NationStates Jolt Archive

Somewhat surprised by his question, Clara said "Well, yes, they are very numerous and run all the time. They are very rarely more than five minutes late. For trains, they are very fast going from north to south or vice versa, maybe about 100 to 180 miles an hour, depending on which route one is on. They are slower going east to west, because of the mountain crossings. They are still much slower than the planes, but the land is beautiful, pretty much no matter what route is taken."

He smiled, not sure why since he didn't like the sound of fast trains, but at any rate, he was smiling, "The best train rides are the slow ones, twenty miles an hour or so... You can get a really good view. Well then... It looks like we're almost there. I haven't seen any snow for a good while, we are probably in Georgia right now."

"You won't get very far in a slow train, though. Might as well run." Clara was glad they were almost to the airport. She smiled at him. "I can be safe in saying that we'll not have cheap seats, yes?"

He smiled, "Cheap seats? Never... Not as long as you're in the company of a Navarre."

She laughed. "Glad to hear I was right." The helicopter was getting closer to the ground, descending slowly but surely. "Are there movies on your flights?"

He chuckled a bit, smiling, "Yes of course..." He then sighed, "But to be honest, it's mostly just propaganda films, well they're action movies and such, but they always have a sort of "Love the government" or "Love the leader" vibe to it. I mean I love the leader and the government and all, I just don't need to be told to in movies, you know?"

She smiled. "Yes, I do not need movies to tell me to be patriotic. We have some historical type movies that sort of encourage patriotism, but that's not why they're made. They're made because the subject matter is exciting and people like going to see war movies." Clara paused for a moment. "None are every made about something that's happened less than seventy years ago, though. We don't really have any propaganda films, however. Most movies they show on planes are some kind of romantic comedy."

He frowned, "Our comedies are all making fun of foreign nations deemed counter-revolutionary to our ideals. It gets old seeing that pimp Alec and whore Yuna of Sevaris insulted a thousand times in one movie, you know? Even though they're rotten people and deserve every joke aimed at them, it just gets old."

"It seems like that would get old. We don't have very many political comedies. Ours mostly center around unusual things happening to people, especially in romantic circumstances. Some of our comedies get their humor from random ridiculousness." Clara thought for a moment. "I take it that Mississippi and Sevaris are not on the best of terms then? If you have whole comedies dedicated to joking about their national leaders?"

He let out a light laugh, "Not on best of terms is putting it very mildly. You might say most Mississippians and Commonwealthers hate Sevaris with a passion. They want to see Sevaris occupied and turned into a slave colony."

"A slave colony? That's a bit harsh. Though, it's similar to how the Altar Rangians felt about us, well, before we destroyed their state, that is. Now there are some factions there friendly to us and some hostile. We've never wanted it made into a 'slave colony,' though they've done horrible things to us in the past. Too horrible for us to make jokes about them." Clara said the last sentence with dead seriousness.

Jean nodded his head, his mind seemed elsewhere for a few seconds, "Ah, I see, sort of like what father tells me it was like in Mississippi before the 1984 uprising, you mean with atrocities and all..."


Suddenly he saw the landing pad, "Ah, look, we're here..."

She nodded as she prepared to disembark. "Well, not exactly. But similar I suppose. Altar Rang never completely ruled Callisdrun, though they loosely held large portions for some time. The border, especially around the city of Istengrad on the Plains of Sorrow, has fluctuated. However, whenever in possession of land where Callisdrunians lived, those who controlled Altar Rang never missed a chance to do what they called 'purifying,' and what we simply called brutality."

"I can describe several of these atrocities if you want to hear what they did to us, though I understand if you don't want to," Clara said as the helicopter touched down.

He walked by her side towards the plane that was waiting nearby, a private jet belonging to Bertrand Navarre, Jean's father. He was letting his son borrow it. Jean smiled and said, "Yeah, tell me on the plane though, I can't hardly hear much over the noise of the engines..."

When she got onto the plane and looked around, Clara's raised her eyebrows slightly. "Looks comfy," she said. She had expected it to be nice, and was pleased that it appeared to be so.

He smiled as he led her onto the plane, "Yes, it is a very nice plane, I think you'll like it. It has a great deal of amenities."

Clara sat down on one of the seats. It was cushy and she found it easy to relax. "Amenities? Such as what?"

