Not content to sit back while the others went ahead, Whisper abandoned the game to follow after Anaxian. She drew her rapier as she rushed to catch up, hoping to finally be able to stab something. It had been so long since she had been allowed to, and her frustrations were growing.
Still, she was small enough and quiet enough that most things wouldn't notice her until it was too late.
Zizi frowns, "Back in a minute or so," and portals herself outside, in the shadows across the street, where she hides and watches the outside of the building, looking for any activity, and for any lit windows. Unless she sees something, she'll pop back inside after a moment.
Fidget gathers up the money off the table. Waste not, want not. And who doesn't love shinies.
"Thank you, Anaxian... and Whisper, and Zizi," Silvertail says airly, giving them all a bright smile as they sneak off.
Watching the others leave, Trakis sits back and waits.
Thank you Fidgit for picking those up for me. I was about to do it myself but you beat me to it. That was a nice pot I won there huh?
Fidget sneers, but you've known him long enough to know that it's what his smile looks like. "Not bad." He holds up a shiny silver coin, turning it in the light; then with a flourish of his paw, it's gone. He slides the sack of coins across the table to the squirrel. "But it's only worth it if we live to spend it."
"Yes, we have rather more important things to worry about just now," Silvertail interjects haughtily, trying not to draw attention to the fact that she never took her ante off and put it in the pot. "For example, if it turns out we need to leave in an unexpected direction, how many of us could get out the window?"
Trakas does not seem to mind the loss of a silver coin.
But it's only worth it if we live to spend it.
Death will come for us all at some time. I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it comes calling.
He turns to look at Silvertail as she spoke up and then looks down at his coins.
"Yes, we have rather more important things to worry about just now," Silvertail interjects haughtily, trying not to draw attention to the fact that she never took her ante off and put it in the pot. "For example, if it turns out we need to leave in an unexpected direction, how many of us could get out the window?"
His voice is calm and respectful as he counts his coins.
Why don't you tell us...you seem to be the one calling the shots. We are going to need information, that is true. So how do you expect to get that information...? Send Eirish out to the taverns with his ridiculous ghettonesse talk. I bet Anaxian will be great at talking to people....We will, at some point need coin. Coin is how the world turns. This attack on the Circle was planned very well but somewhere, someone knows something....and to get that will take coin....He pauses for a few seconds as he put his money away.
We are nothing to whomever attacks the Circle. We are insignificant....we are...If the Circle was taken down this quickly and we were viewed as a threat...well we all would be dead right now. Mordenkainen needs to be warned. He is the only member left and to find him we will need information. To get information we will need coin. So coins are important.
"As you say, we will need coin... which means it doesn't matter much which one of us is carrying it, which was my point," Silvertail replies, with a dismissive flick of her eponymous tail. "And while I, too, doubt that whatever killed the circle would come for us, that doesn't mean they don't have servants who've been assigned to keep an eye out for our late masters' servants. You don't become that kind of powerful without servants and allies, which means we have to move carefully... and a squirrel, or a racoon, or a four-tailed fox with coin is sure to get tongues flapping. There will come a time for coin, as you say, but for the most part we'll be better off avoiding people when we can."
"We will be much better off getting information in the ways we always have." She gives the group a slight smile. "Being small, being unnoticed, listening and looking when others think there's no one around to watch them. Which is why three of us are sneaking out into the halls right now." She waves a couple of tails in the direction Anaxian and Whisper had gone.
"But there is something useful we could discuss now. If we just warn Mordenkainen with 'Oh, no, something killed our masters!' it's not going to help him very much. We need to pool all the information we can about what killed them. From the glimpse I got from his mind before he died, dear Bigby caught that their killer was speaking in a language so ancient even he didn't know it. His Hands seemed to be working on whatever it was until Nystul blasted him, after which the killer slipped his grasp and snapped his neck."
She shudders slightly in disgust. "From this, we can conclude that their killer cast an enchantment powerful enough to turn one of the Eight against the others... while being crushed by one of Bigby's Hands, which is worrisome enough. But it also had the strength to slip free of said Hand and then snap Bigby's neck, which suggests it wasn't anything humanoid."
She looks at the others. "Did any of you get anything more than that from your masters?"
"As you say, we will need coin... which means it doesn't matter much which one of us is carrying it, which was my point," Silvertail replies, with a dismissive flick of her eponymous tail. "And while I, too, doubt that whatever killed the circle would come for us, that doesn't mean they don't have servants who've been assigned to keep an eye out for our late masters' servants. You don't become that kind of powerful without servants and allies, which means we have to move carefully... and a squirrel, or a racoon, or a four-tailed fox with coin is sure to get tongues flapping. There will come a time for coin, as you say, but for the most part we'll be better off avoiding people when we can." She...
