“The early bird catches the worm they say… And so I hit the road as soon as the first ray of the sun shone"

Typically it’s very hard to leave the temple even for a day. The rules dictate that the one that comes in should serve the temple devotedly until the day they leave forever. Basically you only have one shot at this. In special cases, such as Katalya's sudden health deterioration an exception was made.

I was allowed to leave on the excuse of picking up some herbs arriving today from the other end of the world. Hopefully they might help her case even the slightest.  It's been around 10 days since the day that Katalya fainted. She has yet to rise and continue being her usual self. Though the same can be said for me. Of course I'm healthy but the shock still remains. It’s hard to believe that she might not be here 4 months from now. Still I'm doing my best to make sure that her last days are pleasant. That's why I'm on the quest of finding the herbs that may relieve her pain. Even though if they just numb and dont cure.

As for her son… Katalya told me that the last time she dreamt about him, his situation was not the best. A fight broke out between him and his half brother. As expected the dad didn’t take his side. Apparently he left the house and boarded the first ship he saw. Katalya forced her magic to influence the destination so he should be arriving to Nieustein September 29th.

Katalya earnestly asked for my help to sneak her out of the temple so they can meet. Honestly I'm still not sure how I can go about doing that…

"There are still some weeks to come up with some sort of plan I guess", she scoffed "The first thing I must do is ask Katalya about him as I have no idea how I can help them if i dont even know how he looks. For now the herbs are the priority I guess.”

Ophelia breathed in the crisp air, the salt of the sea sharp in her nose. It was lively, loud and chaotic, quite the contrast of the temple, but Ophelia was enjoying the moment.

How long had it been since the last time she went out? How long had it been since the last time she saw the sea?

The wooden ships crowded the harbor. From the smallest fishing boats to the biggest ships carrying passengers and goods from gods know where.

On the way, in front of the dock lied a long and bustling market where fresh off the ship goods were sold. Somehow, in the midst of calls of the shopowners introducing their products, the crowds of people shopping and the chaos that was in front from the discharge of the goods, Ophelia had to find the “Herbs of Core”.

Easier said than done of course!

“The Herbs of Core” were a type of plant that was originary of “The Kingdom of the Fallen Gods (KFG)”. This plant has no leaves, just a long thin stem and one small purple flower with thin little petals. For it to take effect you have to boil three stems into a tea that you drink in the morning. Then in the evening another tea made by boiling three of the flowers.

After around 70 minutes of searching, Ophelia finally found and purchased the flowers. Now the wise course of action would be to return to the temple as soon as possible. The issue was that the next carriage wouldn't arrive for another three hours...

“I guess since it has come to this, it wouldn't hurt to kill some time looking around” said Ophelia shrugging.

The place was filled with magnificent boutiques and beautiful cafes and restaurants. Perfect at first glance, but not if you only have the money for the carriage back. Ophelia tried not to concentrate too much on materialistic things. It was not hard when you are in such a humble place as the Temple. But, when being part of another reality, it was hard not to feel inferior.

That was the way Ophelia was feeling…