He chuckled a bit, "Oh you wouldn't believe the sort, there is a jacuzzi here, an even a small pool... It's really rather great. You should see both of them."

"That sounds like quite the lap of luxury. A pool... on a plane. I don't think even the Crown's plane has that." After thinking a bit, Clara added "Of course, the King doesn't fly very often, so maybe that's why. I'd like to see this pool, after a bit."

He cracked a slight grin, "Oh of course, although I don't think either of us has any swimming wear, do we?"

"Swimming wear?" Clara made a thoughtful expression. Clothing for swimming was a part of this culture that she had not been aware of, but now that she thought about it, made sense, as they didn't seem to be ok with public nudity. "I don't even own any, if what you mean is clothes that you wear whilst swimming. We don't wear those for recreational swimming." She grinned and said "Somehow I doubt that our lack of such garments will keep us from enjoying the pool, though."

He grinned back, "Hmmm, I don't suppose so either... Shall we go check out the pool then?"

As the plane took off, Clara slightly braced herself. Once they were up in the air, she said "Sure. I could go for a swim about now. A bit of a novel concept, swimming on a plane. Just lead the way."

He led her by the hand to the pool, it was about forty feet long and ten feet wide, a rather nice pool, and it was heated also.

Jean quickly stripped down and dove in, swimming out a few feet and then turning around, beckoning her to join him.

Clara took off her clothes and folded them neatly. She then did a racing dive into the pool and swam out a litter farther than where Jean was. She was a very strong swimmer. When she stopped she said "The pool is very warm. Quite nice."

The plane tipped a bit to the side and Jean caught Clara in his arms as they both started to slide to the other end of the pool.

He smiled as he said, "Hmmm, didn't know there'd be turbulence, did you?"

Clara laughed as the plane tilted slightly to the other side, causing them to float back. "Well, not this early anyway. It'll be a rough ride right before we land," she said with a wink.

He grinned a bit, "Hmmm, I wonder what you might mean by that..."

They... swam... together for quite a while. Clara, of course, did not tire of treading water. She was as comfortable swimming as walking. However, as they neared Callisdrun's coast, turbulance increased, and the plane was buffetted about, the pool becoming much like a sea. This was not a problem for the swimmers, though. Soon before their descent, Clara said "We probably should get our clothes on before we land."

Jean nodded his head, and then stepped out of the pool. After he got out, he reached a hand down to help her out. After they were both out, he went and got a towel for her and then took one for himself.

The plane seemed to be shaking a good deal, which made it somewhat difficult for him to dress. He had to ask her, "Do you know why it's so rough here?"

"It's just very windy, almost all the time. For some reason we have unusually harsh weather. This is quite tame compared to how it is up north," Clara said as she dried herself and put her clothes back on.

She went over to a window, and looked out. It appeared to be twilight outside. However, in fact, it was noon. The city of Callisdrin lay below them, and the Capitol building, the ancient Callisfjord Castle was visible. It was black, and the outer walls were shaped like a pentacle. Some distance away, several skyskrapers broke through the thick trees which lined the streets to reach to the sky. Even in the distance, it was obvious that architects here had never gone in for the utilitarian type buildings so prevalent in many countries. Indeed, though certainly not primitive, many of the towering buildings looked to be gothic in design.

The jet quickly descended towards the runway. It was forunate that the pilot was one of great skill.

Jean carried all of the bags and took them over to a waiting limousine that had been unloaded from the cargo hold of the plane. He set them down in front of the car and the driver loaded them into the trunk.

He walked back over and helped Clara down the stairs from the plane, asking, "So, the car is ready, where to now?"

Before answering Jean's question, she made a quick call on her phone. The conversation was completely in Callisdrunian.

"To the train station I suppose," Clara responded. "Unless, of course, you want to go get something to eat first." The icy wind blew her hair to and fro. Looking at the car, she said "Rather large, isn't it?" She then got in and buckled the seat belt.

Jean had gotten in right next to her, still wondering who she had called on the phone, but deciding it wasn't his business to prod into her personal affairs, although he was more so curious because she spoke in a language he didn't know.

He smiled as she commented on the limousine, nodding his head and saying, "Large eh?" he grinned, "I hear that a lot..." he finished the last part with a light chuckle.

