Gant's page

Oh, and assuming everything works out okay, you whippersnappers will get to level up after this encounter. :)

"Well then, as the lady says, you've a chance at the comfort at knowing you are not the intended target. If this is a trap and not just a ploy to get a great deal of resources from another fiend in order to possess such a soul."

"They should function as long as you remain on the same plane." Gant replied to Hanethes, looking at the back of his gnarled hands with a frown.
"And therein lies the wonder. And you needn't even speak once they are active, merely think the words you choose to say."

The petitioner turned to Kanthuun.
"As for objects with regenerative properties, I cannot say that I know of any. Not here. Even the medicinal plants here are derived from toxins and dangerous to use."

"You may have access to my stores, Drovya, but I do not know how much I have left." the elderly petitioner motioned to a stuffed skull towards the end of the room. "There are some scavenged and derived inks and a pen, but little else... Be wary of the red pigments; they come from a plant that melts mortal flesh, if vicarious experience has taught me correctly."

He clears his throat.
"The rings allow you to communicate with its partner across great distances for up to ten minutes every twenty-four hours... though to be honest, we never really were able to keep track of the time. Rather, the inlaid orange stones emit dim light when they are recharged. There's a command word, but it's utter nonsense. Pipligg. Oh, and to cease the effect if it hasn't yet been ten minutes, you simply reverse the term."

"As always, you are free to rest here as you require, but I must be able to come and go. Your cleaning out several of our traitors has not gone unnoticed."

Gant listened to Talon's account intently, brushing his chin with emaciated hands and furrowing his eyebrows in concern over every detail. He sighed heavily at the end of the account and paused, not so much for effect as to gather his thoughts as the vacant eye sockets of the avian skulls leered down at the party.

"I am truly sorry for the loss of your companions. I did not send you to Uraffa's lair to die, but understand that I have waited eons for this day, and only their loss has taken some of its glory from me. Still, you have done well to rescue others from that place."

The two yamah reappeared as their cloaking wore off, bearing close to the cleric of their goddess as she spoke on their behalf.

"Ah, dear child, I can grant them succor here, but I cannot keep them in my house forever... They'd have effectively traded one prison for another."

"Still, as there is no threat of Uraffa swooping in and either offering the damned a way out or stealing one herself, you could, in theory, use plane-shifting magics in this chamber. I've.. no interest to be inside if you do, however... Best not to become reacquainted with what I've lost lest I decide I miss it overmuch."

The petitioner's eyes widened when Drovya showed him the spellbook. Provided the magus allowed it, the wizard grabbed it immediately and began to shuffle through it. He laid wizened hands over the pages and laughed heartily until he came upon the destroyed pages.

"Ah... and then nothing, I suppose. No illumination as to why I hunted her, then... other than the name, I suppose."
He snorted quietly. "What manner of family did I have to merit such a ridiculous name? Ah, well. Gant I was, and Gant I shall remain."

Gant studied Drovya's face for a moment before looking Kanthuun over.
"There wasn't anything else, really, that merited my attention inside her lair... but I hope you don't begrudge an old dead man his curiosity. Hopefully there was enough inside to make your deadly sidetrip worth your while. I can grant you something in return for what you've done for me, at any rate."

Just then, Haka felt a small blunt object hurtle into his head, and the malformed, somewhat dim cacodaemon familiar of the elder came into view, skidding across the floor in a ricochet.
"Hm... so there you were, Mika. Did you get the reward for our guests?

The creature made a few subsequent hissing sounds and regurgitated a pair of rings onto the ground in a slimy, but as any spell of detection could reveal, magical mess.

"I buried these when my partner ...well. I didn't know if I'd be able to find them again, but Mika apparently remembered what I had forgotten."

"It warms my proverbial heart to see you've come back safely, and even brought Rohini with you! Can I assume you were successful?"
Gant queried with a tone of cautious optimism.

"Come, sit, and tell me what has been done. I promise not to delay you long, by my terms or yours..."

Gant's departure was delayed for just a moment, allowing the old man to give Rohini one last assured warm smile. He really had grown fond of his alleged murder victim. However, he wouldn't dally long.
-----------Now completely in the present, I would think. Talon's question and Rohini's statement hanging in the air...

"Well, now that you're all up, there's nothing keeping you here." Gant announced, shaking out of his reverie in his own corner, where he'd been staring off into space through much of the night and had spent an hour in the morning staring at the tome Kanthuun had discovered the night before, which he then stowed.

"I'm afraid that if you need nothing else from me, I have an image to keep up, and must leave this place. If you need me, I'll be at Baema's for a while."

The petitioner made a hand movement, and Mika went invisible.
"Of course, I'm not going without a farewell to you, little Desnan. May you further avoid a messy demise. And do wear your shawl when you leave, hm? Don't want those ruffians to recognize you, hm?"

The old man flashed another gapped grin and headed outside, leaving the party to their own devices.

The second and the first, wholly visible, whose mucus falls upon the unworthy

"Of course I do; I wrote it. It's my spellbook, Kanthuun. Obviously, I'd forgotten to hide it properly...,"

The petitioner made his way over, leaving Mika to dominate the cushion he'd left in his wake.
"It took years, you know. I'd forgotten everything... and it is, of course, understandably rare for one of my kind to gain such knowledge. Ha... you'd think I'd know better, then, than to let complete strangers glean over my work, but who else have I to show off to?"

Gant squatted down once more, straining with the effort. He brought a hand over Drovya's shoulder to point out a few lines of script.
"As it turns out, I got those notations wrong, that should be 3 aranids. And here, see, the coalescent singularity between the faari and nexus energies? I wrote that as the filiputh. It was easier to do than-"

Gant went on to describe his mistakes and shorthand for as long as his potential audience allowed, bringing attention to the nuances of a single section, and causing Kanthuun to remember his days of pretending to be a wizard(As well as granting him and Drovya a circumstantial +2 Spellcraft bonus on decifering/copying spells from this particular book, provided the sorcerer takes wizard levels at any point). If Drovya wishes to use an hour, he can try to learn Silent Image at a DC 21 Spellcraft check.

Rohini, Talon, and Kanthuun each took a turn on watch, whilst their host merely took up his seat and stared into space through the night.

Desna offered Rohini a rare gift as of late- a dream bereft of fearful tidings.

Talon's watch was by far the most eventful, as his space was infringed by the most malevolent-looking house spider he'd ever seen. The thing brought to mind a razor-edged skeleton. It moved quickly, and its eerily intelligent eyes were mobile across its form, unlike the beasties the fighter had spied in Taldor. Diminutive as it was, it gave off an unpleasant impression-especially as it took off after a snoozing Hanethes.

Feel free to react to this however. It's not a combat.
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Kanthuun's watch went without incident, much like Rohini's, and ended officially with Petrova's awakening.

And Drovya's condition hasn't worsened. Good job, peeps.

Amish Wife

Whipper-Snapper

Gant's tenseness melted away at this exchange, as Kanthuun's reaction proved that the adventurers had at least been prepared for this eventuality.

"It seems Rohini and Kanthuun have this well in hand, Drovya."

The elderly petitioner backed away and sat back down, joined by the cacodaemon, who was clearly satisfied with itself.

"If you've need of a place to stay for a time, I offer my abode. It is the least I can do for your considerations."

His eyes shifted over to Arasmes thoughtfully.
"Though I would understand reluctance to accept this offer, but you've seen this town's alternatives."