Church of Ilmater RP

[ShadowFox13]

11 Ches, 1361

After a discussion with Simon and Afendaria in the Shrine on 9 Ches, Sister Carys would petition Mother Juna for a portion of the donations of the Church to go towards the making of various foodstuffs and home remedies to be delivered around the city to the families of those who have lost in the conflict with the demon army at Ulgoth's Beard. The work, designed to attempt to alleviate some of the burden on these families who may have lost a breadwinner, or who may be struggling under the weight of that loss to address other things in their lives, like health, proper clothing, or rest, or repairs. She works with Sister Karin, Sister Rachel and others to prepare the physical items - clothes, foods, remedies, firewood - and would attempt to arrange a schedule or a list of squires who would be willing to assist with more laborious tasks, who they could send to help these families in the coming weeks.

With the assistance of those at the Shrine, Sister Carys would help make a list of addresses and people to visit, and begin packing a small wagon, hitched to the pack horse of the Shrine, Clyde. All through this, she is utterly quiet but for the strictly necessary words to convey the initial ask, as part of her duty to bringing Hope to the people of the city, through the works of Ilmater. Still, she works with a quiet joy to help in the baking, helping Afendaria learn with her mother's own cookbook, and joins Sister Rachel in preparing remedies often referencing the same. It is an effort of mourning, and grief, but through that work expressing love, comfort, and community - that even after death and a passing, there are new beginnings, a brighter future... something perfectly suited, as the Spring Equinox looms close around the corner.

At evening prayers, she sits with the list of those Lost, and prays for each one, and their families. She prays for Ilmater's comfort and Mercy to grace both the one who has passed, on their journey to the next life - and for their family, who must continue on in this one.

[Afendaria]

It had been over a tenday since Afendaria came to the Shrine of Suffering seeking penance. So much had happened. When she first entered she was met with acceptance and mercy. Then came many voices with all sorts of opinions, ideas, and even threats. Many people, those she knew and those she hardly knew and strangers all came to talk to her or about her.

"You will need to face Tyr's Justice. If what you say is True, then that Truth will out."

"You're safe here, and you're free to come and go. This is not a prison."

"If you prove false I swear I will find you wherever you go - in this plane or the next!"

"I think you need to appreciate life more, coming from your old faith, which was full of terror and death."

To Afendaria it was at first all quite overwhelming. There were so many voices. The voice that was the most deafening however was the one inside of her head: You killed Grandma Betty, and now you are destined for the Wall, a traitor to your own Faith. It was the voice of regret and fear. She had been reassured when Nathan had said she would be safe there, and then again when the Revered Mother came and set her on the starting path to penance, but there was still that gnawing remorse and terror in her heart, and she tried to distract herself from it.

She did not start what the Revered Mother had asked her to do for penance, initially. She had been put to work when a man was killed outside the temple by a Flaming Fist officer and she and Carys had to drag the man inside to prepare his body in the Ossuary. Afendaria also took part in the battle at Ulgoth's beard where she stayed back and assisted the Ilamatari with healing and saving the fallen. She also learned how to bake an apple pie in the shrine's kitchen with the help of Carys. Afendaria found great comfort and distraction from her own and other voices in the readings of the newer faith of Kelemvor and when she ventured out of the Shrine it was almost always with Kelemvorites.

Eventually, however, realizing that constantly distracting herself would never get her anywhere and the opinions and voices of others were just going to continue coming, she started reading Murder Rended... Mercy Mended... and hoped she would find the answers in these series to help begin her first steps into the penance that she was meant to perform there.

[ShadowFox13]

19 Ches, 1361
As the day of the Festival of Hope dawns, Carys is not idle - though silent still, her ribbons firmly in place, she goes to Mercy's Orphanage to check in with the other caretakers, and ensure that they would be ready to bring the children to the Wide to enjoy the events.

Last minute baking is done, and a cart is loaded for the Wide, as she would head there to begin decorating and set up for the big day.

