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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1469853" data-attributes="member: 15043">Grisly Cleanup... and A Key FoundAs the party approached the remains of the keep cautiously, they called out nervously, for Lord Charles, Lady Keshalya... anyone... and received nary a response.  Once they docked the skiff and entered inside... they saw why..“Dear Gods of Celestia....” Tess said in awed silence, beholding the scene.  Bodies were literally everywhere throughout the ruined keep, which was now minus two walls.  Most were crushed, some were bitten in two.  All had looks of terror on their faces.The party then began the grisly task of try to look for survivors, but found none.  A body in elaborate noble’s clothing was found, minus its head... which the party presumed to be Lord Charles.  Nearby, the form of a plump woman, looking almost like a younger version of Marith Tor, was laying sprawled.  Her entire torso had been crushed in.“Damn,” Siabrey said softly in wonder, as she looked across the scene of ruin after the grisly search was ending, and the red blaring sky’s spoke of dusk’s arrival.  “We should check their room now, while there’s light... see if the chest or whatnot is there.  Then tomorrow... we can bury the dead,” she quietly.  Someone needs to consecrate this place... or something.“Yech,” Shaun pronounced a few minutes later, as the party found the master bedroom in one of the towers.  A legless figure lay sprawled by the doorway, his hands clutching its frame futilely as if he was trying to claw back to life.  “I’ll check the chests... Siabrey... you check...”Siabrey didn’t listen to his advice, as she had already spotted something of interest... a bow, hanging near the master bed, which beamed of magic.  During the fight with the froghemoth, she had noticed her own bow seemed to do little damage to the beast... and now, she thought her solution might be near.“...and you, Iranami, check under the bed,” Shaun finished his instructions, and leaned over to start looking in the room’s drawers.  A loud crack echoed above him, and he looked towards the noise to see an arrow, imbedded in the wall, having punched through several inches of stone.“What the...”“A force bow... neat!” Siabrey grinned, taking the weapon into her possession.Shaun called her over, and asked if she saw anything in the midst of what looked to be the Lord’s trousers that looked magical.  After scanning the area quickly, she saw something very faint.  Hurried digging later, she found a small ebony chest, with walnut and hickory engravings decorating its sumptiously carved design.“Jackpot!” Shaun shouted, holding it aloft.  “Now... what do we do with this?”“Take it back to Irulas,” Tess said matter-of-factly, taking the item and putting it in her backpack.  “The Imperial Mages, for all of their arrogance, will know what to do with it.”Siabrey, for her pat, sat down on the thrown about mattress, and gave a short sigh.  Thank you Hieroneous... for seeing us this far.  Now, to return the item... and return to Lucius’ side...  The party set up “camp” in a lower, cleared out portion of the same tower, reasoning that camping inside a stone tower was safer than traversing the swamp at night.  As they sat, tending a small fire in a firepit found by Shaun, Siabrey decided to open her large book, to see if Lucius responded.As her eyes beheld the newest page, her eyebrows raised in surprise as she saw the words, ”My dearest friends,” slowly fill across the milk white page...A few minutes earlier, miles to the south...I need to write to her... just for a half hour... it’ll help me clear my mind... Lucius thought, remembering it was still early... perhaps nine o’clock. She hasn’t written again yet... she usually does not write until late... past midnight.He sat down with a wince; his rear was sore from where his horse had uncharacteristically tried to buck him earlier in the day.  He opened the lone magically locked drawer in the otherwise mundane desk, and pulled out the set of books.  He flipped open the small one, and reached for his quill, before looking at the larger one... still closed.“Nah.”  He reached for his quill, and scrawled the first part of a letter.”My dearest friends....” before he stopped again, looking at the larger book.Hmmm... I bet she hasn’t written yet...  but... oh why not?  Might as well check, he flipped the larger book to should be the next clean page......and he stared in shock.”Luke!?  Are you there?!” was quickly filling up the first line on the open page.Siabrey?  He scribbled his mental question onto the paper in the little one, and his heart leapt as the rapidly forming words in the large book spelled out, ”Luke!  My God!  It is you!  