galvarelli/on-the-way-to-the-temple-2.txt

Kral lined up with the rest of the Guard, waiting to head to the Temple, skin burning with anger.
Calvin's milquetoast attitude to his parents, and to all the animals like them.
Self-congratulatory, masturbatory speeches, seemingly every day, about helping refugees come to Galvarelli.
But at the end of the day, political expedience would always win against actual progress.
He didn't get anything for his people by calling Mountberg, but at least he'd seen Calvin for what he was.

Omig and Jod were working near the end of their hall in their language.
The door at the end of the hall that the loop had been in was covered in some red paste, and Jod was drawing intricate symbols on it.
The Mountberg dwarf was watching intently, while Chief and Kab watched him in turn.
Kral had hoped to try to catch Omig's eye, but she was either too busy to notice or was actively trying to avoid making eye contact.
Another dwarf, one of the attendants who'd stayed with them in the guest quarters, walked over to Chief and had a short conversation with him, before leaving.

After a while, Jod seemed to complete his drawing.
Omig walked up to the door, and touched it for a moment, like she had done earlier.
She furrowed her brow, and seemed to grit her teeth.
As with earlier, she responded to some invisible trigger, pulling back her finger.

Jod opened the door, and immediately air rushed out.
On the other side seemed to be some particularly dark and dingy cave.
Chief and Kab lit flame torches, Chief passing his back to Hermann for the yaks.

The fire seemed unreliable, Kral thought.
The yaks had equipped emergency electric torches as part of their travel kit, and Kral hoped the dwarves had something similar.
Calvin asked something about their path, and Kab answered with some description of a transitional zone, but Kral couldn't quite catch the details.

The group filed through the door, Chief and Kab first, followed by Omig, Jod and the Mountberg dwarf.
After that, Calvin was followed by Hermann, who led the Guard through as well.

Kral passed through into the cavern, and was struck by how severe the sense of staleness was in the air.
He fell into the routine of their march, and let himself start to drop the anger he felt at Calvin.
The flame-lit cavern, with its unadorned walls, seemed to flicker around Kral's consciousness, as if it challenged his notion of reality itself.

Sooner than Kral expected, they came to the end of the passage.
A vast door stood before them, stone and iron, intricately carved with dwarf imagery that Kral didn't recognise, with a large central panel left smooth.
The Mountberg dwarf was talking to Jod, animatedly but in hushed tones.
Jod wore an annoyed expression on his face, and Chief stepped in to intervene, joining Jod's side by the looks of it.
But eventually the Mountberg dwarf threw up his arms, seemingly conceding whatever argument they had.

Jod began smearing the red paste across the uncarved, flat portion of the door, which Kral now thought could be some sort of clay, across the door.
As earlier, he began to draw some sort of glyphs into it, and Omig touched the door to use her dwarf magic.

They opened the door, and as they did the air rushed out of the chamber, outwards.
Chief led them forward, and Kral felt an immediate refreshing cool, fresh air.

―The Temple is higher altitude, Omig said idly, to the group.

That explained how much better it felt, Kral thought.
They emerged in a massive room, at least forty feet high, and very long.
The walls were lined with massive stone columns, the rest open, showing that the hall was surprisingly above ground.
And, as Omig said, Kral could see that they were surrounded by mountains, almost gleaming in the bright late-morning light.
They faced out, the mountain they were currently on largely behind them.
Jod looked very uncomfortable, casting glances at the open air to the left and right.
The Mountberg dwarf was, if anything, affected even worse, trying to crouch down to feel as enclosed as possible, Kral thought.

A dwarf dressed in dark red and green, almost the colours of deep rubies and emerald was waiting for them a bit further ahead.
Kral could only assume they were some kind of ceremonial robes, from the way they were studded through with stones.
Which now made him wonder if the robes also had actual rubies and emeralds.

―Welcome, all.
	Chartkeeper Cruimo of Mountberg, Chief Aoeuoie of Westgate, the Temple welcomes you and your people.
	Please come inside, where you might be more comfortable.

Kral caught Vaughan mouthing "Aoeuoie?" to Calvin.
Rubydwarf began to walk back towards the door they'd emerged from, where a handful of channels had been cut into the mountain.
The Mountberg dwarf, Cruimo apparently, began to follow, along with Calvin and the rest of the group.
However, Rubydwarf stopped the yaks.
―Wait here, a moment.
	This is merely a place to help acclimate the Dwarrowfolk to the Temple.
	I shall return shortly.
The dwarves left, entering the largest central channel, leaving the Guard with Calvin and Vaughan.
Calvin walked over to open air, to look out over the mountains.

Hermann walked over to Kral, and pulled him aside.
―Vaughan filled me on what happened.
	I'm sure you don't need me to tell you it was a mistake, right?

Kral felt the anger that had built up inside him start to melt into shame.

―No, I don't.
	I don't, sir, he corrected hastily. It was still tough to treat Hermann as anything but a friend.

―Summarise your conversation with the dwarf woman, if you could.
	I want to at least hear what you actually said.

Kral told him about her surprising him by the door, and their conversation.

