Gwydion
Master Kaul, I will keep you company.
Kaul
“thank you Gwydion, lets go to the tavern” “i will also asses the town for a defensible position in case we are attack this night”
As you bid your host farewell, he rises, asking his son to see you out, "Should you need basic supplies or lodging, have the merchants provide you with a note of sale, that you might bring it to me for reimbursement. Good luck in your investigation!"
Taking your leave of Lord Mallory, his younger son guides you to the door. However, on leaving the manor, he accompanies you outside. With the door firmly shut behind you, he addresses the party, "I would accompany you, if you would allow me. I know many of the locals, and indeed, the town and island itself..." he glances warily back to towards the door, seemingly worried about being overheard, and casts his voice lower before continuing, "No doubt my father would not approve. But..." he looks back to you and smiles, "...he need not know!"
Miska the Misanthropic
“Sure, kid,” says Miska, “why don’t you come with us to the tavern?”
Kaul
i head to the closest tavern and order some food and wine, while eating i will carefully wach the locals, and a hour later i will pretend to be slightly drunk and start talking to some of the people, especially those that seam like more informed and or interesting like merchants, the owner of the tavern etc. I will ask mostly for inusual events, acting like a green adventurer seeking for work and pretending to not know anything about the missing people.
If i see someone acting strange i will pretend not to notice but try to follow him later.
Masov
Once the baron’s son is safely out of earshot - Let’s all be wary at the temple. Kings build on the rubble of their conquests, so do religions - there’s often the remanants of worship of elder gods buried nearby…perhaps the predilection to worship builds up in the soil.
…erm…more succinctly, perhaps, these Ostrobards tended to rebuild their own temples upon the tops of the peoples who preceded them.
As Lord Mallory's son stands on the step of his father's manor, smiling, the party exchanges several glances, then turns to go.
"Wait! I said I wish to accompany you...I can... help..."
[quote="Miska the Misanthropic"] "Sure, kid," says Miska, "why don't you come with us to the tavern?" [/quote]
"Oh..." he says, seemingly taken aback, "...I thought you were headed for the Temple?"
As he shrugs and falls in with you, you leave the manor behind. Even with the sun high in the sky, few people are about, and the town seems nearly deserted. Passing the Silver Scale Inn on your left, and a dilapitated building bearing a half-smashed sign that might have once been a frog on your right, you follow the road towards the south gate of the palisade. Kaul, Gwydion, and Miska split off to head to one of the inns in town, followed by the Baron's son, while the rest of you leave by the south gate and head for the Temple of Solis...
Andrew, Aria, Hengist, Kerrick, and Masov!
PLEASE REPLY TO THIS POST for the time being
Following the stone-set path out the south gate, you head towards the Temple of Solis. Set perhaps a hundred yards from the town's palisade, the Temple building is surrounded by a stone wall the height of two men, with a lone, wooden double gate. The gate stands open, and you pass through it, unchallenged, just as you did at the Baron's manor. The large courtyard beyond the wall is largely empty, and spread out before you are what, under other circumstances, you would call farmers' fields. A single man works the ground near where you passed through the gate. He looks up at you as you enter, but quickly goes back to his gardening. As you pass him you can see a short, stone outbuilding with a thatched roof to the left behind the main temple, set against the outside wall. It quickly disappears from view behind the massive bulk of the Temple itself.
Most of the soil in the courtyard is bare with the earliness of the season, but there are also several rows of empty trellises standing along the path. The stone-inlaid track passes between them, and ends at a semicircular set of white marble stairs which rise to the main entrance.
The temple here is the reputed to be the largest remaining temple to Solis in the Margravate, and seeing it now makes that easy to believe. The building is quite large (enormous by Orlean standards), and made from large blocks of some gleaming white stone. Some forty yards on a side, the Temple rises to the height of three men above you. Though no windows are visible, the slate roof is pierced by a number of strange openings whose purpose is unclear.
As you surmount the marble steps and look through the open iron-bound double doors, the reason for the openings becomes evident, as the sanctuary beyond the doors is filled with sunlight, streaming from above. The careful placement of the Temple itself, as well as the rooftop vaults, fills the interior space with the light of the sun.
