Lauren asks a few pointed questions of the innkeeper, and then sets out. She does not, however, head for the obvious temple district in the middle of town, instead turning to the north.
The stone wall around the inner city is guarded, and as you pass by, one of the six guards clears his throat.
"Milady, you might not want to... The outer city can get rather... rough, at night. If you wait a few minutes, I'm sure we could gather a proper escort." He looks around at his fellow guards, slightly nervously. None of them are willing to meet his gaze.
Lauren pauses for a moment.
"While I thank you for your concern, it is, in this instance, misplaced. I am quite certain of my bodyguard's ability to handle a few thugs."
And with that, she sweeps confidently onwards. Five of the guards look relieved; the one who spoke has a look more in common with a kicked puppy.
As the two of you proceed down the (now quite empty) road, Lauren explains, "A temple in the rougher areas of town is more likely to have someone experienced enough to manage the level of magic we need. It's also more likely to actually need - and be able to put to good use - the normal price of such magic."
A few bends in the road, and Lauren enters a plain building marked with Selene's holy symbol. The priest looks calmly up from his book - and does a double-take at the obvious class of his guests. Then he carefully adjusts his glasses, and says, "I must warn you, we don't..."
"Do love potions," Lauren finishes. "I know. And before you start jumping to any other conclusions, let me explain why I'm here..."
The conversation quickly devolves into magical terms that go completely over your head. All you can really follow is that the priest's attitude has rapidly gone from one of hostility to one of professional respect. Eventually, however, he says, "Yes, I think I can manage that. It will take me a few minutes of meditation to prepare the spell, of course."
Lauren nods. "I'll use that time to get to sleep, so we can be sure we actually hit whoever's been casting these." And with that, she stretches out on one of the couches that line the edges of the room.
Fifteen minutes later, you've had plenty of time to (depending on your personal level of prudishness) either study or scrupulously avoid studying the numerous depictions of Selene (goddess of love) that are scattered about the temple's main room. Lauren is sleeping soundly, and the priest finally stands up from his meditations.
"Huh. It certainly doesn't look as if she's been targetted by a nightmare spell... But she seemed so certain it was coming. I wonder..."
He mutters a quick incantation, and then looks at Lauren again.
"No, definitely not. Well, I guess we wake her up and send you two on..." He trails off, staring straight at you.
"There's nothing around her... But you've definitely got an evil aura floating around you. I can't tell for sure if it's a nightmare spell, of course, but whatever it is, well, I've got the right spell ready, so let's get rid of it, shall we?"
Without waiting for you to answer, he starts casting another, more complicated spell.
Last edited by Wyvern on Mon May 14, 2007 3:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
|