Entering the breakfast hall everyone smelled a delicious porridge being prepared. It was topped with thin fruit slices, and they had a bowl of honey on the table for sweetener. Fruits were set in the center of the table along with two pitchers, one with milk and one with water.
"Sorry if breakfast isn't up to your usual standards. We keep our meals simple in the church." Stella commented.
"It's fine, you don't get much variety while travelling. I am curious why the breakfast hall is separate from the main building? I thought they were always together."
"That was how it was built originally but a beast attack a hundred years ago burned half the church down. Most of the buildings had to be rebuilt and the Matriarch at the time decided to connect the hall, the orphanage, and the paladin's barracks together. She said, 'It's for the children's safety'. Personally, I think she wanted an excuse to play with the kids after the weekly barracks inspection. That's what the current Matriarch does."
"Oh, clever Matriarch scheduling her own breaks where she wants them."
"Right, please pass the honey. Thank you."
Acolytes were shuffling in now. Stella must have come to get them early so that they could have the best food.
Others joined the table as they ate.
"Did you really fight dark beasts last night?" One of the young acolytes started the questions while they ate.
"Yes, do you know about them?"
Another acolyte answered, "Sort of, we hear about them in legends, but nobody thought they were real until this month. The naga just started showing up and asking for help against strange black creatures a few weeks ago."
"Since our church serves the Dracon Fen both religiously and politically we have to help. It's not usually a problem, but these dark creatures are beyond just our church." Said the young man next to him.
Gregory asked, "Is help coming or are you on your own until it becomes a bigger problem?"
A young woman responded, "The Matriarch received a response last week. The battle priests of the Tri Goddess temple are coming to help. They will be here soon."
Chronos looked shocked but none of the surrounding acolytes seemed to think anything of that statement.
It was never a good sign when the battle priests were on the move.
The Tri Goddess religion was the largest religion in the world and claimed that the world was created by the three Goddess' they worship. No other religion had contested them on it, so everyone assumed it was true.
If a God claims something and lies about it, other Gods will always confront them over it. This had happened multiple times across Faengsel's history.
Most importantly the battle priests only moved if a nation crossed certain ethical lines. If they were moving from just a report, then these dark beasts and their tears were more dangerous than anyone here realized.
Chronos locked eyes with Gregory, he got the message and nodded. He would try to gather information on the dark beasts today.
If the acolytes were taught about them in legends then there had to be more information about them that wasn't being shared.
The acolytes were happy to have more people to speak with and shared knowledge about the church facilities and its history.
From the sound of it you could get almost anything you needed from this church. It had herb farms, an armory, a hospital, school grounds, training halls, and even a repository for aura skills and spells. Not to mention the other minor buildings.
A repository was rare for a church that wasn't in a major city, maybe it was because this church held services for the whole swamp.
Chronos consumed three times as much food before breakfast was over. He needed to replenish his lost energy from the constant fighting and running of the past two days.
Afterwards Stella stepped forward, "Today I've been assigned to be your guide, is there anywhere you want to see or go?"
"I'll be going to the library for research." Stated Sariah.
"I need to replace one of my short swords, it broke while fighting the hobgoblin." Gregory requested.
"I'll check on Captain and his men. I want to know how well the revivals went."
"The newly revived are in the hospital behind the church and the armory can be found next to that. I will show Lady Sariah where the library is, do you want to go to the one in the silver tower or the general use library?"
"I'll go to the silver tower library today, thank you for guiding me."
"No problem."
As the two ladies left Chronos and Gregory finalized their plans while walking.
"I'll try speaking with Commander Adam and see if he knows more about the dark beasts." Chronos stated.
"He didn't know what they were when we found him so unless the Matriarch told him something last night, I doubt he will know anything if he is willing to share it. I'll find out which priest is the information broker, maybe they will have answers."
"Check the green priests first, they aren't as strict as the others. Here take these coins and get yourself a really good blade, I get the feeling we're going to need it soon." Chronos handed over 200 gild for a new pair of short swords. "I will sell the honey mead today. We should be able to make a fair amount of money if the rumors about red priests drinking habits are accurate."
"They are, sell it as an auction we don't have enough for all of them."
"Five full barrels of mead is nearly 1200 kilograms. Are you sure that's not enough?"
"I'm positive. A single red priest can down half a barrel on their own in just a day. There's a reason they are called battle dragons, and it isn't just because of their high combat ability."
Laughing Chronos waved goodbye to him in front of the hospital.
Entering he went to the front desk, "I'm looking for Captain and his men."
"What's your relationship with the patients?" The desk cleric asked.
"I'm their combat instructor, it's fine if you can just let Captain know I'm here. I doubt he would be anywhere else right now."
"Understood, please wait off to the side. I will let them know you're here."
"Thank you." Taking a seat on an available chair he didn't have to wait long before Captain came down a set of stairs a little further in.
"Chronos, good to see you. The men are recovering well but it will be a few weeks before they can start working again. Apparently reviving is easier on a weaker individual's soul and none of my men were even second rank soldiers before you started teaching us. I'm pretty sure at least one of the younger ones has fallen for one of the priestess' as well."
"Well, you've got to have one heart break when you're injured. I'm glad the others are swiftly healing; I was worried they'd be out of commission for at least a year after dying."
Smiling Chronos changed the topic, "If you want to have better swords the armory is next door. Wait a day or two before purchasing anything, I think the price of weapons will drop since the church will want as many trained swordsmen as they can get."
"So something serious is happening then."
"You heard something too?"
Nodding Captain informed Chronos of what he had overheard, "Last night the Matriarch was telling Commander Adam that these dark beasts were a sign of war. She wants all paladins on high alert until help arrives."
"Which of us should tell Brynn that his chances of working with a sexy naga are looking slim?"
Captain snorted, earning himself a glare from a passing nurse, as he tried to suppress his laughter.
"How long did it take for you to figure out his true reason for wanting to visit the naga?"
"The feast in the bee village. He is a very loud drunk hehehe."
"Maybe his ability to drink will impress them, I have heard that they enjoy good alcohol almost as much as the dwarves do." Captain chuckled as he spoke.
"Coming back on point, you really do need to have your men properly outfitted. The acolytes at breakfast were saying that the Tri Goddess' battle priests were coming to help."
That caused a concern to cross Captains face, he knew that those people never moved without good reason.
"I'll do that, I don't suppose you could help me convince Adam to let my men join the paladins training regimen?"
"Gladly, I've been wanting to spar with them for two days now. This morning I'm going to sell the honey mead, after that I'll join you to speak with Commander Adam."
Shaking hands the two of them turned to handle their affairs for the day.
On his way to the front courtyard Chronos stopped a young red priest.
"Please inform your brothers and sisters that I have honey mead from a village north of here that I'm putting up for auction. I can guarantee the taste is excellent."
"You should inform the kitchens first; it wouldn't be fair if only we had a chance at it."
Shaking his head Chronos responded "There are only five barrels, it's not enough to give to the whole clergy just a few of them. I'm afraid nobody else in the caravan thought to buy some before leaving."
"I see. If it's good enough then we will need to get some more." He mumbled under his breath. "Especially if it's close enough that we can receive weekly shipments. The stuff we normally drink is terrible."