This Used To Be About Dungeons полностью

Obbrech was, unfortunately, in the middle of a meeting with a young woman, so Hannah only gave him a wave, and he gave her a brief nod before returning his attention to the woman. Obbrech wasn’t too much older than Hannah, a handsome man with a clean-shaven face and fastidious appearance. He was often occupied with young women, which seemed to irk him, perhaps since it was the same young women in a steady rotation, always asking for more of his time.

“Well, Obbrech is busy, and I know that Lin is out, so I suppose this trip will be a bit of a waste,” said Hannah. “Lin is the cleric of Oeyr, and we’ve got no cleric of Kesbin, at least at the moment. So that leaves only Filera, who’s our cleric of Qymmos, and she’s a cranky one.”

“She can help with entad identification,” said Alfric.

“Ay, but you’ll find a cleric of Qymmos in any larger town too,” said Hannah. “Certainly in Tarchwood or Liberfell.”

“You don’t like her?” asked Alfric.

“We had a discussion a few months back,” said Hannah. “Lasted most of the night, and neither of us left happy. Religious matters, mostly my opinion on her god and hers on mine.”

“So you’re saying that if I introduce myself, I should just not have you with me?” asked Alfric.

“Och, no, I don’t want to make a big thing of it, I suppose,” said Hannah. “Let’s go.”

The statue of Qymmos, God of Sets, was a many-armed man, with each hand holding a different implement. Traditionally, Qymmos was supposed to be represented by an octopus, and it was the only one of the six statues in the large central room that wasn’t an animal, which irked Hannah to no end. They should have been either all people, or all animals, but not this awkward mix. Of course, she’d talked to the head of the temple, which was Filera, and she’d laid out the costs involved in commissioning a new one, and that had been the end of that conversation, because there was nowhere for the money to come from, and Hannah seemed to be the only one bothered.

“Filera Bosc,” said Hannah as she entered the room. Filera was sitting with her plants, as usual, and reading a book, also as usual. “This is Alfric Overguard. He’s a member of my dungeoneering party, here to make some introductions, because there’s a good chance we’ll want your services.”

Filera got up from her chair, rising slowly and setting her book to the side. She was a shorter woman, with blond hair that she wore tied back. Her dress went down to her ankles and covered her arms to her wrists, and there was something incredibly and deliberately severe about her.

“I charge for entad identifications,” said Filera as she took Alfric’s hand. That’s what she said, by way of greeting, and immediately Hannah felt herself irked.

Alfric nodded. “Most do. It’s expected.”

“I’m letting you know now so that there’s no confusion later,” she said. “Overguard, she said?”

Alfric stiffened slightly. “Yes.”

Filera was looking at him as though she was reading his life story, which given her profession wasn’t too far off the truth. “Qymmos is sometimes called the God of Information,” she said. “But I’ve always thought, if she needed to be called the god of something other than Sets, she should have been called the God of Categories.”

“Yes,” said Alfric, standing there.

“Which god do you follow most closely?” asked Filera.

“Xuphin’s philosophy has always appealed to me,” said Alfric. “Though… I can see the appeal of Qymmos as well, so long as I look at it from a certain angle.”

“She’ll try to draw you into theological talk, if you let her,” said Hannah.

Filera gave Hannah a grin, then turned back to Alfric. “And what is that angle?”

“I don’t particularly like to organize things into sets or categories,” said Alfric. “But it is useful. Where I think I’m on the same page as Qymmos is in seeking new things. The philosophies of the others don’t have as much of the same appeal toward seeking. But I can’t say that I would have made a good acolyte of Qymmos, because once everything is pinned in place, I start to lose interest.”

Filera nodded. “Seekers are often of Qymmos, but a seeker, once they’ve found what they sought, can become something different altogether.” She tapped her lips. “Alfric Overguard,” she said, tasting the name. “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll do your entad identifications for no fee, so long as you come speak to me about the dungeons you’ve been in.”

“Of course,” said Alfric, relaxing.

“To a fruitful relationship,” said Filera. She smiled at him, and he gave a nervous smile back.

When they left, Hannah was frowning, but she saved her words until they were out of the temple.

“She’s an odd one,” said Hannah. “And I take it from the way that conversation went, she saw somethin’ in you?”

“Maybe,” said Alfric. “Though… I can’t be sure what, obviously.”