4 On to Phandalin

Tatiana looks for an adjacent building or an attachment to the shrine. She did not expect this meager pile of stones to be the shrine itself; instead she thought... well, something grander.

"Hello?" she calls out in case someone is nearby. "Sister Garaele?"

Raven pulled away from Alex for a moment, "Was that Trakomak going into that building over there?"

By the time he looks a second time, the figure had slipped into the building. "Missed him..."

Raven looks at the shrine, but does not comment, not having any particular closeness with the named gods.

Alex looks down the road. I didn’t see anyone, Raven, and the half-orc is hard to miss.

Alex upon arriving at the shrine you recognize the symbol.

Alex’s eyes alighted on the shrine in recognition, and the normally boisterous young man was overtaken by a mien of seriousness. The magnitude of the past few days—especially his all-too-close brush with death—cascaded over him like a draught of ice-cold water. Dropping to his knees, he bowed his head in prayer. In a low, but audible voice, he began. Luckbringer, Tyche’s fair-haired daughter, your unworthy follower thanks you for your protection in his time of mortal danger. May you continue to bestow your smile upon me as I dare in my quests—personal and otherwise—and may I continue to bring you joy in my adventures. At this point, Alex reaches into his coin pouch and pulls out a single copper piece. As is his wont, he has it dance between his knuckles and through his fingers before giving it a vigorous flick with his thumb, which causes it to spin into the air, flashing brightly. Watching it rise and then begin to fall, he ends his prayer with the traditional A copper to the Lady returns tenfold in gold!

"Cleric or not?" snaps Decklan.

Tatiana waits until Alex has completed his flashy prayer before saying, "Perhaps the Sister is away." She steps closer to the shrine to see if there is an offering bowl or some receptacle for donations, and if so, will deposit a copper coin.

She calls out again for Sister Garaele, this time looking towards any neighboring buildings.

As Alex’s coin flips in the air then lands in the offering bowl that rests upon the shrine a Elvin woman exits a small house close to the shrine. "Greetings. Lady’s eyes on you all." She has golden hair and sharp cheekbones.

Raven watched Alex and Tatiana deposit a copper. He shrugged, adding his own copper to the offering. Although he did not follow the named gods, it never hurt to offer something he supposed.

Lady’s favor to you, Luckbringer, Alex responds in kind. We are recent arrivals to Phandalin, having dared not only the road but the lair of a pack of evil goblinoids and their minions to not only deliver sorely needed goods, but to deliver their master from certain death at the hand of said beasts. The Mistress of Good Fortune gazed with kindness upon us and we persevered, but our patron was sorely afflicted and is in need of aid. Or at least a diagnosis. Would that be within your remit, lady Luckbringer?

"Ain't us. They did a number on the boss's eyes. He's at the inn, where he can sit and not trip over things," Decklan replies. "Safer that way."

Trakomak slides in and closes door behind him. So, it is a dragon. Who cares about orcs with dragon around?
Half-Orc took at the person who is stupid enough to think his house could protect him against a dragon. Suddenly he have lost the train of thought and even the reason of the visit . And... Am... So... is all he could say at the moment

The wizard looks between Sister Garaele and the others. She did not interrupt the loquacious explanation provided by the swashbuckler until the elf asked her question and Decklan answered.

With a polite clearing of her throat, she introduced herself with a curtsy. "I am Tatiana Grifstone of Waterdeep. With me is Decklan and Raven." Here, she indicated the two with her hand. With her other hand, she indicates Alex. "And our ambassador is Alexander Simonnet Natalis de Bertier du Puy."

Tatiana then adds, "Our afflicted employer is Master Gundren Rockseeker. As stated, he is at the Stonehill Inn. He was captured while traveling and it is reported that he was forced to imbibe some kind of liquid that took his sight. We would greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide."

As he speaks Sister Garaele tilts her head at Decklan but before her curious look lingers to long Tatiana begins her introductions. Upon Tatiana’s mention of Gundren the clerics sky blue eyes snap to the other blond. You say Gundren hired you." She seems to relax a moment then tense up again, "Oh, but he’s the one hurt." She shifts a step toward the Inn, she gives a friendly but tight smile to everyone having been introduced. "Of course I’ll look him over, lead the way."

---

Trakomak the man before you is a slightly rotund man in his late 50's. His plump belly hangs out over his stubby legs, while his greying hair is thinning at the temples and crown. His clothes are a bit to fine for a back water town like Phandalin and he holds himself very importantly. "I am Townmaster Harbin Wester." He introduces himself as he takes a cautious step back from your large self. "If you have some business to attend let us get on with it. I believe you mentioned somthing about a house?"

Tatiana nods and gestures towards the Stonehill Inn. "This way, please." She turns and begins the walk to see to Gundren.

Raven keeps glancing over at the build that Trakomak had gone into, wondering what he was doing, but it was none of his business really. He looked around the village, mostly he noticed every stray cat, dog, bird or other wildlife which has made its way into the village life.

Raven allowed Sister Garaele to follow immediately behind Tatiana and drifted toward the back of the group, more because he was distracted and not moving with the haste of the others.

Raven asked Alex quietly, "I was curious, why do nobles have so many names? Most folks in my village have two at most - I've only got the one and it seems to work just fine. Even with all those names, mostly it ends up Lord something-or-other anyway."

Raven braced himself to be ready to decipher Alex's answer.

You know, Raven, that's a really good question. I can think of a few reasons. When it comes to family names, they often contain some reference to the originally ennobled member or the land grant that came along with the nobility. In my case, that is the "de Bertier du Puy". In ages past, the area around Amphail specifically granted to my forbear, Baron Bertier, was known locally as Puy. So he was "Bertier of Puy" and I am a scion "of Bertier of Puy".As for my glorious litany of first names, when one's family is noble, there are a lot of people to whom one is beholden; especially as the marriages are often political. So someone's great-grandfather's younger brother's first cousin's wife's stepfather's half-sister's brother-in-law needs to be acknowledged—especially if he is wealthy. To be honest, I cannot precisely recall who Simonnet or Natalis were. For all I know, Natalis may have been some last name on my mother's side. Which is why I go by Alex among friends. Here Alex stops for a moment and looks at Raven. I can call you a friend, can I not?

Decklan strides by Alex and Raven, enough to hear their exchange over names. "The answer is 'pretentious bullshit.'"

He never breaks stride, headed towards Gundren to see if they can actually help the man. He'd taken peoples' eyes before... it does a number on them. Mentally more than physically. The sudden, soul crushing realization that your entire world changed in an instant... that something you took for granted was gone. As you learn to deal with the lack of sight, depression wasn't uncommon.

Sure, some people were resilient. Decklan always had a touch of respect for tough bastards... but the impact of violently losing your sight was not to be diminished. It was rough, and they owed the boss to see if they could help him.