Eirlys seeks wisdom from a Labyrinth veteran.

It was hardly a secret that Eirlys was most ticklish upon the soles of her feet. Though she failed to understand why she was selected for this task, it was not her place to question her superiors or the divine will. If she was going to have even the slightest sliver of a chance within the dungeon, the healer was going to have to quite literally toughen up her most sensitive spot. After asking around for a while, she learned that a veteran of the Labyrinth was currently visiting from another monastery of their faith.

"Sister Vera, I presume." Eirlys greeted her with a polite curtsy as she entered the library. Known back home as "Barefoot Vera," she claimed to have taken an oath of adversity, dedicating herself to a thirty year period of never wearing shoes. Conveniently, this had happened shortly following her return from the Labyrinth of Laughter, but she would rarely speak about her experiences. Could a potential participant in the Labyrinth persuade her?

A middle-aged woman with unkempt auburn hair looked up from her book, reading it by candlelight in the dimly lit room. "Indeed. Have we met?" She was a bit more curt than Eirlys would have liked.

"No, Sister, we have not. I am Sister Eirlys. Could you spare me a moment of your time to discuss, um, the... Labyrinth?" Eirlys requested, meekly wringing her hands together as Vera mulled it over. "A-An initiate has gone missing, and we suspect-"

"...you suspect they've been lost. Do you intend to make a journey to the Labyrinth? It isn't for the faint of heart, as I'm sure you've been told." Vera replied, crossing one leg over the other, revealing to Eirlys that she wasn't wearing shoes. "The Labyrinth does have much to offer, but I doubt it will be as simple as retrieving your fellow Sister." She observed. "Unless your intentions are pure, the Labyrinth will twist your desires and tempt you to travel further in. Sending an initiate with little experience in such things was a rather severe mistake."

"It's not our place to make such a judgment, Sister Vera." Eirlys asserted, but her gaze couldn't meet Vera's. She wasn't exactly wrong. "I have no desire to enter the Labyrinth, of course. My feet are q-quite sensitive!"

Vera smirked. "The slightest scratch and you're in hysterics?" She knew Eirlys' plight more than she could have known. "How long until you're being sent out?" The elder healer asked next.

To this question, Eirlys shrugged. "It's an urgent matter, but the Supreme Priestess gave me time to prepare myself. I shouldn't tarry too long, I suspect."

"A shame. In three months I could teach you the sole-callousing technique I learned from Jornian monks." To demonstrated, she pushed her toe into the candle's flame, not seeming to notice as the tiny flame flickered against her bare skin. The woman of the cloth had quite literally toughed her soles to withstand pain... and tickling, no doubt. "In lieu of that, I do have knowledge of a... ritual. Not a demonic one, mind you, but a partial divine protection ritual from over a millennium ago. Forgotten to time, but the Labyrinth seems to recall things thought lost." Vera continued, withdrawing her toe from the fire and standing up. "You won't be immune, far from it. But if we concentrated it upon your... sensitive spots... it would help you endure basic attacks from the Labyrinth."

"That would be splendid, Sister Vera. Surely there must be something I can do for you? I have little money, but in exchange for such a generous-" Eirlys frantically began thanking the woman for honoring her request so readily.

"Sister Eirlys, you disappoint me. Is it not a tenet of our faith to give unconditionally to those in need?" Vera interrupted, an amused smirk on her face. "All I need from you is to get the Supreme Priestess' approval. While it isn't an evil ritual, it would still be considered apostasy to conduct an unsanctioned ritual on holy ground. She is welcome to oversee the ritual herself, of course, I've translated it into Common."

The thought of invoking the divine magic of a Forgotten god was troubling, to say the least, but Vera seemed to be of the right mind. This was almost as worrisome to Eirlys as a second visit to the Supreme Priestess would be. "I must admit, Sister Vera, I am... hesitant."

"As you should be." Vera replied, walking past Eirlys and patting her on the cheek. "You're a proper devotee and I am still a stranger to you. If I do not hear back from you, Sister Eirlys, then I will consider it a polite refusal of my assistance. If you'll excuse me..." She left the room without much ceremony, leaving Eirlys to contemplate the matter alone in the library.