Your boots meet the road once more as you travel back to the sanctuary. Even in the dim light, the oak towers can be seen stretching high above Thornback Hollow: two sturdy lighthouses looking out over the sprawl of crooked homes and squalid industry.
Except for a momentary encounter with a drunken militia member urging you to heal his turbulent bowels, the rest of your journey back is mercifully incident-free.
Enter the Sanctuary Courtyard
You two sit on the edge of the patio. Alice draws some water and the two of you lift your masks to share a refreshing drink. The moon is showing its face through the cloudy sky, illuminating the grassy interior with a soft glow. In the wind, you can smell the earthy broth. The shrine monks must have located some vegetables. Your stomach complains in response.
From one of the courtyard's northern corridors, emerging as if from some arched cavern, you spy a familiar pair of fangs. Ioco walks towards him with purpose.
"It's about time you two got back together," he growls. "I have called a meeting with Abbot Quelm in the basement, we have things to discuss. But before that, I urgently need you in the shrine hall."
Alice finishes a sip of water. "It's good to see you too, Ioco. We were almost crushed by an angry mob and discovered that Thornback Hollow has some sort of secret, malicious deity."
"We're also very hungry," you add.
Ioco seems disconcerted by their retorts, but soon resumes his intentions. "We'll have time to indulge in these stories later. First, follow me down the hall." He looks to make sure you're following. "Expect food at the meeting."
"I'm sure it will be very delicious."
His colleague takes you back to the sanctuary's makeshift infirmary. Little has changed since your previous visit. The same wet sensation hangs in the air as patients wander through the tight spaces between the benches in aimless patterns or lie in a state of agonizing wakefulness. It seems to you that the nature of this illness means that the picture will be the same no matter what time of day. Mere moments have passed, but you already miss the relative beauty and expanse of the courtyard.
"Take a good look at the important task before us," says Ioco, gesturing around the room. "We are all three of us here in charge of the Crown, but it is these people, their suffering, that must be our priority."
"Well put," says Alice. "But a burden I'm sure we're aware of. Why detour us here before your meeting?"
"Treatment," he replies. "The shrine's ritual parade is inappropriate under these circumstances. This plague is an enigma, but among us we certainly have the means to try to alleviate some of that anguish."
Alice shakes her head. "Until we have a much better understanding of the disease, there may be little we can do."
"Maybe..." Ioco admits. "But that's why I wanted to call you here, together. Francisco, how do you think we should proceed?"