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Eberron's Not So Brave - The Dragonmarked Madness
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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 6014609" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>Thanks to several people being absent for business reasons, update is shorter this time. </p><p></p><p>------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p>"We can admit it already, we are lost." Feyan ran his hand through his reddish hair and and looked around. They had been following a badly lit corridor for a while, following the direction of a human who seemed like he knew his way around down here. The corridor had turned into a tunnel, and trying to find their way back they must have taken the wrong turn a few times. By now, they were back in a corridor, but the walls were different and the faint magic light coming from them had not been in any other parts earlier. </p><p></p><p>"We aren't lost," Nihil protested. "We are just... momentarily displaced." </p><p></p><p>"Which means, we are lost." Tibunn said grimly. "And we haven't seen a hair of the guy you were after."</p><p></p><p>"And we didn't bring much food or water," Feyan added. "We could starve down here and no one would know about it."</p><p></p><p>"Starve? We won't starve, that is not a death for a halfling." </p><p></p><p>The gnome snorted. "Really, if that's the only worry you have, jump into your own sword." </p><p></p><p>"What's that supposed to mean? I don't even carry a sword, just a dagger and a crossbow."</p><p></p><p>"It's a saying, silly, it means if you are worried about how you die, pick your own way right now."</p><p></p><p>"That's a silly saying, it's..."</p><p></p><p>"Would you two cut it out?" Nihil pointed ahead. "I think there is some sort of room ahead. And we won't die down here, there must be a way up again someplace."</p><p></p><p>The room proved to be an old storage room with rotten supplies and even more dead rats, most of them with some sort of mutation or the other. It smelled bad. Past another room with rat bones and some humanoid remains, too, they entered a wider corridor that, except for a cave in, looked less abandoned. There were some footprints in the dust that, according to Feyan, didn't look to be that old. It lead them to a set of double doors made from grey stone with lots of colored inlays. It radiated magic even for those not usually receptive to such things. </p><p></p><p>"Guess we found what is responsible for the radiant magic in this area," Tibunn mumbled. "Can't say I'm too happy about probably intruding in someone's domain, but if it gets us out of here..." He began checking for traps, very carefully as he was expecting something magic. Feyan helped him, but they came up with nothing. The door was locked, but the halfling had little problem picking the lock. </p><p></p><p>Behind the doors was a large vault several stories high, with doors going to different chambers. The doors, all wooden, were mostly rotten and easy to push aside when they tried. Several were empty or contained only rotten boxes, but a lot of them seemed to be preserved by magical stasis. On this lowest level, someone had taken great care to sort the stored items by type – there were chambers for necromantic stuff – complete with, of all things, rows and rows of pixie zombies who didn't move a rotten muscle – defensive and offensive magic, things bards, enchanters or conjurers could use and a whole area devoted to illusions. They didn't need to identify any of it as it was all labeled, too. A drift of fresh air was coming in from somewhere.</p><p></p><p>"How in the world did this place come to be forgotten and so unprotected?" Nihil asked, gaping at all the instruments in stasis. </p><p></p><p>"I don't think it is either," Tibunn said, checking the area for traps and protections still. He could feel a psionic drag from everywhere, very faint but present. He told the others and tried to explain. "It's all about intention. You come in here not planning to take anything, you are fine. The problem comes when you want to steal something." </p><p></p><p>"Why, what would happen?" The idea of not taking anything from here riled him. He was already going through possibilities to come back here later. "But if someone owned all this stuff, he didn't want to make new enemies, either. </p><p></p><p> "I think, for one, we'd get in trouble with the pixie zombies. But I can't really say. I just found another small door over here though, and it's leading into a lab." </p><p></p><p>"Bah, pixie zombies. That's like swatting flies, really." The halfling followed his friend to an indeed small door where they could look into a neatly arranged alchemical lab which had a scroll scribing table on the other side. "Someone's been hiding stuff down here, and I wonder what or who from."</p><p></p><p>"Could be so simple as a group of magic folks trying to hide their research from a rival academy, or rival study group," Nihil offered. </p><p></p><p>"Down in the worst parts of Sharn?" The gnome shook his head in doubt. "Unless, of course, they teleported in here, in which case their could be a teleport circle around." By now convinced there was no further trap, they stepped into the room. "Say, is that a boot?" Feyan pointed to one of the corners where something could be seen behind the table with all the scrolls and books. </p><p></p><p>"Yeah..." Tibunn went ahead carefully and found the mostly decomposed but by now mummified remains of an orc. "This orc looks like he's been cut or stung by something, a lot of times. At leas that's what I think, hard to say with the state the body is in," he reported back. "Maybe he tried to steal something and the protections activated."