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Brennus catches the ring, a gleam in his eye. "A fair deal indeed. I will certainly keep an eye out for others of your shops in the future. A good day to you, and my thanks." Brennus takes the journal and the ring, leaving his items in payment, and departs, eager to get back to their inn room and start reading.
A Pathfinder Venture Captain's journal... interesting. That had potential, assuming the Pathfinders hadn't already looted everything mentioned. Brennus considered the pile of things he was giving in trade. Hmmm... perhaps he could get just a little more for it... "Indeed, though Pathfinders often write about places they themselves have looted," he comments. "No doubt they've left enough behind to make this valuable, but it occurs to me there is a way to make certain my repeat business comes more swiftly. There is a type of ring that eliminates one's need for food and drink and reduces the need for sleep. I will trade all this," he waves at the items he had brought, "For the journal and such a ring."
Brennus reaches out for it, then hesitates a moment, glancing at Hale as if the man would suddenly object. When he doesn't Brennus carefully opens the journal and skims a couple pages, trying to get a feel for its contents. "So this will take me across the Inner Sea?" he asks as he browses.
Brennus narrows his eyes. It was a steep price to demand for such a thing, sight unseen, and yet... this fellow was still in business, in a place such as this, which suggested he must be careful of his reputation. Not to mention he was implying Brennus would want to come again... "An intriguing offer," Brennus admits, "But one that requires a significant amount of trust. You have my part of the offer here," he waves a hand over the magic items, "May I examine your part of the offer before sealing the deal?"
Brennus cocks his head to one side, considering Hale with a single eye. "Knowledge is my greatest desire, yes, but what sort are you trading, and at what price?" he asks warily.
Brennus reaches into his pack and pulls out the shocking halberd. "Let's start with this. A halberd, enchanted with lightning magic." He speaks the command word to activate its shock function, just long enough to prove his statement, before speaking it again. "Bracers enchanted to protect the wearer, and a ring enchanted to improve one's jumping capability," he continues pulling out the items as he describes them. Then he looks over at the shopkeeper expectantly. "What might you be willing to offer for these?"
Brennus is, of course, suspicious of the shopkeeper, but betrays none of it with his corvid face. "I have a number of magical items to sell or trade," he states. "I am looking for books on magic lore in return, or any scrolls, staves, or other arcane implements."
After breakfast Brennus (in Tengu form) leads Emmeline and Arshee to the fence's "shop". He asks the proprietor about prices for the items he got from the Neh'Thaggu, as well as asking after items that might be of interest to Brennus himself--particularly books of magic lore.
Brennus's eyes gleamed greedily as he took in the arcane bounty on (and of) the corpse. the first thing he did (after checking to make sure the other two weren't watching) was peck out and swallow one of its eyes, wondering if it would have a similar effect on him as the wizard's. That done he took the rings, then went and borrowed a knife from Emmeline. He cut open its stomach with the borrowed knife and used his magic to remove the items within, then another simple spell to clean them (and the knife). He studies the loot after getting back in the carriage, working out what each item did. The rest of the journey he spends studying his book and the spellbook he'd taken from the arcanist he'd slain. Once settled into a room, Brennus goes over setting up a simple ward with Emme. That done, he shifts to raven form and flies out the window of their room to do a bit of nocturnal scouting, trying to determine where what they sought might be without being seen himself.
Okay, so he'd at least delayed the thing. But there seemed to be nothing for it but to just start blasting away. He took a step back and to the side, making sure to angle his attack carefully, channeled a bit of extra power into his next spell, and then summoned up a blast of razor-sharp feathers.
Brennus had been looking entirely the opposite direction from the creature. By all rights the bolt of lightning should have hit him squarely. But somehow, some instinct struck him just the instant before, and he was ducking before he even knew why, missing the worst of the bolt.
Coughing slightly he threw open the door of the carriage and jumped out, looking at the bizarre creature that had attacked them.
"Emme, are you okay?" he cawed as he rapidly reviewed what he knew of these creatures. First things first, he'd have a better chance against it unseen, though... no, that would make Emme the primary target. Clearly it had waited invisibly to ambush them... and direct magical attacks would be less effective here. Fortunately he had ways around that. With a sharp gesture and an authoritative croak, he made a hole open in the ground beneath the thing.
Brennus narrows his eyes slightly as he tries to make sense of the oddity around Emme. It seemed like the familiar bond had broken, but only on Arshee's end? He wasn't sure it was safe for that dangling bond to be left open like that... he'd have to examine it more closely when they stopped for lunch. He turns back to Arshee. "It seems your bond to Emmeline has broken, too. Did you recognize that?" He clacks his beak again. "Given my experience, that might be connected to why you're recovering some of your power... or maybe not. There's just about nothing normal about this whole situation." He turns his gaze outward. "I still feel like we're headed right for a trap," he grumbles, "We'll just have to be extra cautious the whole way."
"That *would* explain some things," Brennus agrees, "Though it leaves wide open the question of how Emmeline managed to summon someone like you. I wonder, did that book have your true name in it somehow...?" He trails off in thought for a moment, then clacks his beak slightly. "Questions I don't think we're answering right now. Still, we might want to entertain the idea that whatever interfered with your becoming Emme's familiar was aimed at trapping you in particular. Unless you might remember something?" He looks questioningly at Arshee, then turns towards the front of the carriage. "It's a long shot, but maybe recent events have changed Emmeline's end of the bond, too. Let me take a look." He focuses his detect magic on his apprentice, trying to both get a feel for any new powers she's developed since their encounter at the tomb and for any changes in her bond with Arshee.
Brennus blinks a few times, startled by what had happened. It... was both an answer and not an answer. An answer to what but not why, perhaps, which was frustrating as it was the why that really intrigued him. And of course, the answer to what just brought more questions with it.
