The party treks up the rough hillside and has a few close calls, but everyone eventually makes it to the summit, sweaty, tired, and some even bleeding from a few scrapes incurred along the way.

Atop the hill the party finds a woodland shrine--a ring of standing stones surrounding a cracked stone altar. Prominent runes on each make it quite clear this is the Meloran shrine the party seeks.

A young man carrying a bundle of firewood approaches the shrine a few moments after the party scrabbles over the final ridge onto the top of the hill.

OOC: Enter Lowel...

"Hello travelers!" the young man greeted them. "Join me by the fire with Melora?"

The young man had long black hair plaited into a single braid. He wore scale mail and a shield lay up against his pack near the fire he'd made. A footman's mace swung from his belt.

"That wasn't a very welcoming trail to reach this place," Rigya pointed out in frustration.  Maybe he should have been working on trail maintenance rather than polishing the stones or whatever he'd been doing up here.

"We're looking for help in searching for a lost bard and her group," she explained, giving up on complaining about the trail.  They may as well just get to the point.

"They've been gone some 10 days in their search out to the Old Stoneheart Tower.

"Are you willing to help us?"

"And hello; thank you for the invitation," Ullian adds as he accepts the invitation to get warm by the fire.

Clatsi, grimey and damp from sweat, dragged himself forward to fall on his bottom near Ullian. "Thank you. I'd rather have a bath at this point than a fire, but that doesn't seem to be one of Melora's ammenities up here, does it?" Sure, the little gnome was griping, but it was good-natured griping and it was likely as not he didn't even realize he was saying his thoughts aloud.

The gnome gave Rigya a brief sideways glance. He wondered how this acolyte would respond to such an abrupt request.

"Is there a reward for finding her?" he asked, setting down the pile of wood to stoke the fire. It was a motley crew he'd be joining. The quest sounded fair, but but he was unsure of their trustworthiness if rewards were involved.

“Well, as to that … the father is a smith and he’s offered something. If you join us, the true reward comes later, when we plumb the secrets of the ruined … er, a ruined stronghold, which certainly contains much of great worth!”

"And how will our true reward be divided among us?" he asked pointedly. He knew he brought a lot to the table or they wouldn't have sought him out. He needed to keep Melora's best interests in mind.

"We split what we find equally," Rigya answered the Meloran's question.

She didn't much like camping atop a hill and looked around to see how much daylight they had left to find a better spot.  Though, she certainly didn't want to make their descent in darkness, either.

Sharn had used brute strength rather than grace to get up the mountain.  She looks around, appreciating the view before joining the cleric by the fire.

"I am Sharn Thanatol, thank you, the fire is nice.   We fear the fate of the young lady, it's been nearly two weeks, but decency requires we at least try to discover her.  I do not know much of Melora, but what I've heard, I think would approve of our quests".

The man looked over each of the new arrivals and weighed their words. Their quest sounded fair and good.

"I will agree to help you find this woman," he said after staring into the fire and contemplating the will of Melora.

"However, if she died at nature's hand, I will not abide any vengeance against the Wild."

"Okaay," Ullian says, as the thought of had not occurred to him.

Sharn frowns, "Nature's hand, what do you mean by that?".

"Melora teaches not to condemn the savagery of nature and to live in harmony with the Wild," he explained.

"Should we find this bard was killed by a bear or some other natural beast, we will not hunt it down, but let it be. If your goal is to kill every beast you encounter, then I will be unable to accompany you on your journey."

"Nah, I don't think you have to worry about that.  I'd defend myself if a bear were intent on mauling me, and I'd do what I could to defend the rest of you.  But I'm not going to track a bear for vengeance.

By the way, my name's Ullie."

"I am Lowel, Acolyte of Melora," the man said, returning the introduction. "You may call me Lowel."

"Rigya," the fighter replied simply.  She was still hoping to camp elsewhere if the daylight held.

Though, looking around, she wondered if she could see the tower from where they were.

"The rest of our group are Clatsi and Sharon," she pointed out the little one and big one in the proper order.

"Is there an easy way down from here that we didn't see on the trail we imagined on the way up?"

"Clatsi Clatterstones," the gnome said to Lowel, filling in the blanks, "and Sharon Thanatol. Wizard and warrior." He looked to Ullie and said quietly, "The group is rounding out nicely. This detour might have been worth it, after all!"

"It is nice to meet you all," Lowel replied in an overly loud speaking voice to the gnome. The little one must have been a little hard of hearing as the armed woman had just finished introducing him and the, ah, larger woman?

"Yes," he continued loudly, "there is a path down the other side. I think you must have followed an animal path on your way here."

Perhaps the gnome was quite old. Lowel debated the old gnome's reliability with his hearing impediment.

Lowel, the acolyte of Melora agrees to join the party in search of the blacksmith's missing daughter. The party's ranks have swelled to six and now include two warriors (Rigya and Sharn), two rogues (Lannet and Ullie), a wizard (Clatsi), and a cleric (Lowel). There is ample daylight remaining to find another suitable camping spot, should the party wish to not spend the remainder of the day atop the Meloran shrine.

There are two trails leading up to the shrine. The eastern trail, the arduous one the party ascended, is known as the Path of the Wild and is deliberately challenging. This trail is meant to test one's resolve. The western trail, the Path of Balance, is a reaffirmation of one's willingness to live in balance with the natural world. Followers of Melora believe portents and signs can be gleaned from one's journey to the shrine.

Rigya looks off to the northeast, in the general direction of the ruined tower, in hopes of spotting their destination, but her view is obstructed by a line of wooded hills, at the base of which lies the Coldfell River. From this vantage point she can see the river winds around the hills, disappearing out of sight as it turns northeastward.

Based on the information they gleaned from Lauriel, the tower is two days by foot from Fairhill at a leisurely pace. The party has traveled about half a day.

To camp here or press on?

"This is at least a known place where camping is suitable; perhaps we should camp here and plan to go for two solid days after that?"

"It's too exposed up here if the weather comes up," she pointed out.  "And we'd get there a half day sooner if we didn't lay about here.

"We are in a hurry after all."

Ullie nods.

"Yeah, there's that too.  An extra half day keeps us from getting there at the fall of darkness.  You've convinced me."

The half-orc nods and is glad to be on the way.  She ponders that two people have now called her Sharon, although it's not her given name, it is somewhat prettier, more feminine and less, well, orcish than Sharn.  She decides to leave it along, she kinda likes it.