Erthenia

- I won't refuse, - replied Larte and sat down in the armchair.

Ringer offered his guest a glass of wine and refilled his own. - A long time ago, about ten years ago to be more precise, one of my seafaring acquaintances told me about these islands. He was the captain of a small ship and made a living by sailing from Illiniare to their Altaian colony. As you can imagine, many goods that were abundant in Illiniare itself were in high demand in the colony. So he lived for years, sailing back and forth, making only a modest profit due to the costs of supplies and crew wages. That is, he could live on it and slowly increase his capital, but nothing more. But one day, the tides changed, and events began to unfold somewhat differently. His ship returned half-empty. From what I learned, the captain was killed by his own crew, the hold was empty, and many of the crew members were dead. But the main thing is not this, but the fact that after this event, the survivors began to live comfortably. An obvious picture emerges. Somewhere on these islands, they found something valuable, and since there is nothing about this in the records of the Altaian colony, they smuggled it out so that the authorities would not find out. Do you have any ideas about what it could be?

Added 9 minutes later

- But we can't leave everything as it is. We can't wait for help to arrive. What should we do then, Father?

Vaaon wanted to accept one of the invitations, but decided not to rush and asked the priestess what the statuette was. - Is this some kind of relic?

- One of the symbols of our faith. - The priestess approached the pedestal and gently wrapped her arms around the sculpture. - A unique gift received from the inhabitants of the city where the cult of Ururu originated.

- But we can't leave everything as it is. We can't wait for help to arrive. What should we do then, Father?

- Unfortunately, no order is authorized to act on the territory of Illiniare without the permission of the local authorities, and by the time we wait for help from the locals, there will be even more victims. The only thing we can do is to protect the souls of the unfortunate from further suffering.