Ardasa could feel her excitement growing. "We've never had paladins. Not in the north at least. I'd never seen metal abundant enough to be made into armor until I was married, funny enough." She laughed. "Worgs, too, only some of the invincible tribes kept a pack of. Not my father, though. It really is wondrous how far we've come." 

The great temple seemed to be less a place of worship and more a place of war. A stone wall surrounded it, thick as any around a castle and at least twice as high, and yet its towers still managed to soar above it like giants. If Ardasa squinted, she could just make out the tiny forms of armored guards, standing at the ready at the very tops of every structure. They leered down at every moving thing below them, but as the entourage came forward, all their eyes were glued on Ternoc. "Lead on, Your Majesty," Ardasa said, feeling minuscule before the massive gate plated in copper.