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Lucretia arrives at Fortune Hall as dusk is approaching. Mounting the steps, he is welcomed by a young good looking female half-elf, who appeared to be waiting for something or someone. Continually flipping a coin with her fingers, she gestures for Lucretia to enter the temple, and then again at Milo and Ceely, hurrying to catch Lucretia up. Grinning at the beautiful young woman, Lucretia steps into the temple.

Inside, Lucretia pauses as his eyes acclimatise to the dim light that comes in through stained glass windows high above. As Milo and Ceely arrive at his side, he spots Balnor knelt in prayer in front of an alter. There are several alcoves off to each side of the temple, and the rattle of dice and the faint murmur of voices can be heard from them. Balnor glances around, and spotting the three of his friends, stumbles to his feet quickly, almost embarrassed to be seen praying. At his side, a taller, middle aged half elven woman stands, calmly watching them approach. "H-Hi Luc,", stammers Balnor, strangely troubled by something, as he nods a greeting to Ceely and Milo as well.

"Ah, you must be the Lucretia we have heard so much about!" says the priestess. "All good fear not!" she smiles gently at Lucretia's surprised look. She looks at Milo. "And judging from your appearance, you must be Milo the Painbearer." She bows low, giving Milo the respect he deserves. Finally, she looks at Ceely, frowning in thought for a moment, before she catches the slight almond shape to her eyes and the point on her ear. "And that makes you Ceely!" she says, smiling in satisfaction as her deductive powers. "Young Balnor here told me much about his good friends!"

"Let me introduce myself" continues the priestess. "My name is Luckpriestess Aratha Sul, sadly the replacement for Luckpriestess Shermata Chang, whose run of good luck finally ended only a few weeks earlier whilst investigating a ruin in the Moonwoods." Aratha shakes her head sadly for a moment, then looks up again, her sadness suddenly gone. "I have spent the last week praying for guidance in her absence, and I have been answered."

She hesitates for a moment, glancing at Balnor, and then back at the three of them. "Balnor entered Fortune Hall at a fortunate time" she smiles at her choice of words, "and he has been chosen by Tymora to do the Lady's will. He has found faith - he has told me about your troubled journey from Neverwinter, and to be honest, has himself been troubled by a lot of it, and perhaps even by things that happened before you left Neverwinter."

Balnor looks down at his feet, suddenly seeming a lot younger than his actual 18 years.

Balnor finally looks up at Lucretia, one of his closest friends. "I-I know it sounds crazy Luc, but I need to do this. I'm afraid you'll have to go to Kheizar Dalan without me!" Balnor shakes his head sadly. Lucretia's eyes widen at the mention of the lost dwarven stronghold, and looks daggers at Balnor for a moment.

Catching the look, the Luckpriestess raises her hand placating. "It is alright, I already knew about your expedition to the lost dwarven halls. Tymora had told me what I needed to know in a vision." she says cryptically.

Lucretia's mouth opens and shuts a few times, not sure what to say. At his side, Milo and Ceely are similarly dumbstruck.

Aratha continues. "Balnor will be staying here with us in the temple, whilst he goes through the rites of initiation into the faith. He was worried that he would be leaving you in the lurch, but my prayers and vision have also revealed the solution." Her eyes rise to look over Lucretia's shoulder. Turning to see what she is looking at, Lucretia is shocked to see the same half-elven woman who had greeted him standing right behind him.

"May I introduce Vaslin Riverside, she will be accompanying you..."

<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "I mean, this is quite sudden Mistress Aratha Sul...
> I mean after all, you know what we seek, you take an
> important member of our troop and offer us someone we
> don't even know."

Aratha nods her head in understanding. "I know, it does seem rather sudden, but who are we to question the gods. To coin a phrase - the gods move in mysterious ways. The vision that Lady Luck has graciously given me has shown me that Vaslin needs to be with you... if she is not, then one of your party - perhaps more - will likely die. If she is with you, then she will be in a position to prevent that happening. You will see the truth of this in time."

<Vaslin aka Veronica wrote>:
> "Tymora has taking a liking to your little adventuring
> group Painbearer ...and my services are given to you
> free of charge with no strings attached...<She looks
> toward Aratha Sul wondering if this was indeed true.>

Aratha, still smiling in mild amusement from the exchange between Vaslin and Lucretia nods affirmation to Vaslin. "Since Balnor will be spending a lot of time with us, it is only fair that he spends this evening with his companions before they go..." The older halfelf Luckpriestess turns to Vaslin. "I suggest you also go and introduce yourself to them." She glances at Milo and Ceely. "Not all of them may be as accepting of this sudden change to their party."

Balnor nods. "I'll do my best to smooth things over" he says. Bowing low towards the alter for a moment, Balnor turns and leads the small group out of the temple and back to the Inn of the Wayward Sages.

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