Worthy Core

They started off with a plain, empty room carved out of the rock, connected to the inn via a shortcut portal. It was still small to start with, but there was plenty of room in which to grow - Floor Five still wasn't at even half of its new capacity yet, and it was already larger than it really needed to be for the current number of Challengers passing through. As Bountiful Mother Hammerdown stares off at the walls, apparently lost in thought, Sincere catches her attention by translating Xenia's next question for her.

"So, ah, we're assuming you have some experience in designing places of worship? We've heard of course about your new chapel, and I believe there was mention of a larger church being planned?"

The dwarf nods. "Aye, but long term planning, that - not only do we need the funding secured, but we need more locals interested in using such a place. Probably won't be breaking ground...well, maybe not even this year, to be honest, but we'll see. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no architect, but fortunately with your dungeon magic or whatnot it's hardly like you need me to tell you how to support the ceilings and all that, aye?"

Deylia grins a little at the thought of dungeon architecture being applied to a house of worship. "Actually, we can surely do more than just using shortcuts on the foundations - Mistress Xenia can quite possibly do things that no normal church would be able to, or at least not without some very expensive enchantments being applied."

Elance rolls her eyes at the suggestion, though. "Let's have something functional before we go making flying scrolls or statues that got milk shootin' from their tits or any other craziness, alright, lass?" Following behind them, Sable pauses at the suggestion.

"Could...could the dungeon actually do that?"

Sincere chuckles. "Cow and goat milk are indeed both on our menu, apparently, but Xenia doubts that walking in and seeing Challengers suckling at the statuary would create the sort of calm and peaceful environment the Mother is hoping to inspire."

"So she ain't completely lacking common sense, then." Turning around, Elance points to the wall next to the entrance portal. "Okay, so starters - y'need some wash basins right by the door. The Church of Bounty ain't so much for the symbolic purity that some organizations are, but it's still true that folks feel a lot better about getting in touch with the divine when their hands ain't filthy. More so for Challengers, who knows if they might be coming in here still caked in blood or some nonsense."

Easily enough, the entrance is pushed back into an alcove of its own with a number of clamshell-shaped basins on either side. Moments after being formed, water begins to fill them from thin air, and hand towels made from simple fabric are placed at their side. At the sight of it the visitors from the Church are momentarily stunned, with Lilly speaking up first.

"Palain above - I've never seen the world bend to one's will so easily! I've seen Xenia erect some simple structures for games and such at her parties, but that had to have been tons of stone you just melted away even quicker than ice!"

Their demon guide grins. "If it were even as slow as ice, I imagine we'd still be carving out Floor Four even now. Now, what's next - the main gathering hall, I presume?"

Refocusing, Elance nods and turns back around. "Aye. Now, maybe you don't need that to be so large. You're not servicing an entire community, families and all up here. Room for even two dozen would probably leave plenty of space for folks that don't like knockin' elbows. Seats on both sides, and a place for speaking from up at the front, for when Deylia here will be giving sermons."

The woman's eyes grow a little wide at the suggestion. "Sermons? I mean...I guess that would be one of my eventual responsibilities, yes. I've never done any public speaking before, though..."

"I suppose I'll be..." Elance pauses before taking hold of Lilly's arm and pulling her forward. "I mean, I suppose Lilly here will be needing to instruct you on how to do your actual job. Fortunately you have some months still before you actually get much of a public, would be my guess." As Lilly looks down at her with a questioning expression, Elance snorts. "What? You said yourself you ain't as busy durin' the winter months, an' besides, I outrank you, so you get to be the one marching up and down the damn mountain all the time."

The Priestess still looks like she wants to protest, but Sable steps in with a quiet suggestion. "Well, look on the bright side, Flower Girl - weren't we looking for excuses to visit the place a little more often?"

"I...suppose making a few more visits wouldn't be so bad..."

