Professor Mariam Dexter's page

Dr Munroe and Mariam took the next watch and everyone else managed to fall into a deep slumber which was rudely interrupted by Mariam quietly but insistently waking you up. "Come" she urged you, "Look at this but be very quiet!"

Outside it was full dark but the stars had come out in force and it was almost bright enough to read a book. The crater had been transformed with an inch or more of snow which reflected the diffuse star light giving everything an ethereal look. This wasn't what had caught her attention however. She pointed towards the centre of the crater where there was an enormous ice creature, perhaps an elemental, surrounded by smaller ones and they where dancing.

The rest of the evening passes without incident. The next day you can choose to climb to one of the three coordinates on the map to inspect the damaged standing stone. You know there's supposed to be a guardian. You might also do a little prospecting with Mike, who knows you might get rich!

You share a meal under the stars before turning in. Miriam had shot a deer the previous day which had been stored in her bag of holding, she and Dr Munroe butchered it and roasted it on a spit over a fire. They'd rubbed salt and herbs into the meat resulting in a mouth wateringly delicious meal.

As the remains the of the meal was tidied up, Mariam noted "There's a strange atmosphere in this crater. I keep on feeling like I'm hearing distant thunder..."

Zendara makes some discrete inquiries and it turns out Mike asked around for evening restaurant recommendations and the several people had recommended Zoyer's an unpretentious gem of a restaurant that specialised in hearty spiced stews and broths.

A short cab ride later you find yourself on a quiet lane with a grand view overlooking the port where you see airships come and go. Behind that the grand expanse of blue-white banded by layers of clouds as you look over the edge into the planet's fractured interior.

From within the restaurant comes enticing smells and low key chatter, you recognise several voices - those of Dr Munroe, Prof Dexter and Mike. You step in and Miriam spots you. She calls out to you as you approach, "Oh you found us! Great. We were debating sending out a search party. Xavier was sure we'd bump into you sooner or later, but Mike was getting worried."

Professor Dexter replied, "Daisy Miller... Oh! I didn't know her first name but isn't Mrs Miller Dr Morgan's personal assistant? The one who was off on maternity leave? If so she should have been back for about the last month or so. Worth a try."

If you're going to write a letter would you mind doing so in a spoiler?

Professor Dexter laughed, "I like the way you think Braenar!" She glanced around the room and asked, "Any objections?"

A little while later, Mariam came by with a leather duffel bag and asked for a pail of water to be boiled. She took Ellis to a side room that sometimes served as an impromptu medical bay and started unpacking.

Soon she had a little spirit burner lit and set about sterilising her scalpels, forceps and other medical gear with the flame. She tried to reassure Ellis, saying "Don't worry I'll give you something to numb the area, you won't feel much of anything. The chip is just beneath the skin of your shoulder blade and we'll only need a small incision, I don't think it'll scar either."

All the men where shoo'd out of the room and half an hour later, Mariam emerged with a strange looking rectangular fleck of dark material that shimmered oddly in the light. With a triumphant smile she said, "Here's our tracking device, shall we toss it over the side?"

Professor Dexter told you, "We were starting to get seriously worried and were debating what to do when a day or so ago these giant metal spiders appeared. We got really worried until it turned out they were inexplicable delivering supplies. It was the darnedest thing but one of them left a written note from somebody called Vesta saying you were unharmed and these were the supplied you'd requested. Moreover the note warned us of the arrival of The Kez and that we should make ready to depart."

The ship is packed and ready to go when you are. NB the note was not written in Marin. Make of that what you will.

"I have no idea, but I want one to take back for the zoo!" replied Professor Dexter. Turning to you she said, "Perhaps we'd better check the area is safe before we head along the river to check out the ruins."

As she spoke crew members scrambled over the side with hammers and great big spikes to drive into the ground and secure the ship.

The area you've landed in is relatively flat with short red grasses. There are purple leaved scrubby bushes all around set about 30 foot back. The river gurgles by about 50' to the east and the ruins are about 1/2 mile inland along the river. Ahead in the distance the volcanic cone broods silently. Strange birds fly lazily above with unfamiliar raucous calls.

"That's all I'm asking for." replied Miriam before she turned away and slowly walked out.

