Jude Ellstar - 2. The Change

1. The Homecoming

Small dust plumes launched into the hot air with every footstep she made. The road more used to carts and wagons these days than the occasional weary traveller. The sun was finally dropping onto the horizon, sending out long streaks of blood-red onto the surrounding countryside. The traveller paused to take stock of her surroundings, taking a deep breath through her nose, sampling the scents of the grass and hills around her as she passed through the south of Far Galath. Seeing the mountains protecting the Plateau of Morr to the south, their peaks thrusting towards the sky in a silent challenge. There was also the tickle of spice and horse shit. She was close to home. It had been quite some time since she’d returned to the city and to her temple, too long perhaps. Adjusting her heavy pack, she trudged on along the road towards the yawning gates set in the city wall, wondering what to do first, eat or bathe.
She slowed her pace as she approached. There was a motley queue formed at the gate, maybe eight or nine deep, all Human she noticed.
“A queue, here?” She thought. That deep seated adventurer’s second sense tingled that something was up. “Paranoid? Probably.” she smiled to herself. She had been to many places and seen many things over the last few years. Things that just couldn’t be unseen or forgotten and maybe she had forgotten how to relax or trust. She shook off the feeling and cast her eyes over the crowd in front of her. Six were definitely traders, their hand carts and wagons full of tarpaulin covered goods. She could see grain, fruit and vegetables along with one cart almost overflowing with furniture. Usual fare for the season, and little noteworthy. The final three, obviously traveling together, were three men, all dressed in leather armour and carrying various weapons at their side. All hooded and cloaked. Just another bunch of would-be adventurers looking for work, she surmised.
What was strange was the quad of guards at the gate, all alert and moving efficiently around the carts, asking questions and taking notes on tally boards. Gone was the tired and bored trooper, posted at the gate to be ready if they were ever needed, from her last visit. The four heavily armed guards had reached the group of leather-clad friends. The guards’ steel armour gleaming, the holy symbol of The One emblazoned on their chest plates and faces mostly hidden behind the silvered face plates of their helms. Since when had the temple of The One been in charge of city security?
“Hail travellers! Names, occupations and why you wish to enter the city?” One asked. She guessed he was the officer due the white feather plume cresting his cap. His voice was the rusty, gravel deep only created in an army parade ground. These weren’t normal city guards but more likely regular soldiers. “What on the Material was going on?”, her inner calm slowly being eroded to a buzzing in her ears.
Without any real conscious thought she closed her eyes and whispered a prayer for guidance to her god. She opened her eyes and looked at the scene again with her new found perception. Watching the movement of the travellers, the tones of the guards and the walls beyond, searching for anything that could explain the feeling of unease she had. Nothing.
The oldest of the three adventurers spoke up, his brown, scraggy beard had a little grey in it but he was obviously hale and fit at a firm six feet high and well-muscled with it. He pointed to each in turn.
“Burton, Manfred and myself, Yannis, all from Gundara sir. Lookin’ for work in this fine city”, his voice a lilting, mellow with a hint of country accent, probably from his original birth-place. The details streaming into her but fading as her cantrip faded.
“What line of work exactly?”, the office snapped.
“We’re seasoned fighters sir, we ‘ave experience of workin’ security in taverns, bars and brothels as well as bodyguard duties. Not above a bit o’ questing also, should the city people require.”
“Any references or papers of repute?”, the officer was now focusing hard on Yannis, his eyes piercing through the silver metal work.
“Of course, sir.” Yannis opened his pack and produced a sheaf of velum parchment and handed it over.
The officer, glanced at his troops and they marched over, quickly surrounding the three. He then leafed through the documents, tutting, sighing and raising an eyebrow at various pages.
“It says here that you worked for Lady Helen of Grandlake, wasn’t she recently assassinated?”
“Yes, sir erm…”, Yannis clearly looked uncomfortable. “That why, we’re er, erm, lookin’ for work again. But, please! She didn’t die on our watch!”
The officer raised his tally board and made a mark. He pulled a piece of paper from his satchel and scribbled the three names on it before handing it to Yannis, along with the letters of recommendation.
“This pass is good for a week. Find work before it expires or leave. Move along.”
The three failed bodyguards visibly relaxed and walked through the high gate, into the bustling city beyond. Like everyone, they hurried under the spiked portcullis with that irrational fear that it was going to come crashing down, impaling them. She smiled, as she did the same every time she returned under it.
The officer turned his gaze to her. His eyes travelled from her boots to her face, taking in the details. She was impressed. He hadn’t lingered at various points, like most men did.
“Hail Traveller, name, occupation and why you wish to enter the city? And please lower your hood and remove your cloak.”
“Jude, Cleric of the Church of Lathander and this is my home, although I have not been here in many years.” She pulled her hood back revealing jet-black curls beneath, her face pale, despite the obvious weathering. Her facial features were thin and delicate, almost elfin but she was definitely Human. Standing shy of six feet with broad shoulders, she made an imposing silhouette against the setting sun.
