You and Bella spend some time in prayer at the Temple of Myrmidia. Bella isn't much of a warrior, exactly; but the love of Myrmidia is so universal in Tilea that it hardly matters, and you settle into an alcove beneath a fresco of one of the Twelve Battles apparently described in detail in The Book of War. There is no music filling the space at the time; but there is the surrussus of others in alcoves nearby at similar prayers, and that commonality unites you to your fellow Tileans as you cast your thoughts back to Bella Collina, and to the road ahead.

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You can mark down The Blessing of Myrmidia as a trapping, even though it is obviously not a trapping in a physical sense. Once, you can add 20% to your Weapon Skill for one turn. Importantly, you can do this after rolling; so a judicious use might turn a post full of failed parries and missed riposts into a series of narrow deflections and telling hits. You will not gain this automatically every time you visit a Myrmidian Holy Place - first taste is free. But piety may increase the chances of receiving it again.


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The Temple of Shallya

Shallya's temple is less of a monument to the enterprise of masonry while still being extraordinary and grand in its own right; a cathedral of white stone with extensive wings east and west so that the layout of the building is a cross whose crossbar is twice as long as the upright. But the 'short' run, north to south, is the temple proper; the wings reserved for medical sequestration of victims of various plagues and unfortunate injuries under the care of the sisters here. And they are primarily sisters; Shallya's initiates are strongly over represented by female applicants. Bella asks the question to one of the sisters as you ascent the steps, even as you notice a longer, curved stone ramp that leads up to the same entrance for the benefit of lamer visitors than yourself.

"There are men who serve the White Dove of Mercy, in fact; but they certainly fewer. There are some monastries, but they also are sent frequently for itinerant service instead of temple attendance." The very young initiate explains to you and Bella; a girl of no more than sixteen, glancing back over her shoulder to make sure the other, older sisters who are greeting visitors on the steps do not see as she leans in to whisper an addendum: "Most often men who declare a desire to serve in the temple are doing so for a reason less than a divine calling. And those who are genuinely called are though to be... distracting, for the sisters who serve."

Bella gives you a wry look as you pass by the sister toward the entrance. "Distracting... I'll bet."

But within, the temple is certainly the equal in beauty to the Myrmidian temple. There are fewer sculptures, and they are often rendered in wood instead of from stone; but every wall is a massive fresco depicting in startling beauty and clarity some divine event of healing, or martyrdom, or mercy from Shallya's historical servants. And on the ceiling is the greatest painting of all: the feminine form of Shallya, tastefully shrouded from nudity by dancing, untethered silks and spiralling white doves descending from a thundercloud sky like an angel of light penetrating the mortal gloom.

In stark contrast to all this incredible beauty is the human suffering that is drawn to it. The average societal stratum here is much lower than at the temple of Mymidia, and many of those visiting are doing so for immediate concerns - bandaged injuries, or pale fevered loved ones. The side wings are the sanatoria, but the smell of chemical disinfectant and herbal incense is strong here, drowning out less pleasant medical smell that crowd to the edges of the temple. At the rear of the temple, positively mundane compared to all the human created art, is a tall, finely wrought aviary cage containing hundreds of white doves, nests for them to brood in, hewn limbs from trees for them to perch upon. The cage is open at some places towards its top, and the doves seem to come and go as they please. It might be considered a sort of miracle that the birds are not, infact, caking every perchable surface in the temple with their own heartfelt offerings.

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In addition to any impressions Taalia might have, give me a Perception test. +0%.