"Whew. I've never seen Rodelle budge before," Neeks said as they left the workshop.
"Probably wouldn't have if we didn't have a partnership going on with me selling her bulk potions at a bargain." Reina held the diamond pinched between her fingers. It was real alright. The gem didn't have much value among their society, but was supposedly worth a lot to humans. Rodelle was probably hanging onto it to sell in a human city at some point.
Their next destination was the center of the city where the priestesses resided in the great tree. The same tree that bore bastil fruits at the beginning of Weirmark that residents of Vessyra loved so much. Especially Neeks.
The city of Vessyra had no true rulers, though the human populace, eager to give names to everything to make sense of, would call it a theocratic nation. One led by religion. They did have spiritual leaders in the form of three women known as High Priestesses who made decisions on their people's behalf.
Sheila was the youngest of the three. A feline beastborne whom the other two adored very much. The remaining two were elves. Gale was a former bannerlord-turned priestess and was distinguishable by her dark complexion, hardened expression, and chiseled body. Ceris had porcelain skin and golden hair, possessed an air of refinement befitting a princess, and was exceedingly beautiful. She was often mistaken as the leader of the trio, given that she makes political decisions in their stead.
All three were incredibly beautiful. Men and women alike would do anything to lay with them. There used to be rumors circulating that three witches had undergone the Trial of Love & Lust and earned the status of high priestess themselves. Who they were, Reina had no idea. She could only fathom a guess.
Neeks and Reina marveled at the gargantuan tree as they approached. One couldn't see the top, only the layer of branches dotted with red fruit that obscured the rest of its height. So large was the tree, that a whole town of people could live within it. In fact, there were an estimate of three hundred priestesses and twenty custodians living inside at any given time, along with a thriving ecosystem of small animals and insects.
"Halt," a gruff voice demanded. It belonged to an obsidian-furred minotaur who, along with half a dozen other armed warriors, guarded the entrance. He wore a thick, leather skirt that reached down to his ankles. Not enough to hide the massive bulge between his legs. Even flaccid and clothed, these bulls had something to show.
It got Reina thinking.
What could minotaur ejaculate be useful for? Strength? Stamina? No, she had already discovered that orc and centaur nectar could do that. Perhaps physical resilience?
"Hiya, Logurn!" Neeks waved both hands in the air.
The minotaur rubbed the base of his horn. "Neeks? Not enough bastil fruits that you came back for more so soon?"
"Not here for that, but I don't mind going up there to fetch more. She's the one with business," the harpy pointed to Reina.
"I'm Reina, the alchemist. Here to seek an audience with the high priestesses," she said.
"Ah. So you are the alchemist. You have picked an inopportune time. High Priestesses Ceris and Sheila have departed to the human kingdom of Ors-Juna on a diplomatic mission," Logurn explained.
"Inopportune how?" Reina asked. "Isn't High Priestess Gale still here?"
"Perhaps you should see for yourself."
Logurn led the way into the great tree. A wooden statue of Vessyra, carved from the tree itself by master sculptors, stood vigil at the entrance. She was dressed in the same robes that her priestesses wore. Fabric so thin it left little to the imagination, like tissue against the body. A massive penis was nestled between her thighs.
It was rumored that in Vessyra's true form, her penis was much larger. Reina's heart swelled with a bit of pride that the addition to her current body allowed her to resemble the goddess. Though she was under no illusion their beauty was miles apart.
The vestibule was a large hall for the public to worship in. Pews were currently empty, attended only by a few priestesses cleaning the seating areas. Stairs curving up along the inner trunk led to residential chambers where the hundreds of priestesses resided.
Instead of going upstairs like Reina thought they would, Logurn continued to lead them past the worship hall and into a wide corridor. Another chamber awaited them at the end through an archway. The large circular room had a shallow pool and at the center of it was another tree— growing from within a tree, it seemed— in which the roots dug deep into the water.
She felt magic emanating from the tree.
"Chloe, Rella! Get down from there this instant!" a dark-skinned elf shouted.
It was Gale. Knee-deep in the pool of water, staring up at the tree branches. Neeks and Reina followed her gaze to a pair of little girls, a feline beastborne and light-skinned elf, sitting upon a branch. They appeared no older than five.
"I'm so sorry High Priestess! I took my eyes off them for one second and this happened," another elf, this one a shade lighter than Gale and closer to Reina in skin color, said from the base of the tree.
"It's not your fault, Ysolde" Gale sighed, rubbing her head. "Those two are always making trouble. I swear they get their daring nature from their other mother…"
"High Priestess Gale, you have visitors who wish to speak with you!" Logurn called out.
