“After one day passed of continuous march, they collapsed inside a large otherwise empty cavern. They saw nothing but gray walls and metal. Then the miracle occurred. Food poured from the hatches in the walls. They had at last come to the dwelling of the saved, this very cavern we are in now. There they stayed and generations passed. They fought off enemies and were successful every time,” Philbert stopped here. “That is the tale of how flight to this holy place. Any questions?”
Neither Mark nor Max felt like producing any queries.
And then the ground rumbled and shook violently, knocking down some of the more rudely assembled shacks. If Philbert, Mark and Max were not already sitting, they would have been knocked off their feet.
“What the hell was that?” a started Max asked Philbert.
“That is the shaking. It occurs when the House Gods smite the wicked ones and drive them from existence, according to our forefathers. There is nothing to worry about as long as you are good and pure of heart,” Philbert calmly answered. He though he had nothing to fear from the shaking of the ground, for nothing bad had ever happened to the people of the Pak tribe.
Bill ran up to the trio and checked to see if they were all right. After confirming their good health, he quickly proceeded to the next group, and checked the status of the rest of the tribe members.
“How often does the ground tremble like that?” Mark asked.
“At least every time shortly after the bright star goes down. The Gods have been smiting the wicked ever since the chaos, although many generations ago the smiting of the wicked occurred less frequently. I believe that this signifies that the gods are nearly done purging the evil from this world. Which is why we believe they have sent you at this time and not before.”
“If you’re done telling us your legends, we would like to have a look around this place for ourselves,” Max requested.
“There are other legends, but those can be saved for another time. I shall send with you a guide to show you around,” Philbert said. “Doug,” he called. “This is my son, Doug. He is next in line for the priesthood. He knows this area very well. Doug, you will show them around,” Philbert commanded.
“I would be more than delighted to act as guide to the guides, father,” Doug respectfully said.
They quietly followed Doug as he walked away from Philbert, who remained seated and waved as they walked away, with a somewhat stupid smile on his face. After they were nearly acres the rectangular cavern, Doug spoke as he pointed out various doors as they passed. Many had faded labels marked only with numbers.