Garden of Delights
By: Drakin
The dragoness lead them up to the temple doorway, though as they passed through Mila had the strangest sensation run down her spine. It passed too quick to say what it had been so she didn't dwell on it, but it had felt odd.
Just ahead Edna lead the way, the dragoness large booty and tail swaying back and forth almost hypnotically. It was so eye catching the group almost didn't notice when they stepped back outside again. or at least it seemed that way at first.
Past the short entrance hall the temple opened up again to a large inner courtyard/garden. All around columns and supports were decorated with tall golden statues of alternating male and female figures in various poses, each standing two stories tall. The second level around the courtyard appeared to have personal housing for everyone as many smaller doors lead off from it. The space ahead was huge, enough that roughly six of their ships could have fit inside the space with room to spare. No less than four small pools and one large fountain could be seen with flowerbeds and meticulously tended grass spread all about.
However that wasn't what everyone saw. Not at first.
What everyone's eyes fell on was dozens of beings all in the throws of 'romantic intercourse'.
Even Morgana was rendered speechless as close by no less than four pairs (and at least two threesomes) participated in some form of sexual stimulation.
"Sorry," Edna muttered, "I know it can be a bit much for outsiders to take, but it's all perfectly natural i assure you."
Mila felt like her whole face was about to burst into flames from her blushing and yet she couldn't tear her eyes away. Darius too struggled to find any spot elsewhere to look, but everywhere someone was moaning, licking, thrusting, kissing, fondling, groping or so many other things there didn't seem to be a 'safe spot' to stare.
"Is... Is all this normal around here?" Morgana asked, her own throat feeling a bit dry as she stared at a stallion giving a alligator girl a good hard seeing to.
"Well it's not every day," Edna explained as she lead the way around the courtyard, "Only every other day. There are chores to do after all. And not everyone enjoys being so public. Many of our clan prefer to enjoy themselves in private." As they passed along the open corridor around the courtyard Mila could hear shouts from a room above. Shouts of pleasure...
They were almost a quarter of the way around the courtyard when Mila's eye caught sight of something. She'd been trying not to stare at the orgy going on, but now that her mind had adapted she was noticing something odd. Some beings participating looked... odd. One wolfess she saw was sporting four breasts in two pairs. The stallion she'd seen earlier pulled out to reveal two almost two foot long members still throbbing with need. And towards the back of the orgy was a female rhino. At least she seemed female until Mila saw she was the one thrusting into a female skunk underneath her.
By that point Darius and Morgana had noticed and also stopped in their tracks.
Edna had kept walking at first but seeing they'd been stunned again she turned back with a smile. "The gift of our goddess," she explained, "Those who worship, are dutiful and desire to bask in her light can be granted a gift to make their bodies into their ideal form. Many females who are here now were once males, and some males were females. Some were't sure what they desired and became all the more mixed when blessed, but all have found peace and pleasure here as a result."
As she moved on Morgana let her get a couple steps ahead and then muttered under her breath, "It's a temple of freaks."
Mila was tempted to silently agree. And yet somehow she didn't find it as disturbing as she thought she would.
==========
Edna showed them all around. From the communal dining hall to the vegetable gardens and even their elaborate irrigation system. The water from the dam ran down into a large pool where several more of the tribe were having their 'fun'. and from there on down to water the garden.
At first Mila was a little grossed out as she thought the pool had become so full of 'secretions' it had turned opaque, but then Darius pointed out another small channel barely more than two feet wide that lead off in another direction through the trees.
That water was nearly completely white.
"Where does that stream come from?" he asked, indicating the white colored water.
"I'm afraid that's something of a secret," Edna muttered embarrassed, "There's a sacred place it flows from behind the central temple. I could show you but you would have to undergo the initiation process to become part of the tribe. We can't allow outsiders to know all our secrets."
"But you do let them leave don't you?" Mila asked with some worry they might have to escape this weird cult somehow.
"Oh of course," Edna smiled, "No one is making you stay here. Though I don't see why you'd want to leave. We have all one could want to enjoy here."
"And what does the ritual to join entail?" Darius asked, getting shocked looks from Morgana and Mila, "It's not some blood binding ritual or something, is it?"
"Hardly," Edna smiled warmly, "There's a party, lots of food is shared, some words are said and then the new arrivals must consummate before the alter of the goddess."
"What!?" Morgana shrieked, "We'd have to... to have sex in front of everyone!?"
"Of course not," Edna replied, "The ritual is very special, only those joining the tribe may be inside."
"Hmm may we talk about this?" Darius asked and Edna nodded as Darius pulled them away.
"You can't seriously be thinking about going through with this?" Morgana replied, though there was something odd in her voice too that Mila picked up on. Was she actually curious to do it?
"What other choice do we have?" Darius replied, "The alter seems like the best place for the coin to be."
"A coin?" Mila asked, "I thought we were looking for a rune?"
"Look at how these people have changed," Darius pointed out, "Obviously there's a coin here too."
"Even if we get it though we don't know where the rune is," Morgana pointed out.
"The coins will let us reshape the world," Darius pointed out, "Maybe we can banish the runes when we do. If not we could always come back."
"It would be better to get both at once," Mila suggested, "Then we wouldn't have to come back if we made the tribe angry. And I get the feeling leaving suddenly after they let us in would be very upsetting for them."
"Either way we need more time to find the Rune," Darius mused, "We could either stall for time and stay, hoping to see more, but who knows how long that will last. Or we can take the initiation which will give us plenty of time to find it."