Sacred Flames

Isla This Won't Hurt a Bit Of all the things Isla expected to find within the Sanctuary, a temple like this wasn't one of them. She had given the place a little exploration, coming across an infirmary and... something in the cellar that looked like it didn't belong in a temple (unless the cellars of sacred buildings often stank of stale booze), but she hadn't yet given this place its due credit. Her feet whispered across the floors, even that small sound seeming simultaneously too small and too loud in the vast space; it echoed into the archways above. Isla glanced upwards, as if to catch the noise disappearing, and finally moved towards one of the torches lit upon the walls to warm her fingers. To go from the infirmary back in Northaven to this... who would have thought it?

Edy #nofilter "What's this place even for?" Edy's bright voice trilled out across the room of worship. Of course, Edy didn't know it was a place of worship. Even had she known she was meant to act reverently here it probably would have taken some convincing to make her act accordingly. As it was though, this was just a room like any other; the only God Edy knew of was Colbrandte, or maybe Zariah, or the Hawthornes. But currently the curse on her family was the farthest thing from her mind. Looking around at the towering ceiling, Edy wrinkled her nose slightly. This place sort of made her stomach feel a bit funny but that was probably the dank air and not some lingering holy effects. Glancing towards the torch a bit skeptically, the younger tilted her head. "You light that?"

Isla This Won't Hurt a Bit A familiar voice trilled out and Isla turned from where she was still trying to thaw out her fingers, offering the other woman a bright smile. Given that she had only just about arrived in Northaven when she had been thrust into this place, friendly faces were a rarity indeed. The medic tucked a lock of hair behind her ear - it was left loose for once, given that she had no work to do, and it was difficult enough to find supplies, let alone get the infirmary up to par. "Hm?" She glanced back at the torch and shook her head. "No, I didn't. I thought someone must have lit it on their way through here before." Or at least she hoped that was the case, otherwise this place might have become infinitely more spooky. "I spotted you, when we first arrived," She smiled again to Edy. "It was bedlam, though, so I thought pleasantries could wait. How are your fingers?"

Edy #nofilter Skeptically Edy raised a brow. "Uh huh. You think someone else came here before, lit this torch, and then...just continued on?" Edy felt a familiar sort of tingle in her bones as she looked at the fire. The Launceleyn girl had never been able to control her destructive powers before. Or at least in the sense of being able to control what happened with the elements she produced. But the flame...Striding closer, Edy gave the doc an uncertain sort of look before raising her hand towards the torch. As she did, the flame there flickered and danced, suddenly growing taller and then splaying outwards like the lines of a poorly-drawn sun. Retracting her hand suddenly, Edy's eyes widened. "Huh." She murmured under her breath, glancing over at Isla and wiggling her fingers. "I mean, I couldn't do that before." She commented non-commitably, nudging her head towards the torch. "But actually fingers seem fine. Guess you know what you're doing, huh?" Flashing the blonde a smile, Edy looked slightly uncertainly back towards the torch; there was the issue of Isla having not lit it, and the issue of it being controllable, in some way.

Isla this won't hurt a bit "Well I didn't think it was quite so odd until you put it like that. I assumed someone had come in here before us exploring, and had lit the place up in case anyone else wanted to use the room." It wasn't really all that strange, was it? That being said, however, she did retract her hands from the torch and turn around as Edrei approached, giving the flames her full attention as if they might offer something new and insightful. They didn't, of course... at least until they started to warp and change. "You couldn't?" She raised her eyebrows. "Well... actually, yes. You mentioned being a destructionist, right?" That was strange, if that was the case. At the news that her fingers were all fixed, Isla looked truly perplexed, glancing at Edy's hand like it would hold some answers. "I'm good but not that good. What in the world..." Shaking her head, she shrugged and let it go. This new place was strange, that much was clear already.

Edy #nofilter "A destructionist, sure." Edy agreed, before turning to look at the fire. Without moving her hands this time, the flames waved and danced; the upper tongues curling as if to form the top of a heart. Looking at Isla with her dark brows raised, Edy licked one of her teeth for a moment. "Either I'm going blind, or nothing went bang. " In order to answer the doc's question, the teenager held out her previously wounded hand, wiggling her fingers and flexing her wrist easily. Yes Isla was good, but it should have still been tender at the very least; signs of the previous break might have even been apparent. But the skin looked as good as new, as if nothing had ever happened. "You sure it wasn't you? Something in that nasty stuff you made me drink? You know, for being such a good patient and all?" Tipping the healer a wink, Edy cackled. She'd been anything but a good patient (though for Edy, she had actually not been terrible). "Cool. So magical new powers, healed limbs, and torches left lit by random strangers. Awesome." Though for once, Edy didn't sound so sure.

Isla this won't hurt a bit Nothing went bang. At all. And while Isla was no expert on magic - not by a long shot - she knew enough about Destruction to know that things were meant to... y'know... get destroyed. But as the flames whirled and flickered into their heart shape, the medic had to admit that she rather preferred it this way. "You're definitely not going blind. Congratulations, I guess? You're a fire elementalist now?" She shrugged her shoulders. It didn't make any sense but that didn't make it any less true. Isla stepped closer as Edy held out her hand, watching her wiggle her fingers and frowning, able to tell easily that the limb was good as new. "I mean, I would be happy to take the credit for it, but it certainly wasn't me," she assured the other woman, glancing up at her and offering a half-smile, both at her fingers being fixed and her final quip. Awesome? Perhaps. "Mayhap we should explore a little more and see if we can find our torch-lighter?" she suggested, removing said torch from its sconce and nodding for Edrei to lead the way while she held the light. As a soldier, the Launceleyn was much better prepared after all. (She assumed. Probably wrongly).