She gave him a look and replied pointedly, "Actually Xavier, my concern is somewhat different although I agree the Kez are unlikely to be here. It's the Consortium I'm worried about, or have you forgotten what happened in the run up to the our departure? And what they stole? We know how ruthless and singleminded they are in obtaining pre-sundering artefacts. If you were them, imagine for a moment how enticing an expedition such as our would be."

Hotly she retorted, "You think that will matter to the Kez? You think they'll give us a chance when they find us? More fool you!"

With that she stalked off.

Miriam bristled before relenting, "I see. Very well we'll turn our backs on something that could be decisive in the war against the Kez. Lets hope Xun Lai is all you hope it is Xavier!"

Folding her arms Mariam met his stare and replied evenly, "Somebody will do that if this find comes to light. What I'm saying is we need to think about what we do next. I know what you're worrying about Xavier, there's also no saying we have to use human blood, we have livestock... Anyway one option is to throw it overboard, although you'll never know where the portal went to if that happens..."

Looking around the room she asked, "Opinions?"

Professor Dexter snorted, "I agree with your risk assessment to us but Graeme you never where one for the big picture, no offence. In the hands of the military a pair of these portals would be hugely important! All it would take is one vessel to sneak behind enemy lines to summon an army. Can you imagine the havok the Kez could have wreaked if they'd been able to land a field army on Essex Island back in the last war? Or the next! We need to consider what we do with this very carefully. It would be a huge boon for the Merchant League if we handed it over, assuming the pair still exists..."

Mariam grabbed a spyglass from a rack and looked before crying, "They're warships..."

Mariam nodded and added "Could be I can't help and feeling there's a religious aspect to what we've seen. It's essentially elemental evil by all accounts right? If this stuff is some vestage of the sundering my gut feeling is we're not going to find the answers for dealing with it here. The Githyanki messed with it and it killed everything aboard! No I think we should consult a theologian and our history books, if only we had access to pre-sundering records..."

As a reminder that's partly what Dr Munroe hoped to find in the Xunlai Archipelago.

By the time the group had reached the outskirts near what once must have been parkland Mariam called a halt, saying "Look I think we've out ranged it. Or at least I can't see the tendril anymore."

Mariam followed and swore softly, "Xavier it's definitely moved since I last saw it! Look at that building a block away, there's a thin branch? Tendril? By the saints it's coming for us, albeit slowly! Imagine if this had happened while we were sleeping"

"Nice shot!" remarked Professor Dexter appreciatively before eyeing suspiciously the charred tiber which had been grappled, "How how weight do you think that'll take safely?"

She shrugged, "Nothing." but added somewhat pointedly, "But Xavier, please don't say that name three times."

Dr Munroe rolled his eyes.

"I mean it Xavier, we're out of our depth. We've no idea what we're dealing with here, and the last thing we need is for you to invoke some eldritch horror..."

Mariam agreed emphatically with Zendara about not getting close, "Even being this close to it gives me the creeps. That said can see the Imari school from here and it's still some distance from the centre."

Turning to Yukarii she said, "As for the artefacts you found I don't think there's any problem with you keeping them but I'd request you let us sketch them and let Professor Upham examine them before trying to use them. Sometimes things are not always what they seem and he's been good at spotting such things in the past."

Mariam nodded, "Right it sounds like we need volunteers... I feel this gets the heart of the matter, we've not seen anything else living here but we have seen undead and they didn't just make themselevs. Hard to assume good intentions of anyone who'd deliberately undertake such a ritual..."

I'm assuming you'll all go :)

Looking pale Mariam shook her head slowly, put her hand on Xavier's shoulder and whispered, "I don't like this... I wonder if we should count our blessings and leave while we still can?"

She glanced at the rest of you, curious to see if anyone had a different opinion.

Bow strung and an arrow nocked, Mariam looked this way and that. Tensely she muttered, "Xavier I don't like it, it's too quiet. I fear we are walking into a tomb..."

With a weird intensity Prof Dexter replied, "That is the question isn't it? Given the number of Voor we saw in that dream, I can't help but feel the infestation must have gone unnoticed for a while. They must have had a huge advantage in the initial confrontation. But it seems they didn't win... How did the Githyanki fight back? What did they do?! It must have been effective whatever it was. I guess we're just going to have to explore the rest of the ship and see what we see."

Professor Dexter had been expecting a sudden blaze of light but when weak sunlight filtered through she gave the dark glasses an incredulous look as she remarked, "This is ridiculous, what have they got against light? Anyone would think they're vampires or something..."

