"Hey, Hey. It's okay. It'll all work out." says Kalaya, signalling the storekeeper to bring another basket of dumplings. 

"The Sapphire Mother doesn't abandon her children - I'm [i]pretty [/i]sure at least - and as for what to do next, well, you've come to the right place! After all, I've already rescued one priestess from a spider demon in a hell-infested castle, so tracking down your sister and [i]her [/i]priestess shouldn't be too hard."

[i]"... buuuuuut ..."[/i]

Kalaya rubs her forearm and shrugs awkwardly.

"Look, I'll be honest - I've kind of found myself with a bit of a [i]loooong[/i] list of problems to fix. Including saving the Flower Kingdoms from the encroachment of Hell, the Dominion and defeating this rakshasa that is trying to whip up an army in my name."

"... I normally wouldn't ask this - but can we work out some kind of deal here? I'm sort of in the same place as you: not really knowing what to do next about some of this. And needing help with other things."

"For the first; There's another Knight of the Thorn in town, Dima, who needs to placate the local river spirit. We'd thought about summoning something - perhaps a water demon - that we could defeat to regain her favour. I've promised my help to her first, but if there was some way you could intercede or help us with the summoning? Do you know any magic like that?"

"Once her issue is dealt with, I'd be more than happy to accompany you to help you find your lost sibling. Dima and Petony might also come along, so you'd maybe get three knights to help!" she says, trying to sell the idea.

"As for the second thing ... these problems facing the Kingdom are getting bigger than me and my sword and, I'm ... frankly a bit afraid of the consequences of making the wrong choice. So I want to ask the Sapphire Mother for her advice and guidance - that's the sort of thing you priestesses can do right? Request an audience?"

Glancing down, Kalaya shuffles over to give Sagacious a reassuring half-hug.

"There's always going to be these moments where everything feels like it's coming apart. I don't know about you, but when it feels like that I try to remind myself of the things I've sworn to do, and the things I've sworn to protect. It helps ground me - a rock to lean on when everything else feels like sand and petals to the wind."

"You know what I mean?"

[Rolling emotional support - 3 + 5 + 1 - 1 = [b]8[/b] - If Sagacious opens up to Kalaya, she can pick one from the list. In addition, Lay on Hands activates - she is healed of physical ailments and can choose to either validate Kalaya's Devotion or criticise it - granting an XP or a string.]