The prayer room is a tall, rectangular area and like the previous one you were just at, this too has a pit in the middle, albeit one far milder, barely a foot deep. In the centre of this is a stunted tree trunk, into the top of which a metal shafted cat of nine tails has been driven, stiff leather cords branching out to droop like a weeping willow. The walls are decorated with pictures of Loviatar’s ceremonies, alternating between scenes of feverish dancing and calm prayer. High up near the roof thin gaps allow in feeble streaks of the afternoon sunlight in, but none of them reach down here, and no torches hang from the walls.<br/>There are eleven novices: nine human and two half-elves. There are no doubt more, but only these have been judged worthy enough to become the student of one of her Maidens such as yourself. Arranged in two rows of six and five the young women kneel in the pit in front of the tree. On the tiled floor dried rice has been sprinkled, a minor discomfort they are expected to ignore as they keep their head down, their hand cupped forwards, waiting to receive Loviatar’s bounty. They are dressed in gowns spun of a single piece of diaphanous white cotton. Loose and airy the clothing is low cut at the chest and reaches about halfway down their thighs. You know that the material is virtually see-through, but in the poor light conditions the girls’ modesty is preserved for now. The rite of selecting a student use to be referred to as the Rite of the Bloodied Gown, because the one to be chosen would be the one with the most blood on her gown by the end, but few priestesses still observe this, many wanting to shed their students blood in privacy. Still, some traditionalists maintain this practice and a single corded whip has been placed at the edge, just in front of the kneeling novices for such individuals, although why you cannot tell. Surely they would have whips of their own?<br/>None of the young woman have acknowledge your presence, waiting instead to be given permission first. You recognize them all: seven are from noble families, four minor, three almost major. One of the half-elves, Lelika, was a bandit, captured and by the guard and sold into slavery, eventually bought by the temple. She has short cropped reddish hair, and prefers to use a short sword, despite trying a whip several times in sparring. The other half-elf, Torri, is the daughter of a stable master for some merchant prince’s animals at a mansion to the north. You see Mrella in the back row, a novice well practiced in the art of magic, just like her father, although the dark brown haired girl’s arrogance far outpaces her talent. Finally there is Sudira, the daughter of a priestess of the same faith who resides in the temple at Urmlaspyr.