</p><p></p><p>"Well, I sure don't want to end up like that," Nihil stated, coming closer to look at the mess himself. "We better don't touch anything. Any other way out?"</p><p></p><p>"Over here." Feyan had moved to a curtain covering the corner, swaying very faintly in a cool breeze. "This is where the fresh air has been coming from."</p><p></p><p>"That must mean there is an exit, no?" Nihil, eager to just get out of there despite being the one who had gotten them into it to begin with, followed the gnome who was pushing the curtain aside to reveal a partly open metal door. With no regard for traps, he pushed it open to look at a slightly smaller vault with even more stories. Instead of doors, rotten or not, leading to rooms, it contained archways cut into the stone. At first, they thought the archways contained very realistic paintings of many places, until Nihil noticed the clouds in one moving, and a dragon – they thought it was a dragon – flying through another. Then the breeze freshened up and they figured out it was coming from several archways. </p><p></p><p>"They are portals!" Nihil shouted in amazement. "Permanent gateways to other places!"</p><p></p><p>Always the practical one, the gnome scouted for another way out before wanting to think about that, but found nothing. "I think we might be in more trouble than we anticipated," he said. </p><p></p><p><em>"A whole vault of gateways?" a young wizard remarked excitedly. "The possibilities of such a discovery are endless."</em></p><p></p><p>"If you know how to use them, and can do so safely, yes," <em>the storyteller nodded. </em>"Our 3 adventurers, by now not nearly as confident as when they had started out – and as we remember, there wasn't that much confidence there to begin with – weren't experienced in such things. None of them had ever seen such a portal before, not even to talk of using one. </p><p></p><p>They did the most logical thing – starting to go around to see if any of the portals would lead back to the surface of Sharn. And despite their somewhat dire situation, they started discussing possibilities. But as the bard pointed out, using portals wasn't as easy as it is portrayed in some stories. Even if they are open to everyone, there is no saying if they are two way without research, and who would be waiting on the other side. Even a peaceful scene could have some nasties waiting nearby, and, as the bard also pointed out, they had no fighter with them. Which in retrospect was a dumb move. You simply don't go into the belly of Sharn or anywhere else you don't know without someone who can defend the party. Of course, a significantly skilled bard would be able to defend a party, but Nihil wasn't there yet. </p><p></p><p>It was then that Nihil decided to embark on a second path – that of a favored soul – to be of more use, and to be able to defend where magic wasn't doing the job, and able to heal when their priest or paladin were not around. His calling had already been there as a child, of course, but his love for music had always come first, partly because his family would have liked it even less if he had "gone into religion" given that none of them were very religious themselves. One of his mentors as a child, a priestess of the Sovereign Host, had told him he would make a great priest, and that there were people using their music to the greater glory of the gods, especially among the so-called favored souls <strong>(GM note: Gospel Priest is a custom class we developed, so Nihil, as all the others, will later turn out to be the equivalent of a 3-class PC)</strong>.</p><p></p><p>For now, he was happy enough that the other two listened to him. He was the present "expert" on arcane matters,after all. Unfortunately, their hopes of finding a portal to somewhere in Sharn, preferably to a place they knew, didn't come true. A few hours later, after a meager meal that left them without provisions, they realized that it could take days and weeks to find anything. Not all portals went to fixed locations, some cycled through several, others seemed to be active only at certain times. For 3 people, it was an impossible task. </p><p></p><p>It was the gnome who finally, more by accident, found a secret exit to the room. He had to take a leak and while looking for a place to do it without upsetting anything, he came across a portal on the lower level which had an image that was not changing. The trees portrayed did sway a little, and the clouds did move, too, but it was always the same clouds, and always the same sway. For a gnome, it was easy to see it was an illusion. He yelled for the others to come over. </p><p></p><p>Behind the illusion, they found a simple iron door that was unlocked from the inside but had, as they found, no handle on the outside. From the outside it was a secret door. Behind it, they found the stink of Sharn's sewers.