Diablotin 2 session 49

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Session

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Solos

[Diablotin_Narrator] Any questions before we begin? [Sanadhil] how much time is passing between sessions here? [Diablotin_Narrator] a few days - I will desc. what happens during those days, though. [Sanadhil] cool [Ilphere] I was going to detect magic & search the place we were in... [Diablotin_Narrator] ok - that will turn up some things, which will be covered in my opening desc. :) [Ilphere] woot

• Ysabeau is searching for stuff of interest to her, of course, too

[Diablotin_Narrator] you're all searching [Diablotin_Narrator] that's what the narration will cover ;) [Diablotin_Narrator] ok, let's begin

[Diablotin_Narrator] Having spent the better part of three days melting the ice in the temple (a cold, wet, and messy job), the murals you had glimpsed through the frozen layers are finally becoming clear. [Diablotin_Narrator] So is the great deal of debris that litters the floor of the octagonal building - mostly the remains of the ceiling, long ago collapsed, but also what has survived of the temple's former contents, and, sadly, the half-eaten remains of several individuals, presumably victims of the beast you slew.

• Ysabeau will organize a burial detail for the human remains

[Alma] :( [Diablotin_Narrator] Amid the debris and remains, you find the following things: a large number of ornate silver arrowheads and spearpoints - too many to have been carried by a single person - perhaps they were left here as offerings? Also a large number of crude coins of various metals and sizes, and a few gems as well. [Diablotin_Narrator] You also find a carved ivory tusk, easily six feet long, curved and yellowed with age, though mostly undamaged, depicting a large number of people and animals seemingly travelling from its base to its tip, growing smaller and smaller as though fading into the distance. [Diablotin_Narrator] You also find the following items that radiate magic, on or near the remains: a bronze short sword, a pair of leather boots lined with soft fur, a pair of bronze armbands, and a heavy cloak of silver fur with a bone clasp.

• Ysabeau will check the coins to see if any have designs like the ones we found in the Shadow Plane temple. The ones that we weren't sure where they came from - I think they had snakes on them? :P

[Diablotin_Narrator] Ysa - some of these coins are similar to those in general shape and appearance, but cruder in manufacture. Others, you don't recognize.

• Ysabeau will bring the similarities to the attention of others in the party.
• Sanadhil will see if he can figure out what the items are, though a combination of K Arcana and experimentation @_@
• Ilphere will assist Sanadhil. :3
• Ysabeau will put her bardic knowledge to use to help Sanadhil
• Seth will spend his free time sketching the building and the murals on it.
• Alma occasionally checks for spirits and undead :3
• Ysabeau will also spend time studying the murals in case there are any images that she can connect with legends/etc.

[Ilphere] (28 k:a) [Sanadhil] (21 KA) [Ysabeau] (30 for my bardic knowledge on the items) [Ysabeau] (35 for my bardic knowledge on the murals - that's a nat 20) [Sanadhil] (23 sword, 28 boots, 26 armabands, 19 cloak) [Diablotin_Narrator] Well, the sword is a magic sword :p The boots seem like they help with the cold, and make it easier to walk on ice, as well as making you more agile in general. The cloak also seems to make it warmer. The bronze armbands make you stronger.

• Sanadhil will relay info to the party

[Alma] Sensible things. [Ysabeau] How useful! [Ysabeau] I sure could use something to make me warmer. Brrr. [Seth] (do they all appear to be from one individual, or at least from the same time period?) [Sanadhil] (not from 1 individual at least)

• Ilphere eyes the pretty cloak...

[Diablotin_Narrator] They seem to come from a couple of different individuals, Seth - the armbands and sword seem older, you think. [Sanadhil] Well, I have no use for the sword, at least. [Ilphere] This is lovely...

• Ilphere runs her hand over the soft fur.
• Alma will Lay to Rest any bodies we come across.

[Ysabeau] Maybe it's yours, then, Ilph. [Guillame] I can handle a shortsword, but probably not as well as Dominik... [Sanadhil] He already has a magic weapon [Alma] How do they compare? [Sanadhil] That's difficult to gauge [Alma] Well, perhaps compare them side to side. [Ysabeau] I'd find the most use for the boots, but they might be better for M. Rionet. [Seth] I have no magic sword, but I might rather have the armbands. [Sanadhil] Can anyone else make use of the longsword? [Sanadhil] It could be moot. [Ysabeau] I'm a rapier lady, myself.

• Ysabeau pats hers in its sheath.

[Sanadhil] it might make more sense for one of you to take in anyway, if it is your preferred weapon, and not his. [Diablotin_Narrator] Dom can swing them both around, presumably - he would indicate that he thinks the shortsword is somewhat better than his longsword, which is a +1...) [Alma] So I suppose then we need a home for a longsword [Sanadhil] That makes no sense Countess [Alma] Pardon? [Seth] I'm sure M. Rademacher has no desire to give up his accustomed sword.

• Ysabeau points out to Dominik that in a fight it might be better to have two well-equipped melee combatants so maybe he should hang on to his longsword, and let one of the guys who use shortsword keep the new one.'

[Sanadhil] indeed.

• Ilphere slips on the cloak since no one else is claiming or bickering over it.:D

[Seth] Guillame, perhaps you would be best for it? [Sanadhil] And the boots? [Guillame] Well, I'm happy to make use of it. You're right that I could use the boots as well, Ysabeau, but anyone would benefit from them, I'm sure.

• Sanadhil looks to Ysabeau

[Ysabeau] If no one else will take the boots, I'd be happy for them.

• Sanadhil nods

[Ysabeau] As long as their previous owner didn't have footrot or something. ;)

• Ysabeau sniffs the boots delicately.

[Sanadhil] it is probably too cold

• Seth dons the armbands.

[Diablotin_Narrator] OK, seth - you have a +2 Str from the armbands. [Seth] (yay!)

• Alma resumes looking through the debris.

[Diablotin_Narrator] ok, stuff is divided, yay

• Ysabeau slips the boots on once she is pretty certain she won't get a foot fungus from them.

[Diablotin_Narrator] The murals, once you can see them more clearly, prove quite fascinating, if puzzling at times.

• Ysabeau studies them closely and hopes her awesome BK roll will help.
• Ysabeau can also use Divine Insight if that'll help

[Ysabeau] (crappy DI roll, only an 11)

• Guillame looks for any rat symbolism

[Diablotin_Narrator] There are, of course, eight walls to this building. Seven of them depict animal-human figures - men and women with the features of bears, lizards, tlaluks, wolves, owls, great cats, rats. They seem tall and noble of countenance, as if they are watching over you benevolently. [Diablotin_Narrator] It is the eighth wall that is the most perplexing, for it is very different than the others. Instead of humanoid figures, it shows a scene. At the bottom of the painting, there are burning buildings under a terrible stormy sky, with people fleeing in terror. Clearly it depicts some great cataclysm. [Diablotin_Narrator] The perspective is primitive, so that you can clearly see an oval shape at the centre of the town, but are uncertain if it is meant to depict a standing structure or something lying flat on the ground. [Ilphere] ... [Diablotin_Narrator] This ring is picked out in black and white paint, with a sort of banded or mottled pattern, and its centre is pure black, studded with tiny shards of glass that catch the light and reflect it like stars.

• Ilphere examines it curiously.

[Ilphere] Could it be...? [Diablotin_Narrator] You note that the raised platform at the centre of the temple is edged with a similar pattern of black and white stones, and grooved with channels to which faint traces of blood still cling.

• Ilphere looks excitedly at Sanadhil.

