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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ladybird" data-source="post: 2927228" data-attributes="member: 10689">Thank you, CP, for filling in the notes on religion. And thank you, readers, for your ongoing support! And now, back to the show! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />--Meanwhile, high above the deserted village, Varya had finished her scouting and was making a leisurely circuit of the stockade, keeping an eye out for danger (And for stray rodents. She was still an owl.) when a cluster of birds in a nearby tree caught her eye. They looked oddly familiar to her for some reason – she had noticed a similar-looking group of birds the day before, too.Varya fluttered closer. Yes, there were six birds, one slightly larger than the others. Definitely the same group of birds that had been there the day before. And – something tugged at Varya’s memory – hadn’t there been six birds perched near the campsite the night before last, as well?The owl had no more time to think after that, though, because the largest of the birds had begun to move its feet and wings in a pattern that Varya recognized. It was casting a spell at her.Varya didn’t have time to think before she cast a spell of her own. The bird’s Magic Missiles slammed into Varya, almost at the exact same time that her own Lightning Bolt ripped through the cluster of birds. Two of the birds frantically flapped away, squawking in terror. Four of the birds were dead by the time they hit the ground.One of those four – the one who had cast the spell – was human by the time she hit the ground, too.Far below, the rest of the group had heard the commotion and was running towards the edge of the stockade. Sir Toby had his musket out and aimed into the air. “PULL!” he shouted as he fired on one of the two remaining birds. A sparkling puff of fairy dust shot out of the end of his gun, soared up into the air, and sprinkled down onto the bird, turning it bright green. The puff of fairy dust was accompanied by a bullet, which also hit the bird, turning it dead.Varya flapped lopsidedly down to the ground, where she huddled, whimpering in pain as Sister Alessandre rushed over to heal her, but the owl still managed to choke out the story of what had happened. Sir Toby started to pluck the bright green feathers of the bird that he had killed, happily sticking them in various places in his already-plumed hat and lace-edged jacket. Kit, meanwhile, was busily – but delicately – searching the crumpled body of the woman who had been a bird. “This one’s got a holy symbol on her,” she said, holding it out towards the others. Honore glanced over at Alessandre, who was still tending to Varya, and stepped forward to look at the symbol. “Mider,” Honore said, blinking in confusion. “She’s a nature goddess, and not a very commonly-worshipped one.”“All right,” Kit said slowly, turning this over in her mind. “What about this?” She held out another small metal circle, somewhat smaller, with a more elaborate pattern impressed on it. “She had this on her too - it doesn’t look like a holy symbol.”“No, that’s the seal of the Earl of Bountiful,” Honore replied. “He’s a vassal of the Duke of Brightspan.”“Great,” sighed Kit. “Brightspan’s set spies on us. Well, they don’t have them anymore.”</blockquote>

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