</p><p></p><p>"We should be able to find our way up from here," Nihil said, while grabbing a piece of paper from his bag to be sure to map the way. "I am sure the door opens with a knock spell or other magic from this side, there's no magic on it that I can tell." </p><p></p><p>"Yeah, we need to find this place again," Feyan agreed. "But we better get out of here now because the smell isn't good for my nose. I'm still having nightmares from our first time in the sewers."</p><p></p><p>The halfling chuckled. "You are the right sort of adventurer. But I agree, let's hurry up."</p><p></p><p>They decided to go against the flow, not wanting to end up at the shore but to find an outlet. Nihil's mapping slowed them down, but except from a few rats and something with tentacles that swam by and ignored them, they didn't encounter anything. </p><p></p><p>Until they finally came to a valve that marked the way up. Something large, white and reptile looking was sleeping right in front of the stairs upward, a long tail going around to form a circle ending at a long snout with massive fangs. The group halted and stared for a while. </p><p></p><p>"Is that a crocodile?" Tibunn whispered eventually. </p><p></p><p>"I think so," Nihil whispered back. "We aren't equipped to fight whatever it is anyway."</p><p></p><p>"So, we just let it lie and go find the next valve?" Feyan asked. </p><p></p><p>"Probably a good idea, unless you can talk it into letting us through."</p><p></p><p>Feyan shook his head at the bard's suggestion. "I can't really talk to reptiles yet, and asides, who says it wouldn't just jump at us anyway? I don't know how aggressive crocodiles usually are, but I heard they have a very limited intelligence."</p><p></p><p>The reptile suddenly stretched, and its small black eyes stared at the party. "You know," it said in a raspy voice, "it is very rude to talk about someone as if they aren't there, especially if you are insulting them. Additionally, I would think it is impolite in any of your cultures not to introduce yourselves to the host, no? And I'm not a crocodile. I'm an alligator." It hardly opened its mouth while talking.</p><p></p><p>Tibunn almost dropped the dagger he had been playing with and his jaw, Nihil almost lost his balance and was stopped from falling into the sewer by the gnome, who quickly grabbed his pants. Only Feyan, used to talking to other types of animals, didn't flinch. "My apologies," he said. "We didn't think you could understand us. And in our defense, we know little about any sort of reptiles. What is the difference between a crocodile and an... alligator?" It was obvious the gnome had never heard of alligators. </p><p></p><p>"For one, we are bigger and wider, especially at the snout." The beast sounded slightly amused now. "We are of a different scientific classification. "When we close our snout, you can still see our amazing teeth, while you can't do the same with crocodiles. And we are, with no doubt, the more intelligent type." </p><p></p><p>Nihil, still shocked and thus acting weird, chuckled. "I have a feeling a crocodile would say that, too."</p><p></p><p>Now the alligator belched a laugh. "Good point. But for accusing you of being rude, I haven't introduced myself yet. Name is Chandro, a good looking male, although this won't help me any here. Forgive my smell, the area down here isn't exactly clean, but I can't help it, I'm stuck here.."</p><p></p><p>Feyan introduced each of them. "What do you mean you are stuck down here? I understand that climbing up all those stairs and opening a valve is out of the question, but why can't you just swim out to the sea?"</p><p></p><p>"I waited too long. The sewers have grates, you see, to prevent any enemy force – or large other things, I suppose – to crawl in through the sewers. When I got in here, I was quite a bit smaller. And I got in through the grates closing off a small clean underground stream. However, in my explorations I got lost and by the time I found another way out, I had grown a little too big to fit through." Chandro's tail switched in annoyance. "Luckily, I found a few interesting places to learn a lot of things, especially how to talk to people. Scares most of them quite good, I can tell you." </p><p></p><p>"You don't eat people, do you?" Tibunn couldn't help himself asking. </p><p></p><p>"Of course I do. Murderers. Thief guild and assassin guild rejects. Other random scum the people living in the slums decide to feed to me. Some of them I don't eat if they don't appear to be evil." Again the tail switched. "You aren't evil."</p><p></p><p>"Unless you ask my aunt Thelda," Nihil again burst out in his nervousness. </p><p></p><p>Chandro laughed at that for quite a while. "If you go up through here," he then said, "be careful. The people up there are somewhat mean, a few of them tried to kill me a while back. And they keep going at each other."</p><p></p><p>"Thanks for the warning." Feyan looked over the long, white body and sighed. "Say, is there a way to open the grates somehow to let you back out? You don't seem happy here." </p><p></p><p>In an almost humanoid way, the alligator shook his massive head. "Thanks for asking, but a few of those I didn't eat already tried. There is some magical stuff on the grates preventing that."</p><p></p><p>"Oh. Sorry about that. But we could find out about this stuff and maybe help you then. We aren't from the slums, you see, and have certain resources."