Too bad there's no Musket of The Heavens or whatever Felix yawns.
Tatsuo nods. "Interesting, so they even have different forms. Makes sense. What do you know of the other two weapons? Are they also currently wielded by someone or are they lost in some unknown location?"
Finally growing tired of the charade, Delkaneth downs his flagon and leaves the corner table to join the others. He manages to hear the end of the dwarf's tale and is about to ask a question when Tatsuo speaks up with the very inquiry the young man was about to make.
The elder dwarf answers the question, I only know of the earth weapon. It was wielded by on of my ancestors in the second Crusade. the weapon is buried with his body in one of our sacred burial chambers.
As for the rest, I have no idea I only learned that they exist and that is it. apparently much of what was recorded about them has been destroyed.
the barmaid makes her rounds filling everyone's mug. If you all are going to answer that flyer, he takes visitors after sundown. only about an hour or so away. don't think there will be much competition though.
Yeah, that's our next move I think. Man might be willing to pay extra too if there's nobody else taking him up on his offer Felix says, playing up their image as just another group of adventurers.
Tatsuo nods. "Your ancestor must have been a great warrior to be able to wield such a weapon. Though I must admit, I'm surprised it would be buried with him rather than passed down to his descendants that they might also honor your family name with its use."
I wonder if this destruction of information is merely an artifact of the passage of time or whether it was the product of malicious planning.
Musing, "A longsword for fire and a great hammer for earth? Seems thematic. I can see perhaps a trident for water. The air weapon, though... I'm not sure what that might be. Whips and nets come to mind, but they don't strike me as choices for a weapon of legend. Thank you for sharing such fascinating information!"
Miyaro shrugs, not concerned in the least that she mis-identified the weapon. "It has a long blade and it's too heavy for me to wield. A sword's a sword for me, I'm afraid."
She smiles and nods agreeably, "If you say so. Maybe someday I will know the difference." She bows to the dwarves before they part ways. "Thank you so much for your time and information. I wish you safe travels. Perhaps when we next meet I shall afford more of those pretty stones!"
Later in the evening the group heads to the tower.
The tower is an Architect's nightmare. At least 50 feet tall and about 10 feet on each side, the square tower leans like a drunken man that has had his body snapped in several key points.
Cracks in the mortar and the huge wooden supports make the whole place look like it could topple over at any moment. Even the tiled roof has holes in it, though the tall lightening rod atop it seems to be perfectly perpendicular to the ground.
The group approaches the tower and knocks. At first there is no answer, but from what the dwarves have said, you know someone is here.
After a few more moments a man answers the door He looks rather sleepy and he is silent for a second or two as he looks you all over, Can I help you? If you need any divining I am not prepared right now.
Felix goes into a cycle of sensing alignment on the elf. We're here about the ad. You're looking for adventureres? Well we're adventurers
Tatsuo lets Felix speak as he is far to busy eying the tower suspiciously. Up close, it looked even worse than it had from the boat, and that was saying quite a bit. Veoden, being a spellcaster, had hopefully enchanted it not to fall and kill everybody. But he was also a specialist in divination magic, so perhaps he was relying on that to let him know when to get the hell outta dodge.
He suddenly wished he had paid more attention to the Ooyama clan's classes on construction. Sure, it had been mostly focused on raising structures on a battlefield but surely some of the knowledge would have come in handy right about now. But how could he have been expected to know the dolts' classes might actually be useful? Everyone knew they were a few boulders short of a mountain.
Hoping to reassure himself that they weren't all about to be crushed to death, Tatsuo takes advantage of the man's distraction with Felix to quickly cast Detect Magic.
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"My name is connor Kent, I am skilled in the ways of swordsmanship and healing and I have been trained in tactics specifically designed to combat demons and the forces of evil, tatsuo here is a Mage of some talent who focuses on conjuration and lightning, Felix is a crack shot with his guns. Miyaro Is new to the group but she does have magical powers of a divine bent to them" he says this pointing to each of them in turn
Veoden, at first, seems confused, then suddenly it dawns on him what you are talking about.
oh yes, the flyer, please come in. he escorts you inside. the whole first floor is a sitting room with a spiral staircase leading up to the upper levels.
there is no magic detected.
As Conner makes his introductions Veoden greets each of you.
Veoden takes a seat. now on to business. An acquaintance of mine is missing, he was expected here to visit but never showed up. I have a letter from him asking about a map to a meteor crash site.
I was going to see about obtaining it for him but he never returned my messages.
He pulls out a small pouch and opens it. pulling out a tiny piece of metal.
I believe this is what he or whoever he is working with is after.
He tosses it to Conner to examine.
the metal is extremely light and hard.
Miyaro cranes her neck to see what Conner's received from the mage.
This guy got a name? When did you hear from him? Felix asks
Quietly, "When were you expecting him to arrive?"
