Chapter 14: The Temple of Varkun
The boy who named himself Rhod and his little sister Anna were now guiding Lucen towards the Temple of Varkun. It didn’t take too long to reach the temple of Varkun, which was near one of the barracks.
Each temple was situated in places related to its deities. Of course, the Temple of Varkun, the God of War and Honor, would be placed near areas with a lot of soldiers.
This wasn’t the grand temple at the capital, but even here in Ironhold, the branch temple of Varkun stood with quiet authority. Built with the same dark granite as the city’s outer walls, it looked more like a disciplined outpost than a place of worship.
Modest in size but solid in construction, its exterior bore no unnecessary ornamentation. Just a worn banner above the entrance, stitched with Varkun’s sigil, a sword raised upright, framed by twin broken chains and a crown of iron thorns.
’In the end, I came to the temple of Varkun, the God of War and Honor, first. Is this some kind of divine intervention?...’
Lucen, alongside the siblings, approached the Temple. When they got near enough, Lucen could hear the familiar sound of some people training, and it wasn’t from the barracks but from within the temple.
Just as Lucen raised his hand to knock, hurried footsteps approached. He instinctively pulled the siblings back as the door burst open.
A man and a woman appeared before them both wearing the distinct vestments of Varkun’s clergy.
They were wearing long, formal vestments of deep crimson and ashen gray, trimmed with silver thread. The fabric was thick and ceremonial, draping in layered folds that gave them an imposing presence. Embroidered on the hems and sleeves were ancient symbols of Varkun: upright swords, broken shackles, and iron crowns woven with reverence and precision.
Yet unlike priests of gentler gods, these robes were split at the sides and reinforced at key points for movement. Beneath the flowing fabric, one could glimpse the gleam of plate armor, steel vambraces along their forearms, a fitted cuirass beneath the outer robe, and greaves beneath the hem. They were not just servants of faith but soldiers of it.
The Priest with dark brown hair and brown eyes was surprisingly as big as Sir Thalos, but his muscles were more tamed. The Priestess with blond hair and blue eyes was a beautiful woman, and despite her garments, you could see that she had a great figure.