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“Over here!” shouts James from where he’s searching near the back. Behind a fallen column lies a stairway going down.

Without waiting for Jiron to join him he moves down the stairs, taking care not to trip over the debris that has fallen upon them. As he makes his way down, the glow from the orb reveals where the stairs end at a corridor moving to the left and right. Glancing back to make sure Jiron is following him, he turns to the right and proceeds cautiously down the corridor.

Not very far down the corridor, he finds a body in the middle of the corridor. Hacked to pieces, it lays in a pool of dried blood. From the vestments the dead man is wearing, he looks to have been a priest of some sort.

Jiron comes close and after a brief examination says, “Asran. This temple must’ve been to the god Asran.”

“Asran?” asks James questioningly.

Nodding, he indicates a symbol of a plant encircled by a ring of interwoven leaves embroidered on the dead man’s clothes. “Asran is the god of nature, of growing things.” Glancing to James he adds, “A very important god to farmers and the like, can’t believe they would kill even priests, especially these.”

“From what I’ve seen of the Empire’s soldiers, nothing surprises me anymore,” he says.

Throughout the hallways and rooms they find more of Asran’s slain priests. In one room, they find coffers smashed open where the soldiers had looted the temple’s treasure. A dozen slain priests lie just within the treasure room where they had died defending it. Shaking his head, James just continues on.

Room after room they search for anything which may indicate Morcyth or the Star of Morcyth, but fail to find any. “I don’t think we’ll find anything here,” Jiron says as they reach the furthest room from where they entered the temple.

“I’m sure there are others close by we can check before it gets light,” states James.

“Most likely,” replies Jiron.

As they make their way back toward the stairs, they hear from up ahead of them the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. James immediately extinguishes his light as they duck into a side room. Holding still, they listen as the footsteps reach the bottom and begin to come their way.

It sounds as if there are two people coming, the light from their torch beginning to illuminate the hallway outside the room where they wait. The ones approaching are talking amongst themselves and Jiron glances to James when they realize it’s the speech of the Empire they’re using.

In Jiron’s hand, James sees the light from the approaching torch reflecting off the blade of a knife. He pulls a slug from his belt and then gives Jiron a nod as they ready themselves.

The footsteps continue to come closer but then suddenly turn into the room just prior to theirs. The torchlight greatly diminishes as the bearer passes into the room. Jiron motions for James to wait while he goes and sees what they’re doing in the other room.

He moves to the edge of the doorway and looks inside to find them going through the shattered remains of some priest’s living quarters. They’re tossing things out of drawers as well as the chest by the foot of the bed in their search for anything that may have been overlooked by previous looters.

Jiron comes back to James and whispers, “They’re busy looting. We might be able to slip by without them noticing.”

Nodding, James motions for him to lead the way.

Coming into the hallway, Jiron pauses a moment to check within the room where the Empire’s soldiers are looting and then motions for James to follow him.

Moving quickly, they pass by the room and hurry down the hallway without being seen. Upon reaching the stairs, they glance back and see that the guards are still busy looting. They ascend the stairs and move on to the next building.

Coming back from their third night of seeking signs of Morcyth, they enter the home they’ve been using as a base of operations since the first night. Except for the slave work crew clearing the streets, this part of town