"Don't worry. Mornings are pretty slow," the old orc said, stepping out of the kitchen. "Not to eavesdrop but I did hear a bit of your conversation. Just run one quick errand for me, and you're free until dinner time. Take the push cart in the alley and pick up a few things from the market. Tell em it's for Durga, and they should know what to give you."
He places a sheet of parchment on the table with a list of buildings, names, and directions from place to place. It has six stops listed on it, none more than a couple of streets apart. "If you get lost, don't be afraid to ask for directions. And if anybody tries to stiff you, just write down their name and I'll talk to em later."
Richard enters the repurposed building to see something of great beauty. The light beaming into the room is focused on a massive pillar of white crystal. The day light diffuses outward from the glowing crystal pillar to fill the room with rich sunlight. He understood why the druids would pick the place for an indoor arboretum. The inside looked like a rich and beautiful forest from some fairy tale. the smells of fresh oxygen and rich chlorophyll give a sense of life and rejuvenation. He can see the vines that he saw on the outside drew water from the roof and into the rich biosphere, like some sort of upside down root system.
Hello. Anyone at home. He calls out.
"Yes, we're back here. You're a bit early for pickup," a young man's voice calls out. If you follow it through the greenhouse, you'll find a pair of nearly identical fey with plant-like wings, flitting along vines and plucking fruit. As they go about their work filling baskets, they don't seem to be paying much attention to you at all.
"Just run one quick errand for me, and you're free until dinner time. Take the push cart in the alley and pick up a few things from the market. Tell em it's for Durga, and they should know what to give you."
He places a sheet of parchment on the table with a list of buildings, names, and directions from place to place. It has six stops listed on it, none more than a couple of streets apart. "If you get lost, don't be afraid to ask for directions. And if anybody tries to stiff you, just write down their name and I'll talk to em later."
"You got it, Durga", smiles Jolis as he takes the parchment. "I'll get it done immediately after our visit to The Mayor."
--------As Jolis walks the cart out of the alley, Viska jumps right in, apparently enjoying the ride. The big warrior smiles and shakes his head at the fox's antics. Once everyone arrives at the druidic greenhouse, Jolis parks the cart just outside the entrance, where Viska jumps out.
"Enjoy the ride", says Jolis, posing the question to the fox.
"Hello there could we have a word a moment my fine fellows"
She says being respectful of the fey
Good Morning servants of nature. I am Richard Grove. He says introducing himself. He sets about introducing his companions. Once the pleasantries are done, Richard continues with business. We are friends with the Eilena. He points to the rings worn by Jolis and Lera.
I know you are very busy helping this village feed itself, but we were hoping you might aid us. First Lera is an accomplished herbalist and I am an accomplished alchemist. We have need of your impressive skills and greenhouse. I've noticed that the village can make rye bread. While I don't need rye. I do have a need for the mold that grows on it. Ergot. And I need a lot of it. Is this something you could help us with?
Upon hearing the voice in Sylvan, the two fae pause and turn around. They glide down to the ground, setting their baskets down gently. Aside from their clothes - one is dressed in bright, vibrant colors, and the other more subdued earthy ones - you wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
"Oh, how very clever this one is-" "Yes, very polite." They speak very quickly, switching back and forth with hardly a pause between who's speaking.
They listen to Richard intently while he speaks, glancing at the rings when he points them out.
"I don't know an Eilena. Sister, do you-" "Oh yes, I've met Eilena. She's quite fun. Very nice. If she likes them-" "Then they must be decent folk, don't you think? The Mayor would tell us we should help decent folk-" "But rye is so boring. The mayor said rye would be fun, but it was just awful, and mold? How dreadful, can you imagine-" "Well I can hardly argue there, mold is dreadfully boring. What about dragonfruit, have we done dragonfruit-" "Brother we've been over this, dragonfruit don't actually combust. At least, not the sorry ones on this plane."
