Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Casing the joint
"So let me understand this, you offered to steal a magic item from a sage or wizard's school for free?" Kessen pries
"Lord De' Lite believes in my ability, he told me he has no doubts I'll be able to get inside and get the gem, and it's not for free, he gave fifteen hundred gold to do it." Haimish answers
"I don't like this, it doesn't feel on the up and up if you know what I mean." Kessen answers
"Do you know anything about this school? Is it like a museum, can you just walk in and steal it?" Turgar inquires
"You would seem an odd choice to perform such a task, One would think that Menthos would be the one to play rogue." Xanthos wonders aloud
"Where is the teifling anyway, I want to tell him all about me new adventure." Haimish asks
"He's upstairs with one of the wenches getting personal attention." Kessen says disgustingly
"Well, Lord De' Lite did say I needed to plan and strategize. Maybe you guys could help me get the gem? He didn't say I could get help, that might help me better spend my money wisely." Haimish concludes
"How are you supposed to know which gem it is?" Kessen asks
"Lord De' Lite said I'd know it when I see it, it's purple and it is suspended in mid air in a room all by itself." Haimish replies
Menthos descends the stairs from the second floor and looks amazed that the group is still within the tavern.
"Don't you guys have better things to do?" Menthos exasperates
"Hey Menthos! Lord De' Lite said I could get him this Soul Gem from the School of Ancient Knowledge, he believed in my abilities so much that I'm going to do it!" Haimish excitedly blurts out
Menthos stands for a minute in awe of the sheer stupidity of Haimish before speaking, "I can't believe you weren't killed as a child."
"Do you want to help me get the gem?" Haimish almost begs as he asks
"What? I just got here (Highcastle) why would I want to be killed already. My name is Menthos Lyptus, not Mentally Unstable." Menthos shouts before shaking his head and heading for the exit of the tavern. He stops up short just before reaching the door however.
"Wait, if there's one magical item hanging around in there, there's bound to be more. Count me in." Menthos demands
"Count you in what? I've already pegged you a quack, what other subset of depravity do you wish to belong to as well?" Kessen remarks
"Stop labeling me with your hackneyed phrases, Ham-like is bad enough at it." Menthos answers
"I think what the highlander is saying, is that you can't be trusted." Turgar interjects
"That may be so, but I'm motivated now, and just ask the lady passed out upstairs what I'm capable of when motivated." Menthos replies
"That's not the kind of motivation that's going to get us inside the School." Kessen denounces
"It might, are there girls there? Who else among you has had training in the hiding and sneaky way of life? No one huh? Looks like you need me." Menthos observes
*sigh* "Looks like the demon speaks the truth, I certainly am not adept at moving inconspicuously through a crowd." Xanthos admits
The group eyes each other wearily, did they really just agree to do another job? Were they going to have to work together again?
"Doopa, give group hug." The ogre envelopes the rest of the group in his massive arms and squeezes the breath out of the humans.
The group divvies up scouting duties, Kessen goes to get general exterior layout of the school as well as number and type of guards. Xanthos goes off to practice shifting his shape to one than will blend in more with the populace of Highcastle. Turgar and Doopa are told to stay away so as not to draw suspicion from the school, while ogres are an uncommon sight in Highcastle, it is an unique day that one would go in or out of the School of Ancient Knowledge. Haimish goes shopping for info around the bars and taverns that surround the school, hoping to find someone with any knowledge of the place.
"What are you doing?" Kessen asks Menthos
"I've got to see somebody about a training opportunity." Menthos answers
"Training for what? You told us you were all about the sneaking and the silent treatment. What could you possibly need training for?" Kessen inquires
"Don't worry, go collect your info. I'll meet you back at the Horned Devil at the agreed to time." Menthos replies and leaves Kessen standing
Kessen gets directions to the school, and once arriving can't believe he bothered to ask for directions. The building takes up an entire city block. Two stories tall and all brick the structure looks more like a prison than a school. No windows are apparent on the building, if not for the explicit directions and the runes inset along the side, Kessen would've though this an enormous block of marble cast down from the heavens.
Kessen spots the small entryway, four steps lead up to a polished marble set of double doors. Flanking the doors are beautiful life-like statues of gargoyles. Kessen turns right and heads around the building counter-clockwise. In the middle of the north wall, Kessen finds a narrow alley that dead ends at what he suspects is the center of the structure. He spies two doors, both shut near the end of the alley.
