Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 2, Ch 2.1 Doen
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 2 Chapter 2.1
Doen A Very Wrong Turn
Based on votes from the end of 1.5, Doen receives + Favor but, sadly, there were not enough votes to provide any character a bonus experience point. The current chapter will provide the following modifiers to the party: - Delay, + Favor, + Treasure if successful or --Luck, + Delay if they fail. These modifiers can still be changed based on party actions/choices.
The next morning started off in a happy haze. Despite how exhausted I was from the ritual that awoke my traveling companions, sleeping all day and all night went a long way toward easing that fatigue. In fact, other than getting up once for food, and one more time to take care of certain bodily functions, I spent almost twenty hours in bed next to Taggart. Dawn was breaking when I finally decided that I'd spent enough time sleeping.
The sound of a crowing rooster awoke me, a sure sign that the prayers to the dawn were almost ready to begin. Taggart's head was on my shoulder and he had an arm wrapped around me. He murmured something incoherently, snuggling closer as I tried to extricate myself from his hold.
"Stay here." I spoke softly, "You can rest a little longer." and gently took hold of his wrist, pulling his arm from me. Before getting up, I laid a paw on his bandaged wound, "Tah'aveen bless the courageous and give us the strength of arm and sureness of mettle to do Her will." I felt Taggart's presence as a warm glow from without even as I felt Tah'aveen's presence from within and, as my prayer was answered, I gently hooked my fingers through the bandage and pulled it free, letting the dog's newly healed wounds breathe.
Nimbly sliding past Taggart, I found my robes and dressed. The sound of snuffling pulled my attention back to the bed, where the dog was splayed out amidst the covers, muzzle rooting around against my pillow as he pulled my sections of the blankets close to him. For a moment he almost gave me the impression of a feral dog wallowing around on the ground against whatever new and interesting smell it found; the fact that Taggart's tail was twitching beneath the covers made me smile all the more, "I'll be back soon." I promised quietly, and stepped out.
Yawning, I stretched my legs with a casual stroll down the hallway and into the dining area. Lord Rust and Lady Hearthsinger were the only members of the group in the common room. The echidna was seated on a stool at a table near the fireplace and the tigress was seated in his lap. They were laughing and joking together while he finger-fed her pieces of fruit, and she played at spoon-feeding him some porridge. Though I didn't know what they were talking about, I found humor myself in the situation when Lord Rust accidentally dropped a grape down between Narissa's breasts and she responded by flicking the latest spoonful of breakfast into his face.
"Morning." I offered, moving to join them.
Lord Rust picked the tigress up and out of his lap and transferred her to a seat beside him, reaching up to wipe the porridge from his cheek, "Welcome back to the land of the living." he chided.
"We were really worried about you." Narissa noted, pausing for a moment to retrieve the grape from her blouse, "Are you feeling any better?"
I nodded, "Yes, thank you." I took a moment to inspect the collection of food items on the table, but no sooner had I reached for a bowl of apples than Mina was swatting my paw away and setting my own enormous platter down in front of me.
"You have no idea what your efforts here mean to the people of Fairview, Brother." she noted, "There's no way we can ever thank you enough for what you've done." and, with that, she returned to the kitchen, leaving me staring at the wide variety of breakfast foods seated on a platter the size of a footman's round shield. The food wasn't the kind I'd expect at a feast in Doen, but compared to what I'd had since leaving, it may as well have been.
I didn't realize how ravenously I'd been eating until I looked up and saw Lord Rust and Narissa staring at me, both with big grins. The echidna spoke up first, "Slow down... it's not going anywhere."
I swallowed, feeling my ears warm a little with a blush. "It might not, but we should be." I noted after my muzzle was clear, "I want to lead the morning prayer for these people, and then we need to consider getting back to our journey." but I paused the moment the words were out my lips, "The fey... are they--?"
"They retreated." Narissa spoke, "Their Prince was defeated, which means they've fallen into disarray and squabbling." I suppose my questioning look was enough for her to understand that I didn't quite comprehend what she was getting at, so she continued, "The Fey are chaotic and prone to in-fighting. Without a strong leader they will pose more a problem to themselves than to others."
"...and the town?" I asked.
"Counts as 'others'." Rust answered, reaching across the table to steal a wedge of pear from my plate.
"No... I mean, even without the Fey, they don't have a Divine Shield..." I pointed out.
"I gave them your staff..." the echidna answered casually, "that seemed to solve the problem." the grin he wore told me that he was pulling my tail. A moment later he picked up my staff from beneath the table and slid it to me.
It felt better to have the Divine Shield back in my grasp, but he still hadn't answered my question, "So what about the town?"
Narissa smiled, reaching over to pat me on my head as if I were still a kit, "After everything they've done and all the trouble they've caused us, you're STILL worried about the town." she chuckled. The whole comment felt a little condescending, but from the smile on her muzzle I could tell it wasn't meant to be.
"Brother Zachary, you are a hopeless philanthropist." Dillan Flynn noted from off to the side, "With all that these people did to us, personally I wanted to say that we should let them handle their own mess."
"They need our help, Mr. Flynn." I countered, "As a Priest of Tah'aveen I am committed to looking after the welfare of others."
"Being a priest of Doen, you should be more worried about looking after your waistline." the ferret stated, "You're acting ike you're from Bannihar."
"Dillan." Rust spoke up before I could, "Enough."