You pass through a 20' square narthex into the large, sunlit sanctuary, which is perhaps 70' on a side. The vaulted roof is held up by five massive columns, and pierced by numerous openings, through which shines the morning sun. Staring up at the ceiling, you can see a huge mosaic depicting the track of the sun across the sky. The floor is similarly adorned with a mosaic depicting ripened wheat fields under the shining sun. While the craftsmanship of the mosaics is masterful, there are chips, cracks, and missing tiles that show their age.
At the center of the sanctuary on a low plinth between the pillars stands a white-marble statue of Solis, herself: a beautiful robed woman, standing tall, and holding a sheaf of wheat in one hand, and a scroll in the other. Behind her, between the farthest two columns, a dais rises up to the back wall of the sanctuary, and on the top of the platform stands the altar. Hanging from the front of the altar is a large, beaten gold depiction of the sun, gleaming in the light of the room.
As you stand, marvelling at the chamber, you realise you are not alone. A woman stands to one side, watching you impassively. While she wears the vestements of the clergy of Solis, her muscular frame and a scar on her jaw betray the fact that she is no mere layperson. As she sees you, her expression changes to a slight smile, and she puts her hands out to either side, approaching with her open palms upturned.
"Good morrow to you, travellers, and may you walk in the sun! Particularly you, sister..." she says, nodding to Aria, "How may the temple of Solis help you on this beautiful day?"
Gwydion, Kaul, and Miska!
PLEASE REPLY TO THIS POST for the time being
Watching the others head out the southern gate of the palisade, you're struck again by just how hungry you are. The smell of cooking meat hangs in the air, and your stomach once again begins to rumble. The Baron's son points behind you, "That's the Silver Scale Inn. It's the largest here in Orlean, and where a lot of travellers stay. They should be making breakfast by now..."
Following his suggestion, you head across a small porch to the front door. Inside, the inn is gloomy and quite cool - no fires burn in the hearth - with a surprising number of townsfolk sitting around the common area, most nursing a mug, with one or two eating. The publican, a short, heavyset man with an unruly head of hair that must have once been red before fading to its current soft gray, wipes his hands on a stained towel as he walks over, "Yes?" and while the question seems less than friendly, his manner appears neutral.
Andrew
Andrew asks the woman trying to see what honey gets before the gauntlet. Well probably more of a vinegar honey mixture “The Baron seems to think this town has had some… malaise. I understood you had some trouble healing some of the town militia. May I ask what happened? This place seems well equipped for such things, so we thought it odd and without many leads to go on… look, we weren’t given a clear goal so we are looking at things that ended poorly.”
Aria
Aria nods respectfully. “May the light of Solis shine on you, Priestess.” She then defers to her more-talkative companions while giving the temple a very hard study to see if everything is as it should be.
[quote="Aria"] Aria nods respectfully. "May the light of Solis shine on you, Priestess." She then defers to her more-talkative companions while giving the temple a very hard study to see if everything is as it should be. [/quote]
The woman before you smiles as the greeting is exchanged in the manner protocol dictates, then turns her attention as Andrew addresses her...
[quote="Andrew"] "The Baron seems to think this town has had some... malaise." [/quote]
The smile immediately fades, replaced on her visage by a more troubled expression. As the woman speaks to Andrew, Aria glances around the sanctuary for any sign of something amiss, but all appears to be in its place. The only thing of real note is the tiles cracked, chipped, and missing on the floor mosaic. As a servant of Venus you would think they would have at least cleaned up the fragments, if not have it repaired by a craftsman.
[quote="Andrew"] "I understood you had some trouble healing some of the town militia. May I ask what happened? This place seems well equipped for such things, so we thought it odd and without many leads to go on... look, we weren't given a clear goal so we are looking at things that ended poorly." [/quote]
The woman folds her arms across her chest, her expression still clouded, "You are asking on behalf of the Baron, then?" she seems somewhat incredulous, glancing at Aria as she speaks, "And what did he tell you about the lost militia members? Did he tell you they were killed by Vasans raiders? Their wounds were mostly small and precise stab-wounds, hardly those dealt by axes and swords, I should think. Two others were so completely hacked apart that we could not identify them amongst the missing. Even Vasan berserkers do not do such things. Hardly a surprise that we could not save them. Not all can be saved by Solis' light..."
Kerrick Helmsworth
Kerrick stares at the priestess impassively.
"The Baron did not send us.
I find your reaction to this mere suggestion to be suspicious. You do not grieve for the fallen, but instead take steps to ensure that you are not blamed for their fall?"