If no one interrupts, they continue like this for quite a while longer, slipping occasionally back into Sylvan for brief periods. Eventually, they pause and share a look before turning back to Richard. "You want help. We want fun. Make it fun for us."
Richard looks at Miya with a 'what the hell do I do now' look on his face. Come on man, this is what you do he says to himself. you solve problems. He looks at Grelda. The Grateful Dead.
Richard's smile is broad and devious. I know what a pair of nature loving hippies like you would dig. Of course, my friend Grelda would have to help me, If she'd be so kind. All I need right now is a handful of morning glory seeds and we'll come back tomorrow, and I'll show you what fun can really be.
Grelda quirks her eyebrow at Richard. "I think most who are dead would be more grateful to be still alive."
It's a music group my friend. Heavy on the drums. Very psychedelic.
"Tell me more of your plan." The half-orc looks intrigued.
I'm from a poor family, working class. School is really expensive. So I used to create, for lack of a better term, magic pills that made music far more entertaining in order to sell them. Our fey friends here need an incentive to harvest the mold I need. So I need to show them the mold they supply will be turned into magic fun and share some of it with them. The morning glory seeds can be used but will never make the amount I need.
What I need from you is the music that will push their fun to high, high levels. A barter for something that will aid us in...taking away from an enemies advantage. I'll share some rhythms with you tonight while I work.
"Very well. I'll listen to your beats. I can probably improve on them."
I'd expect nothing less
Jolis leans down to Lera's ear and whispers, "Aww. Common ground reached at last."
Waking to the sun high in the sky, Vitranna yawns and looks blearily around.
"Wh-what time is it? Where is everyone?"
Eventually, Vitranna makes her way down to the bar and asks for something to help wake her up.
"Can you direct me to the hunter's group? I would like to get their advice on the lay of the local land and the creatures that live nearby as soon as possible."
Jolis leans down to Lera's ear and whispers, "Aww. Common ground reached at last."
"And all it took were 'magic happy pills.' Should we tell him about pesh?"
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"I think in Richard's case, pesh might be an personality-enhancing drug."
Waking to the sun high in the sky, Vitranna yawns and looks blearily around.
"Wh-what time is it? Where is everyone?"
Eventually, Vitranna makes her way down to the bar and asks for something to help wake her up.
"Can you direct me to the hunter's group? I would like to get their advice on the lay of the local land and the creatures that live nearby as soon as possible."
Durga serves Vitranna a drink of her choice and a late breakfast. "The hunters' base is on the south side of town. It'll be hard to miss it, there's a giant pair of horns over their front door. They're probably still out on morning patrol, but they should be back before long."
----
Following his directions will take you to a building on the edge of town that's been decorated with a handful of trophies - including a pair of very rough looking horns at least ten feet across. It does take some time, but eventually you do see the hunters begin to emerge from the jungle. About 15 fit looking men and women, most of them carrying bows of different shapes and types, exchange idle chit chat about lunch and better hunting grounds. A half-elf woman notices you and breaks from the rest of the group, moving closer. "Haven't seen you around here before. You just get washed up, or you just been hidin'?" she asks with a friendly smile.
I'm from a poor family, working class. School is really expensive. So I used to create, for lack of a better term, magic pills that made music far more entertaining in order to sell them. Our fey friends here need an incentive to harvest the mold I need. So I need to show them the mold they supply will be turned into magic fun and share some of it with them. The morning glory seeds can be used but will never make the amount I need.
What I need from you is the music that will push their fun to high, high levels. A barter for something that will aid us in...taking away from an enemies advantage. I'll share some rhythms with you tonight while I work.
The twins exchange slightly more skeptical looks and whisper very loudly to each other. "His fun is seeds and magic? We've already got those, I'm not sure that's fair." "Don't be so quick to judge, I'm sure there's more to it. Look at his friend, Grelda-" "You're right, that's surely a talented one. Just humming with magic. Why I'll bet-" "She's the special one, surely. Mr. Grove just doesn't want to admit it." "Likes feeling special, that one does. Not that I blame him, I quite like feeling special too."
