"I don't know," Barclay says. "All I know was that she needed to be taken to the temple. I didn't get specifics."
Derika's eyes get a little large, "Oh no....I wonder if we should check on her before we head home? Or maybe I should wait and check on her tomorrow?" Derika sighs and tries to breath before turning to Vishanti, "What do you thijnk love? I'm not sure I should tell Gashka anything until we know how she's doing. Gashka was already beating herself up for letting her run off alone without knowing the area. If something happened to that girl, Gashka would never forgive herself. I...I don't know what to do." She says to her love while wringing her hands slightly.
Realizing that Barclay was still standing outside she blushes, "I'm sorry for keeping you up Mr. Barclay. Vishanti and I will figure out what to do. Thank you so much."
Derika then turns back to Vishanti to see what her love thought they should do.
"I think we'll rest easier knowing that she's alright." Vishanti answers. "We should see if there's anything we can do."
Thrainn smirks. "You're just happy I approve. Not that that would have stopped you. I'll talk to Mr. Meacham about the furniture tomorrow, but you'll have to get a few of those things on your own."
She nods, "Yeah, I think you're right. Otherwise I don't think I'll sleep tonight." Derika says, a worried expression crossing her features.
Gashka sighs, "Of course I'm happy you approve, and yeah...it might not have stopped me if you didn't, but that doesn't mean that your opinion doesn't mean anything to me. Know what I mean? Of course we'll be getting a lot of these things ourselves."
Looking over at Chris she smiles, "Besides, Chris might habed already found work with one of the local shop keepers. An apothecary...I think his name is Ryota? He was pretty impressed with Chris's skills, and it would allow him to learn and expand his knowledge of alchemy, when we're not out dealing with other things." Gashka looks down for a moment, "Not really sure what I could do to help out yet, but I guess I have time to figure it out." She says, wondering to herself what normal skills she could possibly have that would actually be of use.
"I'm sure you'll find something to do," Kealey says.
Gashka nods, "Yeah, we'll figure it out. I'm just not too good at sitting around. I need to stay busy."
Giving her parents another hug she says, "Well, I guess we should get back to the house and rest. We have a lot to do tomorrow. Thank you so much for dinner, it was just as wonderful as I remember. I love you guys. Barclay hasn't said anything about needing us for anything else yet, so we'll be around...unless something comes up."
Looking over at Anyka she asks, "Are you ready to get going Sis?"
"Yep! I'm good to go." Anyka replies with a smile.
Nodding she goes to Chris and takes his hand after he gets up. As they leave she waves one more time to her parents, "I love you, we'll see you tomorrow." As they head back across thed street and go inside, Gashka lets out a sigh of relief.
"Well that went well, I'm guessing better than expected." Anyka says with a smirk
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Gashka nods, "Oh yeah, lots better than I expected..which I'm really grateful for. I wasn't too sure how things would go, especially with certain parts ofc the news, but I thought it would be better to just be honest and straightforward with them, and not beat around the bush. I should probably see about getting some more might tea though." She says with a slight smirk of her own.
"Definitely1" Anyka replies with a chuckle.
"Do you think Ryota sells some?" Chris asks as they head back to the house.
Derika and Vishanti enter the temple and see a small gathering of devoted. Many of them appear to be spellcasters. Ashram stands at the pulpit, holding a book in his hand.
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"As we gather at twilight, the divide between night and day, we remember that magic too has two sides. Neither can exist without the other," Ashram exhorts. "We practice balance in all we do, but we must be careful that we do not practice evil to balance the good that others do nor must we simply do good for the sake of balance. We live in a town of acceptance and kindness. We must be worthy of that kindness.
"Hence, when good is done unto you, so you must do good for another. Goodness, like magic, cannot be inert. For, in the wilds outside of our walls and the countries beyond our borders, evil spreads with almost no effort. Your fellow men take the evil done unto them and bestow that upon another and another in a vicious cycle. When evil is done, we must correct that with virtue. It takes more effort, more practice and more patience to do good than it is to do evil. You who study magic from tomes know how much time and effort you must expend to gain even the smallest grain of knowledge."
He looks at the congregation, giving Derika and Vishanti the slightest of nods. "You who pray to spirits and to the gods know that your devotion must be unwavering, lest your power be taken from you. Thus it is with diligence that we must be people of good, lest we become as base as the wicked. May Nethys bless you and guide your hands to produce gifts of worth."
The congregation stands and gives out an 'Amen' in unison before filing out of the temple. They courteously excuse themselves as they pass by Derika and Vishanti.
