Sylvia was a little disappointed to hear that Buddy didn't understand the language any more than she did, but she did feel better that he can try to record it and they can find a translator later. She sighed through her nose as she approached Buddy and she answered him, "OK. Let's give this a shot," Once she was standing in front of Buddy, placed her hand on his chest once more, and she closed her eyes. She thought she might have a better chance of showing him the memory if she brought it to focus in her own mind first and concentrated on it, before stepping further to possess Buddy. She focused on the red smoke, the visage of the blackened skeleton, Pylia's cold hardened expression, the graveyard around them, and their words as she stepped through Buddy.

As you go into Buddy and open your eyes, you find yourself back at the graveyard, though only a certain area around you appeared to exist. Everything beyond was nothing but blackness. Buddy was standing right beside you and looked towards the scene. It was just Pylia walking through the graveyard before the smoke and skeleton appeared and they began to speak. As they spoke, Buddy commented about what he could decipher. "She is answering yes or no questions. It seems as if the skeleton is some sort of messenger. And Pylia used no magic to banish the skeleton, though she might have threaten to do so. The black skeleotn is familiar with her, likely met her yesterday. The skeleton seems reluctant to leave but submissive. It is a servant of some sort." Buddy told you right before Pylia touches her holy symbol and causes the skeleton to leave. Soon the scene would repeat again. You both could try and move closer, but no matter how hard or fast you move, you stay in place, exactly where you were when you were watching Pylia. "I believe we've seen everything we can here, Sylvia."

Sylvia watched as the scene played once more for her and Buddy. She listened to Buddy as he made his comments on what he could decipher from the event. She questioned, clearly thinking out loud, "A servant...but who does it serve...?" Soon enough the scene finished playing, and it started to repeat. When Buddy mentioned that they had seen enough, she nodded in agreement, and answered "Right. Let's head back," She then started trying to turn around and walk back the way we came, trying to end the possession she has on Buddy.

You turn to leave, your vision going black before the dim light of the room returned. There was barely any fire in the fireplace now, with only dull embers providing small orange dots in the darkness. Without the moon around, it was pragmatically pitch black. Buddy remains unmoved as he looks over towards the water closet. You both could still hear the splashing of water in there. "I do wonder how long Pylia intends to stay in there. It is already getting late and she needs to rest." Buddy says trying to convey a sense of concern. "Hmm... This is a risky gamble. But perhaps you could try and possess Pylia? Make some sort of appearance in the smoke? No... Nevermind. She did not react well when you did that last time."

Sylvia let out a sigh in relief when she finished possessing Buddy. She looked around the room and noticed how dark it was getting. She also looks to the water closet as she heard the splashing in there. She answered Buddy, "Yeeaaah...I don't think those are good ideas," She then continued, "I'm gonna check on her again," She then headed towards the water closet and phased through once more to see what Pylia is doing.

Pylia seemed to be done smoking and was finishing off the last of the clothes. She seemed to be wringing them dry now and hanging them on a string. Finally Pylia was starting to wash herself, lathering her body with soap before rinsing off with the now cold water, shivering and sneezing. Though it was dimly lit, you could notice something that you couldn't have before due to the smoke. Scars on Pylia's back, very faded but notable due to the water changing their colors. They weren't normal scars like what you might expect from a weapon or whip. They seem to resemble something more... Ritualistic. At first it looked like a just a rash, but as Pylia poured more water on herself, you could see the outline of a perfect circle, surrounded by some sort of scarring that created a very particular shape. After one final rinse, Pylia stood up and dried herself, walking towards you unknowingly as she put on her robe and left the water closet with a string of laundry.

Sylvia at first was about to just leave when she noticed that Pylia was simply finishing washing clothes and was bathing herself, but she stopped when she noticed Pylia's back. Was that a rash...? No. It was too perfect of a circle to be a mere rash. It looked more like a scar. She gasped at the sight.

"What the heck...?!"

Who did this to Pylia? And why?!

