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Nice update,i miss this alot

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Jarrael felt very hot under the heavy clothing of the scarlet raiment that covered all his body. The covering seem to have been made from a material that was both heavy and causes the skin to itch upon contact. Besides that he was perspiring under the golden mask that covered his face. Though the heat wasn’t limited to his face but his whole body as well. The raiment was worn over his regular clothing which underneath it lay his skin thin chainmail. Taking slight peep left and right, Jarrael noticed that he wasn’t the only one suffering the inconvenience.
Thorn had returned later in the company of two black clad soldiers, who carried the senior disciples clothing in tow and acted as if they were sleep walking. Thrace had whispered to him then that his sister had told him before leaving that she intend to use a short term effective mind control spices on someone that can help them pass through the gate and into the temple unmolested. That had worked effectively, the raiment had fitted them all even heavily muscled Gamba had gotten one that covered him adequately.
Presently the soldiers are moving ahead of them, telling the watch men at the temple gate to open they gate. The command was obeyed without hesitation, seeing the long line of seemingly senior disciples on their way to an initiation ceremony and the soldiers ahead of them must have been highly placed officers.

The darkness that descended on the city as the night came swiftly was set aside by the twin blazing torches held ahead of the group by the two soldiers. As they passed through the gate, they walked for a while in the general direction of the location for the initiation. After a while, the two soldiers started acting in a confused way. Gamba quickly got close to them as he had been instructed by Meera on what signs to look out for when the drug she used on the soldiers to keep them in thrall to her starts to dissipate. Gamba knocked both of them into unconsciousness, took both torches, handed them to Khen to hold for him then looked for a very dark corner to hide the unconscious bodies in a way no one will discover them till day light. Gamba took back one of the torches as he waited for instructions on which direction to move.
The compound of the temple is much more bigger than it appeared outside. Each tower in the temple stretched high into the night skies obscuring from view quite a number of the stars scattered across the night. They were built of polished black stones, carefully arranged on each other to form rounded edges. Each of them is big enough to accommodate several hundreds of large rooms. Few windows with flickering lights exists on each story of the towers. The top of them tapered to sharpened points. There were very wide open spaces between the temple towers, some having high walkways arching over the heads of those walking on the paved floors of the compound. There were very few number of priests moving around the compound, but none seem to pay the group any attention. The only people that showed any interest was another group of senior disciples, about a score of them, going towards the initiation area, with few glancing over Jarrael and his group who seem to be heading the wrong way. With masks on, Jarrael couldn’t well read the expressions on their faces but the constant turning of heads to their direction was clear enough. That stopped when they walked close to the side of a building and disappeared from view.

“We should go this way I think. “ Thrace pointed at one of the roads that leads to the tallest tower in the compound with three pointed spires at the top. “That was the direction I felt the relics from when I did the initial probe. Will try another one when we get close enough. “
“This clothing stinks. When do we get to pull them off? “ Meera growled.
“Maybe just after we get inside the temple. “ Jarrael said pointing at the entrance of the tower ahead of them, “I can see few number of guards at the door. “
As they got close to the entrance, they noticed an arch attached to a short fence of about the height of three men before the entrance having a portcullis of iron grating over the arched top. The portcullis was lifted halfway up, high enough for someone to pass through but having four armed soldiers guarding it.
“Halt honorable senior disciples. “ one of the soldiers said, his voice stern and firm but with respect. “You seem to have missed your way. The place of initiation is not here. “
“We didn’t miss our way unworthy one. “ Thrace replied, allowing the slur of insults, he has heard the Nemphis priests use in addressing non-priests to be evidenced in his speech. “We have an audience with a high priest in this place. “
“My pardon your honored ones, I meant no disrespect. “ The soldier who had spoken bowed a bit as he apologized. “But this is highly unusual. I have learnt that disciples are forbidden to meet with any priest privately during the night of initiation. “