Clara laughed at his comment. "Well, I'm sure you do." As the car started, she said "I just talked to a secretary in the capitol. If you want to see any official stuff or talk to any government people, we'll have to go to Drun as the parliament's not in session right now and both the King and Prime Minister are speaking at the University of Callisdrun. If we want to go, the best way there is by train. If you'd like to get something to eat first, there are many good restaurants downtown."

Jean nodded his head, saying, "Yes, train would work, if you'd like..." He grinned a bit then as he continued, "It would surely leave lots of free time, for whatever you'd like to do, wouldn't it?"

They drove quickly through Callisdrin, which was a very large city (though oddly, not sprawling). Nestled in between the towers of skyscrapers were dozens of restaurants. Most of the breakfast restaurants were still open, though it was afternoon and the place was bustling. All the streets were lined with trees, mainly oaks and what looked to be redwoods. At one end of the downtown, were several sex shops, record stores and book stores. As they passed out of downtown, there were less and less businesses and more apartment buildings. After these, farther from downtown, the buildings were mostly houses, with an occasional corner store. Almost all looked to be at least a century old, and many were far older.

Finally, they came to Capital Train Station, or so its name translated to. It was a grand affair, and it had not been built cheaply. Columns rose up to marvelous heights. Clara, who had been filling out paperwork while they were in the car, opened the door and got out when the car stopped. She waited for Jean and then walked with him to buy tickets. She said something that could be assumed to mean "two tickets, please."

Jean was a bit shocked as he saw all the sex shops and other stores, the sort of things banned in Mississippi. But it wasn't even that, there was no market for it in Mississippi, so it didn't matter if they had them or not, nobody would frequent them, and they'd go out of business, but still, laws had to enforce morality.

After they got to the train station, he promptly paid for the tickets and then walked with Clara to the waiting train, getting in the first class car and heading to their private cabin.

The tickets were fairly cheap, at 18 Kroner (three dollars). The only reason they weren't even cheaper was because one could get some extra perks for paying a bit more money. The train itself was a sleek machine, it was adorned with the symbol of the Callisdrunian National Railroad and was electric, as were all Callisdrun's passenger trains and most freight trains. The interior was incredibly comfortable, and their sleeper cabin had a large window from which a large view could be seen.

Clara put her bag in the corner and sat down. "It shouldn't be too long a ride, though it is a very long way." The train started moving and within minutes was going quite fast. Vast forests, covered in snow and ice, were visible through the window in the already-fading light. There were some magazines on a little table, one was a sports mag, though to a foreigner it would probably appear to be about medieval renacters, as Callisdrun's national sport was the Medieval tournament Melee. There were several others of the usual magazine assortment, women's health, men's health, porn, autos, as well as the Epoch news magazine (Callisdrunian equivalent to Time).

bump

Jean sat back and propped his legs up on a table in the middle of the cabin they were in. He then looked over at her, grinning a bit before asking, "So, any ideas on how to kill some time?"

The then glanced out the window and briefly took in some of the passing scenery, it was a rather nice sight, snow painted trees, something he wasn't really used to seeing in Mississippi.

The train was heated, as the outside air was freezing, but it was still quite cool inside. The twilight was already fading into night outside. It was a peaceful scene, as they traveled through the forest, the only sounds were those of the woods and the clack of the train wheels on the tracks.

Clara checked the clock. It was around 3:00. "Well, I'm rather hungry, so I'm going to request an early lunch." She called service and within a moment someone came by with a cart, from which she took two small sandwiches. She set one down on the table and ate the other one. After a moment, she said "Would you mind if I had a little drink?" Clara looked at Jean with big eyes and licked her lips.

Jean nodded his head, turning his head to the side to expose his neck. He then said with a grin, "When you're done there, I might know of something else you could spend some time doing..."

Clara went up to him and kissed him on the cheek before sinking her fangs into his neck. She made a soft moaning sound as the distinctive taste hit her tongue. She hugged tightly to him while she fed. When she had taken her fill, she gently turned his head to face her and kissed him.

Jean returned the kiss as he slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He guided her over towards the nearby bed, asking, "Clara, would you like to?"

"Yes, I very much would like to, Jean." They somehow made their way to the bed while embraced in this manner.

After they had finished what Jean had initiated, he wondered if they ought to have been having all that unprotected sex. He looked into her eyes as they lay next to each other, and then asked, "Do you think all that was a good idea, I mean, couldn't you wind up pregnant..."

