Swamped

There's a glass case filled with water. You can see a variety of plants growing in there. No animals as far as you can tell, though some of the vegetation's thick. If something were hiding in there, you doubt you'd notice.

"Wonder if any of these are edible," Arlene muses. "Or smokable, for that matter."

"Well, even if they are I doubt the priests appreciate people reaching in and helping themselves," you reply. You don't think you recognize any of these, but then, it's not like you've been to the bottom of the ocean. Or even a riverbed.

"Most of them are herbal remedies," says a stern voice. You turn around and see the priest. "A few are for ceremonial use. Can't say I've tried eating or smoking any myself, but none of them are poisonous. So I suppose it can't hurt to try."

"You're awfully quiet," you say. "Sorry, did we keep you waiting long?"

"Only about a minute. Far be it from me to interrupt when you're appreciating the beauty of Nual and Brume's realm." She takes a step forward, tapping her cane forcefully as she does. "Now, I've got a few questions for you, starting with what you know about that ruckus outside."

She's got quite the presence for an old woman hunched over on a walking stick. You have no trouble believing she knows her way around a cannon. Her aura's one of the strongest you've ever seen, too.

"Very little. We think it involves a particular criminal organization, but we have no idea what they were actually trying to do. We thought we'd get your attention, if only to warn you..."

"And that's not the only reason you're here," she interjects. "You've got a holy relic of Nual. And by the looks of your aura, you're hoping to get something for it. Not entirely for yourself, though."

"You can see that much from an aura? I had no idea." You regain yourself. "Never mind. Put simply, we think there's some trouble brewing and it involves the Golem. We want uniforms so we can approach it to investigate further."

"I see," she says, and goes silent for a while. You can't tell what she's thinking, and you don't know that she'd give anything away with her aura even if you had any idea how to read motives off them.

But when she speaks again, she asks a fairly straightforward question.

"Why do you two need to go? Why is it not enough to inform us of the threat and allow us to deal with it ourselves?"