―For what it's worth Kral, I don't think we can say it was your fault that she offered to send the message.
	Not your fault either that the Mountberg dwarf that did show up is a potential problem.
	If it had turned out to help us, I'm sure we'd have ignored the indiscretion.
	Just keep in mind, we're hear as guards for the President, not to go rogue.
	Got it?

Kral felt his face and chest flush with shame at being dressed down.
By Hermann of all people, too.

―Yeah, I got it. Sir.

―I think you've probably been punished enough, with Calvin already talking to you.
	I probably can't do nothing, but I'm happy enough just giving you the midnight watch if we end up sleeping here.
	Cool?

Kral nodded.
It was probably to be expected that some punishment would come, and staying up late doing nothing was hardly arduous.

―Good, good.
	And again, sorry to have to do this.
	I know you meant well, it's just that Vaughan said Calvin didn't enjoy it.

Kral returned to the group, which had largely fallen out of a strict formation.
A few were sitting on the floor, so he followed suit.

Hermann was probably actually sorry about chewing him out, Kral thought.
That was particularly annoying.
Hermann had gotten his promotion first, but that wasn't because he was better than Kral.
He actually pitied Kral.
Kral wanted to scream at him that it had been no mistake, that he wanted to watch the Hierarchy burn, but he caught himself.
No point in actually seeking out punishment he didn't deserve.

After running through the conversation alternatingly angry and shameful, Rubydwarf returned, alone.

―Ah, I thought you might still be here!
	Well, let's find out where you should go.

Kral bristled.
The little dwarf had been the one to tell them to stay here, right?
Rubydwarf walked over to Calvin by the side of the room, and started to talk quietly.
He didn't seem to mind the open air or the elevation, oddly enough.
Although, as Kral thought, it wouldn't be particularly good to have an attendant at this Temple if he couldn't stand this entrance room.

Only a couple moments later, Rubydwarf was returning, with Calvin behind them.

―Come now, we will go to Caprina Zeuit at once so you may discuss your case with her.
	Don't dawdle, she hates to be kept waiting.

―Is she expecting us? Vaughan asked.

―We are all of us just waiting for the next things in our life to come our way, no?
	She'll be waiting for something, and it's not really any of our concerns to wonder what that something is.

The dwarf was already walking in the same passageway he'd taken the other dwarves, but he immediately turned to a cramped staircase.
Cramped for Kral, at least.
Rubydwarf had no problems with it.

―What is your name, if I may ask? Calvin asked.

―Oh I am called so many things.
	I am a Zuuri here at this Temple, high priest, so that is what most call me.
	But Caprina Zeuit calls me Speaker.
	I suppose my parents were the first to call me anything, and they called me Paias.

Kral wanted to throw Rubydwarf down the stairs they'd climbed.

After a mercifully silent remainder of the long climb, they reached the top of the staircase, followed a small channel back out of the mountain, where they reached a somewhat smaller room.
This seemed to be a foyer of sorts, with hallways branching off, lined with rooms.
A small staircase led to a second floor above, which Rubydwarf was pointing out to Calvin in a quiet, hushed conversation.

―All of you, we will let your leader talk to Caprina Zeuit alone.
	He says you all wish to stay here tonight.
	There are many rooms here, suitable for yaks I assume.
	Help yourself.

Rubydwarf left down the way they'd come, leaving the rest of the yaks to fend for themselves.
Hermann and Vaughan went down two of the hallways, and Kral started down a third, the one furthest to the left.
The first door Kral opened was very cramped, dark and bare, similar to the dwarf rooms they'd stayed in.
The next few seemed like dwarf rooms as well, but eventually he came to a slightly differently shaped door on the left, which led to another hallway hidden behind the dwarf rooms.
This hallway, which should have run all the back to the foyer, were it not for the inconveniently placed wall, had doors along the left side.
The rooms there were large, easily large enough for a yak to stay comfortably, and, surprisingly, had a slightly sloped grassy section that would make for a very comfortable sleeping spot.
On the far side, the top half of the wall was entirely open, offering a gorgeous view over the mountains.
The next few doors on either side were similar, and the hallway seemed very long.
Kral walked back to the main group, where Vaughan had returned, although a few other guards had seemingly gone on searches of their own.

―I think I've found some yak rooms here.

―Thank goodness, Vaughan said.
	Hermann had said he'd found a couple that could work, but not many.
	And I found rooms that seemed built for Birds.
	Which does make me wonder if they're ever actually used.

―The ones here are very comfortable, I would think, Kral said, starting to show Vaughan and some of the other guards the rooms he'd found.

―My word, no wonder we were having trouble, Vaughan said, on seeing the door that hid the entrance to the hallway.
	Hidden hallway, not even connected where it should be.

―I suppose the door closest to this entrance should probably be Hermann's.
	If you'd like, I can take one next to it.
	The ones tucked in towards the foyer won't have any other open entrances, so you and Calvin could likely take them.

Vaughan nodded, and asked some of the other guards to follow the far end of the hallway.
That left one more, who Vaughan asked to go and tell Hermann and the others where they were.