Olgha had remained near the back of the room throughout the entire audience, a silent shadow observing the interplay between her companions and the gnome. This was not her world, this place of polished floors and veiled words. It reminded her too much of the cloying, superficial courtliness of Leopold's castle. She listened as Daris spoke, her eyes missing nothing: the tremor in his hands, the sweat on his brow, the distress in his voice. She’d learned long ago that a person could be telling the truth, yet still be hiding a deeper lie.
After Vadania's questioning and Daris's final offer of coin, Olgha finally spoke, her voice quiet but carrying an unnerving weight in the sudden lull. "You lost an agent," she stated simply, her gaze fixed on the gnome. "You trusted Videric with a mission of 'utmost importance.' Yet you did nothing until we walked through your door with his apprentice." She took a half-step forward, her expression unreadable. "Were you afraid someone or something would notice if you started asking questions about your own missing man?"
"Makrin had completely lost himself by the time Videric quit. We feared the might of his wrath should he discover we had lied to him. I avoided questioning his departure to keep it out of Makrin's mind, hoping he would not try and look for Videric. We cut communications for the same reason. We feared what would happen if we were ever caught."
Vannithos accepts the pouch without batting an eye. He has little need of coin, but is well aware that it can be used to open doors that would otherwise eat up time in their investigation.
"Can we speak to your historian then? The sigil on these necklaces references an ancient god or...entity from before the gods. If we can discover the connection between it and the vampires, we might know better how to foil their plans."
"Yes of course, follow me." He down some hallways and up another set of stairs to a moderately sized library. To your left is a man sitting behind a desk. "This is Stratford, our historian."
"Strawberry filling, are you mad!" Engelheart turns from his pastry debate as the door opens up with the old gnome in the lead. "So now that adults are done talking I imagine everything is cleared up and we are reimbursed for our services?" After being handed a pouch of gold, he eyebrows shot up, "Well now, that must have been quite an explanation. Where to? Historian? Well I guess it's true, some people just can't let go of the past."
“I’ll fill you in once we’re outside,” Vorin tells Engelheart, “This was a lot of information, and we’ll have our next heading. The historian’s going to examine those amulets for us. Best we learn what we can.”
He crosses his arms thoughtfully, decides against the last point he was going to add, and motions to follow along.
Vannithos gives a small nod of greeting to Stratford, approaching and allowing him to study the symbol on the amulets.
"Apparently this is associated with an ancient entity called Balor. Do you know if it is related to vampires in some way? They may be trying to summon it or something similar."
((Hope I'm not misremembering; I think it was Balor.))
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
| Joy - Hexblood Open Sea Paladin - Netherdeep| Kaelen - Shadar-kai Gloom Stalker Ranger - Old Keep| Lira - Half-elf Thief Rogue/Druid - Allansia| Teryn - High Elf Archfey Warlock - Runewarren| Zoveldra - Kalashtar Open Hand Monk - Eberron| Mavilius - Tiefling Eloquence Bard - Golden Vault| Vannithos - Shadar-kai Astral Self Monk - Von Nichts | Cassian - Human Paladin - Dragonlance |
He examines the amulet closely, noting each of its intricacies and details. "Balor, you say? I believe I've heard that name, let me see." He takes the amulet into a room behind him, and returns after a few minutes holding a small box and a tome that seemed to have been written eons ago.
"This tome is written in a language unknown to me, but there are quite a few annotations and extra notes within the margins in languages I can read. It seems you were right about the name Balor. He seems to be some ancient being of chaos. This rune is his, and as far as I can tell this artifact is called an Eye of Balor. What little is documented about it claims that Balor is capable of seeing and hearing through it. For now, I've put it in this box with a minor glyph on it to prevent him from listening in. This artifact could have dire implications for the kingdom if you found it on a vampire's body."
"Makrin had completely lost himself by the time Videric quit. We feared the might of his wrath should he discover we had lied to him. I avoided questioning his departure to keep it out of Makrin's mind, hoping he would not try and look for Videric. We cut communications for the same reason. We feared what would happen if we were ever caught."
"Yes of course, follow me." He down some hallways and up another set of stairs to a moderately sized library. To your left is a man sitting behind a desk. "This is Stratford, our historian."
"Strawberry filling, are you mad!" Engelheart turns from his pastry debate as the door opens up with the old gnome in the lead. "So now that adults are done talking I imagine everything is cleared up and we are reimbursed for our services?" After being handed a pouch of gold, he eyebrows shot up, "Well now, that must have been quite an explanation. Where to? Historian? Well I guess it's true, some people just can't let go of the past."
“I’ll fill you in once we’re outside,” Vorin tells Engelheart, “This was a lot of information, and we’ll have our next heading. The historian’s going to examine those amulets for us. Best we learn what we can.”
He crosses his arms thoughtfully, decides against the last point he was going to add, and motions to follow along.
Vannithos gives a small nod of greeting to Stratford, approaching and allowing him to study the symbol on the amulets.
"Apparently this is associated with an ancient entity called Balor. Do you know if it is related to vampires in some way? They may be trying to summon it or something similar."
((Hope I'm not misremembering; I think it was Balor.))
| Joy - Hexblood Open Sea Paladin - Netherdeep | Kaelen - Shadar-kai Gloom Stalker Ranger - Old Keep | Lira - Half-elf Thief Rogue/Druid - Allansia | Teryn - High Elf Archfey Warlock - Runewarren | Zoveldra - Kalashtar Open Hand Monk - Eberron | Mavilius - Tiefling Eloquence Bard - Golden Vault | Vannithos - Shadar-kai Astral Self Monk - Von Nichts | Cassian - Human Paladin - Dragonlance |
He examines the amulet closely, noting each of its intricacies and details. "Balor, you say? I believe I've heard that name, let me see." He takes the amulet into a room behind him, and returns after a few minutes holding a small box and a tome that seemed to have been written eons ago.
"This tome is written in a language unknown to me, but there are quite a few annotations and extra notes within the margins in languages I can read. It seems you were right about the name Balor. He seems to be some ancient being of chaos. This rune is his, and as far as I can tell this artifact is called an Eye of Balor. What little is documented about it claims that Balor is capable of seeing and hearing through it. For now, I've put it in this box with a minor glyph on it to prevent him from listening in. This artifact could have dire implications for the kingdom if you found it on a vampire's body."
Vadania almost panics. "Wait... if Balor can see and hear though it... He's been spying on us for the whole time it's been with us!?"