Subject Ragnar's day

When Salix arrives early the next morning, he finds Ragnar recently awoken and ready to go. They eat a hasty breakfast and head out. Ragnar had spent the morning toying with the edges of a plan, but couldn't quite make it work in his mind. Still, he wasn't sure that he was really ready to act out Salix's plan either. He labored for Heironeous, but not for pay and certainly not for this Mayor. He had long since passed the time when he was forced to labor for mortals. But he couldn't just go off on his own either. He should really have talked to Salix earlier, but he wouldn't have agreed anyways. Even in his own head, his plan sounds stupid.

As they reach the place where teams come to hire laborers, his anxiety finally surfaces and he steps up next to Salix. Standing in line where a burly guard checks to make sure those that enter have a valid pass and pay an "admittance fee", he whispers to Salix, "I'm not sure I'll be much use here... I was thinking it might be better if I spent the day around town. Even though there are no temples to Heironeous here, there must be at least some churches dedicated to good or neutral deities. They might know something about these priests of Nerull. We need to know what role they're playing in all this."

Salix stares at him, aghast. "You want to change the plan *now*, and go off by yourself in this town? We can talk about it tonight, but..."

They are interrupted by the guard, as they've neared the head of the line. "Hey you!" he shouts at Ragnar. "Run on back to your cave, rat, we don't need your kind here." Rather than angry at the insult, Ragnar actually looks relieved. Salix starts to protest, but the guard says "If you don't like it, you can join him on the street!"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'll be back at the inn long before dark." With that Ragnar heads back the way he came, ignoring a few jeers from laborers still waiting in the line. Salix wouldn't be happy, but Ragnar could only feel relief that he'd avoided the days activity. OK, he thinks to himself, now that I'm free to wander around, how do I make this stupid plan of mine into something workable? He'd gotten the idea from Surin's meeting with the Mockers. The Mayor hadn't been here long, and surely he couldn't have obliterated all traces of organized worship. The problem would be finding it.

He spends most of the morning wandering around, getting more discouraged as the sun gets higher and higher without any hint of where to look. In the temple district at Gorn, religion came up frequently even in the streets. Bodentown was a completely different place, and the only time a god's name was mentioned was as part of a curse. He finally stumbles upon some luck when he finds an odd intersection where 7 roads come together.

Immediately across from the road on which he entered was a large, slightly imposing building that had clearly been abandoned for some time. As he comes closer, he feels drawn to it. The front door was locked at one point, but had been forced open long since. Entering in, he immediately recognizes a shrine to Fharlanghn, the God of Roads. Protector of bards, travelling merchants and other wanderers, his altar would usually hold several small trinkets donated by those seeking his favor before a journey. Ragnar can find where the altar once stood, but the altar itself is nowhere to be found. The building shows clear signs of having housed numerous squatters fairly recently, though none are in evidence now. A quick search of the rest of the building reveals nothing is left; furniture, paperwork, and ornamentations are all gone. Feeling discouraged, Ragnar heads back outside.

He spends the rest of the day searching, fearing that to ask a direct question of any of the residents would arouse suspicions. He does have another bit of luck in the afternoon; walking slowly down another street in a different part of town, a sudden feeling of revulsion makes him shudder. Glancing around, he quickly determines its source, and, finding the building once again abandoned, steps inside. The visit leaves him with more questions than answers, however. There is no sign of what deity was once worshiped here, yet he can clearly tell it was once the church of some evil deity. But why would the temples of evil be shut down? It made no sense.

Immediately accross from that building was another, this one with no doors or shutters at all, and looking inside he sees that it was once dedicated to Olidammara, the God of Thieves. This one seems as abandoned as the others. Its frustrating, knowing that with two churches right next to each other there must be more nearby, but the days are short this far north and he realizes he needs to get back to the inn or risk being out after dark. Completely oblivious to the fact that three sets of eyes follow him out of Olidammara's abandoned shrine, he heads back to the Eel.

*****

Ragnar reports "I wasn't able to find much, in truth. I was able to find abandoned shrines of Olidammara, God of Thieves, as well as Fharlanghn, God of Roads. There was another that I'm certain was once dedicated to some evil deity as well, but I couldn't determine who. None of them had been used for months."

OOC: Karl, my apologies for taking a few liberties with Salix... hopefully it was fairly in character.

Subject Ragnar's day

No problem. Salix would act exactly like that in this situation.