Part 5: Update III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (3)

Part III - Goondalf the G(entleman) (3)



She loves you, sir. Of that I have no doubt.

Lahren: What…? I don’t believe I heard—

She loves you, sir.

Lahren: No. No, that cannot be. You lie! Why are you lying? Did you not find her? Did you not speak with her? She cannot love me. I know what I did. I know…

You are mistaken. I did find her, and she quite plainly—

Lahren: Go away. You lie still! You’re no friend of mine. Go, and leave me be!

While we appear to have made the wrong choice here, this should still be salvageable since we did not also offer to show him magic.

Forgive me, sir. I… I had hoped this would turn out differently. She… I did meet her, and you are correct about her feelings. I had hoped to inspire you to speak with her, however, since though she holds anger for you in her heart—



No, sir. By all the spirits, that I do not believe. As I was saying, though she holds anger for you in her heart, she has plainly not forgotten you. I had hoped to inspire you into speaking with her to ask her forgiveness.

Lahren: Forgiveness?

I am by no means a monk, but I think that at her core she is more hurt than angry, and that what she truly wants is for you to go to her and to ask, perhaps even beg, her forgiveness. I think that would pierce the armor around her heart. Deep inside she loves you, and if you dispel her anger and hurt, she will have no choice but to acknowledge her true feelings.

Lahren: You think that, do you? I think you do not know Pell very well.

So you believe, then, that the woman you love would be so very unwilling to hear an apology from your lips?



Well, then, perhaps if I conveyed to her a token of your contrition?

Lahren: A token? I have nothing.

Nothing?

Lahren: The Ahoul destroyed what little I carried with me to Avalon, and everything else I possess isn’t even in this nation. Besides, I don’t believe Pell to be so shallow as to accept a trinket as a bribe for forgiving me.

You misunderstand. A gift is a tribute, a mere sign of your feelings. It is no mean bribe, but something to show her that you would give of yourself on her behalf.

Lahren: Perhaps. But I still have nothing.

I have this dried rose. It is a traditional gift, and rare to find within the walls of a besieged keep.



It is most certainly not hopeless! You surrender too easily, friend. Rest assured that I will return with a gift. For now, farewell.

Let’s see what Pell herself has to say about this, since we’re her secret love agent.



Not as well as I had hoped. I have managed to somewhat convince him that a gift to you might soften your heart, but we lack a suitable gift. I am now somewhat at a loss.

Oh, Lahren… He must know that I would accept anything from him.

Perhaps, lady, but he would not present just anything to you. There is little enough of worth inside the keep that I fear I must look outside.

You mean in the village? That would be extraordinarily dangerous, would it not?

Most likely, yes. It is night time, however, and so I should be at least somewhat safe. I need to venture outside to look for my brother, anyway, and I will keep watch for anything suitable.

I never expected that you would need to imperil your life for my sake and Lahren’s, even indirectly. My debt to you grows, sir. Know you any magic?

Yes, some.

Then accept this gift, a spell to help keep you safe. It is called Shadow, and will prevent the Ahoul from easily spotting you. It draws the shadows about you; the stronger you are in the art, the more difficult it will be for the Ahoul to penetrate them and spot you.

I thank you, lady.

Perhaps Olon will have some advice for you, if you have not yet told him of your intentions. Remain safe, my friend.

I will return soon, my lady.

I really like this quest, but even if it were boring, it would still be worth doing simply to get the Shadow spell. It is one of the most useful in the game for all specializations.



Pell wasn’t exactly right about what it does--it always adds 50 Stealth exactly, regardless of our abilities. What our Mysticism determines is how much Mana it costs, and how long it lasts. It will only last a few seconds at our current level, but that is easily long enough to get the drop on a patrol or escape from an overwhelming battle.

Going to see Olon one more time, as Pell suggests, is a good idea, because he has one more valuable quest to give us.



The problem lies with Lahren, not Pell. He refuses to believe that Pell would merely forgive him. I have him partially convinced that giving Pell a gift along with an apology might work, but neither he nor I have anything appropriate for a gift. I don’t suppose you have any suggestions?

I’m afraid that’s also out of my area. Gold works well for most of the women I typically deal with, but Pell? I don’t think so. With the siege on, there’s not likely to be many items that would suit your needs, unless you feel like taking to robbing bedrooms.

No, that I will not do (smile:. There has to be something… Maybe in the village?

While there is a large world outside these walls, I must assume you mean the village immediately outside said walls. If so, you do realize that the Ahoul have been looting it for months? I doubt there’s a pretty rock left, let alone anything valuable. But if not in the village itself, then perhaps the Ahoul?

You mean I should take to robbing corpses?

Think of it as retrieving stolen property.

Maybe. I doubt they’d have anything anyway.



I will. Thank you. Good day to—

I’m not done yet. There’s a certain house in the village that I’ve an interest in. I have it on good authority that for one reason or another, it is relatively intact, and you won’t be able to mistake it for any other house. There should be a chest inside that is magically locked. I just need to know if the chest is actually there and if it’s intact. Got that?

Yes. When I know more, I shall return. Farewell.

That's as far as we can go with this quest for now. Next time, we will wrap up a couple more things in Avalon, and then finally venture outside of it!

RUMORS



JOURNAL ENTRIES


-point. If the Sha'ahoul can wear us down, it will make it that much easier for them to defeat us. If I know General Roth, he won't do anything to make it easier on the Sha'ahoul.