The Temple of Blades was a very odd structure that was, comparatively, hard to reach. Situated on the top of a mountain peak, none of the roads from the bottom of the mountain reached it. I... among many others, I'm sure, could have gotten up there with magic or climbing skills somehow, but the proper entrance was across one of the large bridges of Balant. In fact, the last quarter or so of that bridge was reserved for members of the Temple, with a large gate built on top of the bridge to keep wandering eyes away.

Having asked for Pal'lud at the gate and been allowed through, I quickly understood that the reason why they took a large area for themselves was that everyone on this side of the gate, or all but a very small number, were women. Women at arms, of course; there were a vast number of different shapes and sizes, but there was no question that any of them, including the ten-year-olds, could beat me in a fight. Given what I'd seen of the one-armed woman before, their odds didn't go down much if they tied one arm behind their back, even if I were to pull out all the stops.

Granted, I had no idea how to fight as a god without turning people into sand, but even then I could easily lose. I only had one eye left, after all.

I was a little surprised that the way forward wasn't straight. The bridge was a good two hundred feet wide and was littered with buildings, and they simply didn't leave a straight path across. In fact, twice after following the directions I was given, I ran into a cul de sac and had to backtrack. The second time, it seemed like I was pranked on purpose, given the shit eating grin of the woman as I passed her on the way back, but either way, it was more complicated than I expected for a group of buildings built on top of a bridge.

When finally I stood in front of the Temple of Blades, I discovered that there was a fountain powered by some kind of underground pipes, whose runoff became one of the waterfalls. There was a set of steps down to a bathing area (I assume, because I didn't go out of my way to look in the bathing area of a women only section of town) just before the waterfall, and there were many people sitting and talking, or sparring, or studying, in the general area of the fountain. As I approached, I found that the temperature around it seemed just right, but I was neither thirsty nor adventurous enough to go up to it.

The guards for the temple stood quietly, only coming to attention as I approached. In standard guard fashion, they had halberds, and wore some kind of smock to denote their station as guards... which, now that I think of it, I had seen in a couple other places.

"What is your business?" The older of the two guards spoke easily, as though she knew there was no trouble, but the grip she had on her poleaxe suggested she was ready to use it.

"I am here to see Pal'lud," I said, more than a bit nervous, as I was basically just blindly following orders.

"The hag?" The woman raised her eyebrows. "Religious quest of some kind? She doesn't get many visitors."

I smiled, feeling... honestly a bit relieved. "I was asked to come here, yes. I am a Vicar... of another god."

"Hum." The two guards exchanged glances. "Well, I was not told to expect you, but few people want to meet her. How about this--Je'ni, see if she's awake. If not, well, you came here for nothing, friend."

I smiled, not really sure what to say on the subject, but gave Ciel'ostra what I hoped would be a quiet ping by offering just a touch of flame. Not like I could do anything about it if she were busy, but...

Five minutes later, the other guard returned and gestured to me. "Come on, she'll see you." She tapped the butt of her halberd on the ground idly as I stepped up. "The hag's a wise woman, but we rarely see her. Always speaking of far away places she's never seen. People talk of her like she's an oracle, but she never claims to know what's coming. She is a strange one, but loved by the people here." With a flick of her arm, she let the halberd's blade drop to just above my head for a moment. "Don't upset her."

"Believe me, I wouldn't dream of it." I smiled at her, content in the knowledge that she likely didn't understand what was going on at all.

Je'ni led me to a small courtyard open to the sun, surrounded by a small flower garden. There, on a bench, was... obviously Ciel'ostra, I could tell at a glance, but unlike her other forms, this form was ugly. As my eye ranged over her, I could feel distinctly, more and more, that this form had been warped by all the green soulflame that the goddess of blades had accumulated over the years.

"Thank you, Je'ni, you may leave," said Ciel'ostra. Her eyes, I noticed, were mostly shut, and I got the impression she was paying a minimal amount of attention.

"Yes, Lady." Je'ni bowed out, but I noticed she hung around the doorway for a long moment, no doubt to catch an impression of our discussion.

I kept that in mind as I eyed this woman. Pal'lud was... old, yes, and small, but she had warts on her wrinkles with hair coming off of them, her jowls kind of quivered even when she was trying to hold still... she was some combination of disgusting old hag and beloved grandmother, from what the guard had said. So I looked her up and down and couldn't keep a smile from crossing my face as I appraised her.

"Murn was right," I said into the silence, mostly for Je'ni's benefit. "Things do make more sense now."

Pal'lud paused for a moment, thinking about that, and then started to laugh. It was an odd growl of a laugh, but that's clearly what it was. "It's an old secret," said Pal'lud cheerfully. "I don't mind it at all, really. A little sacrifice to help not only the Lady of Blades, but also the nation." Pal'lud gestured to a nearby bench. "Sit. The guard won't stay long once she knows that I know, that she's there."

