Lorelei
Rae had offered the group one of her carriages, which made the journey down the hill from her mansion quicker, but between the bumps on the road, and Rae telling the coachman to “Make haste!”, by the time they got to the Temple of Life the group was more than a little wobbly on their feet.
Archmeridies was both the name of the kingdom, and of the capital city, traditional seat of the King. Of the Aspect Gods, the Life Aspect was by far the most popular, among rich and poor alike, and consequently the Life Temple within the city was a massive edifice, second only to the great castle itself. Great ivory pillars framed the traditional doorless entrance-way, reaching upwards away into the darkness of the night.
Lore had lived in the city her whole life, and while she knew the twisting alleys of the Lower Ward like the back of her hand, she had never ventured to the Upper Ward, and had never visited the Life Temple. A shiver went down her back as she ventured past the threshold into the Life God's domain. She could feel the presence of the aspect all around her, mighty and inhuman. “Praise be upon the Aspect of Life,” she said.
“May you live long and have many children,” said a young attendant by the door. Lore tried not to blush, aghast at her reaction. The young man had meant well, she knew, but still... it was... patronizing? It reminded her of granny, may she rest in peace. Was matronizing a word?
Lore clasped her hands together, and bowed slightly to the youth, but he was distracted. Following his gaze, she saw Maureen, standing slightly outside the threshold.
“And you, young lady?” said the youth. “Do you not wish to enter into Life's domain?”
“Um, no – sorry.” Maureen bit her lip. “I'll just wait outside with the carriage.”
“The Life Aspect loves and helps us all, young miss. You cannot say that of any other god, particularly not the other Aspect gods.”
“I'm sorry, I'm just not comfortable with coming inside.”
“Very well, young miss. Mind the cold.”
“And I'm not young.” Maureen paused, and it looked to Lore as if she were regretting that slip. “Well, I'm probably older than you, anyway. I guess we are both young.”
“Actually, I'm fifty-eight years old, as of two weeks ago! But I was ill as a child, and when the Life Aspect saved my life, I dedicated it to her. Within these walls, I barely age at all. Such is the power of the Aspect's love.”
Maureen bowed to him. “My apologies, elder. If you'll excuse me, I must go.”
Lore watched her hurry stiffly out of view. Why not enter the temple? The Elder was right – the Life Aspect was the most benevolent of gods, healing and curing all alike. She would have to ask Maureen about that, once they got a moment to themselves, after everyone was done at the temple.
Speaking of which... Lore turned around and saw Mr. Sunder and the others disappear after some priest into a small hallway. She hurried after them.
Jack Sunder
“I'm sorry, but I must keep the Regent's confidence in this matter.”
Sunder rubbed his temples. “You are of an Aspect. His rule is only in material affairs – you are outside of that.”
“Regardless, it is in this temple's best interest not to anger the man. He has no rule over us, but in the end we are material people, with material needs. We live in his kingdom, in his city, and we must respect that.”
“But would it anger him? He doesn't even need to know. If what we have been told is correct, and he is afraid of something, then we could act in his favor independently, and end his fear.”
“Hrmph.” The priest shook his head. “I have not heard of any such fear, and beyond that, your requests still concern matters of his private, personal life. I perform the longevity blessing upon him. I don't spy on him.”
“Nonsense. The aspect temples spy on everyone who uses their services. Your aspect is welcomed, but spies nonetheless.”
“You overstep your bounds. Please leave. You may insult my god in your own time, in your own place.”
Jack snorted, and spun on his heel to leave. Perl and Selena trailed behind him as they strode back out the hallway. It was a tunnel underneath the city, Jack guessed – they had gone too far to be part of the temple's basement. Coming to an intersection, he recalled that he had turned left when he got here, so he should turn right when leaving. It would be embarrassing to have to ask the priests for directions, at this point.
Turning the corner in full stride, he crashed into a young lady. She stumbled back, and almost fell over, but he reflexively grabbed her to steady the lady, and instead they both fell over, into a messy heap of arms and legs.
“Oh hi, boss.” It was Lore.
Sunder blushed, and tried to stand up, but his arms were pinned underneath her, with their combined weight holding them to the ground.
“Oh, I'm terribly sorry about this,” he said. “No way to treat a lady.”
“It's alright, I'm okay,” said Lore. She was blushing, though – no doubt embarrassed about the accident.
“Um, boss?” Perl's voice came from above. “You want a hand up, or you do want to stay where you are?”
