Quote from Kweinir >>

Roland morphs back into his human form. "YEEEAH, THUNDER... WATERHORSE WINS!" He does a slow spin with his arms raised soaking in the feeling of winning. He walks up to Ormond.  "That guy was glued to the ground, what the actual hells was the deal about that?" 

Once a bit far off from the combatant and any others in the crowd, Ormond explains who the fighter was and why he was nearly impossible to move.

"I have to admit, knowing who that was, I'm very impressed that you were able to get the upper hand - imagine what you'd be capable of if you had HIS abilities," Ormond comments.

..... 

// I'll wait on Deshthi to act before reacting to the possibility that they found Roland and Ormond with no Penny or map in tow. 

Deshi clasps the hippo on the shoulder. "Very well done indeed! I saw- or rather, OSSKIL saw the match, and you performed quite well! Shall we away to lunch, then? The professor was kind enough to supply us with the means of a repast." They jangle a small purse of coins happily. 

I assume that the three of you will find a more reputable establishment to enjoy lunch at. Which you do indeed. What you find is a smaller building that carries the scent of smoked meats, carrots, potatoes, and many other such ingredients on the wind. While seating is limited, you three grab a table outside. A young lady arrives to inform you about the restaurant, as well as the menu. It goes by the mere name “Bubba’s” at it prides itself on its slow cooked roasts and stews. “So, what’ll y’all be havin’?”

Meanwhile, Penny, another half an hour has passed by. At this point, the doctor has still not noticed you, but he has taken to reviewing the burgeoning copies of the map. He shakes his head and sets these prototype maps to the side, clearly unsatisfied with them. He has his back toward them.

Roland beams with pride and obviously loves the attention he gets from Deshi and Ormond. "With his abilities I wouldn't be Thunder Hippo, rebranding my entire persona would be a pain in the ass." He happily follows at the idea of a free lunch.

"I'll have a roast beast. Any beast will do. And three mugs of ale!" 

"Oh! Ah, just two mugs, thank you. And a very large plate of greens will suffice for Deshi, if it pleases you."

Deshi taps a claw to the table, their expression not quite at their usual level of bland happiness. "Deshi has been thinking. There are many things my new friends do not know about the world below. Deshi has never been there, but it is likely that Deshi's education may be of use." The tortle looks up, eyes sparkling. "And it is Deshi's great desire to continue traveling with his new friends! When the rift opens, may I accompany the three of y-"

They stop talking. "Come to think of it, where could Penny be?"

Roland laughs. "HAH, all three are for me, turtle!" He turns to the waiter "Three ale. For me."   The broad man shrugs and turns to Deshi. "The world below sounds like a great opportunity for treasure and a bookworm like you is handy when it comes to stuff like history and boring knowledge like that. As for the girl. Don't know, don't care. As long as I get my ale." 

Deshi nods. "Deshi would expect nothing less, master Hippo. You demonstrate a remarkable consistency in attitude and purpose." Deshi pulls out their notebook and starts to scribble. "Actually, to that end, Deshi would be most honored if you both would allow them to... Ah, that is, it may behoove us to chronicle our travels,. We may be be among a very small group of adventurers (they savor the word) to travel to the old world and," Deshi appears nearly overwhelmed by the magnitude of their purpose. "Apologies, but this is all so terribly exciting. Deshi never dreamed that this chance would present itself." 

The tortle composes themself and sets pen to paper. "Right. So, Master Ormond- please describe your reasons for this quest."

(See, now Penny wishes she were there.)

Instead, Penny is feeling an increased sense of urgency. With another look around (Perception: 23), she crosses the road and enters the Pigeon Copy Emporium.

”Dr. Walton!” she says, smiling widely. “What seems to be the problem? Do I need to slap a few pigeons?” She laughs in an uncomfortable manner. 

Quote from Mingofaust >>

(See, now Penny wishes she were there.)

Instead, Penny is feeling an increased sense of urgency. With another look around (Perception: 23), she crosses the road and enters the Pigeon Copy Emporium.

”Dr. Walton!” she says, smiling widely. “What seems to be the problem? Do I need to slap a few pigeons?” She laughs in an uncomfortable manner. 

