The second choice is less exciting but is likely the wisest. We need some more information Elsa concedes.
"I agree, Zyrel. I do not mind spending some time among the books."
“I definitely don’t want to rush things and unwittingly side with the wrong people, or even be swayed to a side at all when we might just find out there’s a third entity who’s manipulating the masses but don’t think the people are worth a damn.”
She slows her drawl a bit. “Sorry… all my friends o’er the past year or so were Milani nuns, so… topic of interest. Make no mistake though. Milani is against corruption, which ain’t the same as automatically siding with a rebellion.
“Ain’t about to preach, so I can leave it at that.”
The Spellscar Desert is a strange place, but the denizens of Tan Serik are a civilized bunch and a halfling that smells a bit like ozone demanding to know where a library is proves to be just a bit too strange for the townsfolk.
Lanatir will try to rely on his knowledge from his many years of wandering.
However, Tan Serik is quite unfamiliar to him.
Pumpkin (who lacks any skills that are of much help conducting research) suggests the party “mosey on into town and just… listen.
“Can always drink and listen at the same time.”
Zyrel looks thoughtful. "Drinking makes sense. Perhaps we can convince someone to give us the information using a pretext? I probably have enough basic training to fake being a wizard. It makes sense a wizard would be interested in libraries, yes? That said, it might be better for Pumpkin or Elsa to be the one who does the actual talking. Humans seem to find me abrasive for some reason - I suspect it is the fact that their culture is stifled by their tragically short lives resulting in chronic under-education."
Pumpkin says, “My old man always said ‘never buIIshit a buIIshitter.’ I can ease a gentleman or a lady into honest conversation…”
If there is a drink involved, I'm in. Let's meet the town Elsa looks around for a drinking establishment.
Ah, where would a wizard drink?
The party wanders for a few minutes before finding themselves a bar.
The sign that hangs in front is an interesting one, devoid of any conventional imagery but with brightly colored geometric patterns, in which the letters of the bar's name are intertwined, the name in question being Iyad-Vatta's Watering Hole. Lively music can be heard within the bar.
Heading inside, the patrons are about as odd and widely varied as one would expect of the Spellscar League. Several stand out as particularly exceptional, one who's body is fairly normal but who's head is almost completely covered in eyes, another with both feathers and chitinous plates covering her body. The mutants of the League come in all shapes and sizes, and the bar seems to be popular with with most of said shapes and sizes.
The bartender is a tall, willowy four-armed person of fully indeterminate gender. They smile as the party comes in, revealing a mouth filled with glistening fangs.
That's what I like to see, a friendly smile. Elsa says as she approaches the bar.
The bartender leans down to Elsa and says in a soft voice, "Well hello. Don't often get folk from outside the League in here. I am Iyad-Vatta, as the sign would suggest. What can I get for you? We just got in some excellent mezcal made from deep Spellscar cacti."
Sounds interesting. I'll try it, then. Pumpkin, come and try this stuff.
She looks around.
Nice place. We are just in, as caravan guards. Likely be going in a few days, so we are interested in looking around. Is anything interesting to see here?
Pumpkin moseys into the mutant bar. “This town is new to me,” she says as she takes in the fanged smile of the four-armed bar tender. “Alright, Elsa… I’m game.”
"Caravan guards? Hmm, well, the palace of the Margrave is a stunning sight, and not too hard to get in to unless you behave abhorrently. The royal archives are there as well, if you're in to that sort of thing. On the other side of the city we've got the dueling yards if you're more interested in the martial side of things."
Elsa smiles.
Well I'm more interested in the magical side of things But I would like to see those things as well.
She wiggles her fingers and a little electricity runs over the knuckles, Then sips her drink.
Zyrel, looking a little tentative, enters with the others. He puts a short stack of gold on the bar "I also would like some mezcal please."
The bartender pours three glasses of the stuff. It’s almost multicolored, looking something like an oil slick on wet ground. The taste is as unique as the appearance, smoky like you’d expect but with a hint of cinnamon and fruit to it.
It’s also very, very strong.
Lanatir will not partake, but will stand ready for any trouble. He doesn't have his sword out, but he is alert.
Zyrel knocks back the shot of mezcal. A moment later his face screws up as he convulsively swallows the mouthful of drink. His right ear twitches a few times. He nods, and in a somewhat raw voice he congratulates the bartender. "'S best Mezcal I've had. Bit of a sipping drink?"
The bartender chuckles softly, ”It is indeed a sipping drink. I thought of mentioning that, but a bit of harmless fun upon newcomers is a Spellscar tradition. So, you are clearly new to the city, and I do so enjoy welcoming people to Tan Serik. It is a wonderful place, safe and thriving. The walls keep up safe from our wilder kin in the wastelands, and the royal mages bring us great prosperity.”
Good to hear Elsa smiles
I think we will only be here a few days, maybe a week. I would like to look around.
The party leaves the tavern, heading towards the grand structure that is the Margrave’s palace.
