Catt tucked the book into her pack. She had come here simply because the flier advertising the Polypantheonic Temple seemed like a fun and interesting scam, and she had been curious what sort of grifter was behind it. Now that she had met him, Catt liked the sincere little lizard-man who called himself a High Priest. She wasn't so sure anymore that this "Temple" was a grift.
"Thank you," she said. "I suppose you have to get ready for that festival now?"
"Yes," agreed Lemmy. "I must find my good hat." He began rummaging around in the bottom of a large wooden wardrobe in the corner of the temple. Its exterior was hand painted with a jumble of various holy symbols.
"Can just anybody go to this festival?" Catt asked.
"Yes! All are welcomed!" said Lemmy from inside the wardrobe. "You should attend! It is an important local tradition that marks the new year on our calendar. If you please, we can walk there together, and I shall show you where to get the best food."
"I'm not sure I can afford the best food," Catt countered.
"The food is all free," Lemmy clarified. "The King provides it."
"What, the King feeds the whole city?"
Lemmy emerged from the wardrobe bearing a huge feathered mitre. The headpiece was nearly as tall as he was.
"I would estimate that approximately one third of the city attends the festival on any given year," Lemmy answered, wrestling a tiny white-and-silver sequined robe onto his diminutive shoulders. "It's certainly a serious culinary undertaking, the King pays every kitchen in the Smokefields to cater it, and they compete for the honor of out-doing one another."
Catt grinned. "Okay, I can't miss this."
Then, after considering Lemmy's garish robe and towering hat she asked, "Am I going to be underdressed at this event?"
Lemmy chuckled, "As a High Priest, I must look the part, besides… with this fine hat, perhaps tall-folk will be less likely to trip over my personage in the crowd."
Catt waited outside while Lemmy locked the front door of the temple. From the outside, the Polypantheonic Temple looked like a temple-themed storefront. To either side were ordinary shops, and the second floor seemed to be the windows of apartments.
Catt and Lemmy walked towards the festival. People frequently greeted Lemmy, and he seemed to know them all by name.
"Good day, Your Holiness!"
"Good day, Mr Marglov! How is your granddaughter?"
"Much better! Thank you for asking."
Another man stooped to shake Lemmy's hand. "Nirgosh bless you, Reverend!"
"Nirgosh bless you as well my son."
Different people seemed to use a wide variety of different honorifics to address Lemmy.
"Shaman Lemmy! Good to see you!"
"Good to see you as well, Mrs Basts. We missed you at Wailing And Chanting practice."
"I was under the weather that night, Shaman, I'll be there next time."
After listening to people address Lemmy variously as Cleric, Vicar, Divine, Heirophant, and Pontiff, Catt asked, "What actually is your proper title?"
Lemmy chuckled, "It depends on which deities one reveres, and which sort of religious tradition I provide them services in… but mostly I just let people call me what they please."
"Do you mind if I call you Lemmy?"
"That would be just fine," Lemmy answered with a toothy smile. "Please do."
They passed into a part of the city where the style of buildings was different. These were bigger, more imposing, less inviting buildings. There were marble facades, carved decorative embellishments, grand columns and archways. The crowds also grew more dense here. Everyone was moving in the same direction.
Finally they reached a huge open square. On the opposite end of the square was a glittering palace, and the sides of the square were lined with grandiose temples, banks, and guildhalls.
The square was teeming with people of every description. The combined noise of voices was a full roar that mixed together with the music being played by a small orchestra set up on the steps of one of the temples. A few trees rose up above the crowd, evenly spaced, hinting at the shape of the park in the middle of the square.
Lemmy led the way, skirting the thickest part of the crowd, and staying close to one row of trees. Here many families had brought blankets and were setting up picnics. Children played and laughed, and white-clad porters pushed wheeled carts laden with small baskets of food that were distributed to the crowd.
Catt could smell delicious scents of roasted and spiced dishes. She was conscious of being hungry.
"Don't be tempted aside," advised Lemmy. "Certainly that food is good, but the best will be up ahead."
