At Normont's compliment, Lokilia gives him a brief nod and smile. "Thank you." In response to Dev she says, "Well, I was lucky to find something. It's probably too big and would fall right off if not for the tie!" She laughs lightly and for a brief moment enjoys the compliments. She's also rather glad to see Dev beaming at her for the moment. She then moves with the others as they head for dinner.
Noting Dev's humming stop as he hears the news about Balaran, she does start to be concerned. But before she can even start to think about things to say, Dev is already saying that it's fine. And it sounds like he really means it. "We'll just have a grand time tonight ourselves!"she says feeling even happier that her friend accepted the news so well.
Once they are led to their table and she's seated, Lokilia tells the woman, "Thank you very much. Yes, I would like a drink." She takes the menu, pausing a moment to consider. "Do you have pear brandy? A small glass if you do." She then opens up the menu, starting to look through it.
"Nuts and bolts, Quinn! Nothing is wrong", Normont replies taking more than a few steps back from the larger earth genasi as he brandishes his blade. "I just didn't think you'd want to miss dinner", he adds.
When they make their way downstairs, he inclines his head to Manfred and gives him a thumbs up in gratitude for the clothes, before heading through to the dining room. Amber is perched on his shoulder, all polished and gleaming.
"You know, being invited to the castle, presumably for dinner, is a big deal. Your friend must be quite an important person, Dev", he whispers along the way.
He takes his seat at the table by the window, and smiles up at the maitre de.
"I think I will go for an apple cider. Joining you with a fruit theme, Lokilia", he says jovially. He feels clean and safe and simply happy to be home.
He also then starts to peruse the menu.
He will respond to Dev's toast by raising his own tankard, "To friendship!", he repeats. "And to those who can't be with us, who will be missed", he adds.
Quinn will sheath his sword and say, "I guess I am too used to sleeping in the wild that I still respond that way in a nice place like this. I am so sorry to scare you friend!"
Quinn will take a seat at the table, hoping it fits his large frame comfortably.
Various fruit themed beverages are brought to the table and dinner options are explained off the menu, the menu seems mostly locally sourced though with a tendency towards preserved or transformed foods due to the winter season.
" So are you staying in town for Winters Crest?", the maitre de, Trina, asked as she took their food orders. Looking outside the street was empty and a light dusting of snow was falling illuminated by the street lamps. Most of the windows were dark but a little way down the street a neat thatch roofed cottage blazed with light and laughter, the pinnacle of the roof crowned by a metal artwork reminiscent of The Everlight icon.
"Winter's Crest", Normont repeats. "Is it coming up to the 20th already? I had quite forgotten that it is approaching. Perhaps we will", he continues, looking to the others to see if they have strong opinions.
"There will be games and feasting. Do any of you like pie?", he asks, before taking a long sip from his apple cider.
"You know, being invited to the castle, presumably for dinner, is a big deal. Your friend must be quite an important person, Dev", he whispers along the way.
Dev's smile cools when Normont mentions the castle. Dev knows that Normont means this as a compliment of sorts, but in Dev's mind, the walls of the castle where Balaran is spending the evening begin to feel as if they were built to keep him, Dev, out.
"He is a noble's son," he responds. When he meets Normont's gaze, the gnome's good nature wins over Dev's reservations and he chuckles. "Definitely an important person," he smiles, attempting a boastful tone in jest.
Various fruit themed beverages are brought to the table and dinner options are explained off the menu, the menu seems mostly locally sourced though with a tendency towards preserved or transformed foods due to the winter season.
" So are you staying in town for Winters Crest?", the maitre de, Trina, asked as she took their food orders. Looking outside the street was empty and a light dusting of snow was falling illuminated by the street lamps. Most of the windows were dark but a little way down the street a neat thatch roofed cottage blazed with light and laughter, the pinnacle of the roof crowned by a metal artwork reminiscent of The Everlight icon.
"Winter's Crest", Normont repeats. "Is it coming up to the 20th already? I had quite forgotten that it is approaching. Perhaps we will", he continues, looking to the others to see if they have strong opinions.
"There will be games and feasting. Do any of you like pie?", he asks, before taking a long sip from his apple cider.
