"I imagined that you though casters" Khessa puts an arm over Olem's shoulder and the other over Akkron's "had very more powerful means than this to get us out of trouble! But I'm still glad I have learned this incantation! Both for the lure of knowledge... and for the crew's sake!"

"You know?" the blonde arcane warrior explains "This spell can be cast as a ritual... and lasts 24 hours! With just a few time, I can protect not only all of us, but also the crew. They will be safer, in case of battle... or only of plain storm. And this without any waste of my limited magical resources! It's no small feat, for a humble 3rd level spell!"

That said, if nothing interrupts her, Khessa will cast the ritual a few times (each casting can protect up to 10 people), protecting both the party member and the crew, glad that all will probably be a little safer because of that (she also will do that, on a regular basis, in the next days).

The wind is pushing the ship along, the sails snaping and creaking, the lines vibrating in harmony. Once the ship is clear of the harbor, the captain and the first mate set the watch, and those crewmen not on duty, head to the forecastle and some down to the lower deck. Your quarters are located on the middle deck towards the stern, there are no other passengers on the ship. There is a conference room at your service, and the cook is located in the forward section of the middle deck in the ship's kitchen.

It does not take long for the Sword Coast to disappear behind you beyond the horizon, and the gulls leave you as well. Now you are alone on the endless sea, gently rolling with the waves westerly with the wind. It's a gentle roll, allowing you to get your sea legs. Brother Maynard and Sparhawk come up on deck, Sparhawk has removed his great sword but still carried his longsword. His black and silver surcoat waving in the wind.

Brother Maynard asks, "Are your quarters adequate?  We hired Captain Sorgio for his discretion, he has supported the church and the Pandion knights when they have to move some of their men who are going to different lands to serve as eyes and ears, keeping a watch and their order, and the church, informed of any activities." 

"Well!" Khessa approves, smiling openly at Maynard "It's nice to be able to count on trustworthy men like Sorgio! As for the 'quarters', they are definitely 'adequate' for me! I was born and raised on a farm in a tiny village, Twardens!"

"By the way, you know, Maynard?" the blonde arcane warrior gets lost for a moment in the memory "Twardens was nothing more than about five farms built not too far from each other on the top of a small, low, lone hill. The name 'Twardens' is the contracted form of the original, longer name: 'Two Wardens'. The village was so named after the two big sequoia plants that looked like they were two guards keeping watch at the sides of the village... but it could have been also so named after the size of its militia: a member for each of the five farms was designed to be a guard (where "guard" here means "a person with no armor, wielding a club or a pitchfork to drive away the occasional foxes or wolves coming too near the farms"). And that was all!"

"This is to tell you that you don't have to worry too much about the luxury of my accommodation..." the tall adventuress winks at him "You are not transporting a princess!"

And no prince Olem concludes I didn't expect much and would have accepted less than that, as long as we don't swim. He adresses Khessa You really forged a significant future from a humble upbringing, impressive. I could never speak of similar achievments.

Question to the DM: If Olem casts magnificent mansion would it stay anchored in absolute space or would it move relative to the ship?

Quote from Painted_Beyond >>

"Well!" Khessa approves, smiling openly at Maynard "It's nice to be able to count on trustworthy men like Sorgio! As for the 'quarters', they are definitely 'adequate' for me! I was born and raised on a farm in a tiny village, Twardens!"

"By the way, you know, Maynard?" the blonde arcane warrior gets lost for a moment in the memory "Twardens was nothing more than about five farms built not too far from each other on the top of a small, low, lone hill. The name 'Twardens' is the contracted form of the original, longer name: 'Two Wardens'. The village was so named after the two big sequoia plants that looked like they were two guards keeping watch at the sides of the village... but it could have been also so named after the size of its militia: a member for each of the five farms was designed to be a guard (where "guard" here means "a person with no armor, wielding a club or a pitchfork to drive away the occasional foxes or wolves coming too near the farms"). And that was all!"

"This is to tell you that you don't have to worry too much about the luxury of my accommodation..." the tall adventuress winks at him "You are not transporting a princess!"

 Brother Maynard nods and gives a slight bow. "I would not be following my duties if I did not see to your care on this journey. I am glad your quarters suite you, Sorgio is a good captain, but his ship is not designed for comfort for passengers."

Quote from Treewy >>

And no prince Olem concludes I didn't expect much and would have accepted less than that, as long as we don't swim. He adresses Khessa You really forged a significant future from a humble upbringing, impressive. I could never speak of similar achievments.

