Raven's Wild Ride

Game Master Monkeygod

As you near the farm, Emmeline stops on the same hilltop you met her on earlier. "Um. I'm not sure it's a good idea for you two come down to the farm with me. I'm already kinda an outcast and I show up with a raven and a strange cat, I'm gonna be made fun of even more." She says, biting her lip with worry.

Brennus nods. "That makes sense. Arshee and I should probably keep watch for suspicious characters, anyway. We'll meet back up when you're free next, okay?"

He was a little reluctant to let her (and the book) out of his sight, but... it was probably for the best, it was true. And not just because she might get made fun of--it was never a good idea to attract a lot of attention.

Not long after Emme leaves, Brennus looks over at Arshee and says, "I think I'll go take a look around those ruins again. There must be something we're missing..."

With that he flew back to the ruins and started studying the damaged enchantments on the altar and statue. He might be able to learn something from them... and if he could figure out how to fix them, they'd be useful.

Arshee nods "I'm gonna go wander into the farm. A stray cat is a lot less suspicious than one walking in by Emme's side. I'll let you know if anything weird happens." With that, she heads down the hill, and towards the farmstead.

Arriving back at the ruins, you fly over to the statue and begin examining it thoroughly. As you do so, you notice that there's a small space on the forehead, that looks a gemstone or something similar would fit within. While you aren't sure it would restore the statue's magic, you're certain it's essential to it's function.

Curious, Brennus starts looking through the ruins for anything that might fit.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19

If there's time he'll start taking 20--he wants to thoroughly investigate the ruins anyway, he might as well start now.

It takes you quite awhile to scour the ruins, and you find nothing of interest around the fountain. It's obvious that area has been picked clean by looters, and wildlife.

However, once back within the shrine, upon the altar, you spot something you definitely missed before: On the side facing the back wall, is a very small (several inches) engraving of a raven.

Which makes no sense, as that's not an animal associated with Sarenrae at all, or Erastil. Nor really any deity you can think of, for that matter.

Indeed his species was not, which was one sore spot between Brennus and pretty much all of the gods... that was strange indeed...

Carefully he examines the engraving and the area around it, looking for anything else out-of-place or unusual, any signs of more secret compartments, or even any signs that the raven is 'pointing' at something else. He includes detect magic in his investigation.

There's nothing else to note in the shrine, so you make your way over to the house where Emme hid the book. On the wall, near where the hiding spot, you once again see a raven engraving.

Brennus narrows his eyes. Strange... Were they here originally... or were they showing up somehow as a reaction to them looking around...?

He checks for magic auras again, then studies the area with this raven engraving (and the engraving itself) very carefully. If he finds nothing he'll search through the whole area for more engravings.

You don't recall seeing the ravens before, but you were rather preoccupied, so it's entirely possible you just missed them.

There's no magic auras at all in the house, and you see no other engravings throughout the rest of the ruins.

However, you note one last odd thing as you're circling the ruins. You see a set of tracks that were definitely not there before. You aren't sure what they are, but you know they aren't humanoid. They appear to be some sort of animal.

Well that was definitely odd...

Warily, doing his best to remain unseeen, Brennus tries to follow the tracks.

Stealth if needed: 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (7) + 22 = 29
Perception if needed: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

You're able to successfully follow the tracks for quite some distance away from the ruins when they suddenly disappear. As you're among some trees, it is possible whatever it is leaped up into them, or perhaps some magic was involved.

Brennus checks the area for lingering auras, as well as checking up in the trees for claw-marks.

There's no lingering aura, which could mean no magic was used, or it could just be that the spell was cast too long ago. You also see no claw marks on the trees, but perhaps whatever you're following just leapt up among them and took off.

Hmmmmm...

Hmmmmmmmmmm...

Or... it *could* mean that someone teleported. He couldn't rule any of these possibilities out, but whatever the case, it seemed like someone had popped in and marked positions where he'd been. At least, he couldn't imagine why else they'd be putting raven markings on things.

But why?

It definitely didn't sit well with him, but with no more leads at present, Brennus returns to the ruins and continues his search for the gem for the statue with the other buildings he hadn't searched yet.

You spend the next hour or so scouring the ruins, but you find nothing that could fit the space on the statue, nor do you find any other raven symbols. It's entirely possible that somebody or something absconded with the gem or whatever is missing.

As you wrap up your search and fly back, Arshee meets you half way. "Emme is done with her chores for the day, but needs to be back for dinner around sundown. That gives us around three hours."

"Plenty of time to learn something," Brennus replies. "No need for her to come all the way back out to the ruins--let's just find a quiet spot not too far from her home for this. Less time wasted walking."

