Part I.i. - The Last Will and Testament...

[`Nessa]

Chouko turns as Navene speaks, and offers a slight bow in acknowledgement before speaking gently, "No one likes to see the dead disrespected, but disrespecting the living does not usually help. Those people were frightened of something, frightened enough to risk the wrath of their gods. But I was taught it is better to understand, to allow people to opportunity to speak because understanding will enrich us all and bring us closer to enlightenment."

She pauses for a moment and seems to think. She's been given the other woman's name... That almost counts as a introduction, yes? "I am called Chouko."

[joviality]

Navene maintains her friendly smile, though she does not enjoy being lectured on the finer points of the implementation of her faith's rituals by this foreign girl. Still, she seeks harmony and clarity. 

"A pleasure to meet you, Chouko. I admit that I may be more strident in enforcing Pharasma's will than others, and your point is well taken. I will pray on this matter further for guidance from the Lady of Graves. And if I have sinned I will beg forgiveness. Yet you look like a disciplined and sensible woman, so perhaps I may appeal to that side. 

The professor has been dead for seventeen days, yes? Yet in all that time, there was not, to our knowledge, a single complaint to either Kendra or Father Grimburrow about the placement of Petros' remains. If there had been, Kendra would not have been so shocked to see the mob. While this is certainly an affront to the legal system by itself, this delay in action provides greater insight. Fear does not act like this. Fear is reactive, it strikes out or runs away immediately. It does not fester for two and a half weeks, waiting for its moment. 

When I asked - and I did ask, mind you - what the grievance was that these people had with Petros, Gibs responded that the professor was a necromancer. A spellcaster who animates the dead. This statement gave him away. We of course know this to be false, but it is irrelevant. Necromancer or not, all men deserve to be put to rest. 

When Gibs said this, I knew it was not fear, but hatred that motivated him. Perhaps it was fear initially which motivated Gibs, fear of the eccentric old man who seemed too interested in death for his own good, or maybe fear that his life had been wasted as a simple townsperson, when the Petros had seen and done so much. Too much of a coward to act on his fear while the professor was alive, this cowardice transformed itself from fear into hatred, and waited. When the professor passed, Gibs saw his opportunity. Bullies always act when their victims are at their weakest, and Gibs is nothing more than a common bully.  Gathering a mob would be simple enough, as the cause seemed righteous, and surely the professor had enemies. 

And so the stage is set. We arrive as the strange outsiders who are to inter the eccentric man, only lending fuel to the fire. You chide me for not understanding these people, yet I believe I understand them all too well. I have not learned nothing from my years overseeing funerals. 

Bullies only cease their harassment when they are cowed. Though I had tried, fortunately Father Grimburrow was able to shame them into doing the right thing. And I am glad he did. Hopefully these people will think twice next time they consider stopping a funeral."

With that, Navene takes another small sip of her wine, and notices that Fin's glass is empty. She pours a small amount into it, saying softly with a smile, "You may want to savor it, there isn't much left."

[logan]

Fin looked at Navene with a half smile.

"Thank you. I am glad to see his remains put to rest after such a long wait."

Fin was slightly surprised by this outburst by Navene. First the burial grounds and now here.. she seems very stubborn in her resolve.. thought Fin.

Fin says to Calaera jokingly, "Do you let your friend here do all the talking?"

[`Nessa]

This was not an argument she could win, and Chouko knew it. Navene was more concerned with justifying her actions than with anything else, and so Chouko simply bowed again. "I am glad you know so much. I am but a humble monk, who has lived a very sheltered life of meditation and arrived only moments before we were called to assist with the Professor's final journey."

[comicsans12pt]

Solaz turns from the bookcase as she listens to the exchange about the mob.

"I think Navene might be right about the bullying. It wouldn't surprise me if Petros had shown Gibs up somehow and since Gibs didn't have the intellect to get the Professor back while he lived..." She let the sentence fade so the others could draw their own conclusions.

"But I also know that every word of contention we speak among ourselves gives that much more power to that mob. I, for one, am not willing to do that for Petros' sake, for Kendra's sake or for the sake of my Lady."

"I am honored to meet you all. My dedicated name is Solaz of Sarenrae. I am a cleric whose work is to travel for my Lady's business. Now, I have heard you two speak of this wine and I am quite fond of good wine. "

She walks to the table and takes a seat on the other side of Fin. She reaches for the wineglass in front of her, takes a small sip, savors it and says, "Exquisite!"

[Veritas]

Suffice to say, the allotted time for the Councilman to return comes closer and quicker than people might expect. However, the brass knocker on the front door clinks thrice; Kendra emerges from the kitchen, and heads immediately to the door. Behind it stands Vashian Hearthmount.

