He's being clever, Meri. If someone dares to claim (again) that Olan kills a LOT of people in his games (again), he can simply point a finger at us instead. "Uh-uh, wasn't me. It was all Raven." 

Yeah, I'm supposed to flatline some fine people too.  

So apparently I'm in the game! Somehow Olan did it again and said some beautiful words that I could not deny. Some of the things said were Merideth... Eol... Brom... And there's Ody too?!?!? o/  

Whoaaah! Easy there, Eol! Remember the safe distance... *Raven wraps a towel around his head*

I still say we need the hot tub back. Chat is so dead these days. Ofc me being on a totally different time-zone might have something to do with the chat being empty whenever I log in... 

We need a party! RDICon! Someone needs to win the lottery.

I was going to binge it last weekend too, but stupid life interfered with my plans.   Actually didn't much time for anything fun and slept really bad, so no relaxing for me. A lot needs to happen to stop me from unwinding.

I really really need one more day in a week; a day I can dedicate to watching shows and playing games. Both already have to-do lists longer than my life-expectancy and they're growing longer all the time.

I feel your pain, Eol. Work can be a bitch at times. Like.. right now.

<rant>

You know what's really good fun? Working for a fairly large university (15000 students/3000 staff) when the big and the wise decide to buy 51% of the local polytechnic (or university of applied sciences as they want it to be called). Yeah collaboration and all that sounds like fun, but the poly has another 8000 students and 1k staff. So they're smart about it. There's no plans to completely merge the two schools, fortunately. But they have decided to put all of the IT-stuff together in order to "save" some money... yeah fucking right.

There are currently over 250 different information systems in the two schools out of which four, yes four, are the same and can fairly easily be merged. Roughly 40 systems are of the same make, but used in a different manner. Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to fix them too. But the rest... the 200 or so. Shiiiit! Starting from the basic stuff like user identification ie. accounts... Oh man! It's going to take us years.

Fortunately both universities have set aside a large amount of money for the merge so that we can hire help from the outside, right? Yeah you would think so. But instead the budget is roughly around zero Euros. Nothing, nada and all that. Fock. Well at least there's a proper strategy in place, right? And the plan has been communicated to us at the bottom level, you know the people with the already dirty hands? Of course!.... not. Apparently the bold and the beautiful running these two organisations think we can tackle the thing while we take care of our regular work stuff we really don't have to time to handle well right now. Hell yeah we can, 'cause we're supaheroes!  

So we already lost three guys fromt he poly before they were even moved into our organisation. In Tampere, another major (by Finnish standards) city in here they went through the same shit. It took them roughly three years... and it's still not completely done. It cost a helluva lot of money and a handful of IT pros too. But at least they had a plan...

</rant>

What comes to the game, or is this even a game yet? I'm loving your posts, people! I'm just hoping I have the time to write more soon too. And I hope Olan can tell me and Breebles, if we actually manage to find anything useful at some point. No hurries, Boss! I'm sure it takes a while for us to go through the library and whatever Cedric's colleagues may find.

Not saying Cedric is trying to hide his insecurity with his politeness and apologies, but hopefully it works.

And WOOHOO! A Gib -post! Awesome stuff as always, Brom. You really know how to build and portray military organisations. Love it!

Siobhan approached the young cleric, shrouded in so much light, as all of his ilk seemed to be--at least in comparison to her and hers--and set her books on the table beside him. She watched him tense at her disruption, but she pressed a smile onto her face and saw him relax as he looked up at her, hopefully aware that she meant him no harm or harassment for the time being.

“Ermm… Yes? Can I help you?”

Her smile broadened and she briskly held out her hand, “Hi! Yes, possibly. I am Siobhan Dellagan.”

Cedric blinked a couple of times, quickly pushed his chair back, stood up and offered his hand. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Dellagan. My name is Cedric Greenfield."

“Nice to meet you, Mister Greenfield.” She clasped her hands behind her back and glanced at his piles of books next to her much smaller pile, tilting her head to their shared subject matter, “It looks as though we are studying the same topic. I have been digging for books like these you’ve found for weeks, and have some of my own here as well. Would you mind if we went through these together?”

Cedric unconsciously turned his eyes for a moment from the young woman to the books he had borrowed as he listened. The whole situation was a first for him. There had been no girls at the monastery and his only female friends were Ara and Kith. And now, a complete stranger wished to read some books with him? And a pretty one too. “Erm… Sure. I guess… I mean, yes, sure. Why not!”

Remembering his father’s teachings about how to be a gentleman, Cedric pulled out a chair for her.

Siobhan took the seat he offered and waved him back to his own, having to stop herself from laughing at his obvious nervousness. A cleric of Solanis, he could bring people back from the brink of death, turn away hordes of the decrepit undead, yet there he was, with only his kindness to shield him from his anxiousness with her. It was almost unbelievable.