Opening the cloak, her dusty armour showed the Road and Sun symbol of her faith etched into the epaulettes. And a sizeable mace hung at her side. She shucked off her pack and dropped it to the floor. Her kite shield, strapped to the back, clanging against the cobbled road.
“Apologies ma’am, but I have to ask, where have you been, for what purpose and why return now”.
The officer had clearly become more interested in her once he heard her profession and even more so when he saw the symbol.
“Since when has the temple militia of The One been so interested in the comings and goings of travellers? “, she asked, slightly irritated by his question. She could feel her temper flaring, the one that got her into so much trouble. “And I am not a ma’am. You may address me as Mother, or highpriestess as befits my rank. My reasons for going and returning are my own sir!”
Unphased, the officer looked into Jude’s eyes and repeated “Sorry Mother, but I have to ask.”. Out of the corner of her eyes, Jude could see the three troopers moving to surround her from behind. This had escalated quickly and all thoughts of a soothing bath or tavern meal had evaporated.
She closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. “Officer, I have been away on temple business, delivering respite and healing after plague and war to the north. Both of which have now quiesced. I have been away for nigh on four years, no, nearer five I guess.”
“You guess? “The officer’s gaze hardened further, not liking the tone or attitude of this clearly pissed off traveller. He was used to deference and respect and he had to admit a little more fear from those he questioned, she was definitely not showing any of those three. He felt a muscle under his left eye start to tick.
“Five years.” She spat the words out from closed teeth. “And I see attitudes towards the holy orders not of The One have changed! Not for the better anyway!”
“I am here to ask questions, and you are here to answer them or you will not be permitted into the city.” He paused and smiled, a shark’s smile “Mother”.
The officer pulled out a pass paper from his satchel, without breaking eye contact and passed it to Jude. “Get this counter signed by your Temple as soon as possible, you’ll need it.”
Jude left the officer holding out the pass as she picked up her pack and shrugged it onto her shoulders, taking her time to reset the line of her cloak. She then looked in the officer’s eyes and took the pass.
“Thank you for your cooperation”, he said, meaning anything but.
“Fuck you.” She replied with a brilliant smile and then walked, quickly, under the portcullis.

2. The Meeting

Entering the outer city was both familiar and alien all at once. So much had changed, so much hadn’t. The smells of roasting meat, chimney smoke along with sweat and animal dung was heavy in the air, as it always had. The main difference was in the populace, the way they hurried about their tasks. Heads were down and little chatter could be heard as she walked along the main street towards the temple quarter. Normally at each corner there would be groups of folks discussing the rumour of the day, old men holding court on porches or drunks staggering to or from the nearest tavern. The lamplighters had been at work and, as the last vestiges of the sun disappeared, the streets took on a different aspect. Shadows became deeper, every doorway became a monster’s maw and shadows flickered behind those heading home in a most disquieting way.
Not the largest city in Chark, but it contained more people than it should, as was always the way. The poor crowded to wherever there was a hint of riches or even just rumours of well-paid work. Alms was a way of life in the Theocracy, but the Supreme Council made sure that those that could work did and those that couldn’t, well, they were sent elsewhere. It had always troubled her and now feeling the sense of fear in the air, she was further troubled. Militia of The One at the gate and now this miserable sense of foreboding on the streets. Things had definitely changed. She barely recognised places that should be etched on her memory. Had it really been that long?
The street ended in front of a gated archway that led to the Temple District. The gate was open but yet another guard stood to attention blocking the path through. Jude sighed and stepped up to the man, noting as she did that he was a good foot shorter than her. That usually made matters worse.
“Halt and state your business!” the diminutive soldier barked. His deep voice was completely unexpected and a small giggle escaped her mouth before she could rein it in. The guard’s expression hardened and his hand gripped his spear ever more firmly.
Jude quickly got herself under control. “Good Sir, I am returning to the Temple of Lathander as a Cleric of said Church”.
“Very good Mother, proceed”, the guard said in clipped tones. Unlike the previous officer, this guard’s gaze did linger as he looked her up and down. His lack of respect for her position made quite clear. She regretted her loss of control, but somehow she got the feeling that this lack of respect came more from the focus of her faith and not from her herself. Pieces were falling together in a most frustrating way.
The temple of Lathander was close to the outer city and soon loomed out of the dark, as no lamps had been lit outside. She saw a single candle lit in each window of the temple. The bare minimum for Lathander, God of Birth and Renewal. It should have been a blazing beacon to those needing succour or healing. Her days as an acolyte of the temple had taught her many useful skills, including midwifery, those were simpler days. That was before her calling to serve her god in a more direct way. Where there had always been the constant sound of wailing babes, now there was only silence.
Jude walked up the steps to the great wooden door and paused. She had spent so much of life here, especially on these stone steps, scrubbing at them day in and day out. The blackened iron of the studs in the wood of the door to the faintest of creaks as she pushed, felt comfortable, homely. True nostalgia hit her with a force unlike any other as she stepped into the ante-chambre. The smell of wood polish, liniment and the needy caused a rush of memories to crash into her mind. This was the first time that she had felt anything close to peace for a very long time. It was intoxicating.
