Baked goods and new faces

Winter may be fast approaching, but today Autumn is proving it can be fickle and mean. The streets are practically empty, and those who have to be somewhere, do so as quickly as possible. Those inside the bounds of the Althean temple are reminded once more of their patron's benefice, Her house being warm, like a mid-Spring day, with lush greenery complete with chirping birds.

The Goblin is one of the unlucky ones, having had to be somewhere and caught out of doors when the latest downpour started. She arrives inside the temple's doors, panting heavily, and bends over a moment to pant and wheeze. Water rolls off the thick, leather cloak she wears, her head covered by its fur-lined hood. Her robes, when seen, give her away as an adherent of Navos, god of wisdom and knowledge. Straightening, she begins to casually wander the grounds of the temple complex.

Among those tucked away in this haven from the depressing weather is a blonde woman dressed in Althea's colors. Liliana hurries over to one of the seating areas to deliver a tray of baked goods. With that task complete, she smiles to those collected there and turns to survey the grand space. She rubs her hands together, dusting them off, eyes traveling over and past the goblin newcomer before snapping back to her. With a warm and friendly smile, Liliana dips her chin in greeting.

Simony only has eyes for that tray of goods, following the tray with her eyes, and then with her feet. The Goblin has a whole muffin into her mouth in a moment, and has a second one ready to go when Liliana greets her. There's very little chewing, and the muffin is swallowed. Briefly followed by hiccupping.

"H -hiccup- hi!" She offers a finger-wiggle wave, and a big toothy grin. "Th -hiccup- anks for the delicious muffins. Wh -hiccup- at flavour are they?"

Clasping her hands together, Lili responds, "Hello and welcome. The muffins? Erm .. I'm not sure, exactly. Perhaps apple and cinnamon? I know we usually have brain and rasins and there might have been some banana-nut ones as well. I.. I'm not very good at baking, but if you'd like something specific, I can see if we have it, if you'd like?" She bites her lower lip, glancing back towards the central ovens and the staff working there before looking back to the goblin. "Sorry .. where are my manners? I'm Liliana .. Lili."

The Goblin giggles at Lili's awkwardness, and grins cheerfully. "It was a joke. I am asked quite often if I taste anything I eat, since I tend to wolf things down. It was delicious!" She eyes the second muffin she's holding, and discreetly hides it behind her back. You saw nothing! "I wouldn't think to demand a specific flavour, the Temple gives out food for free. One shouldn't complain."

She offers up a wee hand for shaking. "I am called Simony, a Temperance of Navos. A pleasure to meet you, Lili!" The Gobbo looks back out the gates to the temple, "I am taking a bit of refuge from the weather."

Liliana says, “Ah .. I see." She chuckles a little, more at her own folly than anything else. Reaching up, she pushes a lock of hair back behind her ear before acceptig Simony's offered hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Simony." Her gaze shifts back towards the open doors and the weather without. She wrinkles her nose, "Yeah.. the weather is terrible today, isn't it? Well you came to the perfect place to stop and have a bite .. and maybe dry off and warm up. I'm supposed to go get some herbs from the market but I'm waiting for the rain to let up a bit." Grinning suddenly, she continues, "It's not that important that it can't wait. Uh .. so is that what brings you in today? Food and warmth?”

"Welllll, the Navosian monastery is up the side of the mountain." She gestures to the east, towards the Spire. "It's a long walk from there, and it is much, much, much too windy for proper flying, so.." Simony shrugs. "This is about half way to where I'm headed. If I get stuck here, it's not a big worry, I can sleep on one of the transient bunks for the night."

Liliana nods. "That's true enough. Flying .. " she smiles sheepishly, "never done that before. Perhaps someday I will, but I'm too afraid of falling and ending up flat like a pancake." She laughs and shakes her head again, dislodging that errant lock of hair. "I'm guessing you have? What's it like?" Absently, she takes a seat on a nearby empty divan, curious gaze lingering on Simony, pausing briefly to study the smaller woman's form before looking back to her face again.

There's a glint of pride in the Goblin's features, and she nods. "It's not really flying, it's walking on air, but it works out to the same thing really." She giggles lightly, "Oh, that is a fear, however, the spell I use fails gracefully, you slowly sink towards the ground. I've been thinking of getting a ring of feather fall, which I would suggest anyone who flies should get."

Simony follows along to the divan, but remains standing. "I've a friend who's a sorcerer, who took me flying a few times, it is /AMAZING/!" The Gobbo throws up her hands in a wild gesture.

"As for my own personal flying, it's nice and gentle. Like walking, but with a great view, and a gentle breeze. Usually. It's not so fun in the wind today, it'd blow me all over the place. But when you get a gentle breeze from behind, it moves you along quickly. And, if you don't walk up too high, you can't really get hurt. So it's pretty good for avoiding puddles, mud, holes in the road and so on!"

