Temple of the Phoenix of Mercy

Lai Ban nodded and grinned politely at all of Arianne's inquiries, but she pursed her lips somewhat when she got to the part about the Land-Tillers being a paradise.

"I appreciate your assessment of our people!" She said while batting her hands up and down, as if to calm her down. "But we're far from perfect. In fact, your majesties, if you're willing I wouldn't mind discussing some of our past and social views." Lai Ban would walk them over to a more secluded part of the little island, a garden facing the water. The worshipers would know better than to follow. They had the impression that Renaux and Arianne were important people. Across the water they would see a few boats floating about, and a few winged beasts in the sky.

Lai Ban invited them to sit in a circular seating area so they could all address each other easily. "Since you asked so many questions, I hope you don't mind me giving many answers. First of all, yes, we were once called the temple of the chaos phoenix. You see, this religion is one of the few that did not originate in the expanse. It in fact originated from a kingdom to the north called the Phoenix Imperium. Recently their kingdom seems to have fallen into disarray with the disappearance of their leadership. Although this is somewhat disconcerting..." Lai Ban would become hesitant to speak. "Frankly I don't mind all that much. Their people were rather... war-like. They were obsessed with conquest and we were afraid for the longest time that we would be drawn into a conflict. It almost happened several times, with Goraia and Aaedan. Now that the kingdom has all but vanished, we've made some changes.

I hope you don't find this next part too alarming. The entity known as the phoenix, is in fact a real entity. It is not a god exactly, but a very powerful species of holy creature. The Phoenix Imperium was originally founded by one such creature, a wrathful being known as the red phoenix. This creature had several offspring, one of which was known as the Phoenix of Mercy. Of all these creatures, the Phoenix of Mercy is the most understanding and peaceful, and most sympathetic to the struggles and pain of the darkness. It is also the creature whom I serve as a host for. Hence why I am the high priest of this temple.

To explain why it was originally called the Chaos Phoenix, first I must explain our beliefs and history a bit more in-depth. Our many different clans have many different beliefs, but there are certain core concepts which are shared among most if not all clans. One of them is balance. Light and darkness, order and chaos, male and female, everything must be in balance to serve the ultimate goal, which is the preservation of life itself. Generally we are a peaceful people who try to live in harmony with nature. But occasionally we experience war and strife. It is usually those times when the chaos mages appear.

Chaos mages are entities of incredible power. They are granted dominion over the elements by the earth itself as a means of restoring balance, particularly against stagnation and the halting of progress. Order is not always a good thing, if it prevents evil and darkness from being excised, or if it prevents spiritual growth. Chaos mages serve as a counter-balance and help shatter the current order, usually for the benefit of our people in the long run. One of the defining characteristics of a chaos mage is the ability to wield both light and dark magic on equal terms.

Anyways, that is the reason why the Phoenix of Mercy was originally known as the chaos phoenix, for it too grants me the power to wield light and darkness. But the reason why it can do this is because it has an in-depth understanding of darkness. Things we refer to as pain, sorrow, wrath, lust, these... expressions of human needs and desires, it understands them and is merciful towards them.

I suppose this finally brings me to what it is our religion teaches. The principle message of the Phoenix of Mercy is to find your own path towards the light, to accept and understand your darkness, and to show that understanding towards others. The virtues of balance and honesty are held beyond all others. Darkness and evil cannot be cured if they are not understood, if we are not honest about them. They do not exist in a vacuum. These practices tie into one of the basic truths most of us are taught as children, that all life is connected. While this is true on a physical level, we seek to elevate this truth to a spiritual level. We should treat our interactions with each other with care, for they have real consequences for each other. This is also how we address the issue of the poor and needy. Many of the worshipers here were, in fact, one poor and needy. At this temple, we take the time to understand how each person arrived in their circumstances, whether it was misfortune, disease, or some personal failing like addiction or wrath, and we help them as best we can with food and resources, while also helping them make their lives meaningful. Some of them return to work on the farms, or learn the ways of magic. Those that truly cannot function are free to stay here and study the ways of the phoenix. We are fortunate in that food is the one thing our people are not lacking." She chuckled.

Lai Ban started tapping her chin with the tip of her finger. "There is one more thing. While it is true that conflict is rare in our culture, we are far from perfect. Sometimes are people can be judgmental of the ways of other nations. They can develop a prejudice or superiority complex, which is fueled by the perception that other nations view us as primitive. Most of our metallurgy and crafting, most of our metal weapons and even our more sophisticated architecture, was built by other nations. Thus, while on the outside our people seem quite friendly... their underlying fears and insecurities can make them surprisingly dangerous and powerful foes. Our people have a very strong warrior instinct deep within them. I don't consider that a blessing. In fact, for a time, the Phoenix Imperium's culture threatened to take over our own precisely by resonating with this warrior instinct. We now have a mandatory military training program because of them, and even with their disappearance I don't think it is going anywhere." Lai Ban scowled slightly. "We actually faced a major civil war about 50 years ago partially because those of us who were more blessed with magic saw themselves as superior to those of us who weren't. There was rampant discrimination and class-ism."