Dev's eyes fall on the cottage through the windows and remain there for a long moment, thinking back to his little shack by Mooren Lake and the time Lokilia and Jasper had joined him and his parents for dinner. The humble warmth of the memory seems in keeping with the humble cottage -- humble, at least, compared to castles and expensive hotels. Topped off by Raei's image, with its connection to healing and warm morning light, Dev's thoughts fly.
"Hmm? Oh, I was just looking there," he answers Normont, pulled back to the present. He then asks the maitre de. "Do you know who lives there?"
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DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
"Well, who wouldn't like pie?" Lokilia says when Normont asks the question, seeming excited. "Tell us more about this Winter's Crest. Sounds interesting. Though..." Her expression suddenly looks a bit concerned, erasing the relaxed happiness of the moment before. "I suppose it means even more people coming into the city? At some point we probably should go and rescue our horses from down south." She isn't sure there really is a rush, but it seemed like a good excuse.
As Dev asks about the building and Trina says it's a bakery, she seems confused. "Quite a lively place there for a bakery at night! Must have really good stuff there."
“Oh,” answers Dev, whose hoped-for answer was perhaps less mundane. “And yeah, I like pie too. Is that part of the Winter’s Crest celebration here too, Normont?”
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DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
"A noble's son means they are noble as well", Normont muses as he strokes his beard knowingly. "A fine addition to your circle of friends", he agrees, also jesting.
"Pike Trickfoot", he then confirms. "Another member of Vox Machina who calls Whitestone home. I believe the bakery itself is a little way away, that is just her home if I am not mistaken", he says taking great pride that Whitestone has so many links to Vox Machina. Especially as without them he certainly wouldn't be alive now, as he would have not escaped Emon.
"During Winter's Crest there is normally a great pie eating contest. They are not really like bread, Quinn. They are made of pastry, and can be filled with all sorts of things. They can be sweet like blueberries or savoury like meat or fish. And it's not just pie eating, there are archery competitions and arm wrestling. Gambling and other forms of revelry. It is much like in other towns and cities across Tal'Dorei. I am surprised none of you have heard of it. It was founded to celebrate the end of the Icelost Years and the fall of Former Casle. When Errevon the Rimelord was defeated. But it is basically the winter solstice".
"As for the horses, I think Magnus requested they be picked up in his letter to the Cobalt Soul. Either way, I am not ready to leave. I haven't seen my Grandfather yet, and I have more to report. I could meet you somewhere perhaps?", he says, sounding torn between splitting up and having to leave his home so soon.
"Yea, you're right. Normont, there's no reason to rush away from Whitestone. I'll be fine here for a bit." Lokilia says it, perhaps she means it, but there is still a tiny bit of anxiety in her look. "We should stay for the celebration if we can." She pauses a moment, trying to recall what obligations they might have. "I don't think we have anywhere to go to in any hurry, do we?"
"A noble's son means they are noble as well", Normont muses as he strokes his beard knowingly.
Dev, who knew this but had somehow not quite allowed himself to think it, nods with a smile, but the clamp on his good feelings tightens one more notch. He nods, trying to look happy.
During Winter's Crest there is normally a great pie eating contest. They are not really like bread, Quinn. They are made of pastry, and can be filled with all sorts of things. They can be sweet like blueberries or savoury like meat or fish. And it's not just pie eating, there are archery competitions and arm wrestling. Gambling and other forms of revelry. It is much like in other towns and cities across Tal'Dorei. I am surprised none of you have heard of it.
Dev's reticence now shrinks in turn, thinking of delicious pastries. He gently corrects Normont.
"I celebrate Winter's Crest. When I was a kid, it was the one day my parents would scrape together a half-copper to buy me a little sack of hard candy as a gift. I would savor each piece, every year trying and failing to make them last until springtime. Most years, I would eat every one of them that very night."
"Yea, you're right. Normont, there's no reason to rush away from Whitestone. I'll be fine here for a bit." Lokilia says it, perhaps she means it, but there is still a tiny bit of anxiety in her look. "We should stay for the celebration if we can." She pauses a moment, trying to recall what obligations they might have. "I don't think we have anywhere to go to in any hurry, do we?"