Question to the DM: If Olem casts magnificent mansion would it stay anchored in absolute space or would it move relative to the ship?

 It should stay anchored with the ship as it is moving

"Trust me when I say that I have had far worse lodgings on many occasions. I may have been joking earlier when I suggested that I could ride in a bag of holding until I am needed... but I have actually travelled in similar 'lodgings' before."

Khessa pats Brother Maynard on the shoulder, laughing heartily: "You're really kind, but maybe it's better if you look at us as 'fellow adventurers', rather than 'passengers'!"

Immediately afterwards, the blonde arcane warrior blushes a little at Olem's compliment and replies, smiling: "I thank you, but also what you have done up to now, that is, preventing very dangerous knowledge from falling into the wrong hands, certainly doesn't seem little to me!"

No it is no easy task. But everything was given to me, everything was taken care of. He pauses for a few seconds. I would like to show you something. Visit me in my quarter in five minutes if you are interested. With that Olem leaves below deck. He smirks when he realizes what he could have implied there and hopes Khessa didn't misinterpret him. In his room he begins to cast magnificent mansion

Akkron watches the other wizard's departure for a few moments.

"It seems the keeper of the Gravegarden has taken quite a liking to you, Khessa. Sometimes your talent for making friends genuinely amazes me... anyway, if no one had any further need of me I think I might try my hand at some fishing to pass the time."

Mal wastes her time by moving about the ship offering a helping hand if needed/wanted but otherwise enjoying herself on the ship. Listening in on the conversations that are going on and every now and then with the captain's permission will climb to the top of the mast and keep a look out.

"Yes," Khessa admits, also partially amazed, "It seems I'm lucky... several times I happen to meet people who take a liking to me... After all," she keeps her arm on her undead mentor's shoulders for a while longer, before 'freeing' him to go fishing "if I didn't have this talent, how could I ever convince a powerful lich to become my magic teacher, instead of celebrating by consuming my soul?"

"Who knows, Master Akkron?" smiles the blonde arcane warrior, lost in a pleasant memory "Do you know what my father once told me, when I gave him and mother a beautiful mirror so they could admire themselves and take care of themselves better? It was after that we freed them from drow captivity, of course... when I had begun to save a good sum from the fruits of many past adventures. It was clear that he had liked it a lot - he was the jovial type, he loved to smile - and he had a lot of fun even seeing himself smile in the mirror. He told me a phrase that seemed very profound to me, in its simplicity: 'You know what Khessa? After all, life is like a mirror... it smiles at you, if you look at it smiling!' Who knows? Maybe there's some truth to it!"

"Anyway, I'm going now..." the tall adventuress announces, after a few minutes "I'm really curious to see what Olem intends to show me! Has he changed his mind about Vecna's secrets and wants to reveal some to me? Even just a single small one? Well, we will see!" and she heads towards the Gravegarden's quarter. Having reached the door, she knocks with energy and enthusiasm...

The lich can't help but chuckle.

"Yes, you really do have an incredible amount of luck in that department..."

He sighs. He is also rather curious what Olem has to show Khessa, but that really isn't any of his business.

"Somehow I doubt you're about to learn any of Vecna's secrets... and that's probably a good thing. Anyway, I wonder where Dabbert is hiding... he seems like the type who would be interested in spending a lazy day casting lines."

You can enter Answers Olem to Khessa's knocking. When she does so she will find him sitting on a chair, studying a plain book. The room does look much the same as Khessa's with the notable difference of a freestanding doorway in the middle of it that does not match at all. The frame consists of beautifully carved marble while the door itself is made of dark, almost black wood with a silver knob. You have expressed your interest to visit the Gravegarden. I told you that this would not happen. You are a curious person and i wish to quench your thirst before you get the bad idea to come to the garden against my advice. Please step in. You will not learn any dark secrets, but please feel free to study the arcane engravings. If anything you will see the beauty of the Gravegarden.

