Anearis’s browsing the pages provided two additional pictures of ‘interest’. Interest in that they were done with the same style, likely sketched by the same individual, as those Adrian had shown them, regarding the black beast.
One such sketch showed a stone throne, with a shallow pool in front of it. There were robed figures kneeling around the pool, while a single individual sat in the throne. The individual looked to almost be on death’s door, rotting away. A black fog appeared to be coming up from the pool, towards the individual.
The second sketch, almost all the way at the book’s end, showed the backs of five individuals of varying heights. All dressed and equipped in different manners, likely from different races and walks of life. They were shadowed and simply stood on a cliff side over looking lands below, as a sun was rising.
Adrian stood silently observing the party as they convened about their next course of action. Though as Anearis flipped through the pages of Helsreach, he walked over to the elf. “You are welcome to borrow anything from my library that you feel may assist your journey, within reason. As long as you leave collateral and agree to terms of returning the items.”
While flipping through the book, Anearis came upon a sketch that disturb him deeply. It was still fresh in his mind what he saw that night. A very close interpretation of the real thing.
He flipped the book back to Adrian and showed him the sketch. "What can you tell us about this part? There is text about this part, right?"
His tone seemed to reflect dread and a feeling of urgency.
Kel laughed quietly after hearing Tepes tell the tale and the others comments. "Such little wonder then that he would have me urge you all to continue your chase." Kel shifted his weapons and took a seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Knowing that this was a task only he could do and that, good intentions be damned, we would likely just add to the pile of corpses."the tiefling sighed, shifting his hand down to cover his mouth as he tried to formulate the next pointless or just as equally hopeless thing to do.
...you face a creature that cannot be killed, whose containment has broken, and whose only known weakness is a singular individual that has a considerable head start...
Kel shook his head and gestured toward Atal. "At the very least we can bring back what remains, it is unlikely we will have any more part to play than that of goal minders and shamble dispatchers." he sucked at his teeth. "We've lost time here on slim bearing fruit. It would seem supplies and a wagon or horses should be the next concern unless you all wish to force march to the castle."He motioned Tepes toward Anearis. "Take your salt and hear your story, then let us get on with it."
Adrian looked at the sketch Anearis pointed to. “There is, though I doubt you’re going to be pleased with that as little certified fact as there is about the black beast, there’s even less about that.” He walked to one of the shelves around the room, and pulled another book down, bringing it back to Anearis. The book was not bound in leather like most of those around the room, but instead had a tree bark like texture. While the pages themselves seemed in fact to be more leathery.
“Actually, allow me to clarify. There is a plethora of information, just none of it is beyond speculation or the unchecked claims of single second-hand sources”
“As old and historic as Helsreach is, what came before it, was even more of a mystery. There are ruins throughout Theviranne that had been abandoned long before any currents peoples even inhabited this continent. Who actually constructed them and for what reason, is widely unknown, though as I mentioned not limited by the imagination of those who choose to study and explore them. The Castle of Aaaargh, as broken as it is, is the most complete site of any of the ruins, though over the centuries it had been built upon several times. This picture that you pointed at was from one of the earliest explorations. The ones who built the ruins are thought to be magic users of both druidic and necromatic arts, interested in cheating death by siphoning life from the very land beneath them. This ritual...”
He pointed to the picture Anearis had inquired about. “...is supposedly an example of this.” Adrian then pointed to a series of runes and geometric shapes in the new book. “By utilizing the life force of nature, these users are resurrecting the newly deceased individual in the stone throne here. Apparently, it did not bring about an undead being, but actually brought about true renewed life, free of whatever ailment or force took the life, and fully revitalized.”
Upon hearing Adrian explaining the ritual, Anearis has a look of revulsion. "So this is what they were doing. Beregia*..."
He turns to the party. "The night we met, I have seen this ritual being performed. The Berossus had something similar underneath their manor. This ritual was used to repair Ser Anton’s eye. But if I remember correctly, they had used another’s life force to do it." Anearis thought for a moment, stroking his chin in the process. "This just confrims that the Berossus are a part of this disturbance on the continent."
* - For those who speak Elven, this means "savages"
Atal sighs. So the one of the royalty had been missing an eye before this? Well... it would go a small way to explain why rich folk were always so blind, he thought with grim humor.
