The smart-looking woman's voice cuts through Joseph's apprehension. The tall man takes a quick look back at all the people reacting to the text, and returns next to Median, but still cautious.
"Uh, yeah. I can't seem to make out if this sword is time-appropriate or not. I normally know my ancient weapons well." A moment passes. "I'm Joe, by the way. Joseph Zaidel."
Not responding to the text, Jennifer drops her phone back into her pocket and walks over to Nurai and Doctor Solomon. But she only addresses Nurai.
"Hey, crack shot. Looks like this is going to be another thing. I found a guy who didn't get nearly defensive enough when I talked to him, so he's probably part of this, too. I think he does card tricks?"
Hi Joe, good to meet you. I'm Median. Median Maxwell.
As the conversation lags, Median pulls out her phone.
Hey. Some out of place items here. A cup and a sword that both seem out of place. Cup is definitely not the time period indicated. Also... detecting magic gives me a kind of uncertain result like ... not magic but something similar to magic. Not even sure how that is possible. Any ideas?
Nurai admired the work and photo. She wasn't sure how traditional preservatives would work with what's going on. Some can get a bit odd. She glanced over to the others, "Cabins are usually a lot more comfortable than any underground place I've been. As for Valda's other friends..."
As her phone vibrated, she pulled it from her leather jacket pocket. "Speak of the light - just a sec." as she quickly replied, dark ripples appearing around her feet that made her nod.
She turned back towards Doctor Solomon, as she put her phone away, "I'll try to limit that - about those other, not yet, haven't really spoken to them and I'm not sure..."
She started to look around for them, and paused when she caught sight of Jennifer's approach. A warm chuckle at the 'crack shot' remark, she considered the rest. "Someone to be mindful of, thanks for telling me. Ross, this is Jennifer. Jennifer, this is Ross - he, Doctor, and I are looking around together at the moment. Mostly seeing finely crafted replicas so far, have you seen anything of interest?"
It was probably a good thing that there wasn't really obvious issue, but that just means she'd likely need to start casting to trace that smell soon, which was awkward so many members of the general public around. She'd rather not scare the nice people who weren't yet in the know, and she'd yet to know if there were some not-so-nice ones here...
Trying to keep the conversation going, Joe asks, "So what do you do here in Fever, Median?"
When Median notices someone watching from the upper gallery, she holds up a finger to Joe as if to ask him to wait, and she listens to the surface thoughts of the curator.
At first, Joseph was confused by Median's finger gesture, but then he too looks up to see the curator. The tall man returns the glance with a causal salute, as if to say 'Everything's fine. Thank you.'
Salim's ears twitch and he moves to clean them out.
Did they mention magic? That might make things easier.
Salim sidles up to look at whatever they're having a glance at, taking in the...quite racy cup and weird sword.
"Ahem...interesting exhibits they have here, eh? That's not particularly child friendly, though."
Salim sidles up to look at whatever they're having a glance at, taking in the...quite racy cup and weird sword.
"Ahem...interesting exhibits they have here, eh? That's not particularly child friendly, though."
The tall man looks over to the ..'fancifully-dressed' man.
"Most of history isn't," answered the tall man, but not in a malicous way.
After a few moment the curator vanished from sight.
Jennifer glances at Ross at Nurai's introduction to him, but that's it.
"Mostly seeing finely crafted replicas so far, have you seen anything of interest?"
"I've already been through the museum weeks ago. There's nothing interesting, unless it's more recent. Do we know what's already been stolen? That might give a clue what they're after next."
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** spoiler omitted **
Ross gives a nod to Jennifer, "Good to meet you."
The cabins seem nice. They're not much more than what he was expecting from a town museum, but nice enough. He heads to the mine display, waiting for any urgings that Zaoth might pull him towards.
She speaks in Joe's mind
<Sorry about that, Joe. Was just trying to see what the curator was thinking. Earlier he seemed be waiting for something, with feelings of dread, and I wanted to follow up on that. Do you know how to get up there? ... Oh, and I'm a writer... and kind of a paranormal researcher.>
She adds the last while she is glancing around, trying to find a way up to the upper gallery.
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If the simultaneous chiming of several phones wasn't enough to completely unnerve Joseph, the act of telepathy did.
The tall man shouted out in fear, his arms shooting up from his sides as a reflex. "Jesus!" Joseph panted, holding his temple. "I guess you'd have to be!! Fu<k!"
Clutching his chest, willing his heart of slow down, Joseph tries to regain his composure. Feeling completely embarassed, Joe leans down to Median's ear level and whispers, "WARN a guy when you're gonna do that! The most experience I've had with disembodied voices came from disembodied spirits! Jesus!"
