Re: [IC] Redhaven - a soldier's town
The House of Sun's Favor - Shrine Street
Though it is late, and dark, it is the oddly the best time to speak with a priest of Pelor, as the rites of the sun god must be performed while His face shows in the sky. Now that the sun has set, Pelor's faithful have the time to speak to those who wish their council.
Volsh and Farian find themselves there, bowls of fire on either side of the great door, highlighting the stone carvings of images from Pelor's teachings. Inside, the church has a high-vaulted ceiling and many skylights that must turn the place into a blaze of light during the day. Farian's holy symbol gets him immediate attention from the acolytes who are quietly discerning which parishioners are simply here to pray and contemplate from those needing aid.
"Brother, Father Valla will be pleased to see you and your companion," the acolyte says, bowing her head to Farian and beckoning them to come with her. They are led past those speaking with other priests, back into the private sanctuary. Father Valla is an older man of near sixty years, wearing the gold-embroidered robes of a High Priest, a golden holy symbol hanging around his neck. Though now thin, with a bald pate and neat white beard, a few scars attest that Father Valla's service to Pelor had not always been peaceful.
"Brother Farian, welcome and Sun's Favor to you. What brings you at this late hour?" he says warmly.
If Volsh and Farian wish, they can show Father Valla the blackened half-plate, the obsidian spear, and the golden crown with its black gems, as well as the regalia taken from the king's throne room. The old priest regards them for a long moment, murmuring prayers under his breath, hands moving in deliberate patterns as they glide over the items, not touching them.
Farian explains how they were brought out of a tomb of the ancient House of the Sun, and the state of the old king they put to rest.
"You have found wonders, both of you. The regalia... I recall the House of the Sun from the history books of the church. The king was also the high priest, and these things were blessed by the church at the beginning of each ruler's reign. They were considered relics, and they were lost." He touches the orb, scepter, and cloak reverently. "You have found a great lost treasure, Brother Farian. Now," he says more briskly, turning to the king's gear. "These have the potential for great things, and while they are not, strictly speaking, evil, one must have some caution in using them. The armor is enchanted to be stronger than it looks, and would even protect against the touch of ghosts, though paradoxically is also draws undead to the wearer. I expect that is a side effect of its long incarceration into the tomb. The spear is also enchanted to be more effective, and is unusually keen, though the wounds it causes would be bloody and tend to cause their victims to become crazed and focused on your death. Together they could make one a trouble magnet of the highest order.
"Now, the crown is a pretty case. It allows one to call down bolts of lightning, the skyfire we hold in esteem as Pelor's children, though in this case its long time in the tomb has made the call... somewhat darker. The lightning would come down black, and tend to call forth the dead where it struck. So while you might smite someone from above, you could find someone below answering the call unwillingly. I think, given time, this effect could be reverse, though it would take years. This thing would be better off in a vault, under a pool of holy water," Father Valla says, taking his hands away from the crown.