Lore's hands were stroking his back in a most unprofessional manner, and he could feel her shifting underneath him. He felt his body doing something unfortunate and inappropriate. “Heh, he's fine!” Lore said, worrisomely gleeful of his body’s reaction.
“No I'd actually very much like a hand—mmm!” Lore was kissing him.
Suddenly he was standing, panting, and waving his hands in front of himself like an idiot. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said. “What was what?!”
“I.. um...” Lore was flushed a deep red by now. “I just...”
“I'm a professional. You're my employee. I can't take advantage of you like that. Not happening.”
“But...” Lore's eyes went wide, then watery. She climbed to her feet, and started down the hallway, first at a deliberate walk, then running and sobbing. She disappeared down the hallways.
“Nice one, chief.”
“Shut up, Perl.”
Maureen
Maureen paced for warmth outside the Temple, staying out of view of the threshold's attendant. Why not go inside? She was leagues away from her homeland, where they worshiped Father Stone and Mother Water. The Aspect gods were just artificial derivatives. Thoughts and concepts given power by belief. Father Stone was real, he was there beneath her feet. Mother Water was real too, giving her life every day. A person could reject an Aspect god, but without Mother, there was only death, and Father was everywhere at all times.
But the Aspect gods were much more involved in human affairs, as her people had learned when the invading armies of the south besieged her tribe. Forts sprang up across the land, and warriors marching in columns, covered in metal and carrying great shields emblazoned with the white hand of civilization. At first they had avoided these invaders, expected them to leave like all the others before them, but from the forts grew farms, and from the farms grew towns.
Her people had tried to fend off the settlers, but then came the soldiers marching under the banner of the War Aspect. Unable to match soldiers empowered by the Aspect with inhuman strength and endurance, her people were forced to flee.
She had been born around this time, she knew. The daughter of a captured northerner, she grew up in internment camps, raised on stories of roaming the open steppes, of the vastness of Father Stone. Not that she could see such things with her own eyes – all she saw were the white-washed walls of her school, her sanctuary from the horrors of the internment camps.
Maureen stopped her pacing and started at the massive splendor of the Life Temple. Long ago, she had decided that there was nothing left for her people. When she ran away from the school she ran towards the civilization that she knew, not the one to which she belonged, and sought power in books and knowledge, not... well, she only had assumptions about the ways of her forefather. Now, years later, her she was, still a stranger in the land, marked by her pale blue eyes and coal-black hair.
She walked over to the carriage and sat down on the ground in front of its door, wrapping her cloak around her tightly. Staring at the entrance-way, she shivered and waited for her friends to return.
Lorelei
Lore dashed down the hallways blindly, turning every which way. She was lost, and she wanted to be lost. Lost far away from stupid Sunder, and his stupid logic. She barreled down hallways, crashed into priests, and ran, ran until she could run no more.
Leaning against a wall, sobbing and panting with exhaustion, she crumpled to the ground, and lay there in a miserable sobbing heap. What was she going to do now? She had just ruined everything with Sunder. Why had she done that! She just should have known better! Now Sunder was going to go with that Rae woman. Probably better for him too – she was high-class and fancy, just like him, not some orphan girl with delusions of a happy life. She wasn't his subordinate, either, so he would be just fine and merry with boning her.
“Well, I quit!” she sobbed.
Wrapped up in her own emotional turmoil, she did not hear the light footsteps coming from the tunnel ahead.
Maureen
“Maureen!” shouted Sunder, “Where's Lore!?”
Maureen looked up and saw Sunder, Selena, and Perl hurrying out of the Temple at the fastest possible polite speed.
“Lore's in the Temple!” she shouted back. “She went in a bit after you guys!”
“We saw her – did she come out here!?” Sunder continued towards her, quick strides cutting the distance in seconds. Maureen noticed he was carrying Lore's thunderstick.
“Wait, come out again? No, I haven't seen her since. Did you send her out here to get me?”
Sunder scowled.
“I mean, I wasn't really watching the exit, but she certainly didn't come over to the coach.” Maureen stood up. Her joints ached a bit after sitting the cold so long.
“So she could be still inside, or she could be outside.” Sunder kicked a rock in a most ungentlemanly fashion. “Damn!”
Maureen pursed her lips. Something was wrong. “What's wrong, Mr. Sunder?”
Selena answered for him. “He made a scene and scared the girl off. Also, relations with the temple aren’t very good.”
“Oh?”
“It's complicated, I'll tell you later.”
