Shards of Knowledge: Unearthing the Signs [3.5][Eberron]

[hoverfrog]

Lyssa's cat stretches and scratches the leg of the chair she's been sitting under before sidling up to the gnome and meowing loudly. Lyssa chuckles, "Sorry about her, Professor, she's not an historian. I must confess that I didn't know that the daelkyr had attacked the Mror Holds at all. Not in significant numbers anyway. History places them in the Shadow Marshes around 9,000 years ago. I thought they'd all been driven off or killed since then. I've heard stories about their creations, of course, many of which survive to this day, dolgrim, dolgaunts, etc. Do you think that it's possible that Gratis would have captured or trapped anything like that? It would be good to know what we might encounter. Dusty tombs are usually the home to constructs or undead. Did Gratis build golems to defend his treasures?"

She picks the cats up and begins tickling her behind the ears. As she starts to purr loudly Lyssa asks Nivane, "Out of curiosity is there any record as to why Gratis was banished? Was it anything to do with the Mark of Warding? It would have appeared among the dwarves only a generation or two before Gratis' birth. If he was marked then we can expect stronger and more dangerous protections on his cache. Is there anything else you can tell us about Clan Noldrun or Clan Toldorath? Are Gratis' ancestors going to be annoyed with us disturbing his home?"

[FlamingKobold]

"Well you see that's the most interesting part about it isn't it!" Glimmik exclaims, obviously pleased that Lyssa brought it up. "How could Gratis have known the war was coming when the kingdom below had been sealed off from the surface world for centuries? And more importantly, why did he believe that the daelkyr were a threat from the other side of the ancient seals? This," he adds with a glimmer in his eyes, "is the true mystery of Gratis Noldrun. There are dozens if not hundreds of theories of his motives and sources of knowledge, but his writings about the coming of the daelkyr are undoubtedly genuine. It is exceptionally interesting that you bring up the Mark of Warding, for the original purpose of House Kundarak was based on these strongest of seals to keep the squabbling clans from once more entering the kingdom below. It might be that the reason for his banishment, and indeed his entire life, is in some intricate way related to the Mark of Warding. And is it coincidence that this most fascinating and mysterious of dwarves belonged to the one dwarven clan that mysteriously disappeared four centuries ago? In history there are no coincidences, but this stories seems to have an odd connection or a repeated name at every turn. That is part of the thrill of this expedition isn't it? You have a chance to be a part of uncovering knowledge about the most powerful magic of the world as well as valuable historical information. I have a hunch that Krigam's Pass holds important secrets of the past that will tell us more than we could possibly imagine about the present and, indeed, the future. And you know what they say about an old gnome's hunches," he finishes with a wink.

After a moment his brow furrows and he seems to become more serious, "But of course this is all mere speculation. I unfortunately know not what protections Gratis has erected. It is commonly thought that he was an immensely powerful arcanist based on tales of his exploits and the lack of another compelling explanation for the events of his life. In that case, daelkyr, constructs and undead are all certainly within the realm of possibility."

[adso]

Nivane suddenly looks much more interested in the conversation at hand with the Professor's additional detail on Gratis's life. He nods as he says, "You're correct professor, that is far too many coincidences to not warrant further investigation. I don't know what conclusions we can draw at this point, but I do believe that that's the whole purpose of this journey," he adds with a smile. "If everything you know about Gratis Noldrun is contained in these books then we have a very interesting couple of days ahead of us."

He stands up as much as the room permits, clasping his hands together. "That said, all this talk instills a desire to get out into the world and out of this office. Not that your office isn't nice, Professor," he adds hastily with a sheepish smile, "but the outside world is where my heart resides. I have been off the road for far too long and I know you are already short on time. So unless anyone else has any further questions that can't be answered by those books," he looks around at his future companions, pausing briefly before turning back to Professor Glimmik, "I am personally in favor of beginning our journey."

[hoverfrog]

"I look forward to finding out more, Professor. Thank you for the summary." Lyssa pats her bag, "I'll make copies of these as quickly as I can. Perhaps we can work on them together, Nivane?"

