Chapter 90: V2 Fourteen

As the occupants of the platform below me rose to their feet, looking more than a little shaken, I took advantage of their disorientation to take control of the situation. Catching the attention of Victoria, and Roan, I gestured for them to join me at the top of the stairs, before turning my attention to the others. 

“Guards of Airus! Guild of Dreadmere! You have displeased my patron, the great Trismegistus, God of Alchemy, Transmutation and Astrology with your disrespect this day! As such, the temple shall be closed to both guard, and guild until you hath repented! Thou shalt receive no potion, nor tincture from those who follow the path! Thou shalt gain no aid from those who use the magic of transmutation, or bestow the blessings of the stars!” I decreed, placing my hand at the base of the statue of Trismegistus as I spoke.

Somehow I knew that if I spoke these words whilst touching the statue, they would be heard throughout the city, just as the god’s words had moments before. The sound of my own voice filled the mountain, and I felt the sparks of light that floated around in the metaphysical space Tris created when making me High Priestess pulse with power. 

Did the disciples hear that also? I wondered as Corvus’s spark grew brighter, and I sensed him calling to me. Shoving Corvus’s presence out of my head, with only a short ‘I’ll tell you later,’ in response to his questions, I returned to my senses just as Ge Hong began rushing up the stairs. 

“Priestess! Do not look poorly upon Dreadmere, we knew not of…” 

“Silence, who be you to address me without permission? You are no disciple of this temple.” I said, cutting off the elf’s words.

Chin held aloft, I gazed down at Ge Hong. Did he think I was not aware he did not follow Trismegistus? 

“Of course he isn’t a mere disciple! Ge Hong is a Grand Alchemist! Favored by the god of alchemy!” One of the blue cloaked men from the Dreadmere guild called out, causing me to fight back a laugh. 

Oh, this is perfect. Pressing a hand to my lips, I turned my attention back to the elf, whose blue eyes appeared panicked.

 Staring into his eyes, I could almost see the thoughts flying around in his head, as he frantically sought a way to extract himself from the situation he’d found himself in. 

“Is that so? I can see that my patron has not bestowed his blessings upon you. Though perhaps…” I allowed my words, to trail off, as I made a show of appearing thoughtful. “Earlier, you spoke of our patron granting you a task. Ah, is it a test of your merits? He leaves you without blessings, for he knows you can succeed without them.” 

“Yes, High Priestess, it is such! Our patron knows I have no need for such lowly blessings, which are granted to all who devote themselves to him. The rewards for the task he has bestowed are far greater.” Ge Hong exulted, and I nodded sagely. 

“Lowly? He thinks my blessings beneath him?” Trismegistus’s thunderous voice filled my head, and I sighed, sending him a silent plea not to shout into my mind. 

“You didn’t accept him as a disciple, did he not pray or did you decide he was unworthy?” I asked speaking to the god through the mental connection.

Why wasn’t Ge Hong a disciple? I would have thought someone like him would have jumped at the chance to gain the favor of Tris.

“It was you who decreed him unworthy, do you not recall?” The god said, as the sound of my own voice filled my mind.

‘Such a disgrace has no place on the path of Natural philosophy. Ge Hong is unworthy of the title of alchemist!’ Humming softly under my breath, I eyed the silver haired elf who stood on the stairs, looking up at me with wide awe filled eyes. 

I knew what he saw. Kip once told me when I spoke to Trismegistus, or other disciples, my purple eyes with their ring of gold runes around the iris, would glow brightly. The dwarf claimed looking into my eyes when they glowed like this felt like he was staring at one of the hypnotic luminous orbs, but unlike the orbs, my eyes gave off a feeling of strength and power. 

“So, I can bar people from being accepted as a disciple.” I mused, “good to know.” 

“Only if they are truly unworthy, which the departure of Egenor’s grimoire has shown this one to be.”

“Who has the grimoire now?” I asked, pleased by the news, and vaguely interested in knowing if it was Trismegistus who chose who a grimoire would go to.

“It has found its way to a disciple named Finnic.” 

Filing that information away for later, I pushed at the gods presence in my head, indicating I wanted him to vacate. Trismegistus’s mental presence faded from my mind, but I could still feel him in the background, like an unseen observer. Knowing the god was paying attention I chose my words carefully, hoping he would not take offense or interfere with what I was doing.

“Ah yes, now I recall.” I mused, folding my hands over my stomach as I gazed down at him, doing my best to show a serene, and graceful expression. “You were the one with Egenor’s grimoire.” 

Ge Hong’s eyes went wide, and I smiled, mentally rubbing my hands together as I plotted his downfall. Whilst he’d claimed credit for the book I’d put out with the master alchemist's recipes inside, he’d only made it known that he’d gained some of the alchemist's recipes by chance, not that he possessed a grimoire. I’d only guessed he was in possession of the grimoire which Egenor’s student Kelnose spoke of in ‘Trismegistus and the Philosophies of Nature’, and now Tris had confirmed it. 

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, I shook my head, feigning a look of regret. 

“Go now, Ge Hong. It saddens me to say, but these halls shall remain closed to you until you’ve completed the task you state you have been given. I cannot aid you on the path, lest I impede our patrons' will.” 

“High priestess, I have heard your words, but I ask you not punish those of my guild. There are many I have been teaching our ways, and I could not bear the thought of them suffering for the foolishness of others.” Ge Hong simpered, pressing his hands together, and glancing to the side in a manner that I knew was meant to draw my attention to the other Dreadmere guild members. 

