Roadside Sermons

One in Three

Date: 2nd of Azaran

Current identity: Marcus Vanot. Disciple of the target, deacon Abreon Makrinoth
Current location: Lodoorn. Central Getemen.
Location overview: Central trading hub, relatively near to three of Getemen's four neighbouring countries. Several great roads converge here. Oldest city in Getemen, surrounded by barrows and ancient monuments. Situated atop a moraine, overlooking the heather fields. Walls built and roads paved with the boulders strewn about those fields.

Report: Been seven days since my last report. Frequency of reports have decreased due to presence of target; need to find / create moments of privacy to compile my notes. Ended last report telling how target accepted me as their disciple. Target has been educating me regarding their own religion. About Halyst. Goddess of mysteries, and keeper of an underwater afterlife. One of three main deities in Zalis' "Temple of Tempests", and target's patron. As Deacon, target's job was to teach their flock how to engage with Halyst's mysteries and to debate the texts with them. Target also asked me about our own faith. Culture in the temple of Yros. Admitted I hadn't visited in years. But 'debate' is not done there. Explained that the Speaker understands the texts and explains them to the flock. No conversation. Only lecture.

Kept track of target's behaviour, in and out of our lectures. Didn't behave like I'd expect of a saint/miracle worker. Just like a tourist. Stuck around in the city, mostly observing local architecture. I now know most of the boulders used for the oldest buildings in town used to crown the barrow hills outside it. Great. Unremarkable under other circumstances. But why does the target care?
Target observed a minister from the local temple going around town. Sprinkling these stones and muttering prayers. Expected Abreon to strike up conversation. They didn't.

Today, got back on the road. Next stop will be Hindenvoorde, still enroute to Nord Hin, where they want to speak to an official in the Beacon Temple. Still no clue who.
Good to be progressing again. Target seems to disagree. Appears disappointed. When asked, they said there was someone in Lodoorn they had hoped to meet. When asked who, response was: "I don't know, but they weren't there."
Must find better moment to press that.

Distance to Hindenvoorde: three days travel on horseback. Unfeasible on foot. Would have hired another hackney. Death of last mount leaves me without necessary funds. Spent most of the morning finding other transportation. Came across a cart traveling South to Saal. Willing to let us hitch a ride. Would get us further along than walking. We accepted.

Target was quiet most of the trip. Stared out the cart. Decided to start asking questions. Under guise of personal interest. Remarked that target looked disappointed. Asked what they had hoped to find in Lodoorn. In response, they asked me whether I was with them to learn about the miracle they performed. Backtracked and denied: Said I wanted to learn 'deeper truths' of the world. That their supposed miracle implied, to me, they were closer to those truths than most others. Target nodded. Said they were looking for someone closer still. Asked them why they'd expect to find someone like that in Lodoorn. No direct answer. Target instead asked me who I was. Panicked. Repeated my alias. Met with silence. Repeated the rehearsed backstory. Target seemed unsatisfied but did not question further.

Arrived at Saal without further conversation. Barely a hamlet. Not even a tavern. Will be sleeping on the straw in a barn. Prepared our piles, went to 'bed'. Laid there for several hours, preparing to get up and write this report. Couldn't. Target was still awake. Waited. No difference. I pretended to stir from sleep. Asked why they were still up. Said they couldn't sleep. Then they rephrased their earlier question: What are you? Asked them what they meant (After some answers; human, disciple, citizen of Tageid, son of a lumberer, man, etc.). Asked me how much of that I could remove, and still be 'me'. I engaged, though tired. Hoped to get them to sleep if we finished this. Sat down with them. Asked what brought these questions. They said these were what they hoped to answer in Lodoorn: What are we? When every excess is gone, what is left? IF there is an afterlife, what part of us ends up there? I answered 'the soul'. They asked me what that was. Shrugged. Don't know. They're the preacher. Shouldn't their doctrine tell them that?
They said Temple of Tempests has an answer. But they'd hoped to find the answer. How? They'd hoped to meet a 'soul'. Just a soul. Stripped to its bare essentials, to see what it was. Said Lodoorn was known for its ghost-sightings. Every third house allegedly haunted at some point. Their native Zalis lays their dead out to sea. All their ghosts are on the waves.