NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 717918" data-attributes="member: 227">Kale chilled at Burl's reading of the text. "Read it again," he asked, steeped in concentration. Storing away the details, even the ones he did not understand, the account nonetheless had sealed his opinions about the seer. "Ak'mun'tep, then?" Kale finally had a name. "I can't imagine being imprisoned for centuries, but I believe that you can imagine that things have changed quite a bit since you've been around." Or maybe Ak'mun'tep already knew all this... and more. It didn;t really matter, in any case. Kale just needed some sort of semi-reasonable way to bein conversation with some centuries-old being left locked in a pot. Evidently imprisoned at the whim of a zealot, ultimately proven right at the fall of the elder Hashrukk, the spirit had to be set free. Great. Suddenly Kale was a justice of Mymecian Law. It doesn't matter. The spirit's coming out of his jar... it's not like anyone can stop us... In the absence of some sort of mandate by god or country, Kale made his own authority. Reacting no more to the reading of the text, the mercenary looked over to Sebastion and the others for consensus. Is it time to bust him out? his eyes asked.Cord nodded, his face turned in a direction signicantly off from the rest of those gathered around the pot. Now, however, they had more knowledge to work with, and a course of action they might agree upon. The spirit enclosed within the jar was once a man, unless some foul magics released the original inhabitant and replaced it with some other strange being. However, Cord thought it unlikely. Not only would this imprisoned man be a benefit and an ally to their company, but releasing this Ak'mun'tep was their responsibility, as much as freeing the slave children.Hashrukk... Gilamesh... Shushurek... At Karbal's Melisande had begun to suspect it was more than coincidence. Now a chill went through her as Burl read. The elder gods--again. Although her hands had gone cold she knelt by the pot and inspected the seal. If it was centuries-old wax, it should be easy enough to break without shattering the pot itself, which was important because as Kale said, Lord Ecurius would love to see this intact. "We ought to let him out," she murmured. "We're all in this together." Any ally in this mysterious struggle was going to be precious. But what was the struggle about, anyway? Were the elder gods stirring up a rebellion against their usurpers? Was that good or bad? One thing she was sure of, it was becoming scary.Sebastion shook his head as he stepped closer, more than a little wary of Kale's opportunity to take the decision out of their hands again. "Anyone heard of this Akmental person before? We know nothing... he could have challenged for the throne, he could have been a self-serving power-monger. A name and part of a history are nothing... I say we leave him in there, take him with us, and let someone who knows a little more about this, and has resources to do the job properly, let him out. If he's supposed to be trapped in there forever, how do we even know cracking the seal will release him, and not kill him or something?" It all seemed to make perfect sense to Sebastion, the dangers this thing could pose, but everyone just seemed to see a puzzle to be solved.Democracy is the purvey of pampered merchants and worried mothers, Kale thought as he stood by, waiting for a decision that was already inevitable. When it comes to conflict and stress, we need leadership he thought cynically. Of course, who's going to provide that humble little service? Me? My little foray has been doing so well, so far... Kale couldn't agree more with what Sebastion was saying, only, circumstance did not offer them the opportunity. "There's a lot we don't know, and any decision we make out of this is a risk," Kale said carefully, trying as hard as he could not to argue. "To take the pot means to leave a lot of this behind. That would be dangerous, but maybe not folly. But then to let experts pore over the guy in the pot..." Kale didn't finish, but he knew he didn't trust anyone in authority to not at least be tempted by the prospect of owning and controlling his or her very own 'seer-pot'. Knowing the temptation had crossed his own mind, he was in no mind to give anyone else the chance. "I'm inclined to take this inscription at face value. And if a group of Hashrukkites imprisoned someone centuries ago for telling the truth, it's likely time to bust him out. Whether or not he's a self-serving power monger," Kale paused for a moment, he was addressing Ak'mun'tep in the third person. "There are many, many of those running free." Careful to keep his confictions from completely coloring what he was saying, Kale was nonetheless invested in what was going on. The mercenary had a lot of opinions of what he thought others ought to be doing, but he also knew the dangers of enforcing that will. That went for keeping prisoners locked up for no reason, or trying to browbeat his companions into releasing him. Just a few more moments, perhaps this would resolve itself. Kale wished again that he'd smashed the pot when he had the opportunity. Hoping for quick resolution within the group, the mercenary realized his actions had put Sebastion far on the defensive. He had looked forward to the time he could work with a team without falling to the failings of so many other groups of individuals... Looking to Wolf, he hoped the older man could offer some sense in the situation. Mel's blue hands moved across the sandy, ancient surface while the voices of Cord and Burl blurred into a drone in the background of her own excited thoughts. How amazing--an ally who can help us understand these Elder Gods and why they keep popping up in our travels--and what stories he can tell, I'm sure! Imagine, a Myrmecian spirit hundreds of years old! It's a discovery to go down in the annals. Lord Ecurius will be so pleased--he'll shake all our hands personally and maybe--maybe--he'll let us participate in the research (except while we're away at that Tower or whatever it is of course) and then he'll make me his assistant Truth Seeker and I'll make friends with Ak'mun'tep and I'll be his ambassador to the modern world. He'll share his wisdom with me and Lord Ecurius will be so appreciative... And shouldn't we let the poor soul out? After all. We are the burners of the Temple of Gilamesh and the freers of slaves...! The others were still talking when she stepped back, leveled a finger, and with an icy ray froze the ancient seal. All it took was a tap to crumble it to crystalline shards. Suddenly there was silence in the room, except for the crackling of flames from the chapel behind her. Smiling she pried and pushed, sending further showers of miniature, dusty icicles to the floor. The lid came off with a sigh of old air. Apprehensively, but with a broad smile of curiosity, Mel leaned over to peer inside. It was dark. She almost put her hand inside, until she realized it was probably best to stand back and give--whatever it was--room to emerge.</blockquote>

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