“Will you unlearned unlettered sniveling slime take upon your self to instruct me in the ways of the priesthood? “ Thrace made his voice to sound insulted and irritated. “I think a lesson is in order to teach your wretched unworthy soul the error of presuming to instruct a-soon-to-be-priest of our great god, the sacred dark path. “
The soldier who had spoken suddenly fell silent as fear gripped his face, his other three colleagues took slow cautious steps away from him. Thrace simply lifted his hand, with palm open wide, a purple and black colored tendril shot out of the palm and wrap itself on the soldier. The tendril constrict the soldier so tight that the pops and cracks of broken joints and bones was loud around him. As the soldier prepared to scream, the tendril extended to his neck, squeezing the throat and cutting off the wind, crushing the larynx and cutting off any intended sound. In few heart beats, the tendril withdrew back into Thrace palm and the soldier’s lifeless body crumpled on the floor. The other three soldiers stood rigid, watching the display stoically, a thing that is commonly rumored to happen in the black tower to any lesser person that question a priest. Though this is the first time in their lives they have witnessed such awesome display of a priest’s power personally.
“Our god is always glorified when an unworthy one is sacrificed. “ The mask over his face gave Thrace voice a menacing undertone. “Might and glory to Nemphis. “
“Our lives and souls are for his praise and honor. “ was the automatic response from the three soldiers.
“See that none is aware of our visit and that none disturbs us. “ Thrace told the soldiers as they walked passed the portcullis, through the heavy door into the tower. The soldiers slowly nodded their faces ashen with fear.

I don dey like Thrace oh.

wao the acolyte seems to possess raw untapped powers. nice one Apollux

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join the Team and read the story *Just A Taste* I bet u wud b glued and thirst for more.
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Good work Don Apollux. Once its 430pm Monday to Friday the routine is to power on this phone check for Updates on Memoirs of Blood and Steel.
You have giving me an addiction. .
Some clarifications needed. The temple been guarded by men without magical powers gives a concern or should we take it as one of the loop holes left to be exploited for likely internal power tussle in the Nemphis world.

Some clarifications needed. The temple been guarded by men without magical powers gives a concern or should we take it as one of the loop holes left to be exploited for likely internal power tussle in the Nemphis world.[/quote]
yeah u just spoke my mind, also wanna ask that question

Ok let me slip in as much information as i can outside the story.
Several things u should note...
1. The black tower as a whole exists on one of the most inhospitable area of the Amirian desert.
2. The place is so remote that strangers hardly visit there( besides the attitude of the Nemphis worshippers doesn't help too.)
3. The black tower already have very formidable physical security that is tough to crack. Physically speaking, the black tower is almost impossible to breach by frontal assault or siege.
4. Also thee place has magical protection to detect and guard against hostile magic. Thrace have been very careful with his magic probes so as not to raise alarm. As of the last part when he displayed a potent magic, the answer is already on my next update which will come out later today.
5. We haven't met a lot of the priests of Nemphis, but from the display of Thrace (mimicking a senior disciple) that should give us an idea how arrogant and proud they are. But as for the priests not being at security posts, they see it as menial jobs below their status. You will never see a priest on patrol duties. Although there are magic users who do patrol and stand guards at times, these are in some cases, students of the priesthood school, disciples and senior disciples. But note that on this night, an initiation ceremony was going on so disciples and other senior disciples will be at the initiation, a very important ceremony when selected and qualified senior disciples are ordained as full priests (Ruel planned it in such a way that Jarrael and his group will get there on the night when the black tower is very vulnerable ).
Well that is all I can say for now. I know lots of things needs explanation in the story, but like I have said before, this is a spill over story from a bigger one. Also I had toyed with the idea of making a tour guide to the world of Ghemmaria. I still plan on doing that. Also let me slip a secret here, I have a plan of doing short adventures for some of the characters here(Gamba and Thrace already are foremost).
You will notice at a point in the story I quoted from an ancient Ghemmarian text... Here it is



"... though Rhammon started life as an acolyte of Nimrod, he manifested the prophetic gift later in life. But due to his ability to retain information in his mind and recall long events with accuracy (what in modern time we will call photographic memory), he was made a scribe and chronicler of the mad prophet, Nimrod. So he was able to accurately document most of Nimrod's prophecies.
"Rhammon’s prophetic abilities manifested close to the end of Nimrod's life and a lot of superstitious followers of Nimrod claimed that it was the spirit of Nimrod that now possess Rhammon. Well, Rhammon took advantage of that, being a brilliant person, he took over the prophetic college headed by Nimrod, with lots of followers behind him and some of them great military leaders, he set out to conquer some of the surrounding lands and built the kingdom of Ankara. He became its first king and also changed his title from a prophet to a priest, intending to call men back to acknowledging the forgotten gods of Ghemmaria. So he was the first priest-king in a successive line of rulers in the ancient Kingdom of Ankara. "
- from the annotations of Physillus III, the seer and chronicler. Scroll DXVII vol. IV. page 217

There is a full volume of this document, hopefully if I ever do the tour guide I might introduce us to some of this ancient sources /documents.

