Part 2: The Church of Beryl
For over 100 years Caern has walked the lands, both below and above, carrying with him the teachings of the flawless diamond. A Greenstone of Beryl, he has walked with humility in his faith and the ability of his teachings. But at his age and in his experience and extreme wisdom, even in humility he understands the truth that it is time he did more. He understands his god very well, and researches all teachings that both Svirfneblin and those few 'outsider' races that follow her. For in the end, they all seek perfection in what they do.
And the realization of his tasks came to him as he located the city of Stone. A wonderous temple to Beryl it is, close to the rocky earth and with beautiful reflections of gems. A wonderous place to pray, but of it's location he questioned. Why would a temple of the Svirfneblin god reside in a place of snow and water though? Unnatural it seemed, though as a Greenstone it was not his place to question. So from this he has set out to do three things: First, become, with hope, a sapphire of Beryl so that he might, second, forge on to construct another temple in Beryl in a drier place, perhaps at a transition point between the great deep of Beryl and the surface world he now calls home. And third, in order to do all this he would have to seek out the Diamond of Beryl for guidance on the matter.
To achieve this all he knew he'd have much to do. First, he'd have to set out on a quest to find a perfect gem, one of each type of stone in Beryl's earth. Second, he'd have to find the head of his church, the Diamond of Beryl, and journey through the underdark for that he'd have to. And last, and on a longer term basis, he would have to horde gems and gold to enable the construction someday of another Temple of Beryl. That and find more willing to hold faith in her perfection. These goals set out before him, he hopes to find more faith in his own actions as they reflect the god that grants him such power. Soon he will begin this quest for a perfect gem of every kind, hoping to offer them to the Diamond of Beryl so that they might use them in reflecting the light of their prayers. With this gesture he hopes that the Diamond of Beryl might grant him allowance to both become more then a greenstone and furthermore provide guidance and permission in building another temple to Beryl.
Caern holds one concern in this, and that lies primarily in his noted inability to communicate well with the surfacers. They find his mumbling incessant, and despite his relative power and wealth, faith comes from something more - a charisma he does not hold. While in the great deep of the underdark he found that it did not matter much, but now he can not seem to overcome his poor quality in dealing with people. He cares little of this, but holds concerns that the Diamond, although a Svirfneblin and inherently lacking those qualities, may deny his search in leading surfacers to faith as he can not lead them at all. And in this, he has prepared himself in this trial of faith to do what he must to find perfection in his pursuit of being a cleric of the Flawless Diamond.
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CDQ Part 2 Ideas:
- Obviously there are some long and short term aspects to this. A CDQ quest could encompass the search for a perfect gem of each type and the journey to find the Diamond of Beryl - but the construction of another Temple of Beryl is meant to be long term -probably very long term. This is the just the first step in it. If the gm who's interested in this wants ideas, I have plenty - otherwise I'm leaving it open to intertretation, it's a CDQ to flush out the aspects of his faith.
Note: By a trial of faith, Caern would be willing to face his god if it was found he must compromise qualities to attain that which he may need to succeed in his task of leading a temple. e.g give up some wisdom in place of charisma as his wisdom is godly while his charisma is that of an ogre, an ugly one.