Continuing his trek, Kessen rounds the corner to get a look at the western side. This side contains no features, save for the runes prevalent on all sides thus far, Kessen looks up and spots the row of gargoyle statues lining the roof of the building and wonders why anyone would waste their talents on sculptures for a building that's not meant to be gawked at.
Turning the corner once more, Kessen faces the southern side of the building. This side as an imposing structure set into the southern face of the building, The Temple of the Spider. Built using stone instead of marble, the temple looks as if the School of Ancient Knowledge is enveloping the building like a glacier around a mountain. The temple too has no exterior windows, however their are no gargoyles or any other facade enhancers around the temple.
Kessen decides to watch the temple entrance for a while to see if he can spot a priest or devout worshiper in order to question them about the school. Kessen waits for two hours with no sign of anyone coming or going. A little frustrated, Kessen walks up to the entrance of the temple to peer inside. The entrance is cloaked in cobwebs, some distance behind the cobwebs, Kessen can make out a small dim light illuminating the gigantic image of a spider body with the form of a female where the head of the spider should be. Similar to aranea that he had seen in the Plains of Cairns.
Unnerved, Kessen walks off without going inside. He wonders why such an eerie structure would be allowed to remain attached like a symbiote to the School of Ancient Knowledge.
Haimish finds a good sized bar just north of the school called "The Scholar's Inn" he takes up a seat at the bar and hopes that someone as interesting as Lord De' Lite would arrive to answer his many questions on the School of Ancient Knowledge. He lucks out and talks with a few people who have some information on the school.
Haimish learns that the school was founded to give those with the arcane touch a place to study and learn without fear of loosing a sleep spell on the general populace, over time however the school began to charge a tuition. Small at first the tuition grew as the years went on until finally only the elite and wealthy could afford to either pay the tuition or had a way to blackmail/bribe their children's way in. Now a days you had to be a senator's child or a merchant's child to even hope to gain admittance.
Haimish learns that only one teacher is allowed to leave the school grounds to retrieve supplies or buy provisions. He usually does so once every other month and did so about two weeks ago. Haimish was unable to obtain a name of this individual however.
Tired from a day that extended into the evening and was still extending through the following day, Haimish decided to head back to the "Horned Devil" to meet up with the rest of the group and go over notes, or find a room and sleep. He was unsure which would come first.
"So let me understand this, you offered to steal a magic item from a sage or wizard's school for free?" Kessen pries
"Lord De' Lite believes in my ability, he told me he has no doubts I'll be able to get inside and get the gem, and it's not for free, he gave fifteen hundred gold to do it." Haimish answers
"I don't like this, it doesn't feel on the up and up if you know what I mean." Kessen answers
"Do you know anything about this school? Is it like a museum, can you just walk in and steal it?" Turgar inquires
"You would seem an odd choice to perform such a task, One would think that Menthos would be the one to play rogue." Xanthos wonders aloud
"Where is the teifling anyway, I want to tell him all about me new adventure." Haimish asks
"He's upstairs with one of the wenches getting personal attention." Kessen says disgustingly
"Well, Lord De' Lite did say I needed to plan and strategize. Maybe you guys could help me get the gem? He didn't say I could get help, that might help me better spend my money wisely." Haimish concludes
"How are you supposed to know which gem it is?" Kessen asks
"Lord De' Lite said I'd know it when I see it, it's purple and it is suspended in mid air in a room all by itself." Haimish replies
Menthos descends the stairs from the second floor and looks amazed that the group is still within the tavern.
"Don't you guys have better things to do?" Menthos exasperates
"Hey Menthos! Lord De' Lite said I could get him this Soul Gem from the School of Ancient Knowledge, he believed in my abilities so much that I'm going to do it!" Haimish excitedly blurts out
Menthos stands for a minute in awe of the sheer stupidity of Haimish before speaking, "I can't believe you weren't killed as a child."
"Do you want to help me get the gem?" Haimish almost begs as he asks
"What? I just got here (Highcastle) why would I want to be killed already. My name is Menthos Lyptus, not Mentally Unstable." Menthos shouts before shaking his head and heading for the exit of the tavern. He stops up short just before reaching the door however.
