Thurodim scratches his beard for a moment and then shows Laurenz his Ace of Swords card. "I'm not sure it is exactly magical, but I think there is something special about this card." He says in his deep rumbling voice. "Can you tell me anything about it?"

The gnome takes the card from Thurodim's huge fingers with his tiny ones, and examines it briefly. "Well, it certainly is strange!" The other two can see this card as Laurenz places it on the countertop, and you can see what he means. For an Ace of Swords, there are no swords on it, only what appears to be a rough obelisk, standing in a dark landscape. Chances are you have all played some form of cards before, and the Ace of Swords is a well known trump card included in all the best hands. There's even a popular song about it. But you've never seen one like this before.

As Laurenz Longfoot starts to take his Identifying kit from below the counter again, he asks "Where did you find this?"

"Got it from man I saved, said he won it at cards." Thurodim says, anticipation growing a bit as Laurenz picks up his identifying kit. "How much would it cost to know?" He rumbles.

"As it says on the door, my usual fee is 10 Stars. However, as it's you," he strokes his beard. "Shall we say 5 Stars? As a welcome home present," he says with a little smile.

"Five..." Thurodim repeats, starting to slowly count the stars up from his pouch. "One...two......three...........four.............five." He finishes with a proud grin.

Ghurr watches the exchange over the card with great curiosity, wondering if this is like his dad's potion magic or his mum's nature magic. It's definitely not like Ghurr's own power that comes from the natural world around them. His hand brushes against the small leather bag around his neck, and subconscious gesture he does when he's thinking. But when he does, his hand brushes against the small silver skull also hanging there. 

He takes off the skull and places it on the counter as well.

"The Makepeace's gives this to Ghurr," Ghurr say. "Ghurr is worried maybe magic and should give back to them. Only supposed to be trinket of thanks."

Relief took hold of his body as the corporal spoke. At least she could be saved. At least to her he did not fail. Still Ilithir felt too early to show relief. He turned his head towards Heran, a simple gesture that asked for the genasi to check the patient again. To make sure there was no longer danger of losing a life.

“Please stay calm and let us examine your condition.” He spoke taking his hand away from her forehead. His voice was gentle and showed nothing of his worries. “You were attacked back at the keep. Harpies. We defeat most of them and the two survivors ran away. Everything is fine now, though we are investigating what brought those creatures in the city on the first place.” The elf held his wish to ask the corporal about what happened. “It would be helpful to your treatment if you could tell us how you are feeling. Any particular sense of confusion?”

He could only hope she gave a negative answer. If she was not specially confused, then it was possible to ask at once about the attack. If she saw something besides the harpies. Unlikely as it was, maybe she knew who was behind the planting of the box. A last present for the commander before they left Irma.

Heran had half raised a hand, ready to shoo away the shadow when Ilithir motioned for her. It was technically right, but magic was different from natural remedies. She moves up next to to the elf, to give the corporal a look over. The genasi occasionally asks her companion assistance, seeing if he could create any magical light or if he could tilt the corporal's head this way or that. "You're safe now, Corporal. We're at the Temple to Valkur."

"I can still help with the berries of the Corporal could use more help"  Mala offers as she watches the work of her two companions. 

Team Town

"Excellent," says Laurenz. "Well remembered." As Ghurr places the tiny silver skull on the countertop, he nods saying "Certainly an interesting looking piece! I shall happily take a look once I have examined Thurodim's card. As I seem to be doing a few of these, let's temporarily close the shop. We don't want anyone interrupting do we." He quickly hops down and around the counter, bustling over to the door which he locks, then bustles back over to the counter. 

"Right then, let's see what we have here." Removing the feather and pearl from the narrow box again, he repeats the ritual incantation of the spell. While he does so you are able to peruse the shop (and at some point I'll be able to provide you with a list of what your find).

Ten minutes pass, and he stops. Laying the feather and pearl to one side he says, half to himself, "Curious, most curious. There is certainly a magical element to this card, Evocation I would say, though it appears to have no effect in and of itself. Of course, a card without a deck isn't much use. Do you have the rest of the deck?"

Team Temple

She speaks haltingly, "I was at the bottom of the tower... Wait," she says, trying to sit up, "there were guards up there. Riva and Cornel on their posting, then Leo and Elani went up when the attack started. Are they alright?" Her eyes move from one of you to the other, full of hope and fear.

As Laurenz studies his card, Thurodim takes a look around in the shoppe, curious if there is anything useful he can buy for himself, or his mother.

"No, no I have only this one card." Thurodim says, disappointment in his deep rumbling voice. "Do I need a whole deck of magical cards to make magic happen?" He asks, sounding like this would be impossible achieve.

