"The accursed outbreak? Thank Da-Somr, it did not occur here, although we had little found, our proximity to the lake, as deprived as it had been at the ti, allowed us to get through the blizzard sohow"
"Those poor people, they had left in hopes of a better life, we, at the frozen lake, did not dare try our chance elsewhere, in fact, as much as it is foul to admit, I was personally happy when many left from here, it ant that the resources from the lake would be split less…"
"When the accursed first appeared, I was just a little child, I didn't really understand that we weren't eating properly or anything… But I did see an accursed one when going hunting one ti- Their eyes, just like ours beneath the layer of frost, I could tell… Gives chills just thinking about it!"
"I wish those poor people aren't suffering as they wander the mountains, hopefully they are just shells… But I can't help but think otherwise, when and my sister were young, we would often wander too far and one ti, we saw an accursed at a pond, half of their body was trapped in the ice, we were scared senseless and my sister scread like she was being murdered, but through cry, I could swear that I heard the accursed speaking… The next ti I went, the ice was broken and the accursed was gone"
"The accursed! People say that they were cursed for cannibalism, even Sir Janus, may Da-Somr bless his soul, says so, but I think otherwise, the emaciated body that scour the snow are the lost spirits of those who starved, that's what I believe! You can see it on their faces, mangled as they may be, they are begging for salvation!"
"You talk to my brother? Don't listen to his stories of spirits, he was dropped on the head as a baby- However! I think that there is one spirit, a vengeful spirit in the mountains, we can hear his shouts and cries sotis, recently, he even scread and sobbed for days on end, I could hear the echoes… People will not ntion it if you ask about accursed, they think that he is sothing else… I personally think that he is an evil spirit who seeks to bring us down, believing us complicit in his own act of cannibalism! He has never done anything to us, but I just feel it in my bones…"
"You asked the two brothers next door? Don't say I said it, but they were linked at birth and their father just pulled them apart with naught but elbow grease, I fear that it is why they sotis grow delusional…"
"The one who screams? I saw him one ti, I doubt he is an accursed, this guy is big, strong, wears clothes to his size and is one cunning fellow, nothing like the accursed, they don't fear the cold, so why would one of theirs bother dressing himself up from head to toe? Anyways, you should ask the daughter of the couple across the lake about him, she knows best"
"The mountain man? I know he sounds and looks scary, but he isn't dangerous at all! One ti, I went a bit too far from the village as I had spotted so berries up on a nearby cliff, long story short, I fell and was dangling off the edge when he showed up and pulled up! He even bowed and kissed my hand afterward- What a gentleman! If I wasn't terrified of heights, I would dangle off a cliff to see him again!"
Alkayne rubbed his chin, the villagers seed mostly in accordance with Pope Janus on the story of how the accursed ca to be, none had pushed back or provided insight that challenged that notion, the only ones that said otherwise were two brothers that everyone deed a little insane to begin with.
Still, the minor lord was not convinced, he asked Jiji again from so clarification and she reiterated that it wasn't uncommon for to notice accursed or people being dumped into the mountains, yet, the frozen lake denizens all said the sa thing and weren't lying, Alkayne discredited the possibility that everyone was in on it and could sohow fool him without fail.
He had tried asking other questions, of the more embarrassing kind to test them and they would react normally too.
There Was only one thing left to do, go to the Grand Monastery.
"Let's go, Jiji" he said, the nun looking at him with a tired face.
"But it's morning"
"Noon was hours ago"
"Aww…"
After a but of convincing, her departed toward the monastery, which was not too far from the lake, constructed in rather dangerous place amidst the mountains nearby, one had to trek across a path flanked by deep ravines, extending his darkness awareness within, Alkayne could attest that this sort of fall would be damaging to most.
He could stop his fall thanks to his frigid winds and was dead already, so this was not a cause for worry.
"Urgh… I've always hated the path to get there, why did they have to build the monastery here? It's as unsafe as it gets…" Jiji clung to Alkayne like she couldn't walk on her own.
Indeed, not only was the path surrounded by a deep chasm, but so was the entire monastery itself, it was built upon a natural pillar of stone situated right in the center of the giant pit, a few other pillars of stone could be spotted here and there, but they would be capable of housing two people at most.
'That's an impressive igloo…'
Although there was stone, only compressed snow was used as a building material here, it seed like the small church had been an outlier, this magnificent and imnse architecture used nothing but the snow that fell constantly from the skies.
Much like an igloo, the inside was also surprisingly warm, protected from the freezing winds and protected by Da-Somr, the enormous space inside was heated.
Though despite the size, inside there were rather few people, nuns, priests and paladins were low in number.
All in all, the Grand Monastery felt very empty, large for no reason, the doors were majestic and tall, but only used by most normally sized and regular people.
"Who were you familiar with here?" asked Alkayne, the nun no longer holding onto him quite as closely, but still grasping on his hand.
"Well… Everybody, the one I knew best was Jarl! He's the one who said I should join the monastery, that I had a luminous and pure soul and would make Da-Somr most pleased" she said "He was a paladin that often ca to the village to check if everything was alright"
'Luminous and pure soul? He's not a great judge of people…'
A nearby nun turned and looked at them hearing that.
"Ah, Jiji! Good to see you alright after so long!" it was an older woman that walked with comically small steps.
"I am sorry however… But Jarl is no longer around" she said.
"How co? He couldn't have retired, he was barely any older than "
"He went missing in the mountains after deciding to grant repose to the accursed by himself…"
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