Darwin walks over to the perch and gently places the bird down.
"It's not from the Forgotten Realms, I told you, it isn't natural", he says turning back to the chancellor. "It really didn't like surprises", he adds. "One loud noise and it caused a bit of an explosion of energy", he uses his hands to simulate an expanding ball, and makes a boom sound.
He frowns for a moment, "What do you mean you can't learn magic? Try telling that to old Cranster Bottlebush, he spent a couple of centuries with his head in his books, so I was told", he says with a chuckle.
The Chancellor vaguely ignores Darwin momentarily as he reads his book. 'Aha!' he exclaims. 'Gremishka!' he beams up at the party. He seems to then hear what Darwin said.
'I mean...you can learn to control magic but you can't just learn magic.' he says assertedly then returns to reading the passage in his book. He reads aloud 'Gremishkas are the vicious products of mistakes made by novice spellcasters seeking to create life.' he arches his eyebrows. 'Well that's interesting...'
"Wow.... I had no idea something like that could exist. How on earth did they get here? On a ship? But then does that mean a novice spellcaster was aboard the ship, created these and who know what else, and then left them and came into Haukberg?"
Darwin shakes his head at the chancellors assertion, but doesn’t argue. He was more interested in this Gremishka.
“I had no idea either. It is a disturbing thought indeed that there are spell casters out there trying to create life, especially with these results”, he says with a frown.
“And that book is from The Forgotten Realms? Meaning someone from there did this?”, he adds feeling a little guilty, even though it was not his doing.
The Chancellor is silent as he reads further. 'Mr. Darwin, you're from the Forgotten Realms, I take it?' he asks as he looks up. 'I understand you were with the same Carnival, I also understand that it supposedly travels between planes of existence somehow but based on the things I've heard you say, I'm correct, yes?'
'This book doesn't tell me how exactly these things are created. It seems possible that a sorcerer, or perhaps a Warlock, could have accidentally created these things. It seems unlikely it was a Druid or Cleric, let alone a Bard or something else but if I understand the premise of...' he pauses for a moment before looking at Darwin for confirmation as he says the strange word 'Wizards? They tend to be scholars and the like, yes? A sage's experiments seem the most likely cause, so I would hazard a guess that these things came through whatever the Carnival did, maybe with it, and then were left stranded?' he looks pensive. He rises from his seat and looks out the window. 'Who knows what else could find its way to our reality...'
'Mr. Darwin, how exactly does this...wizardry work?' he asks, the curiosity plain in his voice. 'Magical Theory is fascinating and complex so to find that it has another facet that seems to exist simply by studying it seems...insane. Magic has to have a source, that is one of the core rules of our understanding of it.'
'You and Master Hamish both draw power, in some way, from the Feywild, a realm of magic. Dame Ida pulls from the divine planes. I, myself, well, no need to go into that but the fundamental truth of magic is, and always has been, that it comes from somewhere else, so, how can this wizardry work?' his facial expression is rather intense, which is understandable given his very understanding of the universe is being tampered with.
Darwin nods to the chancellor. “That is right, that is where I am from. I stumbled from my home into the Feywild when I was younger, and after some time wandering I came upon the carnival. They took me in and looked after me, and in return I worked for them for some years”, he says being completely honest with him.
“Now I am lost once again, and will never get home”, he continues with a sad look on his face.
After a moment he notices the chancellor still looking at him intently. “Oh, wizards, yes there are wizards where I am from. I am not an expert but they study a lot, have a book in which they write the formulas they need to use magic. They learn from each other I think as well”. He shakes his head, “I don’t really know much more than that, only that they are some of the cleverest of people where I come from, and it takes a long time to master”.
“And I don’t recall those creatures at all, but it is possible there was someone at the carnival that created them. But like Ida said, how did they get to the warehouse at the docks, if they came from a carnival the other side of the city?”
Ida is lost in thought for a moment from all that she's learning. I pull magic from the divine planes? What does that even mean? She is thinking of Peter, and when he began to fully appear. She's confused but trying not to let her face show it. That's what brings her back. She remembers where she is and what's happening and realizes that Darwin has lost his entire family twice-over and must have been heartbroken to wind up in a jail cell confused. And Hamish is drawing magic from the Feywild? No wonder it's been such a mess for him to try to understand, he's had no idea what is within him.
