He waves his hand as she blushes and hand him the paper. "No worries, now let's see... oh dear goblin raiders? I wonder if it's a warband, or if they're just starving. Or worse?" he thinks aloud as they walk.
Jerell nods at Astoria. He then glances at Celanna once more. "You two seem a bit more...traveled than others. There may be something that you may aid me with in the near future."
Kelda shrugs before she comes to the carriage for the Mystic Moon, "Any situation that involves goblins is pretty bad, no matter the circumstance. I'm not sure about the details of the raiders, just that they need help and he said I should find a few others to go with me if possible."
Once at the carriage she asks, "How much for a room?"
"Given how far he came for help, and his condition when he got here, the situation is likely pretty dire." Lysithia says as she turns her attention to the response to Kelda's question.
"Truths," Lup adds.
"I'm at your service." Astoria responds with a smile.
Putting her hand on her chest and bowing her head once more, "It would be an honor."
"Two gold for a private room, five silver for the common sleeping area," the driver responds.
---
Jerell nods in satisfaction and gestures to the vicar speaking with three soldiers a few paces away. "Speak with Joachim, so that he may better explain matters than I can."
Taking 4 gold out of a pouch, she holds the payment out to him. Gesturing towards Lub she says, "Then I'll have two private rooms please. One for Lub, that gentleman standing there, and one for my friend and I." Turning to Lysithia and Lub she asks, "Are those arrangements suitable to you both?"
"That works perfectly fine for me." Lysithia replies.
Kelda smiles and looks at Lub to make sure he's okay with it as well. She didn't want to seem presumptuous, but she thought the least she could do for him offering to help with the goblin raiders would be to provide a decent room to get a good night of rest.
"Yeah," Lup says with a grin over the mispronunciation of his name.
"We'll do that," Celanna acknowledged, "But first, it'd be prudent that we secure lodgin' while we can."
Kelda smiles and nods, until she remembers that she was supposed to meet the older gentleman at the Weathered Saddle. She wasn't going to be rude and take back the money she had already given him.
Her smile falters briefly at the realization of her mistake, "Okay, so I kinda forgot that I was supposed to meet that guy at the Weathered Saddle, which is on the other side of town, but maybe an evening stroll back to our place of lodging won't be so bad?" Feeling bad about her blunder, she adds, "Since I picked the wrong establishment, any refreshments we might have tonight, and breakfast, is on me."
”Deal!” Lup agrees, rather amused as this continues to unfold.
"That's okay, I'm sure the walk will do us good." Lysithia says reassuringly.
Looking relieved, she nods, "Okay, so we can go offer our condolences, and then head to the Weathered Saddle to meet up with Mr.....Mr. ummmm....I guess I didn't get his name, but I'm sure I'll remember who he is once I see him.
After getting the keys to the rooms, and handing one to Lup, she puts the other in a pocket for safe keeping.
"Alright, let's go see Lewell so we can talk for a moment or two, then we can head to our other meeting, and find out what's going on in his village with those goblins." Kelda starts moving forward, while still talking about the goblins and looking back at Lup and Lysithia. As she is currently not paying attention to where she is going, it comes to no surprise that her short stout frame runs into someone quite solid and falls back on her butt with a resounding "Oof...what..." She stutters, as the wind is knocked out of her.
Kelda looks around to see what or whom she ran into.
The driver interjects before Kelda starts to walk off. "The Weathered Saddle is only around the corner from the Mystic Moon. 'Tis not far. But you best finish your business here quickly 'fore I depart. Unless you want to take a two hour walk to the inn."
Her eyes get a little large, "Two hours? Well, yes Sir, we'll be just a moment." Turning to the others she says, [b]"Are We ready to go see Lewell really quick?"[/ooc]
"It'll be more efficient to talk to him now. Otherwise we'll be all over town twice over." Astoria mentions.
"Fair point," Celanna conceded. Stretching out her arm she said to Astoria, "Lead tha way."
Astoria approaches Joachim with a wave. "Greetings sir. This is my friend Celanna and I am Astoria. We were told you had some work for us?"
As soon as the others are ready, Kelda leads them back to Lewell.
Giving the grieving family a respectful bow, "I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for the loss of your father. He was a great man, and he will truly be missed."
