Chapter 2: The Shrine.
It had been another days worth of walking, without much interruption, Celestyn was surprised by the fact of how few creatures he had seen, from his father’s stories, these woods should be filled to the very brim with magical creatures galore. The only creatures he had seen since day 2 of his journey were a few rabbits, which he killed and ate. Pushing these thoughts out of his head, dismissing them as merely a coincidence that he hadn't seen many animals.
A few moments after this thought, he found himself in front of the porch of the shrine, more of a painted wood cabin than he was imagining. It wasn't grand, it wasn't inherently special, it was just an old wood cabin that was painted, that paint now peeling. Celestyn walked up the stairs of the porch, but was paused at the feeling of something underfoot. He looked down, but only saw overgrown grass spilling through the cracks of the stairs. After a few seconds to examine the odd feeling grass, he brushes it aside, and finds a banner underneath, littered with various holes and rips from the grass that had grown through it. The banner was purple, with an eye symbol, outlined by gold-coloured trim. Celestyn immediately recognized this banner as the banner of Visuisa, evidence that this was, indeed, the shrine of Visuisa.
Celestyn decided to put the banner in his bag, before continuing up the stairs, the old wood creaking and shifting under his feet, threatening to break… odd, it had only been a few weeks since Visuisa had gone, surely this roofed porch shouldn't be rotting that quickly… right?.. Celestyn decided, once again, to merely shift his thoughts from this, surely there’s a good explanation for it.
Continuing inside, Celestyn’s nose immediately recoiled, the smell of rot and mildew filling his nostrils, burning, Celestyn coughed and covered his nose, eyes squinting, “Oh, deities above what is… What is that smell?” he exclaimed in disgust, gazing around the room. Around the room through squinted eyes he examined a large chair, in which the lord Visuisa likely sat upon. a comfortable-looking but shockingly large bed, likely for Visuisa to sleep in.
A stove near the back wall, next to the large chair or throne, and rotting food strewn across the ground.
Upon closer inspection, Celestyn found the source of the awful smell– an odd form of mushrooms Celestyn wasnt well-aware of. The fruiting body heads appeared to be purple, with white accents.-- The mushrooms grew upon the food, signs of them slowly growing up the edges of the Stove, The plush pillow cushion on the seat of the large chair broken through and torn by the odd mushrooms, the bed ruined and filled with them. How utterly disgusting.
Through the haze of vomit-inducing scents and sights, Celestyn spotted a door, previously hidden behind a banner, now torn open to reveal a door which seemed to previously be solid metal, now rusted and broken. Celestyn figured he could kick it open quite easily, but not right now, he was far too sickened by the scent. Dizzied and stumbling, Celestyn made his way outside, tripping and falling down the stairs, gasping at the relief of finally clean air to breathe, the burning in his lungs slowly subsiding as he breathed the clear air in, out, in, out, over and over, just laying there, paying no attention to the amount of time he spent there.
When Celestyn decided to open his eyes again, he found himself met with the sight of the Starless sky, clouds swirling and twisting beautifully in the sweet serenity of the moon. The deity Lunarun lives upon the rock, if he recalls correctly, that large crimson rock floating far above, casting a red glow upon the night. How beautiful. How serene. No wonder the deity liked the moon.
Gathering himself, Celestyn rose back to his feet, looking back to the cabin, wondering what could be hiding behind that door. Celestyn thinks, and pulls out the banner he grabbed earlier, he looks at it, then, he rips a small portion of it off, wrapping it around the lower-half of his face, covering his mouth and nose.. He decides to try this again.
elestyn, after gathering the courage, walks back inside. The makeshift face mask helps, but only enough to make him not fall over and trip down the stairs immediately. He rushes, tearing down the banner and observing the door, before reeling back, lifting his foot, and slamming it into the door, right next to the handle. The door creaks, shifting, but stays. He gives it another kick, it dents, creaking loudly. One, final hard kick, and the door bursts open. The room inside was dark and smelled the same as the outside, granted, the smell was lessened.
Celestyn, being a Vistakin– kin of the deity of Clarity– had no issue seeing in the dark. The room was metal-plated, though, the metal had rusted and bent, and the floor was in much worse shape, likely from being walked on over and over. The room lead to a staircase, leading down. Celestyn looked down the staircase, debating whether or not to go down.