With a torch in hand, Zalerian's exploration of the undercrypt helped him understand what happened at the Monastery of Saint Vardishal. Among the bones, he found that several of them displayed signs of being killed in battle. The fallen defenders of the monastery wore faint orange robes but there was nothing that identified what their attackers were. With little else to do, Zalerian searched through the bones of the attackers, claiming several items that stood out, such as a finely crafted dagger and mace along with a brooch. He imagined that there was more treasure within the monastery that the adventurers could claim, and while they wouldn't be able to sell their loot until their work in Kelmarane was done, they could divide any useful or magical items among them.
With what few items Zalerian found packed away into his backpack for safekeeping, he made his way upstairs. When he arrived back at the entrance to Vardishal's shrine, he quickly noticed Teshak had made his way into the room. Zalerian wasn't quiet with leaving the undercrypt yet Teshak remained focused on the depictions of Saint Vardishal across the wall. The sorcerer tilted his head as his eyes scanned the walls, and then, he nodded to himself. Zalerian looked down to notice that he still held Tempest tightly.
"Teshak," Zalerian greeted, his voice tense.
"Zalerian," Teshak said, keeping his gaze focused on the wall.
"What are you up to?"
"Thinking."
"Thinking?" Zalerian blinked in confusion. "Thinking about what?"
Teshak remained silent for several seconds, touching his free hand against one of the golden drawings of Saint Vardishal. Once again, Zalerian found himself worried for the sorcerer but wasn't sure what he could do.
"If you find a spare dagger sheath, could you give it to me?" Teshak asked, finally turning to face Zalerian. "I can't keep Tempest out like this all the time or people might think I'm looking for a fight."
"I'll look for one," Zalerian nodded. "Do you mind if I leave some items I found in the undercrypt with you? I think they may be magical with how well they are after so many years."
"Certainly," Teshak said. "I can try to find out if they are magic."
"Excellent," Zalerian reached into his backpack to leave what he found with Teshak. "So, how are you feeling after everything?"
"I'm a little sore from combat but I think I'll be in good shape tomorrow," Teshak told Zalerian. "Why do you ask?"
Zalerian hesitated for a moment before speaking up."I just wanted to check in with you. I'll set the items down here for you to look through at your own time."
"Right. If you find anything else you think might be magical, feel free to bring whatever it is to me."
"Of course. I'll also let you know when the rest of the caravan arrives."
"Thank you," Teshak said, and with a final nod, turned back to face the wall.
Zalerian made his way out of the room, leaving Teshak to think about whatever was on his mind. He still wasn't sure what happened to Teshak but understood that there was still some part of the sorcerer left after being engulfed by the mold. Zalerian trusted that Teshak would stick with the group and help however he could to free Kelmarane despite how strange he acted. If only Zalerian could find out what happened to Teshak, he might be able to find a way to help his friend.
An idea came to Zalerian's mind. It was possible that the priests had studied whatever they were working on in the undercrypt. He didn't feel safe enough going to the laboratory by himself in case there were more dangerous monsters waiting to ambush someone but there was another place in the monastery that might hold records of such experiments. There weren't a lot of books that survived the passage of time in the library but it was possible that there was a clue as to what had happened to Teshak. With no other idea in mind, Zalerian made his way toward the library.
When Zalerian arrived at the hallway next to the library, he spotted Melkia dragging away the baboon corpses. He waved at her with a smile, appreciative of her work to clear out the monastery of the fallen, and made his way into the library. Zalerian spent the next several minutes trying to find a book that could tell him what happened to Teshak and found that many of the surviving tomes crumbled under his touch. There was only one book that was preserved enough to read, and while Zalerian didn't think he would find his answers about Teshak by reading Courts of Stone and Flame, he was so interested in how the book survived that he started to flip through the pages to see what it was about.
Zalerian skimmed through the tome and was surprised to find that it covered genies and the elemental planes. It seemed strange for a monastery dedicated to Sarenrae to have a book about the subject. He had heard that genies, although rare, could be found in Katapesh and preferred to keep to themselves. He stopped flipping through the pages when he saw an illustration of five genies each wielding their own unique weapon: a greataxe, a scimitar, a dagger, a quarterstaff, and a flail. The drawing seemed familiar to Zalerian, and after some thought, he gasped in realization and rushed out of the library and into the courtyard to find the engraving of Saint Vardishal and his companions.
As he suspected, the drawing in the book matched up to what survived of the engraving. Zalerian glanced back down at the book and started to read the passage associated with the illustration.
The Templars of the Five Winds were genie heroes that roamed the mortal world during antiquity. They each had their own unique role to play as they faced off against the cults of Rovagug. Kardswann, wielding Cyclone, and Zayifid, wielding Zephyr, served as scouts for the Templar. Their information allowed for Vardishal, wielding Tempest, and Pazhvann, wielding Maelstrom, to come up with a battle plan for the forces they commanded. Finally, Davashuum, wielding Gale, served as the group's executioner that targeted the leaders of the enemies fought.
Zalerian blinked twice and reread the paragraph. It couldn't have been a coincidence that one of the Templars of the Five Winds bore the same name as the saint the monastery was named after. They had to be one and the same. This changed everything, especially considering that the illustration in the book he carried depicted Vardishal holding a dagger. Teshak had called the dagger he found Tempest, and given his strange behavior, Zalerian was starting to believe that the sorcerer's condition could be connected to the magic of the Templars of the Five Winds. He had more research to do and he needed to share his discovery with someone.
There was only one person that came to Zalerian's mind. His feelings for Emra may have played a part in deciding on her but he reasoned that she would be the most interested in learning about Vardishal and the connection that Teshak had with Tempest. Aside from himself, she was the most interested in learning the mystery of Saint Vardishal and he may have found the clue to solve their mysteries. With his book in hand, Zalerian made his way away from the engraving and toward the nave, hoping to find Emra at the monastery's chapel.
