Thread:Crowsoul50/@comment-33229352-20191130054938

(Gore warning- don't know the extent yet, so if you're squeamish, skedaddle)

Amongst a swath of farmland, there was a stand of ancient trees atop a hill. These trees, of all different types, were arranged in a kind of square. Their trunks acted as pillars and their boughs as an impenetrable roof of one of Ishmael's temples. Just outside of the temple was a massive, multi-tier herb garden, complete with a fountain. Inside the temple, small cots had been laid out, a place for the sick and injured to be treated. Wooden tables were also scattered around, covered in parchment, small potted plants, bundles of herbs and poultices, and strange-looking elixirs. A large pine tree was smack in the middle of it all, its branches having been formed to almost look like rafters. A thick carpet of pine needles covered the ground, filling the air with their earthy scent and... blood?

Wait a minute.

Inside the temple, a group of attendants had gathered around one cot in particular. On it was a mortal, clearly dead. His clothes had been soaked in blood, and his eyes were glassy. His chest was bare, exposing a slash that ran diagonally from the top of his left shoulder to the bottom of the right side of his ribcage, crossing through his heart. White flowers grew along the length of it, effectively concealing the wound if one wasn't really looking for it.

The attendants were muttering amongst themselves. Nothing was really decipherable, but more than a few of them were looking expectantly at the great pine tree in the center of the room. Curiously enough, there's no other mortals present.

The more magically inclined onlookers may be able to see a faint shimmer in between the trunks of the trees, denoting some kind of barrier. 