Valor’s eyes narrow in obvious annoyance at the old Avowed, but, as she quickly confirms the titles Matreus left for her are what she requested, she speaks again.
“I will accompany you to the Keeper of the Emerald Door. In part in order to lodge a complaint. But also, this episode has become a point of honor. No one will speak for me to the Keepers. I will tell my own tale.”
Valna Oxalonthrinn has returned to the Emerald Door by the time Bell, Meredith, and Valor arrive at the tall shining portal. Oxalonthrinn explains that Yalerion – the other Seeker whose submitted text was a gingwazim – is at this moment telling his tale to the Keeper of Tomes. “Please come with me,” the Keeper instructs Valor, in a tone that abides no disagreement before turning to instruct Bell and Meredith.
“Meet me and the Keeper of Tomes after your evening meal, in his audience chamber. And tell Lady Erudisia and Little One as well. Nine o’clock.”
As she and Bell moved away she kept her mind busy with possibilities of what tasks awaited them rather than dwelling on certain hugs recently experienced and the feelings engendered by such close bodily......ADVENTURE!!! ASSIGNMENTS!!! JOB STUFF!!!
" SO!", she blurted suddenly a little too loudly, " What do you think they want us to do? Is it a Quest? An errand? An Adventure?"
(The time now is now mid-afternoon. Erudisia’s long rest will end by 9pm. Bell & Meredith pass by the stables and can see Little One quietly reading on a hay-loft (“resting”). Does anyone want to do anything in particular before the meeting? Otherwise we can assume Bell & Meredith pass the message to Erudisia and Little One and fast forward to the meeting.)
That night, at 9 o’clock, Bell, Meredith, Erudisia – looking and feeling herself once again – and Little One, follow the maze of curving passageways which take them to the long chamber, with its long wooden table under a bright chandelier of lit candles, where they first met Janussi, Keeper of Tomes.
When you arrive, the Keeper of the Emerald Door is already there, as is Janussi, who, wearing a sour expression, is writing in a journal and glances up only momentarily, welcoming you four to enter and sit at the table before completing her writing. Janussi, to restate what you already know, is a human woman, old and wrinkled but not ancient, who today, as is true most days, wears simple gray robes with a recognizable headdress. Today, the headdress’s design is broad strips of black and white. Her expression is rather strained, while Valna Oxalonthrinn’s eyes shine, subtly, with conquest.
By the time you have settled into your seats, Janussi scratches a final word, closes the journal, and puts down the pen. She smiles proudly at the four of you, each in turn, takes a breath, and speaks.
“Your presence in Candlekeep this afternoon saved at least one life, and perhaps more. I continue to believe that the formation of the Scholar’s Shield was an appropriate action, and I am aware that the research that you have undertaken in the last tendays has accumulated at a dizzying pace.” She glances over her glasses at Valna Oxalonthrinn as she says this. The elven Keeper’s response is frosty. She, Oxalonthrinn, raises an eyebrow in an expectant nudge, and Janussi continues, turning back to you four.
“What do you know of the unfortunate events of this afternoon? In your own words,” she asks, her steady gaze shifting to each of you in turn as you offer your thoughts.
Erudisia stays silent. She would quite like to know what the others have discovered, and she doubts the Keeper and Janussi are interested in her own discovery of the dramatic arts society.
Meredith shifted uncertainly looking at Bell and Erudisia in turn.
" Uh....there were at least two volumes brought into Candlekeep recently that were actually disguised and dangerous magical creatures. Both seem to have been bought in similar circumstances....", she wasn't quite sure what was needed from her the Keeper should already have all the specific information...
Bell stepped forward to be shoulder to shoulder with Meredith.
"From what the front gate and their records show, it appears we might have gotten the two that showed up today. That does not guarantee any came in BEFORE the storms."
"As I reported before, I tried a 'Detect Magic' which detected nothing amiss with the first 'faux book'. Mistress Oxalonthrinn set me straight on why that failed. However, the 'book' did not change until Little One had finished reading the first chapter. And I believe Shadi stated they too had just finished reading the first chapter in the second faux book when it started to change."
"They also mentioned feeling 'compelled' to read it. So, perhaps the trigger was reading that first chapter?"
