Jon looks up at the temple with awe.

Keestake leads the group up the gate at the entrance, pulls it open a little-it makes a squeak, alarming but really not too loud-and steps through the still working doors of heavy oak into the temple itself.  Once inside, everyone immediately notices that the main hall is thoroughly shielded against the wind as it has no windows, and the front doors are sound.

nodding at Keestakes rejoinder, looking about sheepishly as I go through the doors...shelter at last, a spot o' food or at least something to drink would be the thing now!...still looking for a stout pole!

Arnould will walk to Keestake at this point and ask a few questions: "What can you tell us about the inhabitants of this island? Do they know about this place?"

"Also, when you get a chance Master Keestake, where might I put this firewood?" Jon asks respectfully.

Keestake cocks his head toward Arnould, shakes his head, and says cheerfully, "inhabitants, eh?  Up until a few days ago, I was the only inhabitant of the Island of Viledel for these last sixty years.  Well, except for the sea birds, rats, and wild goats that is."

Responding to Jon, he points over to an area by the wall, and says, "over there is fine, son.  Thank you."

The old man starts gathering items to create a fire, and starts speaking casually, "The orcs came a few days ago.  They captured me, and said the stories said that the treasure of the Sea King had never been found, which was true enough, I guess.  And they said I knew where it was, which was true, too, but I never told them so.  The goblins came two days ago.  The orc chief and the goblin chief talked, and the goblin chief said they were there to claim the island as their new stronghold, but the orc said they were there for the treasure too, and as soon as he said it the goblins wanted the goods, and there's been war ever since."

Keestake shakes his head, and sighs before continuing his tale while working on getting a fire going, "The orcs are all set up in the old soldiers' barracks, and the goblins are all in the old stables, and the manor in the middle is where they hunt around for treasure and fight one another most of the time.  But there's another place, where they went once but leave alone now - the temple of the goddess."

He takes a moment to look up at everyone, smiles, and motions to the structure around them as he announces, "this is the hall of the goddess."

Keestake goes back to working on the fire and talking at the same time, "the orcs sacked it three days ago, looking for treasures, but they became alarmed when thunder sounded- the thunder that signaled the arrival of the storm that still rages around the island.  They left and won't be back.  While I was their captive, the orcs seemed to be deathly afraid of the place.  But noble youths such as yourself, seeking only shelter, won't gain the wrath of the goddess."

Keestake had led the group through a small antechamber before going into the main hall of the temple.  The antechamber once had plastered walls painted with frescoes of the goddess, and her symbols and her deeds.  The paint and plaster have badly flaked over the years.  There is no furniture in the room, only wind-blown rubbish.  There are two sets of double doors in the room, one leading outside and the other, further into the temple, and in the hall of the goddess.  In this large chamber the group has gathered and Keestake is working on starting a fire.

The hall of the goddess is a very large chamber, and about two stories in height.  There is broken furniture all over the tiled floors-it looks like the remains of chairs, tables, and perhaps low couches.  Most of the wood looks aged, but you can see that the breaks are all fresh.  Everything has been smashed recently.  On the east wall, in the middle, is a set of double doors, closed.  On the south wall is the set of double doors by which the group entered the chamber.  On the north wall, at the east corner, is a very small and inconspicuous door.  All the doors in the chamber are still hanging on their hinges.

The west wall is actually a flight of three shallow steps leading up to a line of pillars.  Between the pillars, one can see that cloths or tapestries, now ratty and sagging, have been hung, blocking off the view of the chamber beyond.  The walls of the hall of the goddess were once plastered smooth and painted with frescoes of the goddess in all her aspects.  Now the paint is curling, the plaster is broken and peeling, and there are large cracks in the plaster- probably from the foundation of the temple settling over the years.  Additionally, someone has taken a club to the walls here and there, evidenced by deep gouges and tears in the plaster, and places on the wall have been smeared with filth.

Indisposed, Porcius was walking in the back as the party made their way to the old temple. "Damn that old fool!" - he grumbled quietly. "Talkin' about hidden treasure in front of that no-good slaver pirate! Now he'll be sure to stir up trouble. Jump us, call in the orcs and goblins, kill us in our sleep - why couldn't the old man just shut up? Would be best to kill Hafkris right here and now, would save us no end of trouble."

He only stops sulking when they arrive and the notion of a dry place raises his spirits a bit. "Tell me, Keestake," - he asks the man - "in all these years, why haven't you tried to make a boat or a raft and get out of here?"

nodding at keestakes story I start wandering around looking for edibles...and a stout bit o wood for a staff...after seeing those humanoids go at it and hearing the lowdown I feel the need for some sort of protection!
If theres treasure about those goblins will be stalking this place again soon...

Keestake looks at the dwarf, smiles, and laughs before saying, "with what resources?  With what tools?  Did you see a stand of trees on this forsaken rock?  No, you didn't because there are none here."

The old man wags a finger in the air and says happily, "although, that didn't stop me from trying several times when I was a much younger man.  I cannibalized some materials from the various structures and used crude stone tools.  After the third time I nearly downed and was bruised and battered against the rocky shore, I decided that I would not try again for some time.  'Some time' has turned into, oh, nearly twenty-five years now."

Quote from: skofflox;453823nodding at keestakes story I start wandering around looking for edibles...and a stout bit o wood for a staff...after seeing those humanoids go at it and hearing the lowdown I feel the need for some sort of protection!
If theres treasure about those goblins will be stalking this place again soon...

OOC: Please roll 1d20!

"Well, now there's an entire wrecked ship on the shore" - Porcius replies to Keestake. "Plenty of seaworthy wood in that, and likely some tools as well."

Jon says a solemn prayer to the Goddess for forgiveness for intruding in her temple, promising to show it's properties and sacred symbols the proper respect.

Quote from: Drohem;454045OOC: Please roll 1d20!

roll: 17
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3002342/

Quote from: Premier;454082"Well, now there's an entire wrecked ship on the shore" - Porcius replies to Keestake. "Plenty of seaworthy wood in that, and likely some tools as well."

Keestake blows on the burning embers and fans them into a fire finally, and as he slowly places bits and scraps of broken furniture and debris on the fire, he says with gleeful tone, "well, we will see how much of your ship is left after the storm and see if there's anything to salvage."

The fire illuminates most of the large chamber, but parts of the chambers are still engulfed by shadow retreating from the fire's light.  With the fire's warmth and shelter, the painful numbness of cold starts to melt away from their fingers and toes and their scraps of clothing starts to dry.

Quote from: Sigmund;454202Jon says a solemn prayer to the Goddess for forgiveness for intruding in her temple, promising to show it's properties and sacred symbols the proper respect.

As Jon raises his head after his prayer, he looks up directly into the seated statue's eyes of the Goddess of the temple and he realizes that the goddess of this temple is Tymora, The Lady Who Smiles.  Both Porcius and Kelvin also realize that the temple is dedicated to the goddess Tymora as well after seeing the temple in the fire's light.

Quote from: skofflox;454607roll: 17

Sifting through the debris of broken furniture throughout the chamber, Sterling finds the leg of a large table that is about three feet in length, and which he could use as a quarterstaff in a pinch.

Looking at Sterling's discovery, and noticing that parts of the room are still engulfed in shadow, Arnould will walk around it and try to see if there's more that is salvageable for their purposes. He will start with the western part of the temple, make his way to the northern wall, east from there, and then south, then west, along the walls the whole time.