Trakas looks on with a neural bored tone to his features.
Your point....is....noted....Tongues flap if you ask the wrong questions or use the wrong language. If you know who to talk to and when, you can learn a lot. You can also learn alot by knowing who to watch and listen in on...but that will take coin.
"We will be much better off getting information in the ways we always have." She gives the group a slight smile. "Being small, being unnoticed, listening and looking when others think there's no one around to watch them. Which is why three of us are sneaking out into the halls right now." She waves a couple of tails in the direction Anaxian and Whisper had gone.She...
ummmm no. We will not be going down that passage. You can if you want but I will stay here until the others return. No offense but you are trying to open a chest before you have disarmed the traps. You just sent half our strength to find information and now you want the rest of us to go wondering off. We may find them we may not. The smart move would be to wait till they return with the information you sent them to find. Then WE can make an informed decision as to our next move.
"But there is something useful we could discuss now. If we just warn Mordenkainen with 'Oh, no, something killed our masters!' it's not going to help him very much. We need to pool all the information we can about what killed them. From the glimpse I got from his mind before he died, dear Bigby caught that their killer was speaking in a language so ancient even he didn't know it. His Hands seemed to be working on whatever it was until Nystul blasted him, after which the killer slipped his grasp and snapped his neck."She...
So let me see if I got this correct....The circle was killed and from what I can gather here...at least some of our masters asks us to "Warn Mordenkainen". Now you do not want to do that because you think it will not help him. Some of his friends, colleagues, and an apprentice where just killed and you feel the need to not tell him? That may be your choice but not mine. If I have to go at it alone I will but Mordenkainen will be warned. I will not let my masters last command go unfulfilled.
She shudders slightly in disgust. "From this, we can conclude that their killer cast an enchantment powerful enough to turn one of the Eight against the others... while being crushed by one of Bigby's Hands, which is worrisome enough. But it also had the strength to slip free of said Hand and then snap Bigby's neck, which suggests it wasn't anything humanoid."
Trakas calms somewhat and his features soften.
We all lost family today and this conversation should be one that ALL are apart of. We should wait for the others to return.
Silvertail sighs. "Apparently I need to be very clear speaking with you. First, no, I am not planning on leaving this room until the others get back. In fact, I didn't send three of us away. I suggested that one of us go take a quick look, and even volunteered myself. Anaxian pointed out he'd be better at it, so he went instead... and then Whisper and Zizi decided they wanted to go, too. So yes, we're in agreement on waiting for them to get back, as you would have found if you'd just asked what I meant instead of jumping straight to the accusations."
"Second, I do plan on warning Mordenkainen. What I am saying is that we need to report something more than 'our masters are dead and said to warn you'. Between the eight of us, we might be able to put together some idea of just what he needs to prepare himself to face, which will be a lot more help to him."
"Which leads me to my third point--your point on waiting for the others before trying to put this picture together is good." She glances down the hallway, her annoyed expression falling to something that almost looked like honest sorrow mingled with frustration. "I just hate waiting and wanted to do something useful, but saying it all once is bad enough without having to repeat it a second time when they get back."
"Drawmij was delayed before casting a summoning that failed. He was jacked by a lightning bolt and fireball simultaneously...me thinks there's more than one perp doin this!"
Fidget holds up his paws. "Ease up, guys. For the moment, we need to assume that we're on the same side. This is a traumatic moment, tensions are high. Let's try not to take our anxiety out on each other."
He nods his head as Eirish speaks. "I think it's a fair to think multiple "perps" are in on this, though we cannot yet rule out a single individual. Even a powerful one with a single ally."
Let me know when and if you need me.
Trakas shakes his head and walks away.
Anaxian, Whisper, and Zizi inspect the halls of the basement as well as the area around the outside of the University. All is quite. No signs of combat, no corpses, nothing.
Wherever the 8 where when they died, it was not near the University that much is certain.
The three "scouts" return...
Silvertail perks up as the scouts return. "Well? Any signs of trouble?" she asks, clearly tense.
Zizi portals back to the window sill. When asked about the survey outside,"Nothing. Nothing at all. I'm not certain our masters were even here, which begs the question of where were they? We should probably inform the guild master that we need to find Mordenkainen. Anything important enough for us contact him will probably be seen as important enough to do right now without need for detailed explanations."
