Gaius smiles. "I don't think we need to log that action, but I can just stop by to let Iker know."
The knight looks almost serious for a moment. "Hopefully the ooze problem hasn't gotten out of control again since I was last there."
Lyra's excitement falters suddenly "What... ooze problem?"
"Verdurous oozes," Gaius clarifies. "The entire place had been infested by them when I visited with Iker. Animate masses of protoplasm that split unharmed when cut. They're quite susceptible to being smashed, however." He shrugs. "I think I was a good exterminator, but it's good to be aware."
The Witness, surprised by Maximus’s vote, nods in agreement with the decision.
”Very well then.”
He nods again at Gaius’s mention of Iker and oozes. ”For now I’m content to peruse the volume you’ve lent me, Gaius, and work towards completing my spell research. Please do let the Institute know if you’re planning any trips, per our arrangement with them. If we find Morgan - or at least his simulacrum - to be a reliable and trustworthy employer whose goals align with our own, we may want to consider full membership.“
Gaius claps his hand down on Maixmus' shoulder twice. "Sure they will, buddy." He shrugs once more. Just as they would know Gaius' alter-ego, Arthur Baltar. "I don't suppose Lyra could ask Seth and force either a tie or a supermajority?" Gaius shakes his head. "No, I accept it. But you all may have to help me keep old Fitzherbert here from mouthing off."
Narrowing his eyes, "Yeah, well, I can keep quiet with the best of them, 'Artie'," he says, grinning snarkily. "You'll see."
True to his word, Maximus falls so quiet that within moments he has drifted off to sleep on the cottage's comfy sofa. Not wishing to disturb him, the others quietly make their way to their beds (or mirror) and retire. The night passes peacefully and in the morning they set to work preparing for their trip to Cardriss.
Gaius' daily preparations are relatively limited. He renews his longstrider spell (excellent for keeping him faster than almost anyone he met), but takes some time to attune his silver mace instead of his prized longsword. If they did encounter oozes, he would rather not give them cause to split.
He takes some time to practice swinging the mace around again. It had a different balance altogether than his blade, with the weight distributed such that it felt less like an extension of his arm and more like an addition. It was as though his hand was a complex joint to guide the heavy head. The sword was, in his estimation, a more elegant weapon, effective across its length. But the mace was good at what it was designed to do. And oozes, for their part, were easy to hit.
Breakfast would be very welcome after the morning's workout.
Without Gavin making an effort to attract additional diners, breakfast is a smaller affair. The field agents are joined only by Rowan (the large human swordsman who usually eats with them) and his partner Dagny who explains that she has given up on her old breakfast routine because she didn't want Rowan to keep eating two huge breakfasts every morning, and Gavin did put out a nicer spread.
Gaius doesn't want to discuss their plans in front of Rowan and Dagny--especially after yesterday's agreement to limit discussion, so he chooses a different topic to bring up.
"I found something else out last week while I was telling stories. It turns out that Archbanker Lombardi is a great fan of traditional Vitolian epic poems. So if we're trying to get any deals moving forward with the bank, it might be helpful to work on collecting them. I know a few, of course--being a native--but I'll run out eventually." He pauses and looks at the others. "I'm not sure if I know where on Cardriss you all are from, actually, nor if it's ever come up. Do you have any recollections of home?"
Dagney looks up with interest at Gaius’ question but doesn’t offer an answer right away, presuming it to be targeted at the knight’s traveling companions. When their mouths prove too full of food to reply, she offers, “I was born in Northreach, but my family moved to Korryn when I was a child and I don’t remember much more than the snow covered pines decorated with candles for the midwinter vigil.”
She looks at the large man next to her, chomping away on a huge piece of ham, and smiles warmly. “And Rowan is from the foothills on the west side of the Ignis Mountains. I assume Maximus is also from Vinland, but what about the rest of you?”
She looks at the large man next to her, chomping away on a huge piece of ham, and smiles warmly. “And Rowan is from the foothills on the west side of the Ignis Mountains. I assume Maximus is also from Vinland, but what about the rest of you?”
Grinning, "Good call! I'm impressed. How could you tell?" he asks, tearing into another giant slice of ham. "Probably my rugged good looks," he says through a partial mouthful of food, winking. "You know us Vinlanders. Ain't that right, Gaius?" He winks again, grinning wryly.
