Jayar's Family
When you went to Jayars home, you find a small but well kept home
housing a woman of indeterminate age and a young girl. She says Jayar
was her son and when you give news she cries full of raw pain but yet
still with the quiet dignity of a noblewoman. She doesnt want the money, but
does request his effects and a recounting of his time spent away from home.
She comments at one point about trying to find an artist who can draw her a
picture of her son for her to have always, to show his daughter and then
begins to cry again realizing that unless someone had met him they couldn't
draw him. Her sobs are sobs of heartbreak, as only a parent can feel for the
loss of a child.
Gareth gravely returns to the house with Jayar's possessions, placing them
respectfully upon the table one-by-one. The knight sits with the mother and
daughter for many hours telling of his brief journeys with Jayar after his
dedication to aid King Arion - indeed, your father held audience with a
great king! - and of how Jayar's contact with the cursed amulet saved many
others who might have fallen prey to the evil items along the company's
travels, how his memory has been re-told to those who have joined and picked
up the task of the fallen, how, in his death, he still continues to protect
and to serve the peoples of his land - the greatest gift anyone can give.
Before leaving, Gareth places the death-gild upon the simple wooden table
across which they had shared so many memories and wraps the older woman's
hands around it. "I know that you would not wish these coins for yourself,
but accept them for he whom has left and for the future of the brave little
one. I will speak with my companions, dear lady, to see if any of them more
gifted in the arts are able to draw a rendering for his memory and yours. I
will come again before we depart, regardless of outcome, to give you word.
Will you accept the blessing of Pikahl?" the paladin asks the two womenfolk.
Assuming the answer is affirmative, Gareth places his right palm to his
chest where his amulet would normally reside, kisses the fingertips of his
shield arm, and gently presses them against the forehead of the little girl.
Somberly, he repeats the gesture with the mother. "May Pikahl bless you
and ward you in the steps you take through this world and the one
hereafter." Bowing his head in respect, Gareth returns to Wulfgar's home.
Before going to bed, the knight spends much time in thought as he curries
Emperor, then remains awake long into the night while the others are
carousing, updating his journal and scribing patiently the story of Jayar.
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