[Game Thread] Things are not always as they seem

[roaddog41]

The Green Tree was a clean place, that had been made very obvious from the start. A fact which made it quite enjoyable for a mage. No big drunken sailors int he common room to harass one not so big, no thieves or others of similar ilk stupid enough to try to rob a mage, just some merchants and ships captains. Good folk looking for a room and finding one at The Green Tree.

Master Telien had said the library was in the city, but not where exactly. He had mentioned to Missy he was looking for old records and the girl had practically gushed. Of course the easiest place to start such a search would be at the mayor's office, followed by whatever passed for a library or temple in this town. Worst come to worst there would be some sage or historian he could ask. According to Missy luck was with him this day, their was a temple of Wee Jas in the city. Followers of Death's Guardian always kept rigorous records, they would be a god place to start. If one could stand the stench of their other past times. Or he could try the mayor's office.

There were many decisions to make over breakfast, but plenty of time to make them. If the library had been untouched for this long, it should remain so while he enjoyed a few remarkable scones. The innkeeper must have an elven trained cook, because the honey and jam were simply too good to be human in origin.

 

I have agonized over this one. I tried half a dozen different starting points, but they all seemed too railroadish. I'll let you pick how you want to locate the temple, and we can get in character while we do it... I am curious about Elanaril, and how he will respond to the environment.

[Furious5k]

Elenaril sat at a table away from the center of the room, but not so secluded as to be under the shadows of a wall. He merely wished to be away from the traffic of the inn, even if it was not a bustling place to begin with. Calm customers, with enough wealth to give comfort more merit than a bargain, made for a nice establishment and it was a welcome change of pace.

The food was of fine quality even for his elven tastes and Elenaril allowed himself the time to enjoy it while reading a book splayed open in front of him, titled Magical Barriers and Abjurations; only once in a while looking up casually to observe the comings and goings of the room.

When he was finished with his meal, Elenaril rose from the table, picked up his book and clasped the covers closed; then placed it in his bag, the weight of the volume dissolving into nothing. He noticed Melissa across the room, serving a customer his beverage of choice. The elf found a small piece of copper wire in the folds of his robe, while his other hand performed surreptitious arcane gestures. He then whispered "Please tell the cook his culinary skills were well appreciated." and simply smiled when Melissa looked at him as he headed for the exit, intent on visiting the temple of Wee Jas.

[roaddog41]

Melissa jumped out of her skin when the whispering voice echoed suddenly in her ear. Almost immediately she glanced over at Elenaril, and her smile was fit to light up a room. Then another customer waved at her and she scurried back to work, thats what life was after all. The elf had his own job, and a temple to visit.

The temple was modest, a squat two story structure in the middle of a block. The buildings to either side were occupied, a rarity for a temple of Wee Jas. One was an apothecary, and no doubt the proprietor was a friendly rival with the priests within for healing services. To the other side was a scrivener, most of whose business probably came from the temple. It was odd, one did not find the Stern Ladies so accepted, well appearances could be deceiving. Old marble statues decorated the front face of the building, garish visages representing the pain and release of death. She was not known for kindness or mercy, but neither was she known for cruelty. Death was painful, but in the end it was better. And if you were sometimes called upon to stay behind, or your body was, then so be it. Elenaril followed a little old lady inside who, from her short conversation with the welcoming clerk, seemed to be there to arrange for a funeral. Her husband seemed to have passed away. A sad fact of life.

The clerk had her on her way in a jiffy, and turned his attention to Elenaril. "Good morning sir. How may the followers of Wee Jas help you today?"

[Furious5k]

Elenaril paused only briefly at the bottom of the temple, for though the statues were of some interest with their telling of the sculptor's quirks, the architecture of the building as a whole was not particularly inspired. And in the end, he decided the images were flawed by the artist's lack of skill rather than distinguished by a creative style.

Following an elderly woman inside, the elf waited patiently for her business to be finished; fortunately, it was not a long wait and he was soon addressing the clerk. "Good morning. I am a practitioner of magic and a researcher, and as such interested in the possibility of perusing your records? Above all, you were recommended as having the most diligently kept archives." A small amount of flattery was known to open many doors, and as in this case it just happened to be true, Elenaril was not above such means.

[roaddog41]

The clerk smiled, "Yes it is part of our duties. I will send you on to Father Abigail. She will be more than willing to help. Go down the hallway on your left, then take the second corridor on the right. That will lead you to the hall of records. Oh and so I don't forget. This is a home of Wee Jas, death waits for those who open doors they should not. As a mage I expect your curious, don't be. Many of the things in here are expensive and dangerous. Others are just expensive, and others are private." The last bit had the feeling of a prepared speech, one given so many times the words were varied just too keep it interesting for the speaker.