Dev agrees, his curiosity piqued by the big city... and by its people. But aware of his opulent surroundings, his attention snaps almost immediately to the unlikelihood of being able to spend any length of time here due to the expense.
"Are we... are we supposed to be paid by the Cobalt Soul?"
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DM for Candlekeep Mysteries //Dev Horndin Curious Critters
"Quite so, Dev", Normont replies with a smile as the Tiefling mentions past Winter's Crest festivals. "It must have been hard back then, having so little", he says empathetically.
When talk turns to payment by the Cobalt Soul, he shakes his head. "I don't remember promise of payment. Blainith only gave us the items and the token to get into the Cobalt Soul libraries", he says with a frown. "We can ask I guess, but there is no Cobalt Soul office here, just that representative that floats between the libraries. I guess we really should find them and not rely on others to fill them in on what happened to Magnus. Another errand for tomorrow, perhaps. And we should probably go find Blainith at some point and fill him in too".
He sighs, quite a bit to do.
"That is assuming I am allowed to leave. The Pale Guard might want me to stay here now", he says, his eyes widening at the thought.
Blainith looks to Magnus and nods, " Whilst I have little in the way of funds accesible currently I can provide you with tokens that will grant you access to records and volumes kept with Cobalt Soul libraries that Magnus does not yet have access to that may prove useful in whatever personal research you may have. I also have a small number of items that I've picked up in my travels that will hopefully be useful. In terms of winter clothing and the like, yes, though the season is breaking the cold lingers longer at altitude....there are supplies for winter convoys downstairs, feel free to take what you will....though if you can return most of it in one piece it would be appreciated."
Blainith takes a small travel pack out from beneath the bed and spreads the items within on the table, as he does so Magnus reads through the journal quickly....
- Many of the last pages are just mad feverish scrawlings repeating ' Stay Away' and ' Don't go there..'
- A bit further back “Once we got there, it wasn’t easy. If knowing something gives you power, what does knowing everything give you? They were everywhere.”
- " The outer city was empty, flanked by dark towers and crisscrossed in sand-covered streets. We could feel eyes on us the entire time we were there. We fled along the secret path north, leaving Thylacala behind us as quickly as we could.'
Seeing Magus' expression Blainith looked back at Tlu, " Before she succumbed to her exhaustion she said two things to me ' Ubo is still there, He's waiting for us.' and “Ubo is alone in the library, but he’s not alone! No one who enters that place is alone! No one!”."
" From her early notes in the journal I believe Ubo was the one leading the mission she was on.....whether its a nickname or even a surname I am unsure."
(Remembering that we were paid in advance, so to speak, with magic items. However, there was that promise of access to Cobalt Soul libraries too. Was there indeed an actual token?)
(OOC: I added Normont’s token to his inventory back when they were given them as I assumed they were each given one. Not that it matters, just confirming my interpretation)
"You might not be allowed to leave?" Lokilia asks, surprised at the information. "What is the Pale Guard? Sounds a bit ominous." She's a bit disappointed to hear the gnome might not be continuing to travel with them. She's really gotten used to their little group. But he especially seemed like such an important part of keeping them on track.
"How would we get back to Drynna without you?" she asks.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to worry you", Normont replies quickly. "They won't lock me up or anything. It's just, I work for them. They are basically the Watch here. Although there isn't much crime so not a lot of chance to flex my investigatorial muscles. They let me go to Drynna, and it was a good job they did. Maybe they will let me go again, even just to make sure you get home ok".
He lowers his voice to a whisper, "And if I can get in the good books of the Grey Hunt. Well, that would be something. They are a bit of a secret so try not to mention them too loudly".
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At Normont's compliment, Lokilia gives him a brief nod and smile. "Thank you." In response to Dev she says, "Well, I was lucky to find something. It's probably too big and would fall right off if not for the tie!" She laughs lightly and for a brief moment enjoys the compliments. She's also rather glad to see Dev beaming at her for the moment. She then moves with the others as they head for dinner.
Noting Dev's humming stop as he hears the news about Balaran, she does start to be concerned. But before she can even start to think about things to say, Dev is already saying that it's fine. And it sounds like he really means it. "We'll just have a grand time tonight ourselves!" she says feeling even happier that her friend accepted the news so well.
