"You are too kind," answered Adaliza to both companions blushing. The opened door was a welcomed respite from the undeserving compliments.  

"Glad to be of service," Adaliza smiled to Levis. "Would it be possible for us to see the Abactor of your temple today? It seems the problem is getting quite urgent. And, if you do not mind the request, we have a wounded among us. If one of the Seekers could look into it..." Citron could keep all his careless brave facade all he wanted, but a wound is a wound and they were in a Temple after all.

"Guide my steps, Minaera, as I walk through the space of an adversary. Strengthen my resolve as I walk towards uncertainty," Sera will whisper a prayer before she walks through the threshold of this temple's doors. Unnerved by the thought of being inside a place where divinity is a joke. She was untrusting of this Levis and any follower who beckons upon the darkness of Mabarian powers. It was unnatural and frankly unethical. The dead should stay buried, the blood should not be worshipped. 

"Yes, her words were uplifting. But we are not here to make pleasantries, unfortunately. What can you tell us of this blight? The Warlord assumed you might be of some assistance that he can not reach out for. We'd like to help out, get to the backend of this as quickly as possible Any leads or information you can share with us will be most helpful," Straight to the point, Serandis was with this Levis. They weren't here to make friends but to do a job. The quicker they could get on with it, the sooner she and Citron could be on their way back to Aerenal. And with some coin in their pocket.

"Shit." She thought to herself, she wasn't able to go over the contract for the covadish before they had to hurry on over here. Something she would have to keep in mind next time she was speaking with the Warlord. 

Levis listens calmly to your requests, face pensive and troubled. "I agree, our elder is likely the one most likely to be able to help you. However, before I take you to see her, I would like you all to promise that your weapons, mundane or magical, remain put away for the duration of the conversation and until you leave our temple." They look directly at Serandis as they say this. "She is a Mabaran undead, and I know there are some who have...strong feelings about that. Therefore, I would appreciate an oath on something you care for, that you will raise no arms while in this temple unless they are raised against you first. As for your wounded companion, we can help to bandage the injury and offer other mundane care, but our elder is the only one in the temple with access to healing magic. The few of us with access to divine magic mostly specialize in countering or channeling Mabar's influence, neither of which lends itself readily to healing."

(OOC: Quick lore dump--NPC magic in Eberron works differently than PC magic. Many NPC minor divine casters are unable to prepare the whole spell list for their class, instead having an area of specialty they draw from, such as being able to prepare necromancy and abjuration spells, or solely utility spells, or only being able to cast spells as rituals--though they may be able to cast spells as rituals that PCs can't. So the only divine caster in the temple able to use healing magic is the elder--with a Jorasco healing house in town, healing magic is not a priority of the Seekers. And on that note--with wide magic a present part of Eberron, magic is considered as much a weapon as a sword. So the oath Levis is asking for applies to magic as well as physical weapons)

"I do not involve myself in the religious conflicts of continentals, but if it soothes you, I swear by my honor as a Lhazaareen that I will not raise arms in this temple unless someone raises them at me first."

"By my name, my life and Divine Spark inside me I swear that no harm will come through me to the Elder of this temple," calmly but firmly declared Adaliza. The temple turned out to be important enough to have an undead elder, the chance to meet one of the wise made Adaliza walk a bit quicker in anticipation.

"I'm fine, just need a spot of rest and I'll be right as rain again.  As for weapons, well I ain't got any so you can't have them.  Not sure you want to be makin' a bargain with me, but I will not touch anyone who doesn't try to touch me first...." and Citron takes a swing from his tankard

She flinches visibly when Levis says who the elder of this forsaken temple was. How was this her destiny? To work with those who are the essence of death itself, it was too much to think of in these quick moments. Just a couple of hours or so ago she was traveling with Citron and had the next days planned out. Now she was in the temple of heretics and going to speak to one of their... she shuddered as she thought the word elder. But she was best equipped to seeing this through. She has seen how a blight from Mabar can change a land. And keep it changed. 