[Diablotin_Narrator] The most puzzling part of the eighth wall, however, is not the destruction of the town, but the figure at the top of the painting. It stands with arms spread, as if it is welcoming or protecting the tiny fleeing people. Its features are human, except for its broad, feathered wings, and the artist seems to have tried to make it look like it is glowing, for it is dusted with silver and gold. [Ysabeau] If only we knew how old this temple was!

• Sanadhil nods ot Ilphere and examines the eighth wall mural

[Ysabeau] I think that's Diablotin and the Arch. Then this temple should be more recent than the establishment of Diablotin. [Sanadhil] no, it can't be

• Ilphere looks dubious.

[Ilphere] I don't think that's accurate... [Ysabeau] Oh, the rats, right. [Ysabeau] Hmmm... [Sanadhil] This is what happened to cause the tribes to migrate.... [Sanadhil] this ring indicates the temple here.

• Ilphere examines the winged image... Can I roll K: something - is there anything in my knowledge base that compares to it?

[Diablotin_Narrator] (k: planes, maybe?)

• Sanadhil points out the similarities between the painting and the temple

[Ilphere] (ugh, rolling for crap. 26) [Ysabeau] (Does my 35 Bardic Knowledge roll help at all?) [Diablotin_Narrator] (no, it doesn't seem like anything you've ever heard of - there are some demons that have wings, but this seems like a more benevolent figure, as far as the artist's depiction suggests anyway) [Alma] (17 K-planes on the winged thing :( )

• Ilphere sketches out some copies of the murals and makes notes for later references...

[Diablotin_Narrator] Ysa, you have never seen or heard of anything like the winged thing. You do think that probably this cataclysm is the unknown disaster that caused the tribes to begin their migration. [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma, also no idea on the winged thing. [Ysabeau] Sister, I know it is gruesome... but could your gift allow you to discover whose blood this belongs to? What race? [Sanadhil] hmm [Alma] Perhaps this temple here was a refuge, early on... [Ilphere] I think the temple was built to *resemble* whatever this... is...

• Ilphere indicates the ring in the mural.
• Ysabeau is examining the bits of blood on the platform

[Sanadhil] That is also possible. [Alma] Perhaps they were told this being would protect them. [Sanadhil] This is just present - it isn't linked to the dwevastation specifically [Ilphere] If this was the home originally destroyed in this cataclysm, someone would have to have been prescient to create this image... [Alma] It is possible... it did work on hair. But the blood is likely mixed and diluted...

• Sanadhil says mostly to Ilphere

[Ysabeau] Well, it's worth a try. [Ysabeau] We should try to learn as much about this place as we can. [Sanadhil] Perhaps not all departed [Seth] Perhaps we can tell whether the eighth panel was made later than the others? Perhaps it lies overtop of an older image. [Alma] That's a good idea...

• Sanadhil nods to Seth

[Sanadhil] How?

• Ysabeau wonders what M. Walther thinks of all this.

[Seth] (will my architectural skills help me with that?)

• Alma compares the quality of the art of the eightth and other panels.

[Diablotin_Narrator] Seth - you can make a roll, sure. [Seth] (32) [Sanadhil] You could also try your skill at reading rooms, Countess... [Diablotin_Narrator] Your feeling is that all the images date from the same period - they have the same style, possibly even done by the same artist. You don't see any indication that any are painting over anything else.

• Sanadhil looks thoughtful

[Seth] I'm afraid I can't discern any distinction between the images. [Sanadhil] Maybe this was somewhere they stopped for a time before pressing onwards? [Alma] Why press onwards? [Ysabeau] Why stay here? [Sanadhil] In which case, Mme Kizer could be correct [Seth] This place does not seem to have been a brief occupation. [Ysabeau] It might have been a better place to live when they were here... but it might also have been like this. [Sanadhil] No, but we don't know how long the migration took [Ysabeau] How could they sustain a population of any size in this landscape? [Alma] There were more trees on the map... [Ysabeau] Can't grow a thing, except for Tlaluks, maybe. [Seth] These were simpler people, remember. They lived off the land more than we do. [Sanadhil] Even so. [Alma] If they built this temple... [Seth] I do think that the environment must have been very different. [Sanadhil] how so? [Ysabeau] Maybe they did stay here a while but then the climate changed and they had to press onwards. [Enoch] Even when the map was made, after the town was abandoned, there were trees and so forth. [Sanadhil] ahh, yes

• Ilphere nods in agreement to Enoch.

[Seth] None of this would explain how they came to Diablotin. There are many hospitable lands between here and there. [Ilphere] Perhaps they were looking for something. [Guillame] So this cataclysm happened before they came here? [Seth] Indeed - perhaps they were told of our Arch.

• Alma goes to examine the ... altar?
• Ilphere traces the ring in the mural.
• Alma detects magic, then evil.

[Sanadhil] or the winged figure has something to do with it [Sanadhil] Perhaps that's what brought them here? [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma - no magic or evil on the raised area. [Ilphere] and then beyond... [Guillame] Which means that the winged figure could have actually... or metaphorically... saved them? [Alma] Could it perhaps be the patron figure of this city?

• Sanadhil nods to Alma

[Alma] Perhaps it was spared the cataclysm and the refugees first came here, and painted the mural.

• Ysabeau looks for any sign of serpents, in all the murals and other decorations in the temple.

[Sanadhil] And then something else happened to cause them to abandon this place, clearly. [Diablotin_Narrator] Ysa: search check, please. [Seth] What about a very different idea? What if these people were fleeing *from* Diablotin?

• Alma looks over the raised area to see if it is in fact purposed for sacrifice :|

[Ysabeau] (I'll use my destiny to reroll) [Diablotin_Narrator] (ok) [Sanadhil] And happened into those who worship the gods of the tribes who founded your city? [Ysabeau] (that's better - 23) [Guillame] That sounds plausible... [Seth] No, no ... what if these were people who worshipped the gods of the tribes, because they were the same people. [Sanadhil] There's no real evidence to support that [Diablotin_Narrator] Ok - Alma and Ysabeau, you are clearing away debris from the 'altar' area in order to examine it more closely, and you notice something...

• Ysabeau looks at it carefully.

[Diablotin_Narrator] Although many of the pieces of the ruined ceiling that you are carrying out of the way are plain stone, some show traces of paint - it must also have been decorated once! [Ysabeau] The ceiling was painted! [Alma] Of course... [Diablotin_Narrator] The painted pieces you are able to find show patterns of gold and black: [Ysabeau] Look at this!

• Seth heads over to see what they have found.

[Diablotin_Narrator] pieces looking a bit like this: [Alma] :/ [Sanadhil] A scaled ring? [Diablotin_Narrator] Ysa, you find one that has a spot of red: [Alma] That could be a serpent. [Sanadhil] yes... [Seth] Indeed. [Ysabeau] It definitely is! [Diablotin_Narrator] Seth, you can make an Architecture check to try and reconstruct what it would have looked at. [Ilphere] It is very suggestive... [Seth] (can I manipulate them to fit them together?) [Ysabeau] Look at this! It's the head! [Seth] (oh nm)

• Ysabeau shows everyone the piece with the red

[Diablotin_Narrator] (yes, sort of - obv. there are bits missing) [Seth] (29) [Guillame] It's Vrag...? [Sanadhil] yes.... the eye [Ysabeau] And a tooth

• Sanadhil nods

[Ysabeau] The corner of its mouth [Ilphere] The serpent, placed above all... [Diablotin_Narrator] Seth - you can sketch out a quick version of what you think it may have looked like: [Sanadhil] Yes, the Serpent... [Sanadhil] Consuming itself [Sanadhil] The cycle? [Seth] Perhaps, perhaps not. [Enoch] Fascinating... [Sanadhil] Very. [Ysabeau] We need to preserve these, bring them back for study and display.

• Ysabeau is pretty excited about the fragments of snake.