Once they are led to their table and she's seated, Lokilia tells the woman, "Thank you very much. Yes, I would like a drink." She takes the menu, pausing a moment to consider. "Do you have pear brandy? A small glass if you do." She then opens up the menu, starting to look through it.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
"Nuts and bolts, Quinn! Nothing is wrong", Normont replies taking more than a few steps back from the larger earth genasi as he brandishes his blade. "I just didn't think you'd want to miss dinner", he adds.
When they make their way downstairs, he inclines his head to Manfred and gives him a thumbs up in gratitude for the clothes, before heading through to the dining room. Amber is perched on his shoulder, all polished and gleaming.
"You know, being invited to the castle, presumably for dinner, is a big deal. Your friend must be quite an important person, Dev", he whispers along the way.
He takes his seat at the table by the window, and smiles up at the maitre de.
"I think I will go for an apple cider. Joining you with a fruit theme, Lokilia", he says jovially. He feels clean and safe and simply happy to be home.
He also then starts to peruse the menu.
He will respond to Dev's toast by raising his own tankard, "To friendship!", he repeats. "And to those who can't be with us, who will be missed", he adds.
Quinn will sheath his sword and say, "I guess I am too used to sleeping in the wild that I still respond that way in a nice place like this. I am so sorry to scare you friend!"
Quinn will take a seat at the table, hoping it fits his large frame comfortably.
Various fruit themed beverages are brought to the table and dinner options are explained off the menu, the menu seems mostly locally sourced though with a tendency towards preserved or transformed foods due to the winter season.
" So are you staying in town for Winters Crest?", the maitre de, Trina, asked as she took their food orders. Looking outside the street was empty and a light dusting of snow was falling illuminated by the street lamps. Most of the windows were dark but a little way down the street a neat thatch roofed cottage blazed with light and laughter, the pinnacle of the roof crowned by a metal artwork reminiscent of The Everlight icon.
"Winter's Crest", Normont repeats. "Is it coming up to the 20th already? I had quite forgotten that it is approaching. Perhaps we will", he continues, looking to the others to see if they have strong opinions.
"There will be games and feasting. Do any of you like pie?", he asks, before taking a long sip from his apple cider.
Dev's smile cools when Normont mentions the castle. Dev knows that Normont means this as a compliment of sorts, but in Dev's mind, the walls of the castle where Balaran is spending the evening begin to feel as if they were built to keep him, Dev, out.
"He is a noble's son," he responds. When he meets Normont's gaze, the gnome's good nature wins over Dev's reservations and he chuckles. "Definitely an important person," he smiles, attempting a boastful tone in jest.
Dev's eyes fall on the cottage through the windows and remain there for a long moment, thinking back to his little shack by Mooren Lake and the time Lokilia and Jasper had joined him and his parents for dinner. The humble warmth of the memory seems in keeping with the humble cottage -- humble, at least, compared to castles and expensive hotels. Topped off by Raei's image, with its connection to healing and warm morning light, Dev's thoughts fly.
"Hmm? Oh, I was just looking there," he answers Normont, pulled back to the present. He then asks the maitre de. "Do you know who lives there?"
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
Quinn will lean in for the answer from the server.
Finishing up noting down their orders Trina looked out the window, " Oh, that's Ms Trickfoots place. She runs the bakery up the street."
"Well, who wouldn't like pie?" Lokilia says when Normont asks the question, seeming excited. "Tell us more about this Winter's Crest. Sounds interesting. Though..." Her expression suddenly looks a bit concerned, erasing the relaxed happiness of the moment before. "I suppose it means even more people coming into the city? At some point we probably should go and rescue our horses from down south." She isn't sure there really is a rush, but it seemed like a good excuse.
As Dev asks about the building and Trina says it's a bakery, she seems confused. "Quite a lively place there for a bakery at night! Must have really good stuff there."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
“Oh,” answers Dev, whose hoped-for answer was perhaps less mundane. “And yeah, I like pie too. Is that part of the Winter’s Crest celebration here too, Normont?”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
Quinn will speak up, “I have never had a pie, is it like a loaf of bread?”
"A noble's son means they are noble as well", Normont muses as he strokes his beard knowingly. "A fine addition to your circle of friends", he agrees, also jesting.