Salim sidles up to look at whatever they're having a glance at, taking in the...quite racy cup and weird sword.
"Ahem...interesting exhibits they have here, eh? That's not particularly child friendly, though."
The tall man looks over to the ..'fancifully-dressed' man.
"Most of history isn't," answered the tall man, but not in a malicous way.
"Yes, indeed, indeed. The world would be so much better if it were though, right?"
Finding that sufficient reasoning, he begins walking around, shuffling and juggling his cards. Occasionally, he tosses a business card to some interested looking person.
At the ping, Nurai took quick look. The shadows around her feet rippled for a moment before she repocketed the phone. She knew she would hear about it later, but now, she just turned back to the other.
After seeing Ross wander off towards the mine display, she says to the other two in a lower voice, "Valda. She says Medina is her friend, and that this looks like a curious Something Fun. Along with the weird smell and everything, I'm not sure what we should be looking for. Maybe we should look for something interesting missing from a display instead...
Whoops, sorry for scaring you. Gotta run.
Median heads for the nearest stairs.
Only slightly flabbergasted, Joseph follows the apparently-telepathic Median.
As Median moved towards the stairs, she found the curator coming down, a strange look on his face. Looking across the group, he said in a dry voice, "Apologies, but I heard screaming? Is there a problem here?" He looked around, trying to see why the yelling had happened. "No one is hurt, I trust?"
You can also feel another portal was opened nearby, but not in this room.
Responding in deadpan to the curator's dry tone, Median says
Oh, no apology necessary. I believe it was someone understandably excited by your excellent exhibits. I'm glad you came down. Can you tell us more about these items over here... the sword and the cup?
Josep can feel the blood rush to his face. He had to make a convincing lie.
"Uhh. That was me." The tall man leaned in and whispered, "I..I thought I saw a mouse. I was wrong." Joe stepped back and looked at the floor.
Salim's forehead wrinkles in consternation and he begins sweeping around, looking for the other portal.
Prerequisites: Divination sphere, caster level 1st.
When using Divination sphere talents or abilities, any divine or sense abilities normally blocked by dense substances, can now penetrate 15 feet of wood, 5 feet of stone, 6 inches of common metal, or a half inch of lead. You may take this advanced talent a second time increasing the thickness you can penetrate to 30 feet of wood, 10 feet of stone, 1 foot of common metal, or an inch of lead.
There were certainly some strange characters here today. Nurai seemed familiar with them. Solomon wondered if he had a message from Valda but he hadn't turned on his phone yet today. It could only offer distraction from the very focused work at hand.
As some of them seem to be struggling to behave themselves in public, Solomon approaches to smooth things over. "Ah, good morning." He says to the curator. Gesturing to the big man who screamed, he forces a chuckle. "The lion and the mouse, is it? I think our friend here is embarrassed that he got caught up in a suspenseful tale of old Fever. A slight bump from a passerby and he's quite lost his nerve I'm afraid. But no harm done I assure you." He punctuates the last part with a condescending glance towards the individuals in question.
"But while I have your ear, I was hoping to speak with you about recent events concerning the museum." The insinuation is as obvious as the tact. Hopefully the curator will understand. Perhaps it was even the curator that sent for aid.
The man looks around the group slowly, his head tilted a little. "A fable? I see. I'm not sure I know that that one? Interesting. I suppose I can speak on the sword, the cup and the recent events if you so wish. Which would you like me to talk about first? Each is quite a tale, and I would like to focus on one at a time?" He paused. "I'm certainly glad that it was not a real mouse. The exhibits would suffer so if such pest were able to get in. We have quite a lot of ways to defend against such things - rats, mice, insets of all kinds and the like?"
Median speaks in Nurai's mind
<At the Founding of Fever exhibit. The curator who was feeling dread before now doesn't seem to have a mental signature at all.>
Speaking to the curator, she says
Oh, don't mind me. Go ahead and answer the question about recent events.
Median retreats from the crowd of people around the curator, going to stand beside the display of the cup, and continuing to listen for anything unusual mentally in the area.
She also takes a close look at the curator, just in case something strange was going on... a clone, an imposter? Is this the same man she saw earlier? Anything different about him visually?
"The sword appears to be in pristine condition, almost out of place. Any ideas on the identity of the owner?" The tall man posed.
Nurai watched as Doctor Solomon moved over to talk to the staff member with a small crowd and took in what Median said with a nod.
