With seemingly nothing else to say, the figure turns and moves off to the north, disappearing quickly into the gloom of the forest.

The party is left alone again, to process this latest bit of weirdness.

"Well that was...interesting." The young noble says to no one in particular as old man seemingly disappears into the forest. He then turns to address the team. "I apologize for speaking without consulting the rest of you but I am quite convinced we should do what we can to not make an enemy of that one. Whatever he is, he is definitely a powerful spellcaster. That was just an illusion but one that apparently allowed him to hear and speak to us while most likely not even having left Castle Mastieri. I realize we will most likely have to confront him before being done with expedition but I strongly suggest we gather more knowledge about him first, something we might be able to do at the Universitas Vitae in the Old city. Perhaps we should simply head there now?" He suggests, looking around at the others for their thoughts.

     "Our interests and theirs will inevitably clash.  No reason we can't try to delay that to a time more of our choosing though..." Raqisat more or less agrees. 

     Raqisat looks around a bit at the others and where they are and then back to Aubrey.  "You don't even want to check out the mansions around here now though?  Just bow to the thing and do what it told you to?" he asks.  

"I think whatever we may find in those manors will still be around once we are more comfortable with a confrontation with the old man in the castle, at this point I think the knowledge that might be found at the Universtitas Vitae will be more vital to our survival than the treasures in those manors, but if the majority would prefer to risk the ire of Deinochlorodon by lingering in the Mastieri Gardens then that is what we'll do." Aubrey says the the anthropologist with a polite smile, then looking to the others for their opinions. 

     "It is hard to know what the treasures of the manor will do for us until we see them," Raqisat points out.  "If Greenteeth there wants us away from here and at the university instead there is a good chance the things they want protected are here, not at the university.  You don't warn foes away from areas that don't matter and send them to where they will learn your vulnerabilities..."

     It is true, Raqisat is more fortune hunter than the others.  He's here to turn a profit and see what plunder is available, not for any noble reason or service to some emperor... But he believes in his argument despite that.  

When the stranger disapears, Leelan can finally catch his breath and relax. He joins in on the conversation.

"If this enemy is as powerful as we believe, I doubt he'll let us move about the city unchecked. I suspect he'll want to keep an eye on us while we're in the city. Perhaps something akin to your avian familiar, Master Goldentide. Or maybe even something more potent."

"I agree, that is certainly what we should expect." The young noble says, nodding in agreement with the erudite Gnome, then turning back to Raqisat. "It could of course be that we would find a weakness for the old man in the castle within the manors of Mastiaeri Gardens but I think it is more probable that he wants us to rid the Universitas Vitae of it's unwelcome visitors because it is there his weakness might be found."

     "The strong and mighty Greenteeth needs the likes of us to rid him of unwelcome visitors yet we should fear him?" Raqisat asks with just a hint of sarcasm.  "Alright, you are the boss..."

     For at least as we keep our investigation hitched to yours, anyway, Raqisat thinks to himself.  He is here for profit and so far is seeing little...

[For reference... you are located near the green dot inside the old park/forest.  The ruins of the Universitas Vitae is, based on your study of old maps of the city, located near the red dot.]

"The strong and mighty Greenteeth," Cosette breaks her silence by repeating Raquisat. "Deinochlorodon." Repeating Aubrey, but this time with a deeper draconic accent. Then the archaeologist translates, "Cultivator of malady; Sickness seeps from viridescent jaws."

"Is that what Deinochlorodon would interpret as then? Is there anything else you might know or be able to deduce about him?" Aubrey curiously asks the archaeologist.

Grugga has no idea what to expect from the university grounds, but he sees no reason not to go there right away. "I'm with Aubrey, for what it's worth. The mansions will be here when  we get back - I think this area has been relatively picked over anyway - and who knows how long this threat will stay at the university. Who knows, we might even find some allies here."

Sensing the team agrees to continue north to explore the old city and the Universitas Vitae, Aubrey motions for the team to get going, as per usual letting Furvus scout ahead for any threats in their path, going north along the main avenue where any ambushes would be easier to spot.

Furvus perception: 8
Aubrey perception: 15

(Suggested marching order if needed; Raqisat, Grugga, Cosette, Aubrey and Leelan)

((Marching order sounds good.))