She leaned back in her chair, hoping an appearance of ease would encourage him to calm down a little with her, “I happen to know a fair bit about . . . ” she glanced quickly at the spines of his books again, “D’hurgen and his histories, his followers, things of that nature. Perhaps we could learn from each other? That is, if,” and she took a little breath, knowing that despite his kindness he could very easily, and rightfully per the lot he had chosen, dismiss her out of hand, “if you could tolerate sharing knowledge with a member of the Order of Bone and Breath?”

Hearing the tiny pause in Siobhan’s words, Cedric turned his eyes back to hers. Then, her next words made him hold his breath for a few heartbeats. His mouth dropped open and he didn’t know what to say. Cedric stared at her like an idiot for a moment before he could regain his composure. “Bone and Breath? I… I am not sure, if I've heard of your order. I may have since it does sound somehow familiar, but I must be mixing it up with some other group…”

Cedric had in fact read of the Order of Bone and Breath during his studies. His own order, the Eyes of the Blazing Sun studied all things undead and evil, and even though he didn’t really know if Bone and Breath were either, he seemed to recall them being a group of sorcerers. If only he had concentrated more on them than Brother Jonas's ale recipe...

“... because for some reason the name seems to remind me of…” Cedric leaned a bit closer and his voice turned into a whisper: “necromancers!” 

He moved back again and looked Siobhan in the eye to see her reaction. “But that must wrong…”

Siobhan bit her lip and nodded back slowly, “I am afraid so, Mister Greenfield. And,” she sighed, “I can understand your hesitation, especially from a man of your stature,” she looked his robes up and down and leaned toward him, “Any organization tends to be tainted by the worst within them, which also tends to make it difficult to make friends while wearing these black robes, but… I urge you to please try to reconsider your disgust for my kind.”

Cedric was surprised by the fact that he actually remembered what Bone and Breath stood for.  Usually he would forget such details before he picked up the next book, which in his case was pretty soon or even right away. He had kind of hoped his mind had failed him this time too, but clearly it had not. 

Shock was written clear on his face, but not for the reason the young woman probably thought it was. He looked at the necromancer with eyes wide open.

"Disgust? I would never... No. I... Please forgive me, Miss Dellagan, but I would never judge anyone by the clothes she wears, or by her profession or calling. While I cannot deny that the word necromancy has a dark and negative ring to it... I simply am surprised to meet a practitioner of the necromantic arts in here."

He quickly adds: "Of course I should not be, as I am aware of the importance the White City holds for all arcanists and wielders of magic just like it does for my order. And I do have to admit I am intrigued by your field of expertise, even if not necessarily for the same reasons you are."

She studied him again, perhaps a little less nervous with her now that he knew she was a member of a group he undoubtedly despised to his core, and stifled another sighed. Turning back to his piles of books, books she could really, really use, she ran a finger down their spines, noting the ominous names on each. Such was the case for most texts on necromantic cults and the like, intriguing to her, and probably less so to him.

Shiv dropped her hand back to her lap and met his gaze once more, “I will say, and hopefully this will help you feel a little more at ease with me, that while the subject matter is fascinating to me, I am not interested in joining any cults or creating any horrific abominations.” She shrugged, “Though I do suppose what is an abomination is relative to the person.” She gave him another smile, “Truly, I only want to learn, to become better, and you have incredible resources here, and I too can be a resource for you. What do you say?”

She wasn’t a fan of begging, and she had done far, far worse than begging to get what she needed, but Cedric didn’t seem like the type she would need to resort to that tactic with. She did however feel like she was close to it in this moment, as time was incredibly important, and she had already wasted so much of hers trying to redeem herself. All she could do was hope the scruffy-faced priest’s kindness outweighed his disdain, and that the desperation that had been growing in her for the last few weeks remained hidden.

Cedric fell silent for a moment after Siobhan's question and when he spoke again, his voice betrayed his unease: "I am pleased to hear cults do not fascinate you, Miss Dellagan. Not long ago I had a nightmarish encounter with a cult worshipping the Devourer and the events still haunt me in my dreams. While I did survive, a dear friend of mine was not quite so lucky."

Though he may not have noticed her breath quickening, Cedric watched Siobhan’s eyes widen in surprise at his words.

He continued, "Now, while I personally consider a person's beliefs nobody else's business, I feel I am forced to ask you this... and I hope you are not offended, that I do. But what you just said... Does it mean that you do not worship the God of Death?"

“Of course not!” Siobhan shouted in reply as she bolted out of her seat. The normally silent library fell even more deafeningly quiet, as every patron, and every attendant shot daggers in her direction. Grandly mollified and embarrassed by her reaction, she found her seat once again and leaned forward, bringing a hand to her forehead in an attempt to hide.