The ferret's scowl deepened and he let out a snort, "I'll be outside seeing to the provisions." and, with that, he showed himself out.
"What... was that about?" I asked, watching the merchant leave.
"He's been cranky this morning." Narissa offered with a warm smile, "I think he was up too late last night organizing the resupplying."
"Despite how much of an ass that ferret is, and how self-serving and egotistical he is, there are some good reasons to have him around." Lord Rust smirked, "For all the trouble he causes he is one shrewd businessman and he makes logistics into an art form."
I finished off one more slice of apple and a small wedge of cheese before standing, "It was lovely sharing breakfast with the two of you," I offered politely, "But I really want to see to the morning prayer... and then I need to figure out how we can help these people before we leave."
"That's already taken care of." Haldyn spoke up from the doorway. Turning, I saw the large lion leaning against the wall next to the exit. once he had my attention, he continued, "Come on;" and he waved me over to him, "I'll show you."
Following the lion out of the inn, we traveled down the street toward the center of town. The statue, as before, was apparently to be the site of the morning prayer and it appeared that plenty of the townsfolk were already gathered but, to my dismay, I saw that there were no children among them. "We protected the town?" I asked for confirmation.
As if understanding my reason for asking, Haldyn leaned over and spoke quietly, "We chased the Fey off, and, according to Narissa the contract is broken, but they aren't just going to give up the kids."
I nodded silently, hurt by the realization, but also enough of a realist to understand that our victory, however incomplete, was probably the best we were able to achieve considering what the circumstances had been. I continued following Haldyn as he made his way through the crowd, and up to the statue in the center of the plaza; a thin, black sword was balanced evenly across its half-spread arms.
"It's the Fey Prince's blade." Jasper stated from off to one side, "It's magical."
"what is it doing here?" I asked, turning to face him.
"Look at the hilt." he grinned with a wink.
Turning to face the statue, I took a step closer and eyed the hand grip; amidst the black metal and leather I could easily see a small Moonstone set within the pommel, "Do you mean this--"
"It's magical, and it has a moonstone." Jasper pointed out, obviously inferring what I thought he was.
"Just because it's magical and has a Moonstone doesn't mean it--"
"Lord Rust already confirmed it would." Haldyn spoke, resting a paw on my shoulder, "It just needs a priest to activate it."
"Then why didn't--" but I froze even as the words came out of my muzzle, "These people worship the Pregnant Moon." I answered myself, "They need a Doenian Priest to attune their Divine Shield."
"And Lord Rust isn't exactly ordained." Jasper smirked.
"Not anymore, anyway." I mumbled under my breath, then looked around at the assembly. I looked to Haldyn then Jasper, and spoke louder, "If I attune this as a Divine Shield then there's no guarantee that it will hold forever."
"These people aren't looking for a guarantee." Haldyn stated firmly, "They're looking for safety now... and that's what we can provide for them."
"It's a start." Zeke's voice spoke up, and he slid around to our side of the statue, "But we can do better."
"Hmm?" Jasper asked, glancing to the fox, then to the many townsfolk waiting for morning prayer to begin, situated just a short distance away, "I thought we already decided that's a bad idea." he noted in a hushed tone.
"What's a bad idea?" I asked.
"What he's suggesting." Haldyn noted cryptically, also in a low voice.
"And what is he suggesting?" I questioned, my own volume decreasing.
"We can fight the Fey." Zeke answered, his paws wringing together even as he spoke. The fox said the words with conviction, but his posture and his tone belied the fact that he wasn't fully convinced of the suggestion-- his likewise hushed tone not helping his stance on the matter.
"I thought we already did." I noted, "They retreated."
"They retreated, but they're not defeated." Haldyn pointed out, glancing cautiously to the townsfolk, who were too busy talking amongst themselves to eavesdrop.
"It was just some brainstorming last night." Jasper's smile held a hint of trepidation, "You know... figuring out if we've done all we could."
"And we've done enough." Haldyn pointed out.
"We can do more." Zeke noted, with a little more certainty, and a slightly louder voice.
"Do you REALLY want to hunt down Fey? On THEIR terms? In THEIR lands?" Jasper questioned, the words barely louder than a breath.
"The children are still out there." I noted quietly.
"And so are the Fey..." Zeke added, "They could come back."
Seeing the many conflicting emotions on the muzzles of my companions, I realized that there was not going to be any easy answer, so I took the amiable one. "The sun is off the horizon... please take a seat and I'll begin the prayers." I motioned to empty spots on the grass in front of the statue, "We'll make plans when we get together with the rest of the party... everyone should have a say in this."
It was a reasonable stall, I knew, but I hoped it would turn out for the best.
* * * * * *
Welcome to Chapter 2, Post 1 for the Doenian Caravan in this, Part 2 of Zion: Light of the New Moon.
Zachary has only been awake a scant hour but it already appears that there is a dillema to be resolved.
At this point, it's time to decide the path they choose:
1) Hold off on leaving and help the town by eliminating the fey! (+ Danger, + Delay, + Favor, + Willpower) 2) Spend an extra day in Fairview strengthening the protection (+ Delay, + Favor) 3) We've done enough. It's time to head out. (no modifiers) 4) To the Eternal Flame with these people, leave and take the sword too! (+ Treasure, - Favor)
Contributing Readers have until Thursday, December 8th at midnight.