Zalerian climbed up the stairs leading into the chapel to see that Emra had made excellent progress toward restoring the monastery. The corpses of the fallen pugwampis had been covered by the tarp they lived in and the chandelier had been lowered to the ground so that she could remove the grisly display. The marble benches that were still intact had been moved to their proper seating while the ones that were broken had been put off the side for now. Emra was currently cleaning the altar, making use of her bardic magic to clean the stone surface. There was still plenty of work to be done around the monastery but Zalerian was impressed with what progress Emra had made. He would have to find time to help her with the rest of the monastery when he could and he approached her with a wave.
"The chapel is looking a lot better now," Zalerian said with a smile.
"Thank you," Emra smiled back. "It's a lot of hard work but I'll have plenty of time to finish up whenever we're not busy fighting."
"I apologize for distracting you ahead of time but I have something important to show you," Zalerian told Emra and offered her Courts of Stone and Flame. "Here. Read this and see for yourself what I've found in the library.."
Emra took the book from Zalerian and read through the page with the illustration of the Templars of the Five Winds. Her eyes went wide and she gasped when she read the truth about Saint Vardishal. She offered the book back to Zalerian who took it and closed it.
"This is an incredible discovery," Emra said in awe. "If Saint Vardishal is the same Vardishal that was a part of the Templars of the Five Winds, it would explain why he's such a mystery."
"I'll continue to read Courts of Stone and Flame to see if there's more information about the Templars of the Five Winds but what we know now may be enough to learn about what happened to Teshak," Zalerian said. "Before I searched the library, I found him in the shrine in the room that led to the undercrypt as if he was trying to learn more about Vardishal."
"Where are you going with this?" Emra asked, curious about what idea Zalerian had.
"Teshak's been acting strangely since that fight in the undercrypt and he knew where to find Tempest, which so happens to be Vardishal's old weapon," Zalerian explained. "Could Teshak be possessed by Vardishal?"
"That… you may be onto something," Emra nodded along with the explanation. "It's not a complete possession since he's trying to learn more about Vardishal but it would explain why he's acting so strange."
"We did find proof that there was once a ghost that haunted the monastery," Zalerian quickly added. "If that spirit was Vardishal, It could be possible that the priest wasn't able to force it out like he thought he did."
"That would make sense," Emra said and frowned. "I don't know what we're supposed to do if this is all true. We're not powerful enough to help Teshak if he is possessed and I'm not sure what will happen if we let him know that's what we think happened to him."
"There might not be anything we can do for Teshak right now," Zalerian admitted with a sigh. "At the very least, if he is possessed, it's done little to stop him from wanting to help us. This is all a theory to begin with so we might want to hold off on telling anyone until we know for sure."
"That's a good point. Do you think that we can find anything else in the monastery that could tell us more about what happened?"
"I can keep looking," Zalerian offered. "I'm not sure what I'll find but I can work on my own. I don't want to keep you from your religious work."
Emra smiled widely. "I appreciate that. Thank you, and please, be sure to keep me updated on what you find."
"I promise that I will."
With that, Zalerian bowed and turned around to continue searching the monastery. Almah and the rest of the caravan would be arriving at the Monastery of Saint Vardishal soon, and by then, it would become more difficult to search for clues. He would have to be quick to find more answers on who Vardishal is and what happened to Teshak.
Zalerian only had minutes to search the monastery before Almah returned with the caravan. He had managed to scavenge a few more items to have Teshak look over before having to be pulled away to help the mercenaries clear out living spaces in the monastery. Belash and Arguk joined in the work, having not run into any trouble on their way back to the Sultan's Claw. Zalerian was glad to have his friends back even though he was disappointed that he wasn't able to find any other clues on what happened to Teshak.
The other mercenaries in the group grumbled about having to stay in the room where the stirges had fought, having missed out on a chance to claim one of the better rooms in the monastery. Almah and Garavel claimed the library to stay in with their guards staying in the room next door. Father Zastoran claimed the laboratory in the undercrypt for his own work and was eager to go over the surviving notes while Dashki claimed the shrine that led into the undercrypt for his personal quarters. The camel drivers stayed in the kitchen, doing what they could to make hearty meals for the caravan with the resources there.
Garavel offered Zalerian and the rest of the specialists team the dormitory they cleared of the spider. No one had any complaints, thankful for the roof over their heads. Zalerian noted that they were also close by to Almah in case of a potential attack to keep her safe. He claimed his own bunk and set aside his backpack. After a long day of fighting, searching, and cleaning, he was ready to get some sleep.
Before the adventurers went to rest, Teshak revealed that some of the items they found were magical and explained what each one did. There wasn't a lot of debate between the group over who claimed what. Zalerian was content with his new ring that would slow him down if he fell down, which he was sure would be useful. Emra claimed a set of chimes that would unlock closed doors, Belash had a brooch fastened to his armor that could protect him from certain spells, and Melkia settled for a more deadly dagger. Arguk was offered a magical mace but he decided to have it be sold later on instead while Teshak had found a sheath to carry Tempest in.
With the matter of magical items settled for the night, the adventurers took to their beds to sleep. Zalerian rested on his bed and set Courts of Stone and Flame in his backpack. He was determined to find the truth of what happened to the Templars of the Five Winds on his own time. Tomorrow, he and his companions would begin the effort to take Kelmarane back for Katapesh, and despite the mysteries of the Monastery of Saint Vardishal, he was ready to play his part in the fights ahead.
A/N: Next up, the adventurers go to Kelmarane.
Until next time.