Session Start: Sat Apr 18 17:52:36 2009 Session Ident: #castlevania * Logging for #castlevania started [The party has just concluded its meeting with representatives of the Seven Temples in Stavograd and were deciding how to proceed in light of their new apparent mission as the Temple's wild card.] I'm not a fan of meetings. [When the party is prepared to depart, they meet with Theodore to say goodbye and he offers to speed them on their way if they will let him have an afternoon to track down some information on the Reach, the only know settlement in the southern desert.] * Olivia half-smiles. "Not a fan of so many eyes on you?" * Nyyx shrugs and quirks a smile. "You'll have to get used to it if the church is really thinking of sainting you." Yeah... oh well. * Nyyx , of course, gives Theodore the go-ahead for his research. You don't look like a saint at all! * Nyyx glances over at Adam and laughs, but she doesn't comment on his observation. * Olivia , Agent of Boccob, looks sideways at Adam and adds, after Nyyx's laughter, "Religions are funny things, sometimes." [The party whiles away what may be its last afternoon in Stavograd while Theodore prepares. An hour before sunset, Theodore is ready and the with a final farewell, the party is wisked away to the Reach with a flash and the now familiar rush of air.] I'll miss that old man, but I hope he enjoys his retirement. [The party appears on the southern end of the Reach. Less a village and more a struggling set of white stone buildings, the Reach stands resolute against the rapidly approaching desert night. The lights of fires glow in the windows of the buildings against the fading daylight.] * Nyyx heads toward the buildings. So, uh, what're we doing here, exactly? They didn't really tell me. [It doesn't take long for Nyyx to find the main north-south road of the town. To either side, small houses and larger commercial establishments squat close together. Apart from a few stragglers on porches, everyone is in for the night. Looking for Gregor's origins. Palanquin Hassad's journal didn't tell us much, except that it's somewhere in this desert. Any other clues? It's a big desert. what the heck kind of name is Palanquin Hassad? Apparently the kind of name an ambitious necromancer would have. * Olivia mms as she glances around. "Perhaps more common in this region." But no, no other clues. We'll have to try to find them while we're here. * Nyyx glances around for some sort of inn or public house where they might be able to stay for the night. [To her right and up the street past the town square, Nyyx spots the local tavern.] * Nyyx approaches the tavern and goes inside. I'd love to take a break for a little while. * Olivia chuckles and murmurs, "We haven't done all that much today, Charlotte..." it's way too early to go to bed, lady. Maybe I just got too used to sitting around again If we're lucky, we'll find someone in here who knows some of the local folklore. [The tavern is a worn two-story of white stone with wood-shuttered windows on the front. Nyyx opens the birchwood door and saunters inside. The weather-beaten travelers and desert dwellers appraise her odd appearance from behind plates of food and old pewter mugs.] * Nyyx ignores the stares. She's used to it. Instead, she looks for a place to sit down. * Olivia must not look quite so odd! She's with Nyyx, though, so that works. [An old table by the windows is clear and Nyyx slides onto a bench on one side.] [After several minutes, a barmaid wanders over and asks what everyone would like. Apparently used to adventurers, she doesn't worry about Biff.] ((Sorry, Adam and Skip)) Uh... what've you got? Barmaid: "Ale and stew. The stew's fish and varied roots. The ale might be too." Uh... do you have any milk? Ale and stew is fine by me. Ale and stew sounds alright Barmaid: "No. No milk. Sorry." I'm surprised fish is available in a desert area like this. What kind of fish is it? * Olivia nods and replies, "House specialty, then, mmm?" Barmaid: "No, nothing like that. It's caught and salted up north and shipped down from the coast. The ale's the house specialty." Ah, I see. That's fine. * Olivia looks up at her and replies, "Then house specialty and stew." Then she leans forward on the table, elbows down, hands crossed under her chin as she looks across at Nyyx, waiting