"Okay. I look forward to meeting her," Lathan says to Garyld as he and Antia take their leave of him and go looking for Carman.

"It sounds like we'll have to go all the way to Thurmaster to have someone identify the ring," he says to Antia. "And now that I think about it, how are we going to have him identify the ring if we don't have it. Do you think this Tauster fellow will be willing to travel all the way back to the New Mire with us?"

"We will have to be persuasive in our plea for his assistance....trust in the light it will provide a way to right this problem" she replied to Lathan as she followed her companion out

Lathan nods. "Traveling all the way to Thurmaster will take time, though. We should send word to Lucien and Albrecht if we are going to go all the way there and back without them, so they don't get worried about us."

Lathan will attempt to locate Carman to explain the situation with the goblins and the ring to him.

Darius Carman is happy to hear about the party's progress in finding a cause of the New Mire. "Let me know when you have a solution, and I'll make sure you are paid for your efforts," he says.

Anti a looked at Carman " if we are to make haste in our task we will not have time to let our companions know of our destination could you get a message to them while we are gone"

Carman nods. "Of course. If your friends are still exploring the New Mire, just give Garyld your message and he'll make sure it gets to them.

"I look forward to seeing you again. Hopefully, the New Mire mess will be behind us soon."

Lathan will go with Antia back to Garyld to give him a message to deliver to Lucien and Albrecht: We are going to Thurmaster to talk to Tauster, so we will be gone longer than expected. We will hurry. Stay safe. - Lathan and Antia

"Well, let's get moving again," he says to Antia after they are finished. "It's quite a way to Thurmaster so we should make haste."

" True speed of is the essence" the cleric simply stated as she grabbed her gear and headed out with her companion

Garyld suggests that Antia and Lathan catch a ride on a barge down the Churnett River to Thurmaster in order to reduce their travel time. He arranges for them to travel on such a barge for free in exchange for acting as additional guards.

When they arrive at Tauster's home in Thurmaster, the old wizard peeks his head out of the door and asks, "You again? Any news?"

Lathan looks to Antia to talk to Tauster, as she has more of a history of dealing with the wizard.

"Yes master wizard a little. We seem to have found the reason for the mire but require the assistance of an expert to look at the source. Unfortunately the person holding the item has refused to allow us to take it thus we have promised to bring the expert to them" she stated

Tauster frowns. "And I suppose I am the expert you speak of? Where exactly do you expect me to go?"

"The item in question is a ring owned by a goblin shaman," Lathan answers. "He is holed up with his tribe in the Patchwork Hills. We were hoping you would accompany us there to identify the ring and determine if it is indeed the source of the New Mire."

"A goblin den in the Patchwork Hills?" Tauster scoffs. "I'm not going there. You'd better find someone else."

Lathan shakes his head. "We were told you were our best bet," he sighs. "Listen, you'll be safe with us. The goblins just want to be left alone, and we just want to find a solution to the New Mire problem. We can't identify the ring ourselves, so we're asking you to come with us, to potentially solve a problem that has been going on for more than two years and is driving farmers out of their livelihoods, so, please, come with us to identify the ring."

"I'm too old to go traipsing about Haranshire," Tauster replies, shaking his head and frowning. "You'll have to find someone else."

Losing patients with the old man slightly Antia's  more demon nature came through "a little discomfort is a small price to pay for saving many lives" her eyes blazed with fire as she started at him

"by the light I will strap you to my horse if I have to..... We are wasting time"

"Don't threaten me!" Tauster snaps back. He starts to shut the door, then stops and reopens it. "I hear there's a young mage passing through town," he says, more calmly now. "She's staying at the Hound and Tails. She might be able to help you."

"Thanks..." Lathan replies, obviously annoyed. "I guess we'll head over to the Hound and Tails now then. You better hope this mage is there and that she's more willing to help us than you are.

"Come on, Antia."

As they walk across town to the inn, Lathan shakes his head. "What is his problem?"

"it is a sad thing,  unlike receiving the blessing of one's God meddling with arcane powers can turn the mind to mush..."  the cleric sighed "yes I believe this young wizard he spike of might be our only hope"

"Indeed..." Lathan sighs as they walk. "Well, let us proceed to the inn to find this young wizard then."

When they arrive at the Hound and Tails, Lathan enters and scans the room to look for anyone who might be a traveling mage. If he doesn't spot anyone, he approaches the innkeeper and asks, "Tauster informed us that there is another wizard passing through town and that she is staying here. Could you direct us to her?"

"Eh? Oh, yeah," the innkeeper looks around the common room, then points toward the stairs, where a thin female elf can be seen descending into the room. "She's coming down the stairs right now."

Lathan watches the elf enter the common room, then clears his throat and moves to intercept her. "Excuse me," he says as he approaches. "My name is Lathan, and this is Antia, and we believe you might be able to help us." He pauses momentarily to gauge her reaction, then continues, "Perhaps you've heard of the problem of the New Mire, the flooding near the Patchwork Hills that has been destroying farmland and forcing farmers out of their homes for the past two years... Well, we believe we may have found what is causing the flooding, a ring possessed by a goblin shaman in the Patchwork Hills. He himself admitted to us that the ring is the likely culprit, but we cannot know for sure without having the ring's magical properties properly identified.

"Now the local wizard refuses to travel with us to identify the ring but he informed us that you were passing through the region and might be able to help.

"If you agree, the two of us will travel with you to the Patchwork Hills, where we will meet with our comrades and take you to see the goblin shaman to examine the ring. The people of Haranshire would be forever grateful if you could help us stop the spread of the New Mire. Plus, there is a handsome reward being offered to whoever can find a solution to the problem of the Mire.

"And don't worry about the goblins. They really just want to be left alone.

"So what do you say?"

Seirye stared, as politely as she could, as this stranger started babbling in front of her. When she got the opportunity to reply to Lathan the words came out clearly and efficiently, her tone neutral, and unable to hide that her pronunciation hinted at an upper-class background and education.

"Say? Well I can say that I'm afraid I wasn't aware of this particular problem, the New Mire, to which you allude. I was merely passing through this forsaken place on my way to something better, anything better, or at least academically more interesting."

She sighed deeply and very obviously.

"So, this ring..." And now there was clearly a subtle change in her tone as she started questioning them about the actual ring. A sense of excitement? And as she talked she lowered her bag to the ground and fished out a small book, a pen and an inkwell. Having got those out she moved to the nearest table and started writing. Her focus entirely on the page in front of her. "So you don't have it with you right now... I have to say that that is awfully inconvenient isn't it! Can you at least describe it to me? It's shape, it's weight, does it have any markings, what is its typical colour, does it have any gems, does it have any unusual glow, does it make any noise, do you know its provenance... where did this so-called shaman get the ring from?"

She looked up at Lathan and squinted at him, before she continued in Elvish. "Well... Lathan?" During this entire time she didn't so much as glance at Antia.

Lathan smiles and follows Seirye to the table. He continues speaking in Common. "Well, I didn't get the closest look at it," he says, scratching his chin. "But I recall it had some strange geometric design, the same design that was tattooed all over the shaman. The shaman said it was a gift from their god, Maglubiyet, I believe.

"Perhaps Antia could describe it in more detail," Lathan motions her over. "Otherwise, I'm sure the shaman would let you examine it closely to determine if it is the source of the New Mire, assuming you're willing to assist in this matter."