Luneshale Pass --the overture--

Toula was a pleasant creature to talk to, always had been from the moment her tongue could form speech. Akhtar smiled, serene, as he watched the cat play with the feather.

Oh yes. I think your gift is a smash hit, and who knows? Perhaps she would like even more. A slow roll of a wink. Toula continued, speaking of evil spirits sent to disrupt their path. Oh, he remembered the wrath that had come upon them all that time ago but..

Akhtar had a wicked little idea. And somewhere behind his eyes, a wicked little grin began to shape, that wicked little heart that lurked inside the priest snapping at the idea like a caged dog to meat dangled overhead. But this was not something to rush, this wicked little babe of an idea. He must let it grow, let it fester. Use this new creature to his advantage.

Oh what a wonderful thing wicked ideas were.

But of course, my dear. Perhaps she is here to fortify our connections to the gods, or to ward off those dastardly evils. Protection, in our journeys. Mayhaps Toth will have something to say of that effect, I will attempt to divine with him tonight. And a waiting game began with the crack of a starting pistol.