Siobhan's reaction was exactly what Cedric had been expecting and afraid of and yet the impulsiveness of her shout took him by surprise. He had no reason to doubt her words and even if he had, the look on her face, the honesty in her voice and the quickness of her reaction would've confirmed him she was not acting. But, he hadn't been suspecting any insincerity on her behalf and was truly startled by the shout. And yet... it wasn't her reaction that shocked Cedric, but his own words that had brought it about.

“I apologize,” she began again, bringing her hazel gaze tentatively back to his, her voice filled with nearly as much unease as the priest’s, “I . . . no, I do not worship the God of Death. I do not worship anything.”

She rubbed her face and set her hands in her lap, remaining hunched over as she continued, but speaking now with more of the confidence she had began with, “I am sorry about your friend, Cedric, I suppose that explains your delving into my field of study. I...” she didn’t like to talk about this, she didn’t want to talk about this, she would rather beg, “My parents were of the order as well when I was a child. Their studies took them on an expedition that led to my mother’s capture by followers of that horrific god. She was some experiment to them. My father became consumed with them, trying to find her, to find out what happened to her, until the Devourer instead consumed him as well. He simply left one day on a lead and never returned.”

Shiv drew in a deep breath and leaned back in her chair, this time simply out of exhaust, “Now I have been consumed by this,” she waved her hand at the Solanis cleric’s horde of books, but her eyes seemed to go someplace else for a moment, before biting her lip again and meeting Cedric’s gaze, “I have to apologize again. I hadn’t intended to disclose all of this when I came over to ask you to study with me. I just… I feel like I am so close.” She gave him small smile, “Does that answer your question?”

Cedric felt like touching her hand to apologise, but he couldn't bring himself to invade a stranger's private space. Instead, the lad smiled softly and gave her a little bow. "It does. And I am sorry I had to ask it. You have absolutely no reason to apologise... And I am so very sorry to hear about your parents. I can only imagine what losing your family must feel like."

Siobhan shrugged, hoping to regain some of the composure she had just betrayed as Cedric continued.

"You are right in your guess of why I am here. I...", Cedric considered his words for a heartbeat. "I have as a part of my studies back at the monastery learned a lot about the Gods and their religions. And as a part of that, I have also gained quite a bit of knowledge on walking dead, spirits, ghosts, and others. Yet the first time I laid my eyes on live undead was only a few months ago near the town of Crandel when we came upon a pack zombies and a ghoul attacking a group of pilgrims. Since then I have seen and fought my share of shamblers and those terrible, giggling ghouls, and I have no wish to come upon any more even if I know I must."

Shiv nodded in understanding, a chill running down her own spine at the memory of those terrifying giggles as she listened to him tell his tale.

"In the temple we also encountered D'hurgen's priests and at least one magic-user, a necromancer I would guess. Hence my earlier question. While I have studied the creatures of undeath, I fear I have very little knowledge on the art of necromancy. But that is no excuse for my insult. Once again, please accept my apologies, Miss."

The auburn-haired girl leaned forward again, grasping his hand in both of hers and offering a comforting squeeze, "No need to apologize, Mister Greenfield. After hearing your horrific story, those things you faced… I can see why you felt the need." She folded her hands back in her lap, surprised at the turn this entire interaction had taken.

The priest took a look around just to see if he needed to apologise to anyone else. But although some people were still looking their way no one seemed to be bold enough to come over to chastise them. Cedric let out a sigh and his pulse calmed down a bit. 

"So, as to your question... I would be honoured to study with you, should your offer still stand after my... my impoliteness. Your obvious insight to all things necromancy would definitely be of great help to me and, I believe, my friends as well."

"Oh, your friends are here as well?" Her eyes glanced around the room, searching for someone who might fit that title.

Cedric let a little chuckle. "Ah no no. I was not clear about that. No, we split up after getting out of the temple. We all felt like we needed some time to heal and process everything that happened, especially the fate of our lost friend. We also thought we might be able to gather more information this way."

"That's a shame, but understandable." She suddenly gave him a wide grin and slapped her hand on one of the books on the table beside her, "What do you say we actually do some studying, hmm? Oh, and you may call me Siobhan, or Shiv, if you like. It's only my instructors and the finicky lot glaring at me from around each corner of this library who call me Miss Dellagan, and you seem much more pleasant than they do."

The young man smiled and gave Shiv a bow. "Well met, Siobhan. Please call me Cedric."

,,,/

Disturbed eh?

Ch'dau:

Determination that is incorruptible
From the other side, a terror to behold
Annihilation will be unavoidable
Every broken enemy will know
That their opponent had to be invincible

My pleasure, Eol.  

She is damn good btw. as a DM too. Here's a "little" more, Relics and Rarities - Episode 1:
Relics and Rarities

If you haven't seen it yet, a nice long movie's worth of DnD run by the lovely Deborah Ann Woll is here: https://youtu.be/wBOReHUhVvs

Hadn't even heard of Book of Knowledge myself. Time well spent and loads of fun.

