by dreadknots
Very well done, I hope that this just the beginning of this story! Thank you!
Well, you've managed to tick pretty much every box, that isn't more or less mutually exclusive, for me. Excellent story and would love to see more from this setting, if you feel inspired.
Is this set in the same world but far in the future from The Goddess' Chosen? The faith could have declined until the high priestess was forced to leave their powers in a relic instead of them being passed on, the stairs could've fallen apart, seismic shifts and erosion could've opened a cave/tunnel, and the mosaic on the floor shattered. Going back and forth between the two stories I noticed the similarities in the settings, plus you seem to like to reuse some settings (which isn't a bad thing).