Though she doesn't quite want to interrupt the moment, Deylia still feels the need to make things easier on those volunteering so much of their time towards making up for her shortcomings. "We'd love to have you, of course, but it doesn't need to be entirely one-sided! I can probably leave the dungeon from time to time, perhaps we could alternate who visits who?" Lilly nods back with a smile, clearly somewhat relieved by both suggestions.

"That would be my pleasure, Priestess. Or perhaps I should call you Trainee?"

"Right, well, you can figure out your schedules later. Back to work, I ain't standin' around all day for this." Having regained the attention of the group, Elance waves at the room which was already filled with rows of seats while the others were distracted. "Now, I know that I said function matters first, but if you're gonna be artistic and creative, this is the place to do it. You want to awe visitors with the splendor of the goddess, and I say that because folks want to be awed. They want to feel secure that they're in a place where their problems can be solved. ...If you ain't gonna be using the Church of Bounty's symbols I suppose you'll be making some of your own, but I know you got the place marked with Kahlia's own personal symbol out by the door, so here's another place to put that. Aside from that and other works of art, a statue of the goddess in a place of pride would be pretty obvious, I would think."

Deylia grins eagerly at the thought. "Oh, yes! She does look marvelous in person, or at least as she presented herself to us. I imagine the statue alone would be cause for pilgrims to come and see her...Xenia, do you think you could give it a try?" She turns for a moment towards an empty spot in the room, before shifting to face the back of the chamber where a stone column grows from the floor all the way up into the ceiling - which then pushes that ceiling several feet higher, increasing the volume of the entire space. Once the material is in place Xenia begins to carve away at it, quickly forming the rough shape of a female figure, then doing several more passes to add in more and more fine details.

Although the most basic form is recognizable within perhaps about two minutes of work, the party watches in silence for a solid fifteen or so while Xenia crafts perhaps the most life-like statue any of them have ever seen before. The loose-fitting fabric of Kahlia's dress appears to flow so naturally that the audience would swear it was actual cloth, and even the smallest details of her face and skin soon become apparent. Not only that, but parts of the stone begin to transmute from one mineral to another, applying some actual color to the piece of art. Though of course when Elance makes her first comment on Xenia's completed work, it's not the face she brings up first.

"That's...that's incredible work, spirit. An' I'm sure the goddess would be plenty flattered if she could see it - or perhaps I should say 'when', if she's watchin' this place of yours. But...maybe for a serious place of reflection, one could turn down the...ampleness of the stone a wee bit?"

Deylia blushes as she clears her throat. "Ahum...Xenia would like to state that since she's become a dungeon spirit, she's gained...photographic memory? Ah, perfect memory, that is. And having seen Kahlia myself, I would have to agree. This is exactly how the goddess chose to appear before us. Aside from being mostly marble, I would almost mistake this for the real divine!"

Elance has to chew on that for a bit. "...Alright, well, suppose the imagery we've got might be...out of date, or some such. Couldn't ye put her in some proper clothin' at least?"

"...That's also her preferred form of fashion. Xenia states that she was wearing it on two of her three encounters."

Lilly's voice squeaks a little in excitement. "She's spoken with the goddess three times! Incredible! What was she wearing the other time, though?"

"...Ah. Nothing, apparently."

The Bountiful Mother takes a deep breath. "Let's go with the dress, then. The, uh...the height of the thing might be a bit much though, and I ain't just saying that because I'm a dwarf. You make her that big, and you're gonna need to scale up everything around here just to fit with it!"

This time Deylia smirks as she answers the criticism. "This is, in fact, a life-size rendition of the Goddess of Fertility."

"...You're fuckin' shittin' me."

Lilly gasps. "Mother Hammerdown!"

"Kahlia ain't got no rules against swearing, lass, and this is a time that calls for it. And here I've been thinkin' all this time she was more properly dwarf-sized! Not that a goddess is limited to any single form, of course, but...still..." The woman trails off in thought, muttering for a while, and her colleagues let her work out her stress before attempting to nudge her along.