Whisper shook her head as she came to land in front of Silvertail.
"As Zizi said, nothing. Not a soul" Whisper scratched her head for a second as she thought.
"What happens to us now?" she asked, looking at Silvertail, and then slowly looking at each of the others in turn.
Fidget returns Whisper's gaze with a grin. "Now, we go find Jalucian. Hopefully he can point us to Mordenkainen. And we stick together until we can get things sorted."
Anaxian took mental stock of the tower, considering ways out.
"What happens to us now depends on what we decide to do," Silvertail replies to Whisper. "Looking for Jalucian does sound like a logical step, but we'll have to be careful--we don't want word getting around about what happened, so we should do our best to play it off as not being a big deal--which is going to be hard, with it being the middle of the night."
She thinks for a moment. "We should do our best not to be seen all in one big group. We'll need stealthy scouts in front to warn us if we're about to run into someone, and then one of us to do the talking while the rest of us stay out of sight. There shouldn't be anyone up at this hour of the night... but none of this should have happened, so we'd best be careful."
"That said, I think we've already agreed on who our stealthiest scouts are, and I think we can agree that I should do the talking. Now, anything else before we move?" She looks over the assembled familiars.
"If we treat it as no big deal, then we likely won't be helped, after all who are we to disturb Morden over trivial matters? What we should do, is suggest the great importance but also the importance of secrecy. Without knowledge of what exactly the problem is, but that it is kmportant enough for Morden, then it does several favorable things. First, it improves our chances of getting the help we need. Second, it alerts the people we ask for help from to there being a problem in an abstract sense. Third, our masters being missing will likely be taken as them being off somewhere to deal with it or at least part of it. The last thing is something we can hint at as well, as explanation why our masters don't simply contact Morden themselves. Oh, and the second point means they'll be guard for trouble even if theh don't what kind yet."
"Hmmm, I suppose that's a good idea," Silvertail admits, with a slight wave of one of her tails. "Now let's move out. Anaxian, since you did such an excellent job of scouting before, would you go in front and be our forward scout to make certain we don't run into anyone who shouldn't be up at this hour?"
"Why don't you let me go first? I'm better close up anyway. I'll send a light back once it's clear." It became clear that it was less of a question than a statement as Whisper headed out, not waiting for a response. She flew out the doorway and began scouting farther down the hallway.
"I concur." Anaxian said. He moved with Whisper, a short distance behind her.
Silvertail narrows her eyes just slightly as Whisper charges ahead, but says nothing, instead following a good distance behind as they head out and up.
Fidget follows closely behind Silvertail, keeping his senses alert.
Zizi takes up the rear guard position, keeping an eye out to the rear and above (a most commonly forgotten direction by many a dead adventurer).
The Familiars are able to, without impediments, make their way to the very door of Jalucian. The door itself has easily discernable symbols engraved even from a distance they are easy to spot.
"Don't read the door unless you want to take a nap," Silvertail comments. "Now then, if one of you has the skill to get rid of that symbol we can see about waking Jalucian up."
As Zizi falls in to take rear guard and keep an eye on that which the group has passed by, she sees trakas stand up and walk after the group. He passes Zizi with a smile and keeps walking.
Evening...or good morning...
As the group approaches the door and the fox makes her statement...
or...look at the rune, touch the rune, pass over the rune, pass through a portal bearing the rune it is possible to get too close to the rune.......It is highly unlikely that any of us are going to have the skills needed to bypass the guild master's wards...and if we do...he just might be a tad angry and I tend to think it is wise to avoid angry wizards. Try....knocking on the door....calling out for him. If you set the symbol off...you will sleep but be alive and he will know it has been set off, will come to investigate. I doubt he has a symbol of sleep to prevent people from knocking on his door....but hey I am just a squirrel.....what do I know about such things.
"One of us triggers it-it's lights out for all of us within 60'. Why don't we all back up and let Lil Red raise a ruckus at da do'. Sleep effects aint go nuttin on a drake!"
Silvertail rolls her eyes. "A simple "no, I can't" would have sufficed, Trakas," she retorts, acid dripping from her tone. "As Eirish said, a symbol like this would knock out anyone within 60 feet, but what he didn't say is that it would put whoever was in that radius out for up to three hours--in which case we almost might as well wait until morning. Not to mention that the symbol itself would remain active for hours, putting anyone else to sleep who got close. If he's even bothered to put an alarm on it to know when it gets set off, he'd probably just open the door, see us asleep in front of it, and throw us in a cage until morning. We can't risk tripping the symbol."
