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Message: <blockquote data-quote="IcyCool" data-source="post: 3034880" data-attributes="member: 20308">OOC: A long post, bear with me. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Reeger chews thoughtfully on his muffin while listening to your questions.  He nods and finishes his muffin with an audible swallow."I must say that I'm relieved to hear that you can help me."  He rubs his hands together to wipe the crumbs from them before continuing. "Where to start?  Let's see.  My assistant, yes.  Whenever I start a research project, I like to recruit one of my more promising students as an assistant.  For this project, that student is a gifted young man by the name of Loris Crosshammer.  Not only does he have a gift for deciphering encrypted text, but he has some meager skills as a wizard to boot.  I don't know much about his personal life, but I do know he's usually got a solid work ethic.  Now that I think of it, he was acting a bit odd this past week.  I had chalked it up to working long nights, but it might be something.  He seemed to be friends with two of my other students, they may know more.  As to the question of whether or not I think he stole it, well."  Reeger shifts a little uncomfortably in his seat before continuing.  "I suppose it must be considered as a possibility, but I just don't think he has that in him.  I know that my students aren't particularly fond of me, but I've always treated them fairly and I can't imagine that any of them would wish me ill.""As to the manuscript itself, it is quite the piece.  It is a book approximately 18 inches wide, 24 inches long, and 6 inches deep."  He indicates the measurements with his hands.  "The cover is made out of polished bone, has no title, and the pages are a simple squid ink on papyrus.  Due to the appearance of the outer cover, Loris suggested we informally call it 'The Codex of Bone.'  The contents of the book appear to be segmented out into six main sections, each of which contains no less that 124 sub sections.  The truly odd thing about the piece is that each sub section is encrypted with different ciphers, and each main section is written in a different language.  I've not seen its like before.  It seems complex purely for the sake of complexity.  Its contents appear to be a manual and location for a eldritch device.  I would prefer not to say much more about that, however, as once the decryption and translation is complete, I will be publishing a full paper on the manuscript."He takes a sip of his toddy, and looks at Tali.  "I suppose I can get you into my lab to look around.  Aside from some drawers papers that I made a mess of in my initial panic, and of course the missing items, the room should be pretty much as it has been for the last two months.  But you need to understand something.  A project like this isn't something that one funds out of one's own pockets.  The university provides grants for such things, and they like to see that their money is well spent.  And I haven't always produced sterling results."  He casts his eyes to the table and looks rather sheepish.  "I'm in a bit of a pickle you see.  If my superiors find out that not only have I lost a valuable manuscript, but that a student that I vouched for may have taken it, then my reputation, as well as my funding, will be as valuable as clawfoot droppings."  He looks back up at the group.  "So now you understand my need for you to be discreet.  I can fabricate an excuse for you to be present in my lab easily enough, but it is imperative that you not let it be known that I have hired you to look into the disappearance of Loris.  And whatever you do, don't go telling any of the faculty or students that the manuscript is missing."He leans back with a heavy sigh, "As to who might be after it, I'm not sure.  As an established and funded research project, most of my collegues know about it.  I doubt any of them would steal it, as the University would look quite poorly on that.  While it is made of simple and valueless components, the book could fetch a decent price on the black market purely for its historical value.  There hasn't been an official announcement of its presence at the University, but there are plenty of my addle-brained collegues who don't know when to shut up.  Any number of disreputable sorts might know about it thanks to them.""I'm willing to offer the lot of you 500 gold pieces up front, with another 1,000 gold if you successfully complete the job.  I may be able to help you a little on expenses, but I don't want to exhaust my research budget on this.  And in case it wasn't clear earlier, I want you to bring me Loris alive.  I'm not hiring assassins."</blockquote>

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