Mithar Keep & Frescot House IV: Magic babble lies within

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I'm afraid eldritch magma isn't quite the real thing as it returns to it's home plane after a while when I stop focusing on it. That's why I made Garn instead of having elementals around all the time. Elementals being eldritch golems of various materials." Cessie explains, hadn't Dorota seen one before though? Ah, she couldn't recall exactly.

[Inside the chamber of toddlers]

Cessie kneels down to address her daughter. "Cora, you can't just ruin your brothers castle like that." She says firmly. "Can't you be a builder dinosaur instead and help him rebuild it?"

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"It does seem consistent, across all the arts people call 'magic', that things summoned from elsewhere tend not to stay very long, doesn't it?"" Dorota asks. "Well, like you say, that's why we devise means of making them stay here. I discovered the new method from a book about goblin alchemy Crissy got me as a gift," she adds. "It's quite a catch, since goblins are normally jealously protective of their alchemy. Like I said, if you have some material to be experimented on, I can inscribe those symbols so you can examine the microcosm they create."

[UncleWolf]

Chamber of Toddlers

Thad smiles at the two children and kneels down next to Bastion. "Hello, Bastion. My name is Thad and I want to be your friend. Can I help you build?" He asks, offering his hand gently towards the little kid.

[Gullara]

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

"No! Dinosaurs don't build!" Cora throws her head back and opens her mouth as wide as she can. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawr!" She stomps her feet and wiggles her little 'claws'. "Rawr!" She thumps her way toward the other side of the room.

Bastion looks at Thad for a moment, trying to figure out what to make of him. "Hi." He puts a block into Thad's hand. "I'm makin' a tower, but Cora keeps breaking it." He puts a couple blocks on top of each other. "She's not a dinosaur."

[Shadowcaller]

[CHAMBER OF THE LIVING TODDLERS]

"You should make one of legos Bastion, that's harder to break." His mother suggests as she scoots a bit closer to Thad and her son. Cessie had bought the two whole chests of building material. It had just seem to be the right thing to do.

[Snowy Afternoon]

"That would be great, you were planning to perform it in your own lab I presume?" Cessie asks.

[UncleWolf]

Chamber of The Dinokids

"No, she's not." Thad says, agreeing quietly. "But it is fun to pretend. Do you have anything you like to pretend to be?" He asks, setting the block given to him in a way to help rebuild the tower. "I have a couple things, but I'll have to show you later. I don't have my costumes with me." He admits with a smile.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"That would be ideal," Dorota says. "I do have some of the books and notes with me if you want to read up on it first. I wish the goblin who sold Crissy that book had also provided the original, but I make do with a translation."

[Gullara]

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

"Lego are too hard." Bastion complains. His blocks are much better, he's sure. He can never get legos apart. "Um, me and Cora and Laela play a game for our story book. I am the wizerd!"

[Shadowcaller]

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

His costumes? "You have any wizard costumes then, Thad?" Cessie asks, not really sure what kind of costumes he was referring to or if they were meant for children or not. She was sure Bastion would learn to appreciate legos eventually though, she know she would have been as a child.

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I'm afraid I can't be of any help with a translation but I would try to make observations at the experiment at the very least. This is after all something new to both of us if I understand it correctly." Usually you needed to train for a few years before you got anywhere. The Hestopian education system was very advanced for it's time.

[UncleWolf]

The Toddlers That Time Forgot

"Wizards are cool." Thad tells Bastion with a smile before looking back at the other child. "How about you? What do you pretend to be for the story?" He asks before looking a little embarrassed by Cessie's question. "Well, I have a superhero costume actually. Always wanted to be one, just never had any idea on how to start." He admits, reaching up to fiddle with his right earring in nervousness. "It's why my main studies are in morality, ethics, and philosophy."