Clara shrugged. "Only if my medicine fails. And then, I could just take an abortion pill, or get an abortion later. Unless of course my wife wanted to have a baby. I'm not very concerned about it. We should probably get disease tests, though." The train came to a stop before continuing on again.

Jean was puzzled, "Wait... Wife? What do you mean? Don't you mean husband?"

OOC: Schwing! Sorry, couldn't help myself.

"No, if I meant husband, I would have said that." Clara looked down and laughed. "I must have forgotten to tell you. I didn't want to mention the fact in your country, but I have a wife. She had very mixed feelings about me becoming a diplomat, as everyone knows what goes on in diplomacy."

Jean shrugged a bit, "Oh well, I guess if you like that sort of thing, meh, whatever works for you..."

He then quickly changed the subject, "So, where to now?"

By now, the train was nearing its destination, Drun. "Well, as soon as the train stops, I suppose we'll go downtown, or something. Depends what you would like to do, as the King and Prime Minister aren't speaking until tomorrow. We could get dinner, we could decide where we're staying, go to holy hill, or maybe I could start showing you around the university or whatever."

Clara smiled at him.

OOC: this is a poorly disguised bump.

Jean nodded his head and said, "Sure, let's go to dinner, but it's on me, okay?"

"Sure, if you want." In a couple minutes the train stopped. After getting their bags, they got on the trolley and made the short trip downtown. Out of the tree-lined streets rose towering skyscrapers, most of these ones recalling either classical or gothic architecture. Each, however, was unique. The shops here were even more scandelous than the ones in Callisdrin had been. There were tons of cheaper looking restaurants as well, due to the large amount of college student business. Clara took Jean into a smaller place that, while noisy, was somewhat more subdued than some of the other establishments.

He tried to make himself heard over the noise, he wound up having to get right up next to her, and cupping a hand over her ear as he loudly whispered, "What now? Do you want to eat here?"

"Yes, it's quite a good little spot. It's got some historical value, as well." She lead him through the place until they got to the back, which was L shaped, which dimmed the noise somewhat. She sat down at a smaller table.

Jean followed closely as she led him forward, wondering where they were going.

After they sat down, he leaned in and whispered, "So, what is the typical meal consist of here?"

Clara translated the menu for Jean. Most of the main courses were venison, goat, sheep or boar cooked in various ways. There were also several vegetarian/vegan dishes on the menu. There were a few kinds of salads. A waiter came to take their orders, bringing a basket of sourdough bread to the table. Clara made her order, and then the waiter looked to Jean.

Jean shrugged a bit and quietly whispered to her, "I don't know what I want... I'll just have an order of whatever you're having, is that okay?"

Clara smiled. "That's fine." She told the waiter to make it two instead of one. It became apparent that Clara had told the waiter that Jean didn't speak Callisdrunian, when he asked him "What would you like to drink, sir?"

Jean whispered to her, "Do they have brandy here?"

"Yes. There's a large variety of intoxicating drinks here. Especially in a place like this." Just as she had said this, a group of sailors of both genders walked in, chatting energetically, they saluted Clara as they went by and one addressed her by her rank, which was a word somewhat recognizable to Jean.

Jean whispered to her, "Are those soldiers like you? Are they in your unit or branch even?"

After she answered him, he then looked down at the drink menu and pointed to one, a rather rare liquor, asking, "What does that say? I can't read it... But the picture looks good and the price looks expensive, so it ought to be good, right?"

"Those are some crew members from my ship, actually. Some of the crew of 'C' turret, I believe." Clara looked at the item. "That's an odd one, it can be good though. It's made from various kinds of plants here."

He nodded his head and smiled, not sure what to say, he didn't know much about Callisdrun but he was eager to learn.

He smiled again and then asked, "So, what is on the schedule for today? Anywhere special we're going?"

"Wherever you want to go, really. I grew up here, so I've seen everything before. There's the port, the University and Drun Castle, Novikas Castle, downtown, holy hill, among other things." The waiter then came with their food and set it down on the table. Clara had ordered smoked boar for them. Unlike normal pork, it was extremely tough meat, owing to the fact that boars were not raised on farms but in forests where they were hunted. The waiter also gave them their drinks. Jean's was near to the color of bronze, while Clara's was bright green.

