The sun was steadily climbing in the sky, a couple of hands and more before mid-day. Accustomed as he was to living in his homeland - amidst and beneath the stoney crags of Eastwold - Belwar had never before truly experienced a spring amidst the forest, and he found that it was an experience indeed. There was a tangle of smells that assailed him, from exactly what he couldn't tell other than to say that it was from the various plants that were now headlong towards full bloom outside the Keep's walls.
Through the sounds of the Keep's residents he could also hear the high, nasal pitch of a bird...it sounded like those blue and black ones that Valen had been speaking of only a week earlier.
As he approached the chapel doors, Belwar sighed; the air tasted different today than it had since he left Eastwold. This second thought of his home stirred something in the taciturn dwarf, and he suddenly felt (as he had earlier that day) that he could sense the stone under his feet singing. A foolish grin returned, perhaps a bit unbidden, to his bearded face. Looking about, the humans and elves that filled the yard didn't seem to note this sensation that was so apparent to Belwar. They were energetic, for the most part, and seemed happy enough, but they usually were.
The heavy wooden door to the Chapel opened easily and Belwar could hear soft voices within speaking in hushed conversation.
"Look at him." Belwar immediately recognized the deep and confident voice of Corris. "He's asleep so quickly."
"It's no wonder." Corryn's liquid voice returned. "He and his companions have been through a considerable ordeal. They are all heroes now, in the eyes of Our Lady."
"Indeed." Corris agreed. "I cannot help but note the sheen that Zurn wears. He is indeed special to Her."
"Indeed." Corryn said. "Shall we get Chokt to start preparing Brother Dannobar's new quarters? We should try to hold his service tonight, I think."
"Aye." Corris answered. "There's another that we can be glad has come to us, and especially now, eh? So much good has brought this small Keep up from its heels of late. Our Lady knew what she was doing."
"Even She has help. Friends always help." Corryn observed, then her voice changed slightly from conversation to query as she said, "Oh! We have a visitor. Hello? Is there someone there?"