She turned in particular to Arianne. During her explanation her face had grown more and more grave. "Our people are not innocent hatchlings. We are not naive fools. The reason we seem so idyllic is because we try very, very hard. We work to maintain peace and understand among ourselves. Because we know deep down inside we have the capacity to be cruel and dangerous. Our connection to the earth affords many of us with magic power, and thus we must strive to be responsible and not let the mistakes of the past repeat themselves."

Lai Ban's solemn countenance suddenly broke with an insecure, demure grin. "I apologize. I spoke so much! I don't even think I answered all your questions properly! Politics. Well, long story short... though I guess it's too late for that... let us just say, the Elder's Council likes me more now that the Phoenix Imperium has disappeared." She turned to King Renaux of Travére . "Actually, that will probably make more sense to you I imagine."

Renaux might have been bored, but Arianne was fascinated. Lai Ban's voice was lilting and it was easy to listen to. As a woman who had rarely traveled beyond her own borders, she was intensely interested in learning about the histories of others. While Renaux might have been less than pleased to have to endure listening to a voice that wasn't his own, Arianne was immensely pleased with the synopsis of history behind the temple that Lai Ban gave.

"I understand," Arianne said quietly to Lai Ban, her Gauldin accent on her words light and airy and as pretty as the young queen was. "I didn't mean any insult by implying that your people seem so at peace. I am almost jealous of it. It seems all others are constantly trying to one-up each other. Friendships don't seem so... genuine... any more."

She stepped forward, and if not stopped, was totally at ease with winding her arm through Lai Ban's. Arianne was a friendly, vivacious little thing who had never met a stranger and seemed to always have something to say (and most of the time, said it, too). She wore her heart on her sleeve, and everyone who had ever met her recently knew that the heart bore the name Renaux.

Her husband seemed to be indulging (once again) in his wife's whim. It wasn't his interest to be at the temple, but it was Arianne's, and so Arianne wanted to know more.

"You seem such a paradox, Lai Ban," Arianne said as they walked. "I struggle myself with darkness and light. Sometimes I feel as if one or the other will overwhelm me. I'm afraid to feel so... light. It seems as if it's not real. It seems as if it won't last. Like someday, the darkness will come and the light won't be bright enough and I'll..."

Her words trailed off, as her voice had gotten softer, almost a little more desperate. She shook her head and took a breath. "Perhaps... do you have any calming techniques? Occasionally I suffer from.... nightmares." To put it very mildly. "And other stress."

Arianne very pointedly did not look at Renaux. She didn't want to see if her words had effected him at all and felt mildly embarrassed that she had just let it spill out of her that way. Arianne was a very compassionate woman who had a whole range of emotions, but dealing with whatever it was that had happened to her was not something she had been equipped to handle. And perhaps she was handling it poorly now.

Grandma approached the Temple of the Phoenix at her usual slow pace. She had received directions here from the locals and was quite interested in seeing this place in person. Jun had mentioned this as one of the places she wanted to utilize in the defense of the Landtillers Expanse. There was certainly something giving off power from the inside of the temple.

It took her quite some time to reach the actual temple, but she finally arrived. If no one stopped her, Grandma would head to the entrance of the temple and walk inside, keeping an eye out for the priestess Jun had mentioned.

Grandma would examine the renovation, noticing the change of style that appeared to be happening to it. Very interesting, perhaps the people here were having a change of doctrine? There also seemed to be a holy object that appeared to be a wheel, rather odd, but Grandma had seen far stranger things. Going by the woman’s aura, this was the one Jun had mentioned to her.

Studying her as she spoke to herself, Grandma would watch the woman intently, only stopping her observation as the woman approached her. It seemed she had a connection of some kind with the phoenix the people here respected, or even worshipped, Grandma wasn’t sure on that point yet.

“You are the priestess of this temple I assume? It’s a pleasure to meet you and the Phoenix of Mercy. I am known as Grandma and was just at The Black Tower speaking with Jun, she spoke highly of you.”

Grandma would incline her head slightly as she spoke, robes rustling slightly as she moved to meet Lai Ban.

“This is quite the temple you have here, it has very interesting architecture.”

Grandma would let out a small chuckle at the question. ‘Broadening’ her spiritual horizons was one way to put it. She would simply nod in confirmation before she spoke in her usual grandmotherly voice.

“Why certainly, I’m always interested in learning more about such spiritual matters. I also see you have a number of light and dark mages here. Jun spoke highly of those who could use both types of magic, saying her grandmother was one of them.”