Jean smiled as he said, "Thank you." to the waiter. He then took up the glass and sipped lightly from it.

At her suggestion, he nodded his head, "Yes, that would be good... I'd like to see all of those places if we could." He said.

Clara nodded. "Tomorrow, if you'd like, you could meet the King and Prime Minister, at the university." She somehow managed to eat the tough meat with complete grace, sipping her toxic looking drink from time to time.

The sailors who had entered earlier were now playing a noisy game of cards while drinking and occasionally singing.

"You have mostly Christian churches in your nation, at least from what I've seen." It was a seemingly random comment. "Is that correct? It's very interesting."

Jean nearly laughed, but he managed not to, he thought she would have known, that's all they had. He smiled before answering her, "Well yes, non-Christian religions are banned..."

He then quickly turned depressed; his tone was one of solemn melancholy, which revealed he was very upset about what he said next, "Of course... They have been cracking down on even some specific denominations of Christianity, mainly Roman Catholicism... I can't stand that, that's the only thing I disagree with the government on, well the only major thing. I mean I don't care if they want to outlaw Mormonism, Jehovah’s witnesses, seventh day Adventists, those are just cults... But the Catholic Church is the original Church of Christ."

"I see." Clara said, a slight look of concern on her face. "Here Christians are a small minority, though there are a few churches. In some of the smaller cities, there's only one Christian church. Catholicism is the largest of the various denominations here, though there are some congregationals. The others are so tiny as to only have churches in the largest cities." She paused for a moment.

"Why would Christians persecute other Christians? I mean, religious violence is always sad, but I can understand why it would happen between wholly different religions." Clara shook her head. "A few years ago, there was a big controversy over something some Mormon said, and it got blown completely out of proportion and several Christian churches unfortunately ended up getting burned down, but I can't imagine why followers of the same god would be cruel to each other."

Jean shrugged, "Meh, it goes back centuries, Catholics and Protestants never did get along... And don't even get me started on those loony Calvinists, they're little better than a cult... Like the Mormons or the Jehovah's Witnesses."

"Don't think we have any Calvinists here. When we go up to holy hill, you can see the charred remains of the mormon church. Can't say I like that religion much, but it's still a bit of a tragic sight. It was never rebuilt." Clara talked about such things fairly casually now, though it had been a huge sensation at the time.

Jean smiled at that remark, "Ah, no Calvinists, that must be nice, eh?"

"No, I don't think so. There were some missionaries talking about being part of the elect or whatever, and some people showed an interest in that, until it became apparent that being a member of the elect involved having no fun whatsoever." She wiped her mouth after she had finished her food, and took another sip of the toxic looking green drink.

Jean nodded his head, "Hmmm, I see..." he said, before finishing eating as well, quick to finish downing his drink as well.

The waiter brought the bill. Clara translated the runes into english "It comes out to about two hundred and forty kroner. That's about sixty dollors."

Jean nodded his head as he took out his wallet. He smiled as he tossed a 1000 dollar bill down on the table, saying with a grin, "I hope they like the tip..."

The waiter returned and took the check. The realization of how much $1000 was didn't hit him immediately. Naturally, he was used to seeing Kroner notes, and since a single Kroner was really more like a quarter dollar, seeing large amounts was not surprising. However, as he was carrying away the little tray the bill had come on, he suddenly stopped, calculating the approximate value in his head. He then took the bill and held it up to the meager light, to ascertain whether it was real or not. Upon seeing that it was, he grinned and walked to the register. He'd have to go to the bank to change the money, but he was ok with that.

Clara folded her napkin neatly as a busboy cleared their places.

Jean slowly stood up and then walked over and helped Clara get up as well. He then politely asked the busboy, "Do you know where our coats would be?"

"They should be in the closet by the door." Clara led him over to it, and there they were. It was lightly snowing outside.

Jean got her coat first and then helped her put it on. He then took out his coat and quickly put it on.

He handed the greeter a 100 dollar bill and said, "Would you please call us a cab... Thanks."

The cab arrived in several minutes. It was a noisier automobile, as it was old. For some reason, several of the city's cab driver's preferred older cars. It was painted dark blue, with a white stripe down the side to designate it as a taxi. Clara. The greeter waved them off and thanked them for their business. Clara checked the time, and then turned to Jean. "Would you like to see holy hill, now? Most of the temples and churches should be open right now."