"Shit." 

Mal'gre Maugre

No worries, Bree. I know how hard it can be to post at work. Apparently I'm supposed to actually do some work too... Can you imagine that? Geesh! Something about salary and yadi yadi yadi ya... 

Gotta agree on Baldur. Easily my most favorite NPC in the game, even if pain in the butt to defeat. 

Can't wait to see more of Einar in action. 

Definitely a very good trade! Not only do we have the fabulous Silver Cat of Coria, but now we also got a magnificent Vidarak boosting our combat skills. 

We nerds are so cuddly!

Welcome ComeToPlay! Loved Einar too! He seems very, very unlike my young and innocent Cedric, so they'll doubtlessly see things differently. But that's just brilliant. With him and Siobhan our little party will be even more diverse and interesting to play with. 

I think I played a Vidarak once too, though to the death of me I cannot remember whose game it was and what my character was like. Einar reminds me a bit of Baldur in God of War. Hopefully he won't prove to be quite as mad though.  


EDIT: Found it! I had a Vidarak ranger called Brandr Bjornsson in Alacrity's game which either did happen or didn't  

Aww... You guys. 

Can't wait to properly meet Siobhan. It'll be cool to see how things will go. She seems like a very interesting person. Let's hope her calling doesn't scare Cedric away.   

And I love reading what goes on with Samuel and Sara in their new life without worry or care... 

So Cedric finally made it to Felarin and the post sort of got out of hand... 

“Ceeedriiic!!  Ameeliiaa!”

“Ceedriic! It’s dinner time! Go get your sister and make sure she washes her dirty little fingers before you come inside.”

The lad swung the birch branch he’d been using as an imaginary sword a couple of more times and turned to look at his mother standing on the their porch. She was wearing her favourite apron again, the yellow one. Cedric smiled. It was so torn and brown from all the cooking that even his father had begged her to get rid of it, but apparently it was the lucky one. And in the boy’s mind it was. Yellow apron meant mom had been baking and since it was Alvaday, it meant there would be either apricot tart or better yet, pulla for dessert. He tried sniffing for the familiar smell of cardamom in the air, but didn’t quite catch any. Tart it would be.

“Ok, Mom!”

Cedric flung the “sword” up on his shoulder twisting his wrist a bit to make sure the weapon landed on the flat of the blade instead of its razor sharp edge. Amelia would be by the stream playing with her cone unicorns and stick knights again. Their castle was on top of an angular rock their dad dug out of the stream for his “little rose” two summers back. Cedric had helped her build the castle out of sticks and willow bark cords. He’d grown out of little kids’ games since and Amelia was forced to play alone. He felt like Mom was giving her more slack than she deserved. She was eight already! When he’d been her age, Cedric had already been helping Father on the fields and Mom in the barn. It was not fair!

Heading in to the sparse forest, the boy took a couple of practice swings at the trees. In his anger he struck an aspen so hard the sword nearly broke. The shockwave of the impact made him drop his mighty weapon to the ground. Cursing under his breath, Cedric forgot all about the dessert and yelled at his sister: “Amelia, you little prat! If my pulla is not hot anymore, I swear I’ll burn your darn sticks!” Waiting for a few breaths, Cedric didn’t get the answer he was expecting. She was not far and should have heard his call. Was she playing hide and seek again? Amelia knew Cedric would never really break her toys, but she also knew better than to make him angry. It wouldn’t be the first time she would sneak away and run back to Mom to be safe. 

“Amelia! Where are you?”

Cedric stopped and turned his head sideways to listen. If she was nearby, he would hear her for sure. Carefully he took a couple of steps forward towards the stream and breathed through his mouth to hear better. 

Crack!  

There it was! She’d made a mistake! “Ha! I heard you, Am! I’ll get you now!” The lad charged through the trees and in his eagerness to find Amelia, caught a root with his left foot and fell… head first into a bush. Cursing under his breath, Cedric pushed away the leaves and the branches and tried to get up. But it must’ve been a large bush as he couldn’t really see too well. Everything seemed to be strangely dark all of a sudden. “Am! Come help me out of this darn bush, will you?… Please?” But he couldn’t get up. The branches were pushing him down and the only way he could to go was crawl deeper under the bush. Cedric forced himself forward slowly and called out to Amelia again: “Am! Aaam! This ain’t funny anymore. Help me out of here!”

That’s when he heard something ahead of him… something that sounded like muffled crying.

“Amelia!? Are you ok?”

“Hold on, I’m coming!”

Finally after what seemed like hours, but was more likely less than a minute, Cedric pushed the last branches behind him. But the darkness that had surrounded him under the bush did not go away. It was as if the the night had fallen all of a sudden in the middle of the day. It was only dinner time! There should’ve been light for another good three hours still. Trying to understand what was going on, Cedric heard the muffled cries again, but at the same time he heard another sound. Something was grunting and moving just up ahead. Cedric reached for his makeshift weapon at his belt, but the branch was nowhere to be found. He hadn’t picked it up from where he’d dropped it. Darn.

