Serene listened with intent as Chloe spoke, nodding her head at times as if in agreement. Once she had finished speaking Serene gathered her thoughts before she spoke.<br/><br/>“It may be best if I outline the current situation for your understanding. About two months ago the northern barbarian tribes started to attack the city’s northern border. As this is rich agricultural land and provides a great deal of the cities food the council naturally sent forces to repel them and secure the border.<br/><br/>About a week after this force left the mountain Orcs began to attack the trade routes, both the river and the land routes. Again the council had no choice but to respond. It did a sweep of the city, recruited, press ganged if you wish every adventurer or mercenary and sent them along with what mobile forces remained to engage the Orcs.<br/><br/>It seemed that the dust had hardly settled from this force leaving before the street children began to disappear only to remerge as vile creatures delighting in murder and carnage. The townsfolk call them the Children of the night. They live in the sewers and catacombs emerging when it goes dark, into which the council sent the city watch. But they lost so many watchmen and women in that underground maze that they stopped sending them. Now terror stalks the city at night, the watch fight many a running battle in the streets but they do not seem to be able to keep the Children of the Night from coming to the surface.<br/><br/>Karin and Weaver where investigating these events and they found intelligence that someone had paid large amounts of gold to the barbarians and Orcs to get them to attack and that the Children of the Night was also their work. Further investigation led them to conclude that Deep Dell was where these events where being organized from. They left for Deep Dell but they never returned.”<br/><br/>Serene rubbed her face in weariness, “We along with the other temples and Guilds honored our commitment to the city and sent Clerics along with temple guards with each force. We have also committed to providing Clerics and guards to help the watch.” She smiled in a halfhearted way, “The temple feels so empty with so many away, so your weapon may help to overcome the lack of numbers. I will have copies made by weapon smiths and issued to our guards as soon as I can.”<br/><br/>She looked at Cairn and Sethi, “As for equipping your guardians I am afraid our armory is somewhat empty of magical weapons. They naturally are with our Clerics in the field. But I will see what I can do, if I may suggest that you take a few days to rest before you pursue what ever course you decide upon.”<br/>