[ShadowFox13]

19th Chest, 1361 - Evening

Carys and Elduril return late to the Shrine of the Suffering, and one of the first things done, besides unloading donations for Mercy's Orphanage, is getting the monetary donations to Mother Juna. In the coming days, displayed with pride inside Mercy's Orphanage is a collage of artwork done by the children commemorating the exciting day - all surrounding a ledger page that reveals just how much money was set aside, for the Orphanage's Apprenticing & Higher Education Sponsorship Program.

1.6 million coin - for the benefit and growth of the children who had lost the most.

The Festival of Hope was definitely some kind of success. Sister Carys retreats to the Sanctuary that evening for prayers, and still there is a litany of names that fall from her lips. She prays for them earnestly and fervently, hoping with all of her heart. Every name shared to her at the shrine at the Festival, and every name she can remember. She lingers most over those of her close friends and family. Many from House Marshall, and few in particular - a ginger-haired Gondar, and a Halruaan archivist, as well as Alexander Marshall, and Marcus Hartell.

[ShadowFox13]

25th Ches, 1361

The 23rd of Ches came and went, and with it did Carys shed her red ribbons and begin tentative use of her voice once more. 20 days of silence and fasting, to better learn to consider her words and actions, to better dedicate herself to learning from her mentors and providing for the aid of others and support of them through their suffering.

It doesn't make up for everything - not by a long shot, as ripples still move out from her and her initial action... but she has hope, as she and Elduril reconvene in the Shrine for prayers, tending to the graves, and cleaning the altars of the saints.

She is more reticent than before, more thoughtful - though she still speaks with fondness and warmth and even relief to use her voice once again, grateful that she has it where many others are denied, or have lost it. Some can see her even a bit disoriented, at the sound of it, not used to how the vibrations resonate in her head, but she seems to be regaining her equilibrium.

[DarkmoonKing]

25 Ches 1361

During a stressful encounter near Blunt's smithy, Elduril was reminded of his vow and why he took it: His temper, and the poor control he has over it. Though a far cry from the incident that caused him to seek penance in the first place, owing to the progress he's made over these past five tendays, he realized he is still struggling to keep his anger from guiding his actions - and reactions. With little else left to say to those who had provoked him, he lead Carys by the hand back to the Shrine of the Suffering. Once there, he went down into the Ossuary to tidy up and leave flowers at the tombs of the Saints, while the no-longer-silent sister tended to chores upstairs. Once their tasks were complete, the couple met outside to kneel at a grave side in prayer.

The prayers were for Uther Grek, the half-orc man that Elduril had slain in witless anger, and for Druft, the orphaned son left behind. When the prayers were concluded, Carys made her way back in while Elduril remained in silence and thought. He had been thinking over the current situation regarding Afendaria, and how she would soon be facing the Tyrran officials for her own actions. Elduril had come to the realization that despite taking on vows as dictated by his god Ilmater, justice was yet to truly be done on Uther's behalf, and the unsquired ex-mercenary found himself faced with a difficult decision.

[ShadowFox13]

2 Tarsahk, 1361

It had come around to a full year... a full year, since she'd moved to the Gate, and her life was so, so different. Carys and others from the shrine load up Clyde and the wagon with the extra toys from the 'Respect the Beard' celebration, kindly donated by the Hunter's Moon. Some of them stay with the orphanage - replacing old stuffed animals for each orphan, and keeping a small store extra for new arrivals. The rest - the many that there are - Carys takes around to various families in the lower city. Many are those with sickness in the house, or a recent death in the family, but often any child passed with a longing expression on their face, earns one - sometimes, even a few adults. A final small set of the stuffed animals, is kept within the Shrine of the Suffering itself - for the infirmary, and the young patients it occasionally gets.

Recently, Carys can also be found at the bedsides of those in the infirmary - those too ill to write, speaking with them about their families. Perhaps in some cases, their grief for those passed on - or words to share with families, after they are gone. She helps them write these missives, a dutiful secretary, scratching these words in her neat handwriting. Each make their way to a new box on the infirmary desk - a box marked with Kelemvor's scales on top, and Ilmater's signature white hands and red cord, on the side. Each addressed with their name, and the intended recipient, as well as a distinction of "to living family" or "to one passed on".