"Hello, Councilman," Kendra says quietly.

"Kendra. Shall we? I have many things to take care of, none of which involve as sad a duty as this." Despite the words, he seems to be watching the new arrivals more than the daughter of his supposed friend. The larger man with the pallid face moves into the front room, producing a tube.

"You see, the seal is still intact," he says, moving his hand along before the tube, where wax is indeed unbroken against the seal. He then breaks it, with a swift motion, upending the tube over a table. An iron key bounces down to the table, and he reaches in to withdraw a rolled up parchment. Unfurling it, he begins to read.

“I, Petros Lorrimor, being of sound mind, do hereby commit to this parchment my last will and testament. Let it be known that, with the exception of the specific details below, I leave my home and
personal belongings entire to my daughter Kendra. Use them or sell them as you see fit, my child.

“Yet beyond the bequeathing of my personal effects, this document must serve other needs. I have arranged for the reading of this document to be delayed until all principals can be in attendance, for I have more than mere inheritance to apportion. I have two final favors to ask.

“To my old friends, I hate to impose upon you all, but there are few others who are capable of appreciating the true significance of what it is I have to ask. As some of you know, I have devoted many of my studies to all manner of evil, that I might know the enemy and inform those better positioned to stand against it. For knowledge of one’s enemy is the surest path to victory over its plans.

“And so, over the course of my lifetime, I have seen fit to acquire a significant collection of valuable but dangerous tomes, any one of which in the wrong circumstances could have led to an awkward
legal situation. While the majority of these tomes remain safe under lock and key at the Lepidstadt University, I fear that a few I have borrowed remain in a trunk in my Ravengro home. While invaluable for my work in life, in death, I would prefer not to burden my daughter with the darker side of my profession, or worse still, the danger of possessing these tomes herself. As such, I am entrusting my chest of tomes to you, posthumously. I ask that you please deliver the collection to my colleagues at the University of Lepidstadt, who will put them to good use for the betterment of the cause.

“Yet before you leave for Lepidstadt, there is the matter of another favor—please delay your journey one month and spend that period of time here in Ravengro to ensure that my daughter is safe and sound. She has no one to count on now that I am gone, and if you would aid her in setting things in order for whatever she desires over the course of this month, you would have my eternal gratitude. From my savings, I have also willed to each of you a sum of one hundred platinum coins. For safekeeping, I have left these funds with Embreth Daramid, one of my most trusted friends in
Lepidstadt—she has been instructed to issue this payment upon the safe delivery of the borrowed tomes no sooner than one month after the date of the reading of this will.

“I, Petros Lorrimor, hereby sign this will in Ravengro on this first day of Calistril, in the year 4711.”

Hearthmount pauses for a moment, and then rests the will on the table. "This duty is complete. Kendra. Friends of the professor." He nods to you all, and then steps back towards the door.

[logan]

Fin waits the for their exit.

"Well this is much more an adventure that I thought when I set out..." says Fin, words coming more easily as the wine takes effect.

"I don't have much to go back to, so staying a month won't be a problem for me... but I'm not sure that Gibs and the rest of his thugs are going to be happy having us in town."

With that, Fin looked to Kendra to see the reaction she has about her late father's request.

[comicsans12pt]

Solaz turns to Kendra and says, " I would consider it an honor to my Lady to both stay with you and help deliver the material as per the will. There needn't have been anything offered for it. I consider the Professor's work to have made great strides in our battle against evil. My small contribution is diminuitive compared to the Professor's."

"Please let me help in ways you see fit-i can sort through closets, clean kitchen cupboards, pack boxes-even haggle at flea markets if needed. Please consider my hands to be yours."

Directing her attention wider to the whole group, Solaz raises her glass.

"I would like to propose a toast to Professor Petros Lorrimor: a man who understood how important the battle against evil really is, who fought it with bravery and intelligence, and who, finally, has given us each a hand in adding our efforts to the cause. To Petros!"

She raises her glass a bit higher and takes a mouthful of wine. A smile crosses her face-she obviously loves the wine.

Then she sits.

[Juniper]

Calaera doesn't feel the need to assure the young woman that she will stay. She stays if Navene stays, and Calaera has perfect trust in her friend's good heart -- and sense of duty. Some of the things that had been bothering her, like why she, whose association with Lorrimer was almost wholly due to her own constant need for coin to supplement the bare competence alloted her by the Ordranti family, had been summoned for the will. This day has made it clear that Kendra's difficulties stretch beyond the mere day-to-day business of adjusting to life alone. The people of Ravengro are hostile and suspicious, and hands that know a sword can be a strong deterrent against violence and fear, even without the need to draw steel.