"From what Yalerion and Valor recounted, it seems those faux books came from a book selling stall somewhere on the Wide -- the marketplace in Baldur's Gate. Neither book triggered during all their travels to get to Candlekeep... "
Bell looks about at her companions... "I am certain Eurdisia and Little One can add to the information presented if you so desire."
Little One chimes in. “What strikes me as interesting is that both books… after they were unwrapped, they immediately started to speak to the one holding them. Me, and Shadi. Bidding us to open the book and read it. Neither book made it into the stacks.” He turns to Bell. “Do you really think there are more here? They must feed or they will die. Isn’t that right, Lady Oxalonthrinn?” Both the elf and Janussi nod in assent.
“That is correct,” the Keeper of the Emerald Gate replies. “Any gangwitzim that made it into Candlekeep would either have already fed, or have died by now. There have been no other disappearances in recent months.”
“However,” the Keeper of Tomes says, “that does not mean that more rituals were not cast. It is possible that more gingwatzim were created and exist outside of these walls. Perhaps, in Baldur’s Gate, where the two that were discovered today originated.”
“And they may be feeding upon unknowing victims at this very moment,” Oxalonthrinn adds. “Unknowing because those in this room are the only individuals who have an inkling what these creatures are capable of, or whence they came, and that knowledge dallies uselessly within these walls. Unless something is done.” Her glance falls upon Erudisia, the only person to have maintained her silence thus far, daring her to contradict her.
“We must write to the booksellers of Baldur’s Gate,” she offers. “Perhaps they might point us to the source of these strange creatures, and we can warn them and their custom at the same time, while we investigate.”
“That,” Janussi says, in answer to Erudisia, though her eyes are focused on a spot on the conference table, “was what I thought. At first. However, we,” here she lifts her glance to meet Lady Oxalonthrinn’s eye, holding it with sour resignation, “we believe that a more active stance is needed from the Scholar’s Shield.” She waits a moment to allow the thought to sink in before taking a breath and continuing. “The kitchen at the House of Rest will provision you for your journey, and the bursar will disburse a suitable per diem. For the time being, your research must wait. Your immediate duties are to journey to Baldur’s Gate in haste, find this book market stall in the Wide; determine if this was a covert attack upon Candlekeep, or, at any rate, the reason for this occurrence; bring bad actors to justice; and, most importantly, ensure no more gingwatzim are summoned. For their existence on this plane can only result in the deaths of thinking persons.”
The journey from Candlekeep to Baldur’s Gate, taken at a brisk pace, will fill four days of travel. The Way of the Lion to the Coast Way north, stopping to stay overnight at the Friendly Arm Inn at the end of the second day. Then, two more days travel north on the Coast Way to Baldur’s Gate. At least, that is the plan. As you set off the next morning, the weather cooperates, remaining clear and warming as foliage continues to unfurl in these days of middle springtime. Cheerful puffs of white cotton cloud move quickly across the sky, but the winds high above do not carry into the lower reaches of the atmosphere, and your exertions take place where the air moves only in fragrant wafts.
The famous big cats are seen near the Way of the Lion, but they sleep lazily in the late-morning sunshine, several cubs feeding off of an antelope carcass which seems quite fresh. The feline hunters peer regally at you as you pass, but do not move.
When you reach the Coast Way, you are soon hailed by a pair of riders moving proudly in the opposite direction. The first, a gnome magistrate dressed in a red velvet robe with an eight-pointed cap and several gold necklaces, rides a large wolf. His guard, a human paladin in half-plate carrying a teardrop-shaped cavalry shield and broadsword, rides an even larger – nay, giant – wolf with big brown eyes that drools quite a bit.
(OOC: in addition to two days' rations, each of you is given 50gp for traveling expenses before leaving Candlekeep.)
Erudisia pats her mare softly as it whinnies and nickers at the presence of the wolves.
She trots just ahead of the others. Her mage armor is subtle, but on the road she casts it religiously, the cool air of her magic forming a film around her.
”Hail, magistrate. Hail fair Paladin. What news from whence you came? Thence we travel and whereto we have pressing business expected, verily, by some in Baldur’s Gate.”
She blushes a little, hopefully unnoticeably, her speech falling into the manner of her mother’s style in her stress and anxiety at the well armored new travellers.
(How close are we to an inn/night — is it an inn on the second night only?)
Meredith was used to travelling by carriage and was not enjoying the trip overly much.....though she did take copious notes on the big cats.....she let Erudisia do introductions as she wasn't quite sure what to make of the imposing pair.