Sunder shook his head. “Okay, she's either out here, or in there. Hrm. Maureen, you go inside and ask around for her. We're not welcome there anymore. Selena, Perl – you stay here, watch for her. I'm going to go... somewhere. Need to talk with someone.”
“Wait, I'm going in the Temple?”
“We had a disagreement with a priest – he asked us to leave. Us as in myself, Perl, and Selena. Not you.”
“I really would rather not go in there.”
“Too bad. You get paid, and some of that is following orders. Not just the orders you like!”
“I don't follow the--”
“I know you don't care for the Aspect gods. I don't either. As far as I am concerned, they are just tools of faith giving power to those who venerate them.” Sunder stepped closer to Maureen, looming over her, and backing her into the carriage. “But that's all they have to be. You don't have to venerate them to enter their domains. Lore... Lore is part of this Association, and I protect my own. We're a family, okay. Go find her.”
Maureen slipped out from between the carriage and Sunder, and hurried off towards the temple. This wasn't going to be easy, but it wasn't like the Temple was ever closed to anyone. It was why they didn't have doors on the entrance, after all.
“I see you are, perhaps, reconsidering?”
Maureen looked up and saw the same attendant, still sitting here by the entrance. He smiled, and did a little bow with his head and shoulders.
Maureen walked up to the threshold, and paused. She could feel the warmth from the fires inside. “I'm a northerner. I follow the old gods.”
“And you feel unwelcome? I remember hearing about the conquest – horrible things were done to your people. But it was not by the Life Aspect, or any of its servants.”
“It was by this civilization, with the might of the Aspects behind it.”
“With the might of the War Aspect, and the Civilization Aspect, perhaps. The Aspects are not like your Father Stone and Mother Water – there is no relationship between them. I feel no more allegiance to the Civilization Aspect than to Father Stone, and less respect for War.”
Maureen considered this.
The elder stood, and offered his hand to Maureen. “I recognize your allegiance to the old gods, and on behalf of the Life Aspect, I welcome you to this temple.”
Maureen offered her hand, and, bracing herself slightly, stepped over the threshold.
“Welcome to Life's domain, young lady. May you live long and have many children, as we say.” The man bowed, and Maureen reflexively returned the gesture.
“Um, may I ask a favor of you?”
“Of course, young one.” The attendant smiled.
Perl
“Boss, you really should calm down.”
Sunder stared angrily at Perl. “I know, I know!” He sighed, shoulder slumping. “I drove off Lore, and then I vented it all on Maureen. Goodness knows what they think of me now.”
“Well, at least you didn't yell at us.” Selena smiled. “Everyone has their moments – I know that better than anyone.”
“Yeah. Okay, thanks.” Sunder wrapped his coat on. “I'm going to take a walk and think about this all. I'll be back by eighth toll.” He started off, and then turned back to face them. “When you see Lore, tell her that I'm sorry. I... overreacted. She deserves better than that.”
“Will do, boss,” said Perl. Watching his fearless leader trundle off in the cold, he turned to Selena.
“You know, we'd both be warmer if I held you.” The man grinned toothily.
“Dream on.”
Maureen
It was almost eighth toll by the time Maureen walked out of the Temple. Half an hour had been spent with Adoegas, Fourth Attendant of the Outer Circle. Half an hour spent in part in alarmingly interesting conversation with the older man, and in part hunting down various priests who had seen Lore run by, and whom gave varying answers as to where they had seen the young lady go.
But in the end, the answer was grim. According to the people Adoegas had spoken with, Lore had run through the lower levels into where they linked with the greater catacomb system under the city. None of the priests had seen where she had stopped, and several of them voiced their fears that she may have passed out of the Life Aspect's domain, into an underworld ill-suited for humans.
Exiting the temple, Maureen headed around the corner to the carriage. Much to her surprise, she found that Selena and Perl had combined into a single entity of tangled cloaks and contented snores.
While Maureen pondered whether to wake them, she heard a throat being cleared behind her. Startled, she whipped around to see a hooded figure in the darkness. Maureen’s hand tightened on the hammer at her waist.
“Whoa there!” said Rae, pulling down her hood. “Someone's on edge tonight!”
Maureen let go of her hammer, and tried to suppress the adrenaline rush. “Sorry my Lady. Something's gone wrong – one of our members has gotten separated from the rest. The priests say she might be down in the undercity. They say there are horrible--”
“In the undercity?! Dear gods!” Rae shrank away, as if afraid of her surroundings in general. “You're not from around here, are you. The things in the undercity... they aren't human.”
“That's what everyone has been telling me.”