Past the last of the trees were steps leading up to a higher terraced area directly in front of the palace. This area was full of long tables, where people were sitting and feasting.
Lemmy continued, right up to the front. Here Catt saw people who were finely dressed. Many of them looked like nobles or merchants or priests, mixed together with a scattering of more common looking folk. In spite of all the finery, the different kinds of styles and the bright decorations and the outlandish hats and capes made for such a riotous variety of clothing, that Catt didn't feel her plain travelling clothes made her stand out. Instead, she felt partially invisible thanks to being surrounded by other people who were trying so hard to stand out.
Lemmy found some free chairs, and they sat down."We are just in time! The feast is always first," he explained, "then the main ceremonies, and after that the revelry goes on for much of the night. I'll certainly be too exhausted to last through all of that. I am not as young as I used to be!"
"Everything looks so good!" Catt said, focusing her attention on the dishes arrayed on the table. She observed that the serving dishes were being occasionally passed from person to person, making their way up one side of the long table, and down the other.
Someone in a white apron placed clean plates and cool moist towels in front of each of them. Catt wiped her hands clean, and began to grab food and fill her plate.
Lemmy kept his mitre on his head. Apparently local etiquette did not mandate the removal of hats while eating. Lemmy stood on the chair rather than sitting, which made it possible for him to reach his plate. Several times Catt found herself helping Lemmy with the serving dishes. Some of them were much too big and heavy for him to take and pass with his tiny arms.
"This is exquisite!" Catt proclaimed between bites. There were so many dishes that Catt realized she would have no hope of sampling everything at the table. She started taking the smallest portions she could manage in order to maximize the number of different foods she would get to taste. One leg of roast fowl, one leg of tree-lobster, one small scoop of savory herb encrusted root vegetables, a modest portion of a sweet salad that seemed to consist more of flowers than of leaves.
By the time the flow of passed dishes slowed enough for Catt to finish most of her plate, she realized that Lemmy was now leaning back in his chair, his little belly bulging.
"I fear I have indulged too much!" confessed the smiling High Priest.
"Understandable!" Catt replied with her mouth full, as she took a small glass of wine from a tray carried by a white-aproned server.
"I can never resist the rum-soaked termite jelly," said Lemmy, "even though it makes me sleepy."
"That was the blue stuff with the black bits in it, right? It was delicious!" Catt said, tipping her glass towards an azure stain in one corner of her plate.
Lemmy just nodded, a pleasant dreamy look on his face as he stared off into the crowd.
Suddenly he said, "That's the King, right over there."
Lemmy directed Catt's gaze towards a table directly in front of the huge ornate front gate of the palace. He was so close that Catt could have hit him with a poppy-seed roll if she had been inclined to throw one.
"Really!?" Catt studied the King curiously. He looked older than her, but not so very old. He had big strong-looking shoulders. He had a neatly trimmed grey beard, pointed ears, and on top of his long straight hair was a simple gold crown that looked modest and plain compared to other hats at the table. His face looked peaceful and regal, and also a little bit drunk. He was sharing his table with people who looked like diplomats and judges. Catt noted that the King passed dishes and served himself, just like everyone else, although he did seem to have a dedicated server tending only to his wine glass, which was much larger than everyone else's. There were also two black-clad people wearing masks standing close behind the King. Catt could see the blue crest on their chests which she recognized from the cop she had seen that morning. She guessed that they must be bodyguards.
"Well, cheers to the King!" Catt said. "He knows how to throw a good party." She held up her glass to Lemmy.
"Indeed! Cheers to the King!" Lemmy reached forward to retrieve his own glass from the table, and they shared a private toast to their host.
Someone a few tables down waved and said Lemmy's name. Lemmy waved back.
"I spy a good friend and fellow priest of a competing temple, I would be remiss if I did not go and pay my greetings." Lemmy said, with an apologetic tone.
"Go for it," said Catt. "I'll be fine on my own."
Lemmy climbed down from his chair, and soon all Catt could see was his giant hat, bobbing slightly and moving away through the crowd.