It was clear Ge Hong was laying blame on them, but even if the Dreadmere guild hadn’t been here today, I would have found a way to keep them from entering. Their actions simply granted me a plausible reason to do so. 

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“It saddens me to see those of the path suffer for the deeds of others,” I murmured, lowering my head with a forlorn expression. “But this matter is not one that can easily be settled. None who have ties to the guild of Dreadmere may enter, or gain aid from the temple.” 

 Bowing his head, Ge Hong appeared to show remorse, but I could see the anger he was attempting to conceal in the way his shoulders tensed, and the muscles in his jaw flexed. This is more fun than I thought it would be.

“How may we repent our sins?” The man who’d been the one to first confront me called out, moving forwards to join Ge Hong on the stairs. 

As the pair exchanged a look, Ge Hong didn’t even bother hiding his glare as he scowled at the man who’d interrupted. Instead of answering, I turned my back on the pair, and strode towards the temple without so much as a backwards glance. 

“Roan, Victoria, guard the doors. By order of the high priestess, the temple is closed until morning.” I ordered, not wanting a crowd of people running about the temple until I’d had the chance to investigate. 

“Will you call the others back?” Victoria asked, glancing at something behind me. “I have a feeling we’ll be needing them.” 

“I will.” I answered, doing my best to not give in to the temptation to follow the woman's gaze to what was occuring on the platform.

Standing inside the temple, I closed my eyes as I focused on all the information flowing into my mind. An image of the temple's layout flowed into my mind, and I noticed it was reminiscent of a transmutation array with its circular design. Each room of the temple was circular, with a mix of long and short hallways connecting each room.

A large circular hall, known as the hall of origin was the central room of the temple, and to access many rooms of the temple one would need to pass through the hall. 

The hall of origin was bare of any furnishing, but the walls were covered in scripture, and there were nine pillars forming a circle in the center of the room. Each of the pillars in the hall was covered in delicately carved runic scripture and illustrations, detailing the elements it represented. At the very center of this circle of pillars, was a giant orrery, displaying the Kaledonian planetary system. 

Branching off from the hall of origin were the halls of Alchemy, Transmutation, and Astrology, with each discipline having four rooms. The first room of each was a library, something I was extremely excited about. On either side of the library room were two rooms which, for the alchemy discipline, were labs. 

The final room was split into what appeared to be sleeping quarters, with a common living space at the center. This same layout was repeated for astrology and transmutation, with the difference being that for astrology the labs were replaced with study rooms, where floor to ceiling paintings depicting the constellations were displayed. 

Aside from the rooms dedicated to each of the three disciplines, there were two hidden rooms with their entrances only able to be entered by those permitted by the clergy. The room to the left of the entry hall led to a communal living space that was intended for the temple's clergy to reside in. The room on the right was the high priestess quarters, with its own library, and laboratory. There were also four large courtyards which could be accessed from the hall of origin, and two smaller ones accessible from the private quarters. 

“Foxy? You okay?” 

Opening my eyes, I clenched my fists as I struggled against the urge to go sprinting towards the nearest library, and start grabbing every book in sight. 

“I… I’m good, better than good.” I told Victoria, who’d moved closer to me with a look of concern. 

“You were clutching at your head, and moaning about book hoarding old men.”

“There’s three… No, wait. Four, four libraries in here.” I informed the Kijo, gesturing to the room at the end of the passageway. “Books! So many books.” 

“Right, well, while I’m sure you’re dying to get cozy with some of those books, there are other things to be done right now, Foxy.” 

“Oh, um, right. Things to do.” I hesitated, biting my bottom lip as I tried to remember what I was meant to be doing.

“Did you contact Kip? Have you spoken to Roswyn to let Darius know you just stomped on Dreadmere’s toes? We also need to work out how you're going to go about running the temple. It’s a lot of work, Foxy, and you’ve said before your patron doesn’t have any other clergy.” Victoria said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared down at me. 

“I’m going to make Roswyn a priestess. She is the best out of the Transmutation disciples. I’m also going to appoint Helvara as a priest, and then I just need to find someone who is interested in astral magic to induct. That will give me someone for each discipline,” I informed her, content with my plan for the clergy. 

“It will take some time for Helvara to arrive, same with Roswyn.” The red skinned woman pointed out, and I nodded in agreement. 

“There are rooms and such here, so the others can stay in the temple. As high priestess, I’m planning to hire them to work for the temple. Your brothers, Pia and yourself I think would be best suited to help out as guards. While Rainy, Kip and Kip’s mother could help me deal with disciples. If you’re all attached to the temple, the city can’t evict any of you, as the temple is outside of their control. The land of the temple belongs to Tris, and through him, me.” 

“Run it by the Commanders and Guild Leader first. I don’t see any issues, but I’m not one for political thinking.” Victoria suggested. 

“I will discuss hiring guild members to work in the temple, however the issue of clergy is a separate issue to those of the guild.” I stated firmly, knowing that if I was really going to start doing this high priestess thing, then I needed to start separating myself from the guild. 

I wasn’t planning to leave Eternia, and I’d already confirmed with Trismegistus that I could remain in a guild whilst still being high priestess. But, I didn’t feel I could continue to be Eternia’s head alchemist, or take on any official roles in the guild. 

This was already something Darius and I had discussed. The guild leader had agreed that when the time came, I would step back from the role of a guild alchemist, taking on more of an advisory position. I just didn’t think that time would come so soon. 

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