"Seth and I are from Eastwatch." Lyra says as she combines a variety of foods together into a towering monstrosity that she flattens as best as possible between two rolls. "We view of our land was quite limited though." she lifts the sloppy thing and takes a big bite, considers and shurgs, deeming it not a success but not a failure either.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Gaius sweeps a curly lock from his brow, twisting it back into a coifed position. "Rugged and elegant at the same time," he says with a grin. He watches Lyra's culinary efforts with curiosity, his eyes widening as she tries to consume a tower of food whole. "Practical Tower research, Pigeon?" he asks with a chuckle.
"Vinland's best features are the rolling hills, greenery as far as the eye could see on clear days, and cicadas buzzing from the tree lines. I grew up in a time of relative peace, so the fields were not ablaze with war. The saddest poems in our history were wistful people recollecting what had been and was no longer. It takes entirely too long for the land to recover from warfare."
The Witness follows the breakfast conversation, but remains silent on the topic of his own origin.
Having finished his meal, and listened with interest to the others, Gavin offers his humble origins.
"My family hails from Caenbrig, in Westfall. Both parents were servants of the Dawnflower. We traveled Westfall extensively when I was young. I studied in the temple at Verstadt as a young man. In service there, I made some poor decisions and found myself with time to ponder a different path of service. No longer a young man, I took to travel. Making my focus the aid of others and the restoration of small, neglected shrines, I trekked the north of Cardriss." He says, sipping tea and waiting for the memories of long ago to return.
"Years upon years I spent in my journey, never finding a lack of those in need. As my beard grew longer, I would spend a bit more time in each place, until one day I found myself in a small village outside Lorea in Eastwatch, tending a quaint cottage and small garden." He says, lost in thought for a moment as the mental pictures come flooding back.
"That is where our Arcane Ally found me, or I found him, or we found each other?" Gavin chuckles a bit thinking back to their first meeting, "Perhaps the only time I've been able to surprise him."
"So much travel, over so many years, I'm not sure how much I resemble others from Findon, in manor or appearance."
"I don't mean to ramble on, only to highlight that presuppositions about folk based on origins can be inaccurate, and sometimes costly."
"Any presupposition about anything can be inaccurate," Dagny answers the priest with a shrug.
"I presuppose that Gavin's breakfast is gonna be delicious every morning," Rowan offers, "and it always is." He raises a sausage in salute and then crams fully half of it into his mouth as a single bite.
The fair-haired barkeep chuckles as she shakes her head. "Wisdom, from the man I love, folks," she jokes.
Gaius grins at the exchange between the lovers. "Vinland's knightly training involved a decent amount of philosophy. As I recall, we were discussing--I believe it's called--epistemology. What do we know, what does it mean to "know", and how do we know what we know? Truth, knowledge, certainty, and all that. One of my fellow knights-in-training had a near nervous breakdown where he convinced himself that it was impossible to know anything with absolute certainty: that the sun might not rise the next day even though it had risen every day for as long as he had observed it. Technically he's right. But our instructor called him...solipsistic, I think it was?" Gais nods his head at Rowan. "But you're the opposite. Repeated observations have given you confidence." With a shrug, Gaius finishes his thought. "With respect to the limits, that's probably a healthier, saner way to live."
As breakfast ends, Gaius stretches and looks excited. "I don't know about you all, but I'm excited for the day! Rowan, Dagny, it was a pleasure as always. See you again tomorrow, mmm?"
"I believe that's our cue," Dagny informs Rowan with a gentle nudge of her elbow into his ribs.
The large man jams his hand into the remaining half of a round loaf of bread and quickly stuffs a couple slices of bacon and a few eggs into the resulting space. "Thank you! Have a good day," he offers with a grin as they stand and then he begins munching on his makeshift sandwich as they walk away towards the Temple.
As their guests disappear into the local watering hole, Gavin rises from the table and casts wind walk on himself and his friends. As the table and what little food remains dissipate, Gaius jumps to his feet and enthusiastically leads the group up through the elven guardhouse and out onto the stairs. There Gavin calls upon his spiritual attunement to unite them all in a telepathic bond.
As they transform into mist, Gaius silently informs the Witness that they are headed up 23 floors. The wizard counts as they speed around the monotonous ascending spiral and gives the signal eighteen and a half minutes later when they arrive. After everyone has returned to their physical forms, Gaius attempts to take advantage of his recently deepened connection with the Tower to dimension door everyone inside.