The streets are clean and busy, neatly-arrayed merchant stalls in several large plazas hawk all manner of odd wares, well suited to their equally odd clientele. Magically infused goods are commonplace in said markets. They pass especially close to one stall, and a short, three-armed fellow with eyes that glow softly hawks pastries filled with cactus fruit jelly and a red beverage that allegedly tastes like passion fruit and desire.
The palace is even more magnificent up close. Clearly designed for luxury rather than defense, it’s white sandstone walls are inscribed with stylized scenes of Spellscar nomad life as it transitioned into the settled Spellscar League and countless fragments of arcane formulas linking the frescos together.
The grand doors to the palace stand open, though a dozen hulking guards maintain a vigil along the sweeping staircase up to the doorway.
Heading inside, the party finds themselves in a large atrium surrounded by seating areas where well dressed citizens talk softly. A reception desk where a scaly-skinned woman that looks almost elven sits patiently, her voice melodious in a lizardy kind of way, ”Good afternoon! I am Sssualia, sssecretary of his excellency Takayam the Sssecond. We do not often receive visitors from outssside the League, it is a pleasure! How can I help you today?“
Lanatir takes a look at the arcane formulae as the party passes.
Most likely, the fragments do not add up to anything significant, but he is still curious if they give any clues about the Spellscar League's areas of interest.
As social graces are not his strength he hangs back and waits for one of the others to speak to Sssualia.
Greetings Sir. It is a pleasure to meet you. We are seeking an expert in wild magic to address a problem caused by it in a factory in the town we are from. This incident caused injury, so we seek knowledge to prevent it from happening again. Can you help us?
P.S. just hangs back and pays attention to Sualia’s response to Elsa.
The formulae on the walls are mostly meaningless, showing mostly the value that magic has to the city.
Sualia smiles widely, ”Ah, here on the buisssnesss of magic I sssee? If it is sssimply knowledge you are after, all are free to peruse the royal archives. If you wish for more, you mussst ssschedule an audience with the Margrave himssself.”
She seems to be doing her best to inform the party of what options are available to them, though mostly out of the duties of her post rather than any tremendous bent towards altruism.
Of course. Would that audience be organised with you? Elsa trying to be polite.
Zyrel looks to Lanatir at the mention of the archives, then resumes his 'casual' pose near Ms Finch.
The secretary nods, ”Indeed it isss. The sssoonest the Margrave can sssee you isss tomorrow afternoon. Will that sssuffice for your needs?”
That would agreeable. Until then we could look at the archives?
”You are more than welcome to.”
It’s a short walk through the large foyer to the entrance to the archives.
Narrow corridors wind between towering bookshelves overflowing with texts of all forms, from tomes bound in strange leathers to complex riffle scrolls which seem like they’d take as much effort to unspool as to decipher and jumbles of loose papers held together by lengths of twine.
Each shelf is labeled with its contents, the closest ones being ”History of the Princpality: Founding - First Interregnum,“ with ”Arcane Botany and Zoology” to it’s left and ”Principles of League Diplomacy” to it’s right.
With all of her rose tattoos (and being named after a vegetable), Pumpkin decides Arcane Botany might be a sight worth seeing.
Lanatir looks at the huge and disorderly array of books, and despairs.
"Very well.
Let us make a system to catalogue which texts might be of interest, which ones we have read, and which ones have no relevance to our inquiry. This pile, this pile, and that pile. You understand?
If you find texts that seem like they might be relevant but are beyond your understanding - " " - bring them to me or Zyrel. Our primary area of inquiry, again, is wild magic events, repair of their effects, and notable practitioners of this art."
He begins neatly organizing the texts. Some he skims through and puts aside. Others he reads through in more detail. Others he discards immediately.
His main job will be to apply his vast range of Knowledge to assess what others find, trying to quickly determine if it is on topic or not.
Should anything come up that he cannot read, he will use his Comprehend Languages SLA, which will last for 50 minutes.
"Really Lantir? Reading through all this could take months!" Zyrel complains "We'll need to organise somewhere to stay long term. And we cannot simply leave piles of books! Let's send someone to buy parchment, and we can write down the books as we evaluate them."
He looks at the books and sighs again "Well, I suppose a few more weeks without sleep won't hurt. So; we're looking for something on the principles of animation, very recent - the last twenty years or so. Likely something produced locally rather than an import from elsewhere? Hmm. I'll start by getting some paper - unless someone else can - and give the shelves a quick scan to see if I can deduce their shelving system."
With Lanatir's organization system in place and P.S. Finch's keen eyes, the party is able to quickly locate a shelf of interest, labelled "Principles of Magical Fabrication."
Zyrel takes a crack at deciphering the contents, but they prove to be quite a bit out of his wheelhouse.
"Hmm, let me take a look at those books, Zyrel."
Perhaps I can help. Elsa's knowledge is self-taught but useful as an assistant
Lanatir and Elsa working together proves to be a formidable academic duo. Arcane fabrication turns out to be almost the exact subject the party has been searching for a specialist on. Many of the principles involved are too complex for the average person to pick up the knowledge of, but with the fiercest complexities of the subject firmly understood by a few members of the party, it should be much easier to find someone who can help to stabilize the workings of the factory.