The red-robed gnome arches an eyebrow in answer to Erudisia as he and the paladin, on their mounts, approach, then halt in the road some 10’ in front of your party.
“I care little for that which does occur in Baldur’s Gate,” he squeaks, “for it, like any city worthy of the appellation ‘city,’ is in its many parts forbidding, gross, evil, odoriferous and also smelly and not wholesome. It lacks all the compassion and good feelings that country life grants to those who are wise enough to accept the fruits of its labors – country life, that is – and those fruits offer much to their eaters.” While he was speaking, the magistrate pulled a board from his saddlebag, gave it a good shake, and then held it in front of him as it magically sprouted long table legs which reach all the way to the ground. The gnome now unfurls a scroll upon this table, and continues speaking, eyes flashing.
“As magistrate of the five and a half meadows and three ponds and associated townships, hamlets, and villages, ET CETERA,” the words ‘et cetera’ are stated with religious piety, “and in keeping with the duties and responsibilities and honors ET CETERA of the office of magistrate, and in clear sight of this bailiff of the landisbrandibodingorbijurg, Brandison of the Brandis, church of Tyr, most just and bright-eyed, ET CETERA, and some would say, a brute in form, I hereby bring this bi-bunal to order.”
“‘Tis a mere formality,” the paladin on his drooling giant pooch offers, confidentially.
“Are you ready to speak,” the gnome pushes on, “with all honestly, forthrightness and clarity and conviction and truthfulness ET CETERA, appropriate to and signifying of the honor of this proceeding?”
"Will take but a minute," the paladin adds, in a friendly tone. "You look not like thieves, after all," he says, flashing a winning smile to Erudisia, although his glance then circles past Bell and Meredith, stopping at Little One, where, the smile, though it remains, seems to lose it luster.
Valor’s eyes narrow in obvious annoyance at the old Avowed, but, as she quickly confirms the titles Matreus left for her are what she requested, she speaks again.
“I will accompany you to the Keeper of the Emerald Door. In part in order to lodge a complaint. But also, this episode has become a point of honor. No one will speak for me to the Keepers. I will tell my own tale.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
"As you wish... "
Meredith looked surprised but pleased and gave Bell a nudge with her elbow and an encouraging grin as they moved off....
Valna Oxalonthrinn has returned to the Emerald Door by the time Bell, Meredith, and Valor arrive at the tall shining portal. Oxalonthrinn explains that Yalerion – the other Seeker whose submitted text was a gingwazim – is at this moment telling his tale to the Keeper of Tomes. “Please come with me,” the Keeper instructs Valor, in a tone that abides no disagreement before turning to instruct Bell and Meredith.
“Meet me and the Keeper of Tomes after your evening meal, in his audience chamber. And tell Lady Erudisia and Little One as well. Nine o’clock.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
" Yes, Keeper."
As she and Bell moved away she kept her mind busy with possibilities of what tasks awaited them rather than dwelling on certain hugs recently experienced and the feelings engendered by such close bodily......ADVENTURE!!! ASSIGNMENTS!!! JOB STUFF!!!
" SO!", she blurted suddenly a little too loudly, " What do you think they want us to do? Is it a Quest? An errand? An Adventure?"
(What time is it now?)
(The time now is now mid-afternoon. Erudisia’s long rest will end by 9pm. Bell & Meredith pass by the stables and can see Little One quietly reading on a hay-loft (“resting”). Does anyone want to do anything in particular before the meeting? Otherwise we can assume Bell & Meredith pass the message to Erudisia and Little One and fast forward to the meeting.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
(Excellent. As on every waking, Erudisia regrets her inability to Trance like her mother, she attends for 9pm, chipper and rested.)
That night, at 9 o’clock, Bell, Meredith, Erudisia – looking and feeling herself once again – and Little One, follow the maze of curving passageways which take them to the long chamber, with its long wooden table under a bright chandelier of lit candles, where they first met Janussi, Keeper of Tomes.
When you arrive, the Keeper of the Emerald Door is already there, as is Janussi, who, wearing a sour expression, is writing in a journal and glances up only momentarily, welcoming you four to enter and sit at the table before completing her writing. Janussi, to restate what you already know, is a human woman, old and wrinkled but not ancient, who today, as is true most days, wears simple gray robes with a recognizable headdress. Today, the headdress’s design is broad strips of black and white. Her expression is rather strained, while Valna Oxalonthrinn’s eyes shine, subtly, with conquest.
