Pine needles softened the blow of Connor's boots to the forest floor as he trudged through the trees. The midnight moon overhead and the dim light of a dying flashlight were all he had to guide him through the unfamiliar wilderness. He had been at this for nearly an hour with no sign of the clearing his patron had mentioned. He would give up and go home if he wasn't afraid of what the minor deity may do to him if he did not uphold his end of the pact. 

So, he kept walking, scanning the pines for the symbol his patron had shown him. Runes. Connor was familiar enough with the basics of the magic writing system. He knew the runes for the elements and some fundamental spell casting components. This rune was different though, a unique rune that Vindsval used to communicate with mortals. Connor had it written on a scrap of paper, held in his left hand while he had the flashlight in his right.

Finally, the now flickering beam of his flashlight illuminated the rune, etched into the trunk of a pine tree. He stepped into the small clearing and turned off his flashlight, thankful the moon shone bright enough here for him to see fairly well. Step one of the mission was complete. Connor shouldered off his backpack and exchanged his flashlight for a pen and leather bound journal.

[i]What now?[/i] Connor wrote at the top of a new page. He clicked the top of his pen rythmically as he waited for the deity to respond.