Jean smiled and eagerly nodded his head, almost like an anxious and excited puppy. "Yes, I'd like that a lot." He said.

Clara said their destination to the cab driver quickly in her native tongue. He nodded and commenced driving
They went by a blue painted trolley, making noise on its tracks and ringing its bell as it came to the intersection. It looked to be made in the 1930's and restored, but it was actually new.
Most of the cars they passed, or were passed by looked quite different from each other. Callisdrunian car companies prided themselves on their styling. The businesses were eclectic in their range. It seemed that if one couldn't buy something in Drun, it didn't exist. From high-end clothing stores to fetish shops, from health food groceries to a business whose name translated to "death by chocolate." The people, too, seemed more strange than in Callisdrin. Far less business types, for more college students and other sorts of people.

After finally passing through downtown, the hill that all the main temples were on rose into sight. Spires and columns rose into the air. Some of the oldest temples were mostly classical in their design. Others, were full-on gothic. Most combined aspects of both styles. Almost all had pointed arches and columns. Most had domes. Most were also circle shaped. A few did not match, a couple had crosses on their doors, one of which looked reminiscient of an Italian church, but most did not. Three, in the center of the hill, were approximately the same size, but rose larger than any of the others. They were majestic, fearsome looking but profoundly beautiful at the same time. They were similarly built, but of different types of stone. One was granite, one was grey marble, and one black marble.

There was a vacant area lower down, that only had charred pieces of wood and stone in it. Obviously, the building that had once stood here met a violent end.

OOC: The three big ones are pagan temples, the one that looks Italian is Catholic.

Jean was a rather bit confused, he didn't seem to think the churches looked like they were Christian at all. Pointing to one, he asked, "What exactly do they do there, it seems rather... For lack of a better word, odd..."

"Well, that rennaissance looking one at about mid-level is the Catholic cathedral, Saint Olaf's is its name, then there's the jewish temple a bit away from that one. On the other side of that are the Lutheran and Congregational churches, next to them is the Unitarian church, that's the Richardson Romanesque one. The mormon temple used to be where that blank spot is now," she pointed to the charred ruins. "All of these are the newer ones, none of them are older than two hundred. Up near the top are the old temples. The one with chains on the columns is the temple to Loki, next to it is the temple to Thor." She pointed to the three enormous buildings on the top of the hill. "At the top are the temples of Odin and Ithtyr, and the third one right by it is the Pantheon. They are the most important places of worship in the main Callisdrunian religion." Light escaped from some of the windows in the various places of worship, apparently, from fires inside.

Jean shuddered at the mere mention of Unitarians, he hated them, completely and utterly hated them. Mississippian Catholics were generally tolerant of other Christian religions, but Unitarians denied the Holy Trinity and thus they were a hated and outlawed sect in Mississippi.

He shook his head as he uttered the word under his breath, "Unitarians..."

"They're the largest sect here other than followers of the old religion, like myself." As they drove up the street, which in this area was cobblestone, towards the top of the hill, the enormity of the highest temples became more apparent. Various banners flew from the gates of the temples. Clara looked to each. "Do you want to go into Ithtyr's temple? The high priestess is a friend of mine. Or would you like to see the Cathedral first?"

He shook his head at the suggestion but then asked, "Wait, you don't mean the Unitarian one, do you? I don't want to go in anything Unitarian, but I'll go in one of the others."

"No, the Unitarian church is having some work done on it right now. I was talking about the temple of Ithtyr, up there." Clara pointed to the enormous black marble gothic building, one of the three large temples on the very top of the hill.

Jean nodded his head as he said with a grin, "Good, let's hope something goes wrong and that Unitarian cult building falls down... I just hate them so much..."

Truly, he did, and it was really the only denomination he hated.

Puzzled by his odd dislike of the Unitarians, Clara simply gave him a matter of fact answer. "That won't be happening any time soon. It's a very well-designed building, the architect was quite respected and it was even bombed during the great war and did not fall. I doubt any mistake the workers do will cause any serious damage, as it is mainly electrical stuff they are doing right now. Everyone is entitled to their opinions I suppose." She really did not understand how one could dislike the Unitarians that much. Sure, her religion and theirs had their disagreements every so often, but some of her human friends went to that church. Clara decided simply to change the subject.

