In reply to Brother Jacob (msg # 19):

*Sniggers*

"Might you enlighten us as to which Inn this was, so that we can stay clear?"

Brother Jacob chuckles deeply " Knowing a bit about inns, taverns and boarding houses I would advise you bypass all of them in the city it would be safer for your soul as well as your purse."

Settling a little at Brother Jacob's reassurances, Bael drinks of the wine and finds himself laughing lightly at his own misfortunes, turning to Kores he grumbles in a joking manner, "well I guess I should have thought twice before staying at an inn known as the Grand Larsonnee.  But if you had seen the other inns on the row you would probably have made the same mistake.  Oh what a town."

Smiling, he asks Brother Jacob and Kores Varias "I don't even know your names yet.  Are you men of Albion too?"

In reply to Bael Haywardson (msg # 22):

"Kores Varias...  From Breylak, but I do have some Chaubretian blood in me.  Perhaps Father Jeffries can tell us tales about gold, or even better yet, the legacy of the Selentine..."

Brother Jacob holds out his hand " Just call my Brother Jacob.... and as for where I come from thats a long story and one that I may tell one day .... lets just say I go where God ..... or my superiors send me" he replied.

Father Jeffries perks up at the mention of the Selentines, obviously a favoured subject of his.

" The Selentine Legions built this city. If you look up at the eastern walls of the Castle you can still see some of their work in the walls and some of the homes on the slope Castleside date to their time. Before they came this was a small village."

"Though due to the Hearth Fire it was the meeting place for the Oenach Council as violence was forbidden under the druids stewardship...well, violence by others than themselves at least", he chuckled.

" The Selentines walled the city and held it against the clans but they did not venture far beyond the Shadowspin; it is fair to say they never conquered Glissom."

" Drajan led his men into the wild in search of ancient secrets and the Lost Legion was never seen again, though the crofters and Reivers sometimes speak of seeing their ghosts wandering the wastes."

" Whether he sought gold, glory or something darker and less wholesome is unknown. But soon after the loss of those men the bronze chests left the land and were not seen again."

Father Jeffries spoke on for quite some time and sipped his wine as he did so; after several hours he had waxed lyrical about the Fief and its history and he was more than a little tipsy.

It was growing darker in the chapel and the sun was going down when he stood and bowed a little apologetically, forgive me gentlemen but it is not often I come across those willing to listen to an old man prattle on and I fear I may have over done things.

" I will be retiring to my cot now.  You are free to stay if you wish."

He walked past the altar and opened a door that was almost hidden on the rear wall, " Good night, gentlemen."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:37, Wed 08 Aug 2012.

In reply to GM (msg # 25):

"A whole army lost.  Not massacred in battle, not dying in the field from starvation, but disappeared.  I wonder whether the annihilation of a legion can be concealed...  a mystery indeed."

"I have heard that these woods hide many mysterious creatures.  Unfortunately the Selentine never quite civilized this place, otherwise they might have kept better records.  Perhaps later generations will discover what happened to them."

A little drunk, and not completely following the history of the conversation Bael looks at Kores, tilts his head to the side and keeps looking at him.  After a moment he slurs "You think of such creatures as games don't you?  You look for the worst in this world don't you?"

In reply to Bael Haywardson (msg # 27):

"Ah, if I wanted to spend the rest of my life in a library it would be easy.  Sometimes a man needs to get out.  All very nice to read about Selentine invasions, but for some it can be better to have first hand knowledge."

"The Selentine came here.  They didn't need to and I suppose they never quite found what they were looking for.  Perhaps neither shall we.  But I would prefer to come out than never to have done so..."

"Sometimes a man needs to get out indeed..."

Bael starts to lay down his armour and prepare to get some sleep underneath one of the pews.

"I need to sleep awhile, my head will clear with the morning"

Brother Jacob Bid good night to the two men and moved down to the alter. He knelt and spent the next hour in prayer before finding a comfortable pew himself and settling his cloak round him fell to sleep.

In reply to Kores Varias (msg # 26):

Father Jeffries called back, " I'm afraid I don't know too much about that sort of thing. You'd best be speaking to one of the locals."

" Goodnight gentlemen."

In reply to GM (msg # 31):

Kores, satisfied these guys aren't wandering off anywhere grabs his things and heads out...  so much to do and so little time to do it all....

An hour or so after settling down Brother Jacob came awake. It was something he had trained to do in a past life and it tended to stay with him.