After their brief "huddle," the twins each nod and turn back to the group. "We'll have to go out and find some morning glories. The Mayor says we're only allowed to grow food in the greenhouse, which I think is a dumb rule-" "You think all rules are dumb rules-" "I do because they are-" "And anyway, we have to finish getting the fruit out to the market. They whine and whine and whine when we run even a little late-" "It was only a couple of days, you'd think they'd die without strawberries."
By now, they're already getting lost in their own conversation again as they finish filling baskets. As far as you can tell though, they have agreed to go along with Richard's proposal for "fun".
"Haven't seen you around here before. You just get washed up, or you just been hidin'?"[/b] she asks with a friendly smile.
Smiling at the friendly woman, Vitranna answers as truthfully as possible.
"I am definitely new here. My companions and I just arrived at your village yesterday...just before the 'taking.' Durga says you can help me with the lay of the land around here? I thought I could help you hunt in exchange?"
She then offers a friendly hand to shake.
Richard gives a forced smile to the druids, not that they noticed. He wasn't sure if they were going to go get the morning glory seeds or not. He'd have to go see if some were for sale in the market some time later. While the fey continue to blather, Richard heads outside. He sighs. I'm not sure if that was productive or not. Ready to head to the Temple slash Library?
As they approach the Temple, Richard quaffs a extract and searches his memory for the Religion or Cult it promotes.
"See you around"
Then follows the others
Jolis follows the rest to the Temple, pushing Durga's cart with Viska riding.
Viska yips happily. He pants with his tongue out clearly enjoying the ride. Lera feels through their empathic link that he may come to expect this treatment in the future.
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As you approach the Temple, you begin to fully appreciate the size of it. The windowless, featureless building is easily six stories high. A flight of stairs leads to a pair of huge, stone double doors and into the building. Flameless lanterns hang from the ceiling every few feet, lighting the inside. The floor is made of black and white marble tiles in a checkerboard pattern. Though there are bookcases up against the walls, most of the lower floor has been turned into a communal worship space. Spread out in a wide circle, there are shrines present Calistria, Cayden Cailean, Desna, Gozreh, Iomeda, Sarenrae, and others. There are a few individuals present, engaged in morning prayers and rituals.
At the far end of the room, there is a staircase in either corner leading upstairs.
"Haven't seen you around here before. You just get washed up, or you just been hidin'?"[/b] she asks with a friendly smile.Smiling at the friendly woman, Vitranna answers as truthfully as possible.
"I am definitely new here. My companions and I just arrived at your village yesterday...just before the 'taking.' Durga says you can help me with the lay of the land around here? I thought I could help you hunt in exchange?"
She then offers a friendly hand to shake.
"I think that sounds fair. As long as you can keep up." The woman shakes her hand and nods toward the guildhall. "Name's Liz. Come and join us. We're just having a quick rest before we head back out later on. I can tell you what you need to know."
Inside the guildhall, there are more trophies on the wall - claws as long as swords, massive scales, and pelts of different creatures. Most of the hunters are eating or resting, while a few work on maintaining their armor and weapons. Liz unfurls a map on the table and weighs it flat. This one is much more detailed than the one you got from Kal, but focused only on the area a few miles around Ruin village. [b]"In the mornings, we go on patrols to make sure nothing nasty is getting too close. We check for markings, droppings, see if any traps have been set off. We do a wide circle around the village, and if it looks like anything is snooping around too close, we take it down. The last few days have been quiet though - nothing in the area. Since we don't have to go after anything dangerous today, we'll head further out from the village. Find something we can bring back to eat."[b]
Until it's time to head out for the next hunt, Liz will spend her time teaching Vitranna as much as she can about the topography, good places to hide or camp, and a few of the threats to be on the lookout for.
Lera sees the shrine to Calistria and offers a quick prayer. She then looks around to see how many people are praying at which shrine.
