Danger At The Shrine

JP with Winteroak and Cindy

Jiyn's eyes kept on Kupen's altar. Although he had been raised in a monastery that worshipped Cambena he had respect for all the gods.

"She showed me that the person I am looking for is here in Arcadia. That I was right all along to travel here, to the edge of the world." He whispered. "Three years ago, the woman I love disappeared. No no goodbyes, no note, she just parked her bags and left into the night. I have been looking for her ever since."

Jiyn thought about the last three years. The clues he had followed, the gut feeling that kept him on her track, his dreams, and the sheet determination to get here.

"She showed me that she is in those mountains far up to the north. But she looks like someone else entirely now. And the closer I get to her, the more I think it is me she was running from..." He said with a sad smile.

As Jiyn had allowed her to speak and offered support with no comment, Islana offered the same.

The young woman had met very few people like Jiyn. She had kept herself from forming any real attachments since arriving in Ostiarium. Now, though, she realized she had gained, dare she think, a friendship with the young soldier.

Jyin looked at Islana. Questions about what Omen had taken came to his lips but he stopped himself. Maybe those were revelations for another day.

"And we'll only know the visions are true if what she showed us come to pass..." He considered how anxious that would make anyone constantly wondering if a possible future would come to pass. The deal with the witch was looking more and more unfair.

"I should not have taken the deal, I regret it. I have gotten used to looking over my shoulder but that vision along with the knowledge of what might be happening in the woods. It's made things worse." Islana sighed. "I wonder, sometimes, how long I can keep this up."

She was talking about the running, consistent worrying, and not letting anyone in, present company excluded.

Before Jyin could reply the acolyte they spoke to early approached them, telling them the Friar had been called the Keep on urgent business and would not attend the shrine today. They were free to stay as long as they wished of course.

"Life is rarely easy to navigate. Like Cambena, the goddess of seas and storms teaches us. Cambena - Goddess of Seas and S 'Be free as the open sea, yet adaptable to change, for water takes the shape of the vessel," he said thinking back on his childhood with the sea monks.

Islana thought on what Jiyn said for a moment but then moved on to the current issue. With the Friar not available, their task would have to wait for another day.

"Maybe, we should head back to the Hare?" She asked.

Before Jyin could reply he cried out in pain, next to Islana. He fell forward, trying to clutch at his back. Confused, Islana had little time to notice a throwing knife jutting from just below his shoulder blade as a pool of blood started to stain his white linen shirt.

Islana sees the blood which distracts her for a moment. She turns to try to see where the attack came from and starts to stand.

A man, at the entrance of the temple, wearing a dark cowl was standing, holding another knife ready to throw it at Islana. A few other people in the shrine screamed in fear and tried to get away, getting between Islana and her would be assailant.

Islana went to grab her bow but there were others there who got in the way. She couldn't shoot the man and couldn't leave Jiyn. She stood with her bow loaded, aimed at the man, but didn't shoot because of the others in the way.

Jiyn groaned in pain at her feet. While Islana could not fire her arrow due to the worshippers in the way, neither could the shadowy assailant. Before anything else could happen, the man turned and fled from the shrine.

Islana turned her attention to Jiyn. She had a little knowledge of very basic care. She called out, "He needs medical care." Hoping some there would know more than her or run and get some.

The huntress got down by Jiyn and got his shirt off to check the wound and see what, if anything, she could do to help him. All the while, speaking calmly to him. Trying to sooth him, at least a little.