[Seth] (are these parts of a domed ceiling or a flat one?) [Sanadhil] I'm not certain that would go over particularly well [Diablotin_Narrator] a domed ceiling, Seth. [Ilphere] Indeed.

• Ilphere glances at Alma.

[Seth] (were we even capable of such constructions back in the ancient times?) [Sanadhil] though it *is* fascinating [Diablotin_Narrator] (apparently? :)

• Alma is lost in thought.

[Seth] (I mean, in Diablotin are there ancient constructions using domed ceilings?) [Diablotin_Narrator] Not that ancient. [Seth] Whoever these people were, their use of a domed ceiling is striking. In Diablotin it was not until well after the founding that men developed such technology. [Sanadhil] it is possible, of course that when the tribes dispersed, not all made it as far west... [Sanadhil] While their origin is clearly the same, whoever built this may be the ancestors of those who live here now

• Alma uses Deathwatch to look for bodies older than the ones we found from the frost lizard.

[Diablotin_Narrator] You don't see any older remains, Alma. [Alma] It wouldn't be surprising that after a cataclysm, such things might be lost. [Sanadhil] what things? [Alma] Technologies. [Sanadhil] ahh, yes.

• Alma leans against Danyel as she thinks, looking frustrated.

[Seth] Perhaps ... but what cataclysm could have caused such massive loss, and be completely forgotten in history?

• Seth says while sketching the serpent and carefully ensuring that we preserve the ceiling pieces.

[Ysabeau] (I don't suppose there are any songs or legends I know of about cataclysmic events) [Sanadhil] clerly it wasn't completely forgotten [Alma] It seems a given that it was lost to history... what ELSE was lost is the only question. [Sanadhil] we know that somethig caused the tribes to migrate [Diablotin_Narrator] Sure, plenty - floods and fires destroying villages, etc. Nothing that seems old enough to relate to this site, however.

[Alma] Danyel, where'd I leave my pack? [Alma] I'm going to get a blanket. [Danyel] Uh... [Danyel] Back at camp, perhaps? [Alma] :/ [Alma] I dont' want to sit on this wet floor :|

• Alma tries to find a rock that is slightly dryish
• Alma will try to focus on the room around us to see if she can bring anything out from so long ago.
• Alma casts Guidance first -_-
• Ysabeau will be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb Alma's concentration.

[Alma] (31) [Diablotin_Narrator] (ok... sec) [Diablotin_Narrator] First thing you sense is fear - shadowy visions of the salamander attacking/eating people.

• Alma expected those, and will try to go back further... ;_;

[Diablotin_Narrator] You concentrate, trying to find older impressions... [Diablotin_Narrator] You sense a feeling of despair next. Your shadowy visions show you figures in the temple, crying out, holding up their hands, calling out in a language you don't know. [Diablotin_Narrator] Finally, gradually, they leave, as if whatever they sought has not been found. [Diablotin_Narrator] Trying to keep looking? [Alma] (If I can!) [Diablotin_Narrator] Roll a Concentration check to see if you can keep going. [Alma] (25) [Diablotin_Narrator] OK - you next sense a profound feeling of joyful reverence. [Diablotin_Narrator] You see the temple crowded with people, all looking at some glowing figure you can hardly make out - apart from its wings. [Diablotin_Narrator] They chant and sing, and hold their hands up as if in veneration. [Diablotin_Narrator] Concentration check to try and go back further if you want. [Diablotin_Narrator] (DC is getting higher, of course...) [Alma] (25) [Diablotin_Narrator] ok, you can't hold the concetration any longer, after 30 minutes [Alma] (I try destiny!) [Diablotin_Narrator] (ok) [Alma] (boo) [Diablotin_Narrator] (no luck)

• Alma opens her eyes with a sigh

[Ysabeau] Did you learn anything?

• Alma tells of what she saw.

[Ysabeau] Interesting... [Sanadhil] so they found relief here, but then their god... left them, or something happened to it [Seth] So their protector abandoned them, leading them to leave this place ... [Sanadhil] Myabe it was a Dragon? Or some other powerful creature that can change its form. [Ysabeau] Maybe it was eaten by a dragon... [Ysabeau] I've been thinking... [Sanadhil] yes? [Ysabeau] They worship ancestors here, still - that's what the henga is all about. And these murals show many Owls, Wolves, etcetera... not just one. [Ysabeau] I wonder if we're also just worshipping our ancestors. [Ysabeau] And maybe... maybe there's something else. Behind them... [Ysabeau] :/

• Ysabeau glances guiltily at Sister Alma. That's probably blasphemy.
• Alma mulls that over, though a bit frowny.

[Ysabeau] Well, maybe not worship. [Enoch] Well, it's a lot to think about... but it's getting late. We should get back to camp. [Ysabeau] They venerate the ancestors here. [Ysabeau] But maybe we've turned that veneration into our worship of Owl and the others. [Seth] Venerating ancestors is very different from venerating animals, it would seem to me. But perhaps. [Ysabeau] Well, look at these murals... it's people with animal heads. [Alma] Neither the beings in the murals, nor the gods, are animals... [Sanadhil] indeed.. [Sanadhil] We can discuss this just as well around the fires, in any case [Ysabeau] True.

• Alma nods.
• Alma will lastly try to take some scrapings from the blood at the altar, just in case.

[Diablotin_Narrator] Over the next few days, you investigate the other ruins in the valley. What you find there mostly suggests ordinary dwelling places, some signs of fortification along the wall. The items you find there are all non-magical - broken pots, bits of broken bone and teeth, spear- and arrow-heads, and so forth - except for one. [Diablotin_Narrator] It is a clay oil lamp decorated with a pattern of stars, that radiates faint evocation magic. Around its base are some scratches that could be writing.

• Sanadhil will cast comprehend languages

[Alma] Stars are important symbols to the Cozovode, no?

• Ysabeau will attempt to decipher the possible writing.

[Sanadhil] Yes..

• Sanadhil looks it over more closely
• Ilphere will also cast CL, and take a rubbing of it for good measure.

[Diablotin_Narrator] San - it reads "safe journey by starlight". [Ysabeau] (14 for my Decipher Script roll) [Sanadhil] safe journey by starlight.. [Sanadhil] hmm. [Diablotin_Narrator] (Ysa - nothing with a 14) [Ilphere] (what would we roll to guess what language this might be related to?) [Diablotin_Narrator] Decipher Script, I guess. [Sanadhil] (21!) [Ilphere] (22 :V) [Diablotin_Narrator] San and Ilphere, you think it is most similar to Archaic Aveyronnais, but seems even older. [Diablotin_Narrator] Proto-Aveyronnais, if you will. [Alma] (21 also if we can roll that untrained) [Diablotin_Narrator] (no, it's trained only) [Ilphere] (oh then nm) [Alma] Interesting. [Sanadhil] It's some form of... proto-Aveyronnais? [Ilphere] Fascinating! [Alma] What do you think it does? [Ysabeau] Maybe helps you see in the dark? [Ysabeau] It *is* a lamp, after all.

• Ysabeau smiles at Alma.
• Sanadhil will see if he can activate it (28 UMD)

[Diablotin_Narrator] San - you can try lighting it, that seems like a good start :)

• Sanadhil will do so

[Diablotin_Narrator] You wonder if the words are an activation phrase of some sort.