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Indeed it is, and your observations would be most welcome." Dorota reaches into her bag, and produces a book, as well as a binder with notes. Given the amount of contents apparently still left in it, the bag almost certainly has some alchemy in it to reduce its weight. The book is small, and bound with black cardboard. "The book is the one Crissy bought for me. I can lend it to you for a time. The binder has copies of other notes I found on the subject."

[Gullara]

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

"A dinosaaaaaur!" Cora laughs giddily and tromps over to the group of them.

"No you don't! There's no dinosaur in the story book." Bastion insists. He should know, Those are his favourite books!

"Sword girl! Hyah! Hyah!" Cora swings her arm as though she were holding a sword, suddenly transformed from a fierce tyrannosaurus rex into a valiant warrior.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Okay, so what kind of information does it contain?" Cessie asks as she looks at the book. "I'm quite clueless on the subject after all so it might be hard for me to understand all the contents."

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

As Cora yells Garn suddenly peeks inside the room. It doesn't take him long to realize whats going on as he suddenly growls loudly and comes charging towards the little quarter-dragon girl with his claws stretched forward.
"Graaahhhh!!!"

Cessie, who was just about to say something nearly jumps in surprise.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"It describes the basics and principles of goblin alchemy," Dorota explains. "It seems to have been written for goblin apprentices, originally, and then edited extensively by the translator for non-goblin practitioners. I don't think he has a very high opinion about non-goblin intelligence, either," she adds with a frown. "You won't get as much from it as someone who knows alchemy, but it should give you a good idea about how it differs from what I usually do. The method I'm planning to use is mentioned there briefly. It uses the asymmetric principles that seem to be the basis of goblin alchemy."

[UncleWolf]

Garnzilla!

Thad smiles a bit when Garn storms in, and he falls back, feigning fear. "Quick, Bastion! Save her!" He shouts.

[Gullara]

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

Cora grins and runs right at Garn. "Hyah! Hyah!" She swings her arm, no, her sword at him! Just add imagination.

Bastion, though, just stares at them for a second. "Cora! We can't play without Laela!" Bastion pulls himself to his feet and runs over to the two combatants. "Stooop!" He grabs hold of Cora's arm and pulls her away from Garn. "Stopit Bastion!" Cora shoves back at him.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I have to read up on it then." She pauses. "Wouldn't it be plausible to hire a goblin from MERC that could help you with this?"

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

Garn clumsily fall backwards as he seems to be hit by Cora's invisible sword. "Ghrah!"

Cessie is observing how it all plays out but doesn't intervene yet, instead she glances at Thad. This was his moment. She couldn't stand seeing her children fight like this for long though.

[UncleWolf]

Attack of the Giant Gargoyle

Cessie will see Thad watching for a moment, figuring out the situation with a rather serious look on his face. He doesn't intervene right away, deciding to wait a few breaths, but eventually he reaches into his pocket and pulls out what looks to be a pair of small glass orbs. "Bastion, Cora, I have presents for you two." He says, using what he hopes to be the magic word as he kneels down, offering one to each of them. Both orbs begin to glow, one red and one blue. Not only that, but they each begin to make sounds. The red one gives off a low rumbling sound, like a giant who is humming, but the blue sounds like rain hitting a lake. "They're very special orbs. They glow stronger and make more noise when you're happy and think happy thoughts. I have one for everyone, so if you want to take me to Laela I can give her one too." The orbs are also nearly indestructible.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I'm afraid that Dipsnig Razortooth is among those who consider revealing the secrets of their alchemy to non-goblins unacceptable," Dorota says. "Which is the majority of them. I was very lucky Crissy happened to find one who disagrees with this notion."

[Gullara]

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

That gets the kids' attention. There's nothing like free stuff to stop them from fighting! The two quarter dragons gather round, looking at the two orbs. "A ball!" Cora says with a grin and snatches the red one. Bastion takes the remaining one with a bit more care.

"Laela is at auntie Sakura's house." Bastion explains. Not here! "Yeah, in the trees. Come on, let's get her!" Cora runs toward the door, intent on doing just that, even if there are definitely obstacles in the way of her just going outside.

