Then in they can go. Inside it's mostly wood and the style of other local buildings, though there's still more marble than you'd see anywhere else and the ceiling is very high. A large statue of Verena looms over the entrance hall; a tall, middle-aged but beautiful woman sitting on an undecorated throne, holding a sword pointed down with a set of scales, slightly unbalanced, hanging with their pivot on the hilt. Her eyes are closed and an owl sits on her shoulder, and her off hand rests on a small stack of books.

Four large doors lead off of the hall, labeled as the first through fourth courtrooms, and two smaller doors lead to corridors. Smaller signs on those say that they're the ways to the law library, reading room, hall of debate, records rooms, and history library.

Teodor steps over to one of the acolytes standing guard near the doors.

"No trials active, though if you want to wait an hour there's one expected later today."

"Does magic tend to behave differently in uh temples like this?" Rodney check his device again.

"Mostly just around the priests themselves. I think a few temples have become holy sites to a degree that the god's presence is noticeable, and places where the gods are already noticeably present generally become temples, but most are just places where holy men can be found."

One of the white-robed men who just came out of one of the hallways and headed for the Second Courtroom definitely shows up to the scanner.

"So one of those white robed gentleman who passed was a priest then? It looks like the whole building is a little like him but much weaker."

"They don't dress much differently, other than the judges, but if your trinket can notice a difference and didn't for the men at the doors, very likely yes. Interesting that you can see a difference in the rest of the hall, even a subtle one. Maybe Verena pays closer attention than I thought."

"I can't take credit but it's a very good scanner."

"It certainly is, if it can see things even sharp Witchsight misses. Anything you'd like to look in on? I understand their debate hall is usually busy with something, but I suspect only the libraries and the residences would be off-limits to casual visitors."

"I think we're good."

Rodney nods in agreement.

"Then on we can go."

There's a bridge across a canal, and then another large building which is scrupulously whitewashed and decorated with carved doves.

"Another temple here; Salyak, goddess of mercy and healing. There's been no major waves of sickness recently so looking in would be perfectly safe."

"So people come here to get healed? Sure, let's take a look."

"The rich hire physicians, but yes, often."

The interior is largely whitewashed as well, and set up for people to be moved quickly on stretchers if necessary. There's a mural of a motherly figure with doves, on one side tending to dying soldiers and on the other to mothers giving birth.

The priests here are also wearing white, but it's bleached leather and fur, made to be tough and easy to clean rather than dignified. Teodor steps over to talk to one quietly.

It looks clean at least. He'll wait for Teodor to return and nudge Rodney.

Rodney checks his scanner again.

It is definitely clean, though not because they understand why that helps.

Readings are pretty similar! There is energy here recognizably more like the other temple than the normal background winds. Probably slightly differently 'polarized', or whatever metaphor is appropriate.

"You can look into the soldier's ward - it's not just soldiers - if you like, and I'll be asking someone senior about testing the suggestion about hand-washing later this week."

"I think we got the idea."

"Then it's not far to Frosthome."

It can be seen over the nearby buildings even from the temple's doors, when you know where to look. A spire of ice jutting into the sky several stories tall.

Well, that is more or less what he was expecting from the description.

And then they get close, and get a better look. It's eight stories tall, and the basic shape is a massive icicle jutting into the sky with passages carved into it. But there's also three spiral ascents climbing up it, offset to not intersect with each other, and these seem to have been sculpted as they rise, not just created and then carved later. There are balconies that look precise but grown, architected but also exuded.

Also there are women in armor, their faces mostly covered, with swords that look precisely like ice gathering frost from air that's colder than the ice. The actual air is much warmer than that. They also have bows on their backs and are standing guard in a way that's probably ceremonial.

He is not betting on them being entirely ceremonial any more than the guards at Buckingham Palace. Are there probably hidden guards and security measures, yes, but he bets all of these women can fight quite effectively.

Rodney takes another look at his device, being extra careful to hold it in a non-threatening way.

Oh, the scanner's going crazy. Way higher concentration of energy here than he's seen so far. Ten times denser than the priest at least. And that's just above-ground. Underneath the hill this stands on there is, though the details are hard to make out, a blob of power about half the size of the tower and five to ten times denser with energy.

This is not any of the nine, maybe nine and a half types of energy he's seen so far. It's much more like the background Winds than it is like the stated-divine type, but it's somewhere in between. Also it comes in two flavors, one that moves around more than the other; the more-still kind is about eighty percent of it aboveground and forty percent below.