[PP-F4] Wintertide Wayfarers

[Miaki 0]

Elyth's pushing Miaki towards the door made it apparent to him that she fully intended on getting this quest finished up and didn't want to waste time. He looked in his arms and forgot that he was holding the <> folded in his arms. As Elyth came along beside him he threw the blanket around them and they pushed out into the stormy night moving further into the town.

[Elyth 0]

"So, uh, do you know which direction we have to go in to find the Temple?" Elyth asked Miaki, as she hadn't been paying attention when the guy at the tavern was giving out instructions.

She quickly scanned the foggy, snow-covered horizon. No luck. She ducked her head down below the umbrella again and was about to stop moving at all when she spotted a light. It had a warm glow to it, and it's existence confused Elyth.

Why would there be a light out here in a snowstorm?

"Miaki, I see a light. Please confirm its existence and justify the fact that I'm not insane," she asked of her companion.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki stuck an hand out from the warmth of the blanket around them and shielded his eyes from the storm. He focused his field of vision on the light off in the distance. "My dear lady. Your eyes do not deceive you. That is indeed a light and thus removing any possibilities of insanity." He pictured the village in mind forming a mental map in his head. "Oh! I do believe that is the very same direction that the innkeeper was talking about. What luck!" He picked up his pace enough for Elyth to notice and see if she would follow suit.

[Elyth 0]

"Aw yes," Elyth grinned. Finally, they were close to completing the quest! Hopefully something fun would happen now.

The temple soon came into view, a sturdy building built with what seemed to be a material similar to marble. It also looked like Greco-roman architecture. Even though the building was covered with snow, Elyth could see that was heavily adorned with little carving and small, delicate pieces of art.

Stopping only briefly to admire the small decor, Elyth and Miaki quickly ran into the Temple, where she proceeded to put the umbrella back in her inventory.

"Looks like we're here," Elyth said. "And this Temple is bigger than I thought it would be."

[Miaki 0]

Once they were safely inside, Miaki put the bear pelt blanket back into his inventory for later use since they certainly would be needing it. He stared up at the walls and ceiling looking at the fine interior decorating. "Yeah, and it looks even bigger once you're inside. I'm half expecting to see you Michelangelo piece in here." He commented. They moved further in and noticed a sizable opening leading out into another large, open room. "I bet this is the place were are looking for." Miaki said as they both approached the opening. When they walked in they found themselves in a large spacious area with a small elevated platform and a small alter of some kind in the back of the room.

[Elyth 0]

Elyth nodded in response to Miaki's reply. She looked around the room, and then the other room, trying to find a piece of art likened to Michelangelo's works.

And there it was, behind and above the altar, in the very spacious room Elyth and Miaki had just stepped into. It was a figure of a tree, more specifically a cherry tree, a blossoming cherry tree, a symbol of spring. Ah, the irony.

It was pretty. It was a pretty Treelyth.

Moving on, Elyth moved her eyes down to scan for anything else in the spacious room. The room was like a Roman temple, with all the marble pillars and other Greco-Roman architectural perks.

[Miaki 0]

The background music playing in the temple consisted of kithara and a aulos. As Elyth and Miaki moved further in the music faded out and was replaced by with Greek Orthodox Byzantine chanting. Miaki admired the surreal architecture in the temple. The chanting was soothing and caused Miaki to relax, forgetting the cold of the outdoors.

They walked through a small arch into a large inner sanctum. Massive marble pillars and arches held up the ceiling. There were only a few people in the room but the chanting hinted that there were a large group of men singing. Miaki leaned closer to Elyth and whispered. "Do you think that is the village chief near the alter praying?"

[Elyth 0]

Wow. The music here was pretty awesome. It gave off this sense of... Majestic-nes, somehow. Looking around, there were actually some other persons in the room besides themselves, though the others were most probably all NPCs who worked at the Temple.

Miaki suddenly leaned in. "Do you think that is the village chief near the altar praying?"

Elyth's eyes strayed to the human figure before the altar. "Maybe," she replied. "Let's check."

And with that, Elyth cautiously stepped up to the indicated figure at the altar. Watching her steps, Elyth tried to be as ninja-y as she could, and lightly tapped on the person(who she could now identify as an elderly person of unknown gender)'s shoulder.

"Excuse me, are you the mayor of Snowfrost Town?" She whispered.

[Miaki 0]

"Excuse me, are you the mayor of Snowfrost Town?" She whispered.

The elderly figure who was praying a few feet away from the alter sat up and faced Miaki and Elyth. The light purple robed figure removed it's hood and showed the face of an elderly woman. She spoke in a quiet, faintly strained voice. "No,no. That would be my husband you are looking for."

Miaki, who kept a short distance when Elyth was sneaking up to the figure, walked up beside Elyth and asked, "Is he here?"

"Yes. He is in the antechamber in the East wing. I'll take you to him." She struggled to get up from her knelled position. Miaki quickly stepped forward and helped the village chief's wife to her feet. "Thank you laddie." She turned around and walked toward a doorway leading to what he assumed was the antechamber. When they got to the other end of the sanctum, she pointed at the entry way with a slightly trembling arm. "Right in here." Just before reaching the entryway the elderly woman said, "I can make the rest of the distance. Don't want my husband to think I'm unwell."

The three walked in and saw an elderly man seated in a red ornate chair. This was the village chief. He was dressed in similar fashion to that of his wife but his robe had no hood on it.

