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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 1269588" data-attributes="member: 15470">Issue #2: The Tower. Episode 2Since the heavily-laden cart with the two aged and dispirited horses moves more slowly than a walking pace, we don’t arrive back in town until mid-morning. The trip is uneventful.When we reach the outskirts of Southport, we return to the Laughing Ogre Inn. We are greeted by the half-elven innkeeper, Fox, in the courtyard, and he leads us inside.  He looks at our wounds, and asks what happened.  Miriel cautions him that it’s a long story, so he brings us food and drink. We all sit at a long table, and Miriel tells him the story. As she is recounting our adventure, a tall woman in a blue robe walks into the inn. She wears two peacock feathers in her long black hair. Some of us recognize her, while others do not. With her is a half-elven woman, about five and a half feet tall, pale, with long dark hair and green eyes, who none of us have seen before. Miriel rises from her stool, and drops to her knees before them.“Get up, my child,” the raven-haired woman says to her.Fox rises to greet her with a hug and kisses her cheek. “Hello, Verenia, my old friend,” he says. He turns to us, and introduces her to us. “This is Verenia, the high priestess of Southport, who helped to heal you when you were first brought to my care.” He turns to her, and asks, “What brings you here?”“My sources have told me of your trip to the old keep,” she responds, looking at us. “These sources also tell me that there is even more to discover than what we have already found, and that it would be a very good thing for you to keep investigating.” She appears to know much more about us than we have told anyone so far, though she says nothing specific.“I agree,” Miriel says immediately, “But may I ask for healing for our company, before we venture out again? We are all wounded, beyond my ability to tend.”“Of course,” Verenia says kindly, “That is part of why I’m here.” She heals most of the party without batting an eye.  When she reaches Fergus, he surprises her by saying, “No, thank you milady. I do not want your healing.”She gives him a long look, but appears to take no offense. She heals Paks last, and healing the young warrior’s broken ribs takes longer than the sword cuts and arrow wounds of the others.When she has finished the healing, Verenia introduces us to the half-elf with her. “This is Saraya,” she says, “A bard who recently came to the shrine of Madriel. I recommend strongly that you take Saraya with you when you investigate the tower.”We briefly introduce ourselves, offering our names to the bard, but volunteering little else. Saraya sits with us, between Paks and Miriel.Verenia is still standing, now at the head of our table. “Again, I encourage you to investigate the tower. It would be a good thing for the town.” She looks from Miriel to Paks to Stone to Chuck. “Ever since you arrived,” she adds, “There have been signs showing that more than one god are now influencing events in the area.”Goldpetal asks Verenia about the creature or creatures that may be under the tower, but she cannot tell us anything more than that it would be a “good thing” for us to go back and find out more. Fox offers to provision us, and store the wagon and stable the horses for us while we're gone. He says he can’t imagine why we would have found anyone at the tower, as there is no one around for miles, so it is very strange. We ask him about the creature under the tower, and he says once or twice he found undead there, but he really doesn’t know for sure. Fergus, clearly remembering our differences about what our mission was the previous night, asks Verenia, “Just to clarify, should we investigate the tower, the smugglers, or the other unspecified strange occurrences in the area?”She gives him a long look before she answers, and her words are mysterious. “Fate hangs on you to investigate the strange occurrences around the town. You are clearly destined to have important things happen around us.”“What do you mean?” he asks her directly, but she shakes her head. “That is all I can say,” she says. “I will offer you each my blessing, in the name of Madriel.” She gestures before us, looking at each in turn.When she looks at Paks, she gets a strange look on her face. “Though you do not need it,” she says, “You already carry the blessing of Madriel.” She turns last to Miriel. “To you, Miriel, I extend my invitation to the shrine of Madriel. You can always come to me if you need help.” She adds one last cryptic comment saying, “It may not be your fate to be the scholar you had intended to be.”She turns, and strides out the door, leaving the table sitting in a bemused silence.</blockquote>

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