CH. 3: Guardian Mountains

[JadedDM]

"But isn't the whole reason behind all of this to find your father?" Hollidan asks.

[HorizonsDream]

"Well, I do want to find my father," Echo says. "Get to know him a bit, of course. Though, if he is as great of a mage as I'm told he is, then I also want to learn from him."

[JadedDM]

"Is he a more powerful mage than your mother?" Hollidan wonders.

"Hopefully he won't disappoint you," Cadegund remarks.

[HorizonsDream]

"Honestly, I don't know if he is or not. I don't know a whole lot about him," Echo admits with a small sigh. "But if he has worked with the royal family, I assume that he did something to earn their trust."

[JadedDM]

"Hollidan, you grew up in Praven," Argis points out. "Did you ever see the royal family?"

"When I was a child, yeah," he responds. "But after the king died, the queen became more and more paranoid and wouldn't let any of her children leave the castle at all, nor would she let many visitors near them."

[HorizonsDream]

"So, if what I heard is true, what could he have done to earn the Queen's trust?" Echo asks.

[JadedDM]

"That's a good question," Hollidan ponders. "I mean, it'd have to be really big."

"Well, he's a mage, right?" Cadegund says. "Maybe he magicked her somehow. You know, controls her mind. Maybe he's the real power behind the throne."

"I somehow doubt that," Argis says.

[HorizonsDream]

Echo looks over to Cadegund. "Well, you don't seem to think fondly of mages, do you?" she asked.

[JadedDM]

Cadegund shrugs. "It's possible, isn't it? Wouldn't be the first time."

"Don't mind her," Hollidan says. "She used to be a witch hunter, after all."

[HorizonsDream]

"Oh," Echo says. "Well, that explains a lot actually," she adds thoughtfully. "Anyway, once this is all done, I could really use someone that knows their way around Praven," she says to Hollidan.

[JadedDM]

"I see," Hollidan says. "Well, I can't make any kind of commitment. I mean, if the shield isn't in this mountain temple, I'm obligated to remain with the pilgrims until we do find it, you understand."

[HorizonsDream]

"Right," Echo says as she pushes herself away from the table and stands up. "Looks like I'm going by myself then." If she is disappointed at all, she doesn't seem to show it. "Have a good night," she adds to the paladins before she heads up to her room.

[JadedDM]

Echo returns to her room and finds Keet curled up in his new cloak on on his bed. He snoozes softly.

[HorizonsDream]

Echo smiles slightly at the sight of the kobold before she takes to one of the smaller beds, curls up, and gets some rest herself.

OOC: We can move on to the next day.

[JadedDM]

Echo awakens later, although she can't tell how long it's been. There's no window, and even if there was, there'd be no sunlight this deep underground. This makes keeping track of time difficult. It's still quite dark in her room, in either case. Using her infravision, she can see Keet is still asleep. She feels rested, like she slept a long time, but she is sore from sleeping in such a small bed.