Yes, its your Siabrey!”The next couple minutes were filled with Siabrey filling him in on the keep in the swamp they had found, and how a frog-monster of some kind had killed everyone off... and how they had found the miniature chest they had been looking for.  It was only after about twenty minutes when they finally were able to start talking about missing each other...“Is the General busy?” Elenya nudged a sleeping Quin.  He shook himself with a stir, and she frowned.  “You know, a good bodyguard shouldn’t fall asleep on post like that.”  He eyes were anything but humorous... she meant her statement.  Today had been a long day... especially the examination given to Elenya by the Chief Healer using her own magic, with some clerics assisting.   There was happy news... she wouldn’t inform Shaun of the bad news until she saw him in person.“Mmm... well, good bodyguards also don’t necessarily have 40,000 backups around them,” Quin yawned.  “I was very tired... no sleep last night because Luke kept waking up.  I stayed awake to watch him.”“Well... you know if he’s busy now?” Elenya asked, and Quin shook his head.“I’m guessing right now he’s prolly just writing up reports or checking stuff... army general things.  Not necessarily writing Siabrey anything.  Go on in, I don’t think he’d mind the interruption,” Quin motioned for her.  Elenya gave him a smile of thanks, and ducked into the room.She saw something was different.  He had the two magical books out, to be sure, but he’d write for a few seconds in the little one before glancing at the big one, waiting for a bit.  Something odd was up.“Luke?” she asked cautiously, and he turned and gave her a big smile.  “What’s so good?  Why are you so... happy?”“Its Siabrey!” he announced happily, “she’s writing right now!”  He pointed eagerly at the book, and Elenya walked over, and watched as the words in large book seemed to form out of thin air.“So... she’s right there?  You can basically talk to her through the writing?” Elenya asked, confused slightly.  Lucius nodded eagerly, and Elenya’s eyes narrowed.  This could be fun...  She leaned over, as if looking at the writing closer, all the while her hand inching towards his quill.  As soon as he finished scratching out a sentence and leaned over as well to see his love’s reply, her barroom agility came into play, and she snatched the quill from him.“ELENYA!  What are you doing!” he shouted just before her other hand reached out and grabbed his side, just before the last rib in his ribcage.  A burst of laughter came from his lips, as Elenya urged him to move both verbally and with her tickling.“I need to send Shaun something, move!” she said playfully, holding him at bay while her free hand scribbled on the paper, ”Siabrey, this is Elenya.  Tell Shaun I have a surprise for him... can’t say what it is.   Oh... and I’m writing right now because your husband is ticklish, right below the last rib!  Must go now, bye!” she dropped the quill as Lucius finally shoved back enough to force her to let go of his tickling side.“That was evil, Elenya,” Lucius gasped for air, as Siabrey’s response of ”What?” appeared below.  Lucius wrote that Elenya indeed had written something... and that Quin was nearby if people wanted to say anything to him.   There was a pause, and from the other book came a simple, ”Tess says if Quin is reckless and gets himself killed, she will hunt him in the afterlife, and beat him silly for a millenia.”  Lucius laughed.  “Hey Quin, your sister is threatening you again!” Lucius called, and the young man’s head popped into Lucius’ tent.  “Tell her that if she is dumb and gets herself hurt, I’m going to find her ghost and give it a noogie!” he grinned.  Lucius chuckled again, and wrote out Quin’s response.  A few more jibes and barbs were traded between Elenya and Quin and their respectively loved ones, before a note was scrawled on the margins of the page in the large book by Siabrey. ”I’m tired of being a go between... next page Luke... just you and me! In magic?  I’m going downstairs to get away from the others... it will be private then (I’m winking now)” “Um...  Quin, Elenya?” Lucius looked up after reading that.  Elenya laughed, and grabbed Quin.  “We know... we’re getting out.  Thanks for letting us talk to our people through those books a bit!” she smiled, pulling Quin outside of the tent.”They’re gone now, love,” Lucius wrote back using his magic.  ”What did you have in mind? (I’m winking now)” he wrote on the next page.  ”Oh nothing... I was thinking you could describe to me what you’d be doing right now if I was in camp with you... which I will be in a few days. (I have no top on now... and I’m winking)” scribbled out on the page.I think tonight is going to be an enjoyable night... Lucius smiled, and he eagerly started writing.</blockquote>

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