Dismounting and leaving their horses with the elven boy at the tavern, the party is able to make their way down the narrow semi-crowded lane. Their destination was a shop at the opposite end of the side street, right where it opened back up and joined to a more packed main street like those the party had passed upon entering the city. However, even with the proximity to a busier location, the crowds did not seem to be very interested in this shop.
Ura, having led the party towards it, was about 15 feet from it when she was forced to stop. Close enough to finally see the third mark on the plaque, it wasn't there for long.
Between Ura and the shop stood a group of 8 Shinra guardsmen. Dressed in the same demeanor as the Shinra guards in Midgar, these ones lacked the same 'welcoming' disposition. The guards blocked Ura, and anyone else for that matter, from the shop. They had created a half circle, looking outward, around the shop door, as a young, soft looking elf in red and black noble clothing propped a ladder against the building's wall. The elf proceeded to climb the ladder and replace the wooden plaque with an identical one, except for being void of the scratch marks.
After having completed this one task, he then began walking back towards the main street where he and the guards came from. The guards opening the way once again and moving to follow.
12
While the third marking was no longer present on the plaque above the door, and it now only possessed the pipe and gem, Ura had been able to see it long enough to recognize it as a crudely carved formation of a symbol she'd seen before. It was the same symbol that adorned every crate in the wagon that some of the party had rode from Cathaan. It had been the symbol of the Archmeister.
Anearis watched the weird heavily guarded plaque-changing process with confusion. As the platoon of guard left, the elf felt a measure of relief when he recognize the emblem of the Archmeister.
"Master Solomon seems to have a presence in this city. We should head in."
Ura holds Anaeris back. "Let's wait for a minute until things calm down," she says casually, though she glances at the backs of the retreating guards. Only when they've disappeared from sight does she take another look around to make sure no-one is watching the shop to keep tabs on it:
Perception: 16
(If someone is watching the shop, she'd point them out)
"Now we can go in. I can't imagine it's a good sign that Solomon is apparently not liked by the local ordinance,"she mutters, turning to enter the shop.
"Why remove the symbol though?" Austin asks as she looks to the plaque with a frown. "Unless this person you all know has lost that influence in town..." She will follow the others if they go inside, but keeps on her guard, as she is wary of this being a bad idea.
The formation of guardsmen didn't cause a crowd to form or anything of the sorts, but it was enough that pedestrians were at least forced to look so that they could avoid walking into them. However, the occurrence wasn't exactly a point of interest for any of them.
Ura could confidentiality say though that neither the shop, nor the party themselves were being observed by anyone in the immediate vicinity.
While the shop's exterior was the same decor-lacking white monoliths of the city around it, the interior was one of a more warm and welcoming atmosphere, and closely resembled that of what some members of the party could remember from the Archmeister's shop 'Incense and Sensibility' in Cathaan.
The interior was on the darker side, with bluish floating orbs overhead illuminating it just enough for those without dark vision to be able to navigate the shop. The floors, walls, and shelves were of a dark, solid wood. As were tables, a counter in the rear, and a staircase that ascended to a second floor balcony loft as a potential extension to the store's goods.
The shelves and tables towards the center of the room were stocked with vials and bottles, various bundles of herbs and ingredients, scrolls, and boxes of powders.
The left wall held the staircase and the top loft, from what the party could see had shelves with books and tomes, while the right wall had high shelves lined with labeled glass boxes holding what was likely the stocks of different tobaccos and other smokeable goods.
In the rear was a counter, behind which were smaller shelves containing gems, jewelry and rocks. The rear shelves were flanked by two door ways. One was beneath the staircase and was closed with a sign on the door itself that said "Employees Only", while the other seemed to not have an actual door and was just a frame. The open door frame had a sign above it that said "Lounge" and from the warm orange glow, there was likely a lit flame somewhere beyond it.
