Cleansing of the Temple
The story of the cleansing of the temple actually begins with Malachive
and the Abhorrants. Malachive found method to open gateway into another
realm and bring forth this horrible creatures. The Knights of Gareth were
called upon to end this threat, led by Gwynn Struan they set out in search
of a relic that would close the gateway, they began first with a Balanx who
had such a relic but would not give it to them. The Balanx did however tell
them of a witch that knew of where another relic existed and she might
impart the knowledge to them.
They found this witch in a cave and soon discovered that she was indeed a
foul creature, evil to her very core. She demanded sacrifices of children
and the tongue of a knight, to which the Knights refused and instead
attacked and slain the witch.
Days later there was a great rumble in the keep, walls came crashing down,
the second story was destroyed, knights perished in the temple and the curse
was revealed.
Years went by from that day where one could still walk in the temple and the
smell of tainted blood was still so strong, but yet it could not be cleaned,
the holy presence could not be felt in the temple. Little did the knights
know however that through all the years of praying and sacrifice for the
temple, that their faith was indeed strengthening it, that the temple grew
in power from each knight that prayed for it.
It came to pass that a shaman was found in the city of Althainia and was
brought to the keep, this shaman had the power to see the curse as well as
three symbols within the temple and a witch hovering above each one. These
three witches were three generations of the same family that laid curse upon
the temple, and the witch in the center was indeed the one the knights had
killed in the cave. The shaman told the knights that he could sense the
temple's strength, that the power of the knights conviction had given it a
life of its own and it was growing in power, growing strong enough to fight
back against the curse. Armed with this new knowledge, the knights began
praying in earnest now, spending each free moment they had within the temple
praying, testifying their faith and making sacrifice.
Nadrik sent his angel Milek to the knights to sit within the temple and
grace it with his divine presence, this gave even more hope to the knights
and strengthened their faith that they were on the right path. Days later,
the temple began to rumble, blood began to spew forth from the grounds as if
it were a fountain. The temple was fighting back, cleansing itself of the
taint.
Get buckets. Get this blood out of MY temple.
The Lords voice came loud and clear to those gathered in the temple that
day. They began to work diligently gathering buckets and towels to clean up
the tainted blood, They would take the buckets to the marsh and set them on
fire with a torch that was blessed by Nadrik. Holy fire would consume the
taint and cleanse it from the world.
Thus this became daily activity for the knights until the day came that the
temple stopped spewing forth the blood from the ground, instead the symbols
of the witches began showing themselves. The first showed itself when
Kusanami and Bolter were in the temple, the symbol grew agitated and red.
Kusanami struck at the symbol with great force from his hammer, a loud clank
was heard throughout the keep as the hammer struck. The symbol broke and
the witch manifested herself into the shape of Kusanami's hammer and begain
flying towards Bolter. The hammer was weak against their combined prayers
however and broke apart harmlessly on Bolter's shield.
The second symbol was broken as many knights were gathered in the temple,
the witch manifested herself into a minotaur warrior. Mercerion defeated
this manifestation in single, honorable combat as the knights around him
prayed for his victory.
Nadrik and Siccara came to the knights after the second symbol was broken
and blessed them with their words and divinity. Siccara bestowed upon
Salinor the rank of Deacon of her church. Nadrik bestowed upon Bolter the
rank of Cardinal of his church. With this divinity, they would have the
strength to break the third symbol.
Many knights were gathered in the temple as the grounds began to rumble.
The rubble began to shift and move and formed a pile in the center of the
room that grew and rose and formed a shell around a creature inside. It
grew to the size of a giant ogre before finally breaking open and revealing
a demon witch that attacked the knights. It was pitched battle in favor of
the witch as she was one of the most powerful opponents the knights ever
faced. In the end however, the strength, the faith, the training of the
knights prevailed and the witch was killed by a final blow from Victis.
Upon the witches death, the holy presence could be felt in the room again,
much stronger than ever before.
The temple was barren, without form and ready to be remodeled. The knights
prayed daily offering their thanks for the victory and began the work to
find the holy relics that were lost when the chapel caved in.
The knights dug away at the northern wall day and knight until one day, the
edges of the ark was seen. Muse knelt down to pick up the ark and it seemed
to float into her hands, undamaged from the collapse. Within it were the
holy relics that the knights sought for so long.
Constructions crews from Althainia now were able to begin rebuilding the
keep, designs were submitted to the foremen and they began their work.
This story is of tragedy that turned itself into victory through the
unfailing faith and conviction of the knights. Remember always, that with
your faith strong, all things are possible.
-Bolter Sha'fen