- What One Hand Gives
- Soliana asks Nym about the creature from the woods, but they don't have anything yet. The four days she was gone was only half an hour (or less) for everyone at the Twilit Grove.
- Soliana has done some reading about Chislev and has come to the conclusion that the Goddess of Nature who doesn't like civilization probably wouldn't want a temple dedicated to her. She usually just has rangers and druids who are hermits in the woods as her few dedicated worshipers.
- They arrive at the small temple at the tail end of a sermon about how fire tempers steel and so do the trials of life strengthen humans. Blah blah blah.
- Niniel follows the older gentleman outside to follow up with him while Soliana and everyone else talk to Father Wesley Powell.
- Soliana tells the Father that she doesn't think that Chislev would want a temple in the form of a building, but maybe a community garden?
- The Father is very excited about the idea of the hard labor the construction of such a garden would entail, though he tries not to dedicate himself to one god in particular as there are good lessons to be taken from most of the pantheon (even a few of the evil gods). His zeal about hard work and tribulations is off-putting to Soliana.
- Niniel and Frederick chat outside and Frederick doesn't want a grand temple, just a small shrine area where he can express thanks and request aid from Chislev to request rain and healthy crops since he's a farmer and it's been a hard year what with the weevils and all.
- Everyone convenes in the area Frederick was thinking to make his shrine, which is a clearing in the edge of the forest.
- Father Powell thinks this area is "contaminated" but when Soliana asks contaminated with what, he doesn't really answer.
- Soliana pokes the dirt, and it looks okay.
- Poetry looks around and the plants in this area do seem a little stunted.
- Soliana ritually casts Detect Magic and watches while Poetry casts Plant Growth on this little plot and the area doesn't take the magic right. The plants grow, but they look very sickly and deeper in the forest the affect is worse. This is the general direction of forest where the human-armed millipede
- Because of her research into the gods this morning, she realizes now that the red-hooded symbol on the back of the millipede is the symbol of Morgion, the God of Decay and Suffering.
- They walk to the other side of town where Father Powell thinks might be better, but it is very rocky and would need a LOT more work to clear it for a garden than the genuinely contaminated area near the forest.
- Poetry casts Plant Growth on this area, and the plants grow just fine.
- The Keepers of the Grove are very concerned about the blight in the forest, so Father Powell and Frederick excuse themselves while the Keepers go to poke about in the woods for the rest of the afternoon.
- Once they are alone, everyone agrees there's something off about Father Powell.
- Poetry casts Speak with Plants on a scraggly sapling that grew up quickly, and it doesn't know why it's so deformed, but there's something wrong or weird in the soil or maybe the water? It's probably coming from below, mostly likely. Maybe. The tree is in pain, and Poetry is insulting it asking it about why it's so deformed and wrong.
- Soliana proposed digging up one of the stunted saplings on the way back and putting it in a pot to see if it can grow correctly when removed from the contaminated area, but in a pot it can't spread the contamination if it's more a disease.
- There's wondering about whether there might be caves, so
- Soliana Sends to Nym, "Are there any maps of this area in the library? Are there any known caves?"
- Nym Sends back that there are maps, but he doesn't know of any caves.
- They head back to where they fought and killed the scary millipede thing.
- As they are walking and the forest gets darker because the canopy is thicker, Poetry notices a glowing green light off to the left.
- The small plants like underbrush and bushes and things look very gnarled and twisted. The newest growth on the trees is starting to look that way as well.
- They find a stone alter glowing and with the iconography of Morgion. Poetry spreads mud over the symbol, but the magic doesn't change.
- This area is the forest is too quiet.
- Soliana casts Detect Magic (ritually) and the alter's glowing with necromancy and a touch of conjuration.
- Soliana casts Dispel Magic on the alter, and the glow disappears. Since Detect Magic is still up, she can see the necromantic energy is lessened, but the alter still has some latent magical energy.
- They head back to Lamara and tell Frederick that they are going to design a garden to be dedicated to Chislev for the farmers and they will be in touch once they have more information about the right location for the garden.
- In the library Soliana uses her magic quill to copy a map of the area and marks the approximate location of the alter to take to Headmistress Sharai who is said to be good friends with an important and powerful cleric of Mishakal who is like the opposite of Morgion.
- They go to bed and wait for the coach to arrive in the morning.
- 1,500 XP ea. for 19,500 total XP ea.
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