Daily sermons bellow across the harbor, the time of their delivering
as irregular as the capricious god who's name they are served in. To the inhabitants
of the cities and towns dotting the Sword Coast they are a regular facet of life, background noise among the comingled shouts of the merchants and ship men going about
their duties; synonymous with the foghorns heard
throughout the night.
Ignored as often as they are heeded, the preachers screech
about the death and damnation that will befall any who fail to be mindful
of the foreboding news being shared. For as many as there are that remain ignorant,
there are countless individuals among the crowds paying careful attention to the words
pounding in their ears - they are the remaining pieces of broken families
and the widowed wives of irreverent sailors, fatherless orphans,
and the faithful.
as irregular as the capricious god who's name they are served in. To the inhabitants
of the cities and towns dotting the Sword Coast they are a regular facet of life, background noise among the comingled shouts of the merchants and ship men going about
their duties; synonymous with the foghorns heard
throughout the night.
Ignored as often as they are heeded, the preachers screech
about the death and damnation that will befall any who fail to be mindful
of the foreboding news being shared. For as many as there are that remain ignorant,
there are countless individuals among the crowds paying careful attention to the words
pounding in their ears - they are the remaining pieces of broken families
and the widowed wives of irreverent sailors, fatherless orphans,
and the faithful.
Akeldama slammed a metal encased fist into her open palm as she calmly delivered the words she had heard said by her peers on innumerable occasions, remembering them backdropped at times by both clear skies and storming seas.
"Do penance for your blasphemous ways!"
Her tusks were the only hindrance from perfectly delivered intonation. It was a star-filled night, but the many lanterns and torches of the dock workers seared her eyes like the sun. She tried to push the discomfort to the back of her mind, allowing it to sit in suspension with her burning hatred for the xenophobic gawking that always accompanied these liturgies.
"Pay tribute to Umberlee for sparing your abject lives, each day wasted toiling for your false masters! Umberlee is the one true foundation of success in this epoch but know that her commiseration is reserved only for the reverent!
"The seas groan with the water-filled mouths of the unfaithful, your own husbands and children among them. Such is the fate of the remorseless reprobate! Do you wish to throw away your lives by clinging to your subastral belongings?
"Cast these idols into the sea, line the pathways to The Water Queen's House and reproach yourselves for your willful nature!"
It was a modest exposition for the fatigued behemoth, but today she was alone. The other Clerics were fond of fantastical displays utilizing teeming throngs of necromantically confected fins and humanoid limbs that broiled the harbor with their unceasing entreaties for the crowd to join them, unfailingly accompanied by retch-inducing ichor that surged freely up the shores in the froth and brine.
Akeldama did not foster any love for the undead, but she considered them an effective tool for displaying the victims of her goddess' ire and gladly allowed the others to conduct themselves as they all knew would draw the apprehension of onlookers.
For the servants of the goodly gods it is a grisly
and sacrilegious display, something they would gladly clash in the streets over
and spill blood against, if only they could. The temples inside of Baldur's gate are,
like the Dukes and all residents of the sea port metropolis, ultimately
at the mercy of the Bitch Queen.
To rail against The Water Queen's House
is to hem the brink of annihilation.
and sacrilegious display, something they would gladly clash in the streets over
and spill blood against, if only they could. The temples inside of Baldur's gate are,
like the Dukes and all residents of the sea port metropolis, ultimately
at the mercy of the Bitch Queen.
To rail against The Water Queen's House
is to hem the brink of annihilation.