The temple of Desna does indeed have a hot meal available, as well as cots and bedrolls with curtains hung around them for some semblance of privacy. Between the guards, hallowed ground, and defensible architecture, a lot of people seem to feel that spending the night at the temple of Desna is a safe bet, though the gorgeous view of the night stars through the reinforced glass ceiling probably doesn’t hurt. 

When they arrive, Ramien is going through his evening prayer, starting with a short bit from the eight scrolls on the value of freedom for allowing mortals to grow into whatever shape they wish to be instead of what is most desired by those around them before tying it in to some examples from his travels about how various countries can fail to live up to this ideal and the harms this can cause. Once he finishes, however, he’s more than willing to speak with them promptly.

Ky will report to him on her recruitment efforts - everybody is expected here first thing in the morning, staff and cloth armor found in the library but left there for now.

“Thank you for all your hard work; I have no doubt that Kenabres and its people would be worse off without your efforts. Was the cloak helpful, and do you think you will need it for the battle tomorrow?”

"The cloak was helpful but I found another one that will serve as well," she says, presenting him the borrowed one with a flourish. "Plus, reportedly, aid my attempts to disguise myself, so if you see someone who looks nothing like me at all but has a knack for manipulating paper it's me, but I can't really see myself doing that."

Ramien will reclaim their cloak then, and head off to do a sweep of the temple so he can speak to and reassure anyone who needs it. The cots are clearly chosen with cost and ease of storage in mind as much as quality, but they're clean, in good repair, and much more comfortable than what they had to work with in Neatholm last night. Some people are still talking as they settle in, but it isn't long before one of the lay priests comes around to let everyone know that it's time to quiet down and let people rest.

In the night, Kybele's dreams eventually shift and she finds herself talking to a beautiful woman against a backdrop of stars. Something about her looks and sounds familiar, but it's hard to make out details during the dream.

"Hear me, dreamer, and take heed! The hordes of the abyss march on Kenabres! Their target is the wardstone, and they must not be allowed to succeed. Otherwise, the result would be disastrous..."

Even if she doesn't usually remember what she dreams about, the words stick with her. Despite the message she feels incredibly well rested when she wakes up shortly before dawn.

Wow, that was weird! Fortunately even if she decides to take it totally seriously on the grounds that local magic is weird, it doesn't call for altering her plans at all. She gets up and combs out her hair and has a light breakfast and prepares to meet with her party.

The first of her invitees to arrive is Thall, who apparently ditched their paladin getup before they arrived at the temple last night to talk with Ramien and is currently focusing intently on a book they have in front of them, occasionally turning pages.

Count Arendae and Aranka aren't far behind them, the former's partying and drinking not seeming to impair them at all as they arrive on horseback shortly after dawn crests the horizon.

Camellia is also awake, actually, she's just communing with her spirit. She'll be out as soon as she's done, thanks.

Ky leaves Iskander behind in the temple and steps out to chat with the recruits. What's the book about?

Thall holds up a hand when she approaches, but then lowers it about half a minute later and turns to respond.

"This is my spellbook; I need it to prepare the scaffold I use to cast spells since I can't do it spontaneously like a sorcerer or get a god to do the heavy lifting for me like a cleric. Takes me about an hour all told, but I can pause in between hanging each individual spell without any issue."

"Neat!" Can she make any sense of the contents? With domain sense; she doesn't reckon he'd care for her to touch it.

Most of it is mathematical equations in a notation she's unfamiliar with, but there are some sketches designed to help visualize bits that seem to gesture at different topologies. It also feels a little different from ordinary paper along the same lines as her bracers do, but less so.

Neat.

"Count Arendae, good morning!"

"Kybele! I foresee a glorious day ahead of us, although admittedly such things aren't worth that much these days. Who are we still waiting on?"

"The fellow from the curio shop, Fyllemen, and Irabeth's lot, and Ember. Where are you on commissioning those ballads, I'm holding you to that and can't wait."

He laughs.

"Well, Aranka has made me the very compelling pitch that she'll be there and is thus significantly more qualified to write about it after, which I had to admit was fairly persuasive, but I think there's also a call for retellings with less of a focus on accuracy than that. Half the fun is in a tale too outlandish to possibly take seriously, as long as it still maintains enough truth to force you to do so anyway, so I've penned a letter to some of my more usual sources to see about getting that squared away. Either I live, in which case I'll be sending them more details, or I die here and they're to make sure to emphasize how it absolutely wasn't my fault and I perished solely due to my own irrepressible heroism in the defense of others. Either way, I've been very clear that you're to have a starring role."

"How positively sublime. Do you do this a lot, to have usual sources?"

"Oh yes. That's half the fun in doing outlandish things, to give other people something exciting to talk about. The other half is my own bragging, of course."

"They must sing your name in every tavern for leagues around."

"Well, I can't say I've traditionally seen much success garnering fame on the demonic side of the wardstone line, but I suppose this makes an excellent opportunity to change that. And perhaps once the crisis is over, I shall take it upon myself to take a vacation in Absalom so the poor souls there need not endure without hearing of our exploits, even if I have to attend all the very best parties to do it."

"You would go in person? Your dedication is astounding. The boredom of the souls in Absalom who have not yet heard of the excitement must resonate so deeply within your heart."

"It's true. My virtue is so astounding, it's a wonder Iomedae has yet to offer to make me her cleric. Perhaps she feels that I already overshadow my dear cousin too much as it is."

The next arrival shows up around then, a red faced crusader from the eagle's watch that Kybele might recognize from earlier.

"Captain Tirabade sent me to inform you that we are currently mustering with Hulrun at the Temple of the Inheritor, and should be ready to join you inside the hour; they say they'd like to meet with you and whoever else is helping you to coordinate to talk strategy before the attack, but that they're currently praying for spells and can't do so right this instant."

"I'd offer to go to them but am still expecting Ember to meet us here. Thank you for letting me know."