Sitting with Kaliban, Dustan takes the wrapped notes in hand. "Erhm, are you sure? I don't want to open someone else's mail..."
Up front Pete bid's final farewell to Ulriley, the man doing nothing more besides nodding to the party. "Alright, geddup' girl!" With a snap of his reigns the wagon lurches forward. Dustan nearly drops the notes from the force, but manages to keep hold of them.
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The man writing is considered un...hinged, so take what he says with a grain of salt. There may be unflattering references to the Weathersmiths in general, perhaps a shot at one or two specific personalities.
I'm offering an opportunity to learn, to know and perhaps help us understand. You seem a noble young man. With a good head and more importantly a true heart.
Life will present several opportunities to choose between doing what's expected of us... of you. Because of our current beliefs, affiliations and contracts. Or doing what's right. The half-orc pauses, as if reflecting on past events.
His visage seems resolute, more determined somehow and yet not fierce nor filled with anger. Many times that is the harder path, that may cost us much but allows us to be true to ourselves and perhaps if we are lucky, serve an even higher purpose.
Understand that we are not against the Weathersmiths, only for the well being... of the country, its people and living-land itself.
He looks to Dustan as if to ask, Do we have an understanding?
"We don't care about any colour of coin," Dawn added helpfully. "We wanna help people. I thin you wanna help people too. I know some people make money off the winds being gone, but too many people are starving. I like eating. It makes me sad that others can't."
Hilde frowns and looks askance at Dawn as she starts her comment, but, characteristically, holds her tongue.
Kaliban claps Hilde in the shoulder... There will be gold enough, battle-sister. They shall remember your name.
"I..." The wizard hesitates, sweat beading up on his forehead under the seriousness of Kaliban's tone. "With what you're saying, I feel amos tas if I should just... Pretend this dosn't exist. Yet..."
His fingers grace over the thread holding everything secure. He bites his lip as he absently pulls at it's knot. "I'm... Too curious, I think. For my own good perhaps..."
The string comes undone, and the contents inside become visible to all. Mot of it are papers, but there are a few oddities such as vials filled with dirt and mineral samples, as well as a few stray crystal gems. One of them even looks to be a diamond, yet each looks raw and fresh from the ground.
Dustan eyes the samples curiously for a few seconds before grasping the page on top. He winces once he reads the first line, "U-Uh, This is addressed to someone named 'Leo of Murky Beginnings'... All of this seems really personal, I really shouldn't be reading this..."
Knowledge/History (or Nobility, same score) on ole' Leo
Though Emma never thought much of it at the time when the hermit was talking about his distant friend, after some further thought she's confident she's never heard if the man in a historical or noble context.
Dawn siddles up and reads what she can from Dustan's waist. It sounded interesting
Dawn only sees a glimpse of the letter before Dustan lifts it up and out of her view "A-ah, I'm not even reading this, so, I don' think... Uhm, let me just set it aside and..."
it and a few other pages are deftly moved off to the side face down, the wizard shifting his position slightly so it didn't get blown away. With the more personal writings put down, the research notes are left plainly visible to both Dawn and Dustan. Much of it doesn't make much immediate sense to her, but more in the scientific theory sense as opposed to some code.
"A lot of this seems to be revolved around analyzing the weather patterns along the border, something about soil samples... Whoa, these records go back how far?" He mutters, eyes widened when he saw the oldest dates. "These cover merchant accounts from Alaskos- Er, we know it as being Osknian land now. They're from before the weather-fall. Look, the date here is for the fourth month of ninety-six, seventh age. That's a whole two years before it manifested..."
His words trail off, brow pinching together just before he starts shuffling through the first few pages. "No no, this.. This can't be right... Is it? Wait... Avis untether my soul, this can't-"
Dustan's mouth hangs agape as he reads over the hermit's musings one last time. "The... The weather, it started acting strangely years before the curse actually took place. That alone is... Mind-boggling, but... Look hear."
One of the sheets seems to have actually been torn from a larger scroll of parchment, and the writing seems to be neat and tightly packed cursive. "This is the account of a scribe who worked in Lorval's guild. It covers atmospheric disturbances taking place within Elinlitroi... Dated almost a century ago. My guild, they... They already knew the curse has been expanding for years."