Checking her watch, she said "Worship at the temple is just ending now. Too bad we're late. Eszti should still be in though." As they drove up, about thirty people walked out of the main entrance. They were dwarfed by the enormous stone archways that the doors were set in. Getting out of the cab, Clara whispered "Just to warn you before hand, the high priestess is probably not what you're used to as far as religious leaders go. However, for our religion, she's very traditional. It hasn't changed much for a couple thousand years."

OOC: waiting for a post.

Jean decided to explain something really quickly. "Do you want to know why I hate the unitarians? I mean you seemed to be puzzled when I talked about them, maybe you'd like to know why I hate them so much, eh?" he asked.

"I really don't particularly care. There are religious groups that I don't much like either. If you want to explain, then that's fine. However, first I must give you a few instructions for proper temple conduct. First, I do not know how you will react to what you may see inside. If anything shocks you, try not to let it show too much. Second, Eszti is a stickler for temple tradition. This means being very polite to her, after all, she is the high priestess. Also, it is considered more respectful to be somewhat quiet while inside a temple. That's all for now." Clara knew she might be forgetting something. After all, she had grown up knowing the rules, and took most for granted.

Jean listened intently to the instructions on proper etiquette that she was giving him. After that, he nodded his head and said, "As for the Unitarians, it's quite simple, they reject the Holy Trinity and thus they exist in a state of grave moral bankruptcy and blasphemy against God. They're almost as bad as those rotten Calvinists who sin against the Mother Church."

"I see. Calvinism seems to have become a big thing in your country." When they got to the massive bronze doors, Clara paused before entering. "Let's go in." The temple's large size was devoted almost entirely to one cavernous room. Various sculptures and paintings adorned the walls. A few people were still inside, talking quietly. Torches were mounted on pillars that lined the walls. Their flickering light gave off an eerie glow. Decorative designs adorned both the stone floor and the stained glass windows. A truly gargantuan organ sat in one alcove, some of its pipes going up to the ceiling. In the center of the rotunda was a hearth, with a fire blazing, and an altar. A small figure could be seen moving neer it.

He shuddered when she made that point, she was right, but he didn't have to like it. He said nothing and just followed her inside the structure.

As they got closer, it became apparent that the figure moving by the fire was a woman. Clara said quietly "Eszti Batory, the high priestess of Ithtyr." Upon noticing their arrival, she came out from behind the fire. She was completely naked. The high priestess' body was criss-crossed with tattoos of celtic/runic religious design and she was pierced seemingly everwhere. She said something in Callisdrunian to Clara, from which only Clara's name could be recognized. She then walked quickly up to her old friend and hugged and then grinned at her. She was about the same height Clara, but her fangs were longer, and they appeared to be barbed. Her eyes and hair were both raven black. Somehow, she still had a warm smile, though.

Clara said, in English (almost every single Callisdrunian understands English). "Priestess Eszti, this is Jean Navarre, a charming young man I met in Mississippi."

Eszti extended her hand delicately and said "Pleased to meet you."

Jean extended his hand and warmly smiled at the woman as they shook hands.

As he was shaking her hand, he said, "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

Eszti said something to Clara in their language. Clara then whispered to Jean "She's pleased that you shook her hand instead of bowing as some foreigners do. Bowing is not something really done here, so it makes most people, even of the highest rank, uncomfortable."

OOC: had writer's block, so if it's not very smooth, that's why.

Jean nodded his head before he replied, "Great, well I'm glad to meet her... Anyway, what now? Is she going to show us around? I'd be honored to be given a tour."

"Well, I don't give tours very often, but I'll try." Eszti looked around, as if wondering where to start. "I suppose I'll begin with where we are right now. This," she pointed to a slab of red stone, on top of a marble platform "Is the altar. As you can see, it's covered with inscriptions and symbolic pictures. All altars have a place for a fire right next to them. That over there, at the extreme end of building is the old altar. You can see that the design is quite different for that part of the temple. It was built several hundred years earlier. The reason that the old altar is so much bigger is because when the original temple was built, we were still doing animal and occasionally human sacrifices. For obvious reasons, this practice has long since been abolished. Here, come follow me."