Faera watches as her new friends each have something to produce for the little gnome.  She smiles as she reaches in her own pocket and produces a tiny bone idol of a nightmarish creature, all teeth and tentacles.  She puts it on the counter, a bit apart from Ghurr's skull, patiently waiting her turn.  She wonders what the skull was all about.

Mala takes a deep breath, glancing at her two companions to see if one of them might respond first.  But no.  She looks at the recently revived Corporal and says bluntly, "I do not think any of the guards up on the roof survived."  There is a long pause before she adds, "I'm sorry."

Team Town

"A shame," Laurenz says in response. "A whole deck of such cards would certainly be interesting! This is indeed a very unusual design..." He holds the card up between forefinger and thumb, rotating it to get another full look. "I suppose there is one thing we could try... A powerful piece of magic, and very expensive to perform, though the result would very much rely on this card and its deck being extremely rare, if not unique! If you are willing to try it and risk the money, I would be happy to 'give it a go', as they say, and we may discover the exact nature of this card. Or we may not." He gives a little shrug. "As you are an old family friend, Thurodim, I would be willing to decrease the price to 200 stars, but I'm afraid I couldn't go lower than that."

Noting Faera laying down her tiny idol, he raises his eyebrows, "My my, this group is full of surprises, so many unusual trinkets!"

Team Temple

At the tragic news imparted by Mala, the Corporal brings a hand up to her mouth. You can just about hear her whisper "No..." Her eyes fill with tears, and as they begin to run down her cheeks she covers her face with her hands and sobs. "I'm...sorry. I'm so... sorry. It wasn't meant to... be like...this." Her hands remain covering her face, and she reminds you a little of a small child pretending to hide - If I can't see them, they can't see me.

Thurodim slouches a bit in disappointment as the price is mentioned. "Sorry, can't afford that, perhaps some other time." He says and scoops up the card and pockets it again, looking curiously down at the tiny idol Faera put on the counter, but also at small silver skull Ghurr already put there.

Faera reaches up and pats Thurodim on the arm, "When we have more stars, we can always come back.  It sounds like something that would be worth trying!"  her eyes light up at the thought of the full deck and what all that could mean.

She waits patiently as Laurenz works his identity magic on the other two items on his counter, this being a more fun stop than she had anticipated.  But knowing their time was short and they did need to get moving.

Thurodim glances down at Faera with a smile. "Um, thanks but I would rather save my earnings for my mum, well most of it." He says in his deep rumbling voice.

Ghurr watches the card as Thurodim scoops it back up. 

"Maybe man you save have rest of deck," Ghurr says happy to learn the name for a group of cards.

But he turns quickly, and then goes down to one knee to put himself at eye level with the bone idol that Faera has placed on the counter, his eyes going wide as he looks closely at it. Ghurr reaches a big, fur covered hand to touch the idol but pulls it back before he does.

"Too many teeth and tentacles,' Ghurr finally says, deciding he doesn't like the look of the idol. "Looks not natural."

Laurenz nods as Thurodim picks up the card. "It is a pricey ritual I'm afraid. It's the incense you see! Resin made from Arayakwood, only found deep in the Lucent Marshes. A barrel of more common incense would technically do the same job, but it would be awfully messy, and the result is likely to be less clear. At least from what I remember - my school days were rather a long time ago!" He looks to you all with a mischievous smile. "So if you happen to be passing through the deepest depths of the Marshes, ohohoho, maybe you could pick some up. And then survive the journey back," he finishes with a wink. 

"Now then," he continues, picking up the silver skull, "this is a fine piece." He goes through the motions which you have now seen twice before, until he sets the feather and the skull down on the countertop again. "This at least was a little clearer. It carries the signature mark of Transmutation magic. Magic to change things," he explains, as much for the love of explaining as for the benefit of the others in the room. "Specifically I would say it carries the ability to unlock, similar to the Knock spell, or a Chime of Opening, though what it has been created to open I'm afraid is beyond the limits of the Identify spell. Nothing has mysteriously opened around you since you acquired this item, has it?"

"No, the man said he won the card in a game of cards, and I don't think he would part with one card if they only work together. But the rest of the deck could still be in Fort Imma." Thurodim says, nodding at Ghurr, pondering if it would be worth his while to search for the rest of the deck. There was likely quite a few decks of cards in a place like Fort Imma. 

The half-orc nods and agrees with Ghurr's astute assessment of Faera's tentacled idol. It reminded him of things he had seen on one of his more dangerous journeys across the seas and he had never been too fond of tentacles since then.

Nature to know stuff about Arayakwood: 10