Tarquin's speech seemed to disarm the priest, at least momentarily. "There is holy water in the chapel, yes, but for naught! The hound will not rest until every resident of this Isle lays dead. If you embrace Justicia, you will find salvation."

--

"After days on a ship, I'm okay with walking," Cedric replied. "But we should probably wait for Tarquin," he said, gesturing back toward the dock where they could see the elf speaking with Father Beacom. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled down toward them "HEY! YOU COMING?" He then pointed north.

"I'll walk too," Wimena agreed. "It'll be nice to take on the scenery." Before we're possibly mutilated and mauled by a beast from hell, she silently added. A cynical thought. The halfling pushed back the cynical thought and waited for the elf to return, both curious and nervous for what lay ahead. She moved to Rockmar's side, shooting the Half-Orc a nervous grin. "Perhaps you can give me those lessons you promised? It could help with the beast problem."

Rockmar smiled down at Wimena. "Sure, I can show you. First off, hold it like this." He showed her the proper way hold the the dagger. "You can use it to stab or slash your foe. Now the best tool in a fight you're have is surprise. In a fight, they won't think of you as a threat, so their guard will be down. Use that. Hold the dagger down low, behind your body, so they can't see it. Then when you are close enough, strike fast. You need to catch them off guard. And always run to me, or one of the others in a fight. Stay close to us."

Eve watched and smiled at Rockmar and Wimena. She thought it was very kind of him to teach her how to defend off an attacker. The better she could do it the better chances she would survive. Eve had sat down in the grass at this point. She was enjoying the day. She looked down the hill and she thought that Tarquin was coming up the hill but from her position it was hard to tell for certain.

She caught herself clutching her talisman that hung around her neck. She stuck it back inside of her top so it would be safe and she stood up and started to survey the area they were about to head into. Her mind was racing. Was this creature sleeping in a cave? Was it controlled by someone? She had heard a name twice and wondered if it meant something, Justica? Maybe they ought to find out who this is and see if it was related to the beast.

The little funloving spark dissapeared for a brief moment from Tarquin's eyes as he stared the priest in the eyes. "I would just love to stay and chat about theology with you, priest. The gods of my homeland would most likely be most facinating to you. Now, I suggest you get us some holy water cor dealing with the beast. I can assure you that if the beast isn't dealt with swiftly there will be no one left for you to convert." The tall elf smiled a rather unnerving smile to the priest. "Do you understand what I am trying to say to you, or should I be more blunt, lotha nesst?"

Wimena listened closely to Rockmar's words. She moved the blade as he directed, the first swings a bit clumsy and slow before gradually growing more steadier. Often times Wimena had heard of a sword being like an extension of one's arm. She never understood what that meant. Not until now, at least. Once she got used to the blade, Wimena sheathed it and gave the Half-Orc a grateful look. "Thanks," she said, giving him, or rather his waist, a hug. "This might just save a life."

"To be honest, I hope you never need to use it, Wimena. But we can't take that chance. You've gotten better with just that little bit of practice. Remind me this afternoon and we will work on it some more." He caught a glimpse of Eve. her red hair standing out among the green grass.

As the Constable watched the sailors take the dinghy back to the Elfleda, leaving Tarquin alone with Father Beacom, he sighed. "Once the priest finds an ear, he's not likely to let your elf friend go so easily." Leofwine began making his way down the hill toward the dock, leaving the others to either follow him or stay and wait.

Cedric looked to Wimena, Rockmar, Eve, and the quiet, floating woman. Rockmar obviously had martial training, but he wondered about the others and where their specialities lie... "Eve," he asked, "if we find ourselves in trouble, can you do that protection spell anywhere? I mean, do we have to be in a building or could it work even out here in a field?"

--

A flicker of recognition passed over the hawkish priest's face, but a zealot already resigned to death could not be unnerved by the elf. "You speak that filth in the same breath you dare demand holy water blessed by Justica?"

"Father!" Leofwine barked, imposing at even his advancing age. He hadn't been close enough to hear exactly what had been said, but judging by the sour expressions on each man's face, he could guess that Father Beacom was ingratiating himself to the elf just as he did for everyone lately. "Get him what he needs or, by Justicia herself, I'll bring armed men into your chapel to retrieve it."

"Fine!" Father Beacom spat, the threat of desecration to the chapel more than he could bear. "It will make no difference in the end."

As he left, Leofwine pointed toward the small chapel, which looked to be the only structure here built from stone and not wood. "I was part of Lord Rolf's ... the first, not his son ... crew that discovered this island. That was the only structure here."

Rockmar patted Wimena's back as the guided her back towards Eve and Cedric. "Maybe later, Cedric, can you help teach Wimena how to parry? You fight with a sword, correct? That would be better to teach her than my axe," he chuckled at the thought.

Rockmar 'took a knee' and knelt with just one knee on the ground. He picked a piece of grass and chewed one end of it. "Eve, can you do spells other than protection? Could you say, blind something? Or throw a fireball? That would be exciting to see."

