Jen the Alchemist's page

Jen scans through the Professor's books and realizes that she had seen a few of the books before, mostly in her own delvings into the strange arts of magic that she pursued. The others were mostly tomes of history and did not particularly interest her that much.

Despite this, there were still many books in the Professor's library that she did not have an opportunity to read before, and Kendra would require protection while the others were away.

"Yes, please direct us to the Professor's library. I think, there are many things that we need to look into. I doubt that the town could have any more books than the Professor himself."

Oh, I wasn't saying it was too fast. It was a compliment about the pacing!

"Ah, Mister Iagon, I have completely forgotten to introduce myself. I am Jen, a scholar much as yourself. Although, now that we are in closer-knit company, I must say that I focus more on the controversial subjects of scholarly research. Perhaps the trunk of books might even contain some of those."

She nods to Kendra. "Regardless of hardship, I will see those books to his colleague."

Sorry, I was away for an interview. This game moves quite speedily.

Jen looks at the strange assortment of people mentioned in the will and realizes that now that they are connected by Professor Lorrimor's will, she didn't have to keep all of her secrets for them anymore.

"The darker side of his profess...oh. Yes, there were many things that the Professor had to do and on some of these, I collaborated with him. It might be best not to ask too many questions about that, especially for the paladin, but it was all for the greater good. We have to do this for the Professor. He sacrificed many things to the cause, and his legacy shouldn't be one of those things."

Necromancy! This is news to me! Her appearance as a dainty little flower does not change, but the thoughts begin to circulate through her head. This is not possible, that Lorrimor was a necromancer. He taught me everything that I wanted to learn and then quite a bit more. The time I broached on the subject of necromancy, he said that he had nothing to offer. Of course, I cannot merely present this fact to the crowd either...

"Good sir, I know that as you are a gentleman, that you will allow for reasonable and civil discourse. There need not be fearmongering here, in these times. There are enough real horrors in the world that we do not to invent our own." She pauses for a moment to think out her argument. "I present to you the first piece of evidence that the great Professor Lorrimor is not a necromancer, and that piece of evidence is standing right in front of us today."

"This brave Paladin, Anselm, serves the noble god Iomedae and has presumbly been crusading through these lands to defeat civilizations from all sorts of evil. Now, as we all know, the key to a Paladin's power is his oath that he has taken to preserve the tenets of his god, and all that is lawful and good in the world. As such, a paladin cannot willingly associate with evil, unless in the search of that evil's redemption. Now, I ask you, would a paladin honorably carry the coffin of an evildoer?" She answers her own question. "I think not. That only leaves us with the conclusion that Professor Lorrimor was not evil, and very clearly not a necromancer. The Professor might have duped a single person, but could he have really deceived a god? Not a chance."

"Item the second. Over his travels across the world, the Professor has made many connections with plenty of people and his funeral is well-attended. We can all attest to his upstanding character and endless generosity. A necromancer, by contrast, shares none of these qualities. Many seek no company aside from the protection given by their undead, yet the Professor sought the ties with the living instead. All of us here can attest to the Professor's innocence."

Afterwards, Jen adjusts her white gloves and lowers her gaze, indicating that her arguments have concluded.

In Jen's few moments of hesitation, four volunteers quickly offer their services as pallbearers, leaving her slightly disappointed but mostly very relieved. What if my strength fails me and I drop him? What if I trip on my dress? Those lingering doubts are pushed away after the spots were filled up.

It would be a terrible irony if after all he has done to support me emotionally and financially, I couldn't support him physically for a few minutes.

Earlier in the day

Soon after the news of Professor Lorrimor's death arrived, Jen acted swiftly to arrive in time for the Professor's funeral. Ravengro was a hard days ride from her hometown, and after finishing her Father's last rites, she essentially only had a day to make it to Ravengro. Using the archaic right of the nobility to commandeer horses in a time of great need (designed thousands of years ago to ensure the nobility could gather their soldiers for battle), she rode swiftly and constantly to Ravengro.