She is also seen planting a few seedlings of the Balsam plant, in some spare space in the front garden. When asked where she got the seedlings, she mentions they were a kindly donation from one of the other citizens of the Lower City.

[ShadowFox13]

10 Tarsahk, 1361 DR

Spending most of the day in the infirmary putting away herb deliveries from Ferrick, Carys was surprised when a new face came to the Shrine - an older man, a faithful of Kelemvor named Evendur. He said he sought the Temples of the city to help him in a personal mission - locating his daughter.

She, he, Ferrick and Mother Juna spoke for a time in the Sanctuary, before the older man left, promising to remain in the city for some days, and possibly heading toward the Baldur's Gate Cemetary, where Sister Carys had told him many of the others of his faith, tended the grounds.

[Sundown]

Short visit at church of Ilmater

At the early last evening...

At the shrine to Ilmater, the lady at the desk would probably tell Sister Caryis that a red-haired elf asked for her. The elf introduced herself as Naer'eanque, Councilor of Doron Amar und had inquired about the success of Sister Carys fundraising efforts.
The male elf kept in the background and watched the scene, so it seemed.

[ShadowFox13]

Short visit at church of Ilmater

At the early last evening...

At the shrine to Ilmater, the lady at the desk would probably tell Sister Caryis that a red-haired elf asked for her. The elf introduced herself as Naer'eanque, Councilor of Doron Amar und had inquired about the success of Sister Carys fundraising efforts.
The male elf kept in the background and watched the scene, so it seemed.

Sister Karin could probably share plenty of good news about the fund raiser for the children, and mentioned passing on the visit to Sister Carys, who would likely attempt to find the Councilor in the coming days. ((PM sent))

[ShadowFox13]

18 Tarsakh, 1361 DR

Recruit Norin brows came by the Shrine of the Suffering just after morning prayers, asking for a Priestess to accompany him to the perimeter at Ulgoth's Beard, held by the Watch and the Flaming Fist. SIster Carys agreed and came along to help a 'crazed man" who seemed stricken by an odd illness.

She would return some hours later, looking shaken and pale, but well, and informs the Revered Mother that she will be taking treatments to the Flaming Fist Citadel in Sea Tower, to keep up a treatment plan for this man. Later that evening, she prays for him.... and herself. Fighting off images of the tainted village, the visage of the hateful spirit that assaulted her there... and the horrible, pleased feeling the tainted ground gave her, deep down in her being. Something the rest of herself, recoils from. She prayed to Ilmater for strength to endure in the face of the evil, and cast it out of the poor man.

[Afendaria]

Before leaving Baldur’s Gate, Afendaria the ex-Aurilite made her way to the Shrine of Suffering where she met Carys Eynon, Novice of Ilmater. There Afendaria gathered various supplies of healing. Carys also gave Afendaria a box crafted out of pine with a lid and a latch – a container meant to carry the bones of the deceased - and it was lined with cloth and the inside set with straw. After thanking the novice and storing away her newly acquired items, Afendaria left Baldur’s Gate. She was now southbound on a quest of penance.

[Afendaria]

24 Tarshakh

Later in the day, a band of bloodied and torn adventurers returned to the Shrine of Suffering. Amongst them was Afendaria, and in her arms was the pine crafted container that Carys had given to her earlier. Without delay or words wasted to anyone else within the Shrine she lead the others straight into the chapel.

There in presence of the Doomguide Evendur who was visiting the shrine, Afendaria and her party brought forth the pine box and lifted it up before the Revered Mother, claiming that they had recovered the bones and prayer beads of Grandma Betty, the very Ilmatari of the Cloudpeaks that was slain by Afendaria. They had safely brought her remains back to the shrine of Ilmater to be placed to rest with the other servants of Ilmater down in the shrine's Ossuary. Soon Afendaria with her companions brought the box down into the depths of the shrine where the bones were safely stored away inside the Ossuary.

A major part of Afendaria's penance was completed that day. Afendaria and her group soon left after short prayers were uttered and some final words were spoken, leaving the remains of Grandma Betty to be dealt with properly in the Ilmatari tradition.

//Thanks DM Faith for running the event!