I grinned as I heard Je'ni's footsteps retreating.

There was a moment of quiet, which I sensed was her dealing with other things as Murn. "You know," she said after a moment, "when I inherited the title of Lady many years ago... it was years before I fully understood my role. It was almost a year before I really understood that I was a goddess in flesh, despite being told, and... in spite of the book."

I raised my eyes. "So you have one? Alanna implied that gods don't do that kind of thing."

"Alanna refuses to live in her primary temple," replied Pal'lud, more animatedly than her hag appearance suggested she should move. "Because, well... they have an image of her that she deems unhealthy. They worship her, yes, but not the way she sees herself. For one, they think she's her father's wife."

"Eww." I made a face.

"Indeed." She grinned. "If you came to know the bastard, you'd know it's not only his face that's ugly. He really is her father, you know? Or so I hear. The old coot goes out into storms and finds women trapped alone in the rain, and has his way with them. Some appreciate it more than others. One legend says her mother chased after storms for thirty years, looking for him, to tell him he had a daughter. Caught her death in one, and the young lady followed in her footsteps, but didn't believe it until, well, they met." Pal'lud made a facial expression that was hard to read what with the wrinkles and jowls, but I thought it was disapproving. "He had other daughters. Has some to this day, probably. It's only guilt that made him treat one daughter better than the others."

"Where did she get her Key, then?" I thought I understood how that worked, but I wasn't sure. "Or where did he get mine, for that matter?"

"Ask the council," Pal'lud replied blithely. "I don't care. Gods do die sometimes, some more willingly than others."

"Hm." I thought about it only for a minute; it didn't seem polite to dwell on the topic. "So this book--"

"I'd like you to read it and offer suggestions," she said. "I've been meaning to rewrite it, but I suspect each incarnation has had that thought. It's a very old book. Only because it cannot be taken out of the temple, I will ask you to stay. There are... quarters specifically for male religious guests. Do not wander the temple, but you may leave and come back." She paused. "I will send for you once a day, as long as things are settled on the other end. We can talk then."

"That sounds fine to me," I replied easily. "I'll probably spend most of my time reading anyway, although... I have been meaning to look for one of the soldiers. A one armed woman--"

No sooner did I start to describe her than Pal'lud started grinning at me widely, and I stopped. "What?"

"She's a handful, that one, but I can see why you'd like her. She's one of my candidates for successor. Her name is Loi, and she will be back in a few days, after she sees her family. Unless she turns down my invitation, but..." Pal'lud scoffed. "Not likely. It is quite an honor for everyone invited."

"I imagine so." Loi? Somehow, the name seemed to fit with the tall, muscled woman in my memory. "Well, I'll talk with her soon, then, I suppose."

"Mmm. Talk, and maybe more." Pal'lud gave a cackling laugh. "If you can handle her, that is. I hear she was interested in the man with one eye, even after she caught a look at you. Imagine that!" She cackled again.

I... wasn't sure just how seriously to treat that burn, but shook my head. "She does fascinate me, but... oh, I meant to ask about moving the Key between bodies--"

"It's in the book," she replied. "A lot of questions you have will be answered there. Now shoo, one of my muscle boys is giving me a massage, and I'm tired of only half-enjoying it. And don't get any of my girls pregnant, no matter whether they're willing. This is a sacred place."

"Ugh." I shook my head, and walked away as she cackled. I'm sure she could tell I wasn't that kind of horn dog... couldn't she? Then again, she was a woman with her own harem...

After asking a guard, I was directed to a very small bedroom that would be best described as ascetic--one pallet bed barely large enough to lay on, and a circular cushion on the floor that I thought was intended for meditation, and a barred window that, I could sense, was part of a sheer surface that could not be climbed up nor down without magic, and probably not with magic, for the most part. If I unbarred the window or broke the wall, all I could really hope to do was fall down the side of the mountain... unless I learned to fly.

Which, I supposed, I probably could, using flame. That was a stunt best left only for my Avatar, though.

No book was given to me, but when I settled down on the meditation pad on the floor, I sensed Pal'lud's shadow (different from Murn's, by far) appear and offer it to me. As I accepted it, I heard a click, and realized the door had been locked from the outside. The door, of course, had no window, so there was no worry that an inquisitive guard would see what I was reading.

The book was titled simply: Ciel'ostra. I wondered if the True Name was passed down, or if the name on the book would change; I supposed that if they were handing down the whole religion, the True Name would probably be kept. The first page was... a diagram of a jar, and within that jar, colors--colors I immediately recognized as soulflame. According to my godly senses, the page was definitely magic, so... I assumed that was an up-to-date record of how much power Ciel'ostra had available.