When Khessa does step through the door into the Gravegarden Manifestation she will see the following:
A dome shaped marble hall about 50ft in diameter lit by a web of glowing glass orbs dispersing light through the structure held together by fine chains. straight across there is a arched passage that leads into the wall for about 10 ft before it ends abruptly infront of a marble wall. similar, though shorter "hallways" can be seen on both the right and left side, three on each. Most notable is however the central chamber itself. The ground itself is a green field of grass and flowers reaching about ankle high. Placed in the centre is a stone plate about 20 ft in diameter engraved with runes. In the field placed in circular rows around the plate there are stone blocks inscribed each with a name and a series of arcane runes. The names include Algarim - the Marked Hand; Krosetho - the Bloodletter; Brigal - the Nightscriber; Kas - the Betrayer; Larean - the Grinner in Dark; Moritok - the Discarded Tongue and Nrimran - the taleteller, among many others. The Arcane scriptures placed on the tombstones will, after some study, be identified to be regular spell scriptures. If Khessa wants she can copy Olem's Spells. The runes on the central plate are a script for conjuration magic, specifically one for conjuring pocketspaces.

Quote from Jonpawl >>

Mal wastes her time by moving about the ship offering a helping hand if needed/wanted but otherwise enjoying herself on the ship. Listening in on the conversations that are going on and every now and then with the captain's permission will climb to the top of the mast and keep a look out.

 "Well now, you seem to know your way around a ship, while you are guests aboard my ship, I won't turn away a hand if offered. As we have some days of sailing, perhaps it will relieve you some of the boredom."

Some of the crew invite you in a game of knuckle bones in the forecastle. 

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

The lich can't help but chuckle.

"Yes, you really do have an incredible amount of luck in that department..."

He sighs. He is also rather curious what Olem has to show Khessa, but that really isn't any of his business.

"Somehow I doubt you're about to learn any of Vecna's secrets... and that's probably a good thing. Anyway, I wonder where Dabbert is hiding... he seems like the type who would be interested in spending a lazy day casting lines."

 There are some other crewmen, including the cook fishing, and welcome you to join them. "Always better to have a fresh catch for the meal, then the salted rations we have."

Quote from Treewy >>

You can enter Answers Olem to Khessa's knocking. When she does so she will find him sitting on a chair, studying a plain book. The room does look much the same as Khessa's with the notable difference of a freestanding doorway in the middle of it that does not match at all. The frame consists of beautifully carved marble while the door itself is made of dark, almost black wood with a silver knob. You have expressed your interest to visit the Gravegarden. I told you that this would not happen. You are a curious person and i wish to quench your thirst before you get the bad idea to come to the garden against my advice. Please step in. You will not learn any dark secrets, but please feel free to study the arcane engravings. If anything you will see the beauty of the Gravegarden.

When Khessa does step through the door into the Gravegarden Manifestation she will see the following:
A dome shaped marble hall about 50ft in diameter lit by a web of glowing glass orbs dispersing light through the structure held together by fine chains. straight across there is a arched passage that leads into the wall for about 10 ft before it ends abruptly infront of a marble wall. similar, though shorter "hallways" can be seen on both the right and left side, three on each. Most notable is however the central chamber itself. The ground itself is a green field of grass and flowers reaching about ankle high. Placed in the centre is a stone plate about 20 ft in diameter engraved with runes. In the field placed in circular rows around the plate there are stone blocks inscribed each with a name and a series of arcane runes. The names include Algarim - the Marked Hand; Krosetho - the Bloodletter; Brigal - the Nightscriber; Kas - the Betrayer; Larean - the Grinner in Dark; Moritok - the Discarded Tongue and Nrimran - the taleteller, among many others. The Arcane scriptures placed on the tombstones will, after some study, be identified to be regular spell scriptures. If Khessa wants she can copy Olem's Spells. The runes on the central plate are a script for conjuration magic, specifically one for conjuring pocketspaces.

Khessa thought she was ready for any surprise... but the thought that the mysterious keeper of the Gravegarden had for her catches her completely unprepared! Her wonder is evident, as she opens her mouth and widens her blue eyes: "Olem... I... I don't know what to say..." and she looks around, eagerly absorbing the mysteries that surround her "You know me only very recently, and yet you not only perfectly understood the strong hold that curiosity could have had on me... but you actually decided to do something about it!"

Impulsively, the blonde arcane warrior runs up to him and hugs him eagerly: "Thank you! Thank you so much! It will be a pleasure to visit the Gravegarden in this way!" in releasing finally the embrace, she intensely fixes her blue eyes in those of the other "You must be a person of considerable sensitivity and empathy, to be able to maintain these qualities despite a life led mainly in the company of the undead spiteful, soul-ruining secrets and potential malicious raiders. You're a good person Olem! I'm really happy to have met you!"