• Sanadhil will read them aloud

[Sanadhil] (using as close as I can determine to the 'correct' pronounciation) [Diablotin_Narrator] Sanadhil, when you speak the words, the light changes from the gentle glow of an oil lamp to a strong blue-white shine. [Ilphere] Oh...! [Ilphere] (Spellcraft?) [Ysabeau] Like starlight. [Alma] (32 SC, 17 KA) [Ilphere] (32 on SC to recognize the spell effect?) [Diablotin_Narrator] (about 30 ft radius, plus another 30 ft of dim light beyond that. And those of you with low-light vision can see three times as far as usual. [Sanadhil] That is....quite impressive

• Sanadhil says, looking of into the distance

[Guillame] Wow... [Ilphere] (32 Ka also I guess_ [Sanadhil] well, that will be quite useful [Diablotin_Narrator] (it's a lamp that gives you light ;) [Sanadhil] especially if we still intent to explore the caves. [Ilphere] (oooo :V) [Enoch] Indeed - I was thinking we should begin that tomorrow, if no one objects. [Ysabeau] I think we should!

• Ysabeau agrees with M. Walther enthusiastically.

[Ilphere] I certainly hold no opposition..! [Sanadhil] no - we've made a great number of fascinating discveries, but we should see what else there is to learn here, as well. [Ysabeau] In the face of cataclysm, some may have sheltered in the caves while others moved on... [Ysabeau] Supposing that the cataclysm destroyed their homes. [Ysabeau] I guess there's no way to tell when these ruind became ruins - whether it was just time or if it was a cataclysm.

[Diablotin_Narrator] All right - in the morning, Dom has a bad case of food poisoning, so he can't come with you to the caves :p [Diablotin_Narrator] The caves are at the north side of the valley, burrowing down into the rocky hillside. The map appears to indicate eight openings, but some of these have evidently been blocked off by rockslides and collapses over the centuries - you are only able to locate three.

• Ysabeau will make sure he's comfortable and stuff before leaving him to fend for himself. :P

[Enoch] They're fairly close together on the map - it's possible that they join up inside anyway.

• Sanadhil nods

[Alma] (link to map again julie?) [Diablotin_Narrator] [Diablotin_Narrator] (brb bio and then you can go spelunking :)

• Enoch picks one of the open caves that looks reasonably unlikely to collapse.
• Sanadhil will bring the lamp

[Diablotin_Narrator] The entry is low, so you have to crouch to enter, but the ceiling is higher inside, so you are able to walk without smashing your heads *too* often on the rock formations that dangle from the ceiling. [Diablotin_Narrator] Passing through the entryway of the cave, you can detect indications than an animal has made its lair here, though it seems to be long gone. Some shards of gnawed bone, a faint musky odour, and an indentation in the dirt of the floor where it likely slept are all that remain.

• Ilphere will have again cast Mage armour.
• Alma will keep an eye out with Deathwatch and Detect Spirits

[Diablotin_Narrator] A short distance in, you find your way blocked by a heavy slab of stone.

• Sanadhil will also cast MA

[Alma] How disappointing :( [Diablotin_Narrator] (you can all make a Spot check) [Sanadhil] there are other entrances.... or we could try and shift it [Alma] (Spot 24) [Sanadhil] (26) [Ilphere] (27)

• Sanadhil looks around
• Guillame rolls 1d20+12: (7)+ 12 = 19
• Sanadhil seems to be perhaps slightly on edge

[Seth] (28) [Diablotin_Narrator] Those of you who got above 25 can notice that there is a pattern of marks carved into its surface. [Ilphere] Oh, look at this... [Diablotin_Narrator] A series of dots/stars.

• Ilphere runs her fingers lightly over the carvings.
• Sanadhil will see if he can make any sense of them (....with decipher script!)

[Diablotin_Narrator] It's not a script. [Ilphere] (what might we roll?) [Alma] (Does it match constellations?) [Seth] (could they be mason's marks or part of an architectural plan?) [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma - got K: Astrology or something equivalent?

• Sanadhil considers it more closely

[Diablotin_Narrator] Seth - you think not. [Sanadhil] (16 on astrology?) [Alma] (Not really, could I do Religion with a higher DC since we pay attention to the constellations of the gods?) [Diablotin_Narrator] San - you think it is somewhat like a constellation, but some 'stars' seem out of place, it's not quite right. [Ilphere] (how big is the marked area?) [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma - you can roll Religion, sure. [Sanadhil] It is some constellation.... [Ilphere] (I will try religion too if that's ok) [Alma] (38) [Diablotin_Narrator] sure [Ilphere] (38) [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma and Ilphere, you think it is closest to the Wolf constellation, though you do notice, as San did, that it's a bit distorted/doesn't seem quite the same. [Sanadhil] if this is old enough they may have shifted

• Ilphere will sketch out the pattern in her journal as well.

[Ilphere] It does resemble the Wolf...

• Sanadhil nods

[Alma] Yes, it does. [Alma] Perhaps these caves are a necropolis of sorts.

• Sanadhil casts detect magic
• Alma will deathwatch and detect spirits again, beyond the stone if it can penetrate.

[Diablotin_Narrator] You don't detect any magic on the stone, San. [Alma] I could get rid of the stone, but it would destroy this carving... :( [Seth] Perhaps one of us from the Wolf should touch it. [Sanadhil] you could try [Ilphere] (I was already touching it) [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma, you don't detect anything beyond the stone.

• Sanadhil looks around the rest of the cavern as well, incase there si somethign else we are missing

[Diablotin_Narrator] Just the magic that's on you guys. [Alma] Mr. Argo, does it look like the stone supports the cave ceiling? [Seth] (does it?) [Diablotin_Narrator] Seth - you don't think so. It looks rather like this is a door, but one with no obvious means of opening it.

• Sanadhil runs his hands over the stone to see if it is really just a straight carving

[Sanadhil] (search?)

• Alma will also look around

[Diablotin_Narrator] (sure, you can roll)

• Alma finds Danyel! :D
• Alma gives him a little discreet hug

[Sanadhil] (26)

• Ysabeau checks to see if the out of place stars can be moved.

[Diablotin_Narrator] San, you think there is something embedded in each 'star' on the door - like little bits of metal or something? [Sanadhil] there is something here... [Alma] Oh? [Ilphere] Let's have a look... [Sanadhil] something embedded in the stars [Diablotin_Narrator] just little flat pieces of metal, not like buttons.

• Ilphere flips down her lenses to examine what San is pointing out.

[Ysabeau] (Can the out-of-place stars be moved?) [Diablotin_Narrator] No, they're carved/embedded in the stone. [Ysabeau] (ok) [Alma] Perhaps if certain ones are touched... but which? [Seth] Perhaps the ones that are in the wrong place. [Ilphere] Well this is certainly a puzzle...! [Ysabeau] Maybe the out-of-place ones. [Sanadhil] feel free to try

• Ysabeau will...

[Ilphere] (can G detect traps or something) [Ysabeau] It might not work for me since I am from House Owl...

• Guillame will look for traps

[Diablotin_Narrator] make your roll then [Guillame] (It's search, right?) [Alma] Well, these are the ones that are slightly out of place...

• Alma indicates them

[Sanadhil] If it is safe, i can open it with a spell [Alma] Oh, yes, I suppose there's also that. [Diablotin_Narrator] yes

• Guillame rolls 1d20+15: (17)+ 15 = 32

[Diablotin_Narrator] Guillame, you don't detect any traps on the door. [Guillame] It seems safe enough...

• Sanadhil will cast knock, then

[Diablotin_Narrator] The stone slab slides open, revealing more passageway beyond.

• Sanadhil stands in the doorway with the light, looking ahead

[Diablotin_Narrator] This chamber has a stale smell about it, as though it has been unopened for a very long time, and the air is chilly.

• Sanadhil shivers slightly.
• Alma looks at everything! :D
• Ilphere hugs her cloak around her.
• Ilphere peers inside...
• Sanadhil looks to Guillame

[Diablotin_Narrator] (ok, let's put yourselves in order on the map...)

• Guillame can take point...