The questions remained unanswered of course, as she backed away while Pylia moved to put on her robe and headed towards her. She didn't want Pylia to pass through her and tip her off that she was nearby in astral form. She quickly made her way back to Buddy. She told him, "She was simply finishing laundry and washing. But...she had a scar on her back. A circle with outer designs. The design kind of reminds me of...an eclipse,"

”An... Eclipse? Buddy thought more about it and grew silentl for a longtime. Pylia added a few more logs to the fireplace to slowly warm up and brighten the room as she went to sleep on the top bunk, cursing quietly that Shortfang took her spot. Soon Buddy would respond. ”I remember an eclipse, but I don’t remember the significance. There was a lot of magic rituals happen during an eclipse. Perhaps Pylia was involved in one.”

Sylvia answered Buddy’s thought while her eyes were on Pylia, “Maybe...” She then commented quietly, “I may have to visit a library again to do some research on that, once we finish the sewer war,” She decided to stick around in her astral form and help Buddy keep watch for the night.

Aside from the flickering g flames, nothing happened that night as you and Buddy kept watch. Hours would pass in silence until you could make out the barest of light from the closed window, and you could hear doors and windows opening before the sun even rose as businesses started their day. The fire was now reduced to cold em Evers and the morning was somewhat chilly, but all in all you and everyone else would awaken fully rested. If you choose not to go back to your body, Shortfang would be the first up as he does his morning business and leaves with a handful of coin.

Sylvia would wake herself up after Shortfang left the room with some coin. She figured he was just going to buy breakfast, so she wasn’t too worried. Once she was up, she would go to the water closet and change into the clothes she wore in the sewers yesterday. After that, she would go back to the room, where Pylia and Buddy are, and do some stretches in anticipation for the fight to come...

The clothes were stiff but dry now, and soon after Pylia awoken. She awkwardly climbed down from the top bunk with some difficulty due to her morning grogginess, mumbling something about calling bottom bunk before she too washed up and changed into her travel outfit. She craned her neck and tried to massage he aches and pain. “Ugh, neck hurts. That’s what I get for bending over doing the laundry. Anyways we should hurry and head back to the sewers. Where’s Shortfang? Did he go get food?”

Sylvia finished her stretching just as Pylia woke up. She answered Pylia’s question, “I think so. Saw him leave the room with his gold,” She then commented, “Before we head back to the sewers, I think I’ll reserve the room again so we can come back here to rest when the day is done, and we can leave some of our stuff here again. I can check on Shortfang while I’m at it,”

After she said that, she grabbed some of her money and headed for the front counter as well.

Pylia nods as she goes to gear up. Outside the Silver Stag was still empty, though there were a few people out. A masked elf was setting up chairs while a strange looking elf with scales was in the kitchen, warming up ovens and stoves. Shortfang was sitting on a stool by the bar sipping some orange juice when he spots you and waves. Behind the bar, a large muscular orc wearing a chef’s hat and apron was writing something down.

“Roight, so’z we gots us a twin trio boss custom onna raft, four-by-four, animal-style, extra tiles wifa shimmy an squeeze, light grease, crying, burnin, and drownin.” The orc tore the sheet off and handed it to the elf in the kitchen as he wrote down another order. “As fee da udda one, ye wants a quad smash, sprinklin of snow mountain, smoked paprika, and mini greens, be-cheesed howuda, ta go, ye?” Shortfang just slid five gold coins forward and smiles as if he’s pretending to know what the or just said. “Yeah!”

The orc tore the order off and handed it away once more before glancing up at you. “Howdy! Welcome to da Surf-n-Turf Sea Cow, wot can Aye get fer ya? I can make but anything cept da booze, yer wanna see me wife get dat.”

Sylvia waved back to Shortfang when she saw him wave to her. She walked up to the bar to hear what Shortfang ordered. Whatever he ordered it sounded like it was a lot of food. She couldn’t make heads or tails of what the chef’s nicknames for the food was. When the chef greeted her, she smiled and answered him, “Ah, good morning. Nothing for me yet, thank you,”

She continued, “I was hoping I could rent the room for me and my friends once more for tonight as well,”

"Aright, cherri, cherri. Let's see, if yer with him, den you must got ground five yeah? Be just another sovereign fer another night if all da bells an whistles. Ye want us ta change yer linens? I understand yer might be hesitant letting strangers in ya room, wot wif bein adventurin folk an all, but I swear to ye that my people won't touch a thing wifout yer askin. If nuthing else ye can just ask use for sum new sheets when we're open." Slowly the room began to brighten as the masked elf snapped his fingers, causing the braziers around the inn to light up. A few ladies came in, the tavern maids, handing the orc a small sheet of paper as they got to work cleaning and getting ready for the day. He simply took out a small stamp from his pocket and marked a box. Seems like they use some sort of time card system here.