for the woman to go away so question time can start. Barmaid: "Alright, I'll call that five of each. Back in a jiff." * Nyyx studies the other travelers and desert dwellers in the meantime. [She wanders off.] I shoulda bought that decanter of endless water. This sucks. * Nyyx glances over at Adam. "Picky eater?" [While dirty and tired, the crowd in the tavern appears to be your ordinary middle of the road, mostly decent folk. The desert has certainly hardened them physically but inquiries are necessary to learn what it has done to their minds.] I don't know how people can drink that stuff. it tastes awful. * Nyyx smiles wryly. "It's an acquired taste. If you're lucky, the stew might do you better." * Olivia mms, then asks Nyyx, "Nyyx, anything in your book indicating where this connection between Hassad and Gregor came to be?" * Nyyx hmms and takes out her journal. "If memory serves, all we learned is that Gregor somehow found Hassad here in this desert and somehow convinced Hassad to take him on as a student." * Nyyx flips through her notes and shakes her head. "That's all we know." * Olivia nods slightly and says, with a faint smile, "Was hoping I missed something. Pity." Maybe the locals might know something * Nyyx nods at Charlotte. "That was the thought." * Nyyx is now known as Nyyxfeed * Charlotte looks for a person who looks knowledgeable about things. "Hi, I'm a little new to these parts. I'm Charlotte, and my friends and I have been in this area to look into something. Something about someone named Hassad, nasty guy. You kow anything?" * Adam props his feet up on another chair, leans his chair back, and produces a small lap-harp. Farmer: "Hassad? Well, there's a Hassad that lives down the road. He's a tanner. Nice guy, built his works three miles away from town." f * Adam begins playing some nice background music. Well, more "Palanquin Hassad" Thanks, though. Farmer: "No idea. Sorry, miss." * Charlotte nods * Olivia glances at Adam before watching Charlotte talk to the farmer, and then says, "Excuse me," before she stands up and moves her way over to Charlotte. She puts a hand on her shoulder and comments, "A drink for all our new friends that might wish to talk to us, yes?" She makes a circular gesture with her other hand. [The barmaid nods.] Barmaid: "I'd like to see some coin to back that up, madam." * Olivia deftly produces two gold coins between each finger on her left hand, flashing them at the woman. Barmaid: "Done." * Olivia puts them down for the woman to have, then, and smiles around the room, hand still on Charlotte's shoulder. [Over the next several minutes, the townsfolk wander up to the bar, get their drinks and introduce themselves.] * Olivia sticks with Charlotte as they chat up the nice townfolk, gauging which would be the best to talk about strangely incompetent but legendary magicians and also crazy magical artifacts/nexuses/etc. * Olivia and Charlotte isolate a miner! She asks, a little conspiritorially, "So, I'm sure you've seen a thing or two that might curdle the blood of the farmers around here, mmm?" * Nyyxfeed is now known as Nyyx * Nyyx leans back against the wall and listens. Miner: "Indeed I have young ladies! Let me tell about a crypt we dug into a year ago. Undead everywhere, but we collapsed the chamber on them. We know what's what!" [The miner continues into the tale of heroism against the undead with obvious embelishment.] * Olivia nods slightly, glancing over to Charlotte before replying, leading him on a bit, "Very quick thinking of you all, yes. Where did you fight such foul foes?" Miner: "Hmm. Several dozen miles to the south. We tend to start a mine near a rock outcropping for the cover. Let's see, what else, well, we were set on by Skirrs once. Nasty business. More undead. And we saw a city under the sand one night..." * Nyyx raises her eyebrows. "Skirrs? And tell us more about this city." * Nyyx is also taking notes in her journal as the tale unfolds. Miner: "Skirrs are undead. Jump in, steal a miner, jump away and do gods know what with them. We never found anything." Miner: "As for this city. Well, it appeared after a sandstorm one night well out to the east. I wouldn't go inside. I could already see the sand starting to leak back in. We lost good folks that night. All for a few old gems and some tablets. What