Nephral parted ways with Sari shortly after their visit to the Bakery. He had to take on his larger Gnostisphinx form in order to properly carry the basket of goods that they had purchased. The sphinx had wondered for a while when he had developed the ability to swap between his various forms at will, it had only been when he asked his mother directly that she revealed that she had uplifted him in his sleep at the end of the unification competition. That had given him access to a whole suite of new abilities beyond just the ones he got from her as a summon.

He gripped the handle of the basket tightly in his jaw and took off, flapping his wings once and soaring into the air. While he had been in his smaller form the locals had not paid him very much attention but now folks were pointing and waving at him as he soared past. A small group of children followed him a few blocks before he lost them crossing over a busy street. He darted from building to building, conserving energy after spending much of the day in the air.

When he finally landed close to the main tower of the city he found himself only a block away from Myranda’s temple. Amused by the turn of events and wanting to see the more sociable priestess he made a quick turn, banking to the left and landing on the steps of the imposing structure. Unlike many of the brighter and warmer buildings throughout the growing city, the main temple in service to The Mother of Monsters was made of stark dark stone and supported with columns that appeared to be made out of the dungeon itself. It was not unreasonable to say that the temple was alive in its own right.

It was on the steps of the temple that he saw his first pair of Manikins for the day. Normally they stuck to the interior of the tower-fortress, policing that part of the city from within. Civic buildings, Teyva had decided, would need additional attention from her and had been integrated partially into the dungeon. A few years ago the dungeon had started producing monsters of its own accord, mostly manikins. The faceless soldiers stood in eerie relief on either side of the doors leading into the temple. They reminded Nephral of statues until each of the creature’s jointed necks turned and looked down at him and offered him a silent nod in greeting.

A shame you lot cannot speak, Nephral mused internally, approaching the doors.

The two Manikins moved in quickly and opened them for him and he passed inside. The first thing that hit him was the strong scent of incense that permeated the narthex, a small entry chamber where the faithful would come in to make donations and offer small prayers without having to go all the way into the nave or the main chamber of worship. A low hum of voices carried throughout the entire building, people speaking quietly and offering humble words to various idols. Unlike most temples he had heard of in his years in Orum, while the temple was focused on the worship of one particular aspect being it offered shrines to the other beings that associated with her.

He passed a statue of the Lord of the Open Skies that was littered with offerings and small prayer scrolls before approaching one of the priests who stood off to the side, overseeing the small room. The thin looking man wore simple white robes that had been trimmed with silver threads woven from wildlands grass. In the cold chamber they seemed to glow just a little. He inclined his head to Nephral in greeting, “Welcome, master Nephral, the First Priestess is in the nave right now. You can go on inside,” He said, pushing the door open for Nephral who strode through and into the room that looked remarkably familiar according to Teyva the first time she had seen it.

It was a long room with pillars made of dungeon stone capped with everburning braziers. The walls were engraved with various prayers, offerings of praise, and a simplified retelling of Teyva’s ascent to power. At the end of the room was an altar with a wide frame that looked as if a normal person could lay down fully across it with ease. Nephral paused at the entrance when he spotted Myranda, she no longer wore the dress raiment she had worn as a priestess for the elves. Instead, her robes were far more functional. Slits up the sides of the dress made it look more like a tabard and gave her room to move quickly here and there. Her long sleeves concealed her hands and the headdress made of silvered fangs and sheets of spidersilk she wore marked her as a priestess of standing.

Myranda was speaking quietly with a priest wearing a simpler looking headdress when she spotted Nephral, she turned to him and beamed a wide smile, gesturing for him to come over. The Sphinx approached, passing between benches before stopping at the space ahead of the altar and setting down the basket.

“Nephral! So good to see you! What’s that you have there?” She asked brightly, turning to kneel down to his level and extend a hand. He placed his paw into her palm and pressed down once before sitting on his haunches.

“Treats for mother, she has not had time to enjoy the fruits of her labor it seems,” Nephral said, “From a bakery called Lily’s.”

“I have heard of that place,” The priest said, his voice was deep and crisp and his eyes had a hardness about them that came from battle experience. “I should visit sometime, bring something back for the others.”

Myranda gasped and hopped to her feet, “Oh! How rude of me! Nephral, I’d like you to meet Tybalt, he has taken something of a leadership role among the priests for me.”

Nephral looked the man up and down, “Well met.”

“I should be the one saying that,” Tybalt said with a bow, “You are the goddesses familiar, you honor us with your presence.”

Myranda clapped her hands together, “Isn’t he lovely?”

Tybalt cleared his throat and scratched his nose, a faint rosiness blossoming on his face. “I should see to the preparations, we have service soon.”

The priestess nodded and waved as the man excused himself in a hurry, “He’s so modest, poor thing, he has no idea what I have planned for him.”

“What do you have planned for him?” Nephral asked.

“I made my first High Priest Aspect Stone the other day,” Myranda said, “I will be giving it to him, it will be a difficult ritual though, I just hope he’ll be okay.”

Nephral nodded, for any other aspect, once you acquire it, it becomes permanent. There is no abandoning an aspect once it is acquired. The only exceptions as far as he was aware were the Priest and High Priest stones. The High Priest aspect would consume the Priest aspect, transforming it. He imagined the process was quite painful though and from what Myranda said, his suspicions were correct. She was a priest once and had risen to high priestess among the elves. It was likely she had undergone the very same ritual she intended to perform for Tybalt.

“So,” Myranda cut in, “Just here for a social call?”

“More or less, I am heading to the Pinnacle next to see mother. I imagine Azrael is with her,” Nephral said.

Myranda tapped her lip thoughtfully, “They’ll be in the gardens right about now, Azrael will be with her children and Teyva likes to watch them play. That or she will be working with Stella.”

Nephral tilted his head, “You know mother’s schedule well.”

Myranda laughed, “Why of course I do! What kind of High Priestess would I be if I didn’t! I know everything about the Queen, her likes, her dislikes, the names of her lovers, the size…” She trailed off and rubbed her nose. “...oh dear look at me babbling.”

Nephral gave her an amused look, “Conrad will make fun of you if you go on like that around him.”

She huffed, “Conrad should mind his own business. He has his hobbies and I have mine!”

“I don’t think mother would like being called a ‘hobby’,” Nephral pointed out.

Myranda opened her mouth to backpedal just as the doors to the priests chambers behind her opened and a few robed figures stepped out. She let out a breath and bowed quickly to Nephral, “Looks like service is about to begin, Nephy dear, I will see you soon I hope?”

Nephral glanced past her at the priests. Three of them were dressed in the standard robes, two of them wore more functional clothing as well as belts and knives. Combat Priests, they were probably getting ready to head over to Conrad’s camp. Nephral shook his head and gave Myranda a look before getting back up. “I will visit the moment I have time, High Priestess,” He said, gathered up his basket, and made his way out the chamber while Myranda hurried to organize with her priests.