It was a sunny morning in the hamlet of New Destonia, about 7:00 in the morning. Per the norm, Elena woke up with a long stretch and a hopeful smile, what could go wrong with a sunny day? She folded up her bedroll and donned her priestess robes, a modest white outfit accessorized with a wooden symbol of the Mother she wore about the neck. She was expecting a few more arrivals today, and she hoped that they'd be able further help their cause. She spun in a slow circle, surveying the entire town being built under her instruction. She sighed and thought to herself, "No word from Brother Gradus yet... I'm starting to doubt if they're going to send any other ecclesiastical help at all. I'll just have to rely on what I have. It's hard to keep your spirits high knowing you've basically been sent on a suicide mission..."

With these thoughts consuming her, Elena kneels in front of the shrine, beginning her morning prayers to the Mother.

New Destonia, place to which she went, still wondering why she would listen to that grumpy man from before, curiosity was her best guess. All that heard about this new place had such hopes for peace, and yet as she went there with a caravan…not once, but twice it was raided.

It was truly fortunate, and unfortunate that they did it at night, thanks to it she had a snack in between the trees. Now, now caravan is nearing its destination, in a better condition than the expected one, all while she’s inside one of the horse-drawn carriage, shielded from light thanks to a simple sheet covering people and materials…maybe even some food.

She looked from under her hood at the people around, who were still afraid of a hooded traveler with skin pale as snow, but less than before.

Her early deception that she had a rare condition seemed to have eased their hearts, and with the last raid some may have even took a liking to her, especially one stupid boy who wanted to be a hero…

Boy that now had a book, book that she gave him, she sighed wondering why even bother doing it all - saving them.
Carriage soon stopped, and her thoughts were interrupted as sunlight flew into a carriage by sheet being pulled away, what followed was people stepping out, she stepped out as well, wincing slightly.

She took a few steps, and saw the smiling boy once more…

Immediately she felt a hug, someone’s head on her stomach, it was a young boy with a book in hands, who happened to come out rather quickly of another carriage. She stood still, stiff for a brief moment, then she lightly brushed his hair and muttered - You ought to focus on helping your father...

After a while he let go, his hands still clinging strongly to book she gave him, his eyes glowing with happiness as she nodded quickly. She watched him quickly ran back to father and mother, who weren’t pleased to see a book and a spark of hero’s beginning.

“Hiro, we’ll carry some boxes, book leave with mother...” Father said, but Pandora cared no more, curiosity existent yet light being too annoying.

She looked around, in search of a shadow, pleasant and maybe bit colder place, and she found such place, a shadow of building. Finally in a more pleasant place, she stood and watched as they slowly unloaded everything that was brought.

Now, staring time I guess…

After her prayers, the young priestess turns to see a figure in the shadow of a nearby building. Contrary to what one might expect, a shimmer of hope shines in her eyes as she realizes she doesn't recognize the person. They must have come to help! She hurries over to the figure, almost falling right on her face before catching herself with a yelp. She dusts her outfit off before coming over to the lady and bowing politely, "Welcome to New Destonia! Are you here to help? My name is Sister Elena Briarwood, a pleasure to meet you to be sure." She earnestly extends a hand as well as a warm smile.

Just as she was able to relax, some priestess seemed to have noticed them, or rather her because she couldn’t ask anyone else. She sighed at the question, question to which answer was obvious.

“Question has an obvious answer, but I’m not here to answer it, just keeping bandits at bay, ask the priestie that came with us…” She said from under the hood, her eyes focused on the priestess.

I should have just pretended to not understand what she says… - she yawned lightly, and covered mouth with a hand in glove, that only showed her pale fingers.

Her sight now focused at the extended hand, wondering whether to accept it or not.

Ah, whatever, at least let’s pretend a warm welcome is really warm…

Just as she finished yawning Pandora extended her hand as well, holding onto the priestess hand and shaking it lightly.

Hrmph... All day hiking and not a single rabbit. Not even a caravan. What road was he even on? The small vulpine huffed and wrapped his cloak against him, shielding from the stiff breeze that had arisen as he crested the current hill. He stopped dead in his tracks, realising there was a small village just off in the distance, making his heart and body relax. He had some of the gold discs the hairless monkeys seemed so infatuated with, which meant he might be able to trade them for some food. He began to walk briskly towards the village, panting with excitement at the thought of food he didn't have to chase.