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Jolis looks at all the shrines, giving a sweeping wave to them all, as if seeing relatives on the other side of a long room. The absalomian gives a quick nod to both Calistria's and Cayden Cailean's shrines.
I gotta come back here later. Maybe Valeriya might wish to come with me?
Jolis follows the rest up one of the staircases.
Richard marvels at the size of the library. He had something much smaller envisioned. This obviously was left here by the creators of the place. He can only assume that some sort of protective spells prevented the books from turning to dust due to age. It made sense from what he read about Nethys. The storms that bring ships here. The massive library. The creators were worshipers of Nethys. It all fit together.
As he walked deeper into the hall and looked around at the numerous shrines in the center, The scientist speaks in whispers. The battle Durga described. Bombs of fire and poison fell from the sky, he said. What if the machinery that brought us here was also used to expel materials onto a battlefield. Given what I know of Nethys worshippers, the documentation for the magical machinery would be here. That's why Subhash spends all his time here...hoping to find it.
Richard starts to look around for the 'old man'
"What do you mean 'machinery that brought us here?'" Lera asks inquisitively.
Richard tries to establish his chain of logic to Lera. Given that people have been pulled to this island via a storm gate. And this has been occurring on a regular basis. Additionally this has been occurring far prior to the Palace's occupying army ever coming here. And taking into account the ruin builders have long ago abandoned this island either voluntarily but more likely involuntarily. And that these creators were Nethys worshippers. It would stand to reason that some sort of automated magical machinery left by the creators has continued to run without the creators here to control it.
"That's quite theory, Richard", Jolis adds. "You think this island might be related to Azlant or Thassilon?
I'm sure the 'old man' would know far more than I
Until it's time to head out for the next hunt, Liz will spend her time teaching Vitranna as much as she can about the topography, good places to hide or camp, and a few of the threats to be on the lookout for.
Vitranna will attempt to remember as much as she can about the local terrain and environment. Once back out in the jungle, she will watch and learn, before stepping on anyone's toes.
While most of the shrines have two or three worshipers present at most, those that venerate gods of nature and hunting seem to draw many more - for obvious reasons. Even those who offer their first prayers at another shrine move towards Gozreh's or Erastil's afterwards.
The second story has the same lanterns hanging from the ceiling and the same checkered floors, but here several rows of bookshelves fill most of the space. Just from where you're standing by the stairs, you can already see more books than you'd be able to read in a decade.
Moving further along through the second floor, it isn't long before you hear the steady tapping of a cane against the marble floor. Following the sound between the shelves, you'll quickly find the old Garundi man moving purposefully aisle, heading in your direction. He stands tall despite his obvious limp. Old scars, turned white with age, stand out clearly against his dark skin. A much younger man trails a few feet behind, arms full with books and scrolls.
"I'd been told I should expect company, but I wasn't expecting it to be so soon," he says with a slight accent, pausing in front of you. He looks at each of you appraisingly, before gesturing for you to walk with him. "I take it you aren't here just for my wit and sparkling personality. How can I be of assistance?"
Jolis greets The Mayor and introduces himself and everyone else who came with him. The big warrior explains how they got to the island, their stay in Junk Village, and their journey to visit The Mayor.
"Sir, it is widely known about your expertise on this island. Could you please tell us what you know about Storm Island, and the inhabitants of the central palace?"
Richard chimes in And how to get back home.
Face lights up.
"Books, I like a good book, she says looking at them"
@Miya: While most of the books are written in Vudrani, you do others written in various languages, from ancient Azlanti to common Taldan and more. The ones you can read the titles of seem to cover all manner of subjects, though the section of the library you're in is heavily focused on botany, herbalism, and farming techniques.