She looks over at Eirish. "Thank you for giving an actually useful suggestion, Eirish. You can command it from a distance, correct? If we can get far enough away--or just around a corner--you could have your construct knock on the door until it gets a response, then lead Jalucian over to me. Then hopefully I can impress upon him just how important this is, and if we're lucky he'll know where Mordenkainen is."
Trakas rolls his eye and lets his displeasure be heard.
Oh for the love of the f@$*ing damn gods. Can you for once in your life get off your f+&*ing high horse and stop being so g+~ d%@n opinionated. We are all tired of your b#&$+~$# and delicate sense of worth. For once....think that just maybe...just maybe...someone else knows more about something than you do. Stop being so f+&~ing condescending towards everyone else because you are no better than anyone else. I may not be the sharpest knife but at least I know who I am and what I can and can not do nor do I think I am better than everyone else around me. I may take shots at Eirish but at least I can show him the respect he has earned for the things he can do. So when you are done being an asshat...Someone just go and knock on the f*~%ing door!
Seeing that everyone looks at him for his outburst...
F*&~ it...if I fall asleep...at least I do not have to listen to your f~!!ing complaining. I suggest you stay back 60 feet then.
Trakas moves and knocks on the door.
Trakas rolls his eyes and turns away from the fox. He walks away from the group.
What fun would that be.....so when you guys figure out what you are going to do...and do it....come and get me. I am going to go back to the card room and take a nap. It is clear that none of my knowledge or skills is needed nor wanted here.....besides I am sure Foxy here can handle everything on her own.
"Keep back." Anaxian said in their minds.
He moved toward the door.
"Cool! Ya got it undah control.
Eirish rides Lil red back into the card room and starts mixing an extract of Recharge Innate Magic, he will leave his other slot open in case something comes up later on he can help with.
Silvertail gives Anaxian an inquiring look. "Very well," she says, getting just far enough away to be unaffected if the symbol went off.
Falling back to avoid whatever effects may be caused by the trap, Whisper flew back through the hallway. She landed just inside the door frame of the previous room, her head poking out to see what would happen when Anaxian tried to trigger the door.
The spell triggered. Anaxian was unaffected. He waved the rest of the group forward.
Anaxian flapped up and tested the door to see if it was locked.
"Why can't wizards just use a 'do not disturb' sign like everyone else?" Fidget grumbles at the necessity of wasting time.
That is what this is. Anaxian replied.
Silvertail sighs, then shouts over to Anaxian, "Just knock. Or make noise some other way, if you prefer. He's not going to be happy no matter how we wake him."
Zizi stays just outside the area so she can portal past the doors when they open if she decides to .
The door is indeed locked and Anaxian is forced to knock a few times before the door is opened by a sleepy, and grumpy, Jalucian in a long robe.
"Who the devil..." He sees Anaxian and a host of other familiars at the end of the hall and he becomes instantly more alert and curious.
"Ah. Anaxian yes? This is most unusual, where are your Masters?" With a gesture, he turns off his Ward. "Come closer, I've deactivated my spell. I must say, you're all quite clever. Well, no sense in speaking in the hall, enter, enter".
His room is quite spacious, filled with a large bed and bookshelves all around the walls except for two full wardrobes. The shelves are in perfect order though some spaces are simple slots for scrolls. The shades are drawn over all windows. His own familiar, a Raven, sits on a perch across the room quite alert. It gazes at all of you, the smaller of you find the gaze a bit unsettling.
Silvertail trots over to the door, glad that Jalucian is being somewhat reasonable about being woken up in the middle of the night.
"I wish we knew where our masters were," she says as she enters the room. "Unfortunately, they've left us with a task without much direction on how to accomplish it, and even less information on where they are. I think you know them well enough to realize just how urgent of a matter that means this is."
"It is, however, also a matter which should not be heard by prying ears..." She gives the still-open door a significant glance.
"Our task is twofold. First, to warn you: Someone has attacked some of our masters, and they're still at large. Without knowing their goals, we must assume any associates of the Circle might now be targeted. Second: We must deliver a message to Mordenkainen. I don't know why it has to be us--I would guess because we're not watched like our masters are. Unfortunately they were in too much of a hurry to tell us how to contact him, which is the second reason we came to you. Of everyone here, you're the most likely to know how we can reach Mordenkainen. Can you help us?"