Edy #nofilter "Uhh.." Edy blanked, not really liking the connotations of the word. For Launceleyn's anyways, elementalists we're really kosher, as they weren't born with any regularity. Then again, if she'd suddenly became an elementalist over night, maybe she'd never be forced to marry and reproduce. #silverlinings. Glancing at Isla, the teenager nodded. "I take it that means you don't just want to shout and announce our presence huh?" Edy said with a grin. Tilting her head she looked at the fire questioningly. Narrowing her eyes she mentally thought at it. This wasn't like any magic she'd encountered before, and she wasn't really sure how to go about making it do anything. However without too much trouble, the fire flared up for a moment before dying down. Looking almost apologetically towards Isla, Edy smiled. "Just checking." As Isla offered to let the Launceleyn go first, Edy nodded obligingly and set off. This place was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. "What'you think all this is for? What is this place?"

Isla this won't hurt a bit Isla held the torch aloft as the flames in it flared suddenly, offering Edy a reproachful smile that didn't seem all that bothered in truth. "That's alright - maybe save the checking for when it isn't in my hand, though? And you know, I considered it but shouting our presence might negate the fun of exploration." In that whatever might have lit the torch would come out and eat greet them before they had a chance to get a real look around. The medic followed after the Launceleyn on careful, quiet feet, and together they headed further into the temple. "I couldn't say what it's all for... there's nothing like it in Northaven or Northwind, I don't think. I read in a few books, though, that places like this were built for people to gather in worship of their gods. Whatever or whoever those gods might be."

Edy #nofilter Tipping a wink towards the pretty doctor, Edy just laughed. "I was careful." She really wasn't though; this magical ability had literally just manifested. To say Edy had any idea at all what she was doing would be the overstatement of the year. "Fun of exploration huh? I dunno..." Again, Edy's lips crinkled wryly. "This is the second time you've told me to keep my voice down doc. I'm starting to think you've just got sensitive ears." Worship? Gods? What kind of bedtime story mumbo jumbo was that? It wasn't like it was real after all? "What does worship even entail? All I ever heard about it was being on your knees with your eyes closed. Pretty sure the kids these days have a different name for that." Edy snorted with another smirk. Glancing around the teenager took in the musty air and the weighty silence of this place. Shivering, she shook her head with a grimace. "Place is worse than a fucking library." She muttered under her breath.

Isla this won't hurt a bit Sensitive ears? Isla was tempted to quip that one's ears tended to lose their sensitivity after listening to enough screams of agony, but she didn't know how the other woman would take that kind of a joke. Really, from the little experience she had of Edy, the magician would probably find it hysterical. But she didn't want to risk it, especially when they were exploring a temple of all places. "Well I wouldn't know about that," Isla murmured with a mischievous smirk that suggested she knew exactly what the kids called that kind of thing these days. "but people can worship any way they like, from what I've read. Some do what you suggested... others go and commune with nature, or seek out something that represents their deity in their own interpretation. Others use altars, or come to temples like this one. It's a personal thing, I'm to understand..." What exactly this temple was for, or what it was supposed to represent... that remained a mystery. Their footsteps echoed enormously in the cavernous space, Isla glancing back to find nothing but blackness beyond the torchlight. "I wonder why more people haven't come through here... From Northaven, I mean."

Edy #nofilter Edy grinned. "Suuuuure you wouldn't doc." Then, thinking better of it, the teenager ran her tongue across her teeth thoughtfully before letting her grin grow wider. "Then again I bet you have all sorts of medical-school tricks that don't involve knees, huh?" Waggling her eyebrows suggestively, Edy chuckled to herself. "A personal thing?" Edy repeated sounding and looking skeptical. "So you just...talk to yourself or rub on some stones or leaves and....that does what exactly?" None of this was making much sense at all. Though from what Edy could tell, sense or not, someone had put a lot of effort into this place. Whistling under her breath and listening as the sound carried upwards into the domed expanse, Edy could only shrug. "Probably doing more practical things like...panicking, or deciding who gets to be top dog over here." Chewing her lip slightly, she glanced towards the blonde quizzically. "I mean...y'think we're staying here? Or...stuck?"

As the two women ventured deeper into the temple, the quality of the air would subtly begin to change, as it became heavier and slightly more humid. A gentle sound, like water rushing over stones, would start softly, then grow to a pleasant hum. The smoke coming from the torch would begin to smell sweetly, like incense, and it would billow out in a confusing and swirling cloud around them. Combined, it had a somnolent effect, causing drowsiness steal upon them. Stopping seemed like a good idea. Rest here, it seemed to say, in a whisper just quiet enough that they couldn't really hear it. Stay a while. Let your cares fall away.

Isla this won't hurt a bit Isla might have known her fair share of tricks, from medical journals or otherwise, but having spent most of her life on the battlefield, there was hardly time to use said tricks. She didn't mention that to Edy, though, merely shooting her a knowing smile and shrugging her shoulders. Her amusement faded, however, as the Launceleyn asked for further clarification on what exactly all of the worshipping was for; honestly, she couldn't say she knew herself. "I guess to... feel closer to something that is supposed to be in control? Or to get a prayer answered? I'm not sure." If she needed something she would go out and get it, after all. She didn't need a silly deity to do it for her. At that moment, however, the world seemed to haze with sound and a sweet scent that she didn't quite realise was coming from the torch. "Do you hear that?" she asked Edy, the words feeling thick on her tongue.