Eve smiled and replied, "Yes, I have many other things I can do. I can enchant your weapons and armor with spells and such. A spell for blindness would only be temporary, a potion would last much longer but it would take quite a while to make. Fireballs?"

She stopped to think and nodded very slowly. "If the situation were grave I could, but it would quite likely knock me out for days or weeks."

She watched his expression and said, "Magic is not free even to the best of all witches. It costs her energy and in some cases they can cost a witch her life if the spell is large enough."

@Kelewen She looked at Cedric. "I could do it in the field."

"Good," Cedric said, looking slightly relieved at that news that Eve could offer them some protection. "I don't want to get caught out after dark, but still, who knows what could happen if we find the beast's lair during the day."

He looked over at the halfling, trying his best not to see her as a child. "No time like the present, though I can't claim to be an experienced teacher." He glanced down the hill, then back at Wimena, "Seems like we have a few minutes yet. Want a short lesson? Or should we see what is keeping Tarquin?"

Wimena patted her sword in assurance. "Perhaps later. We should check on Tarquin." She glanced towards the elf's direction, quietly noting his harsh exchange with the priest. "Before we accidentally start a war with the local liturgy."

Rockmar offered his hand to help Wimena and Eve up. "Let see what aid the holy man can give us. We might need his blessings or something." Talk of magic went over his head. He gathered she could make a fireball, but she would be tired afterwards. Wondered if she could make a small fireball...

He watched a bird fly by. He was watching the bird so much that he didn't see the rock on the ground and stumbled over it. Rockmar had a sheepish grin after that.

Tarquin again smiled his charming and warm little smile. "Splendid, splendid. Holy water will help us greatly. Now, good priest, I shall wait over there with the rest of our group." He nudged his head towards the group before turning on his heels. "Oh, and priest? If we cannot banish the beast you'd better look for a better place for a monastery." The tall elf added as a kind of an afterthought before heading to the rest of the group.

Wimena covered her mouth to keep from laughing as Rockmar slipped and stumbled. "Goodness, are you alright?" she said in between stifled giggles. She crouched by his side. The sound of footsteps distracted her from her fallen comrade. Turning, she saw the elf return from his...discussion...with the priest. "How was it?" she asked, her laughter fading.

Eve reached out for Rockmar's hand as he stumbled and once he had righted himself he did not let go of her hand. She smiled at him and blushed but did not pull away. She seemed right at home with the group. Wimena had noticed Tarquin's return at the same time Eve did.

Eve asked "Did the cleric have anything helpful to say Tarquin? I was thinking, the name Justica has come up a couple of times and I was wondering if she has anything to do with the beast?"

"Yeas, I'm alright. Just my pride has been bruised. Stupid rock." He reached out to take Eve's hand. He enjoyed how soft she felt. He gave her hand a slight squeeze and caressed it with his thumb. "Thank you, Eve." He walked with Eve and the others to join Tarquin. Rockmar joined the others in firing questions at Tarquin, "Will he bless our weapons?"

"The priest will provide us with holy water." Tarquin stated with an awfully chipper tone. "Now we'll just wait for him to provide us with the goods and then we can be on our way to do some hunting." He adjusted his hair slightly and smirked. "Maybe I'll get a chance to write a song about all this."

Father Beacom disappeared into the small stone chapel that was situated next to the cemetery. Its style of construction was older than the timber framed, wattle and daub construction that made up the majority of Avery Isle's buildings.

He was not gone long before returning with a simple leather flask stopped with a wooden cork, which he handy over to Tarquin. He looked over the group, opening his mouth as if to speak, but Constable Leofwine cut him off...

"Well, then. If we're ready..." he said, already starting up the path, anxious to not allow Father Beacom began another lecture on the salvation of their immortal souls.

As they began their trek to the northern side of the island, clouds hid the morning sun and a misty rain began to fall, just enough to dampen everything. That, accompanied by the constant breeze from the ocean, put a chill into the air. The Constable set a slow pace as they started to climb the hill that seemed to run the entire length of the island, leading them mostly north and slightly west. "To walk around by way of the coast is longer and not much easier," he explained.

Once they descended to the other side, the terrain changed to flatter land, perfect for grazing, though no shepherds had their flocks here now. But still, there was some evidence of the hound's slaughter... a murder of crows took the air as the group passed by, loudly complaining as their feast of a mangled sheep carcass was disturbed. And then not much farther along, more birds fought over scraps of what appeared to be a lamb.

"It was here that he was found," Leofwine finally announced as they came to a rather unremarkable, grassy spot. The ground was not churned up with evidence of a struggle as one might have expected if the life & death struggle had happened right here. However, the place had been marked with 3 stones stacked together in memorial.

To the north was the sea. To the east the terrain looked mostly flat except for one solitary hill popping up from the earth. And to the west, the grass gave way to trees.

Hill to the east: