Tanith eyes one of the flyers while waiting for Anlathi to answer the knocking.
Farrukh drop a rock in the pool.
Then he splashes in it.
Maybe even drinks it, depending on what happens from the previous stuff.
WHAT DOES IT DO
Farrukh's clothes gain the Damp condition.
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Eben faces the pool, dragon head held before him like a decapitated familiar, and says, in the sternest, most mystical tones he can manage:
"DO SOMETHING."
The pool shimmers and ripples. When the surface of the crystal-clean* water clears up, everyone sees an image being "reflected" on it: It now depicts an aerial view of the Hall of Deception. Blood from Cuetzpalli's and Gattel's deaths still stains the floor, along with quite a large number of rotting, half-naked doppelgangers.
*Aside from a rock and some mud from a dirty murderhobo's boots.
Eben blinks. "I wonder if I can change the focus... magic pool, show me the smithy called 'The Screaming Blade'!" As an aside to the others, he adds, "That's where the one leading the rest of the prisoners out said she worked, so, y'know, maybe we can check up on them from here."
As the party approaches the shrine of Obad-Hai, Carina starts wringing her hands. She feels a tightness in her heart that is all too familiar.
Great... now that Zyrxog is at large, he's got every reason to want us dead. I doubt he's going to stop there--we've just broken into his home, wrecked his plans, murdered his... children (as much as it pains me to think of them as such), and nearly killed him. And he knows all of our strengths & weaknesses...
She bites her lip. ...maybe that means he knows of Mom, as well...
"Um... Astraden?" She asks, trying in vain to mask her anxiety. "May I ask you a favour?"
Eben blinks. "I wonder if I can change the focus... magic pool, show me the smithy called 'The Screaming Blade'!" As an aside to the others, he adds, "That's where the one leading the rest of the prisoners out said she worked, so, y'know, maybe we can check up on them from here."
The pool goes dark.
The pool goes dark.
"Aw. I broke it." Eben says, regretfully. "Or maybe I need to have seen a place before I can make the pool show it... I really don't know how scrying works, honestly. Well, one more try. Um... show me the Veiled Corridor at the Emporium!"
"Sure."
The pool goes dark.
"Aw. I broke it." Eben says, regretfully. "Or maybe I need to have seen a place before I can make the pool show it... I really don't know how scrying works, honestly. Well, one more try. Um... show me the Veiled Corridor at the Emporium!"
He blinks at the poster. "So... why is the director of the arena trying to kill us? Ebon Triad?"
"Are they here too? I . . . seem to remember something like that." She rubs her temple. "Can't remember shit with the brain shit, though. It's gotta be worse for you, huh?"
The pool goes dark.
"Aw. I broke it." Eben says, regretfully. "Or maybe I need to have seen a place before I can make the pool show it... I really don't know how scrying works, honestly. Well, one more try. Um... show me the Veiled Corridor at the Emporium!"
The pool swirls before revealing the Veiled Corridor, exactly as Eben remembers it. He recognizes a pair of identical goblin sisters—the Toothy Twins, who were fairly new employees back when he worked there—escorting an elderly gentleman into one of the softly lit rooms.
The image is noiseless, though detailed.
"Whoa..."
"Hey, why don't we check up on some people? Try scrying Zalamandra's place. Or Carina's mom?"
"Well, this is Zal's place. If business is booming..." An unfortunate choice of words, considering the view at hand... "Then she's okay. I don't see her in the image, but she might be walking the floor. But let's see about Carina's mom. I don't know where she is, but maybe it can focus on a specific person? Show me Alessia Vierra!"
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Carina is standing on the tips of her toes, peering into the pool to see if it will show her how her mother is doing.
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Carina clears her throat. "I'm worried about Mom. With Zyrxog on the loose, I'm afraid he's going to target people close to us for a chance at revenge. Once we have a chance to rest, could you prepare a sending spell so that I can contact her and warn her?"
"Well, this is Zal's place. If business is booming..." An unfortunate choice of words, considering the view at hand... "Then she's okay. I don't see her in the image, but she might be walking the floor. But let's see about Carina's mom. I don't know where she is, but maybe it can focus on a specific person? Show me Alessia Vierra!"
The pool goes dark.
"I can try, but my memory of her is rather foggy. Give me fifteen minutes." Astraden sits in the grass and begins praying to Olidammara while the others talk to Anlathi about Strahd.
The pool going dark doesn't inspire much confidence in Carina.
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Carina nods at Astraden. "Thanks. Thank you so much." Her anxiety feels somewhat relieved...
"Hey, we found a super cursed knife. Do you know how we can destroy it?"
"Or maybe just point us in the direction of someone that can keep it from hurting anyone. We think it came from a coven of hags."
Anlathi looks at the knife, eyes wide. "A cursed blade? I...I wouldn't know about that sort of thing. You want a mage, or maybe a priest or craftsman. My one spell for destroying metal things wouldn't even touch something like that. I could keep it safe for you, I guess, but I'm just a humble druid. What makes you think it's cursed?"
"Apparently it's pretty famous as far as cursed objects go. Carina says it's called Strahd. She would know."
Carina steps forward and looks closely at the dagger, nodding at Farrukh. "I recognized the knife--it is, indeed, called Strahd. It's curse is that whoever wields it is doomed to meet a horrible fate at the worst possible time, be it through madness or misfortune."
"I would have taken it to the new Kord shrine but after the fire they're pretty strapped for resources."
"I'm telling you, that thing's famous enough that we should look into a museum. Someplace like that would probably have the resources to keep it warded."
"Aside from that, Anlathi... well, we found some unfortunate livestock penned up in the sewers. We couldn't really bring them out with us today, but I was planning on making a return trip. Could you use them around here? Pets or... for Spiny, maybe. There's a cow and two pigs. Um. One pig."
Rodrigo seems to be in some kind of shock due to the amount of wealth they've come into. His normally sarcastic and charming quips cease entirely, and he follows the others in silence. The gears of his brain are clearly turning overtime as he thinks of various schemes. This pays better than the thieves' guild ever did. With this kind of money I can do anything almost. What should I buy...?
Eben tilts his head to the side, recalling some of the ins and outs of the city. "Y'know, the temple of Wee Jas over in the Garden District actually does have a museum. Supposedly almost theft-proof, and it's Wee Jas's clergy- if they can't keep dark magic under wraps, nobody can. We should see if they'd be interested in the dagger. And... well, bonus points if they'd buy it..."
Tanith rolls his eyes. "Fine, let's see if they can help. Thanks anyway Anlathi."
"Think we could sell them on it being a privilege to possess such a storied magical weapon? 'Think of the prestige such a thing would bring your temple!'"
"Yeah, that was pretty much what I was thinking..." Eben admits.
"Oh. Honestly I thought you'd come up with something better like usual." Farrukh says, slightly disappointed.
"And maybe they'll be able to tell me something about this creepy thing..." he mutters, holding the Eben poppet at arm's length. "First my brain was on display in a jewel, and now I've got some hoodoo doll magic going on? Why does everyone keep having external access to me?"
Tanith shrugs. "You're a popular guy. It could be worse. You could be Farrukh", he adds after averting his gaze from Farrukh's unpleasant appearance.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? I mean sure, my face is a little, um...flat from that time Sahir whacked me with his shovel, but it's not THAT bad."
"...Is it?" he says, suddenly self conscious.