In the end we ate at one of the many small roadside food stalls along the road on our way back to the inn. We got ourselves a rather nice mix of juicy meat and crunchy vegetables in a thin wrap. Bread, meat and vegetables all in one handy package. It was a meal popular with the people working in the various workshops around town. It was easy to prepare and quick to eat. Especially the latter was important for most customers as it left them with some time for small talk or possibly even a game of dice or cards before they had to return to work. Given how well balanced it was it might even be healthy. We even got some of that bread Quu'za had mentioned. Two bags of it in fact. Curiously enough she didn't start munching on it right away, taking it back to the inn instead. She probably intended it as a treat for her family.

Back at the inn we changed into our new garments. I liked the new tunic but would still have preferred to wear my armor. As far as I was concerned we would have been ready like that to head back out after confirming that no messages had been left for us. My sister had other ideas though and Quu'za was only all too happy to support her. Thus I ended up sitting on my bed while Kaele did up my hair with the colorful ribbons she had bought. All the while she hummed happily. This really wasn't something I enjoyed and I only endured it for my sister since she actually seemed to like what she was doing. If it brought her some peace of mind it was a small price to pay. Or at least I tried to convince myself that it was.

She must have sensed how tense I was. That didn't stop her though. She finished with the last ribbon. “There. All done. We are ready to go now.” She handed me the small mirror she kept in her bag and I winced at what I saw. Well, sure, the way she had done up my hair looked pretty but to my eyes it looked strange as well. That just wasn't me. I shot her a puppy dog look. She just shrugged it off. “Get used to it. We are heading to the capital after all. We are going to be at the royal court! You can't just go there looking like a country pumpkin.” But I was a country pumpkin! Or a bad ass warrior! Not some pretty damsel. The look on Kaele's face made me shut my mouth though before I could voice my opinion on the matter.

Then a thought struck me and a wicked smile spread across my face. “Sure. But lets get some more ribbons on our way back once we are done for the day. Something that matches your new tunic. We can't have you look all plain next to me.” Even our harpy friend nodded at that. She had put her ribbons to good use as well. She wasn't wearing them as a hair ornament though. Instead they were put to use as colorful leg wraps. It gave her a dashing, daring look. It would look even better when she wore her metal claws and greaves with it. The loose ends of the ribbons probably would flutter about in interesting ways given her high speed acrobatic way of fighting. I really wanted to see it now. Maybe we could have a little spar later in the evening?

For some reason my sister wasn't disturbed by my statement in the slightest. I got the feeling that everything was going according to her plan. Was she playing me? She got up and headed to the weapon stand. She picked up my glaive with great care and handed it to me. “We will head to the temple first. Maybe they have a priestess in residence that can analyze it and if not they might just know someone who can.” She was right of course. The temple was often the first stop for the locales when they found something strange. It wouldn't be unusual for an experienced priestess to be able to perform a magical analysis or some sort of divination. We could only hope for the best. If we weren't lucky we would have to start asking around. At worst we would have to look for an expert in the capital.

As we left the inn once more to head to the temple I felt even more gazes on me then before. I was used to standing out but right now, with my hair braided and the braid up in a ribbon adorned bun I felt I stood out worse than ever. The only thing I could do right now, was to ignore it. I shouldered my weapon. That would offset the effect of Kaele's efforts a little. Or at least I hoped it would. The streets had quieted down a little in the afternoon. That eased my mind a little. My glaive's blade was sheathed but I still did my best to avoid bumping into anyone. I had seen what the thing did to the ogres. I didn't want anything like that happening by accident here in town. It was a good thing I wasn't out alone. With my sister walking by my side and our harpy companion flitting around us most people got out of our way well ahead of time. There is strength in numbers after all, as my teacher Uzzana would have said.

Finally we arrived at the local temple. It was quite a bit larger than the one at home. We had only one real priestess in Caer'zoth. Here they had multiple as well as a number of novices. One of the latter was welcoming us at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the temple's entrance. “Welcome to the house of the Maidens. How can we help you.” The girl, a local, dark skinned human probably bit younger than either of us spoke those formal words of greeting but curiosity was written all over her face. Even as she bowed she shuck glances at us. Well, we were a motley group after all.

I bowed in return and so did my sister. After a moment even Quu'za followed our example although it probably was not a custom of her people. The harpies believed in the Maidens but their worship was a lot less formal than ours as far as I knew. They worshiped a number of heroic, ancestral deities on the side as well, similar to the way we held our first king in high esteem for bringing peace to the land. “I am a little troubled by my weapon and am thus looking for someone to properly analyze or divine its properties. I was hoping that we might find someone capable of such a feat here, in the house of the Maidens.”

She glanced at my weapon and nodded. “Priestess Sawa might be able to help you. Please follow me." She lead us into the temple. And as we ascended the stairs another novice descended them to take her place. Apparently things were a lot more formal around here than back home. Or maybe I was just not used to such formality because our priestess had been the mother of one of our close friends? Well, I resolved to be on my best behavior anyway. I didn't want to leave these people with a bad impression after all. The girl lead us to a side nave where a priestess, most likely the one mentioned before, was praying at a small altar in front of larger than live statues of the Moon Maidens. The girl softly cleared her throat before announcing us. “There are some petitioners who would like you to divine the nature of a weapon, priestess Sawa.”

At first I mistook the priestess for a gorgon due to her long and elaborately styled hair. The priestess nodded to signal that she had understood but took a while to finish her prayers first before turning towards us. Only when she turned to face us did I realize that she was human as well. Most curious. Only very few of them had a talent for magic and even fewer ever rose to a position of any importance. By that time the young novice had already left once more, her duty obviously done. The priestess bowed in greeting and we returned the gesture. Then she eyed my glaive. “This is it?” She stepped closer to have a better look. “A most peculiar thing. Usually only practice weapons are made from bone. I take it this one isn't a practice weapon though. Am I correct?”

I nodded and with, great care, unsheathed the blade of the weapon. “It is made from a wyvern's remains. The heft is a wing bone and the blade has been cut from its stinger.” I handed her the glaive. “It is the latter that worries me. The wyvern's poison seems to linger to a much greater degree than I expected. I fought some ogres with it recently and it proved extraordinarily deadly during that encounter. The monsters deserved their fate but it was not a pretty sight anyway. Now I worry that I might poison someone by accident if I'm not careful.”

She listened to me patiently and directed me to lay the weapon down on the altar as I finished telling my story. “The weapon has not been enchanted on purpose?” I shook my head. That much was obvious anyway. The weapon would have to engraved with mystic runes to hold an actual enchantment. “In that case it might be an alchemical effect that was achieved on accident by using only parts of the wyvern's body to construct the weapon.” With that said she knelt down in front of the altar with the weapon resting on it. She raised her arms and started to pray.

I didn't catch the actual words of her prayer as a warm and fuzzy feeling came over me as she offered praise to the Maidens, asking them to enlighten her about the nature of the weapon. It was as if I could hear their voices again. The Maiden, the Mother, the Crone and the Lover. My heart started beating faster. Finally the priestess ended her prayer and the touch of the divine Maidens receded again. I sighed as my heart felt empty without their presence. Sawa looked at me with cocked head. “They have touched you? Haven't they?” I nodded meekly. She smiled, took my hand in hers and patted it gently. “Well, you don't have to worry about the weapon. Not too much anyway. Like I said, it is an accidental alchemical effect achieved by the craftsmen who made it since everything they used came from a wyvern. The blade, the heft, the bolts and sinews connecting the two and even the glue used was boiled from wyvern bones. There is no lingering touch of the Devourer though. You don't have to worry about that. Just keep it sheathed and handle it with care.”