"I will not strike upon anything inside your temple's walls. I give my word on my ancestors. My weapons I promise to still, as well as any magic. But my tongue I will not and will not promise to do so. I want to be of help to this town so I will do what I must to see that through." Sera will add nothing else to her statement. She wasn't sure this is what Maze had in mind when he said her destiny was in these lands, but this was something. Plus, she had never met a Mabarian undead before, to know one of these creatures might give her some insight on how to stop them in the future.

"I assure you," Levis says dryly to Serandis, "we are more than accustomed to hearing from those with sharp tongues, dark thoughts of our methods, and minimal actual experience with us. Please, follow me." They turn and head for the double doors at the end of the foyer.

The young priest opens the door to reveal a fairly spacious chapel, as sparsely decorated as the entry hall. Rows of chairs are set in a circular shape around the room, some of them draped with red fabric. At the center of the room is a black altar with a red crystalline teardrop and an onyx bowl on top of it. Seated before the altar is a figure wrapped in cloth and swathed in a cloak. "Ah, the outsiders," the figure rasps in a soft, creaking voice. "I heard you helped Levis out of a bit of a bind earlier, and I suspect you are responsible for the lack of Karrns outside threatening to burn me at the stake. I am Riska, the oathbound elder of this temple. Please, have a seat."

"Thank you for seeing us," Adaliza walked to the seat and sat there quietly. "We came to the town to help with the blight and would like to learn everything known about the disaster."

Before Serandis could comment on anything Riska said or on her look, she heard a voice in her head - or a thought that did not belong to her, hard to tell. It was not Adaliza's voice and yet "sounded" like her and should Serandis look her way, Adaliza would slightly nod proving it is her "talking". "I beg you to hold your disdain for the moment. Oathbounded suffer daily quite a lot. Adding to this pain would not help anyone."

She turns her mask back onto her face and lets Levis' words hang in the air. Yes, have contempt for me because I follow the natural order. She thought just as dryly to herself. Walking through the threshold of the chapel Serandis was immediately taken back by the smell of death in this room. She was used to being around those that have passed through the barrier of life into unlife, but the smell here was unnatural. If her mask did not cover her face her disdain for being in this room would be recognizable to the point of being disrespectful. 

As the creature spoke, she listened. The inflections that its unnatural existence bestowed upon this creature of darkness. She chose to ignore the monster that sat wrapped in cloth and stayed standing. She was about to rashly lash out at the creature, making it get to the point when a voice appeared in her consciousness. Startling as it was, it reminded her of Adaliza. As she looked at her the kalashtar woman a look of knowing came across as if she was speaking to her. 

She held her tongue from harsher words and spoke clearly, "What we did was not for your temple, nor your well-being. And honestly, if you are thanking anyone it should be Adaliza here, her words are what calmed those poor citizens." She was trying very hard to not speak harshly, she truly was. But being around one of these things was making her skin crawl. She was bringing shame to her ancestors even humoring these heretics. She blurted out her next words, "Forgive me if I ask that we skip the pleasantries and get down to business. How can you assist us, creature?"

That wasn't very pleasant, but as for biting her tongue that came out better than expected. She stood there, staring into the very being of the thing that welcomed them. What was it? she wondered to herself. 

(OOC: An OOC note--it doesn't actually smell like a dead body in here. Riska has been dead long enough for any rotting that was going to happen to be long finished)

Riska tilts her head and rises, turning to face you and revealing strips of cloth traced with runes. A gentle blue light glows in the center of her chest, motes of red floating through it. She runs a gaze over the group, pausing on Serandis's masked face. "Ah. That would make you the Aereni," she murmurs thoughtfully. "My name is Riska, not creature. We have shown you ample respect while you are in our home, despite your peoples' many actions against us--I would ask that you do the same, or keep silent if that is easier. I will not have the children under my care treated as the enemy even in their own home." She folds her hands calmly. "As I expect you have surmised, the blight is clearly caused by an excess of Mabaran energy in the area, the sort created by an excess of Mabaran undead--one of the reasons we Seekers keep the numbers of Mabaran undead low in areas that are not manifest zones. I am the only Seeker undead in this town, and besides the blight did not follow the pattern it would if this were caused by beings in this temple. Besides, such a swelling of energy indicates the summoner is far from expert in necromancy. All of which indicates that there is a being creating Mabaran undead somewhere northeast of town." She reaches below the altar and removes a disk of black stone, a compass with a face of blood-red glass. "This compass can guide you there, it is tuned to large sources of Mabaran energy in the area. We use them to detect new Mabaran manifest zones before they can cause trouble. I will give it to you for use tracking the necromancer, on the condition that you return it once you have used it to find and stop the cause of the blight."