“Am? Are you ok?”, the lad’s voice was quieter now, wary. He could see her dress now from behind a tree, her feet too. They were… shaking. She was clearly lying on the ground. And the cries had stopped. “Amelia?” Cedric picked up a rock from beside him and pushed himself up slowly. “Amelia?” He took a few careful steps closer and around the thick tree trunk. Something was kneeling over Amelia, a human of some kind, but it was dirty and smelled foul. Cedric swallowed hard and raised the rock high above his head. As he brought it down with all of his teen strength, the thing turned its head around more than should’ve been possible and glared at him with its… dead eyes and grinned with its broken, bloody jaw. 

The rock smashed through the zombie’s forehead with ease and its skull exploded into a shower of bone shards. Cedric pushed away the twice-dead corpse and dropped on his knees beside his sister. At the very moment a cloud seemed to moved away from in front of the sun and a beam of its light hit the face of the still girl. The cold, staring, lightless eyes… the nose… the mouth… or even the hair… did not belong to Amelia… Lying on the ground was not the body of his sister… It was Kithran!

8th Ternoth Ore (Fallday), 453 E.R.

Crossroads a few miles out of Felarin

“Laddie… Cedric, wake up. You’re having a nightmare again. Wakeup!” A stern and warm voice brought Cedric out of his dreamworld and into the bright, sunny day. It took him a while to figure out where he was, why the ground was swinging and who had spoken. He took a look around and recognised the familiar, bearded and smiling face of a middle-aged man.  “Welcome back, lad. Were you having the same dream again? The one you told me about? With your sister and miss Kithran?” 

Father Connor Grenville was an elder member at the temple of Jusarin in Felarin. It had been an incredible coincidence and stroke of luck that had brought the two clergymen together. And in a way, of all people, he had Davena to thank for it… 

———

A day after Ch’dau and Aranwen had headed out towards Meadowbrook Gib and Cedric packed up what little gear they had, stocked their rations and said their goodbyes. The younger cleric had been trying to get his friend to join him on his trip to the White City, but Gib had other plans and good reasoning for them too. The Warder’s fellowship had a major base in the nations capital, Ethryn, so it made perfect sense for him to go meet his brothers there to give his report on the late events as well as to learn what they knew about D’hurgen and his worshippers. It was exactly what Cedric himself was planning to once he reached Felarin, so after a couple of quick exchanges, he dropped the matter. Things actually made a lot more sense that way. Therefore, come morning light, the men clasped each other’s forearm, nodded and went their separate ways; Gib to the South, Cedric to the North.

With his backpack full or water and food and his trusty stuff as a walking cane, the young farmer’s son felt good. The rest in the village, the bath the previous evening and a new set of clothes all helped him feel like a new man. There had been no yellow robes available in Crandel, so replacing his order’s colours would have to wait a while longer. Cedric’s old clothes had been in a sad state after all the fighting with the undead and the time spent in the dungeons of the temple. So he’d arranged a sort of a cleansing ritual for himself by burning the filthy garments and soaking his tired body in hot water. It had worked wonders on his mental health. The young priest hadn’t forgotten any of the evil that had taken place at the Death God’s temple or Kithran’s fate. But all of that was in the past now and there was nothing he could do to change it, no matter how much he wanted and hoped. Right now was the time to concentrate on the future, to find out all they could about the enemy and figure out a way to rescue Kith before it was too late for her and… everyone.

There were no wagons heading towards Felarin on that particular morning, but Cedric didn’t mind walking. The exercise was good for him and gave him the time to take in the scenery and to have internal discussions about his life. He had kept on walking for a couple of days, having spent a peaceful night at an old camp site by the road, when Cedric heard sounds of fighting down the road. Something about the sounds was familiar to him and not in a good way… Without any thought for his own safety, he quickened his steps into a run.

The lad felt his pulse rise and hands sweat as he grabbed his staff tighter.  Rounding a copse of trees the surprise of what he saw almost brought Cedric to a stop. In a large clearing, also a site much used for camping, was a group of zombies closing in on a lone human. The shamblers looked exactly like the ones Cedric himself had been fighting many times in the passing weeks. He frantically looked around for signs of Davena, but was happy to see she wasn’t around. These monsters were quite a distance away from the crashed ruins of the unholy temple anyway. Perhaps they were some kind of runaways? Had the situation been less serious, he might have laughed at the thought. Who knew if such things even were possible.

