5th of Kythorn:
This morning I visited the AllFaith church to explain the situation at the temple of Velsharoon and ask for their help. Once they understood, they were willing to send a representative, Kerwin, to talk with someone at Velsharoon's temple.
Kerwin and I made our way to the temple of Velsharoon. We were greeted by Bethel, the woman in charge of the hospital.
"Hello. I'm Zira Townsend, a cleric of Kelemvor and this is Kerwin, a representative from the AllFaith church. We would like to talk to someone in charge," I said.
"None of the priests are around at the moment, so that puts me in charge. How can I help you?" Bethel said.
"Is there somewhere we can go to talk?" I asked.
"Sure thing," she said brightly. And then brought us to a small office off the hospital. Once we were all seated I explained about the necromancers and who the god Velsharoon really is.
She was so confused and told me, "No one here in the congregation knows about anything sinister happening. Except possibly the lesser priests who are often working at the temple. I will send someone to look for them."
"Thank you, but I don't think they'll be back if they know their superiors are dead. Speaking of which, my group and I put the necromancer bodies in your morgue. I would like to give them a proper burial," I said.
"That is very kind of you since they were your enemies. We would have insisted on a proper burial because everyone deserves a respectable burial after death has released them," she replied.
Listening to this woman talk about death and burials made me miss my days training to be a mortarch in Waterdeep.
My thoughts were interrupted when Kerwin spoke up, "That is all very nice, but I'd like to talk about why I came here. Zira here asked if we at the AllFaith church would help you keep things running. And we would also be willing to merge our two congregations."
"Thank you for the offer, but we are quite self-sufficient. I run the hospital and we have a board of directors that runs the rest of the church's affairs. As for the offer to merge our congregations, I don't think any of us would like that. We never worshiped Velsharoon, it was never a requirement for anyone outside the priesthood. What we have is a fellowship of people working together for the betterment of our community. I am, however, happy to change the name of our 'church'."
"Well, then it seems I am not needed here. Thank you for your time. And please feel free to reach out to us should you ever need assistance," Kerwin replied. He shook Bethel's hand and left us.
Bethel offered to give me a tour of the church's buildings. Which I eagerly accepted. While she was showing me around the morgue I thought of the connection I felt earlier and instinctively knew they would fit in with Kelemvor's followers.
So before I even stopped to think, I requested, "Would you be willing to dedicate your temple to Kelemvor? You don't have to worship him. Just like you didn't worship Velsharoon. But I just feel such a deep connection between what you do and what the mortarchs of Kelemvor do to care for the dead."
"I don't know…" she started.
"Let me show you how I prepare a body for burial. Then talk with your congregation and decide," I said.
"Very well," she replied.
Later that afternoon I returned to the morgue with several of the congregation and worked with them to prepare the necromancers' bodies for burial. I showed them what I knew about preparing a body for last rights. They were impressed and wanted to learn more. I offered to write to the head priestess of the church of Kelemvor in Waterdeep and request someone come to teach them. And to be of whatever other assistance they can. Again, that person would be there for support and to teach the skills of a mortarch.
I felt like I was home at the church's morgue while working among them. And when I left I felt so fulfilled and certain that the next day Bethel would tell me the congregation decided to dedicate their temple to Kelemvor.
I may have just created my own branch of the church of Kelemvor, temples dedicated to Kelemvor. And I hope that we can turn all temples of Velsharoon into temples dedicated to Kelemvor!
Z
I really struggled with writing this chapter and I don't know why. Maybe it's because this was an important chapter for Zira's fight against Velsharoon. Or maybe because the last two chapters were so long. Who knows.
Surprisingly or maybe not surprisingly, the writing did get a bit easier when I let the characters talk to each other and figure things out on their own.
I feel like it's still a bit rough, but I'm done trying to rewrite it. I may come back to it sometime, but for now, I just want to continue the story.