Gernodt's visit to the Temple
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After finishing his breakfast, Gernodt stood up.  Taking some tasty chicken 
legs which were left over, he said to Dahlarin "Well, I'll be on my way then.
It's quite a nice distance to the temple, and I'd like to be back on time...
Anyway, I'll take these as a provision for my travel.".
He stepped up to the barman, paid his bill, and left the inn, taking his
backpack with him.  Once outside, he stowed away all the chicken sticks but
one and went off at a light, relaxed jog which did, however, cover a lot of
ground.
Having nothing better to do, he chewed at the stick while thinking about the
two persons he had now joined forces...
"Well, Dahlarin seems a nice enough chap, especially for a mage.  It might,
of course, be a bit dangerous to be with him, what with his having refused
to take up any vows or alignments...  But, anyway, he seems to be very
trusting, and I'd hate to be abuse this trust placed in me.  Hell, he even
gave me his money, or part of it, of his own free will !"   
"I think he's either a trustworthy person, at least as far as mages of any
type go, or he's a real crook.  In that case, however, he must be a really 
good actor to have fooled me this completely... which I don't think.  
Well, I'll just have to go along with him, and I somehow feel that I even 
like him - and I've never been that enthusiastic about mages !"
Thoughtfully chewing his stick, Gernodt picked up the pace a little.  By
now he had already entered the forest encircling the temple.
"Hmm, now the difficult part - that lady vampire Finn...  She seems to be
of the friendly type, at least as far as vampires go... I'll admit I don't
know that much about them, but I suppose that I'll find out all I need to
know - and more, probably.  Well, I'll just ask my friend Acolyte Bertram
what I should do and what not when around her.  Anyway, once I have some
flasks of holy water and my trustworthy sword, I think I'll be able to
handle her, should she attack me - especially if Dahlarin joins my side.  
Also, there's this young man to consider who's apparently fallen in love 
with her..  Should he still be around in the morning (and still in love), 
we will have to take him with us for his own protection, if nothing else.  
I somehow have the impression that he'd follow us, in any case, and I 
simply won't have him sneaking along behind us !  Also, he should be able 
to keep Finn occupied, and that might act as a further hindrance for any 
hostile acts...  Still, it's surely a good idea to be wary around her - 
although there's no real reason for any unfriendliness."  
Happy to have reached a decision, Gernodt threw away the stick, which had
been gnawed down to the marrow by then.  He then opened his backpack to 
get another one.  It was only then that he heard a low growl coming from
behind some nearby bushes.  Silently sliding his sword from its sheath
at his back, he crouched into a defensive posture facing the source of
the sound.  However, while the sound didn't disappear, nothing else happened.
Cautiously he approached the bush from the side and peeked over it.  
What he sought nearly made him drop his sword in anger.  Instead, he simply
slid it back into its sheath along his back and slowly approached.  
In the middle of the wood, right along the path where he had been jogging, 
some animal tracks could be seen.  Along them, a hunter had set his 
bear-trap to catch animals by crushing their legs.  Caught in it, and 
growling with both pain and rage was trapped a wolf.  Judging from his size, 
he must be quite young.  Gernodt slowly approached, making low noises to
try to calm the wolf.  When this didn't seem to have any effect, he unslung
his backpack and took out some chicken's legs.  Holding one of them in his
right hand, he held it out to the wolf which eagerly bit into it.  Bending
low to look at its injury, Gernodt noted that the left foreleg seemed to be
broken.
"Hmm, quite a bad injury you've got there, my chap", he said. "Well, don't
worry - I'll try to see what I can do to help you.".  Having said that, he
cautiously reached out for the injuries. "You'll have to keep quiet now
for a little while, I'm afraid - this might hurt a lot !" He quickly set
to setting the bone, using his medical skills to simultaneously mend it.
However, when he touched the break, the wolf spit out his meal and swiftly
bit into his left forearm.  
"Hey - that's not so nice !" Gernodt grunted with the effort of concentrating
on his healing while being in pain.  Finally, the healing was accomplished
and the wolf's bite relaxed a little.  He swiftly withdrew his arm and opened
the trap.  "So, that's it for you, my dear - now I'll just open the trap
and you're free to go !".
Having said that, Gernodt use his muscles to stem open the trap, by "pure
chance" bending the parts farther than they were decided to be, thus snapping
the trap.  The wolf uncertainly tried to take a step forward, expecting to
feel the same sharp pain when putting any weight on his injured leg than
before.  He actually seemed surprised when no pain seemed to emanate from the
leg.  He then quickly ran into the woods while Gernodt was still working on
his injured arm.
"So, off he is.  Now, to end my business...".
Jogging for another few minutes, Gernodt finally arrived at the temple and
was immediately granted entry.
"Brother Bertram is in the garden", he was told by the doorkeeper, and indeed
he was.
"Hello, my friend ! Sadly, I don't have much time... Could you provide me
with some holy water flasks ?" Gernodt said.
"Why, yes, I can.  But what do you need them for ?"
"Oh, nothing much - I'll be travelling with a vampire and need them as a 
safety measure, nothing more."
Bertram was dumbfounded by this announcement. "You're what ?!? Travelling 
with a VAMPIRE ? Are you entirely nuts this time ?"
"Oh well, she might be able to help us, and I really think I'd be able to
handle her, should I be forced to do so.."
Bertram seemed unconvinced, but, knowing that arguing with Gernodt was only
a waste of time, he simply asked "What do you mean with 'us' ?"
"Well, there's this renegade mage..." Gernodt tried to reply.  However, he
was again cut short by his friend. "Oh no, don't tell me any more - I'll
not be able to join you, and I think it's better for my nerves if I don't
know too much about it...  Here, take these three flasks of holy water.
They're yours for only 30 gold pieces since I get the feeling you're going
to sorely need them..." With that, he shrugged and turned away.
"Why, thanks - here's your money ! Sorry, but I really have to be going now"
Gernodt replied, took and stowed away the bottles and then left.
Breaking into an easy stride, he entered the forest.  Soon afterwards, he
got the eerie feeling of being stalked.  Pausing in his stride, he turned
around to face who- or whatever was coming at him.  Still, he was surprised
to see the wolf he'd healed and who seemed to follow him...
"Oh, my dear - please go away.  I really can't take you with me, and you're
really much better off in the woods where you belong." he said, illustrating
his words with some signals.  The wolf, however, blissfully ignored all this
and simply came up to him.
"Well, if you really want to come with me, try to keep up with me" he said
and broke into a dead run.  Not surprisingly, the wolf easily kept up with
his pace and followed him.  When he reached the vicinity of the inn, the
wolf seemed to grow uneasy, yet he still insisted on following him...

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Next time:
How Dahlarin spends his day...
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