"OK," Dawn said with a nod. "I mean, it makes sense. 'Why would it be getting bigger now all of a sudden?' would be much weirder than 'it's always been getting bigger now, but exponential growth means it's only really easy to see for people who aren't trained now it's getting faster', which I'm guessing is what is happening. It would explain a lot. But, Dustan, now I need you to make us a guess...what would your Guild get from no revealing it's growing?" Maybe they were hiding they were involved in the creation, or maybe they didn't want to cause panic? Maybe they knew a way to fix it, but the power and rewards of 'helping' people with there magic were so great that they refused to enact it.
"I-I-I..." He fumbles, shifting wildly through the papers as if tryign to find an answer in them. "I don't... I don't know! I'm just... I'm just someone who's there to make sure a few hairy cows can eat grass!"
"Sure," Dawn pressed, "But you know the people better than I do. I don't even know who they are. I don't think I have a reason to care? But you do, so you might know. Don't worry, we're not holding you to being right, but it's a better place for us to start than where I would, which would be they're greedy."
His faces scrunches up at the thought, "F-for money? But, so many people are... I-I need to think about this longer. Sorry."
You watch as Dustan becomes more lost in scanning through the research notes, seemingly trying to make sense of what their contents our telling him. It appears as though he'll be largely unresponsive for the rest of the trip's duration unless someone tries to more drastically get his attention.
"Hold on. The weather started acting weird BEFORE the curse took place? So does that mean the "curse" didn't cause this?"
Hilde shakes her head. "Only game in town looks good."
Trifoni nodded to Emma's question, "Maybe, it's possible that so much time has passed and so many people involved, that the original events have become muddled...
Dustan looks up from the papers briefly, "I... I'm not sure if that's what these are implying, m-more like... There were signs? I'm sorry, I'm... I'm still just an apprentice, I don't understand a lot of this...."
Nothing here means anything until we can gather more information. No accusations or slanders. We just need to keep an open mind.
I think there are enough of us, coming from different perspectives that in the end, we will not be taken by surprise.
Curious. Expanding... outward, fanning out. I am not a mathematician, but I have served with strategists. If I were told troops were seen at disparate locations at certain times and that they all left from the same camp at the same time.
Assuming a similar march cadence, one could conclude with relative certainty... where their singular point of origin was. Ughh, my head hurts... I'm tactics, not strategy.
Kaliban shakes his head vigorously. Could you do that based on these... accounts? Find where this weather disturbance started? He looks to Dustan, Alasayn and Emma Jane.
"My studies in geography, the natural world, and the arcane MIGHT be useful on such a venture. If your assumption is correct."
Geography:
Nature:
Arcane:
Hilde shrugs and shakes her head. Too much time guessing why people long dead did things nobody remembers, too little moving forward. I wonder what forward is right now?
Alasayn ponders what he knows, though it's of a more historical and magical bent than Emma's studies.
After having been given the notes precoiusly, Dustant seems oddly reluctant to let them be taken back. Curiosity gets him in the end however, and together the three spellcasters start pouring over the research notes all while traveling back to Wind's Edge.
According to the accounts, the earliest instances of strange phenomena took the form of strange, powerful wind storms that broke over the mountain ridges causing destabilization to the rockface. Numerous sightings of rock and mudslides, including a tragedy that destroyed a small village. At the same time, there are mariner reports from the Bay which spoke of being pulled to shore by powerful gusts.
Each instance is marked on a map by the trio including the dates they took place. At first the reports seem far too general, merely pointing the obvious that there were strange storms taking place within Ulnswhere before the curse struck proper. Then as if struck by inspiration, one of them recognized there was a pattern. With an inkpen they sketched lines extending from each dot, and soon it was clear.
"It... all started in the capital. Had to have. Everything connects to there... Nobody's been able to reach the island since the Windfall struck either, you know? It's just... what was it though?" Dustan ponders, rubbing his thumb against his chin.
"Then there's been happening since then. If what I'm reading here is right, there's been an incremental change to the environments just beyond the borders. It must've been so slow that it was only noticed by the people keeping close watch of the local meteorological conditions."
Alasyn and Emma think hard to themselves while reading over the accounts. The curse, the way it interacts with the borders, it's slow incremental spread, and then the sudden increase in recent months. What this reads to them, is the effects of a failing barrier.
"So, it is growing, like they said, right? Any idea how to pull this weed?"
"If it is growing, then perhaps we can find where it started. We might do well to speak to that hermit, though. He might know something more."
Dustan looks at the notes clutched in his hand, pulling a face at the thought. "Would I... Be able to make copies, first?"
Hilde shrugs.
Troops advance slowly because they cannot do so with speed, harried by a defending force... or because they are allowed, with the defending force gaining some benefit.
