Heads to Kallavesa

==++Loading The Wagons++ == After a month of returning with the rest of the Hall, Veikko leaves Sigehold.

This, he makes clear to everyone, changes very little. He has not been released of his oath to Sigehold – no, he owes the Hall and those who founded it too much to shed that as if it were a travelling cloak. In the months since becoming Cardinal his duties have seen him travel far and wide across the Empire. In this time, he would make full use of the Trods and be back at the Hall within a fortnight – but this amounted to a mere handful of days there before he was summoned to his next port of call. His intentions from this point onwards are to formalise those days in the Hall’s boundaries as visitations, ensuring that he focuses first and foremost on the duties to the Hall and not where he must next venture to.

The reasons for his leaving are clear. First, and foremost, the Worst Kept Secret in Wintermark – Ylmiskha ‘Crowcaller’ Ferbow is pregnant with their first child. She and Veikko are no strangers to long-distance relationships, but with Mishka due to give birth after the Summer Solstice, Loyalty motivates him to finally spend more time in her company – much, he jokes, to her chagrin.

The second reason is easy to discern for those who spot him on idle moments. Since the pilgrimage to Kallavesa, he hums the low and mournful song the mystics sang at the Swamp. It’s clear that the event still lingers in the Stormcrow’s mind, and perhaps a part of him never truly left the lands of his Tradition.

The third reason is more mercenary. Towards the end of the month, wagons roll up to Sigehold. The cargo is covered by canvas depicting the familiar white-feathered wing of the Skywise banner, but with the carts safely within Sigehold’s holdings, Veikko will not be shy in checking over the contents. True to its name, the White Granite is a brilliant and glistening stone. It is in Kallavesa that Veikko intends to see a new chapel built for his congregation, made from this very stone, gifted by Skywise Gralka.

That fact, the donation from the orcs, he will speak of with seriousness in his voice. They have little but continue to give and give to their allies. This, he says, should be at the forefront of our mind should find ourselves in more prosperous times.

And with his meagre belongings loaded onto a third wagon, (books, furniture, and his pet crows and owl), he departs for his wife’s home.

The Hall are encouraged to write and visit. He attends on Sigehold frequently with news on how Mishka is doing and how Construction is getting on, but when he attends on Sigehold he is dutiful and diligent, give all members of the Hall as much time with him as they need. The only exception is Liissa. For her, he sets aside more time, and will endeavour to sit with her during communal meals, wanting updated on all she has done and all she intends to do.