Necromancer's Delusion-Homebrew

Mucor would let out a loud snort. "I think we could buy our own horses for those prices.. and if it is that far away... well I was hoping we would be closer than we are..." The elf would say with a mixture or disappointment and nervousness. "How fast could someone get there if they were flying... just a straight line from here?" The elf would ask with a serious expression on his face. 

Aryn smiles and says, "Thank you but we need to get there much faster.  We're part of the Lightbringers.  Perhaps you could point us in the direction of the person who handles the teleportation circles.  I'm sure you have one to Yeim here that we could utilize." She had no clue if there was a circle here to Yeim but she wanted to act like she knew there was. 

Persuasion:     20

"Ah yes, thank you.  We are interested in any literature you have regarding the Cataclysm, dragons in general,  golden or brass dragons specifically, Bahamut or Neltharion.  Do you know if you have anything regarding those things?" Gaelin says with a polite bow.

"That is an even better idea" Mucor would add as he smiles to Aryn. "If there is no teleportation circle in the city of Yeim, maybe there is a mage that could scry on the location of the Loremanor estate? If I could see some trees nearby that would be helpful as well?" The elf would add looking back to the woman.

Aryn & Mucor- "Oh.. I umm... just a moment please..." she says blinking rapidly at this new information.  She casts a familiar message spell and the female mage says, "Oh it is such an honor to meet members of the Lightbringers.  I had no idea... I'm so sorry..." and after about 30 seconds of awkwardness you see another female mage quickly making her way towards you.  She bows and says, 'Hi. I understand you're looking for travel to Yeim.  Please follow me."  The lady behind the desk exhales deeply and fans herself with her hand for a moment before motioning for the next person to come up to the help desk.  "Our sincerest apologies, we were under the impression you were intending on staying locally around Onilas.  I will take you to our circle directly and so you can arrive immediately in Yeim."   

Ironically you follow behind a mage retracing your steps exactly and arrive in the same circular chamber as before with a few confused looking mages.  "Traveling to Yeim." the female mage says quickly and one of the seven mages steps forward and opens a door for you to enter. "Thank you for visiting.  You are welcome anytime." the female mage says before you step through the doorway. The room is identical to the one you arrived in with a similar teleportation circle glowing with arcane energy.  You step in and are instantly transported to a dark stone room with a glowing circle of runes on the floor.  You exit through a door to find 4 mages guarding a large rectangular chamber with 5 doors.  A male Tabaxi dressed in the blue robe garb of the seven steps forward and asks, "Please state your name and reason for your visit for the record."

Gaelin, Jinara & Valeera- The clerk looks unamused and says simply.  "One moment." as he casts a message spell.  You see her nod and he directs you towards one of the patrolling mages who is making his way to you.  "Hello, and welcome to the Onilas archives.  I am Kelymar.  I understand you are wishing to find texts regarding the cataclysm and dragons.  I must inform you that we have specific rules regarding the handling of our tomes.  Only one tome is allowed per person at a time.  While you are here please refrain from using any magic without asking our consent.  Please follow me."  You walk up an ornately carved wooden staircase to the second floor and pause at a section of the wall where a built in bookshelf nearly 8 feet tall stands full of tomes.  "I believe the works you are looking for will be in this section.  You are welcome to sit there while you read." he says pointing to a table roughly 10 feet away.

        Each of you make an investigation check.

Mucor just smiles and shakes his head a bit. "Hello my name is Mucor and this is Aryn, we are just here visiting for a few days." Mucor would reply with a grin after everything they had just gone through a few minutes ago.

Investigation 21

Investigation:   18

"Thank you.  May I cast a spell so that I can understand more languages?" Gaelin asks wanting to cast Comprehend Languages

Valeera Investigation: 19

Valeera and Jinara- you both find tomes pertaining to dragons.   They spend a couple hours reading through the text that catalogues each color and classification of dragon.  For each dragon there are generalizations that cover the temperament, abilities and preferred habitations of each type of dragon.  The books are somewhat opinionated and written in the same manner.  You examine the inscription on the inside of the back cover and find that Jinara has the 3rd edition of Sir Valqo  Aelar while Valeera has the 2nd edition from the same author.  There only seem to be minor changes made between editions, mainly spelling corrections and a bit more embellishment of the fearsome red dragon and nefarious black dragon.

