Alvador looks around to see of there are any eavesdroppers. Assuming none, he asks If we may know...the dirt on knees, the stained fingertips?

"Oh no.  Hewney, that's all an ocean journey is," Pathwyn said with a smirk.

"Well, it's not all relaxing exactly, but it is a lot of repetitive work and weeks of killing time.  You might want to pick up a hobby.  Fast."

Pathwyn looked down at her fingers a little sheepishly at Alvador's question.

"Oh that.  I went shopping this morning.  I felt safe here in Shipton, so I didn't bring my bow or spear.  Big mistake because this huge ugly hobgoblin from the goblin clan we fought at Gwysol's tower showed up.  I have no idea how he knew I was involved.  He might have explained it, but it was all in Goblin so I didn't understand a word.  When he was done with his monologue he attacked me with a big mace, bigger than the one Storm was using."

"Luckily, I'm a lot quicker than most hobgoblins and I'm not so easy to hit.  There were some other shoppers and city folk around too, but they mostly gawked.  Maybe someone ran to get the guards, I don't know, but what they didn't do is jump the hobgoblin and wrestle him to the ground to save me.  Sooner or later the hobgoblin tagged me with the mace.  It wasn't a very hard blow, but I went down anyhow, pretending he broke me into a dozen pieces."

She leaned in real close to the table and talked a little quieter.

"Then the brute loomed over me.  Maybe he was gloating or telling me how he was going to finish me off.  That's when I STABBED him right in the solar plexus with my knife, and he fell to his knees atop me, dropping his mace.  The knife was stuck in him, so I let it go and grabbed his head by the ears with both hands, and pressed my thumbs into his eyes!"

She kicked back away from the table and tried to look appropriately fierce and dramatic with her hands clawing an imaginary hobgoblin head.

"No no no, none of that really happened."

Pathwyn pulled a small wooden box out and slid the top open.

"I bought this little box and went to pick wild strawberries," she said, showing them the berries.  "They aren't very good.  Yet..."

"Wanna see a magic trick?"

Enraptured by Pathwyn's tale of danger and woe, Hewney almost fell out of his chair when she revealed it was but a jest. He attempted to laugh it off, but it was clear he had believed her.

"A magic trick? Sure." he said, pleased at her changing the subject.

Dak was still trying to figure out where the solar plexus was.  Did she stab him in the neck?  He didn't want to ask since everyone else seemed to have figured it out.  It was probably something she learned in her training to become a Blood Priestess.

He was also more inclined to believe that the stains were actually blood, even if it wasn't from a hobgoblin.  Her rituals were her business.

"Something new?" he asked of her proposed magic.  Other than some healing, Dak hadn't seen her use her divine energy much.  Perhaps this magic was related to the bloodstained fingers.

Pathwyn nodded with a smile.

"Yes, really new.  This is a whole other circle - something that was outside my reach for years until I met you guys.  I don't know what happened recently, if it was killing the werewolf, or freeing Farnworth, or the Forhorns coming together, but Veja is pleased with us like never before."

She spilled about a dozen puny strawberries out of the box onto the table.  They looked runty.  You wouldn't buy these if you saw them at the market, but they looked safe enough to eat.  Next, she took her holy symbol and necklace off and waved the rose gold symbol over the berries.

"eless-berrime póre."

There was a faint glow of energy in and around the little strawberries, much like healing.  Maybe some of the berries grew or swelled a little, or maybe they didn't.  It was hard to tell if anything happened or not, but Pathwyn beamed.

"TADA!  Now they're full of divine energy.  You can eat just one of these berries and it's as good as a whole meal."

To illustrate this claim, and to verify it for herself, Pathwyn popped one of the magic berries in her mouth, gave it two chews, and swallowed it.

"Mmmmm, good.  If you're injured they'll heal you a little too.  But that's not the only trick I learned this morning.  I've got something that can settle the mystery of whether Dak is charmed like the crew of the Ananke kept insisting, even though it shouldn't even be possible.  Are you OK with me casting a spell on your Dak?  It's completely harmless."

Baffled, but intrigued, Hewney picked up one of the strawberries and examined it. Given the way Pathwyn had tricked him with the story of the Hobgoblin, he was doubly cautious, sniffing carefully at the berry, half expecting it to smell like soap, or vinegar.

At her mention of testing Dak he glanced over to see if Dak was willing, and wondered if a refusal would actually mean he was charmed. Or was this yet another of Pathwyn's tricks?

Either way he nibbled at the berry to see if it was edible, or magically tasted like manure.

---

"Wow, that is... wow!" He pats at his tummy. "I am really full!"

"Probably better not to have two meals in a row.  Let's save the rest, shall we?"

Pathwyn scooped up the remaining berries and put them back in the box.  She could tell which had been blessed and which hadn't, so she wasn't concerned about mixing them together.

"I am impressed."

He sits back and sips at the last of his ale.

With the success of the berries by the half-elf's standard, Dak was game to see her divine energies at work again.

"I can tell you that I haven't been ensorcled," he said gamely, "but feel free to double check.  If it was any good, I may not have even noticed it happening."

