Out on the edges of civilization, new towns are forged.  New stations from which the calm order of society can spread to new horizons.  Life on these borders of wilderness is not easy, most of the basic things we who live in the very cradle of civilization take for granted are nonexistent to the farthest of settlements.

  Take for example the tale of this one town on the edge of the wild lands, which had managed to survive despite all odds.  Food was plentiful now, but there is a hunger that people have that cannot be filled with food.  For this town was too remote for the inhabitants to make the trek to the nearest temple.  They could only wait for some wandering priest to hear their prayers and come found a temple to help fill their spiritual needs.  Overjoyed they were, that day a lone priest came wandering into their happy little town, clothed in pristine white robes with golden trim, smiling a blessed smile.

  The priest was welcomed with open arms.  The townsfolk were eager to help him build a temple that they could worship the divine beings of Kadath and find inner peace.  The priest began preaching at the local tavern, telling the townsfolk that when the temple was completed they would all find the path to peace and tranquility for all eternity.  The townsfolk worked hard and long constructing the temple.

  The priest tended to the wounded and birthing mothers with soothing magics while the construction progressed, smiling a pristine smile, and speaking words of salvation and peace for all the town.

  As the temple neared completion, the priest enlisted some of the youth of the town to be his acolytes for the opening ceremonies of the temple.  The priest had local tailors produce pure white robes for all the youths, perfectly pressed as were his own immaculate robes.  The youths took to their position quickly, wandering the town speaking soothing words of peace and tranquility.

  When the final stone had been set in the town's temple, the priesttold the town to rejoice, that their salvation was nigh!  The whole of the town came to the temple for the opening mass held by the wandering priest.  The temple was filled with smiling faces, finally able to have a place to pray to the gods for the peace, prosperity, and joy their town had enjoyed.  The priest had his acolytes carry out a small chest into the center of the temple.

  Smiling a wide smile, the priest began chanting in a very old and strange tongue.  The crowd was a bit confused, but the ways of priests were not fully known to them, so they merely waited.

  The priest opened the chest at his feet and raised an object over his head as he continued to chant.  With the symbol of his patron deity raised high and the unwavering faith of the entire town, the priest easily concluded his supplication to his god to bring eternal peace to these people...

  The townsfolk started to drop like flies from their seats.  Soon they were all dead, passed from this world into the next.

  The priest placed the Symbol of Sgrios back in its chest and prepared to move on to the next town, to bring the joy and peace of Sgrios' touch to another town.  Had any of the townsfolk known a simple lesson of life, they may have survived this priest and prospered on:

  Never judge things by how they appear.