Clearing his throat, Sincere speaks as he gestures around the room. "We'll certainly add in more artwork and such in time. But as regards to functional architecture, what would be your next recommendation?"

"Right, well, I'd go with some private alcoves off to one side, something with a door you can close for privacy. Even if the place might be empty most of the time, a lot of folks'll be wanting a quiet place to talk about their concerns - especially if those concerns involve fertility-related topics, as y'might imagine. And even if Deylia's your only staff member, you'll be wanting a couple so that people can have a quiet place to wait, if there's a line or some such. Speaking of staffing, though, are you expectin' to be expanding this little operation of yours?"

Deylia turns towards her invisible boss, and has a quick side conversation. "You think? There might not be much work for them...well, I suppose that's true." After coming to an apparent conclusion, she turns back to Elance. "Adding more Priests or Priestesses like myself...could be an option down the line, although we're certainly not rushing into it. Adding more bosses to the floor would dilute my own powers, although a few wouldn't do much harm. However, apparently given the floor's capacity we could create a rather significant number of the minion version of my class, a Rabbit Acolyte."

Before Elance can ask any questions, Sincere steps in with the option's downside. "We're not entirely certain how they would work out, however. Non-ensouled monsters are made to fit their role, but we've had some...oddities with the divine monster types and the circumstances of this dungeon. We may perhaps create two as assistants to Del here, mostly just as a test to see how they adapt to their task."

"A monster - a true monster - espousing the glories of the goddess...well, that would be something to see, that's for certain." Elance trails off into thought again for another moment, before eventually getting back to the job at hand. "And let's see, let's see...staff housing I imagine you've got covered. An office and records room is important for the Church of the Bounty, particularly as many communities rely on us to track family histories and the like, but...using a dungeon as an archive? It's difficult to imagine such a thing."

Sincere gives a sad shake of his head at that. "We can't accurately safeguard any records brought to us, I'm afraid. Outside knowledge is typically absorbed once left here, but it's not as simple as just spawning a new copy of the original work once it's gone. Xenia would have to put quite a bit of effort into maintaining the accuracy of such things." Halting to listen to his master for a moment, the Mage then corrects himself. "Ah, I'm reminded that we can 'tag' items with our spatial inventory, if it's arranged ahead of time, but in that case Xenia does not learn the information herself. That inventory does have a capacity limit as well, and outside of it...well, let's just say that I personally would not want to keep any valuable paperwork in a location as prone to violence as a dungeon."

"Right. I suppose that leaves examination rooms then, for medical concerns. We often use them for midwife's chambers, but I doubt anyone's gonna be climbin' up the mountain in such a state to give birth here! Still, folks do have their issues, and healing potions and magical skills don't treat everything. Lilly here'll be happy to train you up on those."

The elf in question sighs quietly. "Certainly, it would be my pleasure, Trainee."

The Trainee bows her head in appreciation. "Thank you for your time and efforts in advance, Priestess. I've actually been meaning to speak some with some of the other medical experts of the region, as it happens. So...with the new facilities and some more formal training, would that alleviate your concerns, Mother Hammerdown?"

Elance grunts, not seeming to want to appear entirely mollified so soon. "Well, it'll be a start! Seeing how you actually use those facilities and training will be another thing entirely. But it's a damn better foundation for the job than that nudie joint, that's for certain."

Sincere also gives the revered woman a slight bow. "I would like to communicate my mistress' thanks for your efforts as well. We appreciate your candor in setting us on the right path in these regards. Is there anything else we can do for you today?"

The dwarf hesitates, but eventually nods. "So...speakin' of this nudie joint. I hear you got rabbity boys in there, too? Place open all day, or do I gotta wait around til nightfall to take a look at the place?"

To that, Sincere can only grin. "You've cleared Floor Four as I recall, yes? Then indeed, by all means...shall we take a tour?"