The task at hand

JP with Winteroak and Bandorchu

Alexis wouldn’t even pretend she understood a word he just said. This was not her home land and she knew nothing of its history. So wether all the events he invoked were desirable or not was beyond her. Well. Except for the ‘bringing forth the hot blood of the mountains.’ Because that sounded suspiciously like a lava eruption, and as such quite likely not a good thing.

“What does that entail?”

Tar shrugged. His face showed no deception. He truly didn't know the answer to that.
"All I know is that I am compelled to complete this task." He said touching the hammer's head gently as if stroking the skin of a loved one. "Before I'm lost..."

Alexis couldn’t help but feel that Tar might be far beyond the point of having a choice in this matter. It gave rise to a spark of compassion she didn’t really want but couldn’t deny.

She pondered what she had been told and couldn’t come to a conclusion how she felt about it. So for now she turned back to the more practical questions.

“That map. Where is it supposed to be? How did it even end up in Ostiarium of all places?”

"From what I've gathered the map was lost long ago to the Odsier tribes." He said starting to cover the hammer again reluctantly as if it was hard to pull his gaze away from its swimming colours.
"The map is painted into the tusk of some long extinct beast that used to roam Arcadia." He put the hammer's head back inside his pack. "The priest of Kupen holds it now..." He said sure that Alexis would know who the man was.

“You mean Friar Balvaris?”
Alexis inclined her head.
“Good man as far as I know.”

She wasn’t sure however how willing he would be to let them investigate an old heathen artefact.

He nodded at her words. He remembered the priest. He had been one of the most helpful during that first starvation filled Winter. Although in the end he had thrown his lot with Sir Zane.
"Good and Evil will always be subjective. But yes I know the man. He might not know the importance of what he holds." He replied.

She could agree on the subjectivity of good and evil. Ideals were a very personal thing. Trying to uphold a code most people deemed foolish had taught her as much. It was the reason she only ever held herself to it.

“Any thoughts on how you want to approach this?”

He shook his head. "I've been away for a long time. Will need to get acquainted with a whole new place. But I'm sure that with your help we can get it done." He replied. "What about you? Any suggestions?" He asked back.

She shrugged.

“When my friend was investigating the Creed, he seemed quite willing to support her research, and that ought to have been a pretty obscure topic, as well. We could just ask.”

She looked at Tar’s backpack warily.

“… maybe not going too much into detail, that is.”

Tar nodded. Maybe the Friar was willing to help. He likely didn't know what he had on his hands. Just a curious artifact from these new lands. Although Tar was curious on how it got to his hands.
"You should get some sleep." He told the woman. "I will take first watch."