Rae shivered. It wasn't just from the cold. “Where's Mr. Sunder? I came down here to talk to him. Or all of you, actually. I've had my servants prepare rooms for you at my mansion. I thought that if you were going to be trooping around the city after dinner, you might want to have a nice place to return to. A nicer supper, too, perhaps.”
“Mr. Sunder said he would be around. He didn't want to wait here for... reasons.”
Rae glanced at Selena and Perl, and nodded. “When will he be back?”
At that moment, the castle's clock tower rung out a solemn chord of bell peals, and then rang once, twice, three times, four times, five times, six times, seven times, and then eight times.
“I don't know when he'll be back – we probably should ask Perl. Or maybe Selena.”
The two of them looked down at the sleeping bundle.
“Or we could just wait.”
Lorelei
Lore whimpered, curled up in a ball on the ground. She had lost her chance with the gallant Sunder, and her job. It had been too good to be real. Now, whe was just a washed-up street orphan again, full of broken dreams.
“Ye have a good cry now, yes?”
Lore shrieked, jumped to her feet, and pulled out her knife. Her thunderstick was distinctly missing - she must have dropped it during her flight.
“Who's there!”
“Quiet, quiet! The deep ones will hear, yes? No be wanting that. Shush shush shush.”
Lore waved her knife in the direction of the voice. “Who's there!” she repeated.
“Nobody, nobody at all, yes, yes.... just a little nobody.” Out from the darkness stepped a hunchback humanoid. The face was grotesquely inhuman, with nose and mouth bulging forward into a sort of snout. Dirty hair covered it the creature's face, just as it covered the clawed hands that poked out of it's sleeves. The creature was wrapped in hundreds of rags against the cold, and beady eyes glinted at Lore.
“You're a sewerfiend!”
“I am ratman. That is name, not so horrible in mouth.”
“Get away from me, or I'll cut you up good!” She stabbed at the air with the knife, trying intimidate the monster.
“No hurt! No hurt!” The sewerfiend cowered away from Lore, back into the shadows. “I see little girl lying on ground, crying, quitting, yes, yes? I think to self, 'this is no good place for little human girl. This near the screams, and near the screams is no good place for anyone.' But girl is busy crying, and momma said never to interrupt someone who is crying, or cry gets stuck inside. So I wait for little human girl to have good cry, then interrupt, yes, you see?”
Lore eyed the sewerfiend uneasily. He didn't look like he was going to attack her, but there was an old saying about never trusting sewerfiends. But also...
“What screams are you talking about?”
“You no hear the screams from below?” The sewerfiend scratched his snout, dislodging some dried mud. “Always screams here, something horrible. Smell, too, also horrible. Not like nice scent from the white house – smell of blood and tears and other stuff. Momma says that going near screams never good idea. Also say going after screams better idea, but no mind that...” The sewerfiend shuddered. “You no hear that? Scream just then.”
Lore shook her head.
“Humans have good eyes for bright sun. Guess saying about humans never hearing true, yes?” The sewerfiend shuddered again. “We go soon, yes? No want to stay near screams. No good, no good.”
Lore nodded. “I need to get back to my friends.” She paused, and felt the air. “I'm not under the Life aspect temple any more, am I?”
“Under life temple? Sweet-smelling white house?”
Lore couldn't remember specifically, but she was pretty sure the temple was white marble. “My friends are there, I need to go back.”
“Go back this way!” He pointed into the darkness from which he had come. There was a hole in the wall of the catacombs where they stood. “Way you came too near screams. No joining screams for nice girl like you.” He looked at her hand. “Nice girl with nice knife.”
“I'm not going with you. That's a trap. 'Never trust a sewerfiend, friends to you until you are friends to them.'” Lore looked back the way she had come. The tunnel was dimmer than she remembered.
“I have other thing momma said to me: 'Sleeping people are friends to all, if only all were friends to them.' Not no sleep, but understand, yes?”
Lore snorted. “Suppose you could have gotten me there.”
“No! No hurting people. Hurting people means torches! Lights! Hunters in our homes! We scavenge meat, nothing more.”
“If you don't mind, I want to keep my knife out.”
“Yes, yes, that fine. Go now before screaming is too much.” He offered a dirty hand to Lore, with longer fingers and sharp claws.
Lore shook her head, and went with the knife into the darkness.
“Nice girl watch nice head. Tunnel made for ratkin, not for nice girl. Nice knife not so nice when falling. Make dead meat of nice girl, not so nice.”
