Exploration!

You awoke to the find the air still relatively cool, shrugging on your robe after you dust it off. You debate on going to work on the massive blocks leading to the Sanctum but decide against it when after a thorough look it seems at least 3 are in the way, maybe more. A loud growl echoed in the vast emptiness, a starbolt already formed in your hands as you looked around warily. After a couple of moments another interrupted the tranquility, a light blush forming on your cheeks when you realize it was your stomach all along. "Not too surprising considering I haven’t eaten in... How long has it been...?" With a flourish the starbolt disappears as you ponder over that question as you make your way to the front of the temple, the solid blackwood doors still on their hinges which surprises you. Pressing hard against them, they swing open after some initial resistance. Bright sunlight warms your face, shielding your eyes at the overwhelming yellowness of everything.

You sit at the steps of the temple, a lullaby you thought had been forgotten forever sprang forth. Quietly humming the tune to yourself, spending the time trying to remember your mothers face to no avail. The third time your stomach rumbled, you stood up, feeling woozy as the blood rushed to your head. “Thank the Stars above!” For while the temple was in steep decline, and most of the courtyard as well, it seemed the garden was in good condition minus the rampant weeds. Upon closer inspection, the garden was worse than you thought. Only one of five rows of wheat were still planted, four of the fruit trees were uprooted or entirely missing. The carrots, turnips, leeks, potatoes, and beets were entirely gone. Seems as if you would have to find some seeds if you wanted to take advantage of the empty resource plots. There were green apples and lemons on the ground, picking them up and inspecting them revealed they were in varies stages of ripeness.

Fresh Lemon
Expires in: 1:13:34:56

Tucking a few of each into your inventory, you took a bite of one of the apple, the crisp crunch like music to your pointed ears. Deciding to explore the rest of the enclosed grounds, you note the three apiaries where gone, only small piles of stone and wood where they used to be. Walking over to the closest one, you bashed your trusty stick against the pile.

Insufficient Resources
Requires: Stone (3/15), Wood (2/10)

Alright, that settled that! You realize if you are going to repair the temple then you will need to go out and explore to find everything you would need! Taking a quick look around the rest of the grounds, you find a second smaller plot fenced off. “Ah yes! I remember now!” Your memories proved correct as inside were a few medicinal herbs and some of the ironically named Sweetleaf plants growing. The one time you managed to sneak some, it was incredibly bitter and cost you a week scrubbing the kitchen floors as even only after a minute inside your mouth it started to stain your teeth a sickly red. You know your mentors did not partake due to their pearly white teeth, but instead sold it at the market a few miles past the base of the mountain. It had some pain moderation properties if you recalled correctly, though whether that was worth the possible addiction? Not in your mind at least, maybe if you were a warrior.

You quickly gathered some of the herbs, your harvest time far more reasonable than the atrocity that were those limestone blocks. A minute later and you had it!

Bundle of Aethelim (Common)
Aethelim can be boiled into a tea to restore a minor amount of health. It can also be crushed, turned into a paste, and applied to wound to stop a Bleeding Effect.

It would be nice to brew some tea, if only to have something tasty to drink. You were just missing a kettle and cup, too bad you could not get into the kitchen that was blocked off by, yes of course, more rubble. Tucking the bundle into your robes you head back to the middle of the courtyard, drinking some of the crystal-clear water pouring from the palms of an angel atop the broken fountain. Stomach finally satiated, at least for now, you wander towards the gatehouse. While your temple and its surrounding grounds were by no means a military fortification, your peoples excessive use of slavery taught them a valuable lesson in the art of pre-emptive fortification.

Poking at the ground a pop-up for a campfire appeared. Eh, why not? You might find something to cook later! You gather the ten stone and five wood required and slap away with your stick until DEE-OO! Shocked by the loud noise, your alarm only grows reading the next pop-up.

ERROR: You have not claimed this land, you cannot build here. To claim land, find a Claimant Crystal.
ERROR: Cannot claim land when a hostile creature with a higher level than you is inside its borders!

“Um, excuse you? Hostile creature? Where!?” Another thorough patrol of the grounds, starbolt in hand, leads to nothing. Neither does the search of the inside of the temple. “Hmm… Must be inside the Sanctum or downstairs…” Shrugging, you think that since you would hear the pounding of the blocks being chipped away, you will not have to worry about it anytime soon. Heading outside you get a good look of the scenery below. Your temple was about two-thirds of the way up the Arpenia Mountains, it made your heart swell when the rich green of the jungle treetops contrasted with the blue sky. “At least that’s still there! I wonder…?”

As if by memory your eyes moved on their own until you saw lazy plumes of black smoke blowing in the wind. “Haha! Khaldur! You’re looking rather… small…” While the Khaldur of who-knows-how-long past was not the biggest settlement in the world, it had still been a small town. A thousand robust slaves to work the surrounding land and a few hundred Ayleid masters to oversee it all called it home. Now it seemed as if it had half that number, or maybe even a third. “Stars know there won’t be any Ayleids there…”

You walk down the mountain path, pleased that it was still there if only a little worse for wear. The sun was setting by the time you got to the bottom, having eaten another apple and a lip-puckering lemon. “Stars! I’ve missed your sour taste~!” You pluck some flowers that you think might have beneficial effects, adding in handfuls of sweet blueberries that do not expire for almost three days! That seems to be the standard expiration for organics, or at least the plant life. The thought of three-day old meat turns your stomach. You note your inventory is quite spacious even if you knew the adventurers probably had triple yours. You were in the middle of plucking some blackberries when sudden voices scared you. Crouching low, you peered through the bush as best as you could.