</p><p></p><p>"If you would do that for me, I would be eternally grateful." The eyes of the reptile closed for a moment. "I'm so sick of and from the filth down here."</p><p></p><p>"We'll find a way," Nihil decided. "We intend to come back down here, anyway. But if you know another way up, not leading to warring factions, it would help a lot. We aren't that good at fighting."</p><p></p><p>A short while later, they were following the alligator upstream, sure no one would ever believe the tale. </p><p></p><p>In all the time, Viril and Yuja had been comparing the points of the killings in the city with the constellations. There had been similarities, and sometimes a few stars would fit a constellation or two, but it made no real sense. The librarians had brought them coffee and tea and some light snack, free of charge, and taken some interest in their research. But the two of them were finally out of ideas. </p><p></p><p>Yuja flipped the crystal, which was still active, around and around, making the marks dance between the star simulations. "It was a good idea but alas. We will have to come up with something else."</p><p></p><p>Viril nodded and was about to deactivate the crystal, when the librarian responsible for the sector, a young elf, turned a corner with a bunch of books and scrolls to sort back in. He threw a look at the set up and smiled. "Ah, are you researching super constellations? That one's my favorite. But you didn't select all the stars, I see."</p><p></p><p>Viril and Yuja looked at each other, then at the elf. "Super constellations?" they asked at the same time. </p><p></p><p>"Yes, you see, the constellations in our sky do not only form a lot of small images, if you know how to look at them, several normal ones form bigger ones. Sometimes really big, like the one you have partly mapped out." His fingers traced the whole constellation, going through the psicrystal's points. "This one is called The Dragon. Depending on who looks at it, it is a bit different, with horns or without, with bigger wings or smaller, with a curled tail or straight." Showing the different interpretations, he chuckled to himself. "But as dragons are somewhat unpredictable, it fits."</p><p></p><p>"A super constellation," Viril talked to himself. "I hadn't know they exist. I barely know all the normal ones." </p><p></p><p>"They are often ignored," the elf nodded. "A lot of people see them as omen if they are clearly recognizable in the sky – which does not happen often as most of the time, one part or the other is under the horizon. And usually, they think of those omens as bad. Don't know why, exactly."</p><p></p><p>"Thanks for your help," Viril said. "We'll map this down somehow. I think I can get the crystal to record it. Would that be alright?"</p><p></p><p>"Sure. Shared knowledge is growing knowledge." The elf bowed and vanished again. </p><p></p><p>"Viril," Yuja said, having gone slightly pale. "If this is a super constellation thingy, there are an awful lot of stars still missing in the killer's recreation. What means an awful lot of people are going to die if we don't catch the vampire first." </p><p></p><p>"Yeah," the fat half-elf sighed. "There is that." </p><p></p><p></p><p>TBC</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 6014609, member: 53286"] Thanks to several people being absent for business reasons, update is shorter this time. ------------------------------------------------ "We can admit it already, we are lost." Feyan ran his hand through his reddish hair and and looked around. They had been following a badly lit corridor for a while, following the direction of a human who seemed like he knew his way around down here. The corridor had turned into a tunnel, and trying to find their way back they must have taken the wrong turn a few times. By now, they were back in a corridor, but the walls were different and the faint magic light coming from them had not been in any other parts earlier. "We aren't lost," Nihil protested. "We are just... momentarily displaced." "Which means, we are lost." Tibunn said grimly. "And we haven't seen a hair of the guy you were after." "And we didn't bring much food or water," Feyan added. "We could starve down here and no one would know about it." "Starve? We won't starve, that is not a death for a halfling." The gnome snorted. "Really, if that's the only worry you have, jump into your own sword." "What's that supposed to mean? I don't even carry a sword, just a dagger and a crossbow." "It's a saying, silly, it means if you are worried about how you die, pick your own way right now." "That's a silly saying, it's..." "Would you two cut it out?" Nihil pointed ahead. "I think there is some sort of room ahead. And we won't die down here, there must be a way up again someplace." The room proved to be an old storage room with rotten supplies and even more dead rats, most of them with some sort of mutation or the other. It smelled bad. Past another room with rat bones and some humanoid remains, too, they entered a wider corridor that, except for a cave in, looked less abandoned. There were some footprints in the dust that, according to Feyan, didn't look to be that old. It lead them to a set of double doors made from grey stone with lots of colored inlays. It radiated magic even for those not usually receptive to such