Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kid Charlemagne" data-source="post: 1764" data-attributes="member: 93">Belluin, Ghithor, January 13th, AE 420The next day the party folds to Belluin and deposits the prisoner in the surprised hands of the Duke’s jailor.  Having taken care of that, they contemplate their next piece of business.“We need to take care of Ekozius,” Reana says.  “He’ll probably besiege Mahanaim in the spring.”“Yeah,” Gavin says.  “But in the meantime its mid-January.  All the news from there is that its all quiet for right now.  We’ve got a couple of months to play with.”“I want to do some more investigation on the Egg,” Aris says.  “If I go to Cape Varna and get some help from Tolaro, I can search the University archives.  If there is any information about the Egg, or about these Loraxites, it would be there.  It’s the best library in the world.”“Maybe we should split up and take a short vacation,” Jovah says.  “I’ve got some business to attend to at the Fox Club, and Samsen is going to be made Marquis in less than a month.  I’d like to do some work on possible damage control, so that if he starts letting the Reksus people take over right away, I’m ready for it.”“Alright,” Brennen says.  “We’ve all got individual things to take care of, and no incredibly pressing issues.  I’d like to take care of the Drow in Kazathun, but it will take months to get suitable forces to Shadow Springs to retake the Underdark areas.  That will have to wait till spring, too.  Maybe we’ll just split up for now, and regroup back in Fencig for the Marquis’ coronation?”They all agree on this course of action.  Then attention turns to Batista.“The Drow seem to have some interest in you,” Reana says.  “Maybe we should get you somewhere safe for the winter, if we’re not going to be doing much till spring.”Jovah thinks for a while.  “How about Cristof’s place?  He owes us one, and I can fold us there and back easily enough.  That mountaintop will be as inaccessible to anyone as anyplace we could pick.  We’ll all fold to Fencig, and I’ll fold people to wherever they’re going.”“Sounds good to me,” Aris says.  “Maybe I can get Cristof to finally give me that reading he promised.”Batista is not too thrilled at being stashed in a remote corner of the country for the winter months, but agrees to go to Cristof’s home for safe keeping.  The party folds to the Fox Club, but first Aris writes a quick letter to Tolaro indicating that he will be returning to Cape Varna within the week.As an afterthought, he scribbles a final note after his signature:PS: What’s a Loraxite?The following day, Jovah folds Aris and Batista to Cristof’s place.  They explain their situation and Cristof agrees to look after the half-elven Ranger.  “So I’m going to have to come back here to fold you to Cape Varna, huh?” Jovah asks Aris.“Don’t worry about that,” Cristof says.  “I can cast dimensional folding, too.”Jovah folds back to Fencig, and Aris tells Cristof he’d like to have that reading now, thanks.  “Certainly.  I will begin my preparations.  What question would you like answered?”“I want to know what my visions mean.”Aris has had three separate visions since he started poking around with the Egg.  The first two were while asleep, and while the Egg was in his possession.  The third was while awake, and after he had returned the Egg to Lord Masato, the Ralt Gaitherese emmissary whose quest it was to recover the Egg for the Emperor.In the first vision, Aris saw (from the point of view of the owner of the Egg) the Egg being placed in the Song-Ling Monastery; and the subsequent stealing of it by a thief.In the second, he saw the Egg being handed over to Virenzo Staris by the thief, and the subsequent killing of the thief by Virenzo.  The vision ended with Virenzo’s death, seen by Aris through Virenzo’s eyes, as the necromancer was run through by Gavin.The third vision involved a sea journey interrupted by a Drow attack, and the owner throwing the Egg overboard to keep it out of the Drow’s hands.Aris believes that the Egg must have left the monastery at some point and been lost beneath the sea at some point in its history.  That missing bit of history might give an important clue to the Egg’s power, and its value to both Virenzo and the Drow.Aris enters into Cristof's room in the back of the small house he lives in on the mountain.  Cristof has candles lit, and a fire is roaring in the fireplace.  There is a table with a cloth embroidered with astrological and mathematical symbols (it looks somewhat like a black, silver and gold version fo the map from Time Bandits).He sets a bowl out on the table, and two decanters.  He pours liquid from one into the bowl, and then from the other he pours a small amount of a different liquid.  To Aris' eyes, it appears merely to be oil and water, as the smaller amount of oil moves over the surface of the water."So, you want to know about your visions, and what they mean..." Cristof says in a low voice. "Let's see..." his voice trails off, and he closes his eyes.  Aris watches him intently, but suddenly realize that the water and oil are beginning to bubble, to boil.  Cristof's hands are on the table next to the bowl, face down, and some of the waterbubbles over the edge, scalding him slightly and jarring him from his trance-like state.There is a sharp intake of breath, then he looks at the water, whose bubbling is subsiding, and says, "Interesting...  I've never seen that happen before."I'm sorry, Aris, I don't think I got anything.  Quite unusual."Aris utters a sigh of dissapointment, and slowly gets up and turns to leave."But you do realize that you're seeing things in the order they happened, don't you?"Aris stops dead in his tracks, still turned away from the Oracle.  Cristof can only see the elf’s hand grasping the stair rail, and his knuckles going white as he grips the rail ever harder.Aris turns back towards Cristof, his eyes wide as saucers.“But…  that means…”  He stops in mid-sentence, and turns, running out into the snowy night.“Batista!  Get your things!  We’re leaving!  NOW!”</blockquote>

Verification