The vicar sends away the three soldiers and turns his attention to Astoria and Celanna. "I don't have work at the moment, but there will be some in the near future. Apparently, Jerell must see something in you, if he sent you to me. So, I will confide a bit in you."
Joachim pauses and looks around warily. "It will be a while before Jerell can be sworn in as governor and there are people who would not like to see that happen. While nothing overt has happened, rumors have begun circulating of a group that plans to seize Daedran and, by extension, control of the valley."
He takes a piece of paper and jots down the half-elves' names. "I shall send for you when matters begin to come together."
---
"Thank you," Jerell says with a polite bow to Kelda. "Are you headed back to Vorota, perchance?"
Cocking her head to the side she says, "We were going to accompany Ma and Da part of the way, but Cooperton also needs help with some goblin raiders, so we were going to try and help with that. Why do you ask?"
Lysithia listens to the exchange, curious as to what the future Governor of the valley might need.
Astoria mulls over the information provided by the vicar. "I think I understand. I'm willing to help out in anyway that I can."
Celanna thought for a moment. She really wanted to continue east, but earning a little coin wouldn't hurt either.
"Very well then. Would you happen to know o' a good place for lodgin'?"
"The Queen's Goblet," Joachim answers. "'Tis not cheap, but affords good privacy."
---
"In these times, I need to know who I can call upon for help," Jerell replies. "Dondrimm was more than an ally to my father, but a friend. It has been many a year since I saw him last and I am unsure of how he feels about supporting Daedran. I have a letter I would like delivered to him."
Kelda recognizes Dondrimm's name, as he is the lord of Vorota.
Lysithia nods silently. At a time like this, reforging old alliances was a wise move.
Looking up at him as she nods her head, "Then I will make sure that he gets it. If we have any hope of saving our valley, we all need to work together to make it happen. Even if I don't go with my parents all the way back to Varota, I know I can trust them to get your letter to Lord Dondrimm."
Jerell produces a sealed letter addressed to Dondrimm and hands it to Kelda. "Then I entrust this to you."
Astoria nods and takes note of the name. "Thank you. If that's all then we'll leave you to it. Have a pleasant evening, Joachim."
She then turns to Celanna. "Shall we?"
"We shall see that it gets there safely." Lysithia says solemnly, as Kelda accepts the letter. "I'd like to offer my condolences as well."
"I believe we shall," Celanna responded. As they started make their way to the inn, "So this lodgin' sound like it may be expensive. I'd be willin' to split it."
"Thank you as well," Jerell responds. "May we meet again under better circumstances."
He looks to see if anyone else is in line behind the trio. Seeing no one, he turns to his wife, who remained supportively silent. "Let us retire for the day..."
He gives Lysithia, Kelda and Lup a brief nod before taking his wife's arm and going into his home.
Shall we make our way back to the coach to head to the inn?" Lysithia asks her companions.
Kelda puts the letter in a pocket and nods, "Yes, we need to get back." Kelda responds, turning to head back to where they left the coach.
Kelda, Lysithia and Lup return to the wagon and find that the driver has picked up a few more people. "'urry, 'urry! 'Tis near dark now and we have a bit of a ride."
He barely gives the trio time to sit before taking off. The driver guides his horse onto the dirt tracks that border the road and gets it to canter, looking around nervously as you depart from the square. "Clearly you've not been to Daedran before..."
Lysithia looks around, running through anything she'd heard of the area that would explain the driver's nervousness.
"I've been here before, it's just been a long time since my last visit. What is it about being out after dark that has you so nervous?" Kelda asks, unable to recall her families last visit to the large city.
Lysithia had heard that, since Daedran's financial troubles began, the center of the city had become desolate where only the desperate live.
The driver grunts. "E'er since the soldiers ran off, the city proper is a nest of thieves, murderers an' worse. The scum get bolder at night since no one'd find anything 'til the morning."
You see no other light in the city other than the lantern the driver hastily lights, attached to the wagon. "On top of that, there's no lights to rely on. Good thing I know this track better than the back of my horse."
He lets out a nervous chuckle. "You know, since I see the back of my horse so often...ah, never mind."
"Well if it helps, I can add a little more light." Lysithia says, softly speaking a word in an ancient-sounding language, as the top of her staff begins to glow with a soft pulsing light that radiates in a 20-foot radius, increasing the light all around the wagon as it moves on.