"Well that was unexpected," he comments. "I can't say I've ever had visions from detect magic before. Assuming what I just saw is right, you're still far less than you were before, because you don't seem right now like you're the next closest thing to an Empyreal Lord. You wouldn't happen to remember fighting hordes of demons, would you?"
"Interesting... it must have something to do with whatever interfered with your summoning and placed that trap..." Brennus murmurs. "This certainly bears some investigating, though I wish I'd asked sooner. Most of the traces are probably gone by now, but I'll still have a look." He cautiously begins to examine Arshee with detect magic, wary of any new traps or changes in the one that had been there.
Brennus does his best not to draw attention on the way out of town, staying in his robes and generally trying to keep a low profile, though he doesn't go so far as to disguise himself with magic, not when his tengu form should be unfamiliar to their pursuers. As soon as they're out of town, he relaxes just a bit--though he casts a wary eye behind them frequently. Between glances he looks down at Arshee. "You've been quiet recently," he comments. "How have you been feeling after the fight at the tomb? Have you noticed any odd new bits of magic?" He sits back slightly. "We need to work on figuring out just what happened to us. Why don't we start with you?"
"A couple more outfits would be good. It's best to supplement magical disguises with physical ones," Brennus states with a certainty that's odd for someone who didn't wear clothes until recently. He entrusts Emme to Arshee for the shopping trip and holes himself up in their room to snatch a moment to read. It was easier with his new hands--his magic hadn't been bad for handling books, but hands were better. Not to mention the writing was the right size for his eyes. Speaking of which, more shape-changing magic would be useful.
Brennus's eyes glitter with a hint of pride. "I'd been going to suggest something like that myself. You're learning quickly, Emmeline. Yes, we should leave in disguise to throw off our pursuers. We'll likely want to disguise ourselves whenever we enter or leave towns along the way, too, to keep our trail confused." "We want to leave as soon as possible, so we should get our supplies quickly and then depart. In fact, if you're ready, we should start now."
"Oh, yes, that does make me feel much better." While the words could have been sarcastic, his tone and the glitter of humor in his eyes suggested he was just teasing. "Okay, here's what we'll do, then." He lowers his voice conspiratorially. "We'll head southeast, like we're still running away. About a half day out of town we'll use some magic to hide our trail as we turn northeast, and head for Wilkesmont. From there it's a straight shot to Daggermark, though hopefully from a direction they're not watching as closely." He stops for a moment. "Do you see any problems with that?"
Brennus also pauses eating and nods solemnly. "I know--I still don't think we're strong enough to face them." He falls silent for another moment, then fidgets slightly. "Though... okay, I probably will *never* feel like we're ready. We just don't know enough, and I'm used to being a small, fragile bird who survives by being very careful. And there's never going to be a careful way to rescue them, is there?" Brennus seems... uncharacteristically sincere. "We did just get a lot stronger, I suppose. If you think we're ready... we can go."
Brennus realizes as he looks over at the spellbook just how late it is. Muttering to himself about needing to fix the whole 'having to sleep' thing, he grudgingly decides to go to bed rather than force himself to stay awake longer. Maybe he could get some reading in tomorrow... He arose comparatively early the next day, sneaked just a peak at the spellbook (not enough to amount to anything), then went to get breakfast with Emmeline. "If we're going to Sothis, we'll probably want to go by water," he says between bites. "The Sellen will take us straight to Cassomir, and from there we can take a ship to Osirion easily enough. The trick's just finding a captain around here who's trustworthy."
"I know, I've just never had hands before! And of course it's easier to talk with people when they don't wonder why a raven can talk." Brennus spends the remainder of the day in intense concentration (except for when Emme reminds him to eat), focused on Starfall and its powers. He thrills to find it so versatile even in its reduced state. He stretches and peaks at the window when he finishes, debating whether or not there's still time in the day to read before going to bed. Maybe he could look throgh the spellbook he took from that mage he'd slain...
Brennus gives Holgarin a little bow. "I shall be certain to," he grandly replies, then exits the smithy. Outside, he looks over at Emme and gives her a little wink. "This whole thing is fun!" he crows... quietly. "Let's get back, though. I still want to figure out what the staff does now." As soon as they return to their room Brennus throws himself intensely into studying the staff.
Brennus visibly perks up at the mention of Sothis, though he manages to restrain himself from any audible exclamations of excitement. Osirion was one of the centers of magical learning, what with the nation's close association with Nethys and all, and Sothis was a big part of that. Think of the books they must have! Realizing he'd spaced out a little, Brennus shakes his head slightly to refocus on the present. "That's quite a journey, but hopefully that very fact will put us ahead of any who might pursue us. Do you know what the name of the ritual is, so I can search for it there?"
"Hmmm... or are you saying that it's the ritual that matters, no matter what gem is used? Either way, any other information you can give us would be most helpful."
Brennus was only a little disappointed that his whole big speech was entirely unnecessary. Mostly he was disappointed that the staff was incomplete. He was also suspicious about this whole dream bit. First Haroth, now this...? He supposed it was better having someone on their side to counteract the whole demon prince thing, but it'd be nice if they'd talk to him a bit. He didn't like feeling like he was someone's pawn. As for the problem at hand... he wasn't about to dilute the staff's true potential by using inferior materials. Sure, it's power would be useful now, but how could he give up truly legendary, unique power for something less? "We'll look for the original gem," he says aloud, "And thank you. And apparently we need to thank someone else, too, if you're having dreams like that. Do you have any advice for seeking this gem? We didn't have any destination in mind right now other than away from where our enemies are, so any direction other than that is as good as another to us." The thought crossed his mind that Arshee had been awfully quiet of late... he'd have to see if the Silvanshee had any ideas about who their patron might be. |