This turned out a lot more storytelling than recap than I think I want to do in the future. I’ll probably look for something that’s a middle ground between bullet point notes about rolls and things that happen and this full-conversations approach. Still, I wrote it up to build out what’s happening, so it’d be a waste not to record and share it.
“You wish to use my power, but you do not even know me!”
Those were the words that woke Elbin from his sleep. His inability to heal his friends gnawed at him, and he wasn’t sure until this moment why it was Madeera refused to heal them for him. Now he knew.
He felt guilty for it, twice guilty even. Guilty for being unable to help his friends and guilty for wanting to use what he apparently didn’t deserve. He intended to correct both of these things as soon as he could find a way to do so.
Fortunately, the solution seemed to present itself as soon as he hobbled to the dining area where his friends were sitting for breakfast.
They were looking at the well-made horn they had recovered from the citadel when the innkeep called over to them. “You know this town exists for trade involving the citadel, right? A shop next door will buy that from you,” he said.
With the money they would earn from selling the horn, Elbin planned to make a donation to Madeera’s causes as an act of penance. “There wouldn’t happen to also be a shrine for Madeera around here, would there?” he asked the innkeep.
“Not specifically, no,” the innkeep answered. “But we do have something of a catch-all shrine for the holy types. You might find one of Madeera’s folk there.”
The party finished their meal and thanked the innkeep before heading next door to sell the bull horn.
“It’s nice, don’t get me wrong,” the human shopkeep said. “But best I can do is 24 gold.”
The party was too demoralized from the way the last few days in the citadel had gone for them, so they didn’t even attempt to haggle for a better price. They simply exchanged the gold and split it four ways.
“I need to go try and make right with Madeera so maybe I can pull my weight next time we go back inside,” explained Elbin.
“It’s not like that, you know,” countered Creeg. “You’re one of us. Madeera’s gifts would certainly help, though,” Creeg trailed off.
“Indeed. Go do your shopping or what have you,” said Elbin. “I’ll head to that shrine and see you tonight. Pray it goes well for me.”
Arriving at the shrine, Elbin spotted a priestess, a human woman whose garments indicated she was well-established in Madeera’s ways. He approached her and explained his situation.
“It seems to me that you really should know what matters to Madeera before you invoke her to do what matters to you,” the priestess agreed. “You wear her symbol and speak her name, but have you really taken to reading her words?”
“Not with the care I apparently should have,” admitted Elbin.
“Then why don’t you start here,” she said, extending a scroll to Elbin. “The First Precepts of Madeera. I just recently made this copy. I think it would do you well to memorize it.”
“Yes, I believe that would be good,” he said gratefully. “Here, I don’t know what this is worth to you, but please take this gold from our recent earnings,” he said, handing over his share of the party’s recent transaction. “I hope Madeera would appreciate that and that you can put it to good use.”
“I imagine she would,” said the priestess, receiving the coins. “And I will do my best with it.”
With scroll in hand, Elbin returned to his room to read and meditate on it.
The contents were simple, three pairs of commands, each a “do not” followed by a “do instead.” Presumably, given that Madeera is the goddess of law, there would be further precepts to study, but these were considered the first and foremost of all of them.
When Elbin woke the next day, he could sense that Madeera had accepted his act of penance. This he conveyed to his friends when he met them again for breakfast.
“Glad to hear it,” responded Creeg to the news.
“Doubly so for me,” chimed in Yriel, rubbing her most recent wounds from meeting the minotaur.
“In that case, my friends,” started Martin. “I do believe it’s time for us to try again to make our mark in the citadel. Shall we?”
The party agreed. Thanking the innkeep again, they gathered up their supplies and made for the citadel entrance.
Torches lit, they once again pushed through the large, heavy doors to find the muraled walls waiting for them.