From Across the Multiverse to Barovia: Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (IC)

[Sallera]

"Ah, good day, Nicolae. I have come to enquire about your work; alas, the raven you gifted me with has come to a sorry state, and I hoped I might barter for another." August displays the rotted bone token with a mournful expression.

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Wait, it's nighttime? Thought we arrived midday and waited a bit for Ashlyn. (Or is he just nocturnal?)

[Jeff the Green]

Nicolae's

"Ah, yes," he replies. "I do have a couple spares ready. If your companions need them I can carve a few more by morning as well."

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Neither. He's just old and was taking a nap.

[Sallera]

"It will be most appreciated," August says with a bow, producing a small yellow gem somewhere along the way and offering it to Nicolae. "I know not whether the rest of my companions need replacements, but the new Traveller here, Gor, may want a token of his own."

[Jeff the Green]

Nicolae's

Nicolae examines the gem. "Ah, I would not insult you for the world, August, but by any chance do you have coin?" It's not entirely obvious whether this respectful tone is more out of fondness or fear. Possibly both. "The herbs and clay I have to use are hard to come by and I can't afford to let them go for much less than the usual hundred gold pieces, and I don't want to take your gem if it's somehow worth more than that."

[Mahrke]

Isaac spends a few more moments, carefully twining a bit of wire, and holding up his contraption, examining one of the loops he'd made atop the metal rod; destined to seat one of the fine lenses he'd commissioned. He sets the metal piece down, and turns his attention to Aswin, cocking his head before reaching across the table, to the ritual book he'd been studying from. "The symbol. If we meant to cleanse it, we really have two courses laid out before us. Find a ritual or spell hidden somewhere in Stahd's library...or experimentation. Myself, I'd much prefer the latter...but experiments take time, and here minutes seem to be measured with death. Still, it might do us well to make an attempt with what remains of our mystic prowess before bedding down each evening."

He looks to his table now, again, to a small, closed box. "And speaking of the raven...I have acquired these from the Vistani. Crystal eggs. I have been assured they are efficacious in warding away the malign curse that seems lain across this land. Expensive too." His face creases with a frown. "Oh dear. You know, saying it out loud, I can't but feel that I might've fallen prey to charlatan..."

[Sallera]

"Nay, to carry so much coin would only weigh me down." August laughs lightly, switching the yellow gem for a smaller blue one, cut to a brilliant shine. "But this one should be more appropriate."

[RFLS]

Gor stands, watching the transaction impassively. A slight frown crosses his face as the merchant makes his request - haggling or bartering of any sort has never sat well with him. The subtlety of it eludes him, even such small subtleties as the merchant's request for coin.

"If his gem is not acceptable, then I will pay you."

Gor carefully counts out a hundred gold for the merchant, and hands it over, saying "Are these fine? They're foreign, but they're gold."

[Jeff the Green]

Nicolae's

Nicolae takes one of Gor's coins and bounces it in his hand a few times. "That will work just fine," he says. "Give me just a scosche." He disappears into his house for a moment before returning with two of the bone ravens on leather thongs.

"Would you like one too, Mister..." He blinks for a second as though only now noticing Gor's height. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be related to Sir Aswin?"

[RFLS]

As the merchant disappears into the house, Gor half turns to August.

"If I could get that crystal in payment...?"

As Nicolae shuffles back in, Gor turns back to face him. At Nicolae's question, Gor looks mildly amused; he's used to being asked questions about his relatives based on his height. There aren't many people built like him in the world, or worlds, after all.

"No; I've never even met Sir Aswin before today. I don't think we're from the same place, either.

What exactly do these tokens do? I'm...from somewhere else, and I've never seen them before."

[TheFallenOne]

"Eggs?" Aswin seemed rather sceptical. "I'm hesitant to just call them fradulent out of hand, but... why bother trying in the first place? We already know the bone ravens fulfill the task handily, and that the raven image has special power in this place. On the other hand I can't quite remember having seen any egg iconography yet." He smirked, not mockingly but in a way that invited the older man to join in.

"As for the Symbol, I don't think there's much point to scouring the library. The way the seeress offered of cleansing it lies in the castle too, we gain little by trying a different approach of uncertain success at the same place. We have to figure it out ourselves, or do as the Vistani foretold."

[Mahrke]

"Hmph. I made a promise to no longer assume all the customs in this place were born of ignorant superstition. This, of course, is the inevitable result. Well...we shall test them. If my purchase was fortuitous, they will act as an agonist to the protective power offered by the carved ravens. If it was, in fact, the ploy of a charlatan, and they are 'duds'...well, I shall be having some stern words with that gypsy fellow. Stern. Words."

[Jeff the Green]

Blood of the Vine

"'Tis possible 'twere a scoundrel's trick, Sir Aswin," Ashlyn says pensively. "But I would not discount it as such. In Richemulot there is not this shadow that taints the land and so we have no need of such talismans, but yet eyren are a symbol of rebirth. We eat them at the solstices by tradition."

Nicolae's

"There's a curse on the land," Nicolae replies, "that blights the crops and people alike. These absorb it for a time. Normally they last a few months, but August here must have been somewhere it was real strong."

[Jeff the Green]

New IC thread.