trickle of belief

[tuo]

Etch strode down the roads of Ronduin, followed closely by Meeka and Hera along with two other mystics who have chosen to accompany him to bring the mystics together. "If you require supplies or rest there are shops and inns near this area. I will go and speak with the priests at the local temple to search for any who may join us."

[Kender Bard]

"Do you wish to go alone?" Meeka inquired.

Hera clasped her hands together and grinned. "Oh, let me go with you Etch!"

[tuo]

Etch smiled. "I would like for you all to accompany if possible. I feel that soon things will begin to change."

[Kender Bard]

(Mood Music)

The four followers of Etch were abuzz with excitement at this news - it was a revelation, almost a prophecy, from their idolized leader.

"How so, honored one?" Hera asked, curious, as she drew closer to him.

[tuo]

Etch smiled slightly. "It's like a vision, except I can almost feel it instead of seeing it." He continues to lead them to the temple.

[adris]

Standing just within the temple is a short, aged man who seems to be having some words with a much taller, stronger gentleman. The older man is waving his walking stick around as he yells one thing after another to the abashed youngster. The words may have been hard to make out unless one was listening, with the raised voice it sounded rather scratchy.

Most of it was obvious chastisement for a failed job, something about retrieving something not precisely to specifications. There was no real violence or enmity between the two, more like a thick fog of frustration.

[tuo]

Etch looked at the two men curiously before approaching. "Excuse me, but what is important enough to disrupt the peace of this temple?"

[adris]

The old man stops his rant to eye the man who just approached him, sizing him up appropriately. Settling down into his small frame he took a second to balance on his walking stick.

"I was just informing this buffoon of the correct materials that need to be collected for my," he looks left and right, trying to see if there are any of the more pious nearby, "lets say experiments. I give him a simple list and he can't even figure out the difference between Crimson and Garnet!"

The taller man stands silently, looking abashed at his mistake. It is quite easy to tell at this point what the power structure between these two people are.

[tuo]

Etch frowns in confusion, unsure what he was talking about. "I'm sorry, but I am not sure I understand what you are talking about..this does not sound like it concerns religious matters.."

[adris]

He coughed suddenly, which only seemed to help in making his old voice even raspier. He wondered if he should tell the truth, but figured he wouldn't be extradited if he did. Besides, these people may be interested in his services, especially if he payed well. He was traveling with two women after all.

"Of course not, its just sometimes easier to sell what I do if I link it to religion. Not everyone wants to deal with mysticism, so if I tell them that they will think its hocus-pocusry, if I say its a message from the forces their pockets turn inside out."

He cackled to himself, not insidiously, it was more of a time when his voice didn't help distinguish at all. The big man waited for a while, then began to laugh nervously behind the old gentleman. That was until he was poked with a walking stick and promptly silenced himself.

[tuo]

Etch's eyes darken a little at the old mans explanation. "So..you invoke the name of the Forces in order to peddle some mere trinkets? In a temple no less." Etch folds his arms across his chest in a way to make contact with his signs. "What you are doing sounds to be sacrilege and I will not accept such a thing to occur right in front of me."

[adris]

The eyes of the larger man darkened as well at the threat, and he stepped forward a bit to cover for his aged friend.

"Now now, no need to get all worked up over nothing. An old man has to make some change for his gruel now doesn't he? Besides, my skills are authentic, even if my business is not. I'd show you but you seem to be more inclined towards punching my lights out."

The old man seems undaunted, but he keeps both feet planted firmly on the ground. He really didn't expect someone to start a brawl in the streets of Ronduin. This close to the temple seems equally absurd.

[tuo]

Etch frowns at the two men while studying them carefully. "How much of your profits are donated to the temple?"

(So so so sorry this took so long, I was completely stumped on what to do so I just finally decided to get it moving even if it was a stupid, tiny little thing.)