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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Express" data-source="post: 1658761" data-attributes="member: 19166">This officially catches me up with events in our game. Next session this weekend. More to follow.5. Out to SeaAs the cliffs and towers of Sharn faded from view, we located our berths. Bynara still shot me an evil look from time to time to make me aware of her displeasure over Honora. Dorbo, however was happy, obviously pleased with the idea of heading home. He and Anvil dispappeared as we hit open sea, an arcane cabal of two, off to study the canvas.All our rooms were separated from a main gangawy belowdecks by a door, constituting a “suite” of sorts of five individual berths  and a privy. The Swiftsure was primarily a cargo vessel, although many passengers had booked aboard the ship. After seeing Honora off to her room, I found my bunk. I was tired and a litle seasick, and soon feel asleep.A rap upon my door awakened me. Dorbos’ prominent nose and red hair emerged through the portal before I could mumble a disoriented response. He literally bounced inside my cabin, with Anvil in tow.“We’ve got it. We’ve got it m’boy!” he sang.I gazed at him groggily. What time was it?Dorbo sat heavily upon my bed, balancing several books and the rolled up canvas in his arms. Anvil loomed large over me,Corvo on his shoulder. In my small cabin, I felt surrounded. Dorbo thrust the small notebook of Voren’s at me, which I fumbled with.“This, look here, look!” he said excitedly. I thumbed through the hand sized tome.  It was dogeared and dirty. Several pages were torn out. It was blank save for the last dozen pages which contained numerous small marks, like runes almost, and writing. “So what? A dictionary?” I offered.“No, but close however.” Dorbo was in a state of bookish gnome ecstasy. “We searched Voren's home. It had nothing magical in it, but many books. Voren was quite the polygot. In fact.....”My eyes glazed over, "The point Dorbo?”Anvil stepped forward. “Voren had nothing that seemed pertinent to our situation. In the fireplace we found remnants of papers and books, which Voren was in the process of destroying apparently. We found this.” He handed me part of a book.Inside were similar rune marks with writing , alot of writing. Anvil pointed to a mark. “This is a dictionary. It appears to be a form of pictograph or glyph mark. Quite ancient. Perhaps one of the earliest forms of writing. Dhakkan goblin in origin. The runes represent not just sounds; but concepts, phrases.”I shrugged.Dorbo sighed at my lack of enthusiasm, and unrolled the portrait canvas. “When we read th’ canvas writing before we saw it was Draconic. Anvil used comprehend languages ta make sure. Its Draconic no doubt, but seemed ta be gibberish.” He squinted and read:Gold riverbank Sivis darkwood swordarm...I shrugged again.The small notebook is not a dictionary,” Anvil replied smiling in his own peculiar way, “Rather it is a catalog. Whoever recorded those runemarks named them, but gave them names in Draconic.  Names incidentally that have nothing to do with their defintion. He pointed at the tiny marks and read the tiny text next to them, “ Silver,mountain2, Cannith..”Dorbo chimed in. “For whatever reason, eccentricity, secrecy, he coded th’ runes. Whoever wrote on the canvas knew the system and recorded in Draconic the runemark names. And’ I ain't convinced it twas Voren who recorded the runemarks, either. The writing in th’ notebook don't match th’ papers we found in his home.”Anvil continued, “In essence it is a code that is safe against magic means of translation. If one did not know Draconic magic would reveal just a random set of words.”I held up the canvas; I was awake now. Why code it? “What about the  map at the bottom?” Anvil placed Corvo on the bed. “It is not a map,rather a drawing.When I used comprehend languages I was able to read it. Hidden within the drawing there is a rune configuration, which we were only able to find after I cast my spell on it, with the help of the dictionary. It says :” From your loyal student to my teacher.“Can you translate the text, or codenames or whatever?” I asked.Dorbo stood up proudly, and produced a paper. “I’ve already transcribed the runemarks from the Draconic names on the canvas, when Anvil gains th’ use of his spell again, we can read it.”I inquired as to the time.“Tha time?” Dorbo answered distractedly, “O umm third hour I believe.”I ejected the both of them and the squawking Corvo and went back to sleep.</blockquote>

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