a waste." A real city, then, not a mirage? Miner: "Real as you are. Although, with that pale skin, I'm not so sure, miss." * Nyyx smiles a bit. "I stay indoors too often." * Olivia chuckles and says, "Pale skin is as real as all others, trust me." She then mms and adds, "Where did these tablets go?" Miner: "Mine boss bought them up. Then he fired the idiots who brought them back. After that, they probably went on the markets around town here." Hm. I take it they were considered unlucky or something like that? Miner: "No, just valuable and we couldn't read them." No idea what was o those tablets? Miner: "Our bookeeper called it, what? Relief. Looked like writing to me. Big circles and such." When and where do you hold the market around here? Miner: "Hold it? It's down the road. One of the big buildings." * Nyyx nods. "We'd love to see the tablets that you recovered through such hardship." Miner: "I'd expect that they're gone by now, but I'd check at the market." * Charlotte nods We certainly will. When does it open? Miner: "A few hours after daybreak. So, stick around!" Excellent We will, thanks. And thank you for the intriguing story. * Olivia finishes pleasantries with the miner and then they chew through some more people... eventually getting some clue of interest from a scavenger! * Olivia says, "Ruins, mmm? Anything a bit difficult to drag away the goods from?" Scav: "Oh, yeah! All the time. Sometimes it's just heavy or in a bad spot. But sometimes, there's something living in the ruins or such." Scav: "Mostly gnolls and such. Odd blighters. Sometimes though. Wild humans. Strange folks live out there." * Olivia mms and replies, with a slight smile, "Who'd you say's the strangest?" "Strangest?" * Olivia nods and says, "You did say they were strange folks." Simply wondering who you might say was... strangest. Scav: "To be joking, I'd say the gnolls. Hairy and living in a desert? Not my idea of smart. But to be true and serious. Sometimes, we'll run into folks that's human but not. Off a bit, you know. In the face or the mind. That, and we have seen some halflings lately." * Olivia chuckles faintly, then asks, "Anywhere you'd care to point out to us?" Scav: "Well, the halflings come into town now and again and live to the north, close to the coast. The gnoll wander, mostly to the south and west. The others, well, to the east." * Olivia nods a little, then half-smiles. "You make it sound like the ruins of worth are everywhere." Scav: "They are, if you know where to look. But they are far between and getting farther." Getting farther? All looted? Scav: "Not yet. And if you can sell something from them, then they're not looted. You just have to get creative." * Nyyx quirks an eyebrow. "Oh? Creative how?" Scav: "Just in what's valuable, who you sell it to, what'ca call it." * Olivia pats the guy on the shoulder. "Fencing's a fine art, Nyyx." * Olivia then chuckles. "Either kind." Ah. That kind of creativity. * Nyyx smiles. About these 'others' to the east - you wouldn't happen to know if they have anything to do with a mysterious city in the sand, do you? Scav: "Don't really seem like the city type, you know? I'd say not." * Nyyx nods thoughtfully. "Are they generally peaceful or hostile?" Scav: "Peaceful." That's good to hear. Good to know. In your scavenging, have you seen any interesting tablets? Carvings with historic or other interesting text on them? Scav: "Of course, all of the time." Do you know where we might be able to take a look at some? We're interested in the local history and folklore. Scav: "The market and the homes of some of the wealthier or stranger folks in town would be your best bets." * Nyyx nods. "Thanks." Which of the townsfolk are your best customers, if you don't mind me asking? Scav: "The market is really my best bet." * Olivia leans forward slightly and smiles faintly, before saying lowly, "I can understand a little reticence... but we're not looking to go into your business, or pass judgement. You, your customers, and your business... are not what we are looking for, mmm?" Scav: "That's great. Give my best to the market, if you would." * Nyyx leaves the smoothtalking to Olivia. * Olivia glances to Nyyx a moment, then leans back and crosses her arms below her breasts, before saying, "What would it take for us to... assuage your