“We have been given reason to believe that there have been changes in the behavior of some citizens. That their mind has been altered, somehow, and that they have been bound up in the service of whatever is causing the problems facing this township.”
Kerrick leans forward slightly as his eyes bore into hers.
“I have come here to deliver you a warning. If you have had anything to do with any of this, we will unmask you. If you are hiding dark secrets, we will illuminate them. If you are innocent, then you have nothing to fear. If you are not, then will judgment’s hammer fall.”
Kaul
“hi, me and my friends are here to calm are hungry and our thirst with some fine meal and some wine” “we came here after fools day in search of job and adventure, seeking problems to solve and gold to earn, but we have found little of those anyway here for now”
while eating and drinking, and if the publican donst give me much talk i will look around for posible interesting people to talk and or observe.
Aria
Aria steps back nervously. When he says “innocent” what does he mean? Some close-minded people sometimes look askance at certain practices of the temple of Venus…
[quote="Kerrick Helmsworth"]
Kerrick stares at the priestess impassively.
"The Baron did not send us.
I find your reaction to this mere suggestion to be suspicious. You do not grieve for the fallen, but instead take steps to ensure that you are not blamed for their fall?" [/quote]
Colour rises to the woman's face, her voice rising as she responds, "Your companion first raised the Baron's...deflection...then immediately questioned our healing. How-"
[quote="Kerrick Helmsworth"] "We have been given reason to believe that there have been changes in the behavior of some citizens. That their mind has been altered, somehow, and that they have been bound up in the service of whatever is causing the problems facing this township." [/quote]
"Then I suggest you start with his elve-"
[quote="Kerrick Helmsworth"] Kerrick leans forward slightly as his eyes bore into hers.
"I have come here to deliver you a warning. If you have had anything to do with any of this, we will unmask you. If you are hiding dark secrets, we will illuminate them. If you are innocent, then you have nothing to fear. If you are not, then will judgment's hammer fall." [/quote]
The woman's mouth falls agape at these last words, her hand reflexively reaching for a weapon that isn't there, before she spits a retort with all the venom she can muster, "You...DARE! Here, in THIS house?! Mark my words, and mark them well, oh Drizzle-God's squire...if you come here again, what is left of you will be carried forth!"
The woman looks to Aria and says, "I suggest you take your dog with you when you leave, Sister. It is not housebroken."
She then dismisses Andrew and the others, "Go back to your Baron and ask why he has not rooted out this malaise, as is his duty! Why his elven 'friends' prowl the village as people go missing, and the militia die."
[quote="Kaul"] "hi, me and my friends are here to calm are hungry and our thirst with some fine meal and some wine" [/quote]
"Got mulled wine, if'n you want. Cooked oats with a bit of honey, if that's yer pleasure." He looks at you and Gwydion with a curious, slightly clouded expression, "You remind me of a friend..." he trails off. You're not quite sure who he's talking to, although he seems to be mostly ignoring Miska.
[quote="Kaul"] ...i will look around for posible interesting people to talk and or observe. [/quote]
There's a loud scraping as a middle-aged man, skin weathered by the sun, pushes his stool back and rises, watching your exchange with the Publican. Everyone else seems to be studiously ignoring you. The man turns and heads for the stairs, though you notice he glances back over his shoulder at you as he begins to ascend.
[quote="Kaul"] "we came here after fools day in search of job and adventure, seeking problems to solve and gold to earn, but we have found little of those anyway here for now" [/quote]
The Publican frowns at this, "We want no trouble here. Folk here are...quiet. Will you be staying?"
Kerrick’s response is not what would normally be expected. He seems to be restraining a sense of satisfaction as he withdraws to the narthex to await his companions.
He then begins what appears to be a focused examination of the wall.
(I am concentrating to Detect Evil.)
[quote="kerrick helmsworth"]
Kerrick's response is not what would normally be expected. He seems to be restraining a sense of satisfaction as he withdraws to the narthex to await his companions.
He then begins what appears to be a focused examination of the wall.
(I am concentrating to Detect Evil.)</kerrick> [/quote]
Much to your surprise, the woman before you appears to be surrounded by a glowing, golden halo. You have seen this before amongst members of your own order.
Kaul
“I will like that oat… so, how is your friendo going?”
after he is out of sight i tell Gwydion “keep my place an talk to the publicman, tell him that we may be staying for tonight, i will check what that fellow is doing”
Then i will follow the man upstairs discretly.