In addition to visiting the Gravegarden with extreme interest, taking copious notes and frequently asking for clarification on stories, meanings and connections, the tall adventurer welcomes with a broad smile the offer to copy spells from the powerful arcanist: "I gladly accept your offer! Probably I will only be able to understand a small fraction of the arcane knowledge you have collected over the course of your existence - I have always divided my attention between so many things... not just the magical arts, but also the combat arts, not to mention cultivation of the land and the management of the family! But I am sure that I will find some spell within my reach that is still missing from my grimoire - and I will gladly add it. Obviously, feel free to do the same! In your case, on the contrary, it will be difficult for you to find something unknown to you in my spellbook - but if by chance this should happen, feel free to copy any spells you want".

And so it is that, unless other events distract her, Khessa, without even realizing it, remains until the evening to visit the Gravegarden and quench her thirst for arcane knowledge...

(OOC: @Treewy: Obviously, if Olem talks to her again, the conversation can continue... I just indicated what Khessa plans to do "by default", if nothing else of note happens, but the RP can certainly continue )

Please, let go of me... chuckles Olem with amusement. This is the first time he has shown this much emotion. Id much rather show you the garden than to add you to it's residents should you have visited. Olem will tell a few stories when prompted about who resides in the Garden and their significance to the whispered one. Generally you must understand that this place depicts the Garden in what would be it's ideal state. Many of those graves are empty or incomplete. Of some figures we only posess the body and not their mighty relics or the other way around. For example, Kas and his legendary swords whereabouts are unknown. And while the body of Moritok is lost, Olem produces his tome from beneath his robe and quickly moves the cover to reveal the leatherbound book on which with a tongue is pinned with an iron nail, We have this. He used to be an archivar of sorts but Vecna did not trust him entirely and he cut out his tongue so that Moritok could not speak to anyone about the knowledge he collected. This was obviously only a symbolic gesture. But the tongue can be usefull. When removed from the book it ereases all its contents. Olem walks over to another tombstone This here, of course, is old Krosetho. His title, the BloodletterI, shines the light of a vile healer or brutal executioner upon him. He was merely a producer of arcane ink, which was made from blood. And that is almost the entirety of his brutality. Though his knowledge is certainly usefull. After walking to another Tombstone he speaks up again: This here would be the tomb of Nrimran, if his body was still, lets say, buriable. They turned themself into stories and no longer exist. Olem then walks onto the central plate And this is where we'd bury the grand whispered one himself. Though this day will most definetly never come.

When at some point Khessa indicates to leave Olem stops her for a second. Do me a favour and don't tell the others about this. Not in detail. I wish to surprize them at a later point. This place has more to offer than just grass and stones.

When they exit, Olem closes the door which begins to fall in on itself, breaking into marble chunks that when connecting with the floor just sink into it as if they were made of nothing.

When approached, Dabbert is resting.  He has left his armor in quarters, and is in his simple garb, lying in the shade of one mast with his hands clasped around the back of his head as he stares off into the nothingness of the sky.  He has done a whole lot of this on this voyage.  As Akkron approaches with the offer to fish, the warrior keeps his eyes skyward.  He sorta grins.  Smiles.  Something.  

"Once, I went with a team to investigate this weird island that was uh...cube shaped, and inhabited by monodrones."  He says.  His brow furrows as he remembers.  "Those are uh...weird little buggers.  First fight we got into was at sea.  Someone went overboard."  

He squints as he thinks.  

"I tied a rope around my ankles and dove in after them.  Sea was blacker than Tiamat's stool sample.  I was so scared..."  

He gets quiet after that.  Quiet seems to be the man's default setting.  

"Anyway...fishing you say?"  He pushed himself up with a grunt and looks at Akkron.  "Sure.  I've uh...been known to cast a line every now and then.  Not very good at it of course.  Pretty good at getting uh...drunk doing it though."  

Akkron chuckles at Dabbert's story. After making sure the crew were aware of his presence, he decided to go ahead and let the illusory disguise fade. It just felt more honest to let his allies know who they were working with.

"My friend... sometimes you really are too much of a hero for your own good..."

He picks up a pole and casts a line into the water.

"Somehow I doubt I'm much better at this than you are; after all, I haven't needed food in over two thousand years... but I thought it would be a nice way to kill some time and let the crew get used to me... by the way, do you think we should invite Amanises and Mal to join us as well?"