“Why do you care so much?” Lore stumbled a bit, but caught herself.
“Why care? Why not care?” There was a pause. “And nice girl seems so sad. Why so sad, this one wonders...”
“I... I don't want to talk about it.”
“Ah, I see. You not stupid, though. And momma says not to quit, just try again from somewhere else.”
“Hm.”
The two continued in silence for a while, and Lore put away her knife to have both hands free. The ceiling was generally a little taller than she, but occasionally protrusions of solid rock jutted downwards. She kept her arms up to feel for them, but her arms were getting tired.
“You're not like what I imagined.”
“Hm? I no baby-eating sewerfiend? Nice girl is very nice, yes...”
“Yeah... I suppose those rumors of sewerfiends eating babies are a bit silly.”
“Just scavenge dead meat, trash. No babies. Maybe real rats, no ratkin. Human babies are cousins – ratkin more like human than rat, yes?”
“I suppose so.” Lore tripped on a rock, and stumbled forward. A hand caught her arm in the darkness and steadied her.
“Nice girl careful, yes? No hitting head and turning dead. Nice girl nice, talk with other humans, perhaps, not so much torches, lights, no hunters in our homes?”
“I'll... yeah, I'll talk to people, tell them you helped me.” She smiled the the darkness. “What's your name?”
“Name? Many names. Son, brother, husband, friend. To you, my name friend, yes, perhaps?”
Lore laughed slightly. “Yeah. Friend.”
“You friend too. But human have human name, too.”
“My name is Lore.”
“Lore, like stories.”
“No, Lore is short for Lorelei.”
“Hmph. No understand human names, yes?”
“Suppose. How much further?”
“Further? We away from screams now. Now upwards, see humans, see streets. Then we say goodbye, and never see each other again. You find your friends, get revenge on “mister” and“Jack” and “Sunder”, yes?”
“Wait... I think you... hm.” Lore pondered the sewerfiend's misinterpretation for a bit. “That's not...”
“No, but no understand humans. You know what you know, no need me being right for you.”
“Thanks, I guess.” Lore continued walking for a bit, and she realized that the air was getting fresher. Also they were going uphill. “Why not see each other again?”
“I no think you walk down here alone. Ratkin no only thing down here. You no see, you no hear screams. No safe for nice girl. And city... city full of hating humans with cold steel and no niceness in their livers. No safe for little ratkin friend of yours.”
“I could leave a mark...” As Lore said this, her leading hand and leading foot ran into a rough rocky wall in front of her.
“No, not marks, no see each other. Just say nice things to human people, see if spread niceness. I just ratkin friend now. In future nobody, yes? Friend only in head, carry with you.”
Lore frowned, partly at the wall, partly at what her friend had said.
“We here now. Up, up, and into otherworld. Climb with hands and feet.” The sewerfiend took her hand by the wrist and placed it on the wall. The wall was cold and damp, but there were plenty of gripping surfaces. “Nice lorelei climb up, fit in hole. Hole small for big human men, but nice lorelei no bigger than ratkin.”
Lore pulled herself up, quite aware of the freshness emanating from above her. “Thank you, friend. I'll remember you, and I promise to be nice to you and other... ratkin.”
“Thank you, nice lorelei. I'll remember you, and I promise to...” There was a pause. “I promise to tell momma, brother, sister about nice lorelei, and how she put away knife. Mmmm... I tell you secret.”
Lore paused in her ascent. “Secret?”
“All ratkin nice ratkin, yes? But scared. How ratkin know not scared of nice lorelei? Bring food – live food best, yes? Kill, let smell bring ratkin. Ratkin hear, ratkin see, you no see ratkin. But ratkin there. How know nice lorelei is nice lorelei? Be friend, tell them things I say, what ratkin mommas tell their children, yes? Ratkin think you friends with ratkin, no so bad. No telling human hunters, no fire, no light – no nice, that, nice lorelei no do.”
Lore smiled in the darkness. “I wish I could tell you how to be friends with humans, but I don't know. Thank you very much for telling me that. I'll keep the knowledge safe.”
“Momma say, 'human people not nice, always cold steel, always no niceness in livers.' This friend understands, no good way to put niceness in human livers. But momma maybe not so right, yes?”
“Yeah. Thank you.” Lore climbed up and poked her head out into a dark alleyway. The air was so fresh... She climbed out all the way, then stuck her head back into the hole. “Bye-bye, ratkin friend!” she spoke into the darkness.
But perhaps the ratkin had already left, as there was no reply.