The priest nodded in agreement yet was certain to emphasize he was not going with them. As they were before, they would be going without anyone who could mend wounds or injuries, something the man alleviated some in telling them that he would heal them of their ailments and damages incurred when they returned to the temple all before awarding the scroll to the man who seemed the most adamant in completing their collective tasks, that of the fallen paladin Beaumont. Placing the scroll case and the map into his hands, the priest marched off hastily to one side of the temple, robes trailing with him, and produced from his quarters presumably some of the few things the temple owned. Perfumed as he was by the incense and seemingly as genuine as it came, perhaps the holy men of this region were more sincere and noble than their far more populous counterparts to the west.

Warning them that they should not delay, noting this should take them until the hours before twilight, the man calmly ushered the five out on to the street. As empty as it was before and muddied from the melt and rains of the season, it was far less pleasant than the subtle warmth and mundanely mystical glow of the stained glass in the temple. It was, unfortunately, part of their trial to be cast out to fend for themselves - a literal "trial by ordeal" made manifest collectively. But the grumbling about the wet ground would ease as their entourage marched out and along the road leading further east toward the stead they were promised held their first endeavor for freedom. The walk there was met with no resistance of any kind from the land, the path flanked by greening grasses tall and sprig-like, and the air clean and pure unlike the village which was tinged with smoke and agriculture.

Were one not any wiser, this place just south of the [i]Hinterlands[/i] would be readily mistaken for prime claims. Just how many men had come this way in these hopes and these lies for year upon year before they realized the wilderness itself would revolt? It must well have been since time immemorial, a siren's song to so many would-be adventurers and land seekers to create their status. As growing and green as it was along the way, this place was surely littered with bones, the dead hidden in plain sight. It was an illusion without the magic, a terrible trick to be played upon any, but just for this moment it seemed all too reasonable a conclusion that it was not what it was told to be.

Then they came to a clearing in the woods, a swathe of land they could not mistake, for out in the middle of it laid a blackened structure whose design was skeletal. Some of the surrounding land about it was likewise blackened, consumed by fire, and parts of its once sizable field equally burned. What had not gone up in flames was the spoils of the seasons past, rogue plants that flowed like a wavering sea of green and gold. There was no sight, sound, or smell of anything out of the ordinary here and it gave an eerie presence by that alone. Were there not creatures for them to oust? To remove from this plot? Was this place not being slowly reclaimed by the beasts of the forest surrounding it?

For such a large area it was strange indeed, yet for the moment it seemed all were safe upon the dry, earthen road they had walked. Danger, however, was only a short ways off in every direction for them...

[hider=Effects]
Beaumont receives a map of the [i]Marches[/i] and a scroll case. He also provides two potions to the party, specifically [i]Cure Minor Wounds[/i].

All members need to roll for Initiative for when they arrive at the burned farm. Please include those results in a hider at the bottom of one's next post.
[/hider]
[@BangoSkank][@Hellion][@Lauder][@Lord Wyron][@TyrannosaursRex]