He calmed his breathing and listened, he could hear Bael breathing gently and the sounds of the city round him but there was not indication that Kores had returned.

Brother Jacob un-rapped himself and stood, stretched and moved quietly to the door. Sliding it open slightly he looked out from the shadows but could not see his wayward companion.

Moving back into the chapel he gently woke Bael " I have a concern about our friend Kores, he has not returned from his wonderings and I feel I should go and check that he is safe. Would you care to accompany me ? two pairs of eyes are better than one"

"That man..." croaked Bael as he tried to open his eyes.  He cleared his throat and started again - "That man is trouble.  I've known men like him before and they were trouble.  They delight in trouble.  As a servant of the church, I trust your concerns though."

Stumbling into his armour and collecting his gear, Bael walked over to look out the door.

"That man is trouble."

Looking back to Brother Jacob he asked if they should be leaving a note for Father Jeffries in case he notices their absence.

Brother Jacob thought about it for a moment but decided it would take too long to find parchment and ink so didn't, anyway the old priest would probably sleep through till morning as is such the way with the elderly.

" Well I suppose we should head out towards the dock area first then make our way from there following the streets until we come to the castle walls. If we haven't found him by them my conscience will be clear that we did all we could to find him and then we can head back to the chapel in case he returns there."

In reply to Brother Jacob (msg # 35):

Must be a graveyard in the vicinity right?  Kores is attracted to such things.  Maybe some weirdo might be around that he can interrogate....

*Stealths  around in the darkness*

He is one with the darkness...  loves the solitude....

Kores moved through the dark streets of Dockside, a few drunkards and folks of darker purpose were on the street but most of them gave the pale man a wide berth, something about him was unworldly and even ten pints of scrumpy weren't enough to dull that unease.

He found no sign of a graveyard and a dim memory floated to the surface about the people of Glissom being fire worshippers or somesuch, perhaps they burnt their dead?

He wandered Dockside for some time finding little sign of devilry or evil of anything but the most human kind. Eventually he found a likely sort.

Fergus Half-hand looked up blearily at the tall pale stranger.....was it was Death come for him at last!

He struggled to his feet, " Good Evening, Good Master!"

The two men ventured out onto the streets and turned south walking towards the waters edge, they passed a number of fishermen preparing to set out and a group of ruffians who eyed them but did not approach.

Glissom had no restrictions on weapons or armour that could be carried, indeed at times in the past the Reavers had come right up to the walls and an armed citizenry had been all that had held them back.

Now the gates were too wide to defend but the tradition held.

Brother Jacob came across another of the strange shrines on the wharf itself and bent to inspect it while Bael attempted to ask a group of sailors if they had seen a tall pale stranger.

Adopting a slightly exaggerated swagger that he had seen all sailors apparently afflicted with, Bael wandered up to a group of men drinking from ale pouches, sitting on old crates.

"Hello my friends, this is a beautiful dock you have here.  I'm a Port Clyster man myself, you may have visited my fair city?  I was wondering whether you may have seen a ... friend of mine, a tall, none-too-healthy looking fellow, pale from too much time buried in books?"

About what time is it?  Is it near midnight?

Kores barely manages to hide his disgust as he covers his nasal passages...

"Tell me, what do you know about the old religions?  Are there temples or shrines to the old gods?  Before the coming of the True Faith?"

The sailors looked at him and seemed about to ignore him before they took in his armour and weapon.

Most of them shook their heads but one nodded, " I seen him earlier, he was walking down towards East Gate. T'weren't there yet though."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:02, Fri 10 Aug 2012.

Tis the witching hour....

" What?"

" Your not Death are you?"

" Old Religions....like what?  Gods don't get old like men do. They wax, they wane but they don't age."

He screwed up his face to be sure he was hearing right.

" There are shrines to the Red Mother all over Glissom, you must have passed at least a half dozen on your way down this're street.  But you'll be wanting the Temple, its over Castleside. You can't miss it."

" The True Faith? Oh, you mean the Hanged God? Theres a small temple near the docks for the southerners."

" So, if your not Death. Who are you?", the man asked confused.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:41, Fri 10 Aug 2012.

"Thankyou good man, you have saved us a lot of fruitless searching.  For your troubles..."

Bael throws a florin to the sailor and gestures in the direction of the East Gate to Brother Jacob.  They set off, scanning the streets for movement or trouble.

*Raises one eyebrow*

"No need to concern yourself.  Death will come to all..."

Kores proceeds to head towards Castleside, looking for the temple....