He pauses while he circles down closer to Arshee. Once he's fairly close he quietly adds, "I think someone was watching us out there at the ruins. There were tracks and some symbols there that weren't there before. So keep your eyes open. Now let's go meet up with Emme."

Arshee purrs in contemplation "Any idea who or what it might have been? And before we go back to Emme, can you take me the tracks, I would like to examine them myself, if you don't mind."

Brennus shakes his head, then narrows his eyes. "I wonder if our 'friend' who did all this mucking about with your bond has a familiar? That might fit... it definitely looked animal-like."

He leads Arshee back to the tracks and poins them out. "They disappear a ways into the woods. My guess is a teleport, though it could've been flight, I suppose."

The silvanshee concentrates for several moments, then suddenly exclaims "Oh my! Whatever was here was strongly evil aligned. That's not good."

"Like we weren't suspicious enough already..." Brennus mutters. "Maybe somebody's summoning devils or demons to watch us?"

He ruffles his feathers slightly. "Can you tell anything more? If not, let me show you what they did in the ruins."

"No, nothing else, other than it was a strong evil presence."

You show her the two raven engravings, but she says neither radiate evil "It would seem some other being left those markings."

"Well that's interesting..." Brennus comments, suspiciously. Just how many beings were mixed up in all this? The more pieces of this puzzle he found, the more holes he discovered were in it because it kept getting bigger.

"Have anything else to look at around here?" he asks Arshee. "Otherwise I think we'd better get back to Emmeline."

The pair fly back to Emme's farm, and Arshee goes on ahead. She brings the budding sorceress to a clearing in the woods nearby, where Professor Brennus awaits.

Brennus greets Emme, then quickly launches into a test of her knowledge of the basics of magic--does she know what the different schools of magic are? Does she know how to recognize when someone is casting a spell? And so forth.

Emme knows nothing about the schools of magic, but she can tell when somebody is casting a spell. She can also see magic auras, read magic formula(she says there's some in the book), and can make balls of different colored light.

"Oh, really? Show me! ...please," Brennus exclaims when Emme mentions magical formula in the book.

Brennus goes over some of the book with Emme, commenting on things that he thinks would be educational for her.

She excitedly flips open the book, and begins showing you the requested sections. Most of the spells are very basic, but there's a few that are beginner level, and a couple that are a little more powerful than that. Including one that you've been looking for, that of dispelling.

"Stop!" Brennus exclaims as she turns to the dispel spell. "This is what I need! Keep it here, keep it here..."

Brennus trails off as he starts intently studying the spell of dispelling.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32
Spellcraft: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
Know (Arcana): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (13) + 15 = 28
Know (Arcana): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18
Know (Arcana): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (3) + 15 = 18

As you pour over the spell, bending your will to it's secrets, you slowly feel the knowledge of the spell form in your mind. It takes you a full hour, but when it's over, it is locked within for good.

You now know Dispel Magic

Brennus had hoped to be able to cast the spell from the book... so when he feels the spell begin to take hold within him, his spirits (and ambitions) soar. When it finally clicks, he crows in triumph and immediately begins trying to undo the wards on the book.

Dispel: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Bren casts his spell, and he can visibly see Thanks to his magical senses the protective ward slide off the book. It's secrets will soon be his!!

Brennus spreads his wings wide and caws triumphantly.

"I broke the ward!" he proclaims. "Now you won't have to sit there and turn pages for me, Emmeline!"

He looks up at the sky. "Speaking of which, how much more time do you have before you have to go back home? This is a very special book. I can't just read a spell from a normal spellbook and learn it."

...Or could he? It's not like he'd ever tried, and he was a rather unusual specimen... still, he was 95% certain that was the case.

He gave no visible sign of his thoughts. "I'll keep studying it while you're busy. Now that I don't have to keep bothering you to turn pages, maybe I can find some clues about what's really going on."

Or just learn more powerful magic... he silently thinks to himself.

Emme ruffles your feathers in a sign of obvious affection "That's wonderful Brennus! I should probably head back soon. You can keep the tome." She says after checking the position of the sun.

With a happy cry, Brennus seizes the tome with his magic and takes off, the book trailing after him. He finds a nice, secluded spot nearby, and begins to read ravenously, searching through for the most useful-sounding spells and studying them until they, too, became a part of him. He continued long into the night, until his eyes burned so much with fatigue that he could no longer read, and his mind was so full of new magic that it felt almost bloated.

When he awoke in the morning, however, his mind was again ravenous, as if feasting the night before had only enlarged his mental appetite. His body, however, informed him that it, too, had needs, so he grudgingly went to gather food and water (enough for a few days, if he could). He took the book with him in his haversack, however, grateful for its enchantment.

