After a brief pause, the conversation resumes, interrogating Coratana about the dragon, Coratana himself, and his deity, revealed to be known as The Traveler. Quaesitor recognizes the name of The Traveler, as well as some of the doctrine and history associated with this deity. Halbard is exceptionally mistrustful and on-edge. Dorrin chooses to remove himself from the situation and heads to the workshop to spend his evening. After the group’s discussion winds down, Coratana follows Dorrin to the forge.
Quaesitor, Sulyex, and Halbard share a look and request a space from the Sanctum for a private discussion. The Sanctum opens up a small round room off of the main dining area. The room contains a round table, made of heavy dark wood, surrounded by five matching chairs of different heights and styles. There are three portraits on the wall: an elderly, fine-featured elven woman, a husky middle-aged blonde human woman, and a young, slender brunet half-elven man. Quaesitor checks for signs of magic in the room, nearly blinding his inner eye with the overwhelming amount of magic here. He does manage to rule out divination sources in the room; no one is scrying on them here, and the three feel secure enough to discuss Coratana and the recent developments.
Quaesitor opens the discussion by revealing his knowledge of the Traveler and the doctrine of his followers. He shares that the Traveler’ domain is change and transformation, and he is patron of long journeys, of shapechangers, and of misfits and outcasts. People my pray to the Traveler to bless and guide long journeys, and priests of the Traveler will often travel from land to land, roaming without home, taking on new names, identities, and even new faces as a form of worship.
This concerns Halbard, and all three are cautious of Coratana - and particularly of his patron - but agree that helping him break his pact is a worthwhile goal. They are concerned that Coratana is basically a pawn in the Traveler’s cosmic game, and they don’t want to be caught up in that by proximity. They agree to look further into all of this and try to research in their own ways: Quaesitor will look into the Archives here at the Sanctum, Sulyex will cover the religious angle, and Halbard concerns himself with the dragon in particular.
Meanwhile, Coratana speaks to Dorrin in the workshop, commissioning a scabbard for his hexblade. He stays and speaks briefly with the dwarven smith while Dorrin takes measurements, and when that is done he attempts to walk away, leaving the blade in the workshop. Shortly after Coratana leaves, the blade ‘poofs’ out of existence, disappearing back into the realm it resides within while it waits for Coratana’s call. Dorrin sighs, but begins working off the measurements he had already taken.
Quaesitor visits the Scriptorium and speaks with Clarissa, turning on his bardic charm, seeking further information on the Traveler. Clarissa flirts back, but also provides a journal from a previous runner detailing interactions this runner had with a cleric of the Traveler. Quaesitor flips through it and finds that it is basically a book of practical jokes and pranks played by the cleric. Clarissa apologizes for not having more information readily available and invites Quaesitor to call her by her preferred name: Rissa. Quaesitor, responds by inviting her to call him by his nickname: Quaesi.
The next morning, Sulyex checks in with Gribble about how the goblin is taking all this change. Gribble is relatively unconcerned, as long as he has a consistent source of food and a safe place to sleep each night.
Halbard touches base with Audir (who had gotten up early to finish reading the book gifted to the party by the Greenes), spending time with her in the garden and harvesting some ingredients with which to make a soothing blend of tea. They discuss each of their backgrounds, agreeing that the current situation is concerning, but willing to see where the next few days take the group. They head in together to enjoy their tea and eat breakfast with the rest of the party.
Coratana takes Kaira - the newly-named little dragon - into the Sanctum’s arena for some training and to let the little one see what he can really do. Together, the two of them quickly conquer a rubber-ball-shaped-mimic, disposing of it with alacrity. Coratana requests an obstacle course to form in the arena for Kaira to practice in.
The rest of the group decides over breakfast that a quick battle wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if they can get a feel for fighting wolves, as they’re thinking the next mission they take could contain. The Sanctum provides a larger arena divided into three sections: a boggy swampland, a simulated forest, and an area with raised platforms and plateaus. The arena provides four wolves for the party to engage in combat, and the group easily defeats them. Buoyed by their victory, the group splits off for their second day of downtime.