Atonement in Turelve - 14th of Mirtul

The Arrowhead Inn was bustling as usual when the gathered members of the Fellowship sat down to dinner together on their third evening in the big city. The conversation was light and pleasant, the service was good and the food was better, but a dark cloud hung over one of the companions.

The lady Darya was despondent. Rarely did she lift her ashen countenance from the fish on the plate in front of her, though it would have been obvious to any paying attention that she wasn't so much eating as pushing around the delicate flakes of white meat. She visited the mage tower this morning after Jace spoke the previous evening about a man named Eltarias who seemed to be familiar with Ollimer.

She'd gone there with an attitude of hopeful excitement. There were so very many questions she desired answers for, and this man may just be able to provide her those!

He did.

A planar being!? From the realm of Lathander himself no less?! As much as the paladin wished she could deny the truth of Alterius' belief, it answered so many of the mysteries. How could such perfection possibly call this mortal plane, home? Where did that leave her now? Darya had deceived herself into believing there was hope where there could be none, but the mage told her not to make assumptions about Ollimer...whatever he was. What did he mean by that?

The Lady sighed and swallowed her tears again. As the sky darkened with the setting sun, so did her mood. It would be a very long evening...

The elemental mage sat across the table from her, avoiding all eye contact. She'd been quite discourteous with Jace the night before while over zealously questioning him about his time with Ollimer and what Eltarias had spoken to him about. She'd yet to make amends for that particular offense, and it was high time she did so.

When the conversation lulled a bit she spoke up just enough to gain the mage's attention.

"Jace, might you be willing to have a word with me?" She asked gently, while indicating an empty table standing along the wall of the inn that looked as if it might afford two people a bit of privacy.

Apparently sitting on the far end of the table and trying to avoid eye contact did not work. Now she wanted to to speak to him privately! He wondered, half seriously, whether he should stay in view of the rest of the Fellowship lest he end up pushed against the wall with a bloody nose, trying to answer questions about something he had absolutely no knowledge of. He knew of course that that would not actually occur---physically---- but he fully anticipated another third degree interrogation.

He knew that Lady Darya was very interested in whatever she could learn about Ollimer, as evidenced from the intense barrage of questions he had answered when he told her about what Ollimer had done for him while she went on her private task. But he had never seen her so intense, almost MANIC, when he had relayed the story of his efforts to gain information from Eltarias. He half thought she was going to jump across the table when he could only answer her questions in the vague manner in which Eltarias had answered his. He certainly hoped she did not think he was holding back information...he had been so unnerved by her behavior his impulse was to make something up to pacify her...except if she later found it to be untrue he would DEFINITELY be in trouble then.

He could not have been the only one to notice, but when he tried to change the topic of conversation no one else seemed to want to help him out. Obviously, if he went to speak to her now he would have no one else to refocus her attention on....maybe he should slip a couple gold to Shobi for some more bodyguard services? He chuckled ruefullly to himself. Still, her mood seemed much more subdued and depressed than manic. Maybe she had learned something she would rather not have when she went to spoke to the tight-lipped Eltarias herself? .

"Certainly." He stood up and moved over to the table and sat, waiting to see what she had to say.

Darya lowered herself into the seat across from the mage and called over a barmaid to order an ale for each of them.

Once their conversation could be private again, the paladin turned her gaze to Jace. She looked as sick as she felt. Her grey eyes nearly matched the unhealthy pallor of her skin, and her shoulders were slumped forward as if she'd just been kicked squarely in the gut.

"Jace," she began gently, "I need to apologize for my behavior last night. I had no intention of questioning you as...vigorously...as I did, but I let my excitement get the best of me. I am sorry and if there is any way I can make amends for my actions, please let me know!"

The paladin raked her fingers through her hair and sighed slightly.

"Eltarias was actually rather helpful in answering some of the questions I had, so I must thank you for pointing me in his direction."

He was quite relieved that she was apparently done questioning him.

"Apology accepted, no harm done." He paused, curious about whether he could press about why she was so interested in him, and about whether she had managed to learn something from Eltarias that was upsetting.

"Did you have better luck with Eltarias than I did? He was very tight-lipped with what he knew about Ollimer when I asked him a few questions. "
He decided to press a little and took a shot..."Do you anticipate having to do more quests or tasks for him? Is that why you are trying to find out as much as you can?"

Jace wrote:"Do you anticipate having to do more quests or tasks for him? Is that why you are trying to find out as much as you can?"

The paladin's eyes lost focus for a moment as her hand went to her chest to press against the note resting beneath her armor.

"I very much hope I may be so honored one day," she smiled slightly and some color rushed back to her cheeks, "and he did say that he would come back to check up on us at some point...

"Though, no, that's not why I'm trying to find out as much as I can. I have every confidence that he is a servant of Lathander as he said he is...that's one of the reasons I so wish to know more about him."