Gaelin- you find a dusty and worn book entitled "The Clash of Titans" nestled in a corner of the bookshelf.  You read through over the course of 4 hours and are able to gain a good bit of information.  The book mostly focuses on Neltharion, it covers his take over of the volcanic island of Monsigneus decades before the war and the build up to the Cataclysm.  Once inhabited by Neltharion the volcano Monsigeneus constantly erupted spewing ash into the sky for years before going suddenly dormant about 20 years prior to the war.  The book jumps to 5 years before the war when Neltharion emerged from the island and began rallying dragons from across all of Eraas traveling east to Telgun and crossing over the vast ocean to reach the western coast of Zhora.  Stories from various towns tell of a sweeping heat wave that passed from west to east as Neltharion searched for allies.  Another time skip, to within a few months of the onset of the war.  Neltharion was near the end of his diplomatic journey when he landed in Phoax on the eastern coast of Zhora.  Neltharion single handedly destroyed the entire capital city killing hundred of thousands and set off the events that would lead to the great war. 

Aryn & Mucor- you see all of the mages suddenly look down slightly as if they were concentrating on something and look back up to you.  The mage who addressed you bows and says, "Ah, welcome to Yeim Lightbringers.  Please, follow me."  Similar to Onilas a door is opened and a second mage takes the place of the first.  Instead of stairs you walk down an impossibly long hallways of doors before coming to a stop at one.  The hallway continues on for another hundred feet or so but you follow your guide through the door and enter into a relatively small room that you assume serves as a lounge.  "Please wait here while we make arrangements.  Someone will come to assist you shortly." the mage says with a bow and closes the door behind him leaving the two of you alone.  A few minutes pass before a female tiefling opens the door and greets you.  "Lightbringer Aryn and Mucor, welcome to Yeim.  My name is Lilsolis, but you can call me lily.  Is there anything you require before you exit into the city?"

"Hello Lily, thank you for the warm welcome.  Are you familiar with the Loramenor estate?   How long of a journey is it from here, and do you have horses for rent?  Also, could you recommend a place for lodging and a local tailor?" she asks 

16

"Loramenor... I'm not familiar with it.  One moment let me ask the others.  In regards to horses we have plenty for rent. The rental is 40 gold for a draft horse, 60 gold for a riding horse and 350 gold for a warhorse.  Upon successful return of the horse you receive 50% of the cost back.  The Dragonheart inn is a upper class establishment for traveling merchants and persons of high influence, while the Giant's Bane tavern is a well kept but more... jovial place to be.  There are multiple tailors here, the Needle and Thread shop has been here for over a hundred years and the Swift Spindle has the quickest turn around."  she says with a bow and she casts message.  About a minute passes before she says, "Ah, the Loramenor estate is on the northwest outskirts of the city.  By horse it will only take you an hour or so depending on how quickly you travel."

Gaelin, Jinara & Valeera- You can make another investigation check or proceed to another city after you discuss your findings.

"An hour ride isn't bad. You think we should rent some riding horses or take a little walk?" Mucor would ask looking to Aryn.

Gaelin would make notes as he read and share them with Jinara and Valeera once he finished. "It seems Neltharion was a pretty power hungry individual.  Do we want to continue here or try somewhere else?" he asks, leaving the choice up to the others.

If they stay Investigation: 19

"We can rent a horse. No need to get the clothes that we purchase dirty. Next time we travel let's take the griffons with us."  Aryn says to Mucor then turns to Lily, "We'll take two draft horses please."   and will hand her 80 gold.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I thought the griffons might prevent us from keeping a low profile though." Mucor would say as he reaches into his pouch and pulls out 40 gold. He would the offer it to Aryn to cover his half of the mount costs. "I only brought 100 gold like you said, I would hope that leaves enough for food and some nice clothes.. maybe a nice room at the inn as well." He would add with a smile.