things. "Guess we found what is responsible for the radiant magic in this area," Tibunn mumbled. "Can't say I'm too happy about probably intruding in someone's domain, but if it gets us out of here..." He began checking for traps, very carefully as he was expecting something magic. Feyan helped him, but they came up with nothing. The door was locked, but the halfling had little problem picking the lock. Behind the doors was a large vault several stories high, with doors going to different chambers. The doors, all wooden, were mostly rotten and easy to push aside when they tried. Several were empty or contained only rotten boxes, but a lot of them seemed to be preserved by magical stasis. On this lowest level, someone had taken great care to sort the stored items by type – there were chambers for necromantic stuff – complete with, of all things, rows and rows of pixie zombies who didn't move a rotten muscle – defensive and offensive magic, things bards, enchanters or conjurers could use and a whole area devoted to illusions. They didn't need to identify any of it as it was all labeled, too. A drift of fresh air was coming in from somewhere. "How in the world did this place come to be forgotten and so unprotected?" Nihil asked, gaping at all the instruments in stasis. "I don't think it is either," Tibunn said, checking the area for traps and protections still. He could feel a psionic drag from everywhere, very faint but present. He told the others and tried to explain. "It's all about intention. You come in here not planning to take anything, you are fine. The problem comes when you want to steal something." "Why, what would happen?" The idea of not taking anything from here riled him. He was already going through possibilities to come back here later. "But if someone owned all this stuff, he didn't want to make new enemies, either. "I think, for one, we'd get in trouble with the pixie zombies. But I can't really say. I just found another small door over here though, and it's leading into a lab." "Bah, pixie zombies. That's like swatting flies, really." The halfling followed his friend to an indeed small door where they could look into a neatly arranged alchemical lab which had a scroll scribing table on the other side. "Someone's been hiding stuff down here, and I wonder what or who from." "Could be so simple as a group of magic folks trying to hide their research from a rival academy, or rival study group," Nihil offered. "Down in the worst parts of Sharn?" The gnome shook his head in doubt. "Unless, of course, they teleported in here, in which case their could be a teleport circle around." By now convinced there was no further trap, they stepped into the room. "Say, is that a boot?" Feyan pointed to one of the corners where something could be seen behind the table with all the scrolls and books. "Yeah..." Tibunn went ahead carefully and found the mostly decomposed but by now mummified remains of an orc. "This orc looks like he's been cut or stung by something, a lot of times. At leas that's what I think, hard to say with the state the body is in," he reported back. "Maybe he tried to steal something and the protections activated." "Well, I sure don't want to end up like that," Nihil stated, coming closer to look at the mess himself. "We better don't touch anything. Any other way out?" "Over here." Feyan had moved to a curtain covering the corner, swaying very faintly in a cool breeze. "This is where the fresh air has been coming from." "That must mean there is an exit, no?" Nihil, eager to just get out of there despite being the one who had gotten them into it to begin with, followed the gnome who was pushing the curtain aside to reveal a partly open metal door. With no regard for traps, he pushed it open to look at a slightly smaller vault with even more stories. Instead of doors, rotten or not, leading to rooms, it contained archways cut into the stone. At first, they thought the archways contained very realistic paintings of many places, until Nihil noticed the clouds in one moving, and a dragon – they thought it was a dragon – flying through another. Then the breeze freshened up and they figured out it was coming from several archways. "They are portals!" Nihil shouted in amazement. "Permanent gateways to other places!" Always the practical one, the gnome scouted for another way out before wanting to think about that, but found nothing. "I think we might be in more trouble than we anticipated," he said. [I]"A whole vault of gateways?" a young wizard remarked excitedly. "The possibilities of such a discovery are endless."