"Ah, yes, of course. The Secret to Escaping the Island. You want me to tell you all the secret passageways into the palace so you can find whatever ancient artifact was left behind and fly your merry way home." Subhash only half looks at you as he pulls another book from the shelf, handing it to the man behind him on top of an already precarious stack. "I hate to disappoint you, but I have no such secret. I've learned much about the nature of this island, but I am no tactician. I cannot give you information that will aid you in a siege. Nor was I able to discover a way off of this island, though I think this one's theory about a machine has some merit. I've oft pondered similar ideas."
Near the center of this floor, the aisles open up to make room for several tables, arranged rather haphazardly as if recently moved. Subhash gestures with his cane and the young man carefully places the pile he's carrying onto one of them. "Knowing that I cannot aid your immediate goals, do you still want to learn what I know?"
Until it's time to head out for the next hunt, Liz will spend her time teaching Vitranna as much as she can about the topography, good places to hide or camp, and a few of the threats to be on the lookout for.Vitranna will attempt to remember as much as she can about the local terrain and environment. Once back out in the jungle, she will watch and learn, before stepping on anyone's toes.
While you are perhaps a little slower on your feet than most of the hunters, you have no trouble keeping up with them. You are certainly not the slowest. Your time on the island, and your brief lesson with Liz, have gone a long way to prepare you. The group travels for about two hours before Liz calls for a stop. "We'll take a short rest here before splitting up. Try to stay within a mile for now. Anything bigger than a fox, you leave it alone until we can group back up. Meet back here in an hour." She takes the knife from her belt to mark a few of the trees nearby before sitting down on a fallen log to take a drink from her canteen. "You gonna be alright on your own, new girl? No shame in going with a buddy."
Apparently his age had not affected his hearing. Richard gives a slow smile. You have no idea how much. It occurs to him that there is probably a hidden library within the library. Knowledge secreted away to all but the most clever. Please tell me all you know.
"We need as much knowledge as possible. We knew there wouldn't be any easy answers but we need any information you can give us. We're not staying on this island forever."
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"You gonna be alright on your own, new girl? No shame in going with a buddy."
Nodding a bit, Vitranna decides she will take the cautious route for now.
"I'll stick with you for now if that's OK? I'm not afraid to go it alone, but I would be a fool to think this island doesn't always have something unsuspected to spew out at newcomers like myself!"
She will then sit to rest and take a drink from her pack of supplies.
Grelda folds her arms across her chest as she listens to the conversation with the old man, eager to hear what he has to say.
The mayor raises an eyebrow and smirks, pleasantly surprised. "Not an answer I get too often. Very well then, gather around." He begins to sort through the scrolls and documents on the table before picking one up and spreading it out on the table. This is another map of the island, though clearly much older. It shows numerous towns and landmarks, connected by a well-organized system of roads and rest stations. You can find your current location on the map, as well as the Palace, but most of it looks unfamiliar.
At the top of the map, written in Vudrani, is the name of the island - The Menagerie. Looking closer, you see numerous reasearch labs, including the one you're in now. Most of them match up with the large, red X's on the map you got from Kal.
Subhash takes a seat at the head of the table, turning the map to face you all. "Tell me, who here can read this? There are only about a dozen of us on the island who knew the language before we arrived, and even fewer who bothered to learn it afterwards. If you understand it, that will make my job much easier."
Nodding a bit, Vitranna decides she will take the cautious route for now.
"I'll stick with you for now if that's OK? I'm not afraid to go it alone, but I would be a fool to think this island doesn't always have something unsuspected to spew out at newcomers like myself!"
She will then sit to rest and take a drink from her pack of supplies.
"Fine by me. I never complain about having an extra set of eyes."
After resting for a few minutes, taking a drink, and double checking their gear, the hunters begin to move out. It doesn't seem like they require much instruction. This is routine for them. When ready, Lez will gesture for you to follow as she gets up. She moves quickly and quietly through the brush with bow in hand, nothing like the group march of the first leg of your journey. She glances back a couple of times just to make sure you're keeping up, but as long as you stay close she doesn't seem to worry too much.