After an all too familiar poof, the five find themselves standing in total darkness. A simple light spell reveals a hallway that looks to be in the style of northern Vinland, save that the columns and arches seem to be carved into solid stone (as if tunneled into or through a mountain). They pass through several such archways as they traverse the meandering hall and then come upon a series of everburning torches which Gaius recognizes as belonging to the structure outside of the Tower.
It having become apparent that they have passed through the portal into Cardriss, the Witness pauses to cast statue on himself.
Lyra is not nearly as eager as she normally is as they move to the new battle. Distrust still making her tense. Once they get through the wall, she goes through the motions of casting her enhancements (). She pulls her sword, swings it in a few practice motions, then annouces "Ready?"
"Let there be light," Gaius says as he pulls out his sword and illuminates it. With practiced movements and a bit of chanting, he casts his usual plethora of spells for days when he did not anticipate an abundance of combat, holding the battle magic for the eventuality of such.
Resources Remaining
Bard Spells
Lv5: 1/1
Lv4: 3/4* - 1 in reserve (secure shelter)
Lv3: 5/5
Lv2: 6/6
Lv1: 4/6
Magus Spells
Lv5: 1/1
Lv4: 4/4
Lv3: 5/5
Lv2: 6/6
Lv1: 6/6
Domain SLAs: locate object, fly, teleport, find the path
He looks over at the others, especially the Pigeon who seems particularly nervous, casting a multitude of spells, and nods. "Of course. I'll show the way." He seems almost puppy-like in his excitement, taking Maximus by the shoulder and pointing out different Vitolian features here near the entrance.
”By all means, lead on.” The Witness casts darkvision on himself, just in case, and studies the architecture as they proceed.
The band of field agents move together down the ten foot wide, well built central hallway in which they arrived, following Gaius' lead. The stone the passageway has been carved into appears to be the same type that makes up the majority of the Ironspine Mountains, lending further credence to the architectural style's suggestion that they may be in or near Vinland.
The layout of the structure is simpler than it felt in Gaius' first visit, which snaked from chamber to chamber clearing out dangerous oozes. The central hall runs straight for around 80 feet with archways on both sides every twenty or so feet and a larger archway at the end. Each of the six side arches open into a mostly empty, twenty foot square room, though several offer just enough evidence to guess their former purpose: a stone counter with a basin and a place for a small fire in the former kitchen, the rotting remains of a couple old wooden barrels in what was the store room, and a few remaining shelves holding moldy and mossy pulp that must have once been books in the library. In a number of these chambers, small pools of greenish muck, blossoming with weird vegetable-like growths and sap-seeping boils have begun to grow. Gaius recognizes them as much smaller versions of the verdurous oozes he had helped to destroy on his previous visit, though these ones don't seem to be dangerous yet.
The larger archway at the end of the hall opens into a twenty foot by forty foot chamber that looks like it might have once been an arcane workshop of some kind, although any materials of any value have long since been removed. The far (20 foot wide) wall is covered with a fresco of a map of Cardriss , and a final door from the large chamber leads to one more square chamber which contains the moldy, tattered remains of a bedroom, and a fresco depicting Gaius with an elderly couple and a woman perhaps a decade or so older than him.
Gaius' eyes light up as he returns. It hadn't been long, but he had been excited to return. "Good! This is what I told you about, everyone."
He takes several paces towards the fresco. "Maximus, you remember my sister, Tullia, and my mother, Sofia? And that's my father, Gaius IV." The grin on his face is almost stupid in happiness. "And this," he waves around, "Is where my father spent his time."
He gives a tour, brief as it is, with a mix of memories from his past and educated guesses about what his father may have gone here. Interspersed are reminders to be careful not to get too close to the oozes, and questions to the Witness if he knew how to stop the ooze problem, and comments to the Witness that the oozes might have destroyed some of what had been here before, and insistences to the Witness that ooze ooze ooze ooze ooze.
Lyra gives a light smile at the Gaius' enthusiasm. "It is amazing you found this place. So he didn't stay in the 'town'? Does that mean we could find a place that isn't a box we have to pay taxes on. And get yelled out when we do Anything."
Smiling, "Of course I do, buddy. Hey, sis, and Mother Sofia." He nods. "You both are looking pretty as ever," he winks.
Then turning to Gaius's father and still wearing that golden smile of his, "So this is your dad, huh? Well met, sir! Well met!" He reaches out and gives the elder Ignatius a firm handshake. "A pleasure to meet you."
