Illthir pauses her tale to catch her breath, spun without any embellishments. Probably what made her fatigued. It was so tempting to squeeze a *little* fancy into the events - but meddling with wizards that way never ended well. Speaking of bad endings and mages; "May I ask; Imecktus Stroon and Alak Dool - what do you make of them? They were oh so hostile with eachother and, given the times we've run into them; it feels like only a question of time before we end up in the crossfire ..."
She offers her most disarming smile. "I'll continue our tale in a moment regardless; I just need a moment to drink some water."
"Imeckus Stroon? The man's a blowhard. Just because a man can throw a lot fire and lightning around does not make him a wizard." scoffs Eldiocesan. "'Dool?' doesn't sound familiar, though the name sounds Chelaxian."
Eldiocesan considers the name for a moment.
"If Stroon is his enemy you can rest assured he's no great wizard either. You can always tell the quality of a man by his enemies. Speaking of which, Szam Tass...."
The burly wolf rolls his eyes, spins around three times, and lays down on the marble floor with his back to the party.
"Huh." Illthir wasn't quite sure exactly how the hierarchy of wizardy went, but it was reassuring that neither Dool nor Stroon was anywhere near the top. If Stroon even was a wizard - though the exact flavour of arcane magic font didn't matter much if they were intent to polymorph you into a newt.
"I think Dool is new-ish in the area. Anyway; yes, Szam..." Illthir continues the tale.
"Did anyone see anything of the space beyond the mirror portal before the connection was broken?" asks the wizard in some agitation.
Illthir frowns and thinks back. "See? Hmm... It was cold, if that helps. Let me think."
Eldiocesan stares intensely at Illthir like a stern statue set outside of a courthouse or military academy.
For his part, Tamris, looks as if he is trying to will himself into disappear.
The wizard had ushered the party into a delightful ivy-covered courtyard somewhere inside Eldicesan's Magnificent Mansion. The walls around the garden were rung with three stories of balcony walkways all crowned with a clear blue, late-summer, afternoon sky (or at least that is what it looked like).
He invited them to tea, and seemed to take the group's order, but when he was done he just sat and began to listen to their tale. Now a small silver tray was floating leisurely toward them out of one of the house's arched entrances full of tea cups
"We were ... On edge; I don't think anyone wanted to look into the mirror. Everything else had been more or less cursed; Alia covered it up. 'A chill breeze' is the best I got sorry." Illthir ponders if she knows more about the mirror.
Illthir frowns into the (delightful) cup of tea. "Hmm. Maybe I have a little bit more; at the end when the lich stepped through. A strange stone chamber? And it looked like it spoke but no sound passed through. There were a blue dragon too. Brr. These are things I've tried to *not* think about..."
Serena takes a cup of tea and sips it politely. "I recall there being two of the lich," she says. "A duplicate of some sort."
"The one we slew turned to mmm snow?" Illthir adds hesitantly. She was *fairly* sure that was actually what had happened - but it didn't feel great to have such a trouble with an evil snow man.
"We were ... On edge; I don't think anyone wanted to look into the mirror. Everything else had been more or less cursed; Alia covered it up. 'A chill breeze' is the best I got sorry." Illthir ponders if she knows more about the mirror.
Illthir frowns into the (delightful) cup of tea. "Hmm. Maybe I have a little bit more; at the end when the lich stepped through. A strange stone chamber? And it looked like it spoke but no sound passed through. There were a blue dragon too. Brr. These are things I've tried to *not* think about..."
Eldiocesan questions the group relentlessly about the place on the other side of the looking glass, hunting for any distinguishing characteristics of the room or the surrounding area outside before finally giving up in exasperation.
Serena takes a cup of tea and sips it politely. "I recall there being two of the lich," she says. "A duplicate of some sort."
"A simulacrum. They are magical copies of a being created out of snow and loyal to their maker. Szam uses a number of body doubles to confuse those trying to track his movements. That mirror no doubt led to at his lair (or one of them at least), and now it is gone. If only I had been there...."
After a while, the wizard excuses himself, leaving Tamris and Rain to see to his magnificent mansion's guests.
"I've got to lie down."