Aryn holds up her hand.  "Don't worry, I'll take care of the expenditures for this trip.  I feel like I've pressured you into it enough so let me take care of everything.  The griffons would increase our visibility but we could easily get in and out with minimal effort.   We'll see how things play out the next time we take a trip."  

"OK" Mucor would reply as he puts away the coins. "I don't want you to think you are pressuring me into anything. I am looking forward to spending a couple days relaxing with you..." the elf would reply as he locks eyes with Aryn. "I... honestly have been trying not to think about the manor or what we will find there.. I haven't thought much about what I will say or what they will say...." Mucor would continue as his eyes move down to the floor. "visiting that manor will just be an added bonus on trip" He would add as he nods to himself as he tries to reassure himself while trying not to worry about the potential awkward confontation that might soon take place. 

"Most of the things I found, I learned in my returned memories. If you think there is more to learn, I am happy to stay."

If we stay 13

(A bit of retcon.)

Gaelin, Jinara & Valeera- the mage nods and says, "That is permitted.  I'll be over here should you require anything else.  Please help yourselves to the tomes in this section, but only one at a time."  After finishing his current book, Gaelin hands it and his notes over to Jinara who begins to read through for another 4 hours.

Jinara- as you peruse through you are able to find a small passage that Gaelin skipped over regarding the alleged cause of Neltharion's attack on Phoax.  The king of the kingdom had previously boasted of slaying a red dragon roughly a year before Neltharion's arrival.  Rumors and embellishments spread to the point that some said that Neltharion was the dragon slain.  In a gruesome account, the author tells of Neltharion arriving and walking into the king's keep dressed as a common farmer.  When the kings guards came to stop the farmer from advancing further Neltharion simply blew a jet of flame from his mouth and turned the guards to ash.  Netlharion, still dressed as a farmer dragged the pleading king out to the top of the keep and called the whole city to watch.  A crowd quickly formed and they watched in horror as the farmer's body transformed into the gigantic dragon and tore their king in twain splattering many of the onlookers with his blood.  Immediately after killing the king Neltharion began his destruction of the once mighty city.  His fiery breath was so hot that it melted the stone building and walls and permanently cast shadows of the vaporized fallen.  Only a few hundred of the near half million population managed to escape the city.  By the time Neltharion's fiery rage was complete the city was unrecognizable from the cliffside the city was built against.  

Gaelin- You look over the shelves and various tomes spread out over the section you are permitted to select from and find an older tome with a cracked leather cover.  There are no pages, only a single square etched stone that appears to be covered in runes of a language foreign to you.  You cast your permitted spell and as you look over the runes to discover the runes and words are an incantation of some unknown spell rather than any kind of sentences.  If you decide to read the incantation, make a DC 17 stealth check.

Valeera investigation:   7

Valeera spends her time finding two other books regarding dragons that provide the same level of detail as the first book she found.

Aryn & Mucor- "Very well.  Please follow me." Lily says accepting the payment and casts another message.  You follow behind her traveling another 30 feet down the hallway and enter into a large chamber similar to the one in Onilas.  Various common folk appear to enter and exit without difficulty through the large double doors that lie at the opposite end of the chamber from your current location. You notice all of the people who enter and exit are wearing heavy jackets and warm clothing.  As you approach the double door you see the snow covered walkways and roofs of the various city structures.  Strangely you feel no cold as you watch the doors open and close.  Lily smiles and looks at you before waving her hand.  You feel a slight warmth and fuzziness across your bodies as warm fur jackets materialize over your clothing. "That should last you about 10 minutes.  Both tailor shops are just a few blocks away to the north. The stables are on your right as you exit. Your horses are prepped and ready whenever you need them.  Simply give the stable hand your names and all will be taken care of.  Is there anything else you need before you go?" Lily asks with a smile