Adventures Across Khorvaire - Chapter 1: Reflections

Adventure Across Khorvaire
Chapter 1: Reflections
In-Character Thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=221177
Out-of-Character Thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=219775&page=1
Rogues Gallery: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=220488


Aryth, Mol 13th - As the wind sweeps in from the west, a lady tightens her cloak to protect her from the late autumn chill. She hands over her coin to the merchant and continues on her way. The first signs of winter are starting to arrive and the lands to the north will soon be covered in snow. Though it usually doesn't accumulate in this area of Breland, the air does gets chilly and the occasional flurries do happen. The wind continues to sweep through the streets, through the cracks of shop doors, and across Morgrave University. Nothing could ruin a day like today.

It doesn’t happen often on the Wroat campus of Morgrave University, but it is always an exciting day when you get the opportunity to sit in on and listen to a Thunder Guide speak, and this afternoon is no different. Sir Montlero ir”Grithop, a Thunder Guide who has traveled across Khorvaire, will be speaking about the intricacies and difficulties of dealing with the Sahuagin during his various excursions to Xen’Drik.

In the cramped corridors of Grea Tower, six individuals are gathered in the dormitories before heading to the lecture. The virtual catacomb of chambers inhabiting the lower levels of the tower protect them from the chilly winds outside.

Making their way past the numerous private rooms of the dorms, the group can't help but get excited about the lecture. As they move down the corridor, it seems the autumn wind has caused one of the doors to remain slightly open, revealing a body hunched in corner on the far end of the room.

Se'ket is the first to notice it, but the others quickly spot it also before she gets the chance to point it out. It seems that the "nothing" is just about to ruin their day...

"Who's that?" Drigg exclaims, shoving open the door and darting into the room.

Se'ket, female humad druid

Se'ket cocks her head to the side in an inquiring manner, her short black hair swinging against her neck as she regards the body. After a second she pushes the door open further, stands in the doorway and watches the scene around the fallen form.

"Sleeping? Or gone to the earth?" she asks of no one in particular. "Dead, I think." With that she enters the room and steps lightly towards the body, wanting to know how it died.

"Nah, he's probably just sleeping off a drunk, too far gone ta even lock his door," Sven said quietly taking no more than a quick peek through the doorway. He had seen enough students like that before- most of the time when he was doing his job as a custodian, and he ended up being responsible for the clean-up afterwards. "Let's just let the poor guy rest his aching head- we don't want to miss the start of that lecture." Mostly, though, Sven knew he didn't want to get roped into helping clean this kind of mess up- not today, one of his rare days off.

Tome follows the others in, his joints squeaking and moving a bit stiffly from the cold air.

"Even if he's only passed out he may require medical attention," the warforged points out. "We should check to see if he's alive, then one of us should seek a faculty member."

Isida Kep'Tukari said:

Se'ket cocks her head to the side in an inquiring manner, her short black hair swinging against her neck as she regards the body. After a second she pushes the door open further, stands in the doorway and watches the scene around the fallen form.

"Sleeping? Or gone to the earth?" she asks of no one in particular. "Dead, I think." With that she enters the room and steps lightly towards the body, wanting to know how it died.

Click to expand...

"Is that pessimism or optimism I hear in your voice there, Se'ket?" asks Kamarna'darak, with a slight smirk.

Turning to the others, he gets a bit more serious, and states, "I don't know much about medicine and whatnot, so I'll just stand here and watch. Sven should probably be the one to go for the guards, if neccessary, as being one of them, he should know the fastest way to get to the closest station, right?"

Saellin was looking over the shoulder of Sven. "I don't know him" replies Saellin to Drigg. "You think he might be dead? He look just like death drunk."

The door hinges creak as Drigg pushes them forward and moves into the room. Beyond the door many bottles, adventuring equipment, and garbage litter the cell. The room is a mess from all the equipment that appears to have been tossed about. A solitary figure; shriveled, male, most likely human, with dark but graying hair, and as still as dead crouches in the far side of the room, face in the corner.

Se'ket moves across the room to examine the body. She carefully moves the body out of the corner and is shocked at what she sees. The eye's of the corpse are open wide, and his facial muscles are locked in a visage of agony and fright. He clenches a dagger stiffly in his right hand, the hilt made of bone with portions of strange writing barely visible under the rigamortis grip. It is something completely different that catches Se'ket's interest.

The front of the figures shirt is torn open, and carved into the skin and muscle of his chest are the words "Aryth in Tiamat they come." Sven, Kamarna'darak, and Tome believe this must reference the current cosmic conjunction. The Eberron moon Aryth is currently in the house of the constellation Tiamat, with the conjunction reaching its zenith either tonight or tomorrow depending on how one measures the zenith of constellations.

Given the dried blood on the blade of the dagger, and the angles of the writing, it's obvious that he carved them into his own skin. With her experience of dead bodies, it is obvious the cuts are too shallow to be the cause of death.

Further looking for the cause, Se'ket examines the rest of the body and finds other wounds giving evidence that he was in scuffle within the last 24 hours. There is a puncture wound on his left thigh, a slash wound on his lower back, and strange bite marks on his right calf. Again, these wounds aren't enough to be the cause of his death.

As the druid is examines the body, Saellin is surprised to find out that he does indeed recognize the man. The distorted face belongs to that of Delvron Gaunt, an older student and aid to one of the professors here on campus. He's been living in Grea Tower for a little over a month now and is known for his vicious temper. Many believe his temper stems from him being a veteran of the Last War or from his homeland of Cyre being destroyed.

As the others stand just inside the doorway watching Se'Ket examine the body, they notice that a few other students have noticed also. Slowly a small crowd starts to gather, no doubt the word already starting to spread.

Sven hung his head in dismay as soon as he realized the man was quite thoroughly dead- what a mess this was going to be... "All right, then," he said after a bit, rather reluctantly trying to put soem order to things. "Let's get everybody out of there, and close up the room until somebody official takes charge- we don't want to get blamed for any of this bloomin' disaster." He turned to the gathering clot of curious students, looking for anyone he recognized. "You there, Terfel! Go get one of the dorm proctors and we'll start wrapping this up. Looks like we're gonna miss that lecture after all, gang..."

Drigg shakes his head sadly, running a hand through his thick, blond hair. Why is there always so much death? "I think we were meant to find this person. I think we need to find out what happened and secure justice for this man."