By the Lady there was hope!      "I have something that predates all relique." She raised a hand to stifle any response. "Tis the Golden Virgin of the Carcassonne."

The silence was tangible. No one spoke. Cobina sat with her mouth full of pear, not wanting to breathe. The Marquis was speechless. Lady d'Ascoyne sat with her eyes wide and her mouth clamped shut.    It was AndreaLyn who broke the silence.

"Oh, that," she said. Cobina laughed, Lady d'Ascoyne started, the Marquis guffawed and Lady Gandolfyn stifled a smile. 

For the Golden Virgin was considered to be a myth of the Bretonnian Carcassonne, A will o' the wisp, a phantasm. A  female figure over ten feet in height, covered in hammered gold from the pre history of Bretonnia..   When the ancient Bretonni settled the lands around Athel  Loren, they feared the elves as supernatural creatures and did not venture into the woods.  Many offered the bounty of their primitive farms to the elves.   When the  Bretonni first settled the barren southland, they encountered the Golden Virgin    A framewortk of wood and metal and overlaid in Gold leaf.  The 10 foot statue passed into the realm of legend in 987, having apparently disappeared from the land of Bretonnia forever.

The legend was that wherever the Golden Virgin was emplaced all the land around her was considered sacred to the Lady of the Lake. Not some trifling half acre plot of land, but a square 40 hectares on a side!    Whether in Kislev icefield, Lustrian Jungle or Burning Sands of Araby , the Golden Virgin of the Carcassonne made that area Bretonnian., even in the Three Hells of Ejinar!
It was also rumored to have powerful restorative powers for Humans and was instrumental in restoring the dead to full life and without scars!

 After many moments to contemplate what Lady Gandolfyn had promised, The Marquis said "That is sufficient." He liked the idea of a sacred talisman or item and not the bones of a knight. He walked to the Terrace and looked out at the copse of trees.. He put an arm around his wife and the speed with which his anger left him was impressive..