Once that was done, he decided he should check in with Arshee and Emme before burying himself in the book for the rest of the day.

Bren finds Arshee roaming the farm's central 'courtyard', doing her best to appear as a normal cat. She winks as Bren flies overhead, but doesn't say anything.

Meanwhile, his prized pupil is actually chopping wood behind the main house. Her muscles glisten in the morning sun, as she splits log after log. She smiles warmly at her teacher.

Brennus comes in and lands near Emme, after making sure no one is watching.

"I'm going to keep studying the book today. The sooner I figure it out, the better off we'll all be," he says, quietly. "If you need me, I found a nice tree over there with a good spot for setting the book down." He indicates the direction with his wing.

"Just keep an eye out for anything strange, okay?" He pauses, then chuckles. "Other than Arshee and me, of course."

Emme nods in agreement of his plan. "Once I'm done with chopping wood, I have the rest of the day free. Maybe after lunch you can take a break from studying to teach me some more?" She asks eagerly.

Brennus hesitates only a moment. He hates the idea of taking a break from his studying... but Emme is so eager, and of course keeping on her good side will be good for favors later. "Yes, that will work. If I forget, come find me."

And with that, he takes off, flies over to his little spot he'd picked out, and gets the book back out. Before long he's lost to the world around him, focused on the puzzle in front of him.

You're able to get in several hours of quiet studying, and while you don't unlock any further knowledge, you're able to learn a few things.

First, the book still contains a fair amount spells within it's pages. It will take a fair amount of time to add them all to your personal knowledge, however.

Secondly, there appears to be several words of power as well. While you're unsure what they mean, you're confident they will be incredibly useful to you, eventually.

Finally, you've found some hints to a powerful ritual locked within the tomes unreadable pages, though there is a noticeable lack of clues as to what it might be.

While further spells would always be useful (and the fact that he could learn them from a book still amazing), it was the greater mysteries of the book that most drew Brennus's interest. Words of power and a great ritual? He had to have them. All of them.

Still, it was past noon now that he bothered to look up... he should keep his promise. Grudgingly he closes the book and puts it back in his little magic pack, then flies off in search of Emmeline.

You find her just finishing up lunch, her family going their separate ways for whatever afternoon tasks they had ahead of them. She waves at you, following you to the clearing, once she makes sure nobody is watching her.

You spend the rest of the afternoon continuing going over the basics of arcane theory and by the end of the day, Emme learns how to conjure an eagle.

"Oh my goodness, that was the best thing ever!! I can't believe I summoned something!!"

"Good! You're catching on quickly!" Brennus crows, genuinely happy for her... and happy for himself. Clearly he's a good teacher, and Emme has the potential to be a powerful ally.

"Now, I think I'll go back to the book for a while. You'll probably need to rest your magic for a bit after that, but make sure to go over what I told you about the different schools of magic. Remember, it's one thing to do magic, and another to understand what you're doing."

She sits down on a log, clearly tired. "I will, I promise. Whew, that took a lot out of me. Magic seems to come pretty easily to you."

Brennus hides his impatience. He doesn't want to talk, he wants to go fly off and study!

"Well, after being a familiar twice and being around all kinds of magic, I suppose it's just become natural for me," he says. "Now, I'll see you tomorrow. Review what we went over tonight!"

With that he takes off and to go back to his secluded spot to continue studying the book.

As you start to fly off, Emme calls out plaintively "Wait, please don't go! You and Arshee are my only friends, and she's off patrolling the farm for mice, and more dangerous foes."

Brennus pauses in his flight, circling back towards Emme. "You don't have any other friends?" he asks, clearly a bit surprised. "Well, I suppose I can stay a bit longer."

"No, I told you, they all abandoned me when my ex boyfriend outed me as a 'witch'." She replies sadly.

"Well then, they weren't really your friends," Brennus replies.

He flies over and perches on the log next to Emme. "At least, if you asked me, friends wouldn't do that kind of thing."

Emme suddenly scoops you up in a hug "You are the sweetest!! Thank you!"

After a few moments, she puts you down. "So, you used to be a familiar, what was that like?"

Brennus screeches in surprise as Emmeline picks him up. He almost starts trying to cast a spell before he realizes she's hugging him.

After she sets him down, Brennus ruffles his feathers and caws, "Warn me the next time you're going to do that!"

Then he considers her question. "Much better than being a non-magical bird," he answers, unhelpfully, then adds, "I don't really remember much of my first time. The second time... well, there was a lot of fighting evil, exploring dangerous ruins and caves, and the like. Quite exciting, as long as we all managed to stay alive."