"How long does everyone need to gather their equipment and prepare? I'd like to set off tomorrow if possible. Perhaps even tonight. If we catch the sleeper to Wroat we can stop over in the morning and provision in the capital before catching the next lightning rail to Hatheril. That will give us the day to prepare. If that's agreeable?"

Spoiler: OOC

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To be clear I'm proposing that we split the journey and make regular stops. When we travel during the day we get standard class and when we travel at night we bunk down in the commoner class.

I don't have the Favoured in House feat but I could try to get a travel discount anyway.

[Amanil]

Leianna looks over the contract while the discussions continue - the historians would no doubt have plenty to talk about over their journey, and Leianna was anxious to get going.

As she signs the paperwork, she looks up a little confusedly at Lyssa. "I am ready to depart," she states, simply. "Anything we realise we need we can acquire in the capital."

[Kymme]

Tycho claps his hands together. "Thank you for all the information, Professor. We'll be back before you know it, I can promise you that!" Turning, he addresses Lyssa's question. "I've got everything I need on me, so consider me ready to depart at a moment's notice."

[esorscher]

"I am ready to depart," Don says. "I would like a copy of those texts as well," he says, looking at Lyssa.

[hoverfrog]

Lyssa is a little surprised that the others seem ready to leave straight away. She'd assumed that they'd need time to cancel the paper and milk, arrange for neighbours to feed pets or water plants and other small domestic tasks like that. "We'll have the 500 galifar advance each. I'd like to do some shopping at the nearest Cannith forgehold for scrolls and such. To be honest I'd also like to stop at the Orien courier station to see if I can earn a little extra by carrying a parcel to Wroat or beyond. Shall we meet up at the Lightning Rail station eight bells, dog's watch? The overnight leaves about two hours later and arrives just before dawn. That will give us most of the day to review and copy these notes."

She doesn't want to push the matter though and is quite happy to go along with the majority decision, "Of course, if you're all eager to get going I can pack quite quickly and meet everyone in an hour."

Once a consensus is reached Lyssa gathers up the cat and heads off to drop off the signed contract, collect her fee and buy some blank journals, ink and paper, "Thank you, Professor. We won't let you down. We'll be sure to send regular updates by Sivis message."

Spoiler: OOC

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Eight bells is a standard nautical term. Six watches of eight bells, one every half hour. Dog's watch is the fifth watch and eight bells is the last call. It is 8pm in the evening. Sharn is a port as well as a wondrous magical city so I thought the terminology was appropriate.

[esorscher]

"I have no preference either way," Don says. "Please, allow me to pay for the cost of my copy."

[adso]

"I don't believe there is a train from Wroat to Hatheril until the mid-morning so taking the overnight will not lose us any time. I believe we should travel as quickly as possibly until we reach Aundair, then consider staying for a night or two in each Passage, Faihaven, and Rekkenmark or Thaliost. So Professor Glimmik," Nivane says with a smile toward the old gnome, "I believe you have yourself a deal." With that he signs his papers and, assuming no one else has any urgent matters, retrieves his stipend and advance. For the rest of the afternoon he wanders around the shops of Sharn, grabbing a few additional items of interest that may be of use on the journey.

Spoiler: OOC

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Looks like we're good to go and I don't believe it matters too much about when exactly we leave. I have updated everything that I purchased on my character sheet.

[FlamingKobold]

As the party leaves, Professor Glimmik gives an encouraging smile and a small wave, "Good luck all of you, I cannot wait to hear back from you. Please feel free to contact me with any questions not answered in those books and safe travels!" With that he hands the documents to their respective signees as they leave his office. Don, Lyssa, Tycho, Leianna, and Nivane then head across the courtyard, receive their stipends and travel advance as either a hefty bag of gold or a letter of credit and head out into the city, agreeing to meet at platform one of the lightning rail station at eight o'clock that evening.

Spoiler: OOC

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Please feel free to post what your character does for the afternoon if it is something out of the ordinary.

[hoverfrog]

Lyssa rushes off after dropping her paperwork in and collecting her advance. She had a few things to buy before meeting the others, not just blank books and Everbright lanterns but a scroll of Animate Rope that she knows is for sale. After she has collected the scroll she heads to the Orien courier office to enquire as to any additional work available, "Greetings cousin, do you have any packages that need to go to Wroat, Passage or other cities on the Lightning Rail route heading north? I've received a private directive to head in that direction and can carry anything needed without interference to either contract."

