Death and History in the Black Temple - D-tier [job/solo]

Spoiler:

Lexi slipped through the streets, the sun just barely over the horizon. During her tour with the orphans, she had taken note of a large temple in the middle of the city and hoped to find out more about the history of this metropolis. As she got closer to the massive pyramid, she passed in awe at the black walls of the structure. The sheer size gave her a sense of wonder but as she neared the Black Temple, a sense of sadness came over her.

The sun was fully free of the horizon by the time she arrived at the entrance to the Black Temple, where she was greeted by a temple servant clad in a black robe to match the temple walls. When the servant offered her a tour of the structure, she agreed excitedly. She loved learning about all manner of things and she would not turn down the opportunity to find out more about this city that was so different from where she came from. As she followed the guide, she listened intently as she was told the history of Ramses Massri and how he had come to found the country. She was fascinated by the idea of worshipping several Gods and how each had their own “specialization.” It was like they had decided to split up the jobs of running the world to keep any one God from getting overworked. The idea amused her, to imagine celestial beings sitting around, deciding who would take which responsibility.


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She learned that the Black Temple was used as a burial place for all the great leaders of the country and how death rites were performed. The difference in death rites were hugely different from her area. When any of her tribe had died, they had spent several days celebrating the person’s life before giving them back to the earth that they had come from. Keeping the dead confined in stone and metal seemed almost cruel to her and she wondered to herself how one could return to the great cycle with their body being shut into this place, but she did not ask the servant for fear of giving offense to their traditions.

She gentle ran her fingers over the engravings on the walls, the black stone featuring the ancient language the country had been founded on, but quickly removed her touch when the guide gave her a disproving look. She gave a sheepish look of apology before following once again, the guide showing her several burial sites and telling her who was interred there along with a history of what they had done and why they were important to the country.

As they neared the center of the temple, she heard a mighty roar and gave the guide a look of confusion.

“The priests here offer up animal sacrifices to the Gods. The offering pleases the Gods and when a God is appeased, they will share their blessing with us. Often, the sacrifice is offered up to beg of the Gods to guide our dead to the next realm and to offer our most honored dead protection and glory in their afterlife.”

Lexi shuddered slightly at the idea but again made no comment. These customs were so very odd to her. What use would these Gods find of some poor, innocently slaughtered animal? If they were truly so powerful, surely they could do without meaningless killings. But it was not her business to judge. Surely these people would find her own beliefs quite unusual or barbaric. She turned down the opportunity to witness a slaughter, knowing she would be unable to keep from crying out at the pointless killing. While she had no problem hunting, it was for food and goods, not to appease some celestial being.

The guide led her back through more halls, finishing up the history lesson with practiced finesse and she found herself back at the entrance. She offered the guide her thanks and a small amount of money as a show of appreciation for the time she had taken from the guide’s day. The tour had been very information and she felt she had a better understanding of the people in this region. With a last glance back at the Black Temple, she turned her feet for the gardens the orphan’s had shown her, eager to reconnect with a touch of nature after being surrounded by death and sacrifice.


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[exit]