Aside from the party, there were three other people within the shop, though none of them necessarily seemed to be customers. In the loft, someone was shelving books, though with the railing and the angle, the party's line of sight was generally blocked, only seeing the top of a head and occasionally a hand as it put a volume on a higher shelf.
The second was a young elf girl in plain colored, though still somewhat fancy looking clothes. She had an armful of herbs and vegetation which she was swapping out on some of the tables. When the group entered, she turned and did a half curtsy to the group.
The third was an old goliath. When the party entered, his frame filled the doorway to the Lounge, as he walked over behind the counter. He was bald but had a thick bushy beard that was likely black at one time, but now grayish with peppered white hair. He wore a thin white long-sleeved shirt beneath a pair of wide red suspenders.
His voice was very low toned and possessed a roughness that one would come to expect from a heavy smoker. "Welcome to 'Up in Smoke', how can we help you?"
"Hello, hello!" Ura says cheerily. "I'm new to this city, and very interested in finding or purchasing a map so I won't get lost around these parts. Of course, I have to admit being drawn to this particular establishment more than the others because of the rather eye-catching presence of the guards who were outside some moments ago. Is that a normal thing for shops around here?"
"No map for sale." When he spoke his tone was short and direct, but not rude. However, he was more forthcoming in information regarding Ura's second point of interest. "The Emperor's guards are a standing army. Be more surprised if you didn't see them. What were they doing outside?" As he spoke, he leaned on his palm resting on the counter that separated him from the rest of the shop. When he finished speaking there was a slight wheezing to his breath.
"They were guarding an elf changing the plaque in front of the building. Eight of them.", answers Anearis. "It seemed like a rather disproportionate show of force compared to the task."
Before Anearis had even finished, the goliath let out a deep sigh at the mention of the plaques. The sigh turned into a cough, but once settled, he called to the female high elf stocking the shelves. Her hair was carefully braided and was held in place by polished metal rings, though she wore no other jewelry of any kind. "Ljosalfia, take Dokkalfol and rotate the plaques." She nodded to the goliath and hurried up the stairs, returning with the figure that had been shelving books. It was another elf, though this one with gray, ashy colored skin and red eyes. He wore several gold earrings along one ear and had spiked black hair. The pair went through the 'Employees Only' marked door and re-emerged with a ladder, and yet another identical wooden plaque. This one, like the original, possessed a smoking pipe, a gem, and below the two, a carved Archmeister insignia. The two elves took the later and plaque, and exited the shop.
"Guards got nothing better to do. Part of the Emperor's damn city 'beautification' standard. No individual or organization banners, signs, or adverts. No store names even. Just the same wooden plaque. Only applies to those who won't pay him an equity tax though. Makes navigating a lot of the city difficult, so I understand the need for a map."
The two elves re-entered the shop, returning the ladder behind the door, and delivering fresh plaque to the goliath. He placed it down and pulled out a knife, as the two elves returned to their work. With the plaque that the party saw hung, now in front of him, the goliath began carving another Archmeister insignia.
"Anything else I can help you with? If you need something specific, I can likely direct you atleast to a street number."
"Well, there's the obvious case of still needing to buy a street map, and where I can get that done,"Ura begins as she watches the carving. "I bet we're all much more interested in knowing how this store is related to Archmeister Solomon of Cathaan, though. He happens to be a friend and benefactor to several of our party."
Anearis nodded in agreement. "My friend speaks the truth. Master Solomon even took me on as his valet, even though he firmly believes he does not need one."
The goliath stopped carving into the plaque for a moment and looked up towards the party. "Many who say their connected to the Archmeister are just travelers who see the shop's sign, looking for a discount." He finished the crude symbol and blew splinters and dust from the wood. "So you've been to Cathaan then. If I believe you're his personal valet, I'd be believing you're walking into one of his shops without any sort of official business, and not even know where you were. Seems a little farfetched to me."
