in the alley on the

opposite side of the street. I can help you.

“I think that man wants us to follow him,” whispered the cleric.

“What would he want,” asked Gene.

“I think it’s about me being religious. Look at that board.”

A few moments passed before everyone agreed to go see what this man wanted. They moved into the alleyway and the man was waiting there. He was plain with dark brown hair and eyes that matched. “You must hide your holy symbol,” he said. “It’s not safe here anymore for people of the cloth.”

“Why are you helping us? Why not claim the bounty” Aliya was very suspicious of the stranger.

“I’m a person of faith too. Please follow me. I can take you to an abandoned church we are using as a hideout and a place where all religions can practice away from prying eyes.” The man then proceeded to walk away. Everyone followed as the stranger weaved through the different alleys. The gnome knew that she had no way of finding her way back without some help.

After a few minutes of travel, the group arrived at the church. Parts of it were caved in or burned. It looked like it was attacked years ago and never repaired. Shards of stained glass desperately clung onto some of the window frames of the building. This place was probably very gorgeous before whatever caused this.

The man approached the front door and whispered something. The heavy wooden door swung open and the man entered. A different man dressed in dark red robes walked out and ushered the group inside.

The interior of the church was still huge with many pews to sit on. Piles of blankets were along the wall suggesting that a lot of people slept here. Many people were in prayer around the room but the majority of them were in front of the alter. Buddy went to a pew near the back and laid down. “I’ll be here if you need me. Church isn’t really my thing even though my daughter believes.”

The man giving the speech was slim. He had no hair on his head except for his eyebrows which were black. Simple beige robes covered the man’s body. He wore no jewelry of any kind and that was including a holy symbol which Ayila found unusual. That was until she looked slightly above the man and noticed the golden lion painted on the wall. This man was a cleric for the Righteous One and didn’t require his holy symbol because the symbol of his god was right behind him. The stranger who brought the group here was standing near the Righteous one’s voice waiting for him the finish his sermon.

One the speech finished, the stranger approached the holy man. They had a quick whispered conversation before the Righteous One’s cleric walked towards a back room beckoning the group to follow.

The office was very small and became quite cramped with everyone in it. “My name is cleric Jorne. I am a speaker for the Righteous One as well as being the co-leader of taking care of all these lost souls.” Cleric Jorne waited to allow his words to sink in, “I can see that the little one is a cleric herself. Tell me dear, of which faith do you follow?”

“I am a cleric for the Holy Seven. It is mainly a gnomish faith made of seven minor gods.” This was the first time Aliya was so open about her beliefs in front of the party. It probably helped that the man she was talking too was taking care of people no matter their religion and allowing them to practice in the house of his god. It showed that he cared more about mortals respecting the higher powers than being petty.

“Well, you are welcome to practice your rituals here and may consider a sacred place for all religions for the time being.”

“Thank you, father,” said Aliya. A smile appeared on the gnome’s face. It was nice to be accepted for the thing she cared most about.

Cleric Jorne then turned to address the rest of the people standing in his office. “May I ask, what brings you to Erend?”

“We are looking for a missing girl,” replied Gene. “We have reason to believe her kidnapper has brought her to this city.”

“So another child has gone missing.” Jorne’s voice dropped as he said this and an extremely troubled look came across his face.

“Children are going missing here as well?” exclaimed Kira. Her fist clenching as she suppressed the urge to yell.

“I’m afraid so,” answered the holy man. “Poor children from the slums have been disappearing. My partner knows more about these events and he’ll be here tomorrow. Perhaps he can give you more information.”

“Who is your partner,” questioned Fern.

Cleric Jorne looked at each member in the eyes before speaking. “You’ll find out for yourselves tomorrow. He is a man of great power in the city but I believe it is better for everyone if he introduces himself. I swear in the name of the Righteous One that he is a good man.”

“I understand,” said Gene. “Would we be able to spend the night here while we plan what to do next and wait for this man?”

“Yes, of course. Blankets are along the wall but please don’t interrupt others during their prayers and rituals.” After the church’s leader explained the rules, the group left the small office. They grabbed some blanket and made a temporary camp on one of the pews. The party was informed that the pews will be moved against the walls at night so there was more room for people to sleep.

Aliya left the group to do her meditation and prayers. She moved around the room and did six different prayers, making sure to spend extra time on her prayer to Kyron. During her walk around the room, she noticed different kinds of meats and wines used to offer the gods. The gnome grabbed a thick cut of meat and a blueberry based wine. Finally, she moved into the centre of the room and began her ritual and prayer to Tyora, goddess of life. Using her holy symbol she made deep cuts in the meat and then filled them with wine. She placed her holy symbol on top of the wine covered meat and created a magical holy flame in her hands. Placing her hands on the meat caused a wonderful aroma to fill the air. Her holy symbol shined brightly as the ox cooked. The fire from her hands engulfed the sacrifice as Aliya closed her eyes and began to pray to Tyora.

She brought the image of her goddess to her mind. Tyora was an angelic elvish woman with long white hair similar to Fern’s but her hair was longer. She had gorgeous purple eyes and a dress purple dress with red trimmings. In the gnome’s mind, the goddess touched Aliya’s hand and allowed the light from the gnome’s holy fire to course through her body. Tyora then gave the cleric a kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear, “Trust the church, my child, and all those who seek to help it. Happiness shall be your reward when you find the girl as finding her will also restore the power the gods have lost in the city.”

Aliya opened her eyes with tears falling down her face. The meat had been disintegrated with only her holy symbol resting on top of the ashes. The gnome picked it up and held it to her heart. A pulse of joy spread through her veins. She walked back to the group after cleaning up, her eyes glowing with determination.

The cooks in the church made everyone pea soup for dinner. Afterward, the Jellybeans helped move the pews to make space for everyone to sleep. The party agreed to wait and meet the mysterious man tomorrow in hope of getting a lead. The gnome cleric kept the secret that perhaps Shield was connected to the kidnappings and Erend’s current state to herself. It was the second time her goddess had spoken to her and she wanted to that experience to herself.

Aliya kept reliving that meeting in her mind as she gazed at a moonbeam sneaking in through a broken window. Tomorrow she would show everyone just how useful she was and she would have a story to share with Delta the next time they met.