Elenaril followed the directions, ending up in a dark and dusty room lit by a magical light. It was refreshing, a room so similar to some of the old rooms back home. Although those tended to be lit by globes or spells, this one was lit by a magical flameless torch. Fire was dangerous around old dry books, the dust could catch fire and if it did many tomes would go up like tinder in a grease fire. Sitting at a desk covered in papers of various sorts was a middle age woman wearing a dark blue robe. She was writing rapidly, a quill scratched lightly across the parchment with a speed and grace that showed long years of practice. More interestingly, a piece of parchment sat upon a floating easel that hovered by her head. A second quill scratched away there as well, and from the pattern of sounds it was definitely not copying her motions. She glanced up for a moment and arched an eyebrow at Elenaril. But her hand did not stop movig till the end of what must have been a sentence. "Can I help you sir?"

[Furious5k]

Elenaril walked at a casual and well measured pace down the hallway according to the directions, his eyes keenly absorbing all the details of the surroundings. Even though he had given little weight to the warning given by the clerk, Elenaril none the less had no intent of sneaking into any doors unasked; the Wee Jas followers were providing him with a valuable service in making their records available and he was content to respond with respect for their privacy.

Elenaril approached the table at which the woman was sat and upon capturing her attention said, "Father Abigail, I presume?" The elf did not wait for a reply, but continued with introducing himself. "Elenaril. I was told I might be permitted the use of your extensive records for my research."

[roaddog41]

She crossed her fingers in front of her, careful to keep them out of the still drying ink. "Young elf, not even one of your race has the time to peruse all of my records. Nor do I have the time and patience to assist you in such an effort. However, if you are looking for something specific I can find the information you seek." She looked down her nose and Elenaril and he got the distinct impression he was being mentally weighed. "An elven wizard huh. I don't see many of those. I assume you know how to handle the old books hmmm? I don't have the time to be teaching you how..."

[Furious5k]

Elenaril's face remained unchanged and he gave no pause, yet inwardly he felt a slight bristling. To suggest he, or any elven wizard for that matter, did not possess the care required to handle such texts was ludicrous. Why, this whole building would have fit in but a section of the library at the...No, he should refrain, it is but a quirk to suggest such impossibilities. An old person can be forgiven her clear concern for these texts. Her sense of duty commended. "You may rest easy, I have handled many valued scrolls in my time."

It was but a moment for him to arrange the list in his head - there were many topics he was interested in, but which could be found here still remained to ascertain - before he decided how to respond to her question. "I am interested in all tellings of crypts, bygone temples or locations with some relation to magical practice in the area - these are most likely to have been recorded locally. My current endeavor into the understanding of magic lies with magical barriers, glyphs and the intersections between various types of arcane practice, such as wizards and sorcerers."

[roaddog41]

"Huh, your not the first to come to me asking of old places of knowledge. A rather overbearing and pompous young human was in here earlier this very day. He wanted information on the old Barony library. He swiped my only map... The rapscallion.

But I am sure your not interested in that. Fools have been looking to get into the library for years, its defended by a mummy you know. A crazed thing that was once the library's keeper. It treats that building like its tomb, and nothing is allowed to enter and leave alive." She rapper her desk to emphasize the phrase, and then she seemed to dip into some internal archive. "I am sorry to say our records are much more historical than they are theoretical. Off hand I have nothing that discusses arcane theory precisely. However, I have come across a number of references to mages and others with magical talents. Perhaps you would be interested in some of those. At worst I can provide you with directions that should prove profitable off the island."

She was a no nonnsense woman, and seemed genuinely willing to help Elenaril. She also seemed dedicated to her work, and quite confident she could provide what she promised.

[Furious5k]

The old Barony library. Aramil did not recall ever hearing or reading about such a place. Still, one could hardly be aware of all the ruins among all the islands, of which there were more than merited count. The elf did know about mummies, however. Burrowing a hand in the bag he was carrying momentarily, Aramil drew forth a small tome and briefly consulted it.

It was finely made, bound in silver and engraved with the shapes of the world's landmasses. From its size it would pass for diary, but as it often is with magical items, the form hides the purpose. When he opened it, the pages were full of tiniest lines of text, some seemingly in front of or behind others. As the elf focused his mind upon a topic, the contents of the page moved and shaped to words which completed his knowledge, much like a patient teacher ensuring a student misses no point of importance.

"Mummies are a terrible business," said Aramil placing the small book back into his bag. The tome had allowed him to glean some of their attributes just now. The elf paused for a moment, thinking. "He must have had good reason to go there under such threat. I would have information on this place, if you do not mind. Humans have a knack for finding their way into interesting places. And those references you mentioned, of course."