[Diablotin_Narrator] I'll just draw a quick sketch

• Alma will also be near hte front as she can detect things ;3

[Diablotin_Narrator] The walls here have been painted with animals - packs of wolves. Your lights catch the figures and make them seem to run in the flickering light. [Diablotin_Narrator] Nooks carved into the cave walls hold the skulls of beasts. [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma, as you progress down the tunnel, you can detect undead ahead.

• Alma raises her hand to Guillame

[Alma] [q] There is an undead.

• Guillame stops

[Ilphere] [q] Just one..?

• Alma focuses.

[Diablotin_Narrator] The cave seems to open up somewhat further ahead.

• Guillame sneaks forward, looking for undead

[Diablotin_Narrator] Within range of your spell, just one, yes.

• Alma casts detect Undead for more information.

[Alma] (60' range instead of 30') [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma, you can detect strong undead auras - 4 of them within range of your spell. [Alma] [q] Four strong auras. [Alma] (Are they spirits?)

• Sanadhil runs through a mental inventory of his spells and frowns
• Alma casts Disrupting Weapon on Danyel's sword.

[Diablotin_Narrator] what would tell you that? [Alma] (I detect spirits at will.) [Alma] (Also I wait to cast that until just before we go in.) [Diablotin_Narrator] what counts as 'spirits', though? [Diablotin_Narrator] incorporeal things? [Alma] (ethereal and incorporeal things) [Diablotin_Narrator] ok - then these are not spirits. [Alma] (Including non-undead) [Alma] (k)

• Alma casts Detect Evil for good measure :3

[Diablotin_Narrator] all right - let's just move over to GT for whatever you're doing next [Diablotin_Narrator] yes, Evil

• Alma shakes her wheel at the undead!!!

[Alma] GET OFF MY PORCH [Alma] Ladyiolanthe There was a combat with undead; the PCs killed them all. [Diablotin_Narrator] ok, back over here

• Ysabeau straightens her clothes.

[Diablotin_Narrator] The figures, when you examine them, are dessicated corpses - like mummies, but cold. [Guillame] I... think we're getting better at this.

• Alma looks around with her powers to make sure there are no more undead about...

[Diablotin_Narrator] Alma - you detect one more undead. [Diablotin_Narrator] At the far end of this large chamber, there is a massive wolf skull, larger than any normal beast could be. [Diablotin_Narrator] There are also several alcoves holding dead bodies. [Ilphere] Oh my...!

• Alma looks for the source of the undead.

[Alma] There's another undead nearby... [Ilphere] How strong...? [Diablotin_Narrator] Alma - one of the alcoves, you believe - that direction, at least. [Ilphere] (my magic circle lasts like an hour and 40 mins :V)

• Alma will cast Detect Undead again and concentrate to determine its strength.
• Sanadhil casts arcane sight

[Diablotin_Narrator] Overwhelming, Alma.

• Ysabeau will surreptitiously make a gesture of respect towards the wolf skull and other alcoves.

[Alma] (Is it Lv20+?) [Alma] (20HD+) [Diablotin_Narrator] (I thought overwhelming was just above 10) [Alma] (Yes, but if it's 20+ I am stunned) [Diablotin_Narrator] (oh, right - then no, not that strong) [Alma] It's strong, stronger than these were... [Diablotin_Narrator] San - there is magic in that alcove

• Alma casts a look around with the larger area Detect Undead spell before moving on to Detect Evil.

[Diablotin_Narrator] You all hear an eerie, howling, wailing sound from the small alcove.

• Alma detects spirits.

[Sanadhil] (specific auras?)

• Guillame keeps his shortsword drawn and looks up and around

[Diablotin_Narrator] (do I have to tell you right this second? there are some items, I could look them up ;) [Sanadhil] It's magical or has magic on it. [Sanadhil] (no that's fine) [Diablotin_Narrator] Ysa, please make a Perform check. [Ysabeau] (37) [Diablotin_Narrator] It could be a song, Ysabeau - a bardic spell, though not one you have ever heard before.

• Ysabeau will try to learn/memorize it.
• Seth remains alert, swords drawn, but does not move forward.

[Diablotin_Narrator] A translucent figure emerges from the shadows before you. It is female, slim under billowing robes that move as if in an unseen breeze. Its hair is long and also drifts freely, and it wears a veil over its face.

• Sanadhil casts zone of silence.

[Diablotin_Narrator] well, it becomes silent. [Alma] It is not evil... [Diablotin_Narrator] zone of silence :p [Alma] ...

• Alma attempts to talk.
• Ysabeau steps out of the zone if she can. I want to learn the song, dammit!

[Alma] (Zone of Silence does not do what Sanadhil thinks it does, perhaps.) [Diablotin_Narrator] (yeah, forget that :p)

• Ilphere casts Comprehend Languages.
• Ghost_ says something in a language you don't understand.
• Alma casts Tongues
• Ysabeau casts Tongues too.

[Ghost_] ... returned?

• Ghost_ says, as those of you who cast Tongues catch the end of whatever it was saying.

[Ysabeau] I am sorry, Lady... we missed what you first said.

• Ysabeau says respectfully

[Ghost_] My guides, have you finally returned? [Ysabeau] (Tongues lets me speak her languagr) [Ghost_] It has been so long...

• Ysabeau glances around at the rest.
• Alma shivers at the thought...

[Ysabeau] What sort of guidance do you seek?

• Guillame is blissfully oblivious

[Ghost_] They abandoned us... [Ilphere] Ask her who...! [Ysabeau] It has been a very long time, Lady. [Ilphere] Who abandoned them...? [Ysabeau] Much of what was known we may have forgotten over the years. Whom do you speak of? [Sanadhil] Can either of you translate for us? [Alma] Who abandoned you, waiting spirit? [Ysabeau] Perhaps you should start from the beginning...

• Ysabeau suggests respectfully and hopefully.
• Alma casts Tongues on Sanadhil

[Sanadhil] Thank you, Countess.

• Sanadhil will translate for the others.

[Ghost_] The [word unknown in your language - sounds like 'ain-gels'?] [Sanadhil] What are those? [Ghost_] The holy ones... the messengers of the Centre... [Ghost_] Are they gone? Did all perish?] [Ysabeau] Like the Seventh? [Alma] The ones reborn for the seventh time? [Ghost_] No! [Sanadhil] We know not of them. [Sanadhil] What were they? [Ghost_] They were glorious... they watched over us. [Ysabeau] Rat, Wolf, Lizard, Owl, Cat, Bear and Ox? [Alma] The winged being. [Ghost_] Those are our totems. Each tribe's spirit... [Ysabeau] We call them our gods, now... [Alma] The tribes have survived, in a sense. [Alma] ... may we know your name? [Ghost_] They are not gods! This is a blasphemy! [Sanadhil] The totems now intercede with the Centre, I believe.

• Alma stiffens.

[Ysabeau] Lady, you must teach us, then... [Ysabeau] I am afraid we have forgotten. [Sanadhil] They are as gods now. [Ghost_] Only the Centre is God. The Serpent... [Alma] What? [Ilphere] The Serpent...? [Ilphere] What about the Serpent ..?! [Ilphere] What is she saying..?! [Ysabeau] What of the Serpent?

• Ysabeau translates for Ilphere.

[Ghost_] Without the Serpent, there is no Centre. Where is the circle without its edge? [Guillame] Totems... [Alma] What is the Serpent, spirit? [Alma] Is it a creature of Good or Evil? [Ysabeau] Or neither, or both. [Ghost_] It forms the boundary between worlds. It is the all-seeing, it is the division between the Centre and the Void, it is the Guardian of [word unknown in your language, sounds like 'hev-in']. [Ghost_] You do not know of this? [Sanadhil] It is a serpent that has been forgotten.

