Characters
– Scimitar Sally (Hand of Yartar)
– Initiates and cult members
They speak with the Hand of Yartar of the cult and the happenings in Yartar. They believe the headquarters of The Reach is in the old Temple of Tamora, the Happy Hall of Fortuitous Happenstance. These days the temple has fallen into ruin and there are reports of The Reach congregating there at night. It was formerly run by a woman called Valentha Wadia.
Londer randomly confronts Scimatar Sally and asks if they can trust her. He boasts that the adventurers are hard to kill and flexes a little. An arrow flies past his ear. There is a brief display of various strengths. Sally enjoys this.
The Reach have difficult names to pronounce. One is named Clekrithriave.
After quite a lot of discussion and wondering where their horses and gryphons are, and what happened to the army they were promised, and whether Thoradin should conch back to speak to the dead queen… they decide to go to the temple of Tamora.
The gang have some cult-member cloaks made (with many hidden pockets) and head over. Thoradin is in disguise; Londer is pretending to be drunk as a dishevelled soul looking for a home; Miss Moss, Lia and Leshanna are stealthily watching from the sidelines. Lia glides effortlessly across the landscape blending in, but the others are creeping along in the shadows.
Three initiates come past the stealth characters and head to Florida Jake. He asks to join, he needs someone to help him fight his neighbour. The initiates are happy to help.
From the darkness behind in an alley in the shadows a woman screams out, “Kevin! Kevin is that you? Where have you been, darl? Come home!”
“Aww Mum, I told you not to call you me Kevin, my name is (Unintelligible).”
The initiates head off into the night.
Miss Moss puts on her hat of disguise and announces herself and she says she is here to oversee the initiation. The initiates don’t recognise her. She says she’s from head office.
The temple is in bad form, they remember the temple but it has been severely damaged. They walk through the fortification. The light lass stays behind.
Inside there are huge vaulted ceilings and potholes in the floor. The interior is lit. The statue of Tamora has been desecrated and has been painted blue and there is pink and purple splashes of paint. All around the statue are arms from other statues that have been stuck to the statue.
Miss Moss pulls out her clipboard and interrogates them a little more. Leshanna disguises herself and she and Thoradin make their way in. Thoradin lies on the ground and stares up, picking his nose. Lia is on the roof looking through below.
One of the initiates asks her name, Miss Moss says something unintelligible with confidence. They are convinced. Miss Moss apologises to the initiatives a little for having got off on the wrong foot and tells them they’re doing a great job and says “Goodnight.” One of the initiates says “Goodnight” and she stealths off into the temple. The initiates are totally baffled.
They begin to notice people coming in from the corridors. They all have long black robes with a purple stripe, and all have shaved heads. The atmosphere is heavy. An eerie figure appears, a man with sunken eyes – he seems almost possessed and inhuman. People around start to stiffen and respond to him appearing. There are beads and necklaces all over his chest. His eye sockets are very dark. Londer remembers they’ve seen someone like this before, back at the states at Xantharl’s keep.
Another figure comes in with a full purple cloak. A woman with a shaved head. They recognise her as Lady Atalia.