In the shadow of the temple

Restful sleep was but a distant memory it seemed.

Alexis had awoken in cold sweat and judging by the way she had managed to tangle herself up in her blanket, she had probably been tossing and turning a great deal.

Nightmares. Not much had stayed with her into her awakening, but there was a terrifying image of a maelstrom darker than black, ever expanding, ever consuming, ever hungry. So she considered it a blessing she didn’t remember more.

Alexis certainly did wonder no more how Tar had gotten into the state he had been. What she had been shown seemed to be but a grain from a whole of unimaginable dimension, and she felt that it would not have taken much more to wipe away everything she was. It was… a lot for small mortal mind. To put it excessively mildly.

She could not name how she felt about what was happening to her. Oh, she was terrified, no doubt about that. But still there was a part of her that wanted to learn more. Wanted to learn the truth, even at the risk of destroying herself. She wasn’t sure what that said about her.

Alexis pushed those thoughts away for later. She had plans for today, and those would not allow for being so distracted.

After cloaking herself up to the best of her abilities, she patiently waited for the stream of pilgrims to start funnelling into the city, taking cover in the crowd.

This was her first time in the city proper. She could say she was impressed by the grandeur of a civilisation that resided in the midst of a deadly desert. But still… that beautiful tapestry seemed to ravel out at the fringes.
Oh, the buildings were splendid and well maintained. At least all around the temple, were she was drifting among the many believers. But she could spot more decrepit areas further away. Gra’akast might not be in its prime anymore. She wondered how lively this city was, when all the pilgrims were gone?

And then there was them. A significant number of people wearing all to familiar dark robes. The way the people reacted to them seemed the confirm what Alexis was thinking - they were like the assassins she and Tarmen had the displeasure of meeting. At least she could easily give them a wide berth, because, well, everyone else did, too. Maybe they were not unlike the inquisition? Dutifully respected, but even more feared…

Finally she arrived at the central plaza that held the magnificent temple. The building easily dwarved every other structure in the city, carrying an aura of age, history and grandeur.
She kind of didn’t like it, despite its beauty. There weren’t such pompous churches in Garrah.
Only the bigger settlement had a church at all, often lovingly crafted from wood, surrounded bye mountain flowers, feeling more homely than exalted. And the smaller villages didn’t even have that. They would hold their prayers in places of great natural beauty nearby, often dedicated to Cambena, Hoi, Kupen or Ereuhin. At least nowadays. Who knew who the shamans of old had worshiped there, once upon a time.

Still, Gra’akast’s temple was an awe-inspiring building. Masterfully crafted from the smooth and perfectly cut steps over the numerous slender pillars to the towering dome.
And unfortunately quite excessively decorated with carvings as Alexis was learning while she made good use of the throngs of pious people to get a closer look.

Yes, she could see symbols just like on the obelisk pretty much everywhere. She had no idea how she was supposed to make sense of this, let alone sketch them down, even if she could just sit down and start drawing, which, obviously, she could not.

Alexis sighed quietly. Well, she would at least see if she could circle the building, get an impression of it as a whole. Maybe something stood out. If not, she better got that gray matter in her head fired up for heavy duty, because this was going to be a LOT of work.