"They will have to wait—"
"Ah!"
The elf girl's feet slipped. She clung desperately to the beastborne girl's hand, but neither of them had the strength to pull up.
"Neeks!" Reina shouted and tossed her a stamina drought to boost her speed.
"I'm on it!" The harpy was quick on the uptake. She crunched on the vial, glass and all, then took off. Her wings beat so hard it created waves in the water. The elf lost her grip and began to plummet. Neeks caught her midair and fetched the other one sitting on the branch. She landed gingerly on the ground, placing both girls into Logurn's arms.
The high priestess rushed out of the pool in a fury with the younger woman named Ysolde struggling to keep up.
Logurn let the girls to the ground. Both of them had their eyes cast to the floor and shoulders tensed up, waiting for the inevitable scolding.
Instead of castigating the girls, Gale pulled them into an embrace and exhaled a sigh of relief. From here, Reina could see the priestess' trembling hand on the girls' backs. She was genuinely concerned for their safety, despite the scowl on her face.
"Don't worry me like that again. You two are like my own daughters," she whispered.
"Sorry, Aunt Gale," the girls said at once.
Gale ushered both of them to Ysolde, who took a hand each.
"They must be famished. Bring them upstairs and fetch something for them to eat," Gale ordered the younger elf.
"At once, High Priestess! Come along, girls."
The three of them left the way Reina and Neeks had come.
Gale turned to them with a neutral smile. Her sheer white robe, which was already mostly transparent, clung to her flawless cocoa skin from being dampened by the water, brought out the curvaceousness of her toned, elven body.
Their kind were thin and slender by nature. Gale, however, through years of martial training, tempered herself to a more chiseled physique compared to her pacifist peers.
"I'm in your debt for saving them both. Rella, the beastborne cub, is inquisitive and often pulls Chloe to follow her whims. That was the first time they ever dared climb to such a height," the priestess said of the children with a smile despite their near-death.
"It was nothing! I'm just glad we were here when it happened," Neeks said, rubbing the back of her head. She spat out a piece of glass and winced in pain.
"Drink this, too." Reina handed her a restoration potion, quickly healing the wounds in her mouth after the quick decision to bite the vial.
Gale watched their exchange with a warm smile.
"You two must have come seeking an audience for a reason. I shall hear it, as it is the least I can do after your act of heroism," she said.
Reina explained to her what she needed, but omitted why it was needed. After all, the high priestess might very well decline. If she learned it was to divine a soul stone that should be sent back to the Witch's Academy, then there would be no arguing.
"A fruit blessed by the gods, is it? That is not up to me, but for Vessyra to determine whether you deserve it," Gale explained.
"How… would I go about communing with the goddess to receive such a thing?" Reina asked.
"Both of you follow me."
Gale escorted them upstairs to an unoccupied bedroom in the sleeping quarters. A modest, rectangular room in which the bed frame was carved from the wood still attached to the tree and laid with a cushioned mattress.
A goblin priestess delivered several items into the room. A single bastil fruit on a ceramic platter, a spiral incense stick, and a bowl filled with a soupy liquid. Gale lit the incense stick from a torch on the wall, then set it and the fruit on the nightstand.
Neeks twitched at the sight of the flames so close to the wall.
"Aren't you guys afraid the whole tree will catch on fire?" she asked.
"Worry not. This tree is far too tough and moist to burn. Should it ever happen, we have our very own forest nymph safeguarding this place," Gale replied.
"Forest nymph? Then the tree downstairs must be a guardian tree," Reina said.
"Indeed. Chloe and Rella were never in danger. At any point, Vixie would have commanded the roots to protect them." The high priestess nodded.
Forest nymphs manifested from ancient trees that have received significant enough worship and magic, very rarely by chance. With magic flowing through the lands after the Crimson Wars had ended, the worship of Goddess Vessyra must have also stoked a dryad to life. To think there was one dwelling at the heart of the city. It must be very powerful.
"At any rate, neither of you are here to listen about that. Reina, please drink this and lay down on the bed." She passed the bowl to her.
It had some strange clumps, but otherwise looked like a normal meal of gruel. She held her breath and gulped it down, then covered her mouth to keep from retching. The bitter taste lingered. The ashy smell of incense became a lot more pronounced.
"What's next?" Reina asked, lying down on the bed. Her vision blurred, tongue tasted sour, and the sound of others in the room began to distort.
"Next, you and Vessyra shall lay with each other so that she may determine your worth," Gale said.