Though he's basically in agreement with Kel about time being of the essence, Atal frowns as he listens to the tales being exchanged by the others. It's less of a concern about the bevy of problems this new continent seems to be grappling with -- honestly, taking the next boat overseas and hiking his way into Evereska was sounding more and more appealing by the second -- and more a stray thought about the rumors that had brought him here in the first place.
"Say... there's always been elves living natively on this continent, or so I've heard. All these ancient ruins you're talking about… are they the remains of an ancient elven civilization that was destroyed, or was this all a part of human history here?"
"Unfortunately, like most of the topics at hand, there is a large difference of uncertainty between the answer you want, and the answer I can provide." Once again, Adrian retreated to the books upon the walls. The particular shelf he perused held a series of identical brown books of the same size, without spine markings. After pulling and returning several, he finally found his way back to the table with two books. The covers read 'Theviranne: Third Founding' and 'Theviranne: Fourth Founding'.
"The ruins belong to what are generally just refered to as 'the ancients' because well they lived along time ago. The race or races of the ancients, how long they lived here, and what happened to them is still completely unknown, to this day. Of course that doesn't stop the speculation, of all three. Personally, I subscribe to the theory that their attempts at immortality eventually led to their demise, wiping them completely from the land."
Resting the books on the table, he tapped on the first book, the one titled 'Theviranne: Third Founding'. "It's entirely possible that the ancients were a race of elves, the main theory along that line that they were Drow. However, even in this case, theyve long since left, and the elves currently here have only been around for the past fifteen hundred years at most. And the current humans..." He tapped the other book. "for only about seven hundred."
Looking up towards the group, Adrian nodded at Kel. "Even the tieflings had only arrived shortly before the elves. The Dragonborn history of Theviranne goes back over two thousand years, but acknowledge that the ruins were something they discovered. The only race that could potentially claim to be native are some of the goliath clans. And that's only because they failed to keep any historic records. As far as anyone else is concerned, they have just 'always' been in the Northern mountains. Though even so, the ruins and every suspected notion of the ancients, seem just a little too advanced for them, to ever be believable." "No offense," he added towards Uthal.
Uthal chuckles a bit. "None taken on that. We're not much for building or writing. I only learned when I was in training as an acolyte. We prefer more martial purposes."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Atal absorbs this new news slowly. "Only 1500 years, huh,"he says aloud, his normally-cheerful expression dropping somewhat. It looks like the answers I was hoping to get aren't going to be found here after all,he realizes. The disappointment is so great that he doesn't even bother trying to mask it from the others. Gods... maybe I should have become a priest too, and asked Corellon Larethian himself for some damn answers. All this trouble for nothing! And the most ancient recorded history belonging to the drow, of all the elven peoples...
Still, never one to put information to waste, Atal pushes aside the bitterness he's feeling, and begins to flip through the two books that Adrian brought out. Well I'm here now, and I'm neck deep in it, so might as well keep on pushing forward. He skims them for anything of interest - singling out anything he can find about the speculation of drow, ancients, and other information that might help them somehow pull D'Armes out of whatever trouble he was getting into. Investigation: 18
As he's reading, he says "Are any older, established dragonborn settlements left on the continent anywhere? D'Armes seems to be a rare breed in these parts, pardon the pun. But it does seem that if we want to find out more about the ancients and their ruins here, any sort of library or oral history they'd be keeping would be the place to go to dig up more."
Once he's done searching, he pushes the books over to anyone else wanting to look through them, or back to Adrian if not. "Thanks for taking the time to give us the crash course on continental history. But we should probably be getting a move on rather soon if we want to catch up with the Arbitrator."
Atal fails to find anything of interest in the two books, regarding the Drow, Ancients, or Black Beast. In fact, Atal simply fails to properly even flip through the pages, like this was the first time he'd ever seen a book.
"At times, certain clans sought to establish settlements in other places throughout Theviranne, but none that have exactly thrived to the point of becoming well-known. You must understand that while the dragonborn did 'overcome' the black beast, it came at a significant loss. One they've unfortunately, never recovered from. I'm not familar with them directly, myself, but there are several temples and places with considerable libraries closer to the continent's Western Coast, if the research is of something to interest to you."
"Of course, as a referred party from a member, I am more than happy to assist. Is there anything further? Any lending, purchases, any further information? I know several of you have made the notion that you need to hurry if you're going to catch up with the Arbitrator. The road is a rather uneventful three days ride."