A few of the zombies were almost running away from the robed man who was swinging a staff much like Cedric’s own at the zombies closest to him. The young cleric’s eyes spied a grey pendant hanging around the older man’s neck and even though he couldn’t make out the details of the holy symbol, he was sure it was one. Having learned a trick or three about the undead and fighting them, Cedric picked up his speed and struck down one of the turned zombies without slowing down. He reached the rear of the group of six or seven walkers and prayed for Solanis to give him power to drive them away. The gold disk of the Radiant Father shone with a light brighter than the sun and he could feel once again his Lord’s power strong within him. And so apparently could the zombies. All but one of the remaining monsters turned around and fled the miraculous power of the God of Life. 

The elder priest struck down the remaining zombie and nodded his thanks to Cedric. “Well done laddie. Now help me destroy them for good so that they cannot harm anyone ever again.” It was Cedric’s turn to nod and one by one the two priests hunted down the defenseless zombies. Once the grim deed was done, the older man who introduced himself as Father Connor, insisted that they burned the corpses. Though Cedric knew well the zombies would not rise again, he agreed. It was a better solution than leaving the rotting corpses beside the busy road and it gave the poor souls at least some kind of a burial.

———

Father Connor was sitting beside Cedric in the back of the gypsy wagon. The lucht siuil or travellers, had been kind enough to offer the two men a ride. By luck, they were headed towards Felarin too with plans of doing business with the scholars in the city. The lucht siuil were, at least according to themselves, experts in gathering strange ingredients for wizards and sorcerers and during their travels they collected a great deal of useful information as well. The ride was not free of course and while Father Connor had insisted on taking care of any costs, Cedric quickly forged another kind of deal with the travellers. During the two week trip, they exchanged healing and curing services for food, drinks and a sleeping place near the fire. 

“I’m alright, Father. Just another nightmare again.”

As a child Cedric had heard many tales and rumours about the gypsies or pikeys as some prejudiced people called them. In those stories the travellers were rogues, murderers and horse thieves. And they always cheated anyone foolish enough to trade with them. “Avoid them whenever you can!”, had his own father instructed the kid a long time ago. But from the moment he had met this mixed group or family as they liked to call themselves, Cedric had realised all of those stories were false. The members of the Gray -family had been nothing short of kind, friendly and well-mannered towards the priests. And their matriarch Ethelinda had happily accepted Cedric’s offer of paying for their rides and meals with divine magic. Ethelinda was a proficient healer in her own accord and her knowledge on herbs, elixirs and ointments surpassed that of either of the clergymen. The three of them shared long discussions about medicine on the way.

“Vano says we’ll be at the crossroads soon. It won’t take more than a couple of hours from there to reach Felarin Wood. The enchantment in the forest will not allow the all of wagons to pass through though he tells me. I’ve been to the many times White City before, but never with a group this big.I have never met any trouble going through the woods myself, but these people know the area well. They’ll setup a camp close to the inner edge of the forest and will send only a couple of wagons and a small group of people in every day to trade. Since neither of us harbours ill thoughts towards magic or its users of, we can enter unhindered.”

The remainder of the journey was as uneventful as it had been since Cedric and Connor had joined the Grays. Felarin Wood filled the young man with amazement though. The mighty trees of the forest were by far the tallest he had ever seen and the trunks of some were so thick it would have been possible to carve small houses inside of them. He could see every shade of green in the lush undergrowth, quite unlike the forests of his home and the sweet smell of the flowers and other plants was almost overwhelming. Something about the place made Cedric feel calm and safe. It was as if the trees silently told him they would not let anything evil enter. He could hear and see birds, hares and even a couple of deer that were seemingly unworried about the fifty or so people traveling through the forest. 

It was already evening when they arrived at the clearing the lucht siuil always settled down in for a few weeks every year. It was a wonder to watch the travellers work. From the moment the first wagon entered the meadow, it took less than an hour to unpack everything. Two hours later it seemed like the encampment had always been there. A large fire in the center of the circle of wagons was crackling in the dark. Most of the people were sitting around it eating, drinking, singing and dancing. Children were running around playing and dogs were sleeping under the wagons. The scene made Cedric smile with happiness and feel warm inside. Ethelinda’s people had taken the lad in as one of their own and during the fortnight they’d spent together, Cedric had learned to know most people by face and name. They were already starting to feel like family to him and the young man was glad he and Connor had agreed to spend one more night with the travellers and only enter the city in the morning.

It had taken nearly 50 hugs, just as many goodbyes and promises to meet again one day before Cedric and his priestly companion had been able to leave the camp behind. The matriarch had made sure that their bellies were full and they had enough food and brew to get them through the day before she send the duo off. Cedric was still grinning as he stepped out of the woods and into a field of wheat. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, perhaps a great white wall and tall, twisted, sky-reaching towers behind it. Instead it seemed that there was no barrier at all, at least physical, around the magical city. It took him totally by surprise. Yes, he’d read stories about Felarin and the enchanted woods around it; how the trees kept enemies at bay and only allowed benevolent people through just like Connor had told him. But never in his wildest dreams could he have guessed that the magical protection was so powerful, that no walls were needed. 

