The knight led his group to a building marked with Adventurer Hall in front. They cashed in the excess weapons, minor artifacts, and small amount of gold they had pulled from the dungeon. The clerk of the treasury issued him a cheque for the money owed. He stored the marker in his travel pouch.

“I'll talk to the clerk of duty to see what kind of jobs are available here in the city,” said Parzifal. “You guys ask about the giant rat, and see if it's just some local variant we never heard of before arriving.”

“It might be a local monster,” said Houdin.

“See if there is a bounty for it in case we want to chase it down,” said Parzifal. “As soon as we're done, we'll find an inn to stay at until we leave to head back to the Eastern Dungeon.”

“The ladies?,” said Houdin.

“I'll send a messenger from the inn,” said Parzifal. “I doubt Boudicca will be there at the temple any longer than necessary.”

“Let's split up and do our sleuthing before something bad really happens,” said Houdin.

(“After some investigation, the group finds that reports of the giant rats have been coming in for a while,” said Gary. “None of the adventurers know exactly where they are coming from, but the consensus is the little animals had found some way into the sewer somewhere under the wall around the city.”

“Any quest to kill them?,” asked Adam.

“Not yet,” said Gary. “No one sees them as a problem yet.”

“They just don't know what damage a colony of giant rats can do,” said Don. “This is going to be like Jaws when things hit the fan.”

“Jaws?,” asked Ted.

“It's a book and movie about a giant shark that eats people off the coast of this resort town,” said Will. “We're at the point where the cops and city government know something is going on, but no one wants to say giant shark because it will scare the town and ruin the season for them.”

“So until the city puts up a bounty, we can't do anything about the giant rats?,” said Ted.

“Things will get out of hand soon enough,” said Don.

“Gary, we're going to get rooms and settle in to wait for the ladies,” said Adam. “I'll send a message to the Order for Boudicca and Andrea,” said Adam.

“Right,” said Gary.)

Sister Boudicca and Andrea walked through town to the Temple of the Heavy Hammer. Most people steered away from the cleric as she walked along with her war hammer on her shoulder.

They walked into the temple and Sister Boudicca saluted the statue of Arness, the Goddess of Light. Other sisters prayed in front of the altar at the front of the worship room. None of them looked armed.

That didn't mean they weren't. The Order of the Heavy Hammer held a number of militant nuns in its service. Not all of those members favored the war hammer like Sister Boudicca did.

“You said you had to report to the Mother Superior?,” asked Andrea.

“She should be in her office in the rear of the building, or the adjacent nunnery,” said Boudicca. “We can stay there if we have to, but the men would have to stay somewhere else.”

“Let's got about our business,” said Andrea. “The others will be waiting on us.”

“Agreed,” said Sister Boudicca.

She marched down the central aisle, bowed to the statue, and picked the right hand door to gain access to the other rooms in the building. Andrea followed behind her, copying her bow at the statue.

She wasn't a believer, but why attract unwelcome attention when you didn't have to? It was better to try to blend in as much as she could before stealing something.

The ladies found a general area for work being carried out by the sisters in the back room behind the chapel. A set of stairs led up to an open office above. Boudicca led the way up the steps.

“Hello,” said the frail lady behind the desk. Paperwork formed stacks in front of her. Her habit gleamed like white lightning as she moved. “How can I help you?”

“I'm here to report my presence in the city until I have to leave with my group of adventurers,” said Sister Boudicca. “I'm Sister Boudicca from Tartan. This is one of my adventurers, Andrea. We have to go finish clearing out a local dungeon, but I should be in the city for a few days while we plan in case you need the extra help around the Temple.”

“That's interesting,” said the mother superior. “A group of adventurers, you said?”

“That's right, ma'am,” said Sister Boudicca. “They're led by a knight named Parzifal. He said he had to report to the Adventurers' Hall in the city. We plan to rest for a few days before we try to kill the rest of the monsters in the dungeon to the east.”

“I might have some work for you,” said the older woman. “Please come back to the Temple after first service. Bring your adventurers if you want.”

