"I like this halberd! It's as sharp as Boo's small teeth!", Minsc was definitely happy of his new equipment: a halberd that caused fire, acid and poison damages and full plate steel armour. Their money was well spent, in Meg's opinion, since all of them had something new:
Yoshimo was now wearing black leather armour that had a minor protective enchantment against fire, acid and cold; Jaheira wore a similar brown one and got a spear blessed by Silvanus Himself; Anomen had a new Helmet of Infravision and an enchanted Mace, while Margaret Dawn replaced her plain staff with the Staff of Rhynn and wore a pair of enchanted Bracers of Protection.
"I feel better now", the bounty hunter smiled, admiring his new suit, "This leathers are worth every coin they cost!". The young woman's spirit lifted, "I'm glad that you approve, my friend. Now, let's go to the Temple District".
As they walked, Anomen moved closer to her, "My lady, my condolences for the loss of your father". "Thank you. I miss him, you know. Dad…Khalid was a good man, kind, gentle and patient, but also brave and wise and strong. He is the only father I've ever had".
"I see. I must admit, my lady, that I am quite jealous of you: my father, lord Cor, wasn't at all like your Khalid and he and I never got along well.
He only cares about his business, you see and when I refused to take on it and joined the Order instead, he explained me in great detail again what a useless and unworthy dog I was", his eyes lowered with grief and shame, but then he felt a gentle hand brushing his cheek.
"Don't let his cruel words hurt you so, Anomen. Remember that Helm Himself considers you worthy of His blessing and allows you to act in His name. This means that you are not useless, you are not unworthy and you definitely are not a dog! You don't have a tail hidden inside that armour, do you?", Meg joked and he chuckled.
"Most certainly not, my lady", he caught her hand in his without thinking, it was soft and warm, "I thank you deeply for your kind words. It's just…I would have given much for my father to be my mentor. But instead, I endured his abuse until I was admitted in the Order.
He has been a cancer in my soul since my mother's death, I couldn't...I've never managed to stand up to him: he raised his voice and suddenly I was a child again, the little boy who hid in the larder to avoid his beating.
But no more of my bad memories, you have more important matters to focus on". "As you wish. But know that I'm always glad to talk to my friends, every time they feel like it".
When they reached the Temple District, they saw a blind man standing in the middle of the street, surrounded by a small party of people, babbling about the Unseeing Eye and encouraging people to join the blasphemous cult and to…"He wants them to gouge their eyes out?!", Meg exclaimed, astonished, "He's completely mad!".
"And he's convincing others to follow him", came the low voice of High Watcher Oisig, "I see that you are a servant of the Gods. Come to the Temple of Helm with your party, the Great Watcher needs your help to eradicate this evil".
"Of course, lead the way". The man escorted them to the Temple, where he explained what the Church knew about the Cult of the Unseeing Eye. And that was close to nothing: the only thing they knew for sure was that the cultists hid somewhere in the sewers under Athkatla.
"Our resources are thin at this moment, but you will find an ally of Helm and servant of Torm waiting for you: look for Keldorn. Faith will guide you both". Anomen frowned, "I know of Sir Keldorn: he's a veteran paladin of the Order, a valiant warrior…Even if he's arrogant and too zealous".
"Come now, he can't be that bad", Margaret Dawn smiled, "So, is everyone ready to discover the wonders of the sewers of this city?". Minsc cleared his throat uneasily, "Well, Boo is not thrilled at the idea of sewers: he remembers those of Baldur's Gate and he didn't like the stench at all. But we will follow little Meg anyway".
The young woman patted his arm, "Thank you, my friends". They found an entrance to the maze of stinking tunnels and one by one, descended the slimy stairs. "It's even worse than in Baldur's Gate!", Jaheira hissed, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "I know, mom…I mean, Jae. But we gave our word and besides, there's a paladin who needs our help".
As she spoke these words, they turned a corner and a tall man in full plate came into view: he wore the sunrise orange armour typical of Tormtar paladins who had achieved the rank of Vigilants and held a big two-handed sword in his hands. "Stop! Go no further!", he ordered, his deep voice resounding in the tunnel, "I'm sorry for my abruptness, but there's a great evil in this place. Who are you and what are you doing here?".
Meg bowed with a smile, "My name is Margaret Dawn, my lord and we were sent here by the Church of Helm to investigate about the Cult of the Unseeing Eye". He relaxed and returned her smile, "Then our meeting is blessed.
I am Keldorn, paladin of Torm and humble member of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart. You must be the party I was waiting for. May I join forces with you to eradicate this blasphemous cult?".
"It will be an honour to have you among us, sir Keldorn". The man took his place in formation and his smile became a little more strained, "Squire Anomen, it is good to see you".
"And it's good to see you too, sir Keldorn", Anomen replied, a bit coldly, but the young Painbearer, sensing his unease, took his hand. "Anomen, may you take the place next to me in the front line, please?". He lightened up immediately and nodded, "Gladly, my lady! No harm will come to you, on my honour".
"Good", she smiled and led the party down to the lower part of the sewers, where the entrance was supposed to be. Minsc found it easily thanks to his tracking skills and they could enter the headquarters of the Cult.
oxoxoxoxoxo
"They adore a Beholder!", Jaheira's voice was filled with disgust and shock, "Child, I'm really glad that you accepted to destroy this cult: it's unnatural, it's a sacrilege against nature!". Margaret Dawn nodded, but her eyes were fixed on the strange patterns inscribed on the floor, "Yoshimo, can you please check this area for traps?".
