Curse of the Azure Bonds chapter 1: Tilverton

[Eva of Sirrion]

Indeed it is! Meshala seems overjoyed at the sight of it. You spoke earlier about mysterious occurences, I'm afraid I'm wrapped up in a bit of my own. I'll tell you more about inside.

She shows you to a back room, apparently a storage area for vestments and items for use during service. It appears quite empty. You see my hairbrush was stolen a few nights back around with about a score of vestments and holy symbols out of our sacristy. I suppose I must have left it in one of my vestments that was taken.

There were two things I found odd. One was there were no obvious signs of a break-in. No broken windows, no signs that the lock was forced or jigged, or no tracks to follow. The other thing is of course what was taken. Why would thieves, apparently skilled as they are, only be interested in vestments and holy symbols? There are far more valuable objects here, and more easily portable ones.

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

[sblock=Dominic]The Gondarran temple is abuzz with activity as preparations for the wedding are already well underway. A sibbecai acolyte pulls himself away to greet you. Seeing the hammer, he says I am acolyte Durlan. You must be from Undreir, welcome. This way please.

He leads you along a long hallway and turns down another until you arrive at a door. He knocks and a voice within responds. One moment! A loud shrill whistle follows and then the voice again Enter!

The room is littered with pipes, drums, and other apparatus arrayed around a central mechinical contraption. The woman in the room has just taken what appears to be a bowl of soup from the contraption. She tastes it and remarks most excellent, although I think I may need to adjust the pressure ratio again. How may I help you?

Miss Anya, may I present master Dominic Vasquez, a courier from master Undreir. He has the item you requested.

Very good, care for some soup Durlan?

No thank you, actually if you'll permit me to withdraw?

Certainly, Dominic if you'll place the hammer here, Anya clears out a space in front of her desk (both of which are monstrously cluttered) I'll get the package that Undreir wanted. Help yourself to some soup if you like. She produces from underneath some more mess a long slender box. Here you are. Unfortunately I have no money on me to offer you for your troubles. Perhaps a healing potion instead?[/sblock]

 

[Falkus]

[sblock]
"A healing potion would be superb," Dominc said, setting the hammer down on the indicated spot and taking the box, while declining the offer of soup. "As an adventurer, I've had my life saved more than once thanks to having a healing potion handy."

"I was wondering something," Dominic added, with a smile. "Could you tell me anything about the marriage between Princess Nacacia and priest Gharri? I heard the announcement this morning, and I'm awfully curious about it."
[/sblock]

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

"We've had a rather... odd couple of days. Your hairbrush was found in our inn room... along the rest of us, in our clothes but with nothing else, with no memory of how we came to be there," Sidra explains, deliberately leaving out the blue tattoos. "The innkeeper said men with red robes put us there."

 

[Voadam]

Xi considers then interjects, addressing the priestess' question "Do clergy of your order preside over marriages? Or act as counsellors on marriages? There is a wedding of notables soon to occur as the public cryers have heralded. Meddling in dynastic weddings could be a plausible motive to steal only the vestments. Or perhaps to pin blame for certain actions upon your order while disguised as legitimate clergy."

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

[sblock=Dominic]Well it may seem a bit suprising to some from outside Cormyr, but those who've lived here and known them know it's meant to be. Says Anya. They've loved each other since they were children. But they've always had things that have kept them from settling down. Now that her duties keep her in the kingdom most of the time, they figured it was time.

I bet you're more wondering about their disappearance. Of that I can only speculate, but I'd guess it may have been a case of cold feet. Nacacia's always been a bit of a rebel, and I think the thought of losing a bit of her freedom may have gotten to her a bit. It's a natural sort of thing to happen, even I've found amongst those who have a great bond with each other.

Anya gives you the potion, and looks you over. I get the feeling that wasn't the only question on your mind, am I right?[/sblock]

Meshala nods. Your point is well-taken, but the Lathanderites won't be presiding over the princesses' marriage. The Gondarran will administer the services. You mentioned you were brought here by men with red robes? Did they happen to have disks of rose quartz as well? It's a stone like this. She shows you the stone hanging from a chain on her left hip.

 

[Falkus]

[sblock]"It's been a bit of a confusing week," admitted Dominic, as he stowed the healing potion. "I was coming down here from Hillsfar with some compatriots to look for Princess Nacacia because of the reward, and a chance for a bit of adventure, when we get ambushed. Next thing we know, three days have passed that we can't remember anything about, and we wake up in inn here in town with odd tattoos on our arms. Very, very confusing. Still, it looks like there'll be a bit of fun in figuring it out. I don't suppose you can tell me anything about these symbols, can you?" he asked, raising his right arm to show her the tattoos.
[/sblock]

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

"Thungor said the people in red robes were wearing white silk gloves and had disks of rose quartz on silver chains at their left hip," Sidra says, thinking very hard.

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

[sblock=Dominic]My, fascinating! Anya looks them over, then takes out a spyglass for a more thorough examination. At first I thought it was the mark of a curse or a mark of justice, but now it seems more than that. Look for yourself. You peer through the glass at the tattoos. You can see that each symbol is composed of numerous smaller symbols intertwined together, hundreds perhaps thousands of them. I've never seen anything like them, and if they are magical it is magic beyond anything I've ever encountered.

Well, you wanted a mystery to solve master Dominic, I'd say you have one.[/sblock]

Then I'd daresay, lacking any other evidence at hand, that whoever was responsible for bringing you into town was also responsible for the theft. Meshala says.

 

[Falkus]

[sblock]"Indeed," agreed Dominic. "I suspect that part of the key to the puzzle must be the specific symbols, and what they mean, represent or stand for."[/sblock]