Well thanks guys for being there always for the stories

Appolux HBO shall locate you in Jesus name.

Amen

Grace fall on u

God bless you man, am following this movie, i mean this write up. You have it in you to when an Oscar

God bless you man, am following this movie, i mean this write up. You have it in you to win an Oscar

“Isn’t that a bit excessive little mage? “ Meera asked as they passed the portcullis.
“Well if I must imitate a Nemphis priest or a senior disciple, I just have to do it perfectly. “ While still speaking, the acolyte smiled under the mask. “What you just witnessed is a common way the priests deal with those who are not so blessed by their god with magical abilities. “
“And what about your magical display just now? “ Meera asked again. “Won’t that alert anyone watching about our presence here? “
“No fear of that happening. That magic display was a mimicry of the clerical power used by the priests, so we are in the clear. “
“I’m a bit curious though, Thrace, how you came to know so much about the priests of Nemphis. “ Jarrael asked the acolyte as he walked behind him.
“On that, there is a general believe among the mages that the priests of Nemphis are a potential enemy that they might face in the future, so we are taught everything that is to be known about them in the citadel at the sacred hill.” Taping the book with him he continued. “Besides this book is a wealth of information, the book was what showed me how to mimic Nemphis priests clerical magic. “

Getting into the tower, they meet a wide circular hall having several high arches which are portals leading to several parts of the tower. By the sides of the arches are very tall images made from black marble which are a surprise to the group since all the parts of the city appeared spartan with little or no images anywhere. The images were gigantic statues about the height of five full grown men. The first statue they saw was in the form of a man in a full priestly vestments. The next statue was also of a priest but this time in full regalia and the cowl brought up to cover the head. The other images were of warriors in full war armor with shield and sword. Two others were armed with war axe and a crescent sword. Then there is an image of a dragon. Then the final image was of a warrior astride a charging dragon with wings spread high as if flying.
One curious thing about the human statues is that both the ones in priest clothing and warrior armor, the faces of all the statues are identical. Thrace went close to one of the statue to check the words carved on the pedestal the image was placed on.
“From what is written here, these images are representation of Nemphis. “ Thrace said as he turned back to the group. With a sudden startled look he said "Someone is coming. “

Immediately Khen slipped away from the group and hid himself behind one of the pillars around there. Meera collected something that was passed to here by Thrace and slowly she walked to another pillar, found one and stood behind it. The hall was illuminated by several torches burning brightly hung on the pillars. Just then soft footsteps sounded coming from one of the arched portal. Behind the sounds came in four people, one of them was putting the red raiment of the a senior disciples and the other three of normal disciples.
“Hey what are you people doing here? You are all supposed to be at the initiation chamber. “ The senior disciple who stood at the head of the group said.
“We are where we want to be, filthy mongrel. “ Thrace replied.
“How dare you, senior disciple or not, you have no… wait, you all are not… “ was the last words the senior disciple will ever say as an arrow struck his throat, with the arrow head sticking out the other end. The senior disciple clawed fruitlessly at the protruding end of the arrow and dropped heavily on the ground. Before the others could react, Khen dove out of his hidden place, grabbed the head of the closest disciple to him with one hand and the older hand holding firmly to the jaw. With a savage wrench, Khen twisted the head. A loud crack sounded as the disciple toppled and fell.

The other remaining disciples reacted quickly, with quick magical words and fingers pointed at the group, purple and black energy shot from their fingers and flashed towards them. But the magical energy beam struck a solid barrier before Thrace and died. The disciples were first surprised then got angry to note that a magical shield had been erected around the group. Still again, they uttered spells which released another rounds of dark purple energy blasts. Again the blasts hit the solid wall of protective shied Thrace had around the group but this time instead of the blasts to go off, they sustained, hitting the shield continuously. Thrace took the time and stretched his hand forward, palms opened. Just then the energy blasts flew directory to the opened palm and the acolyte closed it trapping the blasts in his fist.
“Very nice display of your abilities but I’m not impressed. “ Thrace voice sounded hollow as it bounced within the face mask before coming it. “Maybe you will be impressed if I send it back to you. “
Thrace open his palm and the twin energy blasts returned to their sources, hitting the disciples and knocking them off their feet. They didn’t get up again.