 Dr. Walton is surprised, “My dear girl, lovely to see you. Did young Deshthi not inform you that I was treating you all to lunch?” At your question, he turns to the discarded copies, “Ah, no, I am afraid that those are the, well I suppose you could call them ‘jams.’ Essentially incorrect copies. For instance,” He grabs one, “Look here, this copy says that there is a fault line which isn’t present on the original copy. Therefore, I’m running it through again to try to solve this issue.”

Penny looks at the map the Dr. shows her, trying to make sense of it. “Um, what if the pigeons can see something in the original that we can’t see? And, uh, where does this new fault line run?”

Investigation: 9

You look over the map, it seems to be one unrelated to you all, as it’s on the other side of the map. Meanwhile, Walton laughs, “My dear that’s ...” He pauses, “Something I had not considered.” He adjusts his glasses and looks at the original copy, very very closely, “By the Mother, you’re right! Some of the ink is almost completely faded! There’s still yet more lines to this map! Quickly, help me print more of these! One of these copies has to be correct!”

"Sure, Doctor, just tell me what to do." Penny stands ready to assist.

Quote from Mingofaust >>

"Sure, Doctor, just tell me what to do." Penny stands ready to assist.

 He’ll pass you the ‘broken’ documents, “Look carefully! See if the pigeons noticed anything we didn’t.”
Go ahead and try again with the investigation check.

OOC > Sure, trying again will work. :)

Investigation: 9

Edit: hah ha hah ahhhh...

These still don’t make any sense!

Anyway, that’ll go on for some time.

Let’s return to the midday lunch! The question was Ormond’s reasonings for adventure, I believe.

Deshi's pen hovers over the parchment where the young wizard grasps it firmly. If tortles could sweat, Deshi would surely be dabbing their forehead without pause. Here, in this moment, Ormond is surely gathering his thoughts, preparing to relay the momentous decision and staggering sequelae that led him here, to this quest...

Ormond sips on his ale, and spoons some stew in his mouth. He looks over Deshthi, watching the Quill hang ever so close to the parchment in anticipation. He takes another pull from the mug of ale.

"If you can keep whatever it is that you are planning to write out of the public until after I'm gone and dead, then perhaps I'll tell you about me, but I have my doubts given that maps fiasco earlier."

"Unlike the lot of you, I do know what I'm getting myself into. I've been down... deep... and I've seen things that would make you hide in your shell and send that one -" pointing at Roland "- hiding to the bottom of the river with his mother."

"My 'mission' was to destroy that map. If the Militia wanted it, then they would already have plans for its use. Be prepared to see the great War Machine that is the Militia squat on top of the entry points and begin their longterm operations. Your belief that sharing the information with the world will somehow implicitly slow the Militia down by virtue of others investigating and setting claims to these sites is naive - the only change is now Militia prisons will be filled up with those getting in their way."

"I should have just taken the map from you and destroyed it on the train - perhaps I've gone soft and couldn't bear to crush your idyllic nature so swiftly. So now, instead, it'll be another journey into the dark below - this time, rather than serving some under prepared treasure hunters, it'll be to discover what the Militia wants and find some way to disrupt them. Get that information to the right people."

When the tortle is done writing, Ormond forcibly takes the page, rolls it gently and stores it into his pack,saying, "You'll get that back when I think you deserve it."

It feels to Penny like she's been looking at these weird maps for like am onto, so she's going to try again to investigate and see if she can tell exactly how the pigeon version is different from the original... Investigation: 7

Quote from Mingofaust >>

It feels to Penny like she's been looking at these weird maps for like am onto, so she's going to try again to investigate and see if she can tell exactly how the pigeon version is different from the original... Investigation: 12

 Roughly a couple of hours have past by this point. With this time, Penny and the Doctor have been able to figure out a key fact! These “shadow lines,” the lines that faded out of the original map, cut through different places. One of those places being right through the town of Drywood. Unfortunatly, the timeframe is equally concerning. Its slated for mere hours from now. This is likely why Deshi was sent here with such urgency, not only to get the map to Walton, but to get the map to him in time.

Meanwhile, in the restaurant, Ormond notes a few folks who enter. A deputy sheriff and a few militiamen just entered the building. He can tell due to the strip pattern on the uniform. The man himself wears a wide-brimmed hat, complimented by his well-kept handlebar mustache. He has not noticed any of you, but instead talks to the attendent, “Table for four, if you please.”