"Of course. I could dance on the head of a pin as well", he replied with a grin, then scanned the floor and the stairs ahead carefully, "Ah-ha! You were right, Meg: there's indeed a fine trap here, but nothing that the Great Yoshimo can't disable, obviously".
"We're lucky to have you with us", she smiled and walked on, but after only a few metres, she stopped: right in front of them was a ruined temple and standing outside of it was a large number of people, all of them pale and ill-looking.
"Sweet Ilmater!". One of them noticed her and his wan face distorted with something close to boredom. "Hello", he said tiredly. "Hello. Uhm…Do you need help? I am a cleric of the Crying God, I may heal you…". "No, we can't be healed.
You can't heal our broken faith. We are the guardians of this temple. We have forgotten what we are protecting and we have forgotten for how many generations we've been here and we have also forgotten what it means to have a goal".
"But…Surely there must be something that you can do. Have you ever tried calling on to your God?". "We have no God to pray, we don't remember who it is.
There's no hope for us. Go inside, take whatever you want, we don't care, we could as well be brainless skeletons". Minsc scratched his bald head, "Little Meg, can't we help them? They look so sad!".
"We will try, Minsc. But...By the Gods, that's a child!", the Ilmatari rushed to the child, who was leaning on the side of the building, "What's wrong, little one? Are you ill?".
The girl raised her head slowly, her complexion was grey and she had bags under her eyes, "Do you want to see what we've done? Go into the temple and look. We can't see it, because it's ours. We forgot. You can see it, but you can't fight it".
"What is it that I can't fight? What are you talking about?". "We send our thoughts to the temple. Thoughts of broken faith. Can you fight a wound to the faith? You can't fight hate with hate. Only healing the pain you can defeat the hate. Only the cure can dispel the aversion". "Why are you talking like this? You sound like an old madwoman".
The child sighed tiredly, "I've been in this life for nine years. They say my soul is the oldest of them all. I'm tired. But I already know I will get old again and I won't care anymore. Just go away".
Meg felt her heart clench in pity, she realized she had no way to help the poor creature now, "Whatever ails these people is related to the temple. If we solve this mystery, maybe it will free them".
Anomen cleared his throat, "Excuse me, but we came here to retrieve the artefact... ". "That is inside, right? So we should get in anyway". "Uh, well, you're right, my lady". As they entered, a big monster, similar to a Baatezu, attacked them, roaring, "Hatred is here! Attack with rage and let hatred be fed! I fear not hatred and pain, I feed on them!".
Keldorn and Minsc parried its blows, but Margaret Dawn didn't attack it, because there was something…Something tugging at the corners of her mind. And suddenly it was clear: she moved closer to the creature, intoned the words of a healing spell and directed it towards the monster, which dissolved with a shriek.
Everyone looked at her in awe. "How did you know…?", the druidess asked, her eyes wide. "The man and the child outside…They said that I couldn't heal their broken faith. I thought that, if the monster was the broken faith they were talking about, maybe it could work. And it did".
Keldorn sheathed his two-handed sword, sighing with relief, "It was quite a risk to take, my girl. What if you were wrong?". "We would have taken it down like we always do with monsters, right, Minsc?", Meg smiled at the ranger, who nodded enthusiastically.
"Little Meg is right! Worry not, friend Keldorn, she is very smart and she always knows what to do! Our Meg is nearly as wise as Boo!". The young woman laughed, but a faint voice came from behind her.
"Who walks in my temple?", the words were spoken by the translucent figure of a man, dressed in light pink and orange robes, "Tell me who you are, I can hardly see you". "My name is Margaret Dawn, sir. And who are you?".
"I am the Temple and the Temple is me. You have defeated the beast for now, but it will rise again to kill my avatar. It is fed by my followers and I get weaker and weaker".
"I'm afraid that those poor people are not your followers anymore, sir: so much time has passed and they can't even remember your name".
The avatar looked hurt, "Then it's no wonder that I can't defeat the beast by myself, for it is their contempt made flesh. I cry for my children! It's their hatred that keeps this place alive, even if that's not what they want".
She saw her opening and didn't hesitate, "Then why don't you free them? They need respite and we need the rod they are protecting. Maybe we can help each other?". "Yes, I see in your mind the way to free this place: you are looking for this instrument on behalf of others, but you are not their ally and they want to kill you".
"Big surprise there", she couldn't help herself. "Take this part of the rod and unite it with the part already in possession of the creature. Use it only once with my blessing and then take it back here, to me.
My people need to know that I want to put an end to their services. The simple fact of reuniting the two halves of the rod will give them a spark of faith and if they are in my presence, that spark will be enough for me to have the power to destroy the artefact".
"I will use the rod to kill the Beholder and then I will return it to you. You have my word on this", the Painbearer bowed and took the powerful artefact from the altar behind the avatar, then guided her party outside.
Anomen was a bit pale, "That was the avatar of a forgotten God, weakened by the lack of faith...", he murmured, shaken, his long fingers touching the Holy Symbol of Helm at his neck.
"This will never happen to our Gods, Anomen", Margaret Dawn reassured him with a warm smile, "Our faith is strong and we will pass it onto the next generation, as is our duty". "The next generation…", he blushed slightly, his thoughts suddenly taking a different direction.
Outside the Temple, the first guardian greeted them with a sort of smirk, "Did you like the visit? Surely you…That…You have the artefact!
How is it possible?". "Your God wants to destroy it, so that all of you will be free from your burden. I will use it and then take it back here...". "No.
If you have it, that only means the God inside is even weaker than we thought. Nothing will change. You won't come back and we will never be free". Meg shrugged, "Suit yourself. Come, my friends, let's go and roast the big bad Beholder", she added, eliciting a chuckle from the party.