Serandis will walk forward a take the compass. "You bore me with your concerns about what deserves respect. Your kind does not. Levis, though, deserves my pity. For following blindly the teachings of creatures such as yourself. To be indoctrinated into the falsities of Vol. Why don't you come to Aerenal and see what a destructive hand Mabar can truly cause a land? I grew up in the shadow of her misdeeds from centuries ago, I know firsthand. So please..." She takes a breath, a deep long breath, "Save what little breath you do not have. Because I truly do not care. Thank you for the compass, Riska. It will be returned when we are done fixing your mess."

Serandis has never spoken to anyone like this in her life, and it was a little exhilarating. But she wasn't saying anything disrespectful, not in her eyes. She walks out of the room and will try to leave the temple. 

"It's a pity your elders do not teach their young any manners," Adaliza was talking in Serandis head again and much colder now. "If you are so disgusted, that you insult people in their own homes and temples, you should probably just leave. After all, these are not your people and by far not your business, right? Finish your work and let those who care to do theirs."

And hurried to change the subject. "The rituals might require some preparation and accumulations of needed ingredients and materials. They had to be acquired somehow, bought. Is there any suspicion? Any particular name?"

"Apologies Lady Riska, my friend is but a child still who has not seen beyond the wall of her crib yet.  And she still holds to the ideals we all had once as children, before learning that the world outside our doors is rarely black and white, but various shades of grey.  The information you have provided I am sure will be of great use to us in determining the source of this blight."

and he will bow to her.

"Yes, I too apologize for my cohort's rudeness." Why would you take a job in Karrnath if you're going to constantly speak ill of those who follow in the teachings of Vol? I do not care one way or the other about continentals and their religious squabbles, but I simply would not offer my services if I was being offered a job that required me to work with those who offend me the way she is offended by the Blood of Vol.

The words of Adaliza fall to echoes as Serandis leaves the room. She didn't know if she could answer the woman back or if she could see her thoughts, the strangeness of having another inside her head was a new sensation, She replies, not in the rashness that she addressed the thing that gave them the compass, but with a pang of sadness, "What do you think I am doing? I will be outside, I can't stomach being around such a creature any longer. By the ancestors, it is too much for me at this time." 

Once into the next chamber, she will look to see if Levis is still around. She would like to speak to them some more, they seemed nice enough. Thinking it would be easier than to talk to that creature. She said a silent prayer to her father, asking him for guidance. Hoping he was listening. 

Reading thoughts - no, but communicating - certainly, though, Adaliza did not add anything. It felt like if you talked with someone in the darkness and then the person left. Due to the distance, or because everything was already said, but it was quiet.

(OOC reminder: Levis uses they/them pronouns, not he/him)

Riska lets Serandis take the compass, giving the elf a brief, searching look, any further expression difficult to tell behind the bandages. As the others apologize, she waves a hand. "You have nothing to apologize for. I am perfectly aware of the sentiments of the Aereni towards my kind, and she has elected to remove herself, as I think is best for all of us. Regarding your question," she adds to Adaliza, "There are none I know of that have engaged in such activity here in Teryk, though I concern myself far more with the events within these walls than without. I would suggest you ask the barkeep of the Gold Dragon Inn if she has heard of any such activity, Virian listens closely to the pulse of the town."

Serandis:

Stepping out into the entry foyer, you find Levis seated cross-legged on the ground near the door, writing in a journal with a black cover. They look up as you come out and incline their head politely, the brief flash of irritation you saw in them before gone, their face once more a mask of serene calm.

Citron heads out of the temple and will ask around for directions to the Gold Dragon Inn - once everyone is gathered back up he will head in that direction.

"Thank you for your time, Seeker Riska," Adaliza bowed and followed Citron out. The inn sounded nice not only as a source of information.