It was a lot. I could kind-of sort-of imagine my own jar next to hers, and where my jar was a little larger than a pea and had a lot of free space, her jar filled most of the page and was at least two-thirds full. As I watched, though, the diagram shifted a bit, around the edges--some flame leaving, some returning. It was slow and vague, but that was clearly an indication that she was using flame constantly, for something... and getting at least as much back.

The flows were probably bigger than my whole supply. Which, uh, probably shouldn't surprise me much, since she had a temple, a religion, and a war to preside over, but it still did. I guess... I guess I still thought I was special.

The next four pages all had illustrations of women. One was Ciel'ostra the Avatar, the beautiful but scarred Lady of Blades I had... dueled briefly in a vision. One was Murn, the Vicar and General. One was Pal'lud, the hag, and her whole body was drawn in green ink; it was steeped with it, although veins of silver ran through her as well. And one... one I didn't recognize. She looked... normal?

The next page began an introduction, and I could see how it might have left her confused:

This book is written on behalf of Ciel'ostra and contains the wisdom of Ciel'ostra. It is to be given to Ciel'ostra when she is Named, and no other shall lay hands upon it.

That seemed like the kind of thing where you should just put the book down and walk away. Even though I was handed the book by the goddess herself, and knew that I had permission, I felt the strong desire to not mess with the thing. I pursed my lips. Well, she already knew this part of the book was a problem. I continued on through the introduction.

She who bears this book is the Lady of Blades in name and in fact, and bears upon her shoulders the weight of the nation of Belma. For Belma was the first nation to harbor the Lady of Blades, and so She protects it. For it is not the duty to protect Belma that is passed from one Lady to the next, but rather the title of Lady is passed to She who protects that which is, to the Lady, the most precious.

I beseech you, as one Lady to the next, to read this volume in its entirety, and understand it, for within is the knowledge and wisdom of the Goddess, Ciel'ostra. If this wisdom is not preserved, then Ciel'ostra herself loses it, and so do the people of the nation suffer. Beware, for as with all secrets, these must never fall into the hands of another. If they are stolen, let not one eye nor ear that has been touched by this wisdom survive...

That was creepy, even though again, I was not stealing the secrets. I actually had to take a deep breath and focus on that fact as I held the book. The warnings were there so that mortals would not steal the wisdom of gods, and the curse...

I realized with a start that there was a curse on the book, potent and made of green soulflame. Which, again, was not actually going off, because I was not a mortal stealing secrets from a goddess, but it was hanging there over the book, judging me. Although I couldn't quite sense it, I got the impression that if the curse wanted to trigger on me, more than enough power was stored in it to wipe me out.

Now that I was looking at it, though... the curse reminded me of something. It was strangely dense, in the way that the... my mind refused to put an identity to the arch-goddess, or perhaps arch-djinn, who had been cloaked in solid soulflame. The curse had that same density, that same solidness. I examined it for a long time, realizing slowly that it was some deific form of enchantment, one that probably went well beyond mortal magics. Just by existing, this curse seemed to rewrite reality around itself... subtly, but it was definitely there.

After a while, I moved on. Most of the early pages were very cagey about specifics, talking in general about things that either I had figured out, or things that seemed obvious. That gods could have multiple bodies, that the dream world was a connection to her followers, that godly power revealed things as metaphors in the dream space, but they should not be taken as literal fact (it took several paragraphs to explain this, probably because education was poor out here), and that the power of the gods and goddesses was to grant wishes in exchange for worship.

It was only when the book put it in those terms that the thought really clicked in my head. I had heard the word Djinn before and knew what it was, but it didn't immediately jump to mind that the more modern word "Genie" meant the same creature. Genies were wish-granting creatures in popular modern-day folk tales, while Djinn was a term not very popular in America, being more about ...some kind of spirit. It had been a long time since I looked it up.

So putting that together with what Alanna had told me, gods inherited their power from ancient creatures who could grant wishes... in exchange for pieces of your soul? I grimaced. Certainly this form of it didn't seem like some kind of Faustian bargain, but it could easily be. Were the ancient creatures more along the lines of devils, then? Did they grant bargains in exchange for your whole soul?

I got the incredibly creepy feel that something was there, willing to answer my questions, but I closed the book and refused contact with it. It was one thing to do that on my own, risking just my own soul and future, but I wasn't going to initiate contact with such an entity in someone else's temple.

In the meantime, I pushed the book under my small bed and used the meditation circle for its intended purpose--clearing my mind. It wasn't easy, not with the lingering sense that an ancient creature was somehow keeping an eye on me... but eventually my head did clear.

At least, as much as my own godhood would allow.