"Nori, who are our guests here?"

Miaki placed his right hand on his chest and introduced himself. "My name is Miaki Murakami. And this is..." He gestured towards Elyth with the same hand and let her introduce herself.

[Elyth 0]

Seeing how Miaki wasn't going to introduce her, Elyth bowed to the mayor and his wife. "And I am Elyth, good sir and madam."

"What are you here for, children?" The village chief asked. "You must have something of great importance to show me if you have braved the storm outside."

Children? That was new. "We come with a letter from the Tailor Shop, sir," Elyth answered as she materialized her envelope and placed it in the mayor's outstretched hands.

Then she strode back to where Miaki was standing, waiting for the Mayor to read the letter.

*Ding*

Floor 4- Meeting the Chief

The shopkeeper has run out of «Warm Winter Coats», and needs someone to send to the village chief!

Objective: Find the Village Chief.

*Quest Complete*

[Miaki 0]

The mayor opened the letter and began to read the contents. Miaki watched the elder's eyes scan over the paper until he was done.

"It would seem our little village has run out of winter coats and are in need of some. I must send someone for supplies immediately." The mayor grabbed a cane that was leaning against his chair and got to his feet. "Nori, find something proper as a token of our appreciation. They clearly had to face the violent storm affecting us to bring this news. I'm off to find a person to leave the village and bring help."

Nori stood up watching her husband leave. "What can I do for you two travelers?"

[Elyth 0]

As the village chief left, Elyth briefly checked her inventory to make sure that her umbrella was still there. Okay, good. Things were still where they should be.

She turned back just as Nori stood up, and said," What can I do for you two travelers?"

Hmm. She thought. Would we need something in this village to help us in the future, other than some winter coats? And my umbrella?

Elyth turned to Miaki, at a loss for what to ask for.

"Hey, Miaki, what do we need here?"

[Miaki 0]

"Hey, Miaki, what do we need here?" Elyth said, turning to face him.

"Well, umm. That's a good question. Besides something warm to wear I can't think of much else..." Miaki wondered what they could possibly have use of. He and Elyth had been so focused on the cold that nothing else seemed to come to mind. The mayor's wife interrupted his thoughts.

"I have just the thing in mind. You two are very close to the size of some of my grandchildren. I'll send I do believe my husband and I have some of their old clothes from when they would visit us year ago. I'll see about setting you up with something of theirs. It's the least I could do for you two having faced this wretched storm."

[Elyth 0]

Hearing what Nori said made Elyth happy. Mentally, these were her thoughts:

"That would be wonderful, Ms. Nori!" Elyth exclaimed happily, clasping her hands together out of habit.

"Now, now, wait here patiently while I find the clothes," Nori responded, shuffling around in her long robe and heading towards the door at the back of the room.

Elyth sat down, still happily grinning, with her legs crossed, on the floor.

[Miaki 0]

Miaki eyes widened with delight as he heard the existence of warm coats. He began to fantasize about what type of jacket that could possibly have given to them. Something large and made of fur? What color? Black? Brown? White? He didn't know. He threw his fist in the air in victory and spun on his heel then flopped in the second chair. "Take you're time ma'am. We're not going anywhere." He said in a loud voice so she could hear from another room.

[Elyth 0]

Soon, the sound of a door opening reached Elyth's digital eardrums. She looked up in gleeful surprise, eyes full of wonder and hope.

"Mrs. Nori is back with the sweaters!" Elyth exclaimed, happy as the day that she discovered she was probably pi-sexual.

Pi was amorous emotion. Pi was existence.

*Ahem*

Elyth looked on as Nori came back into the room, carrying two coats, of about equal sizes. They looked warm, and certainly soft. Brown in color, they were probably made from the pelt of some poor, massacred animal.

...

That was the wrong thing to think of.

[Miaki 0]

"Here you are children. Two warm coats for you. I remember my grandchildren running around in the snow years ago with these on. Oh but I'm gonna get worked up here. Take them." Nori said as she handed each of them a coat.

"Thank you so much!" Miaki exclaimed as he removed his trench coat and put on the winter coat. He could immediately feel the difference in how warm he felt. "Ohh soooo nice. This is exactly what I needed."

"You are welcome. You were very helpful for us. More than you may know."

Miaki hugged himself in the warm coat then looked at Elyth as she put hers on. "So where do we go from here do you think?"

[Elyth 0]

"Well, we have many options: Looking for someone else to help, exploring Floor 4, or something else that I can't think of at the moment," Elyth replied. Slipping on the coat, she smiled. "Personally, I think we'll run into people to help later, so we should go exploring!"

As she exhaled, Elyth's shoulders drooped slightly. She looked down at the floor, and then back at Miaki.

"Ah, well, that is, if you would like to come with me, Miaki," Elyth muttered hesitantly.

[Miaki 0]

"C-Can I?" He asked with a slight hint of excitement in his voice. One of his favorite things to do was explore new areas and places. Ever since he first visited the fourth floor he would make a point to see some of the many amazing places the floor had to offer. Some of them were more isolated than others because of the floor's natural elements making it difficult to trek some of the regions. The prospect of new discoveries and adventure excited Miaki to no end.

[Elyth 0]

Detecting a "hint of excitement," Elyth smiled.

She bowed to her companion with a flair, and declared, "It would be my honor to be accompanied by such an awesome person! Let's do this!"

"Now, let's go find something to do!"