“They're men,” said Sister Boudicca.

“That'll be fine,” said the mistress of the temple. “It will be better if I can show all of you at the same time.”

“All right,” said Sister Boudicca. “I will inform the others, and we will return after first service.”

“Thank you,” said the mother superior. “It was a pleasure to meet both of you. I'm sorry that I can't invite you to tea at the moment. I will try to have some ready for your next visit.”

“That will be grand,” said Sister Boudicca. She gestured for Andrea to leave the open cubicle first,

“I'm looking forward to our next meeting,” said Andrea. She bowed before she left. Sister Boudicca followed her down the steps.

“We need to catch up with the others,” said Sister Boudicca. “Maybe we shouldn't have split up to take care of our business.”

“It's fine,” said Andrea. She led the way into the chapel. “We just need directions to the Adventurers' Hall. We can catch up with them there if we hurry.”

Sister Boudicca whispered to a group of nuns. They gave her the directions she wanted. She thanked them, and waved for Andrea to follow her out of the temple.

(“How do we get together so we can talk about what we found out?,” asked Katie.

“We're taking longer so we should still be at the Hall,” said Adam.

The city changed to show the players where the Hall and the Temple were located in relation to each other. It formed a diagonal line across the city.

“I think we can get over to the Adventurer's Hall, talk with the boys, and then set up to pursue whatever the head of the nuns wants,” said Tonia. “And see if we can figure out how to handle the dungeon and these rats on the side.”

“I'm for that,” said Katie.

"All right,” said Gary. “This is what we're going to do. Sister Boudicca and Andrea reach the Hall as the rest of the Delvers are headed to look for an inn. They share information so everyone knows that they have a meeting with the mother superior, and the rats are considered harmless at the moment. A search leads to an inn, The Goblin's Tooth, here.”

He pointed at the neighborhoods adjacent to the Adventurers' Hall. One of the buildings stood out from the rest and marked itself as the inn in question.

“I think we should rest up and get ready for this meeting,” said Adam. “We could probably use a map of the city for any planning we might have to do.”

“What do you think she wants with us?,” said Ted.

“No telling,” said Adam. “Only one of the quest cards is in play at the moment. She might be connected to any of the other four.”

“I'm picking the stolen secret information card,” said Katie.

“I'm for that too,” said Will.

“Goblin invasion,” said Ted.

“I'll take the illegal fighting ring,” said Tonia. “Someone has to.”

“I'm going to wait and see,” said Adam. “This might be an unconnected problem that could be turned into a quest card down the road.”

“I'm taking the loss of secrets too,” said Don. “It's the only thing that makes sense.”

The Goblin Tooth formed up around their markers. Adam negotiated for rooms and a central space as Parzifal. He earned a discount for working for the Order of the Heavy Hammer.

“So we're good with this plan?,” said Adam.

“We rest, eat, then we go to the Temple to figure out what's going on,” said Tonia. “Then we start trying to figure out why the Church called us except as disposable pawns.”

“I am a nun in good standing,” said Katie. “I don't think they would intentionally try to kill us with monsters, but the Church has been known to sacrifice people for the greater good.”

“So we might have to burn down the Temple,” said Will. “I'm good with that.”

“We're not setting fire to the Temple,” said Katie. “We're going to the meet, and then we're going to move on to the next adventure.”

“I agree with Katie,” said Adam. “We're not setting fire to the Temple. We couldn't get anything to burn hot enough to burn it down.”

“On that note,” said Gary. “I'm going to slide the time line forward and move you guys back to the Temple. Regular delving gear?”

“Yeah,” said Adam. “This might be a job worth a lot of gold and experience. Best behavior.”

“We're ready,” said Don.”

“Then let's go in and find out what is going on,” said Adam.)

Sister Boudicca led the way into the Temple. She saluted the statue of Arness, before leading the others to the back area. None of the nuns were on duty at the tables.

“Come up,” called the mother superior.

Sister Boudicca led the way up the stairs to the open office. She moved to one side as the others joined her and formed a crescent in front of the desk.

“Thank you for coming,” said the nun.