It was amoung the small talk that a knock at the door was heard.
Kendra rose to her feet "One moment, that must be councilman Hearthmount here to read the will please remain seated I will invite him in."
Kendra moves through the cluttered room with ease and to the observer perhaps with a more cheerful step than when the party had first arrived at her home. The party hears Kendra open the door and issue a greeting to the guest though you cannot make out the specific words being said. the front door then closes and returning is now two pairs of footsteps instead of one.
It is clear to anyone by his mannerisms that he does not appreciate outsiders meddling in what he considers town affairs but he is a man of business so he keeps that opinion off his lips. The business at hand is the will of Professor Petros Lorrimor.
Kendra takes the councilman to a desk in one corner of the room and gives him a seat "Please my friends gather round and listen. even I am not certain what is in the will as my father wanted it read when all of you were present. Please councilman you may begin"
The councilman produces a scroll case from the bag he brought with him. All can see that the professors wax seal is unbroken just moments before the councilman himself breaks the seal. As he breaks the seal a key falls out and noisily clatters to the table. undaunted by the key the councilman continues clearly looking to conclude this and return home.
The date on the will is only a month or so ago, it seems Petros felt he had reason to make sure he had his lifes things in order for one reason or another.
The councilman reads the will aloud "I, Petros Lorrimor, being of sound mind, do hereby commit to this parchment my last will and testament. Let it be know 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 untill 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 4955.”
Upon finishing the reading the councilman looks to Kendra looking for any questions. she politly says "Thank you councilman, Looks like my friends will be staying a bit longer. I have no questions please get back to your affairs and enjoy the rest of your day."
With his job done the councilman takes his leave and you hear the door close on his way out.
Kendra lets out a deep breath and looks around the room but isnt looking at the books but more thinking about what to do. "My friends i know not weather i yet want to sell this house or remail but i do have plenty of room to keep you all comfortably, should you choose to remain as my father requested. I will not force you to stay but i would be glad for the company. Please stay here and i will fetch that chest of books my father spoke of in the will, i will return shortly"
And with that Kendra leaves the room.