The school had awakened by the time Lyradil headed out for the library but fortunately the majority of students appeared to be busy with classes or other work. Only a few embarrassed looks from other girls or shocked expressions followed by not so subtle peeks from the men were cast her way as she moved through the wide halls.<br/><br/>The library seemed a welcome respite; a quiet refuge for both the studious and those trying to avoid interaction with their fellow students. The rows of shelves were covered in a seemingly endless supply of books with topics ranging from copies of some of the most prestigious literature the world had ever seen to disreputable "romance" novels directed towards the wanton. And of course information containing gods and the unique form of magic which emanated from them was a topic the library hand plentiful texts on as well.<br/><br/>Picking through the shelves Lyradil easily found what she was looking for; a small book tucked away between two of the larger ones and titled<em>The Forgotten Treasure of Km'Shara</em>. The book held a wealth of information on the amulet and given Lyradil's own natural grasp on the knowledge she was presented with it took little effort to find useful information and piece together some sort of picture.<br/><br/>The Amulet of Sadesh was once a unique treasure to the elvish kingdom of Km'shara before its collapse nearly 400 years ago. Stored in the Heavenly Temple of Passion the amulet had once been used in ritualistic orgies the goal of which was to appease the goddess, empower her priestesses, give pleasure to those involved (a reward from Sadesh to her followers in exchange for their service) and perhaps most importantly warm the mountains surrounding the temple. The text described how Sadesh's power flowed out from the Temple of Passion and melted frozen rivers, thawed the icy ground and gave life to the region at large. The larger and more pleasurable the orgy to those involved the larger the flora was said to grow; the more plentiful and healthy the fauna. Elves as creatures tied to the natural world relied on the health of the plants and animals of the region for their own success and wealth.<br/><br/>The book went on to explain that the amulet however carried another side. If deprived of the yearly orgy the power of the temple to which it was connected would diminish and Sadesh's influence would wane. The ground would grow cold and hard once more until the elves had not only made their yearly tribute but made up for the previous shortcomings. This involved bringing forth more courtesans and concubines to contribute to the ritual and for the tribute to last longer than before. Once the ritual began it could not be stopped either as the amulet would not cease its attempts to take tribute until the obligation had been met. In other words the amulet would maintain its grip on the unfortunate priestess who wore it until either her or those around her had engaged in enough sex to appease Sadesh. The amulet would also increase the needs and desires of those around it which would primarily be directed at the priestess who wore it.<br/><br/>There was another possibility though. The book spoke of another temple far to the south called the Temple of Desire. In the event that the tribute could not be met the priestess would be taken by her followers to the southern temple. There she would pray to Sadesh for forgiveness; explaining why the tribute could not be met and Sadesh would be denied the opportunity to pleasure herself as she watched her followers honor her. This usually caused another demand to be made by Sadesh but sadly the book failed to elaborate on what these demands had been historically.<br/><br/>Both temples had been long since abandoned and the book only spoke of the fate of the northern temple; a site of curiosity and study to local mages. It did however warn that the journeys undertaken by the priestesses tended to be dangerous; one horrific account explained how the priestess and her followers had been captured and raped for a full year by a local lord and his men apparently influenced by the amulet. By the time more of Sadesh's followers freed the priestess she was unwilling to leave claiming she had become addicted to the pleasure. The amulet was only removed after she was killed by a particularly angry follower who he himself was executed for the murder.<br/><br/>Whatever tribute was owed to Sadesh at this point was likely centuries in the making at this point; an impossible amount for anyone to pull off even with help. For the moment it seemed that the only way to remove the amulet was to make a deal with Sadesh at the Temple of Desire.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Knowledge check to dig up some info Result: 25 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=108183). Holy crap a nat 20! Plus Lyradil's natural intelligence and knowledge in religion. Seems she really is quite the bright young scholar.</div></div>