[/I] "If you know how to use them, and can do so safely, yes," [I]the storyteller nodded. [/I]"Our 3 adventurers, by now not nearly as confident as when they had started out – and as we remember, there wasn't that much confidence there to begin with – weren't experienced in such things. None of them had ever seen such a portal before, not even to talk of using one. They did the most logical thing – starting to go around to see if any of the portals would lead back to the surface of Sharn. And despite their somewhat dire situation, they started discussing possibilities. But as the bard pointed out, using portals wasn't as easy as it is portrayed in some stories. Even if they are open to everyone, there is no saying if they are two way without research, and who would be waiting on the other side. Even a peaceful scene could have some nasties waiting nearby, and, as the bard also pointed out, they had no fighter with them. Which in retrospect was a dumb move. You simply don't go into the belly of Sharn or anywhere else you don't know without someone who can defend the party. Of course, a significantly skilled bard would be able to defend a party, but Nihil wasn't there yet. It was then that Nihil decided to embark on a second path – that of a favored soul – to be of more use, and to be able to defend where magic wasn't doing the job, and able to heal when their priest or paladin were not around. His calling had already been there as a child, of course, but his love for music had always come first, partly because his family would have liked it even less if he had "gone into religion" given that none of them were very religious themselves. One of his mentors as a child, a priestess of the Sovereign Host, had told him he would make a great priest, and that there were people using their music to the greater glory of the gods, especially among the so-called favored souls [B](GM note: Gospel Priest is a custom class we developed, so Nihil, as all the others, will later turn out to be the equivalent of a 3-class PC)[/B]. For now, he was happy enough that the other two listened to him. He was the present "expert" on arcane matters,after all. Unfortunately, their hopes of finding a portal to somewhere in Sharn, preferably to a place they knew, didn't come true. A few hours later, after a meager meal that left them without provisions, they realized that it could take days and weeks to find anything. Not all portals went to fixed locations, some cycled through several, others seemed to be active only at certain times. For 3 people, it was an impossible task. It was the gnome who finally, more by accident, found a secret exit to the room. He had to take a leak and while looking for a place to do it without upsetting anything, he came across a portal on the lower level which had an image that was not changing. The trees portrayed did sway a little, and the clouds did move, too, but it was always the same clouds, and always the same sway. For a gnome, it was easy to see it was an illusion. He yelled for the others to come over. Behind the illusion, they found a simple iron door that was unlocked from the inside but had, as they found, no handle on the outside. From the outside it was a secret door. Behind it, they found the stink of Sharn's sewers. "We should be able to find our way up from here," Nihil said, while grabbing a piece of paper from his bag to be sure to map the way. "I am sure the door opens with a knock spell or other magic from this side, there's no magic on it that I can tell." "Yeah, we need to find this place again," Feyan agreed. "But we better get out of here now because the smell isn't good for my nose. I'm still having nightmares from our first time in the sewers." The halfling chuckled. "You are the right sort of adventurer. But I agree, let's hurry up." They decided to go against the flow, not wanting to end up at the shore but to find an outlet. Nihil's mapping slowed them down, but except from a few rats and something with tentacles that swam by and ignored them, they didn't encounter anything. Until they finally came to a valve that marked the way up. Something large, white and reptile looking was sleeping right in front of the stairs upward, a long tail going around to form a circle ending at a long snout with massive fangs. The group halted and stared for a while. "Is that a crocodile?" Tibunn whispered eventually. "I think so," Nihil whispered back. "We aren't equipped to fight whatever it is anyway." "So, we just let it lie and go find the next valve?" Feyan asked. "Probably a good idea, unless you can talk it into letting us through." Feyan shook his head at the bard's suggestion. "I can't really talk to reptiles yet, and asides, who says it wouldn't just jump at us anyway? I don't know how aggressive crocodiles usually are, but I heard they have a very limited intelligence." The reptile suddenly stretched, and its small black eyes stared at the party. "You know," it said in a raspy voice, "it is very rude to talk about someone as if they aren't there, especially if you are insulting them. Additionally, I would think it is impolite in any of your cultures not to introduce yourselves to the host, no? And I'm not a crocodile. I'm an alligator." It hardly opened its mouth while talking. Tibunn almost dropped the dagger he had been playing with and his jaw, Nihil almost lost his balance and was stopped from falling into the sewer by the gnome, who quickly grabbed his pants. Only Feyan, used to talking to other types of animals, didn't flinch. "My apologies," he said. "We didn't think you could understand us. And in our defense, we know little about any sort of reptiles. What is the difference between a crocodile and an... alligator?" It was obvious the gnome had never heard of alligators. "For one, we are bigger and wider, especially at the snout." The beast sounded slightly amused now. "We are of a different scientific classification. "When we close our snout, you can still see our amazing teeth, while you can't do the same with crocodiles. And we are, with no doubt, the more intelligent type." Nihil, still shocked