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A Summary of B1

A meeting of old friends

or perhaps a pre-planning meeting, 10AM, conference room B.

Cecelia opened the door and stepped into Superior Sherri's office. Magdelene was already there, leaning her strong frame against the window frame and looking out over the temple gardens. Her dark hair screened her face, so Cecelia had no idea what her expression was. Was she contemplating the situation they now found themselves in?

"Hello, :Mother. Hello, Magdelene. Magdelene, I only had a chance to glance at your report, but really! How can you have let a bunch of inexperienced workers and guards go tromping about trying to talk to Master Zeligar?"

At that, Magdelene turned around. Now Cecelia could see she was irritated. "What was I supposed to do? It was a really nasty fall and you know Healing has never been one of my strong gifts." She stalked slowly to a chair and sat carefully down. "I //still// feel the break. There wasn't anything else I could do. At least I had Vanessa to send in."

Cecela sniffed. "Vanessa. I know the girl has potential, but she's such a ditz sometimes." That was no understatement. Vanessa was a young priestess who had more earnestness than sense in her pretty little head.

Sherri gestured to one of the other chairs. "Do sit down. Magdelene did what she could. None of us could have foreseen the approach washing out, or that Magdelene would fall such a long distance. We are lucky she wasn't killed." At this Magdelene sighed and started staring at the rug. The Superior continued, "and none of us could have foreseen Zeligar wouldn't be at his fortress."

"But look at what happened! They didn't even bury those poor dead people they found in the foyer!"

"Cecelia! That will be enough." Sherri's round face was stern, and while she was young, she had inherited her mother's steel will. So Cecelia leaned back in her chair and played with the fringe on her belt. It was such a mess. A small group setting out with no fanfare to quietly retrieve the Tome, and it had all fallen apart. Magdelene could readily deal with Zeligar; they all knew that. But this. The silence in the room stretched out while Magdelene and Cecelia sat glumly and Sherri perched behind her desk, still reading something.

Finally, Cecelia looked up. "Well. What DID Vanessa and this group of ...people manage to actually find inside the fortress?"

Sherri looked up at Magdelene and said in a terribly dry voice, "it seems they found a fair selection of interesting objects and whatnot." Turning towards Cecelia she explained. "They seems to have found the fortress half-abandoned. If you got far enough to read about the foyer, you know that adventurers and opportunists are already moving in like beetles. Our group apparently took the opportunity to help themselves to some of loose odds and ends they found." Cecelia frowned, but Sherri continued before she could say anything. "I can't fault them too much - it does seem that things have been unclaimed for months, if not longer. Still, it would have been better.....well. It's done."

Magdelene spoke up. "It was almost completely empty. They found Roghan's room and apparently the room of his mistress. And some weird monsters, but those might have been Zelligar's little joke." She was still staring at the carpet as she continued. "They were attacked by Orcs. Vanessa was almost killed."

Cecelia gasped. Sumar-Fareen, the God of Love and Childbirth, sometimes sent Her priestesses (and priests) into danger, but angry in-laws or wild animals interested in a new baby were usually the worst anyone had to face. Orcs intent on killing? That wasn't something they were supposed to deal with - better a priest of one of the war gods for that. But then, everyone would have expected the Tome to be hidden in the temple treasury of some war god, and the Candelabra, well, it had been stolen from just such a secure place. The Tome should have been safe with them. Should have been. Still, being attacked by Orcs. Cecelia might not approve of Vanessa, but no one needed that. "Is she okay? What happened?"

Sherri answered from her desk. "She survived. Vanessa has recieved some combat training, you'll recall, altho none of us thought she'd ever need it."

Magdelene nodded and added, "and Sumar-Fareen saw fit to Heal her. She still refused to go back in after that, and I can't blame her for being scared."

This drew a glance from the Superior. "You didn't mention that here. And she did go back in again."

"Yes." Magdelene paused and then looked up. "I guess I didn't want to mention a disciple problem, and she said she'd had some dream and decided she should do her duty? I wasn't going to argue."

"A dream?"

Magdelene shrugged. "I didn't ask." Her face grew worried. "Do you think it was important?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was the Goddess' hand moving." Sherri toyed with one of the model cribs on her desk. "You hadn't planned on taking Vanessa along at all until the last minute. And she's one of the few who did get combat training. Well. Only the gods know."

Cecelia couldn't believe her ears. Vanessa, wandering about the world, on the Goddess' prompting? Wonders never do cease. In a slightly faint voice, she asked, "So what did they eventually find?"

Magdelene looked irritated again. She shook her head, her long hair bouncing. "They found an advisor's office and some notes. Zelligar and Roghan apparently left to go raid the Gnome Protectorates for money! Then Roghan's mistress fled. They never saw the advisor. There was no one there."

Cecelia sat up. "But where is the Tome? Did they take it with them to the Protectorates? We'll never find it!"

Just like that, Magdelene collapsed back to glumly staring at the carpet. "We don't know. Maybe they took it on their raid. Maybe this mistress stole it before she left. We don't know."

Sherri put down the crib she'd been holding. "Magdelene sent Vanessa following after the mistress." She glanced at the notes on her desk. "This 'Melanee' person. She was apparently headed to Frandor's Keep, and Vanessa was going there with some of the assistants who could fight. Maybe they will even catch up with it. We'll leave that trail to her."

"What? Vanessa doesn't even know about the Tome!" Cecelia nearly choked.

"Magdele told her." It seemed Sheri had made a decision. "If she is being moved by the Goddess, I don't know what else we can do to help. And if the Tome did get taken to the Protectorates, we need to find some way to look for it. Cecelia, go find who has any experience with the Protectorates, or anyone who speaks their Gnomish. Magdelene, go talk to Min, and ask her how long it will take before we can send a large group West. Also let her know I'll need messangers for several letters. They can go out after dawn tomorrow." Sherri stood and smiled very slightly. It was not a reassuring smile. "Cecelia, unless there are any experienced clergy who have been hiding a good command of Gnomish from me, you are probably going on a trip."