There's only so long you can function without adequate oxygen, con checks probably come into play if you stay in there for an extended period.

Upon hearing about Private Norris Professor Dexter suggested, "I wonder if that's the corpse we found with the ring of the ram in side the elemental cage?"

"Seems a logical place as any..." added Professor Dexter. She then asked, "By the way have any of you seen any evidence of anything living on the nautilus? I've been looking and not seen so much as a bit of moss or alge on the hull, and there was absolutely nothing alive inside, which freaks me out a bit."

None of you saw anything living or any evidence of living things.

Mariam had woken up with a bad hair day, desperately needing coffee. She struggled with a small alchemical spirit burner before eventually the blasted thing lit. She poured a generous double scoop of fragrent coffee grounds from a tin she carried in her backpack into her coffee percolator. She stared at it for a moment before adding in another scoop and about the same quantity of water from her canteen. She set it on the burner and waited until it started making those funny little phut-phut noised which were always accompanied the most amazing smell.

When she poured it out into her cup the coffee was so strong and dark you could almost eat it with a fork. She savoured the first sip before gulping down the rest of the scalding hot liquid. Turning to Edwin she noted, "I bet he's right, we're not going to get a wink of sleep in this accursed place. The Dawntreader should be ok though..."

OK I'll sort something out for Marek.

"Sergeant looks like Voor in the crew quarters, I suggest we move to engage..." replied Lieutenant Dexter.

Professor Dexter interjected, "I think its pretty clear Xavier, they fought each other to a standstill and presumably starved."

Professor Dexter kneels down to examine the marks and remarks, "Impossible to tell how fresh this is, still whatever made it feels mechanical somehow. We've not seen any signs of life yet, but lets not let let our guards down."

Professor Dexter produces a folio an inch thick and starts sketching the scene. Her style is loose yet surprisingly detailed and she soon has a good likeness of the scene. As she sketches she answers Zendara, "Should we take samples? Yes absolutely, but on the way out I think. I know I shot the egg earlier but I'd rather not touch anything until we know what's going on here."

The archeology undergrads follow suite and soon every aspect of the room is being recorded.

"A hive mind? perhaps..." mused Professor Dexter. On a whim she pulled back on her bow and shot one of the larger purple ovoids. It shattered into a thousand fragments with a sound like glass revealing a dessicated humanoid with thin gangly arms and legs and a long head shaped like an olive. It was hunched in the festal position and appeared to have been partially digested.

She stares at the dessicated corpse for a while, "Yeah! Ugh what a way to go, that's totally going to give me nightmares!"

Mariam glanced at Dr Munroe and he nodded. She turned to Yukarri and replied, "If they're alive they already know we are here. I say it's worth the risk, we need to know what we're dealing with here."

Miriam's bow was immediately drawn with an arrow nooked and pointing at the eggs. "Voor?! Those are serious bad news, let's pray they're dead!"

A hush went through the previously excited party and subconsciously Marek edged closer to Yukarii, a look of concern on his face.

Once Zendara and Yukarii had shown the way, the others slowly inched forwards through the super natural darkness. Edwins light was met with huge collective sigh of relief.

The party paused just past the entrance and Professor Dexter glanced back at the wall of inky darkness and remarked, "What do you think a security feature? But look there's no lights in here, almost as if the creators of this place abhorred it..."

Grinning despite her obvious discomfort, Professor Dexter cheers when she sees you, "Looks like we managed to drive them off, good job everybody!"

Reminder you need to decide where to go next. You have at least two options: Egret Island and the harder to reach but mysterious Nautilus...

Professor Dexter glanced at Dr Munroe and replied, "Right we'll deal with this.". The pair of them shouldered their weapons and headed off to do battle.

I don't want DM PCs to steal the spotlight too much. Map updated.

Mariam spoke up next saying, "I think we should debrief about about those cultists and think about the general situation. It looked like they want to start a war, fortunately we stopped them today but situation with The Kez is a powdercake ready to explode. We should prepare ourselves for the prospect of hostilities breaking out while we are away."

Professor Dexter snatched up the strange implement now red with the man's blood. With a rag she wiped it off before handing it to Dr Munroe and then she suddenly stopped down to check one of the belts on a corpse. She fiddles with it for a few moments before muttering, "Ah!" She twisted it and suddenly another identical corkscrew like needle was visible with a spec of something dark green on its tip.

