>>6146932You had not been expecting an animal sacrifice. When you saw the sickle, you assumed the Priest was going to harvest Mana from the sheep. It is hard to pay attention as earnest prayers erupt from the Baphomets seated around you.
"Gods above and our Lady of the Lost and Found, answer our prayers."
The Stane O Scone groans and grinds as the Priests eagerly look for signs to interpret. Your royal seat is high enough to see that blood is coursing around the surface of the stone. It makes odd shapes and forms at random intervals. If you had been down below with the rest of the congregation, there would be no way to see it.
"Blessed we be, they have answered. Tis a Damsel that has perished! Meep, a powerful one."
For a moment, you believe that the answer is completely uninformative. There's Mordred, Escanor, Lucius, Vivian and the unknown bitch who is female. You assumed wrongly though. You hear whispers from sad Baphomets lamenting.
"Meep, what terrible news."
"It could be wrong..."
"Lady Vivian or Queen Guinevere?"
"Blessed Lady, I offer thee my humble share of oatcakes for the salvation of..."
"Meep, do ye reckon that the sacrifice went awry?"
Ah, that's right. There are only two humans with a Namesake who is female.
There's a rush of Baphomets to the front, each bringing small trinkets to place in a grand shallow stone bowl. It is in the Crucible where they place their offering. The great device that melts down Relics and other items into Mana or reshapes them into something else lies before the Stane O Scone.
"What is the point of offering things to the Crucible like that?"
You whisper the question to Yatagarasu seated by your side. He had accompanied you all the way the Temple and to your seat.
"Well, it makes them feel better mostly. Meep. The Head Priest is rarely wrong when he does his readings. Some great Blessed has died, that is certain as the mountains rimming Avalon's edge. But let us suppose that the reading has erred, then mayhap the Gods will hear earnest prayers and accept offerings to protect the Damsels."
You rise from your seat and offer a gold medallion to the Crucible as an offering. The gold was to be part of your bribe to the Romans but in your anger while using <span class="mu-r">Let No Insult Pass</span>, it had slipped your mind and silver was only distributed. You watch as the gold flickers like an illusion and rise into the air like smoke as your prayer rises too.
"May the Blessed dead not be a Damsel. Let that fatal crown of endings rest on someone else."
You walk alongside Yatagarasu as you head out from the Temple in a sad mood.
"Tis hard to believe, meep. Lady Vivian or Queen Guinevere could be dead. They dwelled in Avalon for so long!"
"Could it be some unknown Blessed no one knows about?"
