#thops

I returned Liurnia of the Lakes and headed towards the nearest landmark: A church called the "Church of Irith."

Hm. That name. It brought to mind another life. A cold valley bathed in moonlight. A corrupt pontiff. A princess in a tower. The sun realm up above.

The connections were vague here, except that this was a land of the moon, at the foot of the land of the sun.

After picking up the sacred tear, I noticed a man sitting on a bench near the statue. He was one of those guys who just radiates sadness. Not just because he's sad, which he certainly is, but because he makes you sad just looking at him. Like this is someone who has never caught a break in his entire life.

He introduced himself as Thops and said that he'd give me information for a small donation of runes. I was expecting him to be underplaying it, but no. He wanted ten runes. Ten?! That'll hardly get you a meal. I think sheep have more runes than that. Just how hard-up is this guy?

He offered to sell me spells too. Nothing too impressive, but I bought one just out of pity. After that, he told me that i needed a glintstone key to get into the academy, and that he...left his inside. Jeez.

I had to leave him alone before I started spiraling into depression. The man just had a cloud over him. I headed somewhere a little more cheery, like the graveyard.

The skeletons here were a bit more dangerous than elsewhere. Some of them were death sorcerers who summoned skulls with their scythes, while others were hulks with axes that must have been executioners in life. The latter took three pots of holy water to fell, so I might need to think of a new strategy.

I found an Academy Scroll resting on one of the graves. I couldn't decipher it so I took it to Sellen. She informed me that this was typically the place where a "bluntstone" stopped learning. Thops had used the same word to describe himself. I wonder if this was his scroll? Perhaps he left the Academy to visit a friend's grave? That sounds right. It makes him sadder.

Well, not a lot to do here, but it was a good start to my journey through my homeland.