The Chancellor has a pensive look on his face then nods, 'No idea. They seem to luck just like cats if you're not paying attention so it's possible they moved acacrossrhe city and were dismissed as strays.' he muses. 'or perhaps some sorcerer was bored on a long sea voyage and was playing with forces he shouldn't.' he shrugs.
'Well, I thank you for bringing me the specimen so I can try to understand these creatures. Consider your parole complete but be sure to stay out of trouble, the Duke cannot be seen as giving preferential treatment to his nobles and their friends.' he glances at Ida.
'If you find yourselves looking for some employment, I think you've suitably proven you can be of use to the Duke. I will be sure to tell the guards to bring you to see me whenever you come by, now if you'll leave me, I have much reading to do.'
"Thank you. Sincerely." Ida turns to leave, hoping Hamish and Darwin are following. Even if they would like more information, especially about Hamish's magic abilities and controlling his Feywild "gift," she knows the Chancellor is happy to be occupied by this creature. Plus, she is quickly becoming exhausted. She knows they each need a meal and some good sleep- plus they need to check on Toryn.
Hamish, silent and watching until now, takes a hesitant step towards the Chancellor. "What do you mean I get magic from the Feywild? What does that mean? How do you know that? Can I control this, then?"
Darwin looks from Hamish to the Chancellor, then wanders over to Ida holding his hand up suggesting she wait a moment, he wants to see how this plays out.
"I hope he helps Hamish, he sounds good with this sort of stuff", Darwin whispers to Ida quietly so he doesn't interrupt.
The Chancellor looks at the small urchin boy in front of him and looks taken aback for a moment. 'Well, to be entirely honest, I don't know what that means...' he says, realizing that the boy didn't seem to know he had the power he does.
'I have certain abilities, and one of them means that I can smell the wild magic on you from here. Well, not smell but...' he shrugs, 'Turn of phrase. As for controlling it, I'm going to take assume that you have not entered into a pact with a fey, as then you'd know a little bit more I would hope, though they can be tricky creatures.' he chuckles and if you watched closely enough, you might have noticed him glance at his Raven.
'If it's in your blood, as I suspect, then wild magic is...tricky. I've studied it quite extensively, after all, all elf kind are descendants of the fae and who doesn't get curious about their heritage. You can assert some control over it but the problem can be found in the name, it is wild, sometimes it might not do quite what you want.' he smiles in what he hopes is a comforting manner.
'It is late, you all should get some sleep. Master Hamish, if you are interested, be here at 9am sharp tomorrow and I can teach you how to control it as best as I can.'
Darwin walks over to Hamish and reaches up and tugs his sleeve. "He's right, we all need rest, but we'll get you back in the morning if that's what you want", he says to Hamish before turning and heading towards the door.
"I'll get a coach, take your time. Coming Ida?", he says and heads out to do just that.
Hamish listens closely, then nods. He glances at Darwin when the gnome comes over, but sighs gently. Realizing how tired he is, he whispers, "All right. I'll be back in the morning. I want to learn to use this." Hamish bows slightly, then turns to follow Darwin and Ida.
You all take a cab back to the spot you dropped Toryn earlier, which you now realize is the same Dwarven run establishment you visited earlier. When you enter, you find 3 hot meals and an already fed Toryn waiting for you as Ida had slyly paid for a day's meals earlier for the party, and has also arranged for 2 rooms for the party to share this evening.
After a much needed rest I feel stronger than ever... and perhaps a little less feisty. I've been a brawler me whole life. Win some, lose some. But never had me arse handed to me like that before.
Darwin smiles. "It was not the best of ideas picking that fight, but whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger", he says raising his goblet of wine to Toryn in a friendly toast.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Darwin walks over to the perch and gently places the bird down.
"It's not from the Forgotten Realms, I told you, it isn't natural", he says turning back to the chancellor. "It really didn't like surprises", he adds. "One loud noise and it caused a bit of an explosion of energy", he uses his hands to simulate an expanding ball, and makes a boom sound.