It was around this time that Pylia and Buddy joined up with you and Shortfang. They seem ready to go, though you and Shortfang didn't have your weapons or gear with you at the time. Upon arriving Pylia remembered something. "Do you think we should head to Ardur's shop before we leave? He did say he'll have something for us today. I'm sure he and his family have awoken to get ready for work too."

Sylvia nodded yes at his question of which room they were staying in and when he mentioned the price she slid a gold piece to him, saying “Here you are,” After he asked about the linens, she answered him, “We’ll ask for new sheets when we come back today, hopefully it won’t be too late by then, thank you,”

She looked around to see that everything had gotten brighter after hearing the snap. Soon enough, Pylia and Buddy joined her and Shortfang. She blinked at the question as she recalled yesterday. She answered, “Oh that’s right! I completely forgot! Yeah, we should definitely pay Ardur a visit beforehand. But we may need to be quick...”

"They aren't too far, we could get to them on the way out." Pylia says. Looking over the group the orc smiled. "Looks like yer lot gotta go eh? Well... Normally da order would take quite a bit ol time, even wif some help. But it's early in da day and I need da warmup anyhow... We'll make dis fast food." Cracking his knuckles and taking out a vial of oil he turned back towards the kitchen. "Give me bout a minute. Oi Sereth! Open da windows! It's about ta get hot in 'ere!" With everything prepped the orc quickly started to cook Shortfang's order, which for some reason involved the orc being on fire and a lot of pained grunting and yelling. But sure enough after about one uninterrupted minute of cooking and some time getting the smoke out of the kitchen, Shortfang's two meals were brought out to him, ready to eat on the go. The strange scaled elf brought them over to you, looking over the two sheets of papers given to her.

"So... I have four beef patty sandwiches here, each with four stacks of patties with cheese on each patty, between lightly buttered toast, with a lot of cheese, sauce, and onions on them, and one four stack sandwich with Gouda cheese and a regular amount of cheese, sauce, and onions." Shortfang had essentially ordered five super huge burgers, two which he quickly took for himself. He paid ten gold for the massive burgers as he started to scarf them down as fast as he could. Pylia just looked at them. "I... I think I'm going to need a knife to cute these down into more manageable pieces.... That's a lot of meat too..."

Sylvia looked back to the orc as he made his comment, and she watched as he quickly got to work cooking Shortfang's order. She was concerned when she saw that he had set himself on fire. In the end, the meal came out and Sylvia let out a slow gasp as a smile slowly crawled onto her face. They were burgers! Sylvia quietly commented, "I thought I would never see this again..." She couldn't help but think to herself with a slight tear of joy in her eye, "It's so beautiful...!"

During her time in Keratia, she honestly thought that some dishes reminiscent of home would not exist in this world, unless she herself cooked them. With the burgers however, she was proven wrong.

...What? You would have to be insane to not like burgers!

She answered Pylia, ignoring how Shortfang managed to eat two of them, "We can always split a burger in half between us, Pylia,"

"Please. I like meat as much as anyone else but... This monster... Scares me. Not to mention if you and I share one of these, that's still three more sandwiches. Buddy doesn't eat, remember?" That's when the scaled elf took out what appeared to be some form of waxed paper. "Don't worry, we can wrap it up for your to take with you. Just bake it inside a pot to reheat it." Shortfang licked his hands and lips as he finished his sandwich. "Delish! Gunna go now, bye!" Shortfang hopped off his stool and went back to his room to get geared up. Pylia just signed and sat down at the bar, asking for a plate and some utensils. "I guess we should eat breakfast. I'll... I'll try and finish one myself."