She walked further into the gloom of the prayer chamber, her footsteps echoing and getting lost in the vaulted ceilings of the empty room. Its pews forming orderly rows that seemed in juxtaposition to the neutrality of Lathander’s mission. Childbirth, healing, these things heeded no way of life whether king, priest, thief or assassin. You are all at the beck and call of the basic human need to live and procreate.
As she approached the altar, she bowed her head and offered a prayer, asking for clarity and direction. Someone cleared their throat from the left.
Jude’s concentration on the prayer caused her to jump. “Fuck me!” she exclaimed. She heard a deep sigh and she whirled to face the gloom of the pew next to her. A vague outline just discernible. She hadn’t realised that her mace was in her hand and raised ready to attack.
“You’ve not got rid of that terrible habit yet then Jude?”, a male voice, sonorous and calm.
“The mace or my swearing, Father?” She asked.
“Both I suppose, but I did mean the swearing. Welcome home Jude”. He stood and walked quickly to Jude and embraced her in what quickly became an awkward hug. Her pack, weaponry and shield all conspiring to get in the way. But she returned the hug willingly and warmly. Father Antillius, her mentor and master.
“We’ve missed you so much here and it’s been such a long time. There is so much to tell you but come, let us head to my rooms. I have food and wine. Two things I doubt you’ve lost any appetite for.”
“Food is more optional than wine these days father”, she smiled at the old man as he shuffled into the light. His bald head with its wisps of grey hair shone slightly each time he passed a candle. His slow but firm steps leading her towards a side door. His robes, seemed to hang more loosely than they had. It had been a difficult five years here too, it seemed.
“We have so few that hear the calling for Lathander these days Jude, in fact you were the last to come forward and embrace the divine.”
“What? But there were so many here, priests, acolytes, hanger-ons. What happened Father?”
“Your irreverence was never your best feature Jude! Hanger-ons! We needed every copper piece to help fund our mission here. Those people, may have been from the richest families forced into the priesthood but we needed them”
“Who said I was referring to them?” Jude asked innocently, raising a perfect black eyebrow over her deep brown eye. Her straight face soon cracked into a grin at the old man’s uncomfortable blustering.
“I am serious Jude! It isn’t safe here in the city any more, especially for you!” His firm words brought Jude up short and she sobered her expression quickly. “Come, let us sit and eat. Or drink as you see fit.”, he finished.
“Tell me everything” she said as she poured wine from an old green bottle. The deep red liquid sloshed into the glasses, causing the reflected candlelight to take on a sinister blood-coloured hue against the while plaster walls. Sitting down, she listened to the tale.
“It started not soon after you left, nothing bad, just a change. The Church of The One began to grow even more powerful, and attracted more and more worshippers. It began to dominate the Supreme Council. The One is quite an enigmatic god to follow and the followers are prone to secrecy and distrust of those not of their denomination. There was no change in the laws as such, but our beloved theocracy has had its scales tipped in one direction. No one dares speak The One’s name or depict his image and this has led to a number of heresy trials.”
“Heresy! But surely that is in direct conflict with our belief system here in Chark!” Jude outraged.
“This isn’t about this one city, but all of Chark. Clerics of divine calling are being called into tribunals and questioned over their faith and how they can justify worshipping any god but The One. It is not a crime to do so, but it seems we’re all being classed as lower castes in The Theocracy. Heresy has been called on a few that refuse to subjugate to the pressure of a higher god. I don’t know how to tell you Jude but, in your absence, your name is on such a list.”
“But I haven’t even been here!” getting ever further worked up, Jude’s pale cheeks had taken on a rosy tint.
“Irrelevant, you are far too powerful to have worshipping a rival doctrine. The Church of the One is neither good nor evil, but that doesn’t mean certain people high up can’t be either.”
Jude slumped back into her chair and took a large gulp of the wine, letting the slightly acidic burn comfort her raging anger. “What the actual fuck!” was the only line to escape her mouth. With her knowledge and wisdom, there should be a thousand more appropriate quotes or pithy sayings, but not today, not now.
“You have to leave and now” the old man looked ever more tired with every sentence he spoke. His face a grey to match the remainder of his hair. “It just isn’t safe here for you anymore”.
“Go where? This is my home! I have literally just arrived and have not had a chance to piss yet, let alone bathe or eat.” She swigged at her wine, feeling the warmth grow in her empty stomach.
“Go to the Rankan Empire, you are unknown there and I have more than a few contacts in the Church of Lathander. You can continue to serve our god there; this is your destiny.”
Jude raised an eyebrow again at his use of destiny. Once a priest always a priest.
Father Antillius stood and pointed to her pack. “Seems you are already packed and ready to go.” A faint smile reaching his eyes. He handed her a sealed envelope.
“Here are the names and directions you’ll need, along with a letter of credit to help you buy what you need when you arrive. Oh, and Jude, do try not to swear so much.”