Kel refocused his attention when Adrian nodded in his direction, narrowing his gaze as if trying to recall something. In his teachings the First Fire gave birth to the Tieflings, implying that they were always here. He supposed that didn't have to be true and that the first Tiefling to find the First Fire started the Orders.
Everything else he heard slowly tuned him out again. With such a lack of hopeful information he was sure he had just agreed with Blemish to get himself killed. They would have nearly a full day to make up between themselves and the Arbitrator. Not impossible, but the Arbitrator could also be pushing his mount, or mounts to make up time. Kel moved to take in the bookshelves but at Adrians asking, he couldn't think of anything that would help the situation they were in sans making them dragonborn.
Atal nods at the others in agreement about leaving. "Can we come back here sometime if we make it out from whatever this turns out to be alive? Your establishment looks like the type that might be interested in hearing about whatever we manage to uncover in the ruins, and I'm sure with more time we'd have more questions," he says, taking one last long glance at the Arbitrator's flayed hand.
Adrian turns his head, in the same direction as Atal, identifying that it was the hand that caught his gaze. "You are welcome back, granted you do something for me."
"Treasure hunters, tomb raiders, and adventures of all sizes have attempted to go within the depths of the ruins, and recover whatever spoils they could find." He walked around some of the tables, placing his hand on a few small stones with carved ruins, and some jeweled scraps. "However, I suspect the Arbitrator's journey may take him to otherwise uncovered areas. If you would may kind enough to bring back any types of literature you may find, and..." He paused momentarily, glancing back at the hand. "...a piece of whatever it is that you and/or the Arbitrator kill, in the ruins. The larger variety of pieces, the better."
Uthal nods. "Only if you do one thing for me. If we don't come back find the clerk from the north barracks and tell him he's a useless piece of trash. Gods knows someone needs to."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
He raised an eyebrow at Uthal's response, but after seemingly thinking it over, while holding his chin, Adrian replied. "I accept. It wouldn't be me personally, but I can ensure it happens."
Atal gives Adrian a wave and crosses his hands behind his head, following Uthal out. "I think you can add one more to your list of decent people,"he says.
Anearis’s browsing the pages provided two additional pictures of ‘interest’. Interest in that they were done with the same style, likely sketched by the same individual, as those Adrian had shown them, regarding the black beast.
One such sketch showed a stone throne, with a shallow pool in front of it. There were robed figures kneeling around the pool, while a single individual sat in the throne. The individual looked to almost be on death’s door, rotting away. A black fog appeared to be coming up from the pool, towards the individual.
The second sketch, almost all the way at the book’s end, showed the backs of five individuals of varying heights. All dressed and equipped in different manners, likely from different races and walks of life. They were shadowed and simply stood on a cliff side over looking lands below, as a sun was rising.
Adrian stood silently observing the party as they convened about their next course of action. Though as Anearis flipped through the pages of Helsreach, he walked over to the elf. “You are welcome to borrow anything from my library that you feel may assist your journey, within reason. As long as you leave collateral and agree to terms of returning the items.”
While flipping through the book, Anearis came upon a sketch that disturb him deeply. It was still fresh in his mind what he saw that night. A very close interpretation of the real thing.
He flipped the book back to Adrian and showed him the sketch. "What can you tell us about this part? There is text about this part, right?"
His tone seemed to reflect dread and a feeling of urgency.
Kel laughed quietly after hearing Tepes tell the tale and the others comments. "Such little wonder then that he would have me urge you all to continue your chase." Kel shifted his weapons and took a seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Knowing that this was a task only he could do and that, good intentions be damned, we would likely just add to the pile of corpses." the tiefling sighed, shifting his hand down to cover his mouth as he tried to formulate the next pointless or just as equally hopeless thing to do.
...you face a creature that cannot be killed, whose containment has broken, and whose only known weakness is a singular individual that has a considerable head start...
Kel shook his head and gestured toward Atal. "At the very least we can bring back what remains, it is unlikely we will have any more part to play than that of goal minders and shamble dispatchers." he sucked at his teeth. "We've lost time here on slim bearing fruit. It would seem supplies and a wagon or horses should be the next concern unless you all wish to force march to the castle." He motioned Tepes toward Anearis. "Take your salt and hear your story, then let us get on with it."
Exitus Acta Probat
Adrian looked at the sketch Anearis pointed to. “There is, though I doubt you’re going to be pleased with that as little certified fact as there is about the black beast, there’s even less about that.” He walked to one of the shelves around the room, and pulled another book down, bringing it back to Anearis. The book was not bound in leather like most of those around the room, but instead had a tree bark like texture. While the pages themselves seemed in fact to be more leathery.