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"Never figured Dipsnig as a man of honor but apparently there are things you can't buy from him then." Cessie comments. "Where did she buy it exactly? Perhaps you can use this contact of hers again?"

[CHAMBER OF TODDLERS]

"You know you can't walk in stairs yet." Cessie reminds her children as they're about to run off. "Why don't you let Thad help you down?"

Garn looks confused for a moment but quickly catches on and starts following the children. If they wanted to play elsewhere, he would be perfectly happy to oblige.

[UncleWolf]

The Great Toddler Escape

"I can give you two piggy back rides, and if your mother says it's okay, I can run through the woods carrying you two while you tell me where Laela is. How does that sound?" Thad asks, smiling at the pair while kneeling down before looking at Cessie to see if she'd allow it. Eventually he'd have to be let alone with the children, but that'll be entirely up with Cessie and Garn.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I suppose even a mercenary has some things he's not willing to sell," Dorota says. "She purchased the book from a goblin residing in Skyside, in a place called Saturnine Tower. His name was Tokmag Longear. A goblin living in Skyside is strange enough by itself. I do intend to perhaps pay him a visit."

[Gullara]

[The Great Toddler Escape]

"Yeah, okay! Let's go!" Cora tugs at Thad's sleeve impatiently. Hurry hurry! Bastion looks back toward Cessie, though. Mommy's coming too, right?

[Shadowcaller]

[Snowy Afternoon]

"I'm afraid I'm planning a longer trip at the moment so I can't really go anywhere. Need to make sure VIGIL knows about my absence too. Not to mention finding someone who can take care of the children in my absence." She says. "I got the impression that you rather not have to deal with the last chore I mentioned." Cessie smiles slightly.

[The Great Toddler Escape]

Cessie nods in approval and smiles at her son, this had gone pretty good so far so she saw no reason to stop it. "I'm coming, go ahead Bastion."

Garn will be waiting by the stairs, usually he helped the children downstairs but Thad could get that honor now he supposed.

[Morty]

[Snowy Afternoon]

Dorota chuckles nervously.

"Now that would be a recipe for disaster. I'll look forward to hear from you when you return, then. I hope you have a good journey."

[UncleWolf]

Toddlers Down The Stairs

Thad steps off the top step and smiles up at the kids, offering his hands to them. "Ready?" He asks lightly, hoping to encourage them. Hopefully the gifts he brought them would make the pair like him a little better. No better way into a child's heart except maybe cookies.

[Gullara]

[The Great Toddler Escape]

"Let's go!" Cora grabs his hand and immediately tries to tug him along. Bastion grabs hold to get dragged along too. Down the stairs they go, and the kids can handle that just fine without the help Cessie seemed to think they did. When they're outside, Cora leads the way to a pair of trees that intertwine at the top. Thad undoubtedly noticed it when he arrived, it's near the door. He might not have noticed that he's not looking at the same location when he looks through it. Is that the edge of a hill with a door in it?

Cora sems to know what she's doing, however, because she's going to pull them right through it. In moments he finds himself outside of the Frescot house.

[Shadowcaller]

[The Great Toddler Escape]

Garn will quickly follow along through the portal but Cessie is keeping herself in the background, letting Thad and the kids a head start.

[Snowy Afternoon]

Cessie smiles and nods. "Thank you Dorota, I'll think I will have a visit in your shop once I return. Unless there is anything I can help you with of course?"

[UncleWolf]

The Great Toddler Escape

Thad doesn't comment on the portal, having seen such things before, but he's certainly all smiles as he helps guide the children through. Even with them in tow though, he keeps an eye on their surroundings just out of caution. Along the way he'll let Cora drag him along, but he'll give Bastion a gentle tug to pull him up into his arms so he's not left behind. With a bit of work Bastion will find himself sitting on Thad's shoulder.