Spoiler: OOC

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Take 10 to copy the spell into my spellbook. 25gp cost for the scroll.

[FlamingKobold]

Jerron d'Orien, the lesser-dragonmarked Orien parcel master at the courier office, gives Lyssa a bag with 2 small packages and 4 letters for delivery in Passage and Fairhaven. He laments that he has just dispatched a courier to take several packages to Wroat and they could have saved a few gold by giving those to Lyssa as well. After making small talk for a few minutes about Orien matters and the news of the day in Sharn, Jerron hands her 50 gold pieces and bids her farewell.

Despite limiting the meeting location to platform one, it is difficult to find one another in a place as busy as Sharn's lightning rail station, even in non-peak hours. About five minutes past the top of the hour, the party find one another and buy tickets on the train to Wroat which departs fifteen minutes later.

Luckily the overnight train is not as packed as they are in the daytime, so even the benches of the commoner class carts provide the opportunity to lay down rather than trying to sleep sitting up. There are about four dozen people in the cart designed to fit two hundred. As the party loads onto the train they head to the rear of the left side of the cart and claim a few benches. Around the cart several other groups, families and lone travelers have similarly staked out their areas. The train horn sounds twice, signalling an imminent departure. As the elemental energy of the train begins pushing the carts over the conductor stones, the crackling sounds emitted drown out the conversations of these other groups.

The lights are off in the cart, but the sun has not quiet disappeared beyond the horizon and the red-orange glows of sunset provide just enough light to see.

[esorscher]

Before arriving at the station, Don had the foresight to purchase an everburning torch, and accompanying leather hood to hide the light when necessary. As the sun sets, he draws the torch out, wedging it between the bench and the wall to provide light for them to peruse the texts by. He begins looking over the texts, scanning for any key words that are in line with his personal search.

[Kymme]

Wandering the sky-streets of Sharn, Tycho had taken a brief detour from his bar-hopping to purchase a Three-Dragon Ante deck from a goblin in Lower Northedge. Now on the lightning rail, he pulls the deck from his haversack and begins shuffling by the light of Dan's torch. "Anyone care to play a gambit?" He asks, quietly, taking care to address other nightowls in the train in addition to his traveling companions.

[Amanil]

Leianna, somewhat confused as to how people could not be nigh-on ready to travel already, spends the time before the journey finding items to pass the journey time rather than for the journey itself - she wasn't used to travelling not under her own steam, and the downtime was something she looked forward to spending productively.

As the group board, her eyes scan those assembled looking for anyone who seemed out of place or potential trouble. She skims the general armed state of those nearest to them - better safe than sorry.

Not one for the laborious task of copying text - especially as one in their group had expressed interest in acquiring an item to do the task for them - she smiles at Tycho's offer but politely declines.

"I have some work of my own to do, perhaps later."

Spoiler: DM

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Purchasing materials to make another masterwork composite longbow (darkwood, if possible), +0 Strength modifier. By my reckoning, taking 10 (effective roll of 20), she can manage (20 x 15 = 300) silver pieces of progress per week on the bow (or in copper pieces per day), so 3 weeks, 4 days for the bow, and (20 x 20 = 400) silver pieces of progress per week (or in copper pieces per day), so 8 weeks (near enough) on the masterwork component. Will take a good while, but something to do. Components cost either 133.33gp for regular, or 143.33gp for darkwood.

[adso]

Nivane spends the afternoon in some of Morgrave University's older libraries and bookstores, perusing tomes for checkout and purchase. An experienced traveler, he immediately gets comfortable after boarding the train, unrolling a thin green bedroll on one of the benches. At Tycho's question he looks interested and smiles, saying, "Sure, as long as you're willing to teach me. I apologize, I tend to travel alone so I'm not familiar with most card games." Then he looks over at Lyssa and adds, "I believe we have more than enough time to get everything copied, but I'll certainly be available to help translate and copy for most of the night. I tend not to sleep much anyway."

