[PRE-QUEST] [POST-QUEST] [SUBSEQUENT]
[TEMPLE OF EORTIS]

The woman nodded, then made her way across the wooden floor until she was standing before them.

BEYLA: Among you there are injured that need looking after. The ship should return here soon. I would advise you seek help as soon as possible.

LOCKLEAR: But that's why we've come. The shipmaster in Silden said we could find a healer on this island who could help us.

BEYLA: You have been misinformed. I am not a priestess of Sung and Eortis concerns himself solely with the denizens of his kingdom of the sea. He may act only on their behalf. Thus is his purpose as deigned by the will of Ishap, the One Above All.

LOCKLEAR: When I was young, I was fortunate enough to have learned something about how the temples all worked. I thought I remembered that a god can sometimes be compelled outside his purpose in return for a duty of obeisance.

BEYLA: That is true, but Eortis is but a shadow of what he once was. Upon a time, before the Valheru warred with the gods of Midkemia, his influence was as the depth and breadth of the seas and all that moved across them. When at last he vanished, Killian assumed control of his realm but here some essence of what he was still survives. We can not communicate with a god that is lost.

LOCKLEAR: But if we were to act on his behalf, do you think he would grant us favor?

BEYLA: I cannot know. If there were more than an essence of him in this place, perhaps we could commune with him and learn his thoughts, but we of the order of Eortis are the servants of a vanished god. We see his will only in very small ways.

LOCKLEAR: Perhaps we are here to serve that will. What can we do to help you?

BEYLA: I can see no harm in your request, but I can guarantee you no measure of success or failure in your efforts. I can depend only on what the omens may tell me. Perhaps Eortis will stir from his slumber to grant his favor. Until then, the Mist Devil will bring you no longer to this Isle.

LOCKLEAR: Could you at least give us an idea of where to start? You may be able to read the god's will in the falling of a sparrow, but some of us are not half so clever.

BEYLA: Of late, we have had many tell us the rusalki who sometimes linger near the rivers have become disturbed. If you may find them all and lay them to rest, it might serve your purposes. I will warn you however that many of these sisters of Eliaem are wily and will find ways to hide their presence. Many do not wish to be sent into the halls of Lims-Kragma. You will need to be clever in finding them... This is my advice.

As they filed out of the inner sanctum, Beyla suddenly dropped to her knees behind them. They rushed to her side but she had already gained her feet as they reached her.

"I am sorry," she said breathlessly. "Eortis' touch is sometimes overwhelming. Though I cannot understand the meaning of it, something in you has aroused his interest and he has smiled on you this day. Good luck to you."

The woman nodded, then made her way across the wooden floor until she was standing before them.

BEYLA: I have been expecting you for many days. My auguries have shown strangers that walk in the favor of Eortis would be coming to us here and now I see you standing before me. You have pleased the god well.

LOCKLEAR: We have? What exactly did we do?

BEYLA: You would know this better than I. I have no way of telling, except that I must assume in some way your actions have bettered the affairs of those who live either in the sea or in the rivers which feed it, those realms over which our lord once had dominion. But now, I have had a dream and was instructed to receive you well. The Swimmer of the Deeps has allowed I may grant you a boon. So long as you all shall live, any of you that come and petition before me shall be healed of anything that ails you. Such is the nature of Eortis' favor. Have any of you the need of healing?

The woman nodded, then made her way across the wooden floor until she was standing before them.

BEYLA: I have been expecting you for many days. My auguries have shown strangers that walk in the favor of Eortis. I assume that you must have completed your rites.

LOCKLEAR: It had very little to do with ritual, High Priestess, and much more to do with slaying spirits.

BEYLA: You sound somewhat distressed. Be assured that you have slain no one, but have freed those from this world which were unnaturally bound here. The Swimmer of the Deeps is pleased and has allowed I may grant you a boon. So long as you all shall live, any of you that come and petition before me shall be healed of anything that ails you. Such is the nature of Eortis' favor. Have any of you the need of healing?

BEYLA: You will find that your ills already heal as we speak. You shall feel fully restored by the time the Mist Devil returns you to Silden.

BEYLA: You are most welcome young magician. I must now turn to my duties in the Temple. I believe that you will find that even without Eortis' healing, fortune has smiled upon you.

The woman nodded, then made her way across the wooden floor until she was standing before them.

BEYLA: The chimes sounded in the Temple when the Mist Devil drew near. Are any of you injured?

BEYLA: You will find that your ills already heal as we speak. You shall feel fully restored by the time the Mist Devil returns you to Silden.

BEYLA: You are most welcome young magician. I must now turn to my duties in the Temple.