"Well, we didn‘t come in here asking for a discount, just directions to a mapmaker‘s or tourism office,” Ura replies readily, not terribly surprised or insulted by the shopkeeper’s reception to her words. “Though given that you do seem to deal in more than just tobbacos and incense here, maybe you could shed some light on these?" She pulls out the cultist runestones she collected and displays them on the table. “We pulled them off of some suspect individuals back east, but no one there could figure out what the purpose of these things were for… Magic? Trinkets? A children‘s game? I‘m just wondering if you‘ve seen anything similar here in Midgar, or if you have more advise on where to go if you can‘t help us on this one.“ She pauses, then grins. "And what do you sell in this shop besides tobbaccos and incenses, anyway? We would hardly mind browsing as thanks for your consideration. Personally, I‘m a big fan of scented candles.“
"We have candles, not scented. Our wares are for practical uses. We have tobacco, herbs, spices, minerals, ingredients, gems, and tomes. Mostly everything for the use of healing, making potions, or casting spells." The goliath took the runes from Ura, and held one up at eye level, inches from his face.
"Dokkalfol!" Upon shouting the name, the drow elf came down the stairs case once more, this time walking over the the counter. The goliath tossed him the single runestone he had been eyeing, and placed the remaining ones on the counter surface. The drow, Dokkalfol, spread the runes out. Asking in elvish, he addressed the party,
"What of their origin? Are they a single set or parsed separately?"
‘’We do not know. As my friend mentioned, they were carried by several people with ill intentions. Please, any information you can give us would be great help. Also, can you perhaps speak Common? I would like my friends to be able to understand.
As the two talk in their language Uthal looks to the other goliath and begins speaking in the slow rumblings of giant.
"It may be hard to believe by looking at him but the elf is telling the truth. After he cane to Cathaan he worked for the Archmeister. Unfortunately for him, and the whole world really, we've managed to stumble our way into some dark things, and Cathaan didn't like our stumbling. It doesn't do for the Archmeister's employee to be on the wrong side of the narative, so he is no longer 'employed'."
Uthal places extra emphasis on the last word to show that Anearis still does have some connection to the Archmeister.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisysin Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
The drow turned over the runestones in his hands and muttered some sort of incantation. He appeared to be using magic of some sort to gleam insight from the items.
While this occurred, the goliath spoke with Uthal, responding in kind with the same tongue of giants.
"Even if he's no longer employed, an envoy of the Archmeister of any kind would keep something of proof. A record of employment, a letter, a seal, something of the sort. He'd have done a disservice to himself not to."
11
After several more minutes, the drow released himself from whatever state he was in with the runestones. And responded back to Anearis and Ura, in Elvish.
"They are magic for certain. Blood magic. I could not recreate, but they are used to counter something..."
He stopped for a second and continued in common, as had been previously requested by Anearis. The speech was broken though. To those who spoke both, it was obvious the drow had a much better grasp of one language over the other. He looked Austin and Uthal. "The stones...protect- no! The stones...control! Spell cast, stones control."
Uthal shrugs but follows
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
Anearis feels it is wiser to stay together in a crowded place such as this one. He will follow Ura and Uthal into the shop.
Dismounting and leaving their horses with the elven boy at the tavern, the party is able to make their way down the narrow semi-crowded lane. Their destination was a shop at the opposite end of the side street, right where it opened back up and joined to a more packed main street like those the party had passed upon entering the city. However, even with the proximity to a busier location, the crowds did not seem to be very interested in this shop.
Ura, having led the party towards it, was about 15 feet from it when she was forced to stop. Close enough to finally see the third mark on the plaque, it wasn't there for long.
Between Ura and the shop stood a group of 8 Shinra guardsmen. Dressed in the same demeanor as the Shinra guards in Midgar, these ones lacked the same 'welcoming' disposition. The guards blocked Ura, and anyone else for that matter, from the shop. They had created a half circle, looking outward, around the shop