doubts?" Scav: "Make it unnecessary for me to work anymore." * Nyyx glances back at Olivia. * Charlotte glances at the others. * Olivia chuckles faintly and says, "I suppose that's true, but I'm not quite that good a magician." She looks to Nyyx, then back to him. "If I ever get that lucky, I might let you know." * Nyyx nods and says graciously, "Thanks all the same. We'll take a look around at the market." Scav: "No problem." * Olivia runs her fingers around her own ear, brushing her hair back, as she asks the farmer-slash-priest's-son, "Rumors around, or of your father's house?" Farmer: "Hmm?" What kind of interesting things have you heard going around? We just got here, so we'd like to know a little about the area. * Olivia smiles a bit, perhaps slightly put upon. It's been a lot of questioning tonight! Farmer: "Oh, all sorts of stuff over the years. A lot of local gossip. But adventurer stuff? Well, my dad would tell stories. I think it helped him to talk about what all went on." Farmer: "What kind of stuff are you interested in?" Local legends, folklore, history - things of that nature. We've heard something about an infamous mage who had his roots in the desert around here. Name started with an H. Farmer: "That is a huge topic. Hmm... Folklore, history and stuff about wizards. Well, there are always eccentric mages hiding out in the desert." What about eccentric mages whose names start with H? Anything about a mage that happened upon a powerful artifact? Farmer: "The highest profile folklore item would probably be the cities under the sand. Miners and such break into an underground temple or wake up some undead horror every few years. Small scale stuff, but messy." * Olivia chimes in a little dryly with the helpful, "Does the name 'Palanquin Hassad' help?" It's a possibly unique name! * Nyyx nods attentively. Farmer: "No powerful artifacts. Not that we'd hear about it anyway. Mages kept to themselves once they are powerful enough." Farmer: "Hassad... Maybe." Any stories you'd care to share? Farmer: "Sounds familiar. Might have been one of the weaker mages. They'd come into town on occasion. Usually peaceful. Feeding them always helps with that." * Nyyx smiles. Farmer: "I've got no stories about this Hassad fella. But we get other ones in from time to time. Some would visit my dad and will still say hello on occasion." What're they like? Farmer: "Poor social skills, but if you keep them on the old days and on topics that they like, perfectly fine." What else have you heard about the cities under the sand? We heard something about that earlier and were intrigued. Farmers: "Relics of a very old culture. No idea why it disappeared. Shift in the weather I'd guess. Just show up on occasion and somebody risks death for a trinket." What are the dangers of going down there? Farmer: "Burial when the weather shifts back. Undead. Traps. Cave-ins." Makes sense. * Nyyx nods. * Nyyx thinks. "Have you heard anything about what this ancient culture was like? We've heard some things about some fascinating tablets that have been brought up from there." Farmer: "Just great builders and likely mages. That's it." Any really neatthings they built? Farmer: "Just houses and large stone buildings that have survived far longer then this tavern here will." Say, would you happen to know who in town is a big collector of things from the cities, or who might know a lot about them? We'd love to take a look at the relics that have been found. Farmer: "I'd try the market first of course. The church might have a good number of items. We've got an historian in town as well. A Madam Abigail Deschain. She's renting a house on the north end of town." Oh, excellent Ah, wonderful. We'll have to take a look. You've been very helpful. Farmer: "Not a problem. Welcome to the Reach." Thank you. Thanks * Nyyx cleans up the rest of her fish-and-roots stew and washes it down with the ale. "The market early tomorrow morning, then?" Sounds good. * Olivia runs her hands back through her hair and nods slightly. "As good a place to start as any, yes." Wonderful. I guess until then, we can take a rest or look around. WHat's there to look at? * Nyyx shrugs. "I might take a walk and find out." I guess I'll go with you all a little while before I get some rest. [END OF SESSION.] Session Close: Sat Apr 18 23:03:57 2009