The city was, even without walls, a magnificent thing to look at. There actually was a single, mighty tower in the middle of Felarin. Cedric recognised it from a couple of diaries he had read at the monastery; the tower of the Archmage Tharandul. From beyond the farmlands surrounding the the city proper, the priest could see the city was indeed of circular shape, or at least it seemed to be from where he was standing. A few other grand buildings stood out from the mass of smaller houses. Some were clearly temples while the two most magnificent ones had to be the Grand Library and the Academy of Magic.

Taking in the view, Cedric realised he had stopped walking. He could hear Connor laughing heartily twenty yards ahead of him. “One foot in front of the other laddie! If you think it looks wonderful from here, you’re in for a treat. Let’s go!”

An hour later Cedric found himself looking at the biggest golden disk he had ever seen. And if the symbol of the Radiant Father was great, his temple was the most beautiful building he had laid eyes on. It was as white as the cobbled street he was standing on, white and pure as if no dirt could stick to the surface of the walls. He knew it wasn’t the grandest house of worship his order had built for Solanis, but it probably was sitting in the most interesting setting of them all. He said quick thanks and goodbyes for Connor as the walker of the Path of Dynasty had been certain they would meet again soon. He promised to share what Cedric had told him about Davena and D’hurgen with the Lords of his order and was positive they would come up with something useful soon. 

Ten minutes later Cedric was still staring at the temple, when he heard the voice of a young woman beside him: “Wonderful, isn’t it? Sixty years old and it looks like it had been built yesterday.” Nodding, he turned to face the owner of the voice. “Celia, novice second degree.“ A human… No, probably half-elven girl roughly his age in half-elven years, was looking at Cedric from toe to the tip of his nose.

“You wear our symbol, but your robes are not according to the order’s guidelines and I have not seen you before. Your stance is firm and you hold that staff like a person who knows how to use it in combat. Your face speaks of youthful innocence and yet… your eyes… Your eyes have seen things… things that have hurt your soul; terrible things.”

Celia gave Cedric a bow. “Forgive me, Father. I have spoken out of turn again.”

Cedric kept on staring at the girl for little while longer and tried to take in everything she had said. “Father? I’m not… Ehm.. I am just a simple brother from the Monastery of Eternal Illumination near Redfall. Pleased to meet you, Celia. I am Cedric.”

The lad cast a look at his plain and simple brownish clothes. “Ah yes, my robe. Unfortunately my previous outfit was damaged beyond repair a few weeks ago and I have not had any success in finding a proper replacement. I was kind of hoping that would be possible here in Felarin.” Cedric could feel the blush rising to his cheeks and kept his eyes down.

The young woman smiled back at him. “No worries. We have seamstresses at our disposal. And the prices are very low too as the Temple supports their business.”

Celia grabbed Cedric’s arm and started pulling him towards the Temple. “Come, I will show you around. And later on you should probably see the High Morninglord too, if he has the time. Lord Alinor wishes to have a chat with every newcomer as soon as possible.”

Next half an hour was filled with rooms and halls and sanctuaries and priests and monks and acolytes and artisans. Cedric met new interesting people, saw beautiful architecture, had his measures taken for a new robe and was shown a bed he could use for the duration of his stay, free of charge. The rest of the day went by just as quickly. There was lunch at the dining hall, a walk around the city with Celia, a quick visit at the Grand Library before hours of waiting for an audience with the High Morninglord. 

When the summons finally came, Cedric found himself excited and nervous. So far the highest ranking member of his church he’d met had been Abbot Pleat and the Abbot was not very high in the hierarchy. The High Morninglord’s office was not as big as Cedric had imagined. It was not grand or luxurious either, but the room did have a private altar for the Luminary. Its walls were covered either by bookshelves of very lifelike paintings of Solanis and his greatest servants. There was on one wall a large, double window which overlooked the inner yard of the Temple. The master of the Temple was sitting behind his desk writing something as Cedric entered. He beckoned the young man inside and pointed at a chair in front of the desk. Cedric softly closed the door behind him and shyly took the offered seat. He kept his eyes on his hands until the Lord Alinor cleared his throat and spoke. The old man’s voice was low and hoarse and Cedric had to listen very carefully to understand each word he said.

“So, Cedric of Redfall, welcome to Felarin. What brings you here?”

The young cleric took a deep breath and began immediately explaining the High Morninglord the everything that had taken place since his first meeting with his would-be friends and didn’t finish until he said goodbye to Gib at the gates of Crandel. It felt good to tell the story to someone who had not experienced it, just like it had been to Connor. Father Alinor was a great listener and didn’t stop Cedric’s account of the events before there was a clear pause the story. He asked a lot of questions and made notes, but not once did he doubt anything the lad said. And when Cedric was finally done, the High Morninglord was silent for a long time before he picked up a chime from his table and rang it twice. An acolyte arrived and Cedric began to rise from his chair, but Lord Alinor indicated he should sit back down while he gave a few quiet orders to the servant. 

