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-----In the distance to the north, the thieves can see a large hill at the end of the grassy plain.
-----Gimplefwick readies his sling and yells at the shrine, "If there's anybody in there, ye'd better come out right now or it'll go badly for ye." All remains silent among the stone columns. He then fires a couple of shots from his sling at it and then sneaks around to take a look inside.
-----Seth holds up his hand for Gimplefwick to wait before approaching the shrine. "I have also heard that old shrines can hold many secrets and treasures, maybe we should be careful and make sure there are no devious devices to hamper our search for secrets held within this shrine of old. Well that’s how the song went anyway."
-----"Only one way to find out now," Kazel eyes the shrine for a moment, then carefully walks towards it and circles it once before checking and entering the center. Gimplefwick and Seth follow her and there appears to be nothing out of sorts other than the fact of the ruined shrine in the middle of the plain.
-----As they move between the pillars, they hear their feet shuffle on the stone floor. The sides remain open, the roof supported only by the slender columns. The wind makes a hushing sound as it blows through the structure. The trio passes a few rows of benches arranged in a circle facing toward the center. There is a slightly raised part much like a platform in the middle of the structure. The thieves slowly ascend it and look out over the benches, the columns and the landscape beyond.
-----Suddenly the other two see a shocked look pass over Kazel’s face!
-----Seth stops and looks at Kazel "What is it Kaz?"
-----Kazel freezes and she looks around the shrine, making a sign for silence. After a moment or two, she says, "The shrine speaks. It offers an answer for a question of knowledge." She looks at the others and waits to see what they think.
-----Seth's mouth opens up in wonderment. "Oh, the answer must be for you because I can not hear anything." He turns and looks at Gimplefwick "can you hear it talk?"
-----"No?" Kazel scratches her head as she tries to think. "There's no answer yet, since it wants a question first."
-----Gimplefwick peers about and puts a hand up to his ear, "I hear nothing. And I have to admit, I'm a bit worried if Kazel's hearing voices all of the sudden. They're not telling you to do anything, are they? Like kill us in our sleep or something?" Gimplefwick looks at Kazel suspiciously. "Maybe we should ask about the best way to defeat the assassins. Or their locations. Or if they're waiting in ambush for us."
-----"No, nothing like that... although I have killed a lot of living things," Kazel makes a face, then closes her eyes and whispers something into the wind.
-----Kazel suddenly snaps out of her trance. She blinks and looks at Gimplefwick and Seth, then slowly steps down from the platform. "I asked if there was anyone out to get us, and I saw a vision." She sits down on a nearby stone bench looking back at the others as she explains. "In it, I saw the three assassins from that night, and two more people with them. They ambushed a wagon around a hill and killed the driver and passengers who had the bad luck to look like us, then realizing their mistake, decided to head back to town instead and post a watch at the gate. They didn't mention which gate, but said they're looking for 'that bizarre halfling and his friends'."
-----Kazel then gets up and examines the shrine, trying to find clues as to whom it dedicates. "Oh and, it seems that they are working for someone called Nodeus... heard of such a name?"
-----Gimplefwick snorts and replies huffily, "Bizarre...bizarre? I'm a pirate! I'll keelhaul those verminous goat-droppings. I'll slice out their livers and eat them with a nice chianti." Gimplefwick continues on ranting for a few moments then his tirade slows down and he continues on more thoughtfully, "Perhaps we had best be advised to enter the town through the guild entrance by the tower. From there we can inform our guildmaster of our little problem and see what aid he can lend. Then, if yer willing of course, Kazel can go around to the gates and identify our impudent ambushers. If we can get one of them alone, then we can find out who their leader is. Maybe if we cut off the head the body will die, so to speak."
-----Gimplefwick fondly fingers his cutlass at the imminent thought of more bloodshed. He then pops out of his reverie and states, "Well, maybe we'd best get back to the wagon, unless ye want to go on searching fer the treasure." Gimplefwick takes a quick look around the shrine, just in case there’s something valuable hidden there.
-----Seth looks very, very unhappy. "Umm, I don’t like people trying to kill me, and I would like to avoid it at all costs." He looks Gimplefwick’s parrot square in the eye and continues. "You have seen my friend Albert. He talks to me and I look after him. If we only travel at day time he could fly ahead of us and around us and warn me if he sees any men that may be waiting for us."
-----He now stares off into the distance as if he too is in a trance . .
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