The Star of Helia

You are all currently in the small town of Cendor, a small farming and trading town which is pretty much halfway between teh dwarven city of Iron Hill and the human city of Westing. It is about 75 kilometer (a little over 46.5 miles) to the north-northeast of Westing as the crow flies and only slightly farther away than this to the south-southeast of Iron Hill, once again, as the crow flies. It rests at teh northwestern "corner" of the Dawn Woods, a forest full of lumber, nuts, and herbs, but also full of monsters... Some of you maybe were born here and lived there your whole life, some of you maybe moved here relatively recently (depending on how long-lived your race is), and others are merely passing by, looking for employment...

Some of you (at least those who can read) will either have noticed an announcement on the public board, or will have heard a town crier announce that Arla, the head priestess of the small shrine of Helia here in tow, is looking for a band of adventurers.

Both Feridir and Ulfgar are making their way to the small shrine of Helia in town, closely following the dwarven priest who was reading the announcement moments earlier.

The barkeep answers Grapthor.

"I 'ear recently that Arla, the head priestess o' Helia here in town was lookin' fer adventurers. Maybe you should try there my good dwarf friend."The small group makes its way to the small shrine to Helia in town. Looking at the building it seem to be one of the biggest building in town, made of old masonry which has been patched as best as possible through the years. The size and shape of the building seem to suggest that it is serving the roles of temple, school, and possibly orphanage all in one. A stylized sun is emblazoned on the front of the shrine, indicating it is a place of worship for followers of Helia, the Goddess of light.

The group is assembled at the temple of Helia. An elf, two humans, and three dwarves. They announce that they are answering Arla's demand for adventurers to a servant at the entrance. The group is then led to an antechamber and asked to patiently wait as the servant will fetch Arla. While waiting, the group has the time to admire the modest decorations of the temple. Cendor is a small town after all, they probably do not have that much money to spare for the decoration of their temple... Still, the dwarves will be able to catch with their discerning eyes a bit of dwarven craftsmanship here and there. This makes sense since the dwarves from Iron Hill further north often come here to trade with the human merchants from Westing further south as well as the rest of the Freelands.

Eventually, a human woman who looks to be in her late 30s, dressed in the white robes of a priestess and adorn with another stylized sun emblem on her vestments enters the room and greets you, thanking you for your patience.

"Hello there adventurers. Sorry to have kept you waiting, but as the head priestess of this temple, my days can be quite busy, even though this is but an humble small shrine in a small town... Well, I should stop wasting your time with tales of my priestly obligations now and get straight to the point, I suppose. The reason I need adventurers is because I need to have the ruins of an old temple of Helia located on Bear Peak in the middle of the Dawn Woods explored. After pouring through ancient texts, I have reason to believe that an ancient relic of the fait of Helia, thought lost to us centuries ago, might still be residing there. Bear Peak is roughly 38 kilometres away (a little over 23.5 miles) as the crow flies. But moving through hunting trails will definitely take longer."

Then, with a bit of nervousness she concludes.

"As for reward, I'm afraid being a small shrine located in such a small town, we do not have much to offer you beside the gratitude of the church of Helia and the town of Cendor, I'm sure I could scrounge up a small purse of gold pieces if you are the kind of adventurers who work for money. So, will you accept the job?"