[roaddog41]

OOC Mummies are fairly common, I'll assume Elenaril knows all of their special qualities and attacks, as well as how and why they would be made. Also the Tome is one of Worldly Memory... it confused me for a bit, no worries I found it.

"Hurummppf" The sound was part snort, part grunt but its meaning was clear. Elenaril was being a fool in the eyes of Father Abigail. But she certainly wasn't going to turn down a request for knowledge. She handed Elenaril a small, leather backed book that was a history of someone called "Montbaton the Red". "You read that, and I'll be back in a moment with what I gave the other. Minus the map of course. I only had the one." Bemused, Elenaril flipped through the obviously new book. It seemed to be a copy of another ,for in the margins were comments written in a caustic tone that pointed out obvious and not so obvious falsehoods or exaggerations. There were also a number of references in the margins to other books, and to locations. It would take time to really look into it, but it seemed that Montbaton was an incredibly arrogant human wizard who had set up a trio of towers on different islands, for god knows what reason. No doubt this was one of the references she had to mages. No where in the book was there the least bit written about the magic used by "The Red", but instead it seemed to be an autobiography written to make the wizard appear much greater than he actually was.

It took the Father almost ten minutes, but what she turned out was impressive if slightly less since she had supposedly prepared it once already today. She had two large tomes, a pair of charts, a large map, and what looked like an animal skin. "Alright, here are the highlights. In 2230 Yelken Reckoning the Barony took over this Island. I assume you know that the Baron's Highbrow ruled one of the largest empires in the region, and Northumbria was their northernmost major enclave. They built this city form the ground up, and used it to administer the entire Dappled Cliffs region. Now obviously where we are standing was not part of that city. The Season of Storms wiped out most of the city, and put much of the rest under water. Only recently, and only at low tide, can one even get into the old portions of the city. The Barons were fools to build so close to sea level. These Tomes are very old and preserved only through the use of magic. They are histories of that time, and in particular you can see here..." She had the smaller of the two open to one spot. "... that the Library was built in 2235 Y.R. and here... The other Tome was opened even more carefully. "...This one needs to be copied. Even the magic can't hold it together much longer. Here you can see the records immediately after the Storms." She pointed to a short paragraph detailing the total loss a the temple, one to the Sea God Eadro. "The library was a part of the Temple, I haven't ever figured out exactly why. It is a bit of a mystery, perhaps one you can uncover for me.

Now then, this map is of the old city. And as you can see here is the Temple. But unfortunately most of these landmarks have been destroyed. I would suggest that you hire a boat and look for carvings of mermaids or mermen in these areas. I circled the locations it should be on the charts here. I can't let you take the map, as you can tell it is very old, and I haven't been able to find a cartographer skilled enough to redraw it, much less reconcile it with what exists today." She rolled the maps back up, and handed Elenaril the two navigational charts. He was not a sailor, and they did not seem highly useful to him. But hopefully someone with a ship would find them more useful. Large sections had been circled in a pale purple ink that was clear on the white linen, contrasting well with the dark black threads woven in to show the coast. Or at least Elenaril assumed it was the coast.

And then she unrolled the animal skin, and his jaw just about dropped. It was a portrait, done in a pale red substance that looked eerily like freshly drawn blood. It was not, it did not have the smell nor had it dried into a crusty black. But it fit the subject of the portrait perfectly. It showed a tall, gaunt creature wrapped in bandages. Upon its head it wore a brilliant crown, topped in the front with a tridentlike symbol. Around its neck was a pendant with the same symbol. It wore a suit of breastplate armor over the bandages, and carried in its arm a trident and a long whip. The caption was in a language Elenaril did not know, but Father Abigail provided a translation without being asked. "Rekarn, Protector. Were I you Elenaril, I would look into Montbaton the Red and allow Rekarn to the fools. He will deal with them quickly, and without mercy."

[Furious5k]

The true measure of a wizard is his magical talent, the understanding of arcane secrets and ascendancy to powers so potent that to contain them would shred the minds of lesser men, leaving them mad. Montbaton spoke of towers he had raised, dangling his material achievement in the eyes of readers as some kind of proof to his greatness; like cats who've seen a ball of yarn, many would be bewitched, their reason abandoned on the spot. But that was merely a parlour trick. No, Elenaril was not impressed by the man. Though the towers merited a thought of visitation, were they not yet stripped to the very stones. After all, such a wizard could not have possibly weaved any protective warding of note and was likely the type to hoard items out of gaudy greed rather than the need or ability to use them.

Rekarn, now there was a figure which looked to embody a tangible level of power. Not only that, such a protector implied importance to the place. It was most interesting what secrets might lie dormant in that forgotten city, awaiting the day they would be unearthed by somebody of worthy mind to gain access and to appreciate their worth. This, Elenaril conclued, was far better than some upjumped human wizard.