• Ghost_ wails.

[Alma] The void in the stars has been filled... [Ilphere] Ask her about the void-filler... The Order refers to Vrag that way sometimes... [Ysabeau] We had even forgotten about Rat until 50 years ago... :/ [Ysabeau] Lady, maybe our meeting is meant to happen so you can teach us the old ways. Please don't despair. [Ghost_] No! You are spirits, sent to deceive me... it could not be so. [Alma] Who would seek to deceive you? [Ysabeau] If you do not trust us, is there a way you could test us?

• Ghost_ draws aside her veil, and you can all make a Fort save, DC 18.

[Ysabeau] (18... i JUST make it)

• Guillame rolls 1d20+6: (10)+ 6 = 16

[Guillame] (nope) [Ilphere] (22, sweet) [Sanadhil] (nope) [Seth] (yes, 23) [Diablotin_Narrator] Danyel also fails, Enoch makes it. [Alma] (Do we have any bonuses from the battle?) [Alma] (nm unless it's fear or charm) [Alma] (29) [Ysabeau] (my songs lasted a minute, I think they are gone by now) [Diablotin_Narrator] Those of you who fail see a momentary glimpse of such beauty your very eyes cannot bear it - you are struck blind. [Diablotin_Narrator] The rest of you see a woman's face, pale, with eyes that seem to pierce through you.

• Sanadhil will freeze in place, blinded.
• Guillame gasps
• Ysabeau does her best to not flinch and to appear as open and honest as she is...
• Ysabeau hopes the lady is not evil...

[Ysabeau] (cause then my good nature'll do me no good)

• Seth steps back.

[Ghost_] They must have succeeded in their goal, then... [Ghost_] There is nothing left for me here. [Ilphere] What's she saying...? [Ysabeau] The... the ain-gels? [Ysabeau] Or the totems...?

• Ilphere is frustrated...!

[Ghost_] Those who left this place, whose totems would not let them rest. [Sanadhil] What was their goal?

• Sanadhil asks cautiously.

[Ghost_] To find another Gate. [Ysabeau] Are these gates black and white? [Ghost_] To seek that which was lost to us. [Ysabeau] Like the image in the Temple nearby? [Ilphere] I knew it...! [Sanadhil] What was lost? [Ghost_] The way between worlds... the voice of God... [Ghost_] Let me rest. I have been here too long. [Sanadhil] Can we speak again?

• Ghost_ begs, to you or an unseen power, you are not certain.
• Ysabeau is saddened by the ghost's weariness.
• Ysabeau will describe the worlds connected by Arches like Ilphere/Pheria saw when she died.

[Ysabeau] Is that what you mean? Or something like it? [Ghost_] My name was Aushinre... I was shaman to the Wolves... I have served long, too long, and now I wish only to rest, if rest there can be in a world without God. [Alma] We need help, Aushinre [Alma] We want to know the truth, to protect our people. [Ysabeau] We seek wisdom... [Alma] Could we do anything to help you, to comfort you in return for time, and knowledge? [Aushinre] Let me rest. [Alma] Please... [Alma] We need to know the truth... [Aushinre] What truth? [Ysabeau] I suppose... how things were, and how they might have come to be how they are now. [Alma] ... there is a cult which seeks to revive worship of the Serpent, but we have experienced cults of the Serpent, with sadism and human sacrifice... but you speak of the Serpent as if it is good. [Alma] You say the Gods are not Gods, but for two thousand years the Empire of Aveyrone has revered them. [Ysabeau] How the tribal totems came to be worshipped as gods, if there was another power more ancient revered by the people of your time.

• Ysabeau nods agreement with Alma.

[Aushinre] I do not know... it was after I had passed beyond, and my sight grew faint... [Ysabeau] What happened before? That might lead us a few steps closer to understanding what happened after you passed beyond. [Aushinre] If I tell you what I can, will you give me rest? [Alma] I will, I promise. [Ysabeau] Yes, Lady! My word on it.

• Ysabeau looks around at the rest of the group to make sure no one is in disagreement.
• Alma has not sought consultation :P
• Ysabeau isn't really, either, just seeing whom might put up a fuss.

[Aushinre] I know that our people had long come here, seeking visions... wisdom... When our lands were destroyed, the survivors came here, seeking the protection of the ain-gels...

• Ysabeau settles down to listen and will help Sanadhil with translations if needed.

[Aushinre] But some were driven to move on - they spoke of dreams, messages from their totems that would not let them rest here, but drove them to find another Gate, one they said was far to the south. [Sanadhil] Another gate? [Alma] The Arch.

• Aushinre traces a sign in the air - a circle.

[Alma] Or ... perhaps not.

• Ysabeau makes the sign of the Wheel... are they similar?

[Aushinre] (somewhat)

• Alma is wearing a Wheel

[Aushinre] I do not know if they found what they were seeking... I know only that, many years later, the angels ceased to come to us... perhaps ceased to be, I do not know. [Seth] Ask her about her gate.

• Sanadhil nods to Seth.

[Sanadhil] What is the gate? [Aushinre] I was not yet born when it was lost to us. Tales say it was as a pool of water, containing the night itself. [Sanadhil] Do you know where it was? [Ysabeau] Was it flat, on the ground, or standing on one edge? [Aushinre] In Am, our lost home. [Ysabeau] Is Am beyond the gate, in another world? [Ysabeau] Or in this world, but away from here? [Aushinre] Far away to the east.

• Ysabeau nods.

[Alma] Do you know why Am was lost to you? [Aushinre] It was destroyed... [Ysabeau] How was it destroyed? [Aushinre] Fires and storms and sand. [Ysabeau] Was it natural or caused by something or someone? [Ysabeau] The destruction, I mean. [Aushinre] Caused by those who sinned. [Alma] Sinned? [Alma] Did the G- ... did the totems punish them? [Seth] [q] ... the testament of a dead civilization whose priests, seeking power, swung open the dread gate and were consumed. [Aushinre] They were punished by the Serpent. [Alma] Seth? [Seth] Ah ... nothing. [Seth] We shall have to think on this muchly, later.

• Ysabeau will describe the Arch and ask if that sounds like another gate...

[Aushinre] It could be.

• Ysabeau nods.

[Aushinre] I do not know - I never saw a Gate. [Ysabeau] It looks empty, though - just two halves of a ring, one above and one below ground.

• Ysabeau nods again.

[Ysabeau] There is, in the city where the descendants of those who left live, a gate to another world. [Ysabeau] It's like a mirror of this world, but inhabited by people of shadow. [Alma] A gate to ... something. [Ysabeau] Does that sound familiar to you? [Aushinre] A gate is a route to another world. [Alma] That is the dream world, Ysabeau, the gate does not lead there... [Alma] We saw a vision that the Arch was in all the worlds, connecting them all. [Ysabeau] The Shadow Realm is what I'm talking about, Alma. [Ysabeau] Saraknyel. [Ysabeau] Through the alley [Alma] That is ... more like a hole. [Alma] Perhaps. [Ysabeau] Yes, but it's a way into another world. [Sanadhil] It is not the same thing, Ysabeau.

• Alma looks at Aushinre

[Ysabeau] Lady Aushinre just said that a gate is a route to another world. [Ysabeau] I am just trying to clarify, M. Orecalo. [Ysabeau] Trying to figure it out.

• Sanadhil nods

[Alma] Aushinre, you said you were a shaman, did you receive powers from your totem, the Wolf? [Aushinre] I did.

• Ysabeau turns back to the Lady.

[Alma] But yet you say the Wolf is not a God? [Ysabeau] Our priests now get their powers from Wolf and the others, too. [Aushinre] It is.. the voice of my ancestors. [Alma] We saw a vision of beings of great power, deciding what to do with the spirits of the dead. [Alma] Not just one being, but multiple.