“Actually, allow me to clarify. There is a plethora of information, just none of it is beyond speculation or the unchecked claims of single second-hand sources”
“As old and historic as Helsreach is, what came before it, was even more of a mystery. There are ruins throughout Theviranne that had been abandoned long before any currents peoples even inhabited this continent. Who actually constructed them and for what reason, is widely unknown, though as I mentioned not limited by the imagination of those who choose to study and explore them. The Castle of Aaaargh, as broken as it is, is the most complete site of any of the ruins, though over the centuries it had been built upon several times. This picture that you pointed at was from one of the earliest explorations. The ones who built the ruins are thought to be magic users of both druidic and necromatic arts, interested in cheating death by siphoning life from the very land beneath them. This ritual...”
He pointed to the picture Anearis had inquired about. “...is supposedly an example of this.” Adrian then pointed to a series of runes and geometric shapes in the new book. “By utilizing the life force of nature, these users are resurrecting the newly deceased individual in the stone throne here. Apparently, it did not bring about an undead being, but actually brought about true renewed life, free of whatever ailment or force took the life, and fully revitalized.”
Uthal peers over Anearis's shoulder at the book. "Interesting. I wonder if the land fought back and created the beast."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Upon hearing Adrian explaining the ritual, Anearis has a look of revulsion. "So this is what they were doing. Beregia*..."
He turns to the party. "The night we met, I have seen this ritual being performed. The Berossus had something similar underneath their manor. This ritual was used to repair Ser Anton’s eye. But if I remember correctly, they had used another’s life force to do it." Anearis thought for a moment, stroking his chin in the process. "This just confrims that the Berossus are a part of this disturbance on the continent."
* - For those who speak Elven, this means "savages"
Atal sighs. So the one of the royalty had been missing an eye before this? Well... it would go a small way to explain why rich folk were always so blind, he thought with grim humor.
Though he's basically in agreement with Kel about time being of the essence, Atal frowns as he listens to the tales being exchanged by the others. It's less of a concern about the bevy of problems this new continent seems to be grappling with -- honestly, taking the next boat overseas and hiking his way into Evereska was sounding more and more appealing by the second -- and more a stray thought about the rumors that had brought him here in the first place.
"Say... there's always been elves living natively on this continent, or so I've heard. All these ancient ruins you're talking about… are they the remains of an ancient elven civilization that was destroyed, or was this all a part of human history here?"
"Unfortunately, like most of the topics at hand, there is a large difference of uncertainty between the answer you want, and the answer I can provide." Once again, Adrian retreated to the books upon the walls. The particular shelf he perused held a series of identical brown books of the same size, without spine markings. After pulling and returning several, he finally found his way back to the table with two books. The covers read 'Theviranne: Third Founding' and 'Theviranne: Fourth Founding'.
"The ruins belong to what are generally just refered to as 'the ancients' because well they lived along time ago. The race or races of the ancients, how long they lived here, and what happened to them is still completely unknown, to this day. Of course that doesn't stop the speculation, of all three. Personally, I subscribe to the theory that their attempts at immortality eventually led to their demise, wiping them completely from the land."
Resting the books on the table, he tapped on the first book, the one titled 'Theviranne: Third Founding'. "It's entirely possible that the ancients were a race of elves, the main theory along that line that they were Drow. However, even in this case, theyve long since left, and the elves currently here have only been around for the past fifteen hundred years at most. And the current humans..." He tapped the other book. "for only about seven hundred."
Looking up towards the group, Adrian nodded at Kel. "Even the tieflings had only arrived shortly before the elves. The Dragonborn history of Theviranne goes back over two thousand years, but acknowledge that the ruins were something they discovered. The only race that could potentially claim to be native are some of the goliath clans. And that's only because they failed to keep any historic records. As far as anyone else is concerned, they have just 'always' been in the Northern mountains. Though even so, the ruins and every suspected notion of the ancients, seem just a little too advanced for them, to ever be believable." "No offense," he added towards Uthal.