Much to the large man’s disappointment, the father in the painting of Gaius’ family does not extend his hand for a shake.
Gaius laughs at Maximus' display towards the painting. "That's not really the magical fresco, friend." He points from the still painting to the map of Cardriss. "Though I'm not sure a map will shake your hand either."
He shrugs at Lyra's question. "He probably still spent some time in Redwatch. I doubt that this can serve as a permanent residence given the Tower's dynamics, and the Research Institute has more or less of a claim of interest on it, but we can sort of be the stewards as it were." With a glance towards the Witness, Gaius grins. "Our arcanist likely already has a sense of the stability of the portal we came through and its approximate duration."
Fascinated into silence, Gavin spends quite a bit of time looking around. First for signs of a threat, then at the early stages of ooze, then finally at the family portrait.
"To leave such a family, your father must have held his Tower work in high regard. I hope I'm able to meet him one day."
Looking back to the others for a next course of action, he asks
"Shall we take our time looking this place over? Are there any known mundane exits?"
Gaius nods at Gavin's first comment. "My older sister and I both tried to follow in his footsteps. Tullia nearly succeeded last tran, but she remains on Cardriss in our home time." The implication remains unspoken, but given Gaius' young age--somewhere in his mid-twenties--he would have been a young child when the elder Gaius Ignatius left Cardriss. For all intents and purposes, if the two were to reunite, it would be more like a first meeting.
Sheepishly, he raises a hand and scratches at the back of his neck. "I, uh, didn't look much for a way out when I was here last. So that's worth checking out."
"You just wanted to stay." Lyra smiled warmly, looking around at this and that. She might have been the opposite most of her life, wanting to get Out of their home so much, but now, if she had the chance, she would stay there forever.
"You have his nose"
"If it is our intention to look around, I will provide what assistance I can."
Gaius laughs at Maximus' display towards the painting. "That's not really the magical fresco, friend." He points from the still painting to the map of Cardriss. "Though I'm not sure a map will shake your hand either."
Shrugging and smiling, "Hey, in this jacked-up place, you just never know."
A quick but thorough search reveals that, aside from the frescoes (which are almost certainly irremovable), anything of value that might have once been here has been removed, and there are no secret passageways or hidden exits. There are, however, two narrow ventilation shafts--one in the former kitchen and the other in what's left of the bedroom--which it might be possible to squeeze through in mistform.
Gaius smiles a little, his cheeks flushing red, as Lyra points out the nasal resemblance.
Having fought the verdurous oozes on his previous trip, Gaius walks over to the regenerating goop and puzzles over them. "You know," he says, "It's odd. The oozes were tricky to destroy, but everything I know about them suggests that once they're down, they're done. It seems like their remains are interacting strangely with the magic here. Or maybe there's a spawn source."
With a shrug, he spins his mace around. "We can always clean them back up on a future visit, but it might be worth investigating." He points up at the ventilation shaft in the kitchen. "Like up there."
"Agreed, best to know all we can about this place."
Gavin casts Wind Walk, and waits for the others to be ready to explore the vents.
"Up the rabbit hole?" Lyra says with a curious look, then a shurg. "Okay" It's not like she has anything else to do, and there might be something rather interesting up there.
The Witness nods at the suggestion to explore the vents. ++Let’s see if we can get a more precise bearing on our location. We can study these oozes later if we’ve the time.++
++Given that the transfer into, and out of, mist takes some time, should we have just one or two of us go into mist form? If something up there were hostile, we could lead it back down to our corporeal members?++ Gavin thinks.
"I'll go" Pigeon says quickly, before Max can claim the fighter slot.
++Very well.++ The Witness remains solid and stands 30 feet back from the vent opening, in case Gavin’s hostile scenario should occur.
With an eager volunteer having spoken up, Gavin and Lyra assume mist form and proceed carefully up the kitchen shaft.
While Gaius, Maximus, and the Witness stand back and watch, Gavin and Lyra take on mist form and squeeze up the narrow shaft above the kitchen hearth.
After a minute or two, the intentional created shaft ends at a natural sheer in the rock. Your snake-like shapes stretch into wide, flat versions of yourselves as you continue much more horizontally through the natural space. A moment later you see daylight ahead. Following it, you emerge fairly quickly into the air along side a fairly steep, stony mountain side.
++It would seem that, after some uncomfortable squeezing, the shaft opens up to a generally safe mountainside. I believe you can join us to explore further.++ Gavin thinks to the others still down below.