Perched on the edge of the divan, Lili nods, following along. "A ring of feather fall! That's a good idea.. well except that your spell doesn't really need it. Of course, I'm the cautious type and would probably get one anyway." She laughs in spite of herself, "So .. it's like being a kite? Sort of? Where you're walking and .. how high do you go? Way up in the clouds or just .. like a few feet aove the ground? Can you control your height? I'm sorry .. suddenly I have a million questions about flying. Is it fun? Last one, I promise."

"Well, the spell fails gracefully, but even that has a limit. And you should always have a backup plan of some kind, right?" Simony ponders the question for a brief time. "I have not tried it yet, but, well, the spell lasts for more than an hour. So I could go walking up the entire time... I could probably could up half as high as I could walk in a straight line for that amount of time. If I ran, maybe higher!"

The Gobbo hops from foot to foot. "Awww, it would be pretty neat to be walking in the clouds. And yes, it is fun! Scary sometimes, but fun! Maybe I could take you, some time! I would have to carry you, but we could go on a brief walk in the air at least!"

Looking down to her form, Lili giggles, "Sorry .. I haven't been carried since I was a child. I was just imagining you holding me like a sack of potatoes over your shoulder.. except without my hands or feet touching the ground because you're flying." She grins and shakes her head again. "Is it like being in water where things weigh less?" she wonders thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a finger and gaze growing distant while she imagines. "Or maybe you're just strong? I mean, I don't weigh a lot, but .. you know what I mean, right?"

"Something most people do not know, or do not consider, is that Navos is also a god of strength. Angoron /is/ the god of strength, and Kor /is/ the god of war, and these two faiths have a friendly rivalry. But Navos also possesses an inner strength that can be manifested."

Simony shucks off her cloak, revealing shoulder-length hair, and pale, white skin. Rolling up one of her sleeves, she bares a skinny arm. Certainly not the arm of an incredibly strong person. But her holy symbol glows brightly around her neck, and suddenly, her arm's musculature bulges. In fact, the little Goblin fills out her robes as she bulks up. "For a brief period of time, I can be scary strong. I could give any Giantborn or Oruch the sweats in an arm wrestling contest, for sure!"

After a moment, she begins to turn back to her previous form, and she lets her sleeve down.

"I figure I could carry you on my shoulders!"

Liliana cants her head to the side, "You're right. I didn't realize that inner strength could be .." she watches, eyes widening when Simony's muscles bulge into life. She grins at the other woman, "I guess you could at that. It's not as amusing to imagine, but certainly more practical. Speaking of practical uses, you could haul things that way that need to be dropped .. like dirt to dump on a fire. Or water, I suppose. You could haul packages that way too. Think like a crate with a string tied to it? You could go way up in the air with the package dangling below you and move around. Of course, it'd be impractical to start a shipping business that way since you said the wind blows you around. Still .. I'm going to take you up on that flying offer .. someday with better weather, of course."

"A nice, sunny Autumn day. Wouldn't want to get insects in your teeth, you know?" The Goblin grins broadly, and giggles. "Goodness, no, I don't think I should use my powers in that fashion. I don't have time for another job, honestly. I live pretty simply, I am a monk, basically. The faith doesn't pay in gold, you know? But I lack nothing I need. For coin, I do jobs for the adventurer's guild."

She crosses her arms and rubs her chin, "I would use my powers in emergencies, and to help out, and maybe a little bit of fun, though." Simony huffs and gestures with a hand. "But enough about me. What about you? What do you do, here? You've a great smile, and friendly voice, which I have noticed is pretty common for Althean clergy. So, you make people feel welcome, then? And distribute baked goods, that's a quick way to making friends with Goblins, for sure!" Liliana blinks at Simony then bursts into laughter. "Bugs in your teeth? I can't even imagine." She giggles a little more, coviering her mouth with the back of her hand. "Hmm? Me? Oh, I just help out where I can, when I can. I'm an alchemist by trade though usually I deal in simple tonics and tinctures. I was running low on my supplies in my healer's kit so I thought I'd try to stock up. Ah, I'm just a nobody, really but .. I'll admit that I'm sort of intrugued by the adventurer's guild. Maybe I'll check them out and try my hand at something. Well, if they have something suited to my skills or course. I'm a cleric so I do a bit of healing too."

She pauses as a girl no more than ten runs up to her and tugs on her sleeve. Lili turns to her listens to her message and gives the girl a smile before hse runs off. "Well .. it looks like I'm needed after all. Small accident while playing hide and seek. Nothing to bother those more imporant than me with." She rises smoothly to her feet, brushes off her skirts and turns to see where that girl darted off. "A pleasure to meet you. Maybe I'll see you around." She grins again then heads off just as the girl comes back from around a corner and gestures for Liliana to follow her, complete with a impatient foot stomp.