and thus acting weird, chuckled. "I have a feeling a crocodile would say that, too." Now the alligator belched a laugh. "Good point. But for accusing you of being rude, I haven't introduced myself yet. Name is Chandro, a good looking male, although this won't help me any here. Forgive my smell, the area down here isn't exactly clean, but I can't help it, I'm stuck here.." Feyan introduced each of them. "What do you mean you are stuck down here? I understand that climbing up all those stairs and opening a valve is out of the question, but why can't you just swim out to the sea?" "I waited too long. The sewers have grates, you see, to prevent any enemy force – or large other things, I suppose – to crawl in through the sewers. When I got in here, I was quite a bit smaller. And I got in through the grates closing off a small clean underground stream. However, in my explorations I got lost and by the time I found another way out, I had grown a little too big to fit through." Chandro's tail switched in annoyance. "Luckily, I found a few interesting places to learn a lot of things, especially how to talk to people. Scares most of them quite good, I can tell you." "You don't eat people, do you?" Tibunn couldn't help himself asking. "Of course I do. Murderers. Thief guild and assassin guild rejects. Other random scum the people living in the slums decide to feed to me. Some of them I don't eat if they don't appear to be evil." Again the tail switched. "You aren't evil." "Unless you ask my aunt Thelda," Nihil again burst out in his nervousness. Chandro laughed at that for quite a while. "If you go up through here," he then said, "be careful. The people up there are somewhat mean, a few of them tried to kill me a while back. And they keep going at each other." "Thanks for the warning." Feyan looked over the long, white body and sighed. "Say, is there a way to open the grates somehow to let you back out? You don't seem happy here." In an almost humanoid way, the alligator shook his massive head. "Thanks for asking, but a few of those I didn't eat already tried. There is some magical stuff on the grates preventing that." "Oh. Sorry about that. But we could find out about this stuff and maybe help you then. We aren't from the slums, you see, and have certain resources." "If you would do that for me, I would be eternally grateful." The eyes of the reptile closed for a moment. "I'm so sick of and from the filth down here." "We'll find a way," Nihil decided. "We intend to come back down here, anyway. But if you know another way up, not leading to warring factions, it would help a lot. We aren't that good at fighting." A short while later, they were following the alligator upstream, sure no one would ever believe the tale. In all the time, Viril and Yuja had been comparing the points of the killings in the city with the constellations. There had been similarities, and sometimes a few stars would fit a constellation or two, but it made no real sense. The librarians had brought them coffee and tea and some light snack, free of charge, and taken some interest in their research. But the two of them were finally out of ideas. Yuja flipped the crystal, which was still active, around and around, making the marks dance between the star simulations. "It was a good idea but alas. We will have to come up with something else." Viril nodded and was about to deactivate the crystal, when the librarian responsible for the sector, a young elf, turned a corner with a bunch of books and scrolls to sort back in. He threw a look at the set up and smiled. "Ah, are you researching super constellations? That one's my favorite. But you didn't select all the stars, I see." Viril and Yuja looked at each other, then at the elf. "Super constellations?" they asked at the same time. "Yes, you see, the constellations in our sky do not only form a lot of small images, if you know how to look at them, several normal ones form bigger ones. Sometimes really big, like the one you have partly mapped out." His fingers traced the whole constellation, going through the psicrystal's points. "This one is called The Dragon. Depending on who looks at it, it is a bit different, with horns or without, with bigger wings or smaller, with a curled tail or straight." Showing the different interpretations, he chuckled to himself. "But as dragons are somewhat unpredictable, it fits." "A super constellation," Viril talked to himself. "I hadn't know they exist. I barely know all the normal ones." "They are often ignored," the elf nodded. "A lot of people see them as omen if they are clearly recognizable in the sky – which does not happen often as most of the time, one part or the other is under the horizon. And usually, they think of those omens as bad. Don't know why, exactly." "Thanks for your help," Viril said. "We'll map this down somehow. I think I can get the crystal to record it. Would that be alright?" "Sure. Shared knowledge is growing knowledge." The elf bowed and vanished again. "Viril," Yuja said, having gone slightly pale. "If this is a super constellation thingy, there are an awful lot of stars still missing in the killer's recreation. What means an awful lot of people are going to die if we don't catch the vampire first." "Yeah," the fat half-elf sighed. "There is that." TBC [/QUOTE]
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