His remarks about defences against 'the like' caught her attention. A Fever museum - or at least some of it's artefacts - likely had defensive qualities. As she listened in, she tried to catch his vibe.
...Was that a ghost? Blast it all, why did I tell my mother psychometry was a stupid parlor trick when I was younger, I could just grab the cup for a few seconds and be done with this.
Instead, Salim has to do this the HARD way.
He heads toward the nearest bathroom, and once sequestered inside that sanctum, creates a circle with his cards that opens a small hole in space inside the cup. Then, he simply looks down into it.
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The Curator glanced over to the sword almost instantly. "Your eye is quite good, sir. The sword is real, to a fashion? It is fact a replica of a real weapon, held by a man who claimed he was the King of Fever. Of course, Fever has never had a king. But he left the replica here. A decoy, he claimed."
Nurai chuckled softly at the remarks about the King of Fever as she remembered there were a few people she hadn't seen in a while. Maybe she'd arrange some other fun after this was done.
A good decoy could attract some interesting people and forces, and with all the stories - and realities - of the sword, it would make it even easier for anything to be claimed that way.
She shifted to have a better view of the sword. Assessing the magic qualities, if it had any, would wait though she'd keep her distance from anything like that. She had enough on her plate without that.
Median casts Detect Magic, but silent and stilled, so no one knows she is doing so. She is specifically trying to tell if the curator is magically disguised, but also will note anything else in the room that has a magical aura.
"'King of Fever', eh?" The big man continued. "One of those nutjobs who moved out west so they can be crazy in peace, but eventually move to California?"
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Jennifer's inter-personal skills aren't subtle, and they're often a one-time-use sort of thing. Seeing others are engaged or assessing potential targets, Jennifer scans the area looking for anyone or anything new acting suspicious.
Although she does keep an ear out for if the curator responds to Doctor Solomon's request to discuss what's previously been stolen.
Solomon passes his cane to his off hand momentarily to adjust his glasses. "I don't suppose he said anything about the original. I'm sure it's a fine blade, but fine enough to warrant a decoy? He must think it rather exceptional."
Solomon takes a moment to look back at the sword with his studied gaze to see if he might recognize anything about it. But soon his attention is drawn to the cup instead.
"And what of the cup? His royal goblet perhaps?"
The man looked thoughtful. "Well...the stories continued, but I can't say I know the truth? There are tales that someone takes up the mantle of King from time to time. I know the man, he did not leave? So there is that."
Looking over to Solomon, he added, "The Cup? It is a bit of a curiosity, that one. We know it's Greek, by the material and the style it's made. But it's not really in a typical style. Add to that the unusual repair, and we really don't know what to make of it. It was in the possession of one of the town's founders, that much we know. He called it, quite dramatically, the Cup of the Weeping Soul."
Mentally, to Nurai:
<Curator has something radiating strong magic tucked into his shirt.>
Salim does his business (no use wasting a perfectly good bathroom trip!), washes his hands, and then returns to the museum floor, seeking out the curator.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to know any interesting stories, would you? About the exhibits? You hear so many fanciful tales about Fever; are any of these objects the source of campfire tales and ghost stories to spook the young ones?"
"Quite a few," the curator said with a nod. "Are you with these other folk? They've requested I talk about some of the troubles we've been having here, or would you all prefer to hear the other stories instead?"
The troubles if you please.
The big man nods allow with Median, occasionally looking back at the sword from time to time.
Hearing about the troubles in the museum, Ross sidles over to the rest of the group. He had middling interest in it, but Zaoth was sure to want to know some more.
Nurai smiled at the message as her mind went to possibilities of what it could be and ways to retrieve it -- though there would likely be too many cameras and other methods of detection for her and her shadows favourite options for this.
"Certainly," the curator said in the same cool fashion he'd said everything else. "Over the last week a number of artifacts have been stolen from display and storage? Needless to say the security system here is quite advanced, but no motion was noted by the system and nothing has shown up on the cameras, which upload to an offsite location the staff here cannot edit? The doors, while admittedly plentiful, are also locked and secured with no record of being opened. Night security has not observed anything, and the objects are often small enough that there disappearance isn't noted until the next day. Not DNA or fingerprint evidence has been found. It's really rather baffling?"
The big guy dwells on the problem posed by the curator. "But you did notice them missing. Is there any subject matter that groups the missing items together? Gems? Personal affects from miners? Coins?"
Alright. I'll see if I can do this", Joe ponders. The tall man pictures the image of Median in his mind. After forcing himself not to project the mousy woman in Velma's clothes, Joe concentrates on projecting his thoughts to the telepath.
Possible conjuration: calling the items to you by magic?