Chapter 2 - Set, The City of Gods

When Hargrac finally lets go of the spear, a vision fills his mind. He sees a jotun, no less than ten feet tall, wielding the spear and slaughtering enemies most foul. The spear seems to whisper to him, "Prove yourself." Hargrac is filled with a certainty that he was not rejected by the spear forevermore, but merely must prove himself worthy of such a weapon. A conviction settles on his mind that he must purchase a spear, a regular spear of unremarkable quality, and use it to slay a mighty foe. For it is the wielder who makes the weapon, not the other way around.

Enimpi hides a chuckle behind her hand, but nods and continues on. You pass through the huge arch into the northernmost section of Set, Seven Towers. Surprisingly, the most notable features are seven towers, the tallest structures in Set.

"The two white towers that mark the eastern and western boundaries of Seven Towers pre-date the cities founding. No one knows their origin but the most popular conjecture is that they were constructed by faeries. Others think it was the followers of a forgotten god. The rest were built in the last five hundred years. The red tower is the most recent and was a vanity project for then-autarch Amariss the Unready about a century ago. It's currently run by members of a small cult to the Sky God. I don't recommend getting close to that tower; the members never leave their post and dump their...er, waste from the top of the tower."

Enimpi continues deeper into the city, pointing out various other features. "Here is Saint Roland's Cathedral to the New God," she points to a large modern temple of white marble in an angular architectural style.

"Here is the area dedicated to the Old Faiths," she points to a small grove dotted with various smaller shrines and temples. Mortemiar sees a temple the size of a barn made from basalt that is clearly a temple to Father Death.

"And here is the Temple of the Violet Eye," the unspoken says, gesturing at what was once an inn converted into a religious meeting house. It is decorated all in purple. "They are the most secretive cult in Set and no one except members know what they believe in or even which god they worship."

"And here's the last stop, Giant Town." Sprawling in front of you is a district of Seven Towers that occupies nearly a third of the area, mostly because of the size of the buildings. It is an entire enclave of jotuns. Every building is jotun-sized, roughly half again as large as normal human buildings. They are mostly longhouses for habitation, but there are several stores, a blacksmith, and a tavern just for jotun.

Right outside the demarcation of Giant Town is the Temple of the Moon Goddess. The temple is beautifully carved from a bluish-green stone, adorned with fluted columns and bas-reliefs depicting the phases of the moon and constellations. It seems abandoned except for a small group of jotun who seem to be in an argument with several humans in black hooded robes armed with scourges and several sets of manacles dangling from chain belts. "Huh, that's strange. Those are a few members of the All-Faiths Company. The city guard," she adds. "I wonder what's going on..."

Both groups of guards and jotun stop talking and stare at the dwarf with surprise and annoyance. An awkward silence draws out for several seconds. Enimpi shrinks back behind the two taller party members, going pale.

Eventually one of the guards speaks up, the tallest and clearly the leader. "What's going on here is a private conversation between city officials and members of our community. What's not going on here is an open forum for, I will guess, visitors to come and stick their bulbous noses into private affairs. Be thankful I am forgiving of the uninitiated and will overlook the blundering of newcomers." He looks to where Enimpi is trying to hide as best she can. "I'm sure your guide will explain your mistake to you later."

The tall guard turns back to the small group of jotun. "Well, it seems the interruption is perhaps a sign from the gods that our conversation had run its course anyway. Regardless of your feelings, the Council of Faith has spoken and your requests have been denied. Good day." The man turns on his heel and walks away, the other members of the guard following behind. They don't even look in your direction as they walk away. The small group of jotun are grumbling and shaking their heads in frustration.

One of the jotun, presumably the leader who was speaking with the city guard, shakes his head. He is almost nine feet tall with long black hair in braids, a beard strung with engraved bone clasps, and rune tattoos on his blue skin.

"No offense. I will tell, but you cannot help. Our problem lies with the Council of Faith. We are but a few followers of Oceanus. He is god of the seas. Many have forgotten him and his worshippers are few. But in Set, all faiths are welcome. So we thought. We have saved money for many years to buy some land in Seawatch and build a temple there. But the Council has denied our petition with no explanation. Recently the priestesses of the moon goddess have all disappeared. Their temple sits empty. So we changed our petition to buy that temple and dedicate it to Oceanus. Again we were denied. This is what you saw. Again no reason. This cannot be coincidence."

Enimpi seems very uncomfortable when Hargrac shouts after the departing guards and breathes and audible sigh of relief when they don't respond. "Be very careful here. The guards are experts at the rules and laws of every religion and can find any offense as a pretext to haul you off to the dungeon." She turns to the jotun. "I have heard a little about this and I'm sorry for your troubles. It is very unlike the Council to rule without any reason."