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Still staring at the stone wall, Durgan now began to remember. In the darkest recesses of his mind, the goddess lit red glowing beacons for him.
"These are the guardians of your fate, mortal.", the goddess whispered to him. "Prove yourself worthy in their trials, and you will learn a lore which even the queen herself fears."

Durgan soon found himself staggering through strangely familiar alleyways. These were the most forsaken parts of the slums, where life was cheap, and death was swift, parts which no sane man would dare to thread, yet the beacon called out to him, and he followed, past thugs and rapists, to end up at a rundown cabin in parts where no city guard had ever set foot. From within Durgan could hear the cries of a newborn child. The door slowly swung open from Durgans knocks.

"Don't hesitate.", he heard the weak voice of an aged woman. He could barely make her out from the shadows within, clutching her baby. "Don't disgrace yourself. There is no use for politeness in these parts, least of all towards an old crone like me."
Durgan cautiously entered her home, his eyes slowly getting used to the darkness.
"Well?", she wondered as he just stood there, paralysed.
"I was brought here by my goddess.", he explained. He had no clue as to why he was here.
"I see." The woman put her baby aside and slowly approached him, looking him over. The next thing he knew, the old woman had put something in his hand, followed by an unexpected hug. Clutching him tight, she moaned in his ear with a trembling delight: "Thank you! I've waited so long. Now make haste, before my husband comes back. I don't think he would understand."
Durgan pulled back, and the old hag slumped to the floor. Durgans eyes fell on the knife which she had given him, its blade covered in her blood. The screams of her newly orphaned baby followed him, as he ran.