As Midgra wandered his way happily down the path, he noticed some of the townsfolk looking up from their work, slow and confused, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Midgra had no clue what made him so special, but waved a happy hand at each of the perplexed looking citizens, tail wagging away as he walked down the trail. Nothing could dampen his mood as he marched through the main street, looking for some sort of indication of a tavern. Then it caught him.

His muzzle lifted air-wards as the wafting scent of seared meat and cooked potatoes hit his nostrils. He stopped dead in his tracks, tail sticking straight out and statue still. He slowly honed in on where it could possibly be coming from, letting his nose do the navigating. He was led up to the entrance of the Swinging Sword, where the smell was irresistible. Struggling with the door, he used all of his weight to slowly push the wooden barricade open with some grunts of duress. Leaving the door open, he looked around, panting happily and looking for the first person he could spot. Whoever that soul may be, Midgra began to wave at them, running up and pulling out his coin purse. "Greetings, food lady!" He said in a strange accent, smiling and pushing the coin purse towards them.

Jorlyn Stone

Jorlyn quietly tended to his mug of mead, his eyes staring into the space in front of him as he recollected his most recent turn of events. He had been traveling southward for days in search of the growing settlement of Amberwood when he had been bombarded by a pair of thieves on the road. While no brute warrior, Jorlyn was able to trick them long enough to deliver a surprise attack, using their painful confusion as an opportunity to escape. He had always been able to talk himself halfway out of a sticky situation... relying on his prowess in combat to pull him the rest of the way. Fortunately, New Destonia was only a half day's journey off; Jorlyn trailed into town unnoticed by most as he searched for a place to get a drink and a bed. Shielding his eyes from the bright morning sun, he saw it: Swinging Sword Tavern & Inn.

The sound of heavy wood-on-wood being scraped slowly together brought Jorlyn's attention to the entrance of the tavern. A small creature covered in auburn fur hobbled inside. A Mishqua! Jorlyn had only ever read about this rare hybrid being, so, like near everyone else in the room, the new patron had piqued Jorlyn's interest. He watched as the mishqua approached the bar, which to Jorlyn's slight amusement, was just a few inches shorter than he -- with common intuition, he deduced that it was a male. He spoke in a strange, albeit energetic tone to the charming young maiden tending to the Swinging Sword's patrons. The lady seemed kind and genuine, in fact, most of the townsfolk Jorlyn had seen this morning appeared friendly and joyful -- a foreign collective attitude to him.

The young man continued to watch the furry humanoid from the far end of the bar, but his mind began to wander again. Glancing around instinctively, making sure nobody was watching him, Jorlyn retrieved an old piece of parchment from one of his satchels, and flattened it as best he could upon the counter top. He reached for a small candle, dragging it closer and inspecting the scrawlings. It was a map -- and not just any map; it was a very old map of this very land... long before men had constructed kingdoms or law. From what Jorlyn had gathered, legend tells of an antique entity hidden away in the ancient mines of Singeist, a group of tunnels and caves beneath the mountain ridges that can be seen from town. So close now...

Feeling eyes upon him, Jorlyn glanced around and saw a few straggling gazes. Though he only meant to peak at it again, he must've had the map out in front of him for several moments before he hastily folded it and replaced it in his bag. In an effort to appear more casual, he downed the rest of his mead, and let forth an impressive burp. He had to admit, it was nice to be back under a roof and in the company of others... not to mention not needing to hunt his food for a while. Yes, this place will do nicely... After all, I don't see any reason to rush..., Jorlyn thought as he ordered another drink, now with a small but mysterious smile planted upon his face.

The young priestess nodded, "Happy to have you here, please make yourself at home! Houses are still being constructed right now and we can always use another hand helping with those. If manual labour isn't your fancy though, please feel free to head to the tavern and speak with Florina. She's my right hand woman for planning and delegating jobs throughout the town. Otherwise, you may go explore the town at your leisure and relax after the long journey." She would release Pandora's hand and give another bow as she explained, "And please, if you have any questions about the town, myself, or this shrine here, don't hesitate to ask."

Pandora did not expect to be welcomed so warmly, especially by priestess. Manual labor wasn’t a problem for her, but she would rather spend time on it at a later hour, when it comes to questions there were few that came to mind.

“Whose shrine is this? Other thing I’m curious about is a bit of you, and a bit about the town, always good to know where one stands.”

Before one could answer she added…

“I meant that it would be good if you’d tell us what to expect.” She looked at people who worked hard to get settled, priestess should tell them a thing or two about this place.