1235, Summer

Myself, Maedbh and Allistor head south to investigate the fires. The grogs Knox and Blane come with us. It’s unusual for so many magi to head out together, but this time it seems like we have the right skill sets. Well, we hope so anyway.

We head by boat down to Ayr, getting there by evening. Whilst at Ayr, we find out that the ship that the ‘angels’ we investigated last year came in on was called The Mothers’ Grace. Nobody is sure where it went afterwards. Blane manages to get into some drinking with some old soldiers, and the conversation there is that people are worried that there might be fighting in the offing in the local vicinity.

Some local guy, Lord Alan FitzRoland of Galloway (Constable of Scotland)  has died recently, and the King is splitting up his inheritance. So there could be resistance to that, so word has gone out to employ mercenaries by the involved factions. Merchants are also stocking up on supplies, since they are expecting interruptions to travel around Galloway.

The next day, we head inland, and spend the next night at another village. Whilst we are chatting in the inn, myself and Allistor are keeping to a back corner so not to upset everyone with our Gift. Maedbh is in the midst of the conversation, but is being harassed by a merchant. Blane interjects himself between the merchant and Maedbh, moving the merchant out of the way. He whispers something to the merchant which none of us catch. The merchant quickly makes himself scarce.

The gossip that we pick up here is that because of the King’s problems in the North, he’s probably not in any position to enforce his will down here if people put up a resistance. 

The following day we reach Crawick. There are some burned buildings here, some of which are being repaired by the locals. It is up to Blane and Maedbh again to talk to people. People seem to ignore Blane, when he notices another man is pestering Maebh. As he tries to put a hand on her, Blane grabs him and threatens him with loss of hand if he tries to touch her, talk to her, or even looks at her again.

Meanwhile, Allistor is checking over the burned buildings. It looks like the fire was very intense, starting at one corner of the building and then spreading to the rest of it. Some of it was hot enough to melt some of the stones.

Myself and Knox wander around the perimeter of the village, looking to see if there are any signs of anything obvious. There is a piece of woodland where there has been fire damage. Knox points out the details to me, and I nod knowingly, as if I understand when he explains how the fire started and what happened. He seems to be able to pick up a lot of detail from the remaining ashes.

Several trees got burned down, and it would have spread further if it hadn’t been so wet. There are some burned animals, which suggests it was quite quick to start and spread.

There is a second place where a fire was started. There is also a well which is decorated with streamers. An old man is sitting next to it. He is wearing bells, has a shaven head and is holding a begging bowl. We go up to him. He asks for alms, and I drop some coins into his bowl. He thanks us, and gives us blessings of the Mother. After some questions, he means the Mother of God. I ask whether he means Mary, but he says it’s possibly St Bridget.

This is St Bridgets Well. There is a statue nearby of either the Holy Mother or of Bridget, and he points us in the direction of it. St Bridget came across from Ireland apparently.

I buy him some lunch to find out more. There is a story about her being rescued from a dragon. She had nine sisters, and their father was sending them off to get water. However they were being eaten by a dragon until some hero came along to deal with the dragon. Apparently St Bridget protected the village from fire. Recently, something has obviously gone wrong since the protection against fire seems to be lacking.

If there have been fires here, then the locals probably haven’t been paying suitable tithes to her according to the priest. There is something that he is not telling us, so I use Probing the Silent the Question, though the aura here feels very uncomfortable as if it is strong in the Divine. I push myself, and I succeed. He seems to be thinking something about a cup, which he hasn’t told us because it’s not proper doctrine. However, there are rumours about it and he’s beginning to think that the stories might be true.

We head down the path, and find the statue of St Bridget. She is a woman with her face upturned and hands held up. It is set next to a small stream. Know says that there is a feeling of relaxation here, though I feel a bit uncomfortable, though not as much as at the well.

Maedbh goes off to talk to one of the women, and gets talking to her. It is mentioned that there was a cup which has gone missing. It was meant to represent water’s ability to put out fires.

There are some disreputable locals known to take things, one of them is named Ewan “the Welsh” and Jackie “Light Fingers”. He and his mates have been quiet of late though, spending most of their time in the local tavern. She isn’t sure where they got the money from though to fund their drinking.

I find this out when I return and we all catch up on what has been found out. Maedbh gives Blane some money to go to the tavern and find out what the other drinkers are doing. His job is to find out if anyone has stolen any cups. So he goes off to the tavern.

The tavern is a bit of a dive, where there is a small group of young men in the corner drinking and laughing. They are four of them, and drunk.

He orders some drink and a stew. He asks if there is anything fun to do around here. He manages to get involved with the four drinkers, and starts drinking and chatting. They admit to having a windfall a couple of months back. They were asked to do something by someone, and there might be another job later. They are living off money from that.

He is asked to meet them tonight after dark to help them with another job.