"Oh, this one, and this one here, right next to each other!" Ingrid smiles.

Neide nodded again, both at Ingrid and at her thoughts.

"Two rooms next to each other", she pondered, "Good. We won't get separated if trouble comes here..."

"I see", she said to Ingrid, "Let us in, then. As I said, me and my companions would like to rest for a moment. We've been long on the road..."

"Yes ma'am..." says Ingrid, a little uncertainly.

Kerran steps forward. "This will pay for both rooms for today and tonight..." he says, giving Ingrid some coins.

Ingrid brightens. "Yessir! Let us know if you need anything...!" she said.

She opens the rooms, and gives one key to Kerran and one to Neide. You are free to rest, or to drop of some of your heavier belongings, if you wish...

Neide took the key from Ingrid, then unlocked one of the rooms. She walked inside - but, as she did so, she turned around to see if the maid was going away.

When they were alone, Neide motioned for her companions to join her inside the room. Once there, she looked around - then, she asked:

"So... what now? I'd really like to take a moment to rest. Then, I think we should look around the town for the supplies we need. And we might want to visit the temple of Veles and see what this trouble we heard about was..."

Ingrid walks off right away, to get back to whatever other duties she has.

"I'm fine with a short rest... but I'm eager to go to the temple of Veles," says Kerran. "Any chance we could do that before shopping...?"

"I don't see why not...", Neide agreed, "I wonder what this whole matter is about. We might want to be careful, though... that inkeeper really seemed worried about somebody listening in..."

She turned to Ondreya and Aden.

"And what do you think?"

Aden shrugged. "Sounds to me like-- at the very least-- somebody's afraid of spies or something. I got the impression that the innkeeper doesn't really seem to understand what's going on himself... But I think whatever the trouble is, he thinks it's coming from within the town itself, since he thinks that we, as outsiders, are trustworthy...?"

"I think it has something to do with Veles, and that's why he trusts us?" said Ondreya. "No idea what's going on, though."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:57, Sat 27 July 2019.

Neide shook her head, admitting her confusion.

"I don't know what to think, either", she said, "As Aden said, it seems that the trouble, whatever it might be, is coming from inside the town... or it has, at least, *infiltrated* the town. But what might it be and what's the connection to the temple of Veles - I have no idea..."

She sighed.

"I suggest we rest for a while and then go to the temple. We'll decide what to do next afterwards. Agreed?"

"Sure," says Aden, and everyone nods.

The party, in their two rooms, rests for a while... It feels good to lay down on a real bed again...

When she felt she rested enough, Neide checked on the rest of her companions. After she made sure everyone also didn't need any more rest, she proposed they head out to the temple of Veles...

OOC: My ideas is that Neide rests for about two hours. Of course, the other party members might need more rest, so feel free to make the rest last longer...

At the temple of Veles, you are all warmly greeted by Father Einar. "Greetings to you all, pilgrims... is there anything I can do for you today...?"

"Well...", Neide replied cautiously, the situation being rather unclear for her, "We were advised that it'd be helpful for the town if we... talked to you about... the recent troubles. Would you happen to know what these might be..?"

She eyed Kerran, inviting him to join in.

"Ah. Yes. The recent troubles. Indeed. And I can see why they thought you might talk to me." Father Einar sighs. "Someone is making trouble," he continues. "Mild arson. Petty thieving. Destruction of property. This would be bad, but it would be a job for law enforcement. And it is. But... It's being blamed on those who follow Veles."

Kerran looks shocked.

"The blame is understandable," Father Einar continues, "because followers of Veles are being framed for it. The symbol of Veles' monolith is being marked on doors, on walls, next to the crimes. The crimes are always against people who honor Noric. People in Bredon have always felt that the holy spring was placed here by either Veles or Noric, but I don't think that the feeling that the other side is wrong has ever before resulted in anything but a very friendly rivalry. This, though, has split the town. We followers of Veles are being framed. Followers of Noric feel persecuted-- because they clearly are being persecuted, though by whom, I know not, I swear... If this goes on much longer, the town's ideological split will turn to violence, to say the least... And everyone's touchy, meaning questioning anyone is taken as tantamount to an accusation, and so the people have turned against law enforcement as well, for not being able to stop it..."