Her riding was especially difficult, since as a lady, manners dictated that she could not straddle the horse and instead had to keep her legs dangling off one side of the horse, an exceedingly challenging task when the horse is riding at a gallop. All she could do was occasionally shift herself so that her bent knee was clutching to the saddle while her arms clung to the horse's neck.

The bandits in the area did not notice her in time as she zipped along the road. She had left in such a hurry that she could not change into anything more comfortable or somber for the event, but the dust that covered her creme colored dress certainly helped in that respect. Jen tried her best to clean it off, but it seemed that at least some of the dust would remain embedded into the dress for an eternity, creating a dreary look. Having ridden through the night, Jen arrived for the funeral with some time to spare. On the other hand, her horse died of exhaustion and joined some other decaying things on the side of the street.

Continuing from the discussion earlier.

Soon, the funeral would be starting, and Jen stood up from the harrowing table. Her hands drift unconsciously to her dress, trying to dig out the embedded dirt, but to no avail. She sidles up to a wall and reaches under the top layer of her dress to pull out a pair of white gloves, perhaps the cleanest thing with her at the moment. Soon after putting them on, she returns to the group at the harrowing table.

Her voice takes on a more formal quality and she looks more elegant with her gloves on. "Come now, let us not dawdle on the future, for there are many important things to be attended to in the present."

Should we wait before we start posting on the gameplay thread?

Yes, I've heard many great things about this AP and looking forward to play.

If your definition of divine is that it has healing, alchemist can do that. :p

Jen seems fine up until the description of the undead themselves, which causes her to go pale. She tries to keep her eyes on the paladin to be respectful, but the horrible torrent of memories forces her to shut them.

"I think...I think that I am glad that we have a strong paladin to protect us, but it is better to speak of more optimistic pursuits. It's nice, just to know that there are many other people that have shared in the experience of knowing Professor Lorrimor. In a way, that makes us tied together. I don't claim to speak for the Professor, but my guess is that he would've wanted us to look out for one another."

"That may be...that may be, but the Professor certainly did not shy away from meeting strangers. I think the varied faces around the room are testaments to that. If he were in our situation, I think that his curiosity would have also drawn him to sit at the Harrow table."

"No one can be safe in these times, and if preservation of the body is not guaranteed, then one should try to preserve their minds. We musn't change because of these dreary times."

"Look at us, a motely gathering. Sitting 'round, sharing and chattering. A harrower, a paladin, a former nobility. With half-orc and catfolk of cheerful felicity. Professor Lorrimor must have been far beyond extraordinary to bring us all here today. It is proper and necessary to limit our idle talk, and speak of the great accomplishments of the Professor. How did you come to meet him?"

Making sure to address everyone in the group around the table, she continues. "I am Lady Jen, the noble scion of a family that no longer exists. The Professor sheltered me and gave me an education, so that I could continue onwards with independence instead of hoping for marriage."

While initially disappointed at the lack of entertainment, Jen is soon pulled into the mystique and mystery of the Harrow cards.

"Good Madam, where do the Harrow cards draw their power from? Do they answer specific questions or give general forcasts?" Jen slides her way into another empty seat. "While you're here, your hands are stretched, and the cards are out, perhaps you wouldn't mind giving another reading? I think it would be wise to consider information from as many different sources as we can, given the current circumstances." She seems well spoken and intellectual with a certain high-born accent, not generally the kind of person that deals with Harrow predictions.

I think she's mad, more than a tad. Nothing comes free, not even freedom. Nowadays, you even have to buy body parts of the deceased. Where has this world come?

Jen watches in amusement as the catfolk tries to get a free reading. There was still time to kill before the Professor's funeral and watching a naive young woman learn about the world the hard way was as good a way as any to pass the time. A deeper inner voice spoke to her inside her head (but she's not crazy!).

In many ways, you have grown past that naivete, but in many ways, you are still the same.