A Visit to the Temple

Unfettered, the temple priest politely welcomed Seluctruh to the Temple of Tarin. My otherwise jumbled thoughts managed to note the irony in which even Seluctruh would be welcomed to this place out of the goodness of Tarin's heart. Noslen, who must have been accustomed to the presence of such evil, bowed before Seluctruh and greeted his lord. Only Xezion was so bold as to utter a mildly disrespectful remark toward him. Seluctruh immediately responded with a simple wave of his hand, a cue to which a hideous slavering demon appeared. Before anyone could move, the demon showed a spine-shivering grin as he looked at the unsuspecting priest and proceeded to devour him savagely to the tune of loud cries that were quickly muffled and then cut short. As Seluctruh coolly commented that Xezion would be the next victim, I noticed that the demon had disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared.

I finally found the presence of mind to get a hold of myself. I quickly said a prayer and offered the remaining body parts of my late mentor as a sacrifice to Tarin in order to spare his remains further disgrace. Having accomplished this small task, I turned to see that Xezion had seated himself silently. How dare Seluctruh slay such a kind-hearted man?

At about that time, a young Sampson entered the Temple seeking the priest's healing. Seluctruh let out a reverberating evil laugh and scoffed, "Where is your priest, now?" How Dare he be so mocking?!

Sampson stammered, "What am I supposed to do now?" Having compassion for the chap, I gave him a comforting pat on the back while, without looking up, Xezion suggested that he seek healing through bed rest. Seluctruh must have been pondering creative ways in which to kill the beleaguered Sampson, for his gaze seemed to dwell on the poor fellow. At length, Seluctruh instead summoned one of his own dark priests to replace the previous temple priest. The dark priest promptly began refusing any and all requests for healing as Noslen and Seluctruh both bowed before him. How DARE he!

This was really getting to be more than I could bear. "Excuse me, but what is Seluctruh's dark priest doing in the Temple of Tarin?" I softly but indignantly inquired. "How is that, Geseg?" Seluctruh retorted, "I run this temple now. Tarin is gone." As I looked at each of the faces around me, I realized the horrible truth to be found in his statement. I was the only servant of Tarin to be found in the place! As if to fill in for my momentary mental pitfall, Zelu protested, "Then shouldn't it be called the 'Temple of Seluctruh'?" whilst everyone turned to look at the sign over the door that clearly still read, "Temple of Tarin."

Noslen, ignoring the debate over whose temple it was, asked, "Wouldn't it be great if the priest would grant sanctuaries to the servants of evil who kneel before him? What do you think, my Lord?" As we all awaited an answer to this new question, I unconsciously began to reach my hand toward my gleaming Heart of Tarin opal, and I prayed silently for some kind of guidance. Seluctruh made a frightening grin with his pale thin lips and declared, "I think he should sacrifice virgins and Dawnbringers on a daily basis."

Events had obviously spun far out of control. Not only had Seluctruh challenged the sanctity of my god's place of worship, but he had also made an affront upon my clan and the innocents I have sworn to protect. I knew I must do something, and quickly, but what? I also knew I could not defeat Seluctruh by my own strength. The last time a Dawnbringer faced an evil god.... I shuddered at the thought.

At that moment, either my clutching at the opal or my prayers or both managed to evoke a response. A voice from somewhere near me quietly spoke, "May the Light be with you." What was that? Who had spoken? Noslen directed a curse in my direction. I heard the voice say again with slightly more volume, "May the Light be with you." This time Noslen drew his weapons and took a few steps toward me. Feeling the courage well up inside me, I drew my own blade and squared off against Noslen. Noslen grunted something about "Dawnbringers..." and spat over his shoulder to which the dark priest nodded.

Emboldened by the disembodied word of encouragement, I took a gamble. "Seluctruh," I pronounced, "I challenge you to a trial by combat in order to determine whose place of worship this shall be." Not hesitating to see how my challenge was received, I continued, "As the only devotee of Tarin and the only Dawnbringer present, I will fight in his holy name. Now, choose for yourself a champion to face me." For better or for worse, Seluctruh indicated his acceptance by responding with a hiss, "I choose Noslen, of course."

I hastily checked over all of my equipment in preparation for the coming battle in which I could not afford to fail. The very future of goodness in Windy Bluff, and perhaps even the rest of the realm, now depended upon it. When I was ready, I nodded solemnly toward Seluctruh. A ball of flames washed over me, and I was surprised to find that it released me unharmed at the edge of a combat arena. I turned to see Noslen, who was already there. I called upon the strength of bears to aid me, while Noslen recited the spells eldritch sphere and antimagic shell from scrolls.

He asked if I was ready and stepped out into the arena without even waiting for my response. I answered by going in after him and casting both poison and weakness in order to help curb the weight of his trollish blows. Noslen met my spells with a couple of staggering headbutts, and it became readily apparent that his skill at physical combat far outmatched my own. Despite my extensive scope of experience, I found that blow for blow, thrust for parry, and swing for dodge he was able to connect his blade and hammer with my flesh more often and to greater effect than I could connect my blade to his. Sensing the urgency of the situation, I dug down deep within myself to draw upon a berserking rage, which increased the furor of my attacks. Even as I swung my blade more rapidly, I knew that it would not be enough for me to prevail. I became more resolute as I abandoned my plan of reserving my mental faculties purely for the purpose of using magical powers to bandage my wounds, and I began to sing the song of fire. As my fireballs began to strike Noslen, I knew that I had finally begun to match the destructive capabilities of his fearsome fighting skills, but would I have the mental fortitude to last for the whole fight? I managed to use my shield hand to grasp my pipe from my belt pouch in between two blows as if to reassure myself, but I knew that there would be no time for contemplative draws upon the powers of the greyroot during this battle.

As both of our wounds began to mount up, I realized that whatever the circumstances, Noslen's tough flesh could handily absorb a phenomenal number of wounds. I, however, was forced to interrupt my fire song at various intervals to concentrate instead on maintaining a healthy status for a body that wasn't meant to take such a beating. As I used the last of my energy that I could afford to expend for that purpose, I could see that Noslen's stalwart body was covered in blood. I prayed that my human physique would withstand the rest of this test on its own. I threw the last of my energies into my fiery song even as I continued to wield my blade as deftly as I could. Just as I paused my song to gather my breath for the final two utterances, I gritted my teeth under the hefty force of one of Noslen's headbutts. Quickly, I swung the edge of my thorny shield around to catch him with a mighty chop to his exposed throat, and his towering form collapsed toward the ground amid the final sound of his pain-filled voice. The Trollish Commander had fallen!

I lacked the endurance to give any heed to where his corpse had landed. My innards were falling out of gaping wounds, and my mind was utterly fatigued. I mustered my final drops of energy in order to boost my voice as much as possible. I proclaimed the triumph of the great god Tarin, Creator of the World. My vision subsequently faded, and I knew no more.

I awoke to find myself in the Temple of Tarin, as I had always known it. It was with great joy that I heard the voice of the old temple priest welcome me again to the land of the living. I was astonished to find that both he and I were in a perfect state of health and that my mind was as clear as ever. I looked around to see no sign of Seluctruh, for he had surely returned to sulk in the depths of his private lair. I was overcome with happiness, yet I knew that this was not a complete victory over evil. The Light had prevailed on this day, but Seluctruh and his dark minions surely would someday return to wreak havoc upon the world-even at one of Tarin's sacred places of worship. But for a day, even if it were just this once, I could lighten my step and brighten my smile, for Tarin had carried the day.

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