"Wait, if there's one magical item hanging around in there, there's bound to be more. Count me in." Menthos demands
"Count you in what? I've already pegged you a quack, what other subset of depravity do you wish to belong to as well?" Kessen remarks
"Stop labeling me with your hackneyed phrases, Ham-like is bad enough at it." Menthos answers
"I think what the highlander is saying, is that you can't be trusted." Turgar interjects
"That may be so, but I'm motivated now, and just ask the lady passed out upstairs what I'm capable of when motivated." Menthos replies
"That's not the kind of motivation that's going to get us inside the School." Kessen denounces
"It might, are there girls there? Who else among you has had training in the hiding and sneaky way of life? No one huh? Looks like you need me." Menthos observes
*sigh* "Looks like the demon speaks the truth, I certainly am not adept at moving inconspicuously through a crowd." Xanthos admits
The group eyes each other wearily, did they really just agree to do another job? Were they going to have to work together again?
"Doopa, give group hug." The ogre envelopes the rest of the group in his massive arms and squeezes the breath out of the humans.
The group divvies up scouting duties, Kessen goes to get general exterior layout of the school as well as number and type of guards. Xanthos goes off to practice shifting his shape to one than will blend in more with the populace of Highcastle. Turgar and Doopa are told to stay away so as not to draw suspicion from the school, while ogres are an uncommon sight in Highcastle, it is an unique day that one would go in or out of the School of Ancient Knowledge. Haimish goes shopping for info around the bars and taverns that surround the school, hoping to find someone with any knowledge of the place.
"What are you doing?" Kessen asks Menthos
"I've got to see somebody about a training opportunity." Menthos answers
"Training for what? You told us you were all about the sneaking and the silent treatment. What could you possibly need training for?" Kessen inquires
"Don't worry, go collect your info. I'll meet you back at the Horned Devil at the agreed to time." Menthos replies and leaves Kessen standing
Kessen gets directions to the school, and once arriving can't believe he bothered to ask for directions. The building takes up an entire city block. Two stories tall and all brick the structure looks more like a prison than a school. No windows are apparent on the building, if not for the explicit directions and the runes inset along the side, Kessen would've though this an enormous block of marble cast down from the heavens.
Kessen spots the small entryway, four steps lead up to a polished marble set of double doors. Flanking the doors are beautiful life-like statues of gargoyles. Kessen turns right and heads around the building counter-clockwise. In the middle of the north wall, Kessen finds a narrow alley that dead ends at what he suspects is the center of the structure. He spies two doors, both shut near the end of the alley.
Continuing his trek, Kessen rounds the corner to get a look at the western side. This side contains no features, save for the runes prevalent on all sides thus far, Kessen looks up and spots the row of gargoyle statues lining the roof of the building and wonders why anyone would waste their talents on sculptures for a building that's not meant to be gawked at.
Turning the corner once more, Kessen faces the southern side of the building. This side as an imposing structure set into the southern face of the building, The Temple of the Spider. Built using stone instead of marble, the temple looks as if the School of Ancient Knowledge is enveloping the building like a glacier around a mountain. The temple too has no exterior windows, however their are no gargoyles or any other facade enhancers around the temple.
Kessen decides to watch the temple entrance for a while to see if he can spot a priest or devout worshiper in order to question them about the school. Kessen waits for two hours with no sign of anyone coming or going. A little frustrated, Kessen walks up to the entrance of the temple to peer inside. The entrance is cloaked in cobwebs, some distance behind the cobwebs, Kessen can make out a small dim light illuminating the gigantic image of a spider body with the form of a female where the head of the spider should be. Similar to aranea that he had seen in the Plains of Cairns.
Unnerved, Kessen walks off without going inside. He wonders why such an eerie structure would be allowed to remain attached like a symbiote to the School of Ancient Knowledge.
Haimish finds a good sized bar just north of the school called "The Scholar's Inn" he takes up a seat at the bar and hopes that someone as interesting as Lord De' Lite would arrive to answer his many questions on the School of Ancient Knowledge. He lucks out and talks with a few people who have some information on the school.
Haimish learns that the school was founded to give those with the arcane touch a place to study and learn without fear of loosing a sleep spell on the general populace, over time however the school began to charge a tuition. Small at first the tuition grew as the years went on until finally only the elite and wealthy could afford to either pay the tuition or had a way to blackmail/bribe their children's way in. Now a days you had to be a senator's child or a merchant's child to even hope to gain admittance.
Haimish learns that only one teacher is allowed to leave the school grounds to retrieve supplies or buy provisions. He usually does so once every other month and did so about two weeks ago. Haimish was unable to obtain a name of this individual however.
Tired from a day that extended into the evening and was still extending through the following day, Haimish decided to head back to the "Horned Devil" to meet up with the rest of the group and go over notes, or find a room and sleep. He was unsure which would come first.