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-----Seth flops onto the stairs and wipes his brow with mock exhaustion. "My sister and friend will continue with the dread details of this most foul and sinister religion. For me it is too much to contemplate. Forgive me as I contemplate my life as I prepare for this ungodly struggle."
-----Seth now assumes an attitude of piety and prayer as he manages to throw Gimplefwick and Kazel a wink. He thinks to himself, "MMM, dang I forgot the part about the turnips being turned black. Oh well, maybe next time.....
-----"And to this end, they have colluded with a wicked blacksmith in town to mint their mockery of our King's coinage." Kazel stands piously in her peasant clothes as she throws out peasantry accusations witch-hunters would be proud of. "My good Sir Paladin, these nefarious ones are also guilty of the murder of the caravan crew a few days ago, the murders at the town well, unlawful impersonations, the dark arts of raising the dead, disturbing the peace, animal madness, tax evasions and celebration of foul weather! Please, you must hurry to stop this spread of evil, for in the morrow they will resume their plots to poison our town before escaping to the south!"
-----Gimplefwick dons a serious mien and gazes at Lotley sternly, "Yes, Chosen One. An evil has been awakened in this land. As proof of the seriousness of its intent, I offer you this journal of pernicious writings that I and my good friends managed to liberate from its owner. In it you will find words of an evil so vile that it makes the blood curdle. An evil cult seems to have arisen in the city of Hearthorn! If not for the fortunate finding of this journal we might all have been caught unaware. It might even be too late as we speak."
-----The Dread Pirate continues, "An evil that speaks of a Dark Queen or Goddess. Names are mentioned in this text that you need to read for it corresponds to the events that have been occurring in our fair town."
-----Gimplefwick proffers the black book to Lotley at this point, "Here, read for yourself, find out what I speak of."
-----The paladin’s eyes widen at the sight of the black book. He quietly takes it and silently reads over the entries. As his blue eyes transverse the pages, a flush comes to his cheeks and his nostrils begin to flare. When he finishes, Lotley closes the diary with a snap and a fiery passion intensely grows in his bright blue eyes. He slowly begins to pace.
-----Looking skyward, he begins to emote, "By the Great Guardian, thou dost speakest and bringst forth the Truth of the most Righteous, my Brave and Noble Friends! Doest this not shed a light upon the growing darkness that threatens to consume the Fair People of our very Kingdom?! Evil wishes to thrive and grow and it spreads its dark shadowy tentacles out amongst the Faithful! I pray that we are not too late, but I Promise ye this, I, Nylan Lotley pledge my Heart, Soul, Faith, and Guardian Shield to this Quest! I swear by the Most Holy of Guardians, this darkness shall be purged!"
-----With a determined nod and a polite plead for the trio to wait, Lotley dashes down the stairs. The guards stand a bit more at attention, the expression on their faces revealing shock and concern.
-----Within a few moments, urgently striding footsteps are heard on the stairs and Lotley emerges once again, this time dressed in his chain mail carrying his shield. His magnificent long sword is strapped to his side.
-----Just behind him, another shorter man dressed in chain armor and carrying a shield follows. His green eyes are framed in a handsome young face with a thin nose. Lotley quickly introduces him as Pelator, a guardian acolyte of the temple.
-----Tossing the black book to one of the guards, Lotley commands, "See that Her Most High Guardian Curate, Karena receives this book. As you have heard, it will explain all! She may want to send forth the Templar Guardians and alert Lord Lambert, himself! Explain to her I have gone ahead as time may be of the utmost urgency!"
-----Turning toward the trio, Lotley’s features soften, but the passionate look in his eyes does not diminish. "Most True and Loving Companions of Sir Slappy, I humbly am in thy debt and I apologize for any further burden on thy Noble Souls! You are to be praised in the Goodness you have already accomplished! If you could but tell me where I might start so as to rid our Fair Town of the Evil that resides here!"
-----Gimplefwick nods at Lotley's request, "Aye, noble sir. Those evil rogues have been staying at a local inn. They also have been doing business with a local blacksmith. I'm sure that if the proper pressure were to be applied to either the innkeeper or the blacksmith, you could get an accurate description of the whole lot of those scalawags. You could probably even wait at the blacksmith's forge and capture some of them. I'm sure one of my compatriots here recalls the name of the inn and the blacksmith."
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