By the time you have settled into your seats, Janussi scratches a final word, closes the journal, and puts down the pen. She smiles proudly at the four of you, each in turn, takes a breath, and speaks.
“Your presence in Candlekeep this afternoon saved at least one life, and perhaps more. I continue to believe that the formation of the Scholar’s Shield was an appropriate action, and I am aware that the research that you have undertaken in the last tendays has accumulated at a dizzying pace.” She glances over her glasses at Valna Oxalonthrinn as she says this. The elven Keeper’s response is frosty. She, Oxalonthrinn, raises an eyebrow in an expectant nudge, and Janussi continues, turning back to you four.
“What do you know of the unfortunate events of this afternoon? In your own words,” she asks, her steady gaze shifting to each of you in turn as you offer your thoughts.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Erudisia stays silent. She would quite like to know what the others have discovered, and she doubts the Keeper and Janussi are interested in her own discovery of the dramatic arts society.
Meredith shifted uncertainly looking at Bell and Erudisia in turn.
" Uh....there were at least two volumes brought into Candlekeep recently that were actually disguised and dangerous magical creatures. Both seem to have been bought in similar circumstances....", she wasn't quite sure what was needed from her the Keeper should already have all the specific information...
Bell stepped forward to be shoulder to shoulder with Meredith.
"From what the front gate and their records show, it appears we might have gotten the two that showed up today. That does not guarantee any came in BEFORE the storms."
"As I reported before, I tried a 'Detect Magic' which detected nothing amiss with the first 'faux book'. Mistress Oxalonthrinn set me straight on why that failed. However, the 'book' did not change until Little One had finished reading the first chapter. And I believe Shadi stated they too had just finished reading the first chapter in the second faux book when it started to change."
"They also mentioned feeling 'compelled' to read it. So, perhaps the trigger was reading that first chapter?"
"From what Yalerion and Valor recounted, it seems those faux books came from a book selling stall somewhere on the Wide -- the marketplace in Baldur's Gate. Neither book triggered during all their travels to get to Candlekeep... "
Bell looks about at her companions... "I am certain Eurdisia and Little One can add to the information presented if you so desire."
Little One chimes in. “What strikes me as interesting is that both books… after they were unwrapped, they immediately started to speak to the one holding them. Me, and Shadi. Bidding us to open the book and read it. Neither book made it into the stacks.” He turns to Bell. “Do you really think there are more here? They must feed or they will die. Isn’t that right, Lady Oxalonthrinn?” Both the elf and Janussi nod in assent.
“That is correct,” the Keeper of the Emerald Gate replies. “Any gangwitzim that made it into Candlekeep would either have already fed, or have died by now. There have been no other disappearances in recent months.”
“However,” the Keeper of Tomes says, “that does not mean that more rituals were not cast. It is possible that more gingwatzim were created and exist outside of these walls. Perhaps, in Baldur’s Gate, where the two that were discovered today originated.”
“And they may be feeding upon unknowing victims at this very moment,” Oxalonthrinn adds. “Unknowing because those in this room are the only individuals who have an inkling what these creatures are capable of, or whence they came, and that knowledge dallies uselessly within these walls. Unless something is done.” Her glance falls upon Erudisia, the only person to have maintained her silence thus far, daring her to contradict her.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
“We must write to the booksellers of Baldur’s Gate,” she offers. “Perhaps they might point us to the source of these strange creatures, and we can warn them and their custom at the same time, while we investigate.”
“That,” Janussi says, in answer to Erudisia, though her eyes are focused on a spot on the conference table, “was what I thought. At first. However, we,” here she lifts her glance to meet Lady Oxalonthrinn’s eye, holding it with sour resignation, “we believe that a more active stance is needed from the Scholar’s Shield.” She waits a moment to allow the thought to sink in before taking a breath and continuing. “The kitchen at the House of Rest will provision you for your journey, and the bursar will disburse a suitable per diem. For the time being, your research must wait. Your immediate duties are to journey to Baldur’s Gate in haste, find this book market stall in the Wide; determine if this was a covert attack upon Candlekeep, or, at any rate, the reason for this occurrence; bring bad actors to justice; and, most importantly, ensure no more gingwatzim are summoned. For their existence on this plane can only result in the deaths of thinking persons.”
