A cool autumn breeze blows through the town. The season would be changing in the coming weeks. Winter isn't far away. Winter in the Highlands was never that rough. The nearby forest always provided enough lumber to keep stoves hot and the bounty of Thornwood provided enough food to store in warehouses for three winters. Snow would complicate travel a bit but the roads were decently maintained enough that some snow cover wouldn't be the end of commerce. 

"I will not take offense to that. I know that there are much better sentinels than myself, but unfortunately I do not know any. The only other I have ever met was Gareth and I do not think we will get many answers from him now." Paren looks back at the group, trying to think of any way he could lead them to another sentinel.

[Roll a religion check Paren]

Religion: 12

Falaine, feeling the chill will shudder, but not from the cold. "What happens with the crops burning and no high cleric? These people still need food." All accent has been removed from Falaine's voice.

Paren stays where he is for a second, his eyes closed but his lips moving slightly. He then opens his eyes and rejoins the group. "I have spoken with Lugh. If we are looking for another Sentinel then there is only one more. An elder who has been alone for so long that records of their location have been lost. All he gave me to go on was another riddle. 

Warden of the Sun. The cold's tears.

I think these two lines hide the location. Why do all these gods love riddles so much?"

Finan gave a wave and a smile at Falaine and Tanni's return, but otherwise is deeply lost in thought, only vaguely catching what the others are saying as he contemplates the contents of the poem, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. "Up until now I thought Shamara and Aiden were on the same side, but this indicates their relationship is strained as well. This part about the candle. Aiden thinks she was, or is, hungry for power. Then the last part makes it clear Aiden won't stand by and watch, and he's got an ally, maybe more. Hard to say who it is, might be his followers or maybe another God? It's not Lugh, I think."

He is silent for a moment, further thinking on what is written between the lines of the poem. "It's strange that he goes from calling Shamara's power light, to calling it an aura. Something's hidden there.
"Ah, and the middle part concerns Camiela, I'm fairly certain. It's his sister, she was the shield for the weak, but there's been little need for her help so few even remember she exists. She's 'fallen away' from the family, so to speak, though I'm not sure why Aiden brings it up here."

When Paren returns he blinks and looks up in confusion. "A what? A Sentinel? What's that?"

"Warden of the sun makes me think clouds or mountains. And the cold's tears sounds like snowfall." 

Paren takes a glance at the riddle again thinking over Finan's thoughts. "So none of these gods are on the same side. Strange." He then looks up at Finan and runs his hand in front of himself in a reveal motion. "This is a sentinel. Or more accurately, this is a sentinel. Paladins of Lugh earn the right to be called sentinel. We are the guardians of the forest, standing tall against incursions."

"I see. Why do we need another?" he asks, then shrugs. "Perhaps it implies a desert? There's one in the Lowlands, and it gets pretty cold at night."

"Falaine has found no records of the old gods in any of the records. So if we want to find out more information about them we will need someone who knows them. And though I am a Sentinal, I am new to it and do not know enough. My training was far from completed when Gareth died." 

Paren looks over the poem again. "If Aiden and Shamara are in conflict I wonder if they are fighting over who will gain control of what powers. Look at the end of the first stanza. The light you can have, the shadow is mine. What if the shadow is referring to the power over death and the entity's powers. A god of death is usually depicted as a shadow." 

Tanni takes a look at the poem, trying to see what the others are trying to decipher:

Performance check:  15

(Really sorry about only posting once a day. If my post times are awkward I don't mind stepping down to let things roll better.)

Performance: 2

Jonathan surveys the notes the group have brought together. "Hmm, well I'm no expert, but there is some poetic licence." He comments. "The light, perhaps being a vie for power, wax being the crumbling fractures within, such as waxing and waning. This is perhaps telling them their time is over, and a new power is coming to take its place."

Tanni ponders, deep in thought, listening to others as she deciphers the poem. "Seems to me that Aiden and other members of their family felt that Shamara was growing too powerful and was overreaching the boundaries of her domain. Lugh, the old god, was sealed in stone, which was fractured and led to crazy people and bloated animals full of spiders. Remember the dagger? Wasn't it on it's way to followers of Shamara, but Aiden got hold of it instead?"

She places two fingers on her temple, trying to rack her brain. "Shamara was going to use the dagger for something, but Aiden intervened. Maybe Aiden needs the dagger and the help of other gods, like Talos and, Camiela was it?, to steal some of Shamara's power? Jonathan may be right, the wax falling may be the family falling apart or turning against one of their own, Shamara."

Tanni sighs and crosses her arms on her chest. "I think there's something hidden in the caverns we saw those sailors. To me, it seems the whole thing started with the dagger and it may well be hidden at the bottom of that cave network."

She then turns to Falaine, "Remember what the geezer at the library said? He seemed sure that he had some books about Lugh, but didn't find any. Someone may try to keep the existence of old gods like Lugh hidden."

Paren scratches his head. "So this isn't really a conflict between the old gods and the new. It's a conflict between Shamara and the other gods? I would also like to point out that it is not Lugh who was trapped in the stone, it was this god of death. Lugh has stones like this one but he is not trapped in them, he is in nature." 

Falaine will chime in here. "Do we need to go to the caverns before the remodel?"

 Finan shakes his head. "No, Lugh and Aiden are not allied in this conflict, of that much I am certain. Aiden asked us to bring the shards to the Messenger, after all. Perhaps all three are simply vying for power, changing alliances when one grows too powerful. It could be that Talos and Camiela are involved, but so far we have not seen either show their hand.

"And Paren. I'm getting the sense that Lugh and this God of Death are one and the same."

Now it is Paren's turn to shake his head. "I admit to being new to this but I do not think they are the same. When I speak to them I hear two different voices, distinct voices. They are similar, like siblings maybe, but I don't think they are the same. I will ask though." His eyes close and his lips begin to move slightly again.