Heading back to the cabin after finishing up this little side project was actually a less dramatic affair then they thought it would be. There was no ambushes, no pit traps in the middle of the road, and definitely no fools walking around glittering like fish hooks. They were just traveling in peace and enjoying their time together.

It was around the halfway point that Teamasa decided to ask how powerful those rituals could get if done right. She wanted to learn about this strange magic that she had only heard of in dismissive tones before.

"It is as powerful as you make it out to be. It really depends on what you do. The repetition of doing something over and over. And how much you put into it." Sasha told them.

"My own little rituals just get me ready for the day and help a little bit. Kind of like a shot of energy going in the right direction for what I want to happen. I will always be ready for a fight because I have made it a ritual to be so. I will never get caught off guard and pull something at the worst time possible either." She added after a thought.

"Think of it like this, if you make your ritual to sacrifice a thousand virgins to the sun every year for fertile ground then that is what you will get. The bodies will take care of keeping the ground fertile and after just a few years their will be magic to back it up. They will give better and better yield to the farmers." She said while contemplating it.

"But when you stop doing it the magic take a price for breaking the ritual. That is how empires have fallen in the past. The worst part is that even if you start it up again the magic will still be angry at you, it will have developed a will of it's own by that time. That is how some of the gods came to be."

"One ritual was used enough to grant it power on a large scale, then they started adding other things to it. Ritual become tradition, tradition given power over the time it happens, people start to associate that time with a person and added to it for them to be included, and then you have yourself a baby god to deal with. One that is please with the ritual going on and keeps it going on for as long as they can."

"They spread it as far and wide as they can and gain power from it. They start handing out boons of power to paladins or warlocks and when it comes back to them it has grown. Your have grown it. It does not matter what you do with the power or how you interfere with the plans of your patron because at the end of the day you are mortal and they are not. You will die and turn back all the power they have given you with interest. You are an investment, one that really pays off if you can become powerful enough to try and mess up their plans then all the better. Nothing you do will slow what is to come on any really great scale."

"For the Lady, her rituals are all about having debts and paying them off. With gold or favors, with the power that is given or part of the spoils taken. She does not care so long as you pay what is owed to her just as she will pay what she owes to you. Make no mistake about that. It's why she does not care if you skip out on your end of the deal, in the end you will pay for it anyway and with interest to boot." Sasha said with an after thought.

"So she is just using the bargen's to get more power from the rituals or something like that. Does everyone do it or am I over thinking it?" Embrda asked his friend.

"Religious rituals happen for the same reason. Burning incense and food, whipping yourself or fasting. It all goes into a ritual that you can be expected to do on a day by day basis. Sure it wont grow their power like fighting in their name will but it is enough so that they never have to spend any power to live. They will never grow hungry or tired because people from all over do these little rituals for them." Sasha told her friends informing them on a aspect of the divine and how they operate.

"That lake is now a sight holy to those that work with the Lady. It is a place that all who call on her can go to for safety. She does not judge and neither do her waters. And yes that might piss off some gods and devils but we were just asked to make the lake sacred, not defend it for the rest of our days." Sasha said with a chuckle. She was having a good time teaching her fellow warlocks some of the most basic things of their new trade.

When they finally reached home they were ready to have a nice meal and turn in for the night. They had traveled back the same way they went there. With the might of undead horses to pull the way. With all speed and no stops, hidden under illusions and supported by the will of magic itself.

They all really wanted to crawl into a nice bed and sleep for a year. It is just as good that they were unlikely to be disturbed here of all places. Sealed under all the spells and pacts to prevent people from entering when they were now welcome to do so. This was perhaps the only place that they would not need to constantly watch their backs, the only place outside of the city were they where truly safe. It had quickly become everyone's home away from home.

"Let's make our own little ritual here. When we return we will always sit down and have a meal. Something from our hunts for a job well done." Tea decided after some thought. She was clearly going to enjoy testing the limits of this new type of magic they had found.

"How about we make the effects that we want be a good nights sleep. Something to ensure that we are well rested after coming home from the wilds. It would be fitting and who knows, perhaps if we put enough power into it we will see something interesting come of it." Smithy said giving in to his eccentric friends plans. After a few years of knowing her he knew how this was inevitably going to turn out and just wanted to get it over with.

They started a small fire under the cooking pot and after some thought Smithy took it down and carved a snake on it. It would be the first hunt that they returned form and they would put some of the snake meat they had with them in the pot.

After hanging it up once more they started to prepare the meal while Drassisa made some tea for everyone. It did not take long before blades were drawn and given to Embrda to sharpen while Tess grew some herbs for the pot. When everyone looked at him he said with a smile, "for flavor."

At this point Sasha pored a little whine into the pot with a laugh and they started to loosen up for the travel. It was the start of something that they would do for years to come. It was the real start of the team coming together and starting to relax around one another.

It was the start of the future, their future. Fate smiled down on them fondly!