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
" Further North? Note to self....pack warmer clothes...definitely sweater weather..."
She turned to the two others trying to hide her excitement from Janussi....
" Road Trip!", she mouthed breathlessly.
En Route to Baldur’s Gate
The journey from Candlekeep to Baldur’s Gate, taken at a brisk pace, will fill four days of travel. The Way of the Lion to the Coast Way north, stopping to stay overnight at the Friendly Arm Inn at the end of the second day. Then, two more days travel north on the Coast Way to Baldur’s Gate. At least, that is the plan. As you set off the next morning, the weather cooperates, remaining clear and warming as foliage continues to unfurl in these days of middle springtime. Cheerful puffs of white cotton cloud move quickly across the sky, but the winds high above do not carry into the lower reaches of the atmosphere, and your exertions take place where the air moves only in fragrant wafts.
The famous big cats are seen near the Way of the Lion, but they sleep lazily in the late-morning sunshine, several cubs feeding off of an antelope carcass which seems quite fresh. The feline hunters peer regally at you as you pass, but do not move.
When you reach the Coast Way, you are soon hailed by a pair of riders moving proudly in the opposite direction. The first, a gnome magistrate dressed in a red velvet robe with an eight-pointed cap and several gold necklaces, rides a large wolf. His guard, a human paladin in half-plate carrying a teardrop-shaped cavalry shield and broadsword, rides an even larger – nay, giant – wolf with big brown eyes that drools quite a bit.
(OOC: in addition to two days' rations, each of you is given 50gp for traveling expenses before leaving Candlekeep.)
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer
Erudisia pats her mare softly as it whinnies and nickers at the presence of the wolves.
She trots just ahead of the others. Her mage armor is subtle, but on the road she casts it religiously, the cool air of her magic forming a film around her.
”Hail, magistrate. Hail fair Paladin. What news from whence you came? Thence we travel and whereto we have pressing business expected, verily, by some in Baldur’s Gate.”
She blushes a little, hopefully unnoticeably, her speech falling into the manner of her mother’s style in her stress and anxiety at the well armored new travellers.
(How close are we to an inn/night — is it an inn on the second night only?)
Meredith was used to travelling by carriage and was not enjoying the trip overly much.....though she did take copious notes on the big cats.....she let Erudisia do introductions as she wasn't quite sure what to make of the imposing pair.
The red-robed gnome arches an eyebrow in answer to Erudisia as he and the paladin, on their mounts, approach, then halt in the road some 10’ in front of your party.
“I care little for that which does occur in Baldur’s Gate,” he squeaks, “for it, like any city worthy of the appellation ‘city,’ is in its many parts forbidding, gross, evil, odoriferous and also smelly and not wholesome. It lacks all the compassion and good feelings that country life grants to those who are wise enough to accept the fruits of its labors – country life, that is – and those fruits offer much to their eaters.” While he was speaking, the magistrate pulled a board from his saddlebag, gave it a good shake, and then held it in front of him as it magically sprouted long table legs which reach all the way to the ground. The gnome now unfurls a scroll upon this table, and continues speaking, eyes flashing.
“As magistrate of the five and a half meadows and three ponds and associated townships, hamlets, and villages, ET CETERA,” the words ‘et cetera’ are stated with religious piety, “and in keeping with the duties and responsibilities and honors ET CETERA of the office of magistrate, and in clear sight of this bailiff of the landisbrandibodingorbijurg, Brandison of the Brandis, church of Tyr, most just and bright-eyed, ET CETERA, and some would say, a brute in form, I hereby bring this bi-bunal to order.”
“‘Tis a mere formality,” the paladin on his drooling giant pooch offers, confidentially.
“Are you ready to speak,” the gnome pushes on, “with all honestly, forthrightness and clarity and conviction and truthfulness ET CETERA, appropriate to and signifying of the honor of this proceeding?”
"Will take but a minute," the paladin adds, in a friendly tone. "You look not like thieves, after all," he says, flashing a winning smile to Erudisia, although his glance then circles past Bell and Meredith, stopping at Little One, where, the smile, though it remains, seems to lose it luster.
DM for Candlekeep Mysteries // Dev Hornd in Curious Critters // Eclipse Faraway in Gallows Dancer