Zen looks solemnly like he’s going to agree, until Jeni speaks up, and then he waits a moment until he hears the response from Zantus.
"I will do my part to try to soften the townsfolk's hearts as well," Abstalar says with a rueful smile, "but you know as well as I do some of the deep-seated prejudices some of them hold. It will be difficult to sway them, but perhaps if you can offer them your own unique points of view, your words might resonate more than my own proselytizing."
Nadja tosses her head back and groans from the back of her throat. "Ugggghh! Why? She's dead! Why does our forgiveness have to be so important? And then what? Are we going to start with the others? Stoot? Bruthazmus? Ripnugget? Tsuto?"
She gulps as she realizes she may have said one name too many. Deliberately avoiding Kaz's eyes, she huffs. "Where will it end? Just askin'."
Abstalar sighs. "I don't know. Maybe it's just hopeful thinking on the part of one old man. If you don't agree that Nualia deserves forgiveness, then I will do what I can on my own."
Zen looks morose, and then nods, ”if nobody else will, I will at least, Father.” He straightens up and bows slightly, ”well, is anyone else interested in trying?” He looks like he’s ready to go through the town and speak with various people.
The sigh of her adoptive father is a knife... "I will... try." she pays her respects then and wishing "Father Zantus" a pleasant day.
"You know... from a purely practical standpoint, redemption is one of the only methods of drawing nearer to victory in the conflict between the upper and lower planes. Thinking of it as something winnable isn't really helpful outside of certain nebulous benefits to morale in the first place, but as planes draw on the quiddity of appropriate souls, an opportunity to starve the Abyss of a potential source of power isn't without merit entirely outside of the benefits to Nualia."
Kaz looks pained, "But the gnat is right, special occasions only? If they aren't going to make nuisances of themselves after death, then why even bother..." They think through Nadja's list again. "Well... We'll find other criteria."
***
The mage's pitch to the townsfolk is as practical as they are. Anger and ill feeling, no matter how justified, is another link to draw a vengeful soul back to the town. Forgiveness is a path to peace for all involved.
Despite her hesitation, Jeni proved able to connect with her own feelings of being an outsider to these people. Telling them simply that negative feelings breed more negative feelings. Like mold.
Zen theoretically has the most credibility and a lot of innate charisma, despite his somewhat mopey countenance, so theoretically he should be decent at convincing the townsfolk.
Zen uses what credibility he can muster from his position as a guard and a priest of a sort to appeal to folks’ sense of mercy and generosity.
You make some progress at convincing the townsfolk, though it will still be quite some time until they are fully convinced. It's early afternoon now. What will you do with the rest of the day?
"Well, we could read up on what we've been coming across, or rustle some cattle and head back down the Pit. Thoughts?"
Jeni still doesn't feel right about talking to people, and the look she gives her friend cements her clear stance of not being much of a reader. But the unsettled feeling makes it so she simply shrugs, not making a decision.
Zen spends the rest of his afternoon trying to convince more townsfolk to forgive Nualia. His quiet, dogged determination finds a little more success than before.
Since the others want some book time, Jeni joins but spends her time mostly reading book spines and random pages.
Not really interested in diplomacizing about Nualia and research not being her forte, Nadja instead wanders over to the Feathered Serpent to take Voon up on his discount.
"Hey! We're headed back to the Pit either today or tomorrow. Heard any interesting stories about it?"
Kaz is much happier to be back researching with Astyanax by their side than making heartfelt pleas for a cause they haven't much enthusiasm for. First they delve back down into the ghoulish catacombs to examine the Hellstorm itself, then once satisfied, they return to a mug of blackberry wine, and Ripnugget's repurposed 'library.'
By the end of the day, you've learned more about the Hellstorm Focus located in the ruins beneath Sadnpoint Cathedral. The strange stones there are magically linked to the Hellstorm Flume still, despite the tower’s ruined state—it appears that the stones were used to activate, focus, and aim the Flume’s fires, but the magic remaining within the stones today is barely enough to maintain the link to the Old Light... as long as they remain in their current, decrepit state.
The Hellstorm Focus once controlled the Hellstorm Flume, but it also served as a teleportation circle. The other end of its portal is either destroyed or inactive, but if one could adjust the Hellstorm Focus toward conjuration magic and away from evocation, it could theoretically be linked to other inactive teleportation circles.
With a bit more research, you feel like you could unlock that potential...
***
The Feathered Serpent is a cramped and cluttered shop that smells of a strange mixture of incense, spice, and dust. Not everything in the shop is for sale, rendering the shop’s eclectic collection of strange relics, statues, and monument fragments part museum, in addition to being Sandpoint’s most likely place to find a strange magic item for sale. Adventurers seeking magic items and other tools of the trade can find what they’re looking for here more often than not.
Its sole proprietor, Vorvashali Voon, is an exotic-looking man with bright blue eyes, long, red hair, and almost bronze-colored skin. It seems he has prepared for your arrival with a delicious tray of baked goods and candies from Sandpoint Savories. He invites Nadja to have a seat at the least-cluttered table in the shop.
"Come in, come in! So nice to finally put a face to the name of one of Sandpoint's newest adventurers.
"The Pit, yes, of course! I've heard all sorts of stories." Vovrashali tells Nadja some of the tales he's heard, though it's nothing particularly new to her.
"Ah, but you've already been there, haven't you? Tell me about your adventures! I'd love to hear about them!"
Nadja recounts a more accurate version of their encounter with the Remnant and their battle with the stain demon to Vorvashali. Her eyes keep drifting to the knicknacks and curios in his shop as she wonders about the availability of more of the elixirs that would let her see in the dark -- especially since the gloomblade is most deadly while in darkness.
The next day, Jeni is dressed and PACKED ready to go back to exploring. "One day of reading is enough." she gives Kaz a put upon glare.
Zen helps Kaz a little bit with the research but is otherwise distracted a little bit by thoughts of how he will help Nualia.
When they visit the Feathered Serpent the next day, he looks at all the knickknacks and lets Nadja do the speaking to start.
Vorvashali listens with rapt attention to Nadja's retelling. "Thrilling! I'm sure there are no shortage of both wonders and terrors to behold in the Pit. I can't wait to hear what else you uncover in your explorations. As a matter of fact..."
The proprietor reaches into a pouch and pulls forth a curious object—what appears to be the wingless, headless, legless body of a clockwork bird about the size of a blue jay. "Take a look at this beauty! Another adventurer claims to have found this in a goblin’s den on Devil’s Platter. It's incomplete, though. I've been hoping to find more parts of the bird if they’re out there. I suspect there are five more parts—a pair of wings, the head, the tail, the feet, and the winding mechanism. I'll pay you 50 gp for each part you're able to find and bring to me."
The tiny winding mechanism you found after defeating the goblin witch Minargul seems to be a fit for this clockwork bird.
Zen looks a little surprised, ”huh, I guess the parts are really scattered. We found this winding mechanism in the Pit. Does it fit? I don’t know much about gadgets, sorry…”
"Yes, that's it!" Vorvashali shouts excitedly. "I feel like this is going to be a very successful partnership." He gathers up the promised 50 gp and hands it to you. "There you are. Feel free to spend it here, if you want! Remember, you've got a 5% discount for this visit!"