Uthal chuckles a bit. "None taken on that. We're not much for building or writing. I only learned when I was in training as an acolyte. We prefer more martial purposes."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Atal absorbs this new news slowly. "Only 1500 years, huh," he says aloud, his normally-cheerful expression dropping somewhat. It looks like the answers I was hoping to get aren't going to be found here after all, he realizes. The disappointment is so great that he doesn't even bother trying to mask it from the others. Gods... maybe I should have become a priest too, and asked Corellon Larethian himself for some damn answers. All this trouble for nothing! And the most ancient recorded history belonging to the drow, of all the elven peoples...
Still, never one to put information to waste, Atal pushes aside the bitterness he's feeling, and begins to flip through the two books that Adrian brought out. Well I'm here now, and I'm neck deep in it, so might as well keep on pushing forward. He skims them for anything of interest - singling out anything he can find about the speculation of drow, ancients, and other information that might help them somehow pull D'Armes out of whatever trouble he was getting into.
Investigation: 18
As he's reading, he says "Are any older, established dragonborn settlements left on the continent anywhere? D'Armes seems to be a rare breed in these parts, pardon the pun. But it does seem that if we want to find out more about the ancients and their ruins here, any sort of library or oral history they'd be keeping would be the place to go to dig up more."
Once he's done searching, he pushes the books over to anyone else wanting to look through them, or back to Adrian if not. "Thanks for taking the time to give us the crash course on continental history. But we should probably be getting a move on rather soon if we want to catch up with the Arbitrator."
Atal fails to find anything of interest in the two books, regarding the Drow, Ancients, or Black Beast. In fact, Atal simply fails to properly even flip through the pages, like this was the first time he'd ever seen a book.
"At times, certain clans sought to establish settlements in other places throughout Theviranne, but none that have exactly thrived to the point of becoming well-known. You must understand that while the dragonborn did 'overcome' the black beast, it came at a significant loss. One they've unfortunately, never recovered from. I'm not familar with them directly, myself, but there are several temples and places with considerable libraries closer to the continent's Western Coast, if the research is of something to interest to you."
"Of course, as a referred party from a member, I am more than happy to assist. Is there anything further? Any lending, purchases, any further information? I know several of you have made the notion that you need to hurry if you're going to catch up with the Arbitrator. The road is a rather uneventful three days ride."
Kel refocused his attention when Adrian nodded in his direction, narrowing his gaze as if trying to recall something. In his teachings the First Fire gave birth to the Tieflings, implying that they were always here. He supposed that didn't have to be true and that the first Tiefling to find the First Fire started the Orders.
Everything else he heard slowly tuned him out again. With such a lack of hopeful information he was sure he had just agreed with Blemish to get himself killed. They would have nearly a full day to make up between themselves and the Arbitrator. Not impossible, but the Arbitrator could also be pushing his mount, or mounts to make up time. Kel moved to take in the bookshelves but at Adrians asking, he couldn't think of anything that would help the situation they were in sans making them dragonborn.
Exitus Acta Probat
Uthal looks around at the others. "Time to get moving then? On to watch whatever happens from close up?"
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Atal nods at the others in agreement about leaving. "Can we come back here sometime if we make it out from whatever this turns out to be alive? Your establishment looks like the type that might be interested in hearing about whatever we manage to uncover in the ruins, and I'm sure with more time we'd have more questions," he says, taking one last long glance at the Arbitrator's flayed hand.
Adrian turns his head, in the same direction as Atal, identifying that it was the hand that caught his gaze. "You are welcome back, granted you do something for me."
"Treasure hunters, tomb raiders, and adventures of all sizes have attempted to go within the depths of the ruins, and recover whatever spoils they could find." He walked around some of the tables, placing his hand on a few small stones with carved ruins, and some jeweled scraps. "However, I suspect the Arbitrator's journey may take him to otherwise uncovered areas. If you would may kind enough to bring back any types of literature you may find, and..." He paused momentarily, glancing back at the hand. "...a piece of whatever it is that you and/or the Arbitrator kill, in the ruins. The larger variety of pieces, the better."
Uthal nods. "Only if you do one thing for me. If we don't come back find the clerk from the north barracks and tell him he's a useless piece of trash. Gods knows someone needs to."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
He raised an eyebrow at Uthal's response, but after seemingly thinking it over, while holding his chin, Adrian replied. "I accept. It wouldn't be me personally, but I can ensure it happens."
Uthal turns and walks out. "Then I shall carry back whatever I can. If I live of course."
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Atal gives Adrian a wave and crosses his hands behind his head, following Uthal out. "I think you can add one more to your list of decent people," he says.
"Well, I'm certainly glad you got that all-important concession from him."