[None]

After a morning of prayers in the graveyard, the tired Kelemvorite quietly opened the door to the Ilmater shrine. "I will... be in the ossuary, Brother Khalso." Said the ghostly woman, as she stopped in with the knight as part of the Mother's agreement. She carried on through the next room, stopping briefly to look upon each of the statues of the saints. While it wasn't long, she seemed to linger before the statue of the Twice Martyred. Upon realizing how long she had stared, she made quicker steps to the hatch where she crawled below.

The wooden ladder made barely a sound as it creaked with each light step, the smell of the chapels incense faded into the damp musk of the ossuary. She stepped further in and unlatched the tall iron gates. It was nearly just past sunrise, and it was quiet. Her pale eyes lingered on the displaced bones and skulls under her dark hood, and for the moment she drew a long quiet breath.

With each step down the short stone staircase she proceeded on to the preparation table where she had laid the many many nights before. Looking upon the laid body on old wooden table, she began to affix the dark leather gloves over her delicate tattooed hands. The young Kelemvorite lowered her hood across her narrow shoulders, and picked up a leather apron from her outlaid tool kit. Her hands tied the knot and pulled firmly, before she took her place standing before the shrouded one. The process wasn't to be rushed, and her promise was not to be forgotten. She laid out a journal on the table beside her work and began writing before lowering the shroud before the man's face.

"~Ervin Hallmeire~" She wrote beginning the heading before she began the examination.

The Kelemvorite checked over the small box of the man's belongings. A few pieces of parchment, small nubs of what used to be writing utensils laid almost entirely used and completely gone. The short search was over as she began to take notes in her journal.

You weren't a poor man. Not initially. The parchment unfolded tells the story of a map drafter, somebody with a great wealth of knowledge. It must have taken you years to learn this. And yet, somehow you ended up here in the ossuary among those with nothing. A last resort to most.

Gingerly her hand left the book, and turned the lifeless face of the man. Each motion was slow and meticulously careful. The Kelemvorite worked with the shrouded man with the tender care of somebody who was still alive. Her gloved hands gripped her pen and continued her journaling work, occasionally tapping her quill on the page as she thought between lines.

They knew your name, because of the work you kept. A kindness not always paid to those that die alone. They said you died without a copper to your name, but it wasn't always that way was it?

They found you under the bridge scattered like the autumn leaves of the tree. Forgotten, thawed out of the winter snow to be found along the earliest flowers of the spring. I wonder how many looked for you from then until now. What holes remained in those that couldn't find you? How many nights they refused to quit, but had no choice.

You need not hold on to them now. You can rest now, we'll let them know you've made it to the Crystal Spire.

The quiet Kelemvorite continued this ritual for hours. She examined the body further and took breaks to write in the leatherbound tome. When the man laid shrouded completely and the rite of burial had nearly finished, she stepped away and let him be carried off to a coffin.

Elisia remained there at the temple for hours after. She could be seen sitting and writing on the steps below the temple, and at times seated at one of the wooden tables. The Kelemvorite remained alone where she could, it was time for her to leave to her other duties.

While these visits were uncommon, she would be seen more frequently around the temple staying out of the way of the sick and keeping to herself in the crypts below.

Thank you to DM Kivrijecht for the npcs to be journaled.

[ShadowFox13]

14th Kythorn, 1361 DR

It had been roughly 5 and a half tenday since Sister Carys was regularly in the Shrine of the Suffering - the Revered Mother, had any asked her, would have said she was sequestered within the Flaming Fist Citadel, tending to a man rescued from Ulgoth's Beard.

Sister Carys returns to the Shrine with the man, Wilbur, much improved though still not fully healed. His hair has regrown, filling in the horrible bald patches on his head, arms and legs. The grotesque changes to his fingers were reverting too, leaving only minor dark staining at the tips. No longer were his eyes clouded with madness and raging, dangerous fits - though he was still weak, and prone to delirium, he was no longer a danger to himself and others, and could take succor in the greater comfort accorded at the Shrine rather than confined in the Fist Citadel. Carys continues to tend to him, though now she can resume her normal duties as well, with a new cheer in her bearing and warmth in her smiles.

((Ty to DM Faith for this RP!))