As far as Dak could remember, he'd never been forced into doing anything he didn't want to.  And it's not like Eliphas needed a spell to persuade him.  The man had already been such a good leader, there was no need to resort to magic in order to have men follow him willingly.

"Alright, here we go."

Pathwyn maps out the sign of Luth in the air between herself and Dak.

"suor tel'quiet lúth"

Pathwyn patted Dak on the shoulder reassuringly.

"Good news, Dak.  As expected, you're completely free of charms, possessions, suggestions, geases, and mind control, so say the gods.  Is everyone ready to go see the priests of St Vallon?"

Alvador quietly says I'm glad and reassured, Lady Veja, that Your are pleased. By the way, Lady Pathwyn is Your devoted servant if a bit flippant.

Dak scooped up whatever food was left for the road and nodded his readiness to continue.  It was no surprise to him that he'd never been ensorcelled by Eliphas.  The man's leadership had been clear and had the others been of open mind, they would have seen it.

"I'm eager to get back to the sea," he added, though, beside the slaver ship, he'd never really been that far out to sea.

Heavily overburdened with a twice-full belly, Hewney grunted and strained his way to his feet. "Certainly, let us be on our way. I could use a good after-mean stroll to aid digestion."

And Alvador goes with the group.

Making their way across Shipton, the group soon arrived at the church of St Vallon, being admitted first to the room where ablutions were to be performed before being led to the room where they had first met with Brother Ros.

Shortly thereafter, Brother Ros came into the room and took a seat at the table.

"Your trip up-country went well?" he asked.

Sitting quietly, Hewney waited for Pathwyn to answer, as he felt certain the question was meant for her. He kept his face blank, and surreptitiously examined the room, mentally working up cash values for the various items, just to stay in practice.

Dak remained standing as he'd always found it difficult to sit with his sword on.  He hoped the elf wouldn't wax on over their exploits as she had a penchant to.  Feeling it might be inevitable, he began to unbuckle his sword so that he might sit comfortably for the overly detailed retelling of their simple success.

Pathwyn was glad for the chance to really scrub the berry stains off her fingers and the even give her gown a little brushing off.


"The horses were a delight and a great help.  Thank you again for that charity.  But, the rest of it didn't go as expect, that's for sure," Pathwyn told Brother Ros.  "Our employer was assassinated before we got there.  The village was under the heel of a gang of killers, bullies, and ruffians lead by a werewolf.  Their priest had been poisoned and replaced by a charlatan.  We were bludgeoned, slashed, stabbed, and poisoned..."

"So we shot the false priest, drove off the assassin, recruited some allies, killed the werewolf, captured the gang members, and freed Farnworth."

Pathwyn clapped her hands together as if shaking off dust and dirt, but of course her hands were now immaculately clean.

"I wrote a little song called The Battle of Farnworth.  I apologize for the lack of instrumental accompaniment.  Maybe another time."

With a deep breath, possibly unexpectedly, possibly not, Pathwyn started singing soprano.

Chorus
  Oh Farnworth, Oh Farnworth
  Catch fish and herd sheep
  Oh Farnworth, Oh Farnworth
  Where evil ran deep
  Oh Farnworth, Oh Farnworth
  In the fangs the Were
  Oh Farnworth, Oh Farnworth
  You've had quite a scare

Cannibal met crew at the center of town
Instead of a bell a shot rang from the tower
"Take more'n that tickle," he roared.  "Take 'em all!"
But he hadn't expected the somnumancers' power

So many men fell to arcane slumber that day
Soon Cannibal stood with few lackeys at hand
He grew to a fearsome lycanthrophic wolf
It would take might and magic to end the beast's stand

*Chorus*

Enchanted knives, blessed mace, weighted netting
Took down the cruel monster, though he put up a fierce fight
When the dust settled, the church bell rang true
and the townspeople cheered to be rid of this blight

The Forhorns
Alvador, Dak, Hewney, and Pathwyn
Ananke's Crew
Panatix, Wick, Telemachus, and Westin
Vendavel and Lenelle
The last blow struck by Storm

*Chorus*

When she finished the song she mentioned something else.

"Would you happen to have any journeymen priests willing to take up Farnworth's vacated church of Atu?  Justice has been meted out to the surviving gang members.  Vendavel stayed to keep the town safe, but the villagers could really use proper spiritual guidance too.  The church is in a bad way."

Listening to the song, Hewney taps his foot along to the tune. When it is over, he raises one hand tentatively, asking to speak.

Brother Ros looked alternately fascinated by Pathwyn's song and appalled at the content.  His eyes moved to Hewney's movement, and he said, "There's more?"

"Just a minor detail. I did a little research and I am pretty sure that Cannibal wasn't a werewolf. His final form wasn't human. I think he was a Jackalwere. Not a big deal, but I am a stickler for accuracy. Sorry, continue."

Dak wondered if she'd have to rewrite the song with a jackelwhatever in it.  Now that it was over, he was weighing whether the shorter song was better or worse than one of her detailed explanations.  Her Goddess was truly a terrible and merciless mistress.