Sometimes the defending force fails and cannot contain the enemy, the barrier formed bursting, and the antagonist advances unchecked.
Kaliban is lost in thought.
Copies are probably too much to ask... you now have some knowledge and more questions. The truth is out there.
We will let you know what we find should you choose to not come with us.
"How long would it take you to copy them? Trifoni asked Dustan.
It's not a matter of time, Trifoni... it's a matter of respecting the author and sender, as well as the recipient.
"Perhaps, as a compromise, a couple hours to jot down some relevant portions might be in order, considering the weight of the issue at hand."
"But very soon, we must choose a path, and set out. For it seems now we have a potential starting point for it all, and sometimes it is best to start at the beginning."
"Aren't these secrets what we're here to end? Who do we serve by helping to keep them?"
If these are the truth or clues toward the truth... anyone interested in hiding such would realize that we are on to them.
They would move to cover their tracks, destroy evidence or kill those who knew... witnesses or ourselves, even Dustan. Complications we cannot afford, currently. The half-orc gives the young mage mage a glance, mean You're smart enough to realize that, Kid.
We need to know more. He pauses.
Whoever is behind this "curse" is either aligned with something bigger and more powerful than the Weathersmiths or from within the Waethersmiths themselves.
"I..." He pauses for a moment, looking down and considerig the notes for a long while. Biting his lip, he with seemingly great effort starts to repackage them as best he could manage. "Alright, I'll try to what I can on my own here. Maybe I'll... seek out the writer himself, and try to help him?"
"Works for me."
TIme passes and the wagon eventually returns back to Wind's Edge. Dustan accompanies your party for awhile, before saying he needed to make a full-report about what happened back at the ranch. You have a lingering promise in the back of your minds about payment for the work you did back there, and it might be a good idea to cash in on that reward before leaving town.
Dawn didn't especially care about being paid, after all, but a promise was a promise. Unless someone had a better idea or enough food to distract her she headed to collect what they were owed.
"So, go back and get paid, or move on and hope they will pay us after we end their money-making scheme?"
"Collecting payment seems like a fine idea. It seems we have two leads beyond that, the merfolk hermit or investigating the capital."
"Then let's collect. Hermit after, I guess."
If nothing else and the country and world goes to hell, at least we earned some coin.
With some semblance of agreement, the group make theri way through town and into the Weathermaster's Guild. The woman at the desk let's you know your 'employer' would be down within a few minutes. Indeed, after a short span you see the druidic Petyr making his way from the tower's depths, expression pinched.
"I sent you off to attend to a pest infestation, and now one of our acolytes is speaking of a dryad? What, exactly, happened over there?"
"Guess you could say it was a lovers' quarrel? The rancher and dryad have come to an agreement, and the attacks have stopped."
"There was a dryad and she was mad they were cutting down the forest because they wanted to water some cows, which seems really dumb given how hard it is to grow things, but she was kind of senile because her old boyfriend hit her tree with an axe and then we fixed her tree so she was mad but then she realised they were her descendants so we made them work together. Easy."
Petyr rubs the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. "Family dealings with the fey... I'll need to reexamine our contract with the ranch. Alright."
He turns around to the young woman at the desk, who hands him a wooden box about as long as his forearm, and a third as tall. "for dealing with the problem itself, as well as the... Circumstantial events surrounding it all, I've set aside five hundred for each of you."
You are a gentleman... Kaliban reaches to relieve the older man of his burden.
Why would a contact need to be amended... that's what it's called? Oh... were the Weathersmiths able to determine the curse's point of origin?
He sighs, "Fey often complicate matters, especially when it comes to the nature of our work. And that? I've told you before, that's not of your concern. Let us handle things."
Our concern is right here... Kaliban indicates the well earned reward.
I meant historically, where is it believed to have started? I'm nor from here so I'm not familiar with the lore.
"...Fine. Perhaps, if anything, I can save you the disappointment." Petyr finally concedes. "When this all started, it quickly became apparent that the phenomena was restricted to our borders. It's logical to think something within our realm was the cause, but especially when one takes into account Ulnswhere's shape. It's like a large bowl, mountains lining the edges as if keeping everything confined. And at the very center of out country? Starpoint Island. Our once capital, in theory left to rot once it became impossible to access."
There's a slight slump to his shoulders, "Truth be told, it's perhaps not... impossible to access. With our fine control over the local winds, even sailing the Gulf isn't an issue. Yet I've never heard of a single expedition that ever managed to return. It's only logical to assume that there's something there at fault. Going there would only get yourselves killed, I'd wager."