• Alma sighs

[Sanadhil] Perhaps they usurped the power of the center [Sanadhil] The Serpent was long trapped inside the other gate

• Alma scowls.
• Sanadhil can't see!

[Ysabeau] Lady Aushinre... what was the Serpent like? [Ysabeau] What did the Serpent encourage, in those who followed It? [Aushinre] It is... was... beyond our knowing. [Alma] Would it ask its followers to do acts of evil?

• Ilphere frowns...

[Ysabeau] Were there certain practices among its followers? Codes of conduct that were expected? [Ysabeau] I would like to know what those were, if there were any. [Sanadhil] ...you assume it even had followers the way we think of it. [Alma] It seeks them now, does it not? [Ilphere] It's off balance...

• Ilphere murmurs...

[Aushinre] Our contact was mediated through the angels...

• Ysabeau nods.

[Aushinre] They were beings of great goodness. [Ysabeau] Does the name Vrag mean anything to you...? [Aushinre] I know not that name. [Alma] A race of people from the Plane of Shadow knew of the Serpent by that name, as well as Ophion. [Ysabeau] We think it might be another name for the Serpent... but its followers tend to practice evil. Slavery and human sacrifice... [Alma] Their worship of the Serpent was that which I mentioned, dark and cruel... not mediated by beings of great goodness. [Ysabeau] Which are considered evil now, thought I grant they may not always have been. [Alma] Aushinre, how can I help you pass on? [Ysabeau] I am curious what may have happened, to twist things so much... [Aushinre] I do not know.... I do not know why I am still here... [Sanadhil] Ysabeau, we cannot expect her to have insight into everything...

• Sanadhil says patiently

[Alma] Would you like me to perform a rite upon your body? [Aushinre] Will that let me rest? [Ysabeau] I'm thinking aloud, Sanadhil

• Sanadhil takes a deep calming breath.

[Ysabeau] I was hoping to learn if such practices were done when she was alive. [Alma] I'm not sure...

• Alma thinks

[Ysabeau] Thank you, Lady Aushinre. [Sanadhil] Yes, thank you. [Alma] Is your body in the alcove, Aushinre? [Aushinre] Yes.

• Alma will go find it.
• Ilphere moves over to Sanadhil.

[Diablotin_Narrator] In the alcove, you find a woman's body. Its face would be covered with a death mask of beaten gold, except that the mask has slipped askew.

• Sanadhil turns his head in the direction of the sound, and frowns, looking not really at her.

[Alma] .oO( Something so small? ) [Diablotin_Narrator] Between her feet is a wolf skull, and a stringed musical instrument lies at her side. [Ilphere] [w] We need to get back to the city...! [Ysabeau] ... [Ysabeau] That song you sang when we first arrived... it was lovely. [Alma] Does anything look wrong here, Aushinre? [Alma] The mask is askew... [Sanadhil] [q] I haven't been able to see anything since she slipped aside her veil... [Ysabeau] I see that you played as well. [Aushinre] No one remained to perform the proper rites, perhaps...

• Ysabeau smiles.

[Ysabeau] What are the proper rites? [Sanadhil] [q]...but you're right. [Ysabeau] I don't suppose it would help if you guided us through them, anyway... :/ [Ilphere] [w] Oh dear, I am sorry, I didn't realize...! [Aushinre] Once my bones were bare, the skull must be taken to the Great Wolf. [Aushinre] And the wolf skull put in its place. [Ysabeau] We can do that...

• Ysabeau glances at the huge wolf skull.
• Sanadhil nods

[Alma] We will try that. [Aushinre] Thank you. [Alma] If it works... I hope you find the Centre, Aushinre. [Alma] .oO( And I hope we find the truth... ) [Ysabeau] I hope you do, as well. [Aushinre] I pray that I will do so. [Ysabeau] Alma and I... we're from the Owl tribe. [Ysabeau] Does that matter?

• Alma prays silently to Owl as she puts the mask back into place.

[Ysabeau] We have people here who follow the Wolf as you do. [Aushinre] It should be a Wolf who does it. [Alma] Ah... [Aushinre] But perhaps it does not matter any longer.

• Ysabeau glances at the House Wolf people.

[Alma] Princess? [Ysabeau] Would one of you care to do the honour? [Ilphere] If you wish...

• Ilphere will carry out the requisite skull swap
• Sanadhil stays where he is

[Diablotin_Narrator] As you place the wolf skull in place, the spirit fades away.

• Alma looks oddly at the blind ones

[Alma] Everything alright? [Sanadhil] No. [Danyel] Well, I can't see. [Ysabeau] Oh... [Sanadhil] indeed. [Ysabeau] I didn't realize. [Danyel] I didn't want to interrupt. [Alma] Oh, that's awful.

• Alma will cure Danyel's blindness.

[Sanadhil] I wasn't certain how she would react, if it was some kind of test. [Danyel] Thank you.

• Alma will cure Sanadhil's as well.

[Sanadhil] Thank you, Countess. [Alma] Mr. Rionet as well?

• Alma will cure his.

[Ysabeau] Well... I have even more questions than answers now.

• Sanadhil takes a deep breath.

[Ysabeau] I suppose that's how the quest for knowledge goes, though.

• Ysabeau sighs.
• Sanadhil nods.

[Guillame] Thank you

• Sanadhil looks down at his magic lamp, and around at the cave.

[Sanadhil] Is there any need to linger? [Diablotin_Narrator] (San, did you want to know about the magic items with the body?) [Ysabeau] What next? [Sanadhil] (yes please) [Ysabeau] Maybe there are other shaman of other tribes in the other caves... [Ysabeau] But I don't know that we'd learn any more from them than what we learned from her. [Diablotin_Narrator] The strings of the instrument are magical. There is also a necklace of ivory and jade about her neck, a quiver, and a small bag.

• Ysabeau will look at the stringed instrument but not touch it; not gonna rob a grave.

[Sanadhil] Though she does have some magical objects... [Guillame] But if there is a shaman of Rat... there would be a lot to be learned...

• Alma casts Guidance and reaches down to touch her fingertips to the mask lightly.

[Diablotin_Narrator] You also find a (non-magical) gold ring on her finger - shaped like a serpent with ruby eyes. [Ysabeau] (Does the instrument look like an analogue to anything I know?) [Sanadhil] the strings of the instrument, the necklace, the quiver, and this small bag...

• Sanadhil looks over it

[Ysabeau] I think we should leave it - they're her grave goods. [Sanadhil] (I meant the bag, but also the ring) [Ysabeau] I'd love it if one of you artists could draw that instrument for me, though...

• Ysabeau says hopefully.

[Sanadhil] She's already gone to rest [Ysabeau] Then maybe I could have one built when we get back to Diablotin. [Sanadhil] the other objects we took from the temple were offerings as well - at leaast some of them. [Sanadhil] I don't think it matters now.

• Sanadhil picks up the bag... also the ring

[Guillame] I suppose they're the same as good in any long-undisturbed grave... we'd excavate those. [Sanadhil] indeed [Diablotin_Narrator] The bag feels empty, San. [Ysabeau] We don't talk to their occupants.

• Sanadhil will also take the necklace

[Enoch] I would take the quiver, if no one objects.

• Ysabeau glances at Alma...

[Guillame] How does it differ? If you consider it disrespectful, it's as one.

• Alma lifts the mask from the dead shaman's face gently.
• Alma wraps it in a cloth to take with us.

[Seth_] These are objects of strong importance for our investigations. Obviously we must take them all to study them. [Alma] Her spirit has moved on, Ysabeau. [Ysabeau] Fine...

• Ysabeau takes the instrument out reverently.

