Lord Dayhollow’s goons were taken into custody, and our escort was increased from two to four, as we walked through the city to the Temple of Selune. It was a lovely place, really, made from carved marble with crystals inset in the walls that shone with moonlight, even in the daytime. Not in a gaudy way, but more of a simple, refined elegance. It didn’t work to look good, it simply was.

At the door, a pair of guards wearing the livery of the temple stopped us. The one on the right spoke. “Halt! Who comes to the Temple of Selune armed for battle, and followed by the city’s protectors?”

Siora’s Diplomacy Roll: 1d20+18 = 21

Siora stepped to the front, and said, “Oh, hello, Frank. My sister and I are here with the other members of our new adventuring company to answer the call that the temple put out. The guards are simply here because Lord Dayhollow tried to grab us for his ‘protection’ scheme. We caused a minor disturbance, so the guard wants to keep an eye on us, to keep anything from escalating, if Dayhollow gets upset. Anyways, can you let us in, so we can speak with the person in charge of the quest? We’d like to get whatever information you have on the area, so we know what to prepare for before we set off. I’m afraid I’ve never gone to the town the job speaks of, so I don’t know anything about it.”

The guard looked a bit uncomfortable at being recognized by Siora. Probably because of the fact that she worked as a courtesan and was a follower of the Succubus Queen. The other guard was certainly smirking at him. No doubt this would not be something he lived down anytime soon. He nodded, and said, “Very well, if you will follow me, I will show you to a room where you can wait for an audience.”

Our procession was led through the temple, into a small sitting room. Our guards stood outside, save for the servant of Tyr, who was joined by one of the temple guards in watching us. The room was like the temple itself, simple and elegant, comfortable and without gaudy decorations. Frostmane laid down on a carpet displaying the phases of the moon, while the rest of us made ourselves comfortable on the sofa next to him. Siora, to the man’s relief, decided to leave Frank be, instead of teasing him further, leaving us in a pleasant silence as we waited.

Not long after we had settled ourselves, the door opened again, and in walked an acolyte wearing vestments in the temple’s colors. I watched, interested, as her eyes scanned over the four of us, lingering on the holy symbols that both Vestele and I wore around our necks. Her mouth pressed together slightly, for a moment, before she relaxed. The acolyte forced herself to smile, and said, “I had heard that there was an… eclectic group of adventurers seeking to learn more about the quest issued by the temple, but I had scarcely believed it was true. My name is Mirrene Stagtail, and I am the agent of the temple assigned to this matter. May I have your names?”

As we had discussed on the way to the temple, I took the lead in speaking. I was a twiceborn, and an unknown to the people of the city, so I was likely to be the biggest concern. “I am Melinda Eriksdaughter, Twiceborn servant of Auril. With me are Frostmane, of the Worldspine Mountains, as well as Vestele and Siora, servants of Malcanthet. And, before you ask, though there is no bond of friendship between any of our three patrons, neither is there outright enmity. Further, what we know of the matter so far suggests that there is nothing in this quest that would run counter to our faiths, or bring them into conflict with the goals of the quest. With that the case, our understanding of our patrons’ will is that they see no harm in earning coin and renown whilst completing a job for those not aligned against us.”

Mirrene nodded slowly. “I see. I don’t sense any deception from you, which is in your favor, but I would be remiss if I did not say that your group’s… nature is discomfiting to some of the more zealous adherents of the faith. Fortunately, my position requires me to be less rigid in my actions, looking towards the end goals rather than those who get us to those goals. Very well, I shall tell you what we know so far.”

“In the time of the Great Troubles, the Absolute Overlord of the gods decreed that the gods had gotten complacent, and lost sight of the needs of their followers. To rectify this, he forced all the gods to descend as mortals, without any of their godly powers, to force them to learn the plight of mortals in this world. There was great chaos during this time, as the gods could no longer grant spells to their priests, and even normal magic was disrupted, as the great keeper of magic was cast down with the rest of the gods. More than a few gods perished in the course of the Great Troubles, and either passed their mantle to another, or had it consumed by rivals to increase their own power.”

“During this time, Selune descended in the lands to the southeast. The lake she landed by was touched by the remnants of her divine power as she descended, giving it healing properties. And so, it, and the town beside it, were named Moonwater, and the forest surrounding the town named Moonwood.”

“Selune spent the Great Troubles in the Moonwood, defending the people of Moonwater from monsters and other attackers with her sorcery. She understood that there was little she could do in her current state, so she resolved to do what she could with what she had, even if it was just keeping one village safe. After the Great Troubles, a temple was built in the Moonwood by the natives to honor her.”

“For many years, the temple was a major center of worship for the followers of our Lady of Silver, but in the Second Ork War, the Moonwood was besieged. In their desperation, the followers of Selune managed to protect the wood, unleashing a mage storm of power unlike any that had been seen before or since. The Ork warband that had been attempting to sack the Moonwood had been wiped out, almost to the last, but the price was great.”

