>>6029369There’s a sense of cold that you’re unable to place when you wank into the Ivern Abbey. The air is still warm even after the sunset and the storm winds have left, yet here, it feels as if everything is different. The grand hall is magnificent even in its dark and empty state. The caricatures in the stained glass windows look down upon you as you pass under finely carved arches. The pews hold the residual memory of thousands while you’re able to physically feel the reserves of holy magic in every inch of stonework. So why does this place feel so cold, reserved, empty? When everything else tells you that you should feel welcome here?
“Sister Amelia shouldn’t have gone to sleep, yet,” Asher says as he leads the ground to the back of the structure. You parted with Abram when you entered the City and walked straight here to report your success. It was a silent walk but not because the tension was uncomfortable, more because you were all too tired to speak. It’s been a long day.
“I remember her, she was so busy last time,” Marie pipes up to which the inquisitor nods.’
“She leads the clerical coven here, she’s always busy,” Idly, you notice a ginger woman covered head to toe in cloth replacing a few candles in the far side of the corner. She waves as you stare.
You shake your head and press on. You wonder if your parents would have been happy should you have chosen to join the ranks of the clergy and live a quiet and communal life in a structure like this. It’s been a precedent in the past to have female heirs who disgrace the family name shoved into a clerical coven, or even a normal witches coven, to remove them from the line of succession. You doubt you’d be content to clean and pray all day and while it isn’t unheard of for priestesses’ to take up arms or join the adventurers guild, you decided to forgo to middle steps and join a militant arm of the Church instead. As you look at Asher and Marie as you step into the restricted section of the Abbey you can’t bring yourself to regret it, even if it has made life rather difficult.
When you finally do find the person you’re looking for, this “Sister Amelia,” you’re brought into a little room without windows and with uncomfortable wooden seats. The priestess looks to be just reaching her 30s and wears clothes that don’t seem to match her high rank or show her prestige. That’s also something you’ve never truly gotten about the clergy or the Church. Why do they preach humbleness when the world is not set up to be an equal one? Nobles simply are better than commoners, they can read, have wealth, family traditions, and have choice in their life, so why should you pretend to be an equal of a commoner?
“Inquisitor, seeing from the state of you three I take it there have been complications?” She questions.
“Not really, no. We finished, the Stranger is dead.”