The other task, too, seems a simple one, and certainly in keeping with the man she remembers. It is the recompense, however, which bring a painful lump to her throat and a tear to her eyes. One hundred platinum coins...it is no fortune, perhaps, but it is enough to get herself and Navene settled somewhere, if Navene will agree. Enough, if they can supplement it with lessons in swordplay and perhaps other regular schooling, that Calaera need never appeal to her Ordranti cousins for her board again. Independence...that is a gift beyond all reckoning.

She eyes Navene surreptitiously, trying to assemble the words it will require to convince her to a quiet life, after this month's service and the trip to Lepidstadt. Something tells her it will be a fruitless exercise, but she pushes that down, only to hear her father's voice in her ear..."never forget who you are and what is owed..." If only she could. Still, the matter will hold for a few weeks.

She shoots a friendly and open smile to Kendra. The woman has every bit of her support.

[logan]

"To the professor." says Fin, responding to Solaz's toast. He raises his glass and takes a drink along with the gnome.

[Veritas]

Kendra drinks as well, though with a slightly smaller smile. "I will return in a moment," she murmurs, setting down her wine glass. The house is now hers, and she regards it slowly, taking in the contents - obviously, she is somewhat overwhelmed by this new knowledge. Regardless, she moves to the stairs, to head up, returning only a moment later with a small, iron-bound chest, secured with a stout lock.

"Father kept his more...secret possessions in here. I suggest that you look in, and see what he wants you to protect. As for remaining - if you do remain, I will host you here. I have many rooms, and I would admittedly appreciate some company over the coming weeks. But for your part in the will...I will leave that to you now."

She steps back for the kitchen again.

[joviality]

Navene has been listening quietly for the past few minutes, nodding at Solaz's words both in response to her point about the villagers and to Kendra after the councilman has finished speaking. She would help Kendra in any way she could, of course, for it was the honorable thing to do.

"To Petros," she says when the toast is made. Yes, she was quite glad she had thought to bring the wine now.

Glancing over to Calaera, she notices that her friend was giving her a look she had seen before, generally when the professor was around. It was the look she had when she would be coming into money, and she was thinking of what the reward could do for them, no doubt. And she was right, that money could go to a number of things. Perhaps Navene could even set up her own small church to Pharasma out in a hamlet surrounding Ardis. But now was not the time for such idle fantasies... they had a responsibility to Kendra to do.

When Kendra brings out the chest, Navene looks on it with slight reverence. The personal collection of Petros Lorrimor? He had mentioned that he had studied things too terrible to speak of in polite company, and the thought of details of those creatures residing merely inches from her fingers made her skin crawl slightly. Surely, there was ample information about the undead in those tomes, and Navene was eager to get a look. Any details that could help her cleanse the world of Pharasma's enemies were welcome details.

"Thank you for the offer of shelter while we stay with you, it is greatly welcomed. Should there be anything you require, Calaera and I are at your service. We are quite capable with defense or with harder tasks that require strength."

As Kendra leaves the room, Navene stands from her chair and walks around the table to the chest, placing her hand upon its top. She looks around at the others, and seeing no objections, opens the lid.

[Veritas]

With a steady hand, Navene moves to the heavy iron key and inserts it into the locked chest. A click later, she can open the lid. The chest is set on smooth hinges, and the iron-bound lid lifts easily, revealing a small collection of books - five, in fact. Four of them are organized carefully inside the chest, and a fifth, a leather-bound book with a latch on the front (though it is not locked, merely a leather appendice designed to keep a bursting tome closed). The words Journal of Petros Lorrimor are written in gold lettering along the top.

However, in a hasty hand, ink has been scratched into the brown leather cover, a rapid scrawl in a familiar hand.

"READ ME NOW."

The other tomes lie mostly hidden under the Professor's journal.

[logan]

Fin sees them opening the chest and stands up from his chair. Finishing his wine, he sets the glass down and walks over near Navene who is opening the chest.

"I've come this far, you can count on me to stay, Kendra."

Fin watches carefully as the chest is opened the contents revealed.

Reading the message scratched on the cover... "I wonder what this is going to say..." says Fin, curiously as he awaits Navene to open the journal.

[comicsans12pt]

Solaz stands up from her seat and walks over to where Navene stands with the book. She has seen only the box. She's used to missing things because of her height but is also accustomed to asking for accommodation.

She walks over to where Navene is standing. Taking Navene's chair out a bit, She asks, "May i stand on the chair next to you? I find people often tire of having to describe things to me and i think this may be of singular importance."