The Temple of Serenity

Grandma noted Fairuz’s approach long before the woman drew near enough to offer her a greeting, although gave no visual reaction to her until spoken to. Fairuz was as beautiful as ever, dressed to perfection. It seemed someone had been told to keep an eye out for if Grandma came back to Sakand, for Fairuz had learned of her presence here quite quickly. Not that Grandma particularly cared. She hadn’t been planning on meeting Fairuz, at least initially, but she had no qualms with telling Fairuz why she had come to the temple.

Offering the woman a sly smile, Grandma slowly rose from the ground, smoothing her robe as she did so. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon, Emira. You are quite right in assuming I didn’t make any note of this visit, as it is of a personal nature and not as a representative of Isra. That said, it’s still nice to see you again. I trust that everything is progressing well in Sakand now that Goraia has been toppled?” Grandma had a curious look in her eyes as she asked the last question.

“As for how Sakand can be of service to me… Well, I simply came here to have a first-hand look at the library I’ve heard is in this temple. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to at the temple, so I have yet to know if the reading of this library requires special permissions or not. If it’s not open to the public, well, I could certainly use some assistance in that area.”

It might be noted, most likely by the Emira’s retinue, that Grandma made no move to show subservience to Fairuz in the form of a bow. Other than this, Grandma’s body language was perfectly polite.

Grandma sat back down when Fairuz took a seat beside her, conjuring another pillow with a flick of her hand and offering it to the woman. Grandma listened intently as Fairuz spoke, making sure not to interrupt her at all. Although she listened intently, her gaze moved about, still watching the gardens around her while making eye contact when appropriate.

“I hope you and the High Lady will get along well together. You’re both very strong willed, so I hope that won’t clash too much… I think if you both have a common goal to work towards the two of you will be quite the force to be reckoned with.”

Being completely honest, Grandma was unsure how Fairuz and Naoki would get along. Even if they might feign politeness in their meetings, she couldn’t yet be sure how the two would truly react to each other. Fairuz had been under the command of others with Goraia, but how would she feel about Naoki having a position of authority over her?

Fairuz was certainly not dense and had picked up the reason for her visit rather quickly, not that Grandma had expected any less out of the woman. Grandma was indeed interested in the contents of Sakand’s library. It wasn’t particularly hard to tell that Fairuz wasn’t happy about Gradma’s presence here, she didn’t blame her for that considering the previous circumstances they had spoken under. The exact reason she wasn’t happy to see Grandma here was still unclear to Grandma, but perhaps if it wasn’t her interest in the library itself that could be used to her advantage…

“If most of your older texts on magic are considered Sakandi secrets, then I suppose that is what I’m after. I am no stranger to books of ancient magic and they’re one of my primary reasons for traveling. I visited Esdara not too long ago and was granted access to their private library, the contents of which I found most fascinating. Even if the older texts on your magic aren’t allowed to be shown to outsiders, I assume there are at least some more recent texts on the subject I could find in the library? I’ve heard rumors about the magic the people of Sakand use and it’s piqued my interest.”

"Mmm," Fairuz said shortly, a purring sound of acknowledgement as Grandma spoke about the Emira and the High Lady's similar temperaments and ways about doing things. Fairuz had quite a few things she wanted to say to High Lady Naoki, but of course, she'd say them in due time.

I've heard rumors about the magic the people of Sakand use and it's piqued my interest.

"I'm sure it has," Fairuz said, smiling at Grandma, a pretty if polite thing on her face. "The Sakandi majic is extraordinary, and one of the reasons why Sakand has wanted to be isolated and sovereign unto itself." Fairuz had absolutely no plans to allow Grandma into the ancient texts -- indeed, the Emira of Sakand has absolutely no intentions of allowing any outsiders into the ancient texts of Sakand -- but she supposed it wouldn't do to not appear hospitable to the elderly woman.

Fairuz was still unsure as to what purpose Grandma served in Isra, but she knew for sure that the woman was powerful and held the High Lady Naoki's ear. For now, Fairuz had to play nice. Short term joys of being difficult and termagant would quickly make her a thorn in their sides, and future favors asked would be routinely dismissed if she made herself into a shrew now.

She had to play the long game, and Fairuz and Grandma both knew it.

A movement caught her eye, and Fairuz saw the High Priest of the Temple of Serenity coming along the stations of prayer, a group around him of zealots and flatterers, priests and priestesses, nobles and rabble. It put a little smile on her lips. Almost every man Fairuz met was a target in some way, their priority on a list. The High Priest was no exception.

"You may find that many of our texts are written in Ancient Sakandi, Grandma," Fairuz said, her head turned to watch the priest's slow walk toward them. "And it's a language taught only within Sakand itself. We have been away from the world for so long, that you will perhaps not find anything of interest dealing with other nations, but if you don't mind a history lesson on Sakand and her people, then you'll be in for a treat."