[hoverfrog]

Lyssa arrives at the station in a rush, a few minutes late, "I'm so sorry if I kept everyone waiting. I was working on this scroll and I lost track of time, then the skycoach got caught going round a tower and we had to take a detour. Sorry. I picked up some journals though, a dozen for 15 gold each. Should be plenty. I couldn't find an everbright lantern though. Someone had just been in and snapped up the last one apparently."

In the carriage she unrolls a bedroll and curls up under a blanket to sleep, "I'm sure we have plenty of time, Nivane. I'm envious. I usually try to get ten hours of sleep in a night except when I'm on the road. "

[Kymme]

"Sure, as long as you're willing to teach me. I apologize, I tend to travel alone so I'm not familiar with most card games."

Tycho cracks a smile and flourishes his cards. "It's a simple game, really." He gets up and takes a seat beside the slender scholar. "You see, each player starts the game with fifty coins: gold, copper, wooden, it's all about the stakes you're playing with. Next comes your starting hand." Tycho flicks six cards from the top of the deck into his hand and gives them to Nivane. Then he does so again, taking out six cards and placing them beside him. "There are seventy cards in a deck; three special cards, seven mortals, and ten suits of six dragons. Each card has a strength from one to thirteen. The majority of them also have a special function, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, take a card from your hand and place it down. I'll do the same, and whichever is stronger will determine how much we ante-up."

Spoiler: adso

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You don't have to state exactly what card your character plays or anything. Really any sort of "here's my card, let's start" post will do. We don't have to pay out the minutiae of the game or anything like that. I think somewhere in the little boxed set I have there are rules for settling card games through skill checks.

[adso]

Nivane listens to the instructions but still isn't entirely sure what how to play. He studies the hand that Tycho dealt carefully, then selects a card and puts it in front of him. "Alright, here's my card." As a natural competitor, he is eager to learn how to play, although it is immediately obvious that he is new to card games and does not seem to be a gifted gambler. As the sun disappears beyond the horizon and Nivane had just lost his fourth consecutive round in under an hour he hands the cards back to Tycho and says to the group, "I think it would be best if everyone got some rest, we have a long day of travel tomorrow to get much of this work done. I'll stay up for awhile to keep an eye on things and continue with Lyssa's translations."

As everyone else beds down for the night, Nivane moves his bedroll and an everbright lantern a bit farther from the party so as to limit the light's ability to keep them awake. He then takes some blank books and pens from his bag and begins writing. He looks around at his companions as he thinks back on the Three Dragon Ante and smiles. "I could really get used to this companionship thing," the explorer thinks as he gets back to work. "I think it suits me."

[adso]

As everyone else sleeps Nivane continues his work, prioritizing the translation of the Giant texts that the others are unable to read. He enjoys the work – this text has the style of the giant texts of old, rather than the more recent, primitive style of writing since the fall of their ancient empire. Throughout the night he checks his timepiece, unable to take queues from the sun and unused to the looks of the night sky from the northern continent. Once there is just over an hour left of the trip, he wakes Lyssa and hands her two copies each of translations of the Giant and Elven books in addition to the originals. “I figured you might want to be up early to study your spells before we arrive, and I really must sleep,” he says quietly so as to not wake the others. With that he crawls into his bedroll and falls asleep immediately.

[hoverfrog]

"Thanks, Nivane. I forgot to ask last night but am I the only arcanist in the group? If I were to guess I'd say that you have a few magical abilities up your own sleeve and our khorovar companion has no doubt inherited something too. What of the others, do you think?"

"I'm not being nosey. I just want to make sure that we understand one another's skills so we can operate effectively as a team." Her cat stirs as Lyssa reaches into her haversack to draw out her spell book. Reaching down she scratches her under the chin, "Morning, Olive. Sleep well?" Olive responds with a meow that makes Lyssa chuckle. She retrieves a small jar from her pack and spoons the contents onto a dish, "Yes, pickled pilchards, I know. Your favourite."

[Amanil]

After working with shaping the length of wood for an hour or two, idly observing the card game as she does, Leianna puts her tools away and munches on some dried fruit and nuts - filling up on some sort of oat biscuit - washing it down with plenty of water and retrieving her bedroll.

"Wake me in a few hours, I'll take the midnight watch," she volunteers, aware that there are probably some amongst them that require a solid rest to prepare spells and the like.