He frowns for a moment, "What do you mean you can't learn magic? Try telling that to old Cranster Bottlebush, he spent a couple of centuries with his head in his books, so I was told", he says with a chuckle.
The Chancellor vaguely ignores Darwin momentarily as he reads his book. 'Aha!' he exclaims. 'Gremishka!' he beams up at the party. He seems to then hear what Darwin said.
'I mean...you can learn to control magic but you can't just learn magic.' he says assertedly then returns to reading the passage in his book. He reads aloud 'Gremishkas are the vicious products of mistakes made by novice spellcasters seeking to create life.' he arches his eyebrows. 'Well that's interesting...'
"Wow.... I had no idea something like that could exist. How on earth did they get here? On a ship? But then does that mean a novice spellcaster was aboard the ship, created these and who know what else, and then left them and came into Haukberg?"
Darwin shakes his head at the chancellors assertion, but doesn’t argue. He was more interested in this Gremishka.
“I had no idea either. It is a disturbing thought indeed that there are spell casters out there trying to create life, especially with these results”, he says with a frown.
“And that book is from The Forgotten Realms? Meaning someone from there did this?”, he adds feeling a little guilty, even though it was not his doing.
The Chancellor is silent as he reads further. 'Mr. Darwin, you're from the Forgotten Realms, I take it?' he asks as he looks up. 'I understand you were with the same Carnival, I also understand that it supposedly travels between planes of existence somehow but based on the things I've heard you say, I'm correct, yes?'
'This book doesn't tell me how exactly these things are created. It seems possible that a sorcerer, or perhaps a Warlock, could have accidentally created these things. It seems unlikely it was a Druid or Cleric, let alone a Bard or something else but if I understand the premise of...' he pauses for a moment before looking at Darwin for confirmation as he says the strange word 'Wizards? They tend to be scholars and the like, yes? A sage's experiments seem the most likely cause, so I would hazard a guess that these things came through whatever the Carnival did, maybe with it, and then were left stranded?' he looks pensive. He rises from his seat and looks out the window. 'Who knows what else could find its way to our reality...'
'Mr. Darwin, how exactly does this...wizardry work?' he asks, the curiosity plain in his voice. 'Magical Theory is fascinating and complex so to find that it has another facet that seems to exist simply by studying it seems...insane. Magic has to have a source, that is one of the core rules of our understanding of it.'
'You and Master Hamish both draw power, in some way, from the Feywild, a realm of magic. Dame Ida pulls from the divine planes. I, myself, well, no need to go into that but the fundamental truth of magic is, and always has been, that it comes from somewhere else, so, how can this wizardry work?' his facial expression is rather intense, which is understandable given his very understanding of the universe is being tampered with.
Darwin nods to the chancellor. “That is right, that is where I am from. I stumbled from my home into the Feywild when I was younger, and after some time wandering I came upon the carnival. They took me in and looked after me, and in return I worked for them for some years”, he says being completely honest with him.
“Now I am lost once again, and will never get home”, he continues with a sad look on his face.
After a moment he notices the chancellor still looking at him intently. “Oh, wizards, yes there are wizards where I am from. I am not an expert but they study a lot, have a book in which they write the formulas they need to use magic. They learn from each other I think as well”. He shakes his head, “I don’t really know much more than that, only that they are some of the cleverest of people where I come from, and it takes a long time to master”.
“And I don’t recall those creatures at all, but it is possible there was someone at the carnival that created them. But like Ida said, how did they get to the warehouse at the docks, if they came from a carnival the other side of the city?”
Ida is lost in thought for a moment from all that she's learning. I pull magic from the divine planes? What does that even mean? She is thinking of Peter, and when he began to fully appear. She's confused but trying not to let her face show it. That's what brings her back. She remembers where she is and what's happening and realizes that Darwin has lost his entire family twice-over and must have been heartbroken to wind up in a jail cell confused. And Hamish is drawing magic from the Feywild? No wonder it's been such a mess for him to try to understand, he's had no idea what is within him.