“All contact with the Temple of the Moonmaiden’s Glory was lost. Forces sent to make contact with the temple found a silvery gray field surrounding the temple, blocking all access to it. We knew not whether this was some final protection the acolytes had erected, or some attack from unknown sources. All attempts to breach the veil were met with failure. Over the years, the temple site was abandoned, thought lost, perhaps forever.”

“In that time, most of the priesthood and acolytes dispersed, going as the Goddess willed them to. But some remained, operating a small shrine on the shore of Moonwater Lake, and tending to the people in the nearby village. It has remained occupied in all these years, in hope against hope that the veil might one day be removed, and we can learn what happened to those who were inside the Temple.”

“Thirteen years ago, there was a disturbance in the barrier between the planes. Divinations revealed that this was the arrival of a Twice-born from another world, something that had happened only seven times in the five centuries since the Great Troubles. The only other time between the Second Ork War and then that such an event had happened, the Twice-born was in a far-off land. This Twice-born, however, had been born far closer, and the ripples of the soul entering this world from beyond affected the veil around the Temple of the Moonmaiden’s Glory. For the first time in one hundred and twenty years, it began to weaken.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. I knew that the whole ‘Twice-born’ thing wasn’t something that happened all the time, but to think that my soul coming to this world would have… ripples, like throwing a rock in a pond was astonishing. Well, it made sense, honestly, and it would explain why the whole reincarnation thing didn’t happen more often, if it was supposed to be good for the soul ecology of both worlds. The Twice-born were supposed to shake things up, but there was such a thing as shaking things up too much, I guess.

Mirrene continued on with only a smile of acknowledgement at my realization. “Keira Brownlock, the priestess living in Moonwater, reported the changes to the Temple, and in the years since has been keeping watch over the veil. Her reports state that the veil has been slowly weakening over time. Indeed, in her last message, Keira stated that she believed that the temple would soon be accessible.”

“Unfortunately, this gets to the part of the tale where things become less hopeful. Three months ago, Priestess Keira was slain, by what the villagers thought to be a group of very large wolves, perhaps even dire wolves. This, on its own, is worrisome, since even though Keira was no war priestess, she was still in the ninth level, and was well accustomed to wielding the power offered her by the Goddess. For any normal wolf, even a dire wolf, to be able to kill her without her being able to take at least one of her attackers with her stretches the limits of belief. That the wolves would leave her face completely untouched, so that the body could be immediately identified by the villagers when they found her days later is completely unbelievable. Because of this, we fear that werewolves are responsible for her death.”

“After Keira’s death, we received word that wolves had begun stalking the villagers who lived outside the palisade at night. Unfortunately, it has been over two months since we last heard word from Moonwater. Normally, traders pass to and from the village every fortnight, but after the third trader failed to return, none others will take up the journey. Whatever evil has possessed the wolves of the forest, it has isolated the good people of Moonwater. We know thanks to magic that the village remains, but we cannot communicate with them, for none there know the spells of sending to let us know their fate.”

“Unfortunately, the normal agents the Church would call upon have been drawn away by the gathering turmoil to the south, or have been embroiled in the troubles that have afflicted Northport in recent times. But we cannot leave the people of Moonwater to their fates. This is why we put forth a call for seasoned adventurers, to hopefully find the cause of the evil around Moonwater, and put an end to it.”

I looked at my companions. Each gave a small nod. That, too, was mostly for show. We had all agreed on taking the job unless there was something seriously wrong with it. Turning back to Mirrene, I nodded. “We will journey to Moonwater, and see what may be done about these wolves. For the promised compensation, of course.”

Mirrene nodded, and said, “Of course. And the temple will provide. I can prepare the coin presently, if you wish. Because there is a grave likelihood that there are werewolves involved, I am also authorized to make potions available to you, capable of removing the affliction of lycanthropy, if you drink it within three days of the encounter. Because of the situation, we would only ask for a donation in equal measure to the cost of the raw materials involved for a high-level potion such as this. We also have a supply of healing potions, and silvered weapons which may purchase to aid in your destruction of those that cannot be saved.”

It turned out that, because of the high caster level required to remove the lycanthropy disease, the price of potions which could do the deed were quite expensive, typically costing 1800 gold pieces. That they were willing to sell us them for 900 gold, or 90 platinum, was… convenient. And smart business on their part. In the end, we decided that we already had enough silvered weapons for melee purposes in our daggers, but we each picked up a potion to fight off Lycanthropy, which we put in Frostmane’s pack. Well, Vestele and Siora did spend a few extra coins, and picked up silvered crossbow bolts and arrows. Frostmane couldn’t use the silvered weapons, and I had my magic, if it came to fighting at range, but they didn’t have those advantages. In the end, the church only ended up giving us a few coins apiece, but I didn’t doubt that there would be something worth taking off the wolves when we found them.