It was as true as Ternoc said. The gates were wrought in the same black metal, the same patterns running up and down it. "You say you chose many of these scenes?" Ardasa said. Battles, marriages, creation, with one of thousands of gods or goddesses watching from the horizon. She doubted that any two etchings depicted the same god twice. "Are you the pious sort? You seem to know so many of them . . . "

The inside held as many treats for the eyes as the exterior. While the outside of the temple was wood and stone, the inside revealed an entirely different world. It was a giant dome, entirely of stained glass, depicting the many gods looking down as the humble viewer from below looked up at them. From behind their eyes sat two candles, flickering and making it seem as if their pupils were ablaze. "No wonder you can memorize all those gods . . . " Ardasa whispered.