She wouldn't have minded laying all of her agony out there on the table for Jace to pick through if he cared to. It wasn't that she wished to hide her feelings for Ollimer for her own benefit (though a poor job of that she was doing...). What she was afraid of, was embarrassing the man who she held in such high esteem if he heard of her going on and on about her affections. Surely if he knew, he would choose never to visit again!

The barmaid came over at that point to deliver their ales and the paladin paid for both, thanking her before turning back to her companion.

"My own selfish desires are of no import nor consequence," she said as much to herself as to Jace.

With a soft sigh, the paladin took a long drink of her ale, hoping it would numb a bit of the pain in her middle.

"Eltarias wasn't exactly forthcoming with me either, but he did offer a possible solution to the riddle of the Lantern here." Darya lifted the holy relic onto the table and set it next to her. Best to leave Ollimer out of it altogether... No good spreading rumors of him that may not be true. Perhaps she could ask when she saw him again.

"I believe that this Lantern represents a purpose that needs to be accomplished. I don't yet know what that purpose might be exactly, but after describing some of the qualities of the relic, Eltarias suggested that perhaps the lantern isn't an item but an individual! He said there are certain beings of extraplanar origin that are able to transform themselves into objects for a purpose."

The paladin's gaze was drawn to the soft glow of the central sphere.

"Every ten days," she continued, "it shines a light in a certain direction. I believe that following its light will lead us to discovering the purpose this being has transformed itself for."

She looked up at Jace again, careful to keep herself tightly reigned in.

"Do... Do you know much of extraplanar beings?" she chanced. "Elysium in particular, as Eltarias indicated to me. I've never looked into the subject myself, though I know some mages learn much of the planes."

"I do have some academic knowledge of the Elemental planes of course, but I know little beyond the simple existence of other planes.”

Jace took a long swig of ale as he thought of the first time he met Ollimer. He was an extremely charming gentleman had been the subject of a fairly intensive grilling by the members of the Fellowship who had been quite concerned when Darya had turned up missing. He wondered whether she would be moved to anger if he told her of additional things he remembered…would she think he had been deliberately or negligently withholding information?

“Your mention of the possible extraplanar origin of your lantern reminds me of a conversation I had with Ollimer when he first showed up. We were barraging him with questions, and in the course of the conversation, I asked him if he had traveled to other planes. He took quite awhile to answer that question…it did not appear he was attempting to be evasive...more as if he had never been posed with questions like what we were asking. He eventually confirmed that he did, but I did get the impression that although he is now a very powerful, planar traveling servant of Lathander, he may have been just like us once, originating on this plane. Of course, he was quite cryptic, so I may have been inferring too much.”

Jace paused briefly…”I do hope the next time you are called for a quest, that you will be allowed to bring assistance. I firmly believe the Fellowship would stand behind you in whatever capacity your diety would allow. "

As Jace told of his conversations with Ollimer, the young woman listened intently, trying not to stare directly at him for too long so she wouldn't make him uncomfortable.

"...he may have been just like us once..."

There was that boot to the gut again... Lady Darya winced at the words and wrapped her arms around her middle.

She'd thought it of course, after Eltarias suggested that he might be from the realm of Lathander, but hearing it spoken aloud? An ascended being! A mortal life well lived, then to be blessed with a new form and a new duty to the Morninglord! If it were true, and this was the second person today that had suggested it to her, then Ollimer was truly everything she one day hoped to become. First in this life, then in the next!

It explained everything. All the shards of mystery suddenly fit neatly together. Where did that leave her? After he made his next visit to see how they were doing, would she ever see him again or would his duties accomplishing missions on other planes keep him away for the remainder of her mortal life?

What made it so incredibly hard to bear was that Darya knew exactly where that left her.

Alone... With a love that could never possibly be reciprocated, and a passion forever unfulfilled.

Lifting the half-full mug to her trembling lips, she drained the remainder of the ale and waved at the barmaid to bring over another.

"I don't think you are inferring too much about O, my friend," she said softly, staring into the empty mug. "Eltarias suggested the same to me... I just don't think I was ready to accept it."

Her eyes flicked up to Jace suddenly, and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You are so fortunate to have been able to spend as much time with him as you did! I wish that I had been as fortunate, but as soon as I returned he had duties to attend to... Perhaps he'll be able to stay a bit longer next time...

"The quest that he sent me on to retrieve Lathander's Lantern... I was told that I was to go alone, otherwise I would certainly have requested the aid of the Fellowship. We are stronger together than we are apart! If ever I am sent out again, I'll be sure to ask that you all could join me, but orders are orders, I'm sure you understand."

The paladin rested her hand once again on the Lantern that sat beside her.

"Perhaps when we have an opportunity, we might together follow where this light will point us. I am terribly curious to see where it leads, and any purpose that would cause a being to transform themselves into a lantern, seems to me that it would be an important one!"

As Cleander watched the conversation occurring between Jace and Lady Darya he thought to himself, "Wow, I didn't realize Paladins could drink ale...hmmmmm."