She eyed it before saying, "Some kind of poison, there's no telling how quickly it acts. If we want anything from him, we need to act now. Ideally getting him to a cleric."

Actions?

Professor Dexter grinned at Edwin before glancing speculatively at Breaenar, "A boarding action, now we're talking! Something tells me you've got got experience with such things, barbed grappling hook ballista bolts are not exactly standard issue for civilians are they?"

Mariam points out, "If we don't do anything, those nutters are going to start a war. It doesn't matter if they hit Dragon or not, The Kez will use this as an excuse!"

"We go after him..." replied professor Dexter flatly.

Professor Dexter replies, "Arraignments like that one always take ages, I doubt the trial will be this year. Besides like all university sponsored missions we have a quill of automatic writing with us. It allows somebody with the matching quill to write a message on a sheet of parchment at any range. It works in both directions. You'll have to check but I think that should count."

Professor Dexter takes another sip of coffee, savouring it's rich dark flavour before replying, "In the short term we've gotta walk on eggshells around the Ambassador and that Kez ship in the harbour, if anything was to happen... Long term? Honestly I don't know and neither from what I hear does the government. There was talk of giving the Kez a couple of islands as a gesture of good will, but that idea went down really badly with the hawks who see it as a sign of weakness."

She takes another sip finishing her mug and shrugs, "It's kind of academic anyway, our ship sails in a few hours and then it'll be out of our hands. I just hope and pray we'll have a home to return to. Heck I don't want my animals becoming the Kez's petting zoo! If you're all set we should probably make our way to the docks."

She means the rather impressive array of dangerous creatures she's hunted and subdued over the years for the Chelmsford Zoo. Oil of Taggit and cunning has taken Miriam a long way!

When she spots you Professor Dexter orders a round of coffee and tells you, "Xavier insisted on seeing that farmer Giles Mcree which put us in a bit of a pickle because there was no way I was going to let him go off on his own. He had assassins after him the other day and it's like he doesn't care. Claims he's not going to let the #$&*@s win. Fortunately Braenar turned up and volunteered to go with, that dwarf has his head screwed on right and between you and me he's pretty handy in a fight so I offered to wait here for you."

She take a sip of coffee and tells you, "From what I hear something weird is going on round here, and I think I have an idea whats behind it. Met up with a friend of mine in the diplomatic corps and rumour has it the new Kez has got a lot of problems at home, food riots, a plague, economic unrest, you name it. He's only been Kez for five years and is yet to really stamp his authority on the empire. The obvious thing to do is to go on a military adventure, he's done a bit of that with some of the new islands, but that's small fry. My friend things he's looking for an excuse to bloody our noses and this whole thing with the ambassador stirring thing up is red rag to a bull. The Marchant League frankly can't afford a fight, we've got enough problems of our own so the government is doing everything it can to ensure that absolutely nothing happens. Problem is an election is coming up and if something did happen the hawks in The Admiralty party will use it to push the moderate Free Winds Alliance out and the new policy will be total war. Last time that happened a couple of hundred years ago, close to twenty million people died..."

Better late than never...
Professor dexter stopped suddenly when Edwin called to her, looking surprised, "Oh you're going to the court house too?" Then sounding cross with herself she adds, 'Of course you're going to the courthouse... It's only logical to get a writ authorising access to the ship. Oh and let me guess, our dreamer Dr Munroe didn't give you the papers you'd need to prove your association. He gave them to me for some reason." She fumbled with her stack of papers before pulling out several sheets and handing them to Edwin.

Now composed she answered Edwins initial question, "I'm not sure if you can help me, this is mostly about me helping myself. Adrian's been wanting a divorce for some time and to be honest I've been stalling, not really sure why. Anyway I've made my mind up to grant his wish, crazy thing is I'm going to have to pay him maintenance. We never had kids and since the accident I've been unable to work, not that you understand his accident has stopped him from playing the field. Would love to talk but I've got to dash to keep my appointment."

With that she stalks towards the courthouse.

As Dr Munroe turns to leave, Professor Dexter primly announces, "I shall accompany you Xavier. You've already had one ambush tonight, I won't have you wandering around unaccompanied."

"Bah! If that even exists, it'll be no where near the Xunlai archipelago!" retorted Dexter.