"Pike Trickfoot", he then confirms. "Another member of Vox Machina who calls Whitestone home. I believe the bakery itself is a little way away, that is just her home if I am not mistaken", he says taking great pride that Whitestone has so many links to Vox Machina. Especially as without them he certainly wouldn't be alive now, as he would have not escaped Emon.
"During Winter's Crest there is normally a great pie eating contest. They are not really like bread, Quinn. They are made of pastry, and can be filled with all sorts of things. They can be sweet like blueberries or savoury like meat or fish. And it's not just pie eating, there are archery competitions and arm wrestling. Gambling and other forms of revelry. It is much like in other towns and cities across Tal'Dorei. I am surprised none of you have heard of it. It was founded to celebrate the end of the Icelost Years and the fall of Former Casle. When Errevon the Rimelord was defeated. But it is basically the winter solstice".
"As for the horses, I think Magnus requested they be picked up in his letter to the Cobalt Soul. Either way, I am not ready to leave. I haven't seen my Grandfather yet, and I have more to report. I could meet you somewhere perhaps?", he says, sounding torn between splitting up and having to leave his home so soon.
"Yea, you're right. Normont, there's no reason to rush away from Whitestone. I'll be fine here for a bit." Lokilia says it, perhaps she means it, but there is still a tiny bit of anxiety in her look. "We should stay for the celebration if we can." She pauses a moment, trying to recall what obligations they might have. "I don't think we have anywhere to go to in any hurry, do we?"
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
Dev, who knew this but had somehow not quite allowed himself to think it, nods with a smile, but the clamp on his good feelings tightens one more notch. He nods, trying to look happy.
Dev's reticence now shrinks in turn, thinking of delicious pastries. He gently corrects Normont.
"I celebrate Winter's Crest. When I was a kid, it was the one day my parents would scrape together a half-copper to buy me a little sack of hard candy as a gift. I would savor each piece, every year trying and failing to make them last until springtime. Most years, I would eat every one of them that very night."
Dev agrees, his curiosity piqued by the big city... and by its people. But aware of his opulent surroundings, his attention snaps almost immediately to the unlikelihood of being able to spend any length of time here due to the expense.
"Are we... are we supposed to be paid by the Cobalt Soul?"
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
"Quite so, Dev", Normont replies with a smile as the Tiefling mentions past Winter's Crest festivals. "It must have been hard back then, having so little", he says empathetically.
When talk turns to payment by the Cobalt Soul, he shakes his head. "I don't remember promise of payment. Blainith only gave us the items and the token to get into the Cobalt Soul libraries", he says with a frown. "We can ask I guess, but there is no Cobalt Soul office here, just that representative that floats between the libraries. I guess we really should find them and not rely on others to fill them in on what happened to Magnus. Another errand for tomorrow, perhaps. And we should probably go find Blainith at some point and fill him in too".
He sighs, quite a bit to do.
"That is assuming I am allowed to leave. The Pale Guard might want me to stay here now", he says, his eyes widening at the thought.
(Remembering that we were paid in advance, so to speak, with magic items. However, there was that promise of access to Cobalt Soul libraries too. Was there indeed an actual token?)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters
( Magnus had the tokens on him, its fair to say you collected them from the body.)
(OOC: I added Normont’s token to his inventory back when they were given them as I assumed they were each given one. Not that it matters, just confirming my interpretation)
"You might not be allowed to leave?" Lokilia asks, surprised at the information. "What is the Pale Guard? Sounds a bit ominous." She's a bit disappointed to hear the gnome might not be continuing to travel with them. She's really gotten used to their little group. But he especially seemed like such an important part of keeping them on track.
"How would we get back to Drynna without you?" she asks.
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi ||
Neital Rhessil, Wizard || Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue
"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to worry you", Normont replies quickly. "They won't lock me up or anything. It's just, I work for them. They are basically the Watch here. Although there isn't much crime so not a lot of chance to flex my investigatorial muscles. They let me go to Drynna, and it was a good job they did. Maybe they will let me go again, even just to make sure you get home ok".
He lowers his voice to a whisper, "And if I can get in the good books of the Grey Hunt. Well, that would be something. They are a bit of a secret so try not to mention them too loudly".