Derika nods at the passersbys, and waits until everyone has exited before approaching Ashram, "That was very well said. We wanted to come and check on a person that was brought here earlier. She's a ratfolk."
She shrugs as she walks, "I don't know for sure, but he seemed to have quite a variety of herbs. I guess I could talk to him tomorrow."
"Ah, yes," Ashram says. "She had multiple contusions and a couple of nasty knife wounds. The paladins guessed that she had been attacked by brigands. Anyhow, Ulli healed her completely and she seems a bit better than when she was brought in. Would you like to see her?"
Chris simply nods as he opens the door for Gashka and Anyka.
Renard trots in behind the two women.
Derika nods, "Yes please, I mean...if you think she's up to it."
Gashka goes inside and lights some lamps, then picks up Renard and scratches him behind his ears.
Chris sits on the couch. "Want to do anything before we call it a night?"
Ashram shrugs. "She's a bit...defensive."
He leads Derika and Vishanti to Jexxa's room, knocking on the door before opening it. "You have some visitors."
The ratfolk looks up at the half-orc and shamaness. "Are you here to scold me?"
Derika shakes her head, "No, not at all. We just wanted to make sure that you were alright, and see if there was anything we could do to help. Gashka was really worried about you, and blamed herself for letting you go alone when we had no idea what kind of dangers were out there. She'll just be relieved that you're okay, like we are. Is there anything we can do to help Jexxa?"
Gashka plops down on the couch next to Chris and pets Renard, "Not really, I'm actually pretty worn out." She says with a slight blush to her cheeks.
"We are genuinely happy that the paladin's found you when they did and got you here to be healed. We are here for you if you need us. There is nothing wrong with accepting help?" Vishantu says with a calm smile.
Chris smiles. "I can make some tea for the three of us before we call it a night."
"Unless you plan to escort me back home, there isn't much I need from you," Jexxa says with a sigh. "I just want to go back home."
Getting a look of understanding on her face she nods, "Of course you do, and that's okay. Look, there are some things we need to do tomorrow, but if you could just hang out here for one more day, I promise that we will go with you and get you home. We can leave the day after tomorrow, after breakfast. Would that be okay?" She asks, hoping that Jexxa could be patient enough to wait for them.
Gashka kisses his cheek, "That sounds good to me."
Chris gets up and heads to the kitchen to brew some tea.
Gashka can't help but watch as he leaves the room, and feels the heat rise to her cheeks again.
Jexxa looks down. "Yeah, okay."
Kneeling down so that she can be eye level with Jexxa she says, "I promise we'll get you back home Jexxa."
"Ooohhh you've got it baaadd!" Anyka teases.
The blush in her cheeks darkens considerably, "Hmmm? Well...what about you? Find anything....interesting on your walk?" She asks while trying to hide a smirk.
"Yeah, alright...I get you," Jexxa says.
Derika nods and stands, "Alright, we'll see you then. If there's anything you need before we leave, just let us know okay?"
"Just remember there are people who are willing to help, no one is as alone as it might feel sometimes." Vishanti adds.
"During the walk, not really, that was just to....I don't know, get some fresh air...clear my head I guess?" Anyka replies quietly.
Hearing the shift in her sister's tone, Gashka puts an arm around Anyka's shoulders and gives her a supportive squeeze. It was hard sometimes to tell what her sister was thinking because she masked her feelings so well, but Gashka was starting to worry about her a little bit. Looking in Anyka's eyes she asks, "Is there something bothering you, or something you're worried about? I know we've been through a lot lately, and I know we're still going through changes....but I'm here for you. You know that right?"
Jexxa simply nods.
Taking Vishanti's hand she smiles, "Okay, we'll see you then. We'll go home and let everyone know what the plan is, and then tomorrow, we'll let Mr. Barclay know that we're taking you home the next day. Have a good night Jexxa, and just try to relax. We'll have you back home soon." Giving the ratfolk a parting nod, she turns with Vishanti to head back out of the Temple and head home.
Chris comes into the living room with three steaming mugs of tea. He hands one to Anyka, then one to Gashka before sitting down on the couch with his own mug. "It's just chamomile with a little sugar and honey."
Gashka takes a sip as they all sit on the couch, "Hmm...it's good. It has a really...soft flavor." Gashka looks over at Anyka. Hopefully they could talk some more after going to bed. She just really wanted to make sure that her sister was alright. She couldn't leave thinking that she might be upset about something.
"Ahhh.. just the perfect thing or this weather." Anyka says quietly, giving Gashka a reassuring look.