Fairuz turned her head away from Ramesses and looked at Grandma. "The man that can help you more thoroughly will soon stand before us." She waited until Ramesses was closer, then bowed her head in acknowledgement to the High Priest's respectful bow to her. The beautiful woman pushed up onto her feet with a dancer's grace.

"Ramesses," she said and reached out to touch his arm lightly. "Grandma has come to unlock the treasures of Sakand, due to her own curiosity," Fairuz explained. "You will help her, won't you? She is my esteemed guest, and I insist that she stay with me in the Palace once she is finished here." Her jade eyes moved to Grandma, and the smile that accompanied the look spoke of an actual genuine pleasure to be hospitable. "Indeed, why don't you join us for dinner, Ramesses? I imagine Grandma will only have question after question after she's scoured our library."

Ramesses would nod in acknowledgment, folding his hands neatly behind his back as he listened Fairuz introduce Grandma. After this, he would glance towards Grandma with perhaps a bit of renewed interest and would offer a warm smile in return as the traveler introduced herself. Clearly, whoever this woman was, she was important to the Emira, and therefore important in general, though Ramesses himself did not know exactly who Grandma was as he had only just recently become the High Priest of Sakand.

"Yes, of course. I can be of assistance - especially for an esteemed guest of the Emira herself," Ramesses would pause for a moment, maintaining an air of friendliness while doing so, he seemed to be thinking though this would only last a couple seconds.

"We have many texts within the temple that may interest you. Many are written in common, though some are written only in Ancient Sakandi," he said. Of course, all the texts on Sakand's majic were written in the language of magic, Ancient Sakandi. It was a very cryptic language that took quite a bit of effort to learn if one was used to only speaking common. Perhaps this was Ramesses' way of communicating he also was a bit hesitant on revealing all of the secrets within the temple's library to the outsider, a library he considered solely under his control. He couldn't outright refuse the Emira though, that would not be wise.

Fairuz's final offer was also met favorably, "Of course I will join you for dinner, it is quite the honor," his attention once again falls onto Grandma, "I have just about finished my prayers for today, would you perhaps like to see the library now?"

From the sound of it, the text she was most interested in were going to be in Ancient Sakandi. She didn’t yet know that language, but perhaps she could use this to her advantage. After all, would the High Priest really deny an important visitor from having a look at books they couldn’t even actually read? Possible he would, but Grandma thought she had a fairly good shot of getting a look at them under the pretense of simply wanting to see what the ancient books looked like.

“That would be most excellent, High Priest. I did come here to primarily see the library and would be quite happy to go look at it right now. It sounds as if much of the knowledge of the library will be inaccessible to me as I don’t know Ancient Sakandi, but I’m sure the translated text will be quite enlightening and even if I can read them… Well, simply getting a look at the condition of the old books goes a long way to satisfying my curiosity. I do very much enjoy looking at relics of the past.”

Rising to her feet slowly, with the assistance of her cane, Grandma bids of the Emira farewell as the woman departs, with a mention of the dinner they would be having that night. Once the Emira was gone, Grandma would turn to the High Priest, obviously waiting for him to lead the way to the library.

Grandma didn’t speak on the way to the library, simply watching her surroundings as they ventured deeper into the temple. She noted the path they took mentally as well as the rather stunning mosaic. It was quite a work of art, but Grandma wasn’t particularly surprised by its presence in the temple. Some of the most iconic works of art were in temples or churches she had visited and she would have expected this one to have something of similar grandeur. It delivered in that department.

The size of the library, on the other hand, did surprise Grandma. Although it was still a sizable collection of books, she had been expecting something a bit more. The High Priest’s apparent casualness when it came to her searching the library also raised another flag with her. Although she couldn’t yet be sure as she hadn’t yet had a proper viewing of the library, she had a hunch that much of what she was interested in wouldn’t be here. Well, there was an easy way to find out if this was the case or not.

“Thank you very much for taking me down here, High Priest. I think I’ll be fine on my own for now, but I will let you know if I have any questions. Also, I hope you don’t feel obligated to stay down here with me if you have other business to attend to, I would feel simply terrible if I were holding up your day.”

Turning to the east, Grandma headed towards that section of the library. Where she started didn’t particularly matter, but she intended to be a fair distance away from the High Priest before casting her spell. It wasn’t something she would care that much if they discovered she could use, but she’d rather keep it secret for now. Gathering a small amount of mana, she first cast a spell to obscure others from sensing when she cast other spells. It had its limits, but the spell she intended to use didn’t require much mana in the first place and obscuring the fact she was casting it was a trivial matter to her.

Reaching out with one hand, she pulled a book from the shelf, completely at random. Opening it, Grandma skimmed through the pages, checking to see what language it was written in. Soon she would use her spell, but for the moment, she was content with simply looking through a few books manually.