[Alma] I ... admit I was reluctant, since her spirit lived unsettled for so long...

• Alma makes sure to Lay to Rest the shaman -_-

[Alma] She won't rise again. [Diablotin_Narrator] All right, we're done.

Solos

• Ysabeau is sifting through the contents of one of the houses with Dom to keep her company. There haven't been many opportunities

to have time alone together on this trip. [Ysabeau] (Night watch doesn't count since we have to watch and keep quiet so the others can sleep... I don't know how many shifts we'd have had together anyway.) [Dominik] (maybe the occaisonal, but likely not many)

• Dominik watches Ysabeau work but does heavy lifting as needed.
• Ysabeau is bundled up in her cloak and the new-to-her boots. Her face is probably a bit chapped from the cold wind, so a bit

ruddier than usual. [Ysabeau] Time to take a break! [Dominik] Can you magic us up some spiced wine?

• Ysabeau announces, and sits down on a broken chunk of wall, in the shelter of a more intact wall.

[Dominik] warmed spiced wine at that [Ysabeau] I can sing songs about spiced wine, but I'm afraid I can't conjure it up. [Ysabeau] Will strong tea do...? [Dominik] Singing about it would just remind me of the cold and the lack of the previously mentioned warmed spiced wine. [Dominik] That appears to be all we have.

• Ysabeau pulls out a thick metal cylinder and unscrews the lid, pouring out some steaming tea into the lid.

[Ysabeau] (I don't know if they had thermos-like things in the 1800s but I don't see why not.... probably not as efficient as ones we'd have today, insulated with horse hair or something equally unsanitary...) [Dominik] All this cold, tea, and strange food...why the void does it get to me so. [Ysabeau] Because everything gets to you, maybe...?

• Ysabeau teases.
• Dominik eyes Ysabeau
• Ysabeau offers you the lid.
• Ysabeau smiles at him.
• Dominik takes it and sips the warm liquid.
• Ysabeau sips directly out of the cylinder.

[Dominik] I can understand why men around here keep beards. [Ysabeau] Let me know if you want more tea, there's plenty. [Dominik] although they would make drinking tea messy

• Ysabeau eyes Dominik.

[Ysabeau] You with a beard, hmm? [Ysabeau] I wouldn't object, if you wanted to grow one. Unless you'd have a really scratchy beard. [Dominik] I like my clean shaven face thank you. I'll endure some cold. Besides were not staying here forever [Ysabeau] Fair enough! While you were growing it out, kissing you might be less pleasant, anyway. ;) [Ysabeau] So, how have you been? I feel like we haven't really had a chance to talk with one another for ages. [Ysabeau] I suppose that's because we *haven't* really had a chance to talk with one another for ages.

• Ysabeau observes.

[Dominik] We've been busy and we haven't exactly been having the nicest conversations since the weddings. [Ysabeau] :/ [Dominik] I haven't been the most pleasant of company to be around either. [Ysabeau] Everyone goes through some rough times. [Ysabeau] We just have to work through them. [Dominik] My anger can be like a large boat plowing through a calm lake... other crafts get tossed around without me even intending, or wanting to. [Ysabeau] I've really missed you. [Ysabeau] I suppose you'll have to downsize your craft, then. [Dominik] Its too cold here to be angry. My problems are half a world away. [Dominik] I've missed you too

• Ysabeau smiles up at you.

[Ysabeau] How are things in the boys' tent? ;D [Dominik] Seth moans alot, as much as I try I have little in common with Guillame

• Dominik sits down

[Ysabeau] You don't like Guillame?

• Ysabeau looks puzzled.

[Dominik] I never said that. [Ysabeau] I misunderstood, then... [Dominik] I just don't think we'll be hitting the taverns and whistling at girls legs any time soon. [Ysabeau] Do you do that often?

• Ysabeau chuckles.

[Dominik] It's much more fun in the spring... probably summer around here. [Ysabeau] Well, the girls' tent is pretty dull, too. Naked pillow fights every night. *sigh*

• Dominik laughs

[Dominik] The though of Sister Alma in a naked pillow fight [Ysabeau] What - you don't believe me?

• Ysabeau laughs, dropping her poker face.

[Ysabeau] It's actually pretty quiet in there... [Ysabeau] Ilphere chats with Sanadhil until late, then only goes in to sleep. [Dominik] Lets just say if when you said naked, you ment stripped bare through prayer and repentence, and by pillow fight you ment moral debates, then yes I would believe you.

• Ysabeau smiles.

[Ysabeau] Sister Alma chats with Ser Danyel until late, then only goes in to sleep. After her prayers, of course. [Dominik] Now if you said Ser Danyel snuck in and Sister Alma and he had a pillow fight, I may believe that.

• Ysabeau giggles.

[Ysabeau] I doubt that'll happen until they're married, if he ever asks her. [Dominik] They're both in to eachother, its stupid they don't do something about it. [Ysabeau] I don't think it's that stupid...

• Dominik idly picks up a stone and bounces it off a collapsed wall.

[Ysabeau] They're courting, the way most normal people do it. [Dominik] I always knew I wasn't normal

• Ysabeau laughs.

[Ysabeau] It can be scary to open up to someone if you've always been pretty self-sufficient. [Ysabeau] So a lot of people take their time until they can build up their trust enough, I suppose. [Ysabeau] I don't know; I'm just guessing. [Dominik] They act like they're so old... where's the passion of the moment. [Dominik] Even Ilphere was more passionate with Menard when they were "courting" [Ysabeau] It's there - it's just different for everyone. [Dominik] I'll tell you what I see... tradgedy. [Dominik] They'll both move so slow that life or something else will come along and ruin their opportunity and they'll both regret it. [Ysabeau] Some people might regret doing things too fast, though, too. [Ysabeau] I think they're like that. :) [Dominik] Its a dangerous world, and were involved in dangerous events. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? [Ysabeau] I know that's how you feel. I'm just saying not everyone is like that.

• Ysabeau smiles.
• Dominik nods

[Ysabeau] Gods know, I might have been more like Sister Alma, if my parents had anything to do with it. ;) [Dominik] I could have been more like Ser Danyle if my parents would have done more. [Ysabeau] Anyway, they didn't, and I am who I am, and you are who you are. [Dominik] I like who you are [Ysabeau] Nothing to do but continue on and do what we can to make ourselves and others happy. :) [Ysabeau] Thank you, Dominik.

• Dominik puts an arm round Ysabeau

[Dominik] Assuming you are in there somewhere. [Ysabeau] You have doubts? [Dominik] There is so much padding

• Dominik starts to pat you down with his other hand
• Dominik brings a gloved hand to Ysabeaus ruddy cheek

[Dominik] Wait I think I found you.

• Ysabeau smiles. Dom is so silly and cute when he wants to be.

[Dominik] You could be an ice illusion caused by my illness... only one way to be sure it's really you and I haven't been talking to myself for the past few minutes. [Ysabeau] Well, I'm not going to strip down and die of exposure for you, I'm afraid.

• Ysabeau tilts her chin up to kiss you and catches your wandering hand with her own.
• Dominik kisses her

[Ysabeau] But that's the beauty of skirts... [Ysabeau] If you want to try. [Dominik] Everyone else is busy. [Ysabeau] Indeed. [Dominik] But I refuse to risk you brusing that divine bottom of yours on these rocks. [Ysabeau] That's why we do it up against a wall, silly boy. [Ysabeau] It's called a knee-trembler. [Dominik] When we're through it will be a wall trembler

• Dominik smiles slyly

[Ysabeau] Well, for the sake of my divine bottom, I hope you won't be quite that forceful. [Dominik] You make me burn for you.

• Ysabeau stands up and guides you over to a wall...