Pacing about with her cane clicking on the floor below, Grandma moved back and forth, viewing the various decorations that filled the temple.

“I must wonder, though, why do you think many humans have difficulties utilizing both types of magic at the same time?”

“Touring the gardens does sound like a lovely plan. And yes, sometimes the human condition can escape my grasp. Though I can imitate the appearances of such things, I can’t imitate their feelings fully.”

Following Lai Ban into them, Grandma studies the various plants and objects in them. It was quite a peaceful atmosphere, positively serene. Of course, that was to be expected in a temple of such quality as this one.

Listening to the priestesses explanation, Grandma would offer the occasional nod. The way she explained it was about what Grandma had expected and satisfactorily answered her question. Humans always viewed different types of magic with emotions and other needless limiters. Grandma was used to simply viewing the various types of magic at a base level of replication. Due to this she often forgot humans and many other species required their emotions and beliefs to be put in certain types of magic. It was really something she could keep in mind.

Grandma would smile slightly herself at the message Lai Ban relayed from the phoenix.

“The phoenix seems to have quite the personality. Please, go ahead. I would be interested to see such a demonstration. I’m always open to viewing different kinds of magic in action.”

“I’ve known creatures of a similar nature before. For some, that’s their true personality that stays with them for eternity. For others, they grow out of it and it is simply a product of being young like in humans. Tell me, how old is the Phoenix?”

Grandma intently studies Lai Ban and the Phoenix as the spell was cast. She was focusing on the specifics, how much mana they used to make it, how much light and dark magic they used, how they combined the two sources of magic. It was an impressive spell they cast, Grandma would have to make note of it for if she ever tried to cast it herself. As they finished up, she offered the pair a number of rather slow claps.

“Very nice, very nice. An impressive spell, you seem to have very good control over shaping the magic. I’m sure the people at this temple feel safe with you watching over it, especially after that demonstration.”

At the request of her casting a spell, Grandma would let out another laugh. She had no intention of casting from her full potential, but she would still cast something to satisfy the pair.

“Very well, I suppose it wouldn’t be fair of me to leave you two empty handed in this exchange of spells.”

Relinquishing the first level of her restraints, which retained her human form but gave her access to her true mana pool as well as significantly increased control over her spells. On the downside, those magically attuned nearby would feel an aura that clearly didn’t belong to a human, it was a completely unnatural presence.

However, as she always disguised and limited her powers, she figured the two would assume this was her at her full power. Hopefully, they would be satisfied with this demonstration.

Raising her walking cane, Grandma pointed it towards the lake, channeling through it. For this form, the cane was extremely efficient at amplifying the power of her spells and she intended to take full use of that fact. Drawing from the ley lines in addition to her own supply of mana, Grandma would cast the spell, her eyes turning pitch black as she did so. Lai Ban might notice no emotions were coming from Grandma as she channeled, a rather strange occurrence for many mages.

A hundred feet out or so in the water, the air would begin to warp. A nothingness would begin to appear and everything around it would begin bending, pulled toward it. Although at first, the pulling was weak, it would grow stronger, eventually resulting in a wide sheet of water below it to begin rising out of the water towards it. Then Lai Ban would feel a slight tug, originating from a sphere of nothingness. That was when Grandma ended the spell, the nothingness vanishing and the large sheet of water falling back into the lake with a crash.

“Are you satisfied priestess?

“It is very fortunate that the Landtillers have so many guardians. Hopefully, they will continue to prosper in this peaceful environment. The Red Phoenix does sound quite interesting, but perhaps it’s for the best it has left this plane.”

Grandma seemed rather amused by the monk's reactions, they clearly were getting more excitement than usual this day.

“The only name I go by in this realm is Grandma. I have many others, but they belong to different times and places. Speaking of names, though, I don’t think I got yours either. If you prefer to be called priestess I understand, but it would be rude of me not to ask.”

Grandma then remembered a question she had.

“I’m not very familiar with the Landtiller’s history. If you would, what was the last great threat they faced? Also, as I’m already out here, if there’s anything you need assistance with, I’d be glad to help.”

“Indeed, I’m sure the monks here have had more than enough excitement for one day.”

Following Lai Ban, Grandma would listen with interest as she spoke of the myst behemoth. Rather odd that it took this long for it to be slain, but perhaps it had remained under the radar for a long time? Either way, perhaps Grandma would have to investigate its existence in more detail.

“Thank you for the offer, if I ever need anything, I’ll keep it in mind. And remember, if you ever need anything from me, The Black Tower can usually contact me.”

Then Lai Ban would mention the fortress, an offer that rather surprised Grandma. Still, she was always interested in setting up more homes for herself, she could make use of such a thing.

“That’s a very generous offer you make. I must say, I am intrigued by it. I could put such a thing to good use. What fortress that is just lying around unused do you speak of exactly?”