Dark and Sweet

Location: A10: Temple District Summary: Yelrona and Vaalyun talk about the boy, Josia, rescued in Dungeon Delve I, and he shares some information about what else might be in that dungeon tomb.

After talking to the Luckbringers at the Temple of Tarien, Yelrona returned to the farmboy she helped rescue from Wights the other day to see how he was doing. One thing led to another and she ended up accompanying the boy to services -- laughter being the best medicne, after all! She is walking out with him now, entertaining him with bad jokes and magic tricks.

The poor child was in a bad way after his rescue from the ancient tomb - not physically, but mentally. The horrors of so much negative energy in one place are too much for a small child, and he was almost catatonic when the team tied a rope around his waist and hauled him back up the chute to the surface. The local Temple did the best they could, but he is still quiet and withdrawn, clutching a stuffed toy to his chest at all times like a talisman that will keep 'the bad things' away. Still, he does seem to be improving, and to laugh is to heal, so he is now at least looking excitedly around at the Temples, each one big enough to hold every structure in the small village of dirt farmers from which the child hails.

Hearthguard Vaalyun of the Temple of Althea is sitting on one of the benches near the fountain. He's wearing his regular robes, instead of armor, and has a small book open, but he doesn't appear to be reading at the moment. Instead, he's using a stick to trace the edges of the flagstone in front of him, as if he has something on his mind.

The boy's apparent excitement warms Yelrona's heart, after seeing how withdrawn and traumatized he was the other night. Not that she blamed him! She would have been terrified in that situation, herself. Thus far she has avoided talking about the incident, not wanting to retraumatize the child, but she's wondering now whether it might help to talk about it.

Eventually she sees the Hearthguard reading nearby. Her earlier interactions with him made him seem like he'd be good with children, and she figures having a third person around might make the kid feel less on the spot.

"Good afternoon, Vaalyun! Can I introduce you to my young friend?" she calls out, introducing the Hearthguard to the boy, whose name she _totally_ knows, honest.

Josia. His name is Josia Ralphson, and he tells Vaalyun so when the Cleric asks. Vaalyun puts the stick aside and comes off the bench to get on the child's eye level, settling down onto one knee with a little wince as he bends his bad leg. He reaches out, shaking the boy's hand politely, and then touching his head in a brief blessing. "So what brings you to the Temples today, Josia?" he asks, and the boy, instead of asking, looks up to Yelrona.

Yelrona smiles, putting a hopefully-comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. Though Josia is young, he's still about Rona's height, one of the factors making her less intimidating than many.

"Josia had to be _very_ brave last night," she explains, paying careful attention to the boy's mood/reaction. "Some... monsters... took him away from his family, and we had to fight them in order to bring him home. I thought after _that_ much excitement, he'd earned a day in the big city, right Josia?"

More quietly, though perfectly audibly, she adds to Vaalyun: "wights." She figures he knows enough about the undead to fill in the obvious.

"It's not so scary here." Josia says, with a big, bright nod. He bounces, and says, "I saw a knight! I followed him down that slide. But then he was gone."

Vaalyun tilts his head, and it's his turn to look at Yelrona. He prompts the boy, "Did you notice anything about him?" The boy excitedly talks about how the knight's horse was made all out of bones, and his eyes glowed, and it felt weird being around him, like it was cold all the time, even from a distance.

It's not good to look panicked in front of a child, but Vaalyun has to work /really/ hard at it.

Yelrona nods. Like Vaal, she is putting a brave face on for the boy, but she recognizes the description from her discussions about undead with her trainers and mentors in the Temple. "Well." She isn't entirely sure what to say... she doesn't want to say anything to further upset the child, but... "Well," she repeats, to Vaalyun instead, "I think if _I_ were to see a knight like that, on a horse like that, I would probably run very fast in the other direction. Wouldn't you, Vaal?"

Vaalyun nods, "I absolutely would. You were very brave to follow him, but next time, run away and come to one of the Temples and tell someone what you saw, alright? That's what we're here for." He grins, and then reaches into his pouch for a big silver coin. He gives it to the boy, and says, "You see that temple right there?" He points to the Temple of Althea, and the boy nods, "Go in there and tell them that Hearthguard Vaalyun said they should find a sweetcake for you. You like sweetcakes, don't you?" Another nod, and he sends the boy off with a mussing of his hair and a, "Come right back to Ruffian Yelrona when you've got it." Josia scampers off at the promise of sweets, and Vaalyun hoists himself to his feet.

Yelrona watches Josia carefully to make sure he actually goes to the Althean Temple, and doesn't get distracted or abducted or anything, then nods to Vaalyun. "Graveknight," she says, heavily. "That... well. I'm glad we didn't have to face it the other night, as the wights and vukodlak were quite bad enough. _That_ thing would be worse than all of them put together, by far. But it has to be dealt with."

Vaalyun nods, sitting down on the bench, "Far outside my skill level, unfortunately. But there are far more powerful clerics and paladins who would probably relish the challenge." He flicks some dirt and rock off the knees of his robes.

"True." And yet, she acknowledges privately, this problem came to her, and not to any of them, and she feels compelled to respect that. She can't just hand the problem off to someone else. "Well. I suppose I'll have to assemble a team of powerful clerics, then." Looking around at the many elaborate temple buildings surrounding them, she adds with a grin "Think I'll find any around here?"

"Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Or woman. So the holy books tell us." Vaalyun says, with a slight grin, "But you might want to be careful - your temple needs you, Inquisitor. We're not expected to sacrifice our lives - and all the potential that includes - for a battle that cannot be won."

Yelrona laughs. "Inquisitors are among the gods' chosen warriors, they kept telling me at the monastery. I kept asking whether the gods couldn't choose someone else, every once in a while. They just laughed..." Despite the seriousness of the situation, she seems somehow light-hearted. "But don't worry, I'm not suicidal. It is precisely because of situations like this that the gods have gifted me with the boon of friends far more powerful than I am. Oh!" she adds, as though suddenly reminded of something, "and there's a gathering this evening of the Temple leadership, to make plans in advance of Shadowfell... a good place to ask around. But I should return Josia to his parents first... no doubt they worry, after a fright like that. Will I see you there?"

"I will be here." Vaalyun says, standing to say his farewells, as Josia runs back out from the temple clutching not one, but /two/ sweetrolls in his now-sticky hands. Yelrona better hope the tyke - who is looking better for the moment - doesn't decide to give her a big hug. "Good luck." Vaalyun says, with a wry smile. "See you this evening."