The silence continued a while longer, until the same acolyte returned with two platters of food, wine and water. Two middle-aged priests followed the acolyte in and bowed to the High Morninglord. Dawnmaster Martyn and Dusklady Umaina were apparently his left and right hand and had been summoned to give their insights on Cedric’s story. It was well into the next day when the audience was over. Cedric had been asked to recount his tale once more and the two other priests had also had their share of questions in need of answering. When he finally was dismissed and got his head on the pillow, the young man fell asleep immediately.

Morning came extremely early at the Temple. After only a couple of hours of sleep, Cedric was still expected to follow the set rhythm like everyone else. After the Sunrise service and breakfast there was a package waiting for him on his tiny bedside table. His new robes were magnificent. They managed to be practical, luxurious and simple at the same time. It was bright yellow with white cuffs, hem and highlights. After dressing up, Cedric went straight to the seamstress to pay for the outfits, but she denied any payment for the robes saying it had already been covered. Not one to argue about money, Cedric did insisted on offering the lady lunch later on anyway as he didn’t want to feel indebted to her.

Since the young cleric was new at the Temple, he had no chores to take care off. Unable to resist the urge anymore, he decided to pay the Grand Library of Felarin another, proper visit. Cedric hoped he would find some kind of information about the Death God, the rituals of his worshippers, legends, history, everything. The High Morninglord had agreed to help too doubtlessly realising the threat Davena’s plans posed for the Order and the whole World too. It could take days or even weeks before the wisest of his own Order and those of Connor’s too would be able to shed any light into the matter. So Cedric figured he had plenty of time to kill in the Library doing research of his own in the meanwhile.

Big. Huge. Enormous. Cedric had been roaming around the open area of the library for an hour taking in the smell, feel and look of all the books and tomes and scrolls. Not the smartest monk in the Abbey, he still had a great hunger for reading. Ever since he had been accepted into the monastery school, Cedric had been reading through all the books in its library and later on in the personal collections of the senior monks too, reading some twice at others even three times. He was a slow reader as it often took him time to fathom everything he was reading. Especially books with mathematical theorems and algorithms had been beyond his understanding, but he had read those books too nevertheless. Cedric had no doubt he could find the information he was looking for at the Grand Library. If it had been written and still existed, there was bound to be a copy of the writing in the library. Or so Cedric hoped.

The ceilings of some of the halls were incredibly high, easily two stories or 20 feet, some even higher than that. Though he had no real understanding of architecture, it was clear to Cedric that the complex had been built in various stages and not all at once. The library was still fairly young for such an important building as was the whole city, but the ancient books made it feel like it was as old as the monastery’s oldest parts had been, centuries upon centuries. Most of the walls were covered by floor to ceiling shelves filled with knowledge, but there were also numerous sections dedicated to art; paintings, sculptures, dioramas, tapestries… In addition to being a library, the place was a museum too. Cedric was in paradise.

Tamas had often teased him back at the monastery about his constant reading. He’d said Cedric worshipped the wrong god; that he should be studying in a school of the Path run by priests of Jusarin instead. In a sense Cedric’s best friend had probably been right, but he didn’t see the two aspects of himself conflicting. He loved life, wished to dedicate his own into helping those in need and to driving away the evil from all corners of the Audalis. And yet, he loved to read of new things; to constantly learn. So although his soul belonged to Solanis, he did on occasion say prayers to the Magister as well. That was probably one of the reasons why he and Connor had gotten along so well on the road.

Soon the young Cedric had his arms full of books in pile almost too tall to see over. Luckily he found an empty spot at the end of long table. He tried to lower the books on it as quietly as he could, but failed miserably. The loud bang caused by the heavy books clearly startled a number of fellow information seekers, but most seemed to ignore the distraction he’d caused especially after he gave them an apologetic bow.

Cedric had barely had time to sit down and sort the books into three smaller piles when a pretty young woman with reddish brown hair dressed in all black appeared out of nowhere beside him. Standing so close to him, Cedric’s immediately felt irritated of her presence. There was no doubt she wanted to speak to him. But why would someone wish to invade his privacy? Was she really so pissed off about him breaking the silence? He emboldened himself and raised his eyes to meet hers. Surprisingly there was no sign of her being annoyed with him at all. Instead there was a slight smile on her face that melted away his irritation. 

“Ermm… Yes? Can I help you?”

CWWLLO mentioned!

Christmas caught me and Cedric by surprise, so no posting from me for another odd number of days, I'm afraid. 

?? stop it! 

Yeah, sorry. Couldn't resist the slight puns about the adult theme.

Christmas came prematurely this year! 

Woot? Woohooo!!!!

*happy dance*

Yeah... It's could be worse for your sanity than the torture chamber at the temple of D'hurgen.