Neide raised her eyebrows, as she heard the priest's tale. It sounded surprising - the followers of Noric and Veles fighting? Could it really be the case? If so, it'd be unusual... And if not, then - who could be framing the followers of Veles and why?

"For how long has this been going on?", she asked, "Can you remember when it all began?"

"It's been a little less than a month now..."

"A month...", Neide mused, "And how many of such did take place? Was there a mark of Veles always left at the spot of the crimes?"

"There's been six crimes," frowns Father Einar, "and yes, every time."

"I see", Neide nodded, "Now, Father... I'm sorry for asking this, but - are you certain it is *not* the doing of one the Veles worshippers? I'm not accusing anyone and I agree your people could well be framed here. But it might also be a case of some misguided person really committing such crimes in the names of Veles..."

As Neide spoke, her tone was respectful and cautious. She certainly didn't want to alienate Father Einar... or Kerran, for that matter.

Father Einar takes a deep breath... then lets it out slowly. "Certain? Certain? How certain is anything? How certain can a man be, when he goes to bed at night, that he'll wake up in the morning? Reasonably certain... but if he's absolutely certain about it every night, he'll still be wrong about it some day, no matter how certain he is of it when he goes to bed. What do any of us know for certain, in this world? I knew a man who, 20 years ago, was certain that the gods don't really exist. And I knew a woman who was equally certain that they do exist. Today, there is no man I know who is more certain that they do exist than that man, and no woman more certain than that same woman that they don't."

Another long breath. "But I believe... that none of my parishioners is responsible. I'm almost as certain of that as I am that I will wake up tomorrow morning. Maybe I'm wrong about the first belief. But then again, maybe I'll turn out to be wrong about the second, too. But for now... I believe both. Strongly."

Neide nodded, pondering on the priest's words.

"If so, then...", she asked, "... do you have any suspicions as to who might be behind it? I imagine you know the townspeople well, so - is there anyone here that would be the enemy of the followers of Veles?"

Father Einar sighs again. "In my personal opinion? I know the people of Bredon, all of them. They've never done anything remotely like this before, and I don't see why they would. Most people who say they follow Noric aren't willing to harm anyone else over their faith. Other things, but not their faith. I think it's being done by outsiders. But... outsiders come to Bredon all the time. We're a popular place, more than ever these days, especially for the upper classes. Saying that I don't think it's any of our resident citizens still leaves many possibilities..."

"So... an outsider, then", Neide said, "It's not much, but maybe if this trail was followed... Have you noticed any stranger then, lately, that would look suspicious to you? Or someone unusual?"

"Bah. All outsiders seem somewhat unusual to those who have lived in Bredon long, and that goes double for the eccentric wealthy who come and visit. But most of them seem harmless, as well... I don't know at whom to best point an accusing finger... And if the constable and his men don't-- and they clearly don't-- then I certainly don't either..."

"Alright", Neide nodded, "Thank you for explaining the situation to us, Father."

She gave the priest a serious look.

"We're just pilgrims, Father - but we'll be keeping our eyes open. If we happen to see anything that could help with all this trouble, you may be certain that we'll act on that."

She gave the priest her farewells, then led her companions out of the temple.

"So...", she asked, "... what do you think of all of this?"

"I'm convinced that it's a frame," said Kerran.

"...I wonder if we could get a reward if we put a stop to this...?" Aden mused.

"...I don't care who's doing it," said Ondreya. "What matters is how to stop it. ...I have some ideas... but I wish I knew what the local constable was already doing... Say, wait, could the constable or one of his men be behind it?" she added, undermining her own statement that it didn't matter to her who was doing it. "It would be the perfect cover for such activity..."