The Power of Names

As he lands he begins to run again, but one of the string constructs appears to snag, and he trips over forwards. Your scythe that was still in mid air slams into and passes through his heel, embedding itself in the stonework. Two of your bullets then proceed to slam into the back of his head and the small of his back.

He appears to make no reaction to the hits.

I poke her with the staff/stave/whoshemaflip/whatamacalled/dooda/thingie

Am I gonna regret doing that...?

Porting to the scythe, I grab the boy by the back of the head, press my knee against his lower back and smash his face against into the rooftop. Holding him in place, I grab at the string connected to his shoulder.

The string dissolves at your touch. The boy does nothing.

She mumbles slightly, but no further words come out of her mouth. And she stays very asleep.

I sweep away all but two threads, leaving the head and the opposite shoulder for last, before sweeping away the one on the boys head.

I make sure he still has my hat, and take it from him if its possible.

"Ok, ok" I think to myself, "You've gotta weigh up the chances: if you shake this girl to wake her up, how likely is it she will turn round and whack you one? Or worse..."

But, I know that I probably face worse fates if I don't and it turns out I was supposed to wake her, so, with a deep gulp, I shake her by the shoulders.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Please for the love of god don't kill me off now >.<

Your hand phases through the strings attached to his body, dissolving them at the touch. He collapses down, seemingly unconscious but breathing, and is pulled up slightly by the shoulder string that you left attached.

I growl and pull my scythe out of the boy's leg and put it over my back. Holstering my gun, I throw the boy over my shoulder and get my bearings, before heading in the direction of the nearest church of Rianne.

She mumbles slightly as you shake her, before groaning as she raises her head.

"What's wit..."

She shakes hear head again.

"What's with the world shaking today...?"

She turns around to look at you.

"Oh... you're not Carilasou... Imma go back to sleep."

She puts her head back down on the book.

"I, no wait, you, there was an explosion, er, you need to, I was sent to..."

I'm not very good at talking to most girls... I try gingerly shaking her again.

"It's not safe, you need to get out of here."

The nearest church is the undivided church.

You arrive after about an hour of walking, stepping through the doorway into a cavernous room with shrines to most of the gods throughout it. The shrine to Rianne, (along with her followers) is off to the right hand side, and all of the accompanying priests are wearing pure white robes with a set of runes embroidered down the back. You cannot place the runes. You see a very disgruntled Enthriss being healed there.

"Oh hey there." I greet her, mildly surprised that she's here rather than at a more official church of Rianne. I stroll over and indicate to a nearby priest. "This kid needs healing. He's been possessed by a demon, so make sure you secure him. I'll need to interrogate him when he wakes.

It's a relatively old priest, roughly 70 by your reckoning. His hair is whispy and white, contrasting with his pitch black skin that is lined with silver markings of all sorts of things - animals, words etc. His robes are pristinely white and perfectly crease-less, and he speaks with a mellow voice that tells the truths of a long, fulfilled life.

"And how do you know that it was deamonic possession that left the child in this state?"

He motions for you to place the boy at his feet, then waves to a nearby priestess. She is young, and by the look of her only just invested - her robes are too large for her and rustle with a new crispness, and she is bumbling around slightly lost. She appears around 18 years of age, with brilliant gold hair pulled back into a very tight ponytail, and silver eyes. She wears the ankh of Rianne around her neck. You notice something odd about her walk, and upon glancing down you notice that instead of a shoe poking out from under her robe, her right foot is instead a gnarled, knotted tree like appendage, the ends splitting into toe like constructions that clink on the white marble plinth that holds the shrine to Rianne.

She picks up two discs, about the size of jar lids, and stands there, ready for you to place the boy down. The discs have the symbol of Lorren, Goddess of Nature on them.

She mumbles again before abruptly getting up. She turns to face you, eyes bleary with sleep.

"Waasshure name then?"

"I have that ability." I nod in Enthriss's direction. "She can confirm that. Please make sure he is secured."

I nod to him, then turn and head in the direction of the alter of Erona.

"Erm, I'm Ximmy..." I say, not really knowing what else to say; feeling distinctly tounge-tied.

The shrine is a good 200' away, the church fading away into the distance: - it's HUGE. Various priests in a large assortment of vestments mill around it, and one priestess appears to be doing some form of interpretive dance in front of it. She has shoulder length dead straight black hair and a very sparse array of cloths covering her body.

The shrine is about 25' across, and is a large statue of Erona - a hooded woman in a flowing white robe, her hands held out in a cup in front of her. In the hands is a model of a planet.

I spend some time in front of the alter, praying to Erona for guidance and protection, not expecting a response.

(If I don't get a response, I move on to the alter of Drake.)

The shrine of Drake is, as would be expected, cloaked in shadows in the back of the vast hall. The shrine itself is of a black dragon curled over on itself, it's black marble hide shifting and churning with some form of energy that you cannot place. The shrine is manned by two Deamons - A high succubus and a large Satyr, it's hooves clinking on the marble floor. The satyr has blood red skin dotted with tufts of hair that protrude about an inch from his body, and goat like yellow eyes. In his hand he carries a cloth which he is using to polish some form of blackish sliver plate.

As you look at the black altar you notice the shadows around it twist into the shape of a leaping girl, her hands tapering into sharp claws and her face twisted into a vicious snarl. The image fades as quickly as it appears.

"That's a nice name, mine's Amaryl. What's going on?"

I snap my fingers and point at the succubus' chest, winking at her, using a cocky smirk to hide a sneer of disgust. Kneeling at the shrine, I pray to Draketh for luck in avoiding those who would find me and in defeating my enemies.

I also note that he has a badass shrine.

"I know right?"

A voice echoes through your head.

The succubus rolls her eyes and snaps her fingers back at you. The hair on your arms is now orange, but the effect is fading. Or appears to be.

HE AGREES.

The succubus is now as described. As is the shrine.

The succubus is not amused. Neither is the satyr. His hooves are now hot pink.

I make a flourishing bow to the shrine in general, before heading back in the direction of the Rianne section.

But yo, seriously, protection and shanking my enemies and all that shiz!

I glance over in the direction of the altAr of Xial. Not seeing a section to Lawna, I shrug and continue on my way.

A new, more familiar voice enters your head, and unlike Draketh's, seems to hang around.

"I'm no longer worthy of prayers then...?"