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Message: <blockquote data-quote="CanadienneBacon" data-source="post: 3348168" data-attributes="member: 11146">Arquesta places a few of the sauced mushrooms on a plate and places the plate on the floor under the table by her bench.  "Here, goblin, you might enjoy these.  A taste of your former wildlands.  I see you are adept at hiding.  The Buttonslows might pale at the look of your hide, but are otherwise welcoming folk who will do you no harm, should you wish to sit at table with us."  "When certain segments are assembled, the Rod has both major and resonant powers.  Using the Rod when two or more segments are affixed to one another risks drawing the attention of the Queen, who can sense these powers being used.  The more minor abilities of individual segments may be used alone with less risk, though I should caution you that because of the taint, there is not ever a time when using the Rod bears no risk of attention.  As you do not currently have but the one segment, you are at little risk of attuning yourselves to the major or resonant powers, but if you're to seek out the other segments, this information will become your shield.  One portion of the Rod, when held in hand, can be used to sense where the next piece lies; you've only to imagine the Rod in your mind while holding a segment to use this ability.  It's therefore crucial that not even a single segment make its way to the Queen or her minions.  The segment that one of you now bears is the Rod's tip, its smallest piece.  My people believe the Queen may have been unable to taint this segment and that its power to cure wounds may remain intact at five uses per day.  I caution you further than the Rod is newly arrived on this world and thus its powers may be subtly changed from my last expectation, or, for that matter, those of the Queen.  I'm not privy to the details of the taint laid upon the Rod."  This last statement pains Arquesta to say but she continues on in a hushed voice.  "Hold but a single piece and you may find yourself drawn to order.  The Rod, while tainted, cannot be anything that what it originally was crafted to be, an item of Law.  The effect can be lessened only by giving the segment to another, and even then may linger in the former bearer's mind for some time."  Arquesta pauses a moment to sip from her cup.  "How many of these wolf spiders did you say attacked your last location?  The Queen is not, to my knowledge, so fast in her tracking.  An hour, perhaps twelve, might pass ere the Queen is able to accurately discern a segment's location once it has been used.  There are other events, too, that may spark her attention.  A change in bearer, adding a segment, breakage, and holding a segment that has been used multiple days garners further risk.  Knowing how many fiends attacked you is useful information in knowing whether there may be more in the city."</blockquote>

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