She led Clara and Jean to a deep alcove on one side of the rotunda. In the windows were detailed scenes of both love and battle. The walls and the ceiling high above their heads were covered with intricate designs. On the walls hung paintings of previous high priestesses. Most were portraits, but some were pictures of them carrying out their duties. Almost all looked like Eszti in their self-decoration, and only a few were clothed. At the very end were nine statues. They were all of different women, but all were standing the same way, arms crossed over their chests in prayer, eyes focused forwards. Eszti, who walked fairly fast, waited for Clara and Jean to catch up.

Jean became slightly visibly nervous at the mention of human sacrifices, but he didn't make an issue out of it. Rather he just smiled and said, "Thanks for taking me on this tour, I appreciate it, I mean you said you normally don't do tours... But yet, here we are. So, what is next?"

He then hastened the pace to keep up with the woman.

Clara saw that Jean looked somewhat uneasy when Eszti mentioned the sacrificing bit. "Don't worry," she whispered. "We stopped doing that about 1600 years ago."

When they got close to the statues, Eszti began speaking again. "We are currently in the chamber of the ancients. All of us have paintings made of ourselves when we ascend to this rank, and when we retire, these are hung here." She gestured up at the statues "These are the nine high priestesses who were... ah, what's the English word for it..." She looked down and searched for the right word for a few seconds before looking back up, "Martyred. That's it." She shuddered a bit, as if at a horrible mental image.

Jean's curiosity had been provoked, he had to know more. "What... What... What happened?" he asked, a bit of uneasiness present in his voice.

Eszti collected herself before speaking again. "Most of the wars we've had have been with Altar Rang." She paused before continuing, "Though the priestesses of Ithtyr have always been religious leaders, and never political leaders, for some reason, the Altar Rangians always highly valued the capture of the high priestess. At first, we had no idea what their obsession was, but after a while it became apparent." Another pause. "The high priestess of Ithtyr is always a vampire. Why? Because Ithtyr is generally seen as a female vampire. The Altar Rangians, in addition to hating our religion, absolutely hate vampires. In their religion, we are the said to be the spawn of evil, simply for being the way we are. Often, upon capturing one, they would rip his or her fangs out and then use him or her for whatever they wished." She paused to let the implications sink in. "And they saw the high priestess as the head vampire. In all accounts of the instances in which one was captured, after the torment I've already described, came a death so agonizing that it's painful just to imagine it."

Eszti needed a moment before continuing. "When their deaths were described in such graphic detail, and then the paintings shown to us, I thought perhaps it was exaggerated. That was, until I saw the photographs. The last war with Altar Rang was seventy years ago, and four successive high priestesses were captured during it. Three of the bodies were recovered several months after their capture, and pictures were taken for record keeping. Though different from us in so many ways, it seems that the Altar Rangians also value tradition, in a sick way." Though she looked like she was about to cry, she still stood straight up, proud.

Jean nodded his head, unsure what to say, it was all so much information and history to take in at once. He smiled politely before saying, "I see... A few questions though. First of all, I'm curious, how are relations here between pagans and Christians, or just pagans and non-pagans in general?"

"At the moment, relations are fairly good. Of course, in all religions there are a few militants, but they're the exception not the rule. Despite the fact that we are by far the majority, there is no official religion of Callisdrun. Friction between us and the Catholics and Unitarians is virtually non-existant. However, there was a big commotion some time ago in which some... over enthusiastic pagans, unfortunately regulars of this temple, burned down the Mormon temple down the hill." Eszti shook her head, as if saying the whole issue had been quite stupid.

Jean frowned at the mere mention of the word "Unitarians" snickering as he muttered under his breath, "Damn heretics... They're not even Christians."

Eszti chuckled while leading them to another part of the temple. "Every religion's saint is someone else's heretic. My Goddess, to some, is a succubus." She led Clara and Jean down a staircaise, into a hallway below.

Jean was a bit in awe at how long the walked seem to be, it was clear this was a massive temple. He wondered how deep down the stairs went. He kept quiet and followed closely behind...

Eszti stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The hallway was large, for a basement. "This is the crypt. Many past priestesses are buried here, as well as one queen. Come, I will show you." She started walking again. It was not a straight hallway, and it took several turns. Smaller halls jutted off to the side, but they stayed in the main corridor. They passed several ornate tombs before coming to several that were even more highly decorated.