"Any of you know much about this university?" Grugga asks asks they make their way out of the Mastieri Gardens. "It was a school for magic, right? Or am I mixing it up with the school for illusions we heard about?"

Cosette would nod. “That be the draconic translation.” She’d answer Aubrey’s first question. Based on her history knowledge upon first glance of the being, there wasn’t really much to add. Then to Grugga’s question regarding the university, she wonders if through her skills as an archaeologist if she’d be able to answer his questions.

[The Universitas Vitae:

Among the lot of you, you possess enough background knowledge and would likely have shared it between each other to know this much...

In the old third empire, formal higher education was prized as a status symbol.  The children of nobles almost all had the opportunity of formal schooling, as did the eldest children of military families, those others who could afford the tuition (merchants and bankers)... and the gifted among the underclass, who were sometimes granted scholarships.

Higher education ran along three tracks, resulting in degrees depending on the chosen studies... Colleges of War, Colleges of Magic, and Colleges of Law and Natural Law.  While Amnifortis' war and magic colleges were respected enough, the Universitas Vitae was regarded as the finest Law and Natural Law college in the empire, and perhaps in the known world.  Its research library contained the combined knowledge of scholars from fields as diverse as medicine, agriculture, metallurgy, astronomy and more.  This college was also where would be legislators and barristers went to hone their craft in legal debate and statesmanship.

The College sat on a full city block, with the main library and library annex, auditoriums, lecture halls, offices and dormitories spread out in a stately, old world style campus.]

     "Well then, let's go check out some books," Raqisat says, straightening his gear and just generally showing he is ready to move out.  

As the group is ready to head out, the gnome seems to move with renewed enthusiasm. The prospect of going to one of the most famous library in existence seems to have sparked the interest of the scholarly hunter.

With a nod, Cosette follows, striding along with a hum and a sway.

The party emerges from the forested parkland and enters the main thoroughfare again. Towering structures of stone and marble, reminiscent of the grandeur of some forgotten age, rise imposingly against the backdrop of a midday sky.  The city, abandoned for a century, wears the scars of time with a graceful yet melancholic demeanor.  Further south, toward the river, you see the abandoned mansions and estates of Amnifortis.  But it is other structures that command your attention now.  

First, deeper into the city and off slightly to the west, you can see the formidable Castle Mastieri, an imposing structure that dominates the landscape with its massive presence. The castle, once the seat of the city's prince, stands encased in a colossal curtain wall.  Towers and spires pierce the skies, casting long shadows across the path that leads to the guilded gate.  A row of trees lines that path, their branches reaching out like the gnarled fingers of forgotten guardians.  While they were once surely meticulously manicured, these trees have now grown wild and untamed, reclaiming their space with an untethered, perhaps wrathful exuberance.  Behind the trees, statues of Emperors, Princes and Saints sit lonely and forgotten.

While the castle is some distance off from the promenade, immediately in front of you, rising up like titans of cut stone, are a pair of majestic buildings.  To your left, the old Praetorium Magisterium demands your respect, its grandiosity evident even in decay. Set on an entire block, this edifice is nothing like its descendent in Bardstown.  The entire building is a massive cylinder rising 10 stories above the street.  It is ringed with ornately carved marble columns; columns around a Column.  Despite the wear and tear of time, the Praetorium stands resilient, a testament to the architectural prowess of the old empires.

Adjacent to the Praetorium, on your right, the Cathedral Universalis looms, a once-sacred space that honored all the gods.  Much smaller than the vast temples located up on Mons Basilicae, this slightly more humble structure was built for convenience, allowing busy nobles and bureaucrats to worship within walking distance of their homes and offices.  The Cathedral, now a shell of its former glory, invites somber reflection.  Its once-majestic stained glass windows, now shattered and scattered, allow fragments of light to filter through, casting an ethereal glow upon the worn stones below.  So much of the upper portions of the building had been stained glass windows, the remains resemble the thin ribcage of some enormous skeleton.  The silence is palpable, broken only by the occasional creak of decay and the distant echoes of your own footsteps.

As you pass by these cyclopean buildings, you would be forgiven for feeling a bit of awe, or even sadness.  Once, this would surely have been a crowded road, with hundreds of souls bustling to worship or to conferences in the Praetorium.  Now, there are but empty streets, full of drifting sands and rubble.