Cedany Cipher Creation & Sect Musings

A Narrow Chamber
Arriving at the base of the cracked stone steps you find yourself staring in a bare and musty chamber. An eerie silence brings with it an ominous feeling that seemingly creeps along the chilled air. Opposite from the stairs rests a black stone door.

 *This area is illuminated and you are in inside terrain. It is night.

[Exits: none]
        Some cracked stone steps are here.
        (Closed) A thick stone door is here.

Cedany grabs her journal and sits on the cold ground, allowing the wall to act as a backrest as she
begins to pray to Obscurity,

You say, "May my efforts here glorify you and strengthen the faithful in Ama`rane and beyond. I pray
that the shadows and gathered knowledge of the faith will aid me in creating a cipher that will hold
the secrets of this new sect. Secondly, I ask your guidance in making the right choices for this
sect. We will only be as powerful as our shared will, and given that all of my strength comes from
you, I hope to honor that which you have given me."

Cedany finishes her prayer traditionally by pledging allegiance to the shadows, secrets, and hidden
knowledge spread across the land and below the earth. Grasping her quill, the priest begins to
sketch out a lengthy series of symbols. Each requires no more than three quillstrokes, though they
all vary in design. Once she has a collection of fifty symbols, Cedany begins the painstaking
process of analyzing each one and looking for those that are too similar to each other or symbols
from another popular cipher.

Cedany is ruthless in her work, crossing out more than two thirds of the new symbols before starting
to craft more still. The process repeats itself three more times until she has a collection of
symbols spread across various pages of her notebook.

Your mood is now excited.

You eat some sliced pomegranate with juicy blood red arils.

Cedany breathes a sigh of relief and takes a moment to rest and eat before beginning the truly
difficult part of this endeavor. As she eats the pomegranate arils, she reflects on the various
types of ciphers used in the Vilaingburgh sect. Shift ciphers were easy to learn, but also easily
broken. Other methods were harder to crack, but they could still be broken within a matter of days.

With her decision made, Cedany begins the tedious process of aligning her newly created symbols in a
twenty six column array. With the keyword `alleyway`, to guide her work, she searches her notes for
the various alphabets that would fill the array. This method was not the most complex and could be
foiled more easily with knowledge of the keyword. Without it, however, the priest knew that the
secrets would be safe against all but the most dedicated of codebreakers.

Cedany continues to work, spending hours checking and rechecking the newly created array. It takes
only a few minutes to create a master copy on fresh parchment that she is able to let dry and store
within her cloak.

Now that the most tedious work was complete, Cedany closes her journal and allows her mind to drift
to thoughts of the new sect that she would found in Tralisia.

You think to yourself: After all I saw in Vilainburgh, I know what I do not want the sect to be. I
do not want an over large bureaucracy. I do wish to continue their emphasis on teaching the public,
but there is so little that I can do alone.

You feel confused

You think to yourself: Had I been accepted into the clergy and ordained, perhaps I would have
learned these lessons. I would have a clear vision of the flock I hope to build and how I could be
of service to the faithful that already make their home in the city.

You think to yourself: I will have to consult the faithful in the city. My sect will not be perfect,
but I do not want it to be my creation alone. For now, this is enough.