"Yes I understand you are here before them. I am an outsider but in my school of thought, we learnt not to harm inocent people when we are fighting for a cause. I agree killing your bear is unwarranted. Now that you have claimed that you have avenged your loss, would you be willing to have a discourse with the church to at least have a truce? That will bring some peace to those you claim to serve. I can be your emissary," Storm says.

Jaroo scoffs. "You truly thank that the Church is going to let this go?" he asks. "One of their Acolytes are dead, but its what the Old Faith calls for. Their will not be a truce, neither side will agree to such. This shall be the occurrence that causes one side to succeed against the other. Father Calmert will leave Hommlet, and return to Verbobonc where he belongs, the Abbey can stay, those wishing to Worship St. Cuthbert can stay, but Calmert, he is cruel, vile, and forces people to covert to the madness that is the Church." he adds. "And that the Old Faith will not stand for." he says.

"Ah, I take it as you are fine with co-exstence with the church as long as it does not force people to convert? Couldyou tell me more about this Father Calmert? You seem to know him well," Storm asks.

He will also ask about what the druid meant by an acolyte dying.

Jaroo shakes his head, and sighs. "Calmert is a charlatan, he has come here from a large city with one task, collect more followers to St. Cuthbert, and collect tithes, The people of Hommlet were fine before he arrived, we worked peacefully alongside Terjon and Y'dey, we even broke bread at the Inn with them during festivals and celebrations. Then Calmert showed up, sent by a higher order in the church. When he arrived he forced people to convert, used tithes and gold he brought from Verbobonc to buy peoples debt and then manipulate them into converting to the church, can you see how manipulative and conniving that is." he says. "I've had brothers, friends fall victim to his ways, and now this." he adds.

Yaotl, having left closely behind Storm, watches the silent druids behind the talkative one. She listens with interest but she stays alert just in case.

Kossoth extracted himself from the last of the vines only after the Druids stopped the spell that was holding him and his shook his head, "If Father Calmert is the snake you say he is and came here with gold first he will go back to Verbobonc for certain and come with holy soldiers next.  You don't need to tell me they were wrong for killing your friend, but an eye for an eye isn't going to end at this and a lot of innocents...villagers here in this town...are going to get hurt or die because of this."

He cast his hand in the air, "And hopefully this Temple thing that the Elvish Princess and her companion were heading to before they were captured or killed is just them being unlucky rather than it growing again.  This town wouldn't have the resources to deal with it and the two religions at each others throats..."

He turned around to leave the grove efore turning his head to say, "I was going to ask you about Jay's sheep being killed with hemlock but if you just killed a man, killing sheep would be nothing."

Jaroo calls out to Kossoth. "The Old Faith devotes its self to all nature. We would have never killed someones sheep, what is this that you speak of." he says.

Kossoth turned shaking his head but shouldn’t have been surprised as they were Druids and pulled the wrapped packet of hemlock from his pack.  Walking back he held it out and replied, ”Jay’s sheep have been dying one by one and he had no idea why.  It was pure chance that I knew when I saw one of their tongues blackened and spotted that it was Hemlock poisoning but I’ve never seen it used on animals.  Tufts of it were stuffed in their pen and they had to have been eating it when other food wasn’t around.  Most people don’t know about it but herbalists would and most people consider Druids to be excellent herbalists.  With Jay saying he’d already taken flak for leaving the faith any random person would think you folk were the cause...truth be damned.”

Jaroo looks to both of the other Druids near him, both of them shake their heads. "It wasn't us that did that. Black Jay was once of the Old Faith, but after the death of his wife he needed something more to believe in, we understood, this was before Calmert came to Hommlet. Terjon gave council to Black Jay and helped him through his grief, we would have never harmed Black Jay or his sheep." he says as he sits down on one of the nearby rocks contemplating what was happening. "If what you say is true, this means that someone else is attempting to manipulate the issues we have between one another, someone might be trying to add fuel to this fire." he says.

Kossoth sighed, "That's why I tried to get you to stop what you were doing.  Even if it was right to do what you did it will play straight into the hand of whoever is trying to make you look wrong.  Anyone who has a deep connection in a religion are easier to manipulate because their strings are easier to play, more obvious."

