The smell of burning incense fills the high walled citadel, burners sitting mere feet apart, all burning and filling the rooms of the citadel with smoke. I walked through the room, talons clicking against marble as my eyes take in the details around me. The pews filled sparsely with preying acolytes and supplicants as many facing forwards but a small few facing to alcoves in the grand hall. Statues fill the space, many of the smaller deities held that space, gods and goddesses from before who fell in line with the new pantheon. In time they will be forgotten like those who resisted, such is the word of the church at least. But that wasn’t my purview, as I moved towards the central statue, depicting a simple crystal of immense size. Each face of the gem was lined with a different color of mana along each of them. I give a very quiet bow to the statue before continueing onward with a small hit of a smile along my face.

  I moved from the outward facing cathedral of the great citadel towards the inner chambers, passing into a hallway flanked on all sides by doors. Acolytes halting their conversations with a bow as I passed and I nod back to each of them in turn. My talons take me further and further, usually upwards, but for today my business takes me down to the base of the citadel. As I move the air feels more and more suppressive, but things start to feel more and more familiar as I find myself standing before a large door.

  “Epoch, grant me entrance”

  As I speak there is a flash of runes.

  Kszqcas

  Ywb

  ct

  Hvs

  Tfoqhifs

  The image of a mask appears at the center of the door before the seam splits it in half and slowly opens. Entering in the room is filled with a ghostly clear light from the gem pulsing in the center of a large round table. Around the table are three others. First an Elven Man with a pale complexion and close shaved head, young by Elven standards he still stands the eldest of the room Wearing a golden robe. To his direct right a Dwarven women sits cross armed in black robes, nodding to me as if readied for the conversation. Finally there is a Dragonkin sitting in a meditative fashion despite the seating arrangements, blue robes bunched up around them. Nodding to each of them I take the last seat as we prepare for the conversation to come. Rare that all the leaders of the church comes together, rarer still we meet down within the kindred's chamber, and that means there is only a few things we will speak of.

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  “With the 5 of us here, we may begin” The elf Begins. “I call to council Blue Robe Kalthan, Black Robe Jerishy, and white Robe Mortim.” He nods to the Dragonkin, Dwarf, and Me in tern.

  “Thank you Elica” I say to him in a nod of acknowledgment.

  “Aye, good to know we are all ready to talk about this,” Jerishy speaks and leans forward with a smile, it looks wicked on her face.

  “Let us not forget the kindred” The Dragonkin speaks nodding to the gem, “They are just as entrenched in this as all of us.”

  The gem pulses in acknowledgment as the citadel dungeon notes their intent to listen into the conversation. Many had wondered where the Divine citadel gains it’s strength, few know of Kindred within the depths who grows it.

  “The reports from the adventurers guild on the dungeons has come, and the most recent is concerning,” The elf begins as he pulls out the aforementioned reports and begins passing them around the table. “Most dungeons remain as they where but I must note from The Last hope branch has made a concerning report.”

  I look at the piece of parchment that a scribe must have copied over the last few days, looking over them isn’t much. The first dungeon being a dragon one tends to be a concern but this one seems rather tame at the moment. The guild noting a “tribute” as they say of gold to allow them to enter and challeng it likely keeping it as so. The second is a fiend dungeon and it makes the power flowing within me to curdle and want to lash out. This one gets delved often and it is both strengthening it but keeping it contained at the same time, curse the agreement keeping this one from being sancitoned.

  The final one is noted as a recently discovered dungeon, which raises some questions as it is also noted as “theoretically” old. I review it a few more times as I think over it all, it is within a crypt and shows some skeleton monsters already.

  “Bloody hell, it’s already disgracing the dead,” The Black robe grabs the hammer that is the weapon of her office. “I need to know if we can kill this thing.”

  “The guild is trying to argue it is old enough to account with the accords.” The green robe says while looking over the parchment. They twitch as they look it over, his duty to the dead being of the highest honors to him and so this was something truly bothersome to them.

  There was a pulse in the crystal and something forms onto the paper we are all looking on. Circling mana around the report on this third dungeon over and over and over again. Looking at Kindred's crystal we all can feel its intense curiosity as the hold of holy energy and the builder of the citadel makes interest known. I look at the others and they are all equally surprised, each of them would want to look into this dungeon purely because of the unholy nature of it but even so the fact kindred has shown interest makes everyone more interested.

  This dungeon is going to be important, so it is best that the black robs get to it before the adventurers can lock it down.