The Chancellor has a pensive look on his face then nods, 'No idea. They seem to luck just like cats if you're not paying attention so it's possible they moved acacrossrhe city and were dismissed as strays.' he muses. 'or perhaps some sorcerer was bored on a long sea voyage and was playing with forces he shouldn't.' he shrugs.
'Well, I thank you for bringing me the specimen so I can try to understand these creatures. Consider your parole complete but be sure to stay out of trouble, the Duke cannot be seen as giving preferential treatment to his nobles and their friends.' he glances at Ida.
'If you find yourselves looking for some employment, I think you've suitably proven you can be of use to the Duke. I will be sure to tell the guards to bring you to see me whenever you come by, now if you'll leave me, I have much reading to do.'
"Thank you. Sincerely." Ida turns to leave, hoping Hamish and Darwin are following. Even if they would like more information, especially about Hamish's magic abilities and controlling his Feywild "gift," she knows the Chancellor is happy to be occupied by this creature. Plus, she is quickly becoming exhausted. She knows they each need a meal and some good sleep- plus they need to check on Toryn.
Hamish, silent and watching until now, takes a hesitant step towards the Chancellor. "What do you mean I get magic from the Feywild? What does that mean? How do you know that? Can I control this, then?"
Darwin looks from Hamish to the Chancellor, then wanders over to Ida holding his hand up suggesting she wait a moment, he wants to see how this plays out.
"I hope he helps Hamish, he sounds good with this sort of stuff", Darwin whispers to Ida quietly so he doesn't interrupt.
The Chancellor looks at the small urchin boy in front of him and looks taken aback for a moment. 'Well, to be entirely honest, I don't know what that means...' he says, realizing that the boy didn't seem to know he had the power he does.
'I have certain abilities, and one of them means that I can smell the wild magic on you from here. Well, not smell but...' he shrugs, 'Turn of phrase. As for controlling it, I'm going to take assume that you have not entered into a pact with a fey, as then you'd know a little bit more I would hope, though they can be tricky creatures.' he chuckles and if you watched closely enough, you might have noticed him glance at his Raven.
'If it's in your blood, as I suspect, then wild magic is...tricky. I've studied it quite extensively, after all, all elf kind are descendants of the fae and who doesn't get curious about their heritage. You can assert some control over it but the problem can be found in the name, it is wild, sometimes it might not do quite what you want.' he smiles in what he hopes is a comforting manner.
'It is late, you all should get some sleep. Master Hamish, if you are interested, be here at 9am sharp tomorrow and I can teach you how to control it as best as I can.'
Darwin walks over to Hamish and reaches up and tugs his sleeve. "He's right, we all need rest, but we'll get you back in the morning if that's what you want", he says to Hamish before turning and heading towards the door.
"I'll get a coach, take your time. Coming Ida?", he says and heads out to do just that.
Hamish listens closely, then nods. He glances at Darwin when the gnome comes over, but sighs gently. Realizing how tired he is, he whispers, "All right. I'll be back in the morning. I want to learn to use this." Hamish bows slightly, then turns to follow Darwin and Ida.
Ida thinks some good sleep will be good for all of them, so she's thankful to get outside and try to find a coach.
You all take a cab back to the spot you dropped Toryn earlier, which you now realize is the same Dwarven run establishment you visited earlier. When you enter, you find 3 hot meals and an already fed Toryn waiting for you as Ida had slyly paid for a day's meals earlier for the party, and has also arranged for 2 rooms for the party to share this evening.
Toryn takes one look at the exhaustion visible on everyone's face. Update me in the morning?
Darwin sits and starts tucking into his food with gusto. "It went well, he was happy and we are now free", he says between bites of food.
"He has offered us help if we need work and things", he adds after another mouthful of food.
"How are you doing?"
After a much needed rest I feel stronger than ever... and perhaps a little less feisty. I've been a brawler me whole life. Win some, lose some. But never had me arse handed to me like that before.
Darwin smiles. "It was not the best of ideas picking that fight, but whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger", he says raising his goblet of wine to Toryn in a friendly toast.