He touched his chest, "I revere Lydia as she seeks the truth of things.  Truth brings both happiness and pain but I prefer it to a veil that can lead to calamitous results.  So if it wasn't you who else is knowledgeable enough about plants to understand that hemlock could be used in such a way?  Jay even had Calmert come out and he called it an evil aura leading me to believe it wasn't Cuthbert's followers either...if it was he would have fingered you right away.  I don't know how magic works or auras, I'm a mere Dervish, but if it was powerful enough to be sensed is there a way to follow that trail like a ranger follows tracks?"

Jaroo shakes his head. "Herbalism isn't as rare as you might thank, Druids of course know if the usage of herbs, but so do Alchemists, Apothecaries, even Merchants that trade in such items. It could have been anyone." he says. "An intent of evil can linger in an aura, but its able to be tracked as you put it." he says.

" yes I agree with my friend. If you did not poison Jay sheep then clearly there are dark elements at work seeking to destroy the town from within. This is a small village but I believe it's location could b strategic enough for someone to disrupt. Your bear was killed by daggers. Priests of st cuthbert don't use such weapons I believe. They use blunt instruments. If you say calmert is a beast, why not seek out the more moderate members of the order to parley?" Storm asks

"Don't you think that I have?" he asks. "Terjon and I actually get along, we've sat and talked, he even told me about St. Cuthbert and what their Faith has to offer. I am not against the Faith, I am against Calmert. But Terjon isn't in control of the Church here in Hommlet. Canones Y'Dey is suppose to be in charge, but she is often off on errands elsewhere. So that leaves Calmert to run the church how he sees fit." Jaroo says.

"Can the Canonese be persuaded to reign in Calmert? Or shall would it make more sense to appeal to the church to recall him? I think my friend is right. If calmert goes back for an army, it will be bad for the villagers and play into the hands of the people who wish this village ill," Storm says.

"Maybe we can talk to him and see if he can be brought to his senses,"'Storm muses.

"Until then, the Druids and I are going to leave, I have to seek out another companion and I can't do it here in Hommlet, I must venture deep into the heart of the Gnarley Forest." he says. "Calmert will have to wait for his revenge if he plans to take it, as for asking Y'dey, She has become a recluse when it comes to the business of the church, I fear that nothing she could do at this point would reign in Calmert and his blind Faith." he says.

"Perhaps we can talk first to calmert and get a truce for now till we sort the business of the agent provocateur out. In the mean time, I wish you success in finding your companion,"'Storm says.

"You do what you need too." he says as he moves over to the nearby cottage and enters inside. The other two Druids stand nearby and wait for Jaroo. He returns a few moments later with some wilderness gear. "I have things I need to do." he says. The three of the Druids turn to walk towards the forest.

，Storm wishes them good bye. He will stay a while to explore the grove and try to find anything of Interest

Stormrider stays in the Grove to look around. Jaroo had closed up his cottage and locked the door, so that wasn't something that he could easily look at, without some legerdemain. A small wooden shed is nearby which looks to house tools to tend to the grove, some farming tools, buckets, and some other misc items. The standing stones number six in total, the tallest standing eleven feet tall, and the smallest four feet. They have intricate runes carved into their surface and pigments have been used to accentuate the carvings. You can't understand the runes as they are of the Druidic language. Four smaller stones sit among the standing stones, places to sit from the looks of the wear on the tops. The grove its self lies a few paces further into the thick forest, an open grove of emptiness and fresh green grass in a perfect circle, its actually quite beautiful. You can feel the hairs on the back of your neck raise as you look around the grove.

Storm marvels at the place and wonders what causes his hair to stand. He will investigate the source that tingles his hair if he can.

The area clearly has some energy, its all over the grove, almost like a small electric charge.

Storm tries to use his knowledge of religion to see if he could tap into the energies or understand it.

This is a Druid's standing stones, and magical grove, it has many energies, but unknown to those not of the Druidic caste.

Storm leaves and proceeds to check out the cemetery.

Ooc: to cemetery. Cast invisibility to undead once there

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