"I appreciate your advise, Father Abigail, and will consider carefully." Elenaril said those words with truthful intent. Although he was very likely to pursue the very course she argued against, he did not make a habit of disregarding advice without putting thought to its validity. With that, Elenaril borrow the two texts she had brought, and handling them with care, removed himself to a free table for quiet study.

He read fast, many times the speed of most, and was well trained in letting his sight pass over the unimportant. Still, these were books of history and it was some time before he was finished. Finally, he rose from the table, stowed the pair of charts into his bag and brought the books back to Abigail. "Thank you for the hospitality. Good day to you."

With that, it was decided. A great arcane prodigy would be visiting the flooded city and, if they had not rushed too far ahead, he might even save those of lesser ability from their grim fate.

[roaddog41]

”A better explanation of the geography involved” I apologize for not making this clear. At some point in the past, the time referred to as the Season of Storms, the old city of Northumbria was wiped out. The remnants of this city are underwater most of the time, only coming out to dry land at low tide. However, there is a second trait that I realize now I didn’t fully explain. Many of the structures in Northumbria, and most other islands in this region, and built right into the cliffs upon and around which the cities sit. From the map you can tell that the Temple is located within a cliff face, and if that is the case it is likely the temple is at least partially out of water at all times. It is common practice for buildings, especially those by the sea, to have entry ramps to facilitate the removal of excess water from rain, particularly high tides, or just water used to clean. Elenaril would expect that, since the temple is supposed to be accessible at all, that it has a considerable slope. That probably means that it was either originally constructed slightly higher than most, or that it has a large entry ramp. This is not to say it will be bone dry, but it might be that on other than high tide the water is no more than ankle or knee deep… and that on low tide the water drains out. Now you might not want to bring things that would take damage form water, in case you need to be fully immersed. And if you have spells that would help in a full immersion it would probably be a good idea to prepare them, but you would not expect to be under water the whole time. Additionally, there are a number of spells and items available that can help you in watery environments. It might be a good idea to look into some of those, since this setting is a large number of relatively small islands you can expect to be around the sea quite often. Storm wrack is a good book for this, incidentally I intend to use that book semi-often in this game, as well as sandstorm(desert islands).

Father Abigail nodded and put the books away. It was obvious she knew he intended to go anyway, and thought that he was a fool. But then the world was full of fools, and there was no doubt that Father Abigail had met her fare share. At least this one cares for the books she thought before going back to her work..

Elenaril left the temple and headed down towards the docks, always the busiest part of any settlement. Ships there were in profusion, but he needed a ship that he could trust. One that wouldn’t break his budget, and one whose captain could be trusted. He visited half a dozen likely vessels, but each time the captain told him no. It seemed the area around the cliffs in question was difficult to navigate, with shallows and sunken buildings there to catch an unwary vessel. But then the last captain pointed him across the pier to a relatively small skiff, one crewed by a team of three half-orcs. ”They be yer best bet boy. Fearless and foolhardy, but skilled. I’m not fer liking them Dorluchs, but even I gots te say they can pilot a vessel. But don’t be telling em how much ye can pay or they will take it all off ye.”

[Furious5k]

Elenaril nodded to the man in lieu of verbal gratitude and headed to the suggested boat and its crew. In the weightless extra-dimensional space of his bag there was a large sum of platinum, but beyond that he had gold, silver and copper coins within the seamless folds of his garb. By his estimations, it should prove to be more than enough, even if the orcs decided to drive a hard bargain for their services.

As he strode across the pier, Elenaril gazed across the waters. The weather appeared to be calm enough for easy travel, but then he was no sailor to be making guesses as to what the nature's whims would bring about in an hour or half a day; for that, he was hiring the half-orcs in front of whose boat he now came to a halt. "I am looking to sail to the temple of Eadro in the old city to wait for a low tide. I was told you would be up to the task." said Elenaril without preamble, gesturing with the charts and directing his voice at the entire trio. Those with orc heritage were not known for eloquence or long speeches and it suited him just fine on this occasion.

[roaddog41]

The three orcs looked up and Elenaril got a good look at them. It was obvious to someone who was experienced with orcs that they were close kin, the same marking patterns in their fur, the same expression of disdain and amusement on their faces, and similarly curved tusks in their mouths. All three were heavily tattooed, and all three looked like they knew their business. The largest of the three growled something in orcish, a short phrase that had the two going back about their business. Then he took a couple steps towards the elf, looking up at him on the pier. ”I am Dorluchs. My ship is the best. How long, where in old city? Why you want look for temple?”

Elenaril blinked for a moment, looking down at the orc. He wasn’t positive, but he was pretty sure the big humanoid was purposefully talking slower and more awkward than what he was capable of.