“Thus they were killed by their own magic. “ Thrace said as he looked around. Already the two other bodies have been removed from where they had dropped, the blood stain wiped clean. Already Gamba was picking up the recently deceased disciples and taking them to a hiding place.
“Alright I think the disguise has served it’s purpose. Let’s pull it off. “ Jarrael turned to Thrace. “Get us our tools. “
“Right away Jarrael. “ Thrace said as he dug his hand into a small purse hung on his waist and pulled out Gamba’s twin axes, Jarrael’s scimitars and Khen’s curved blade. “The advantage of having a dimension and space folding bag for holding and hiding a lot more things bigger than it in size. “
“I wonder how many things you can cram into that small purse before it gets filled up. “ Jarrael said as he strapped on his wide belt holding his throwing knives and slung his scimitars on his back after pulling off the heavy raiment.
“Well anything from a horse, to a boat even a full house if you can carry it and put it in the purse. “ Thrace responded as he once again put on his acolyte robe.
“Having that was fortunate for us as there was no way our weapons could have been hidden among our wares that they wouldn’t have been discovered by the strict scrutiny of the guards. “
“Yes Jarrael, the purse is always handy to help one out of a tight spot. “ The acolyte said as he petted his side where the purse was hung.
“ I already had my weapons before you all. “ Meera said as she walked out from behind the pillar she was hiding . Already the raiment was off her body, her quiver on her back and the bow on her hand. She quickly took her rapier from Thrace that he extended to her. “Finally, glad to be off all these heavy clothing. “ she breathed with relief.
“Where next, Thrace? “
“This way, “ he said moving towards one of the arched portal leading out of the hall.

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wao the acolyte seems more refined than before

ruel wasn't wrong to have picked him up foe the adventure. and talking about ruel dude is just too much

Bro Apollux you ten much,this your Ghemmaria canticles is it gonna be a series.

nice update, boss thrace was sayin somtin abt d statue before d distraction, pls am eager to know

Matrycx:
nice update, boss thrace was sayin somtin abt d statue before d distraction, pls am eager to know

Those statues are images of Nemphis. First dressed in priestly regalia, then as a warrior also as riding a dragon. In legends and folklore, it was said that Nemphis always rides on a dragon, he even had one as a pet.
If you go to my map, you will notice two places one of them is the dragon eye lake. There is a story about that too, which I won't reveal in this story.

This Memoirs of blood and steel is a well thought out story. I have a story for every single land marks in the map, right from Krager's fist to the the peace walls in the south. To the earth wall mountains in the north and the shattered steps. All have stories that led to them. Just stay tuned.

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Mibazar should have felt fulfilled, at least in part he did. The relics were already in his possession. The little glace he had of the pages of the rune scroll had really shown him the wealth that tome contains. The knowledge in its pages is worth all the risks he had taken.
He was sitting down on a high backed golden chair, with soft cushion over laid in burgundy colored satin wool. A long wooden table was before him in the middle of which is a huge silver lamp stand holding a huge candle burning brightly. Few other lamp stands were in different part of the room, holding candles that gave up precious illumination. The room was surrounded with floor to ceiling shelves on which are neatly arrange books of varying sizes and volumes. Another part of the shelves were dedicated to parchments and scrolls.
Khaufir stood at the end of the table, silent and unmoving, behind him, the thick door leading to the private room of the high priest was locked and fastened with heavy wooden beans. On the tables were the remains of a half finished meals in white colored ceramic plates. Broken bones from chewed meat, crumbs from bread and an empty golden cup of wine filled his front. He took the jug of wine before him and filled the empty cup with its crimson liquid. He turned the cup to his lips and drank deep from the wine. It was a good wine, from a rare vintage.

a small purse to hide all those equipment haha

All his plans had worked perfectly, with the power stone, he can augment his power and perform the spell that he couldn’t have been able to do on his own. With the knowledge from the rune scroll, he can pierce the veil of illusion and see where it is hidden. All of these would have worked perfectly if not for the tiny bit of annoyance that has accompanied it all. The people he took the relics from are persistent, they had refused to accept failure and followed the relics to this place, even if they know there is no way they can possibly get the items back.
Now this is where he started getting worried. No man will ever dared come into the black tower for any reason. But these ones are proving that wrong. Oh of course there is a mage among the group, even at that no mage, not even the magus of the scarlet citadel dared step foot within the black tower. But these ones have done so. They had breached its defense by stealth, not just that, they got into the temple and are even in this particular tower where he has kept the relics. No doubt that is what they are coming for.

Ultimategeneral:
a small purse to hide all those equipment haha

Lol, yes. Wizards are sometimes know to have something like that, a purse or bag where they can keep anything. It is a kind of pocket dimension were the space inside the bag is far more bigger than the bag it self.