Vedon takes a seat. My friend is an alchemist by the name Arowain. He said he needed a map from old walker Dairoo's grave, here in town. he never arrived. its been over a week now.
regarding the metal. yes it would make good armor, but Arowain said he found another use. a way to make a very powerful magic item from it. I had hoped that in exchange for the map he would share the process to make this magic item.
allowing this to sink in for a bit, Veoden continues. Here is my proposal, I believe he already found a copy of the map and went to the location of the fallen star. I propose you obtain the map from Dairoo's grave, the original I might add, and use it to find the fallen star, and ultimately Arowain.
Tatsuo's eye visibly twitches as he realizes there is very little keeping him and his companions from death by collapse. He's only half listening to Veoden's explanation, but he does at least manage to catch that they're going to yet another grave. Which probably meant even more undead with their cold, crawly skin. Not his favorite thing to mess with, but it was at least something he could fight. Which falling rocks were not.
He resists the urge to immediately jump on the offer, if only to leave as soon as possible. The name 'Dairoo' sounded familiar. He felt like he had heard Del mention it before, though he hadn't realized the man was dead. Or, given that they were going to his grave, he hoped he was dead. I suppose it's too much to ask to find another one of these legendary rune weapons in the tomb.
Shaking his thoughts from his head, Tatsuo forces himself to focus on the here and now. "Do you have any idea what kind of magical item Arowain thought he could make?"
Miyaro extends a hand to take the metal when others' interest in it has waned. She studies it while the wizard shares his suggestions.
So you said you'd trade your friend a map that you don't even have? Felix raises his eyebrows and smirks as he makes the comment.
In response to Tat, He said it was a very powerful item, that could be used for good or for evil, but He was unsure about the possibility of side effects on the wielder. He imagined it would be some sort of coin. Veoden obviously did not have much of the details and was probably as much in the dark as you are.
Miya examines the sample, she deduces that anything crafted of this metal would have the properties of both Adamantine and Mithral combined, and would be very easy to enchant. possibly even enhancing any enchantment added to whatever was crafted from it. you cannot deduce a real value as it is never before been seen so you don't have a comparison to work with.
Pouring himself another cup of tea, Veoden addresses Felix's question, actually yes I did, I was hoping that he would have been will to exhume the map. as I have been banned from entering the graveyard unless escorted by town officials. and Exhuming a body is not something that the town is willing to readily allow.
he takes a few sips of tea, So are you willing to retrieve the map knowing that this just may be a slight infraction of the law?
Huh, maybe we can discuss it outside and come back and let you know? Felix says and raises his eyebrows at the others. I mean, we aree talking about breaking the law here.
Tatsuo had been all ready to go along until their host mentioned that it would be illegal. Really, kind of a dumb thing to point out to people if he really wants their help. Especially since he seems to be lacking in volunteers. Although I suppose his lack of savvy is to our benefit.
He nods in response to Felix's proposition. For privacy as much as for safety.
Veoden looks a little worried that you may not accept his proposal. I never actually said it was illegal...well maybe I did, anyway, If I can secure permission to exhume the body, would that help in your decision?
That wouldn't hurt. I guess Felix says not looking to bothered either way. But we do have to discuss this ourselves. We're a bit of a democracy here.
Miya nods, "Permission to proceed would be helpful. We've only just gotten to town - I would hate to be banished in less than 48 hours." There's an obvious twinkle in her eyes as she says this, like she's sharing an inside joke.
"We would still need to discuss, but you think you could get such permission? Have you had run-ins with the law over this in the past?"
I have, but we have reached an agreement. As long as what I propose id presented and approved I can proceed. however, I am not to go un-escorted.
This is where you come in, You see, I will request Dairoo to be exhumed to verify the existence or non-existence of the rumored curse upon the grave. The Sheriff is too superstitious to watch over me and thus will not allow entry. but If I convince him that I will not enter but instead adventuring types under my employ, he may well allow the task to proceed.
She smiles, "That seems like a clever solution." And one even our most respectful team members might find acceptable.
"And the curse? How should we prepare, should we accept your suggestion?"
Tatsuo seems more at ease, at least with the task at hand, with Veoden's new proposition. His explanation also explained why no one had gone after this map earlier. He wasn't really sure about "curses" (though he had heard some graves of truly powerful spellcasters had them), but it was pretty likely there would be at least traps. Possibly undead if the area had been corrupted. He really hoped the curse part was a rumor though; he doubted any of them were strong enough yet to deal with a real curse.
Anything you know about the curse and what else we'll find in the graveyard would be grand. Plus you got any tricks or equipment we could use to to deal with that stuff?
Veoden takes a look at Conner's maps. These do look like what I have read about. but I have never actually seen the maps.
turning to everyone, about the curse, all I know is that for several generations the Dairoo family suffered a curse where the eldest son of each generation would die on the same date in their 25th year of some sort of withering disease. Many believe that touching the corpse of him will transfer the curse to them. Of course I doubt such a thing is possible. such curses are restricted to a single family due to some sort of infraction that they committed.
Well I think we're agreed. How long will it take for you to get permission Veoden? Don't know about the rest of you but I'd rather go into a graveyard in the full light of the sun and it's been a long day anyway.
Miyaro, reminded of the hour, tries to daintily hides a yawn and nods her agreement.