During her allotted time, assuming someone wakes her, she returns to quietly working on the wood - attempting to line it up with thin lengths of horn. After a few more hours she gently wakes Tycho and returns to her bedroll.

[esorscher]

"I'll take the first watch," Don says. He spends the time reading the texts that have already been copied, looking up occasionally to ensure that the scene in the car has not significantly changed. It is easy to keep a mental picture of the environs when they are populated by the slumbering poor. When his shift is up, he wakes up Leianna, and, almost immediately after his eyes are closed, is unconscious.

[FlamingKobold]

The train begins to slow down just as the morning sun appears on the horizon. As you glance out the windows you see yourself quickly approaching the massive walls of Wroat illuminated by the dawn rays. The train comes to a stop in the station and the other passengers start wearily disembarking - it's hard to get a good night's sleep of one of those things. You step onto the platform and see the posting on the wall that the next trains to Rekkenmark and Flamekeep would not be departing until the afternoon, as the cart upon which you arrived is set to return to Sharn. Attached to the station are the Kundarak warehouse and the House Orien-run Wayfinder travel lodge, while just outside the station you can see the busy streets of the industrial and commercial districts of Wroat, already bustling with people so early in the day.

Leianna immediately walks to the side of the platform with her work-in-progress bow and continues shaping the wood. "I have everything I need right here. I'd like to get this done before we get to Krona Peak if I can but I've certainly got a long way to go." With that she gets back to work but makes conversation with anyone who is staying on the platform.

Don nods to the others and announces, "I didn't have the time last night to get everything I needed, so I'll be heading out into the city for a few hours at least." As he walks off of the platform he turns back and adds, "I will return before midday which should give us plenty of time to make our next train."

[adso]

Nivane laughs at Lyssa's question. "Well I certainly can't deny that I have a few tricks but I wouldn't call myself an arcanist. I wouldn't have survived for long in my line of work if I relied solely on mundane means. That said, if we find ourselves in a dangerous situation I'm not the one who will be flying around throwing balls of fire so I hope you have that covered," he adds with a wink.

At the station, Nivane joins Leianna on the platform and continues working on the translations. "I am of a similar mind. The sooner we have all these texts translated, the more time we'll have to plan for the expedition. I'm already getting excited about just these first two manuscripts and there are so many to go!" He seems delighted by the prospect of spending the next three days doing nothing but reading and transcribing. "I should be done with the documents written in Giant by this evening and at this rate I think we should be able to get through all of the texts by the time we arrive in Krona Peak. Perhaps when we arrive we should set aside a day to discuss our findings?"

[Kymme]

Tycho's eyes flutter as he wakes. The khorovar leans forward and stretches his arms, working out the kinks from a night spent on a wooden bench. He rotates his shoulders does a few discreet stretches as he moves out onto the platform with his companions. "Well, I'm absolutely famished. I'd imagine that lodge is serving breakfast, so I'm going to partake. Anyone care to join me?"

He chats up his fellow travelers for awhile and then makes his way back to the Lightning Rail station, stopping at a street-cart for some mid-morning snacks.

[adso]

Nivane initially looks tempted by the thought of street food, but then shakes his head at Tycho's question. "I'd love to, but I'm afraid that we won't get through all of these books if I take too many breaks. I'd appreciate it if you could bring something back for me though, I'm sure I'll be hungry by the afternoon." He tosses a few coins to Tycho to pay for his meal, then gets back to work.

[hoverfrog]

Lyssa d'Orien

"Breakfast does sound delightful," Lyssa replies as she gathers up her things.

[Kymme]

"Wonderful!" Tycho catches Nivane's tossed coins and pockets them. He does his best to shelve his chivalrous instinct - Lyssa's a coworker, not some noblewoman he's trying to woo. Over the course of their meal he makes small talk, asking questions about the places she's been around Khorvaire and the rest of the world.

After the hearty meal he makes his way back to the station leisurely, taking in some of the sights and sounds of the capital. When he's had his fill of Wroat he returns, making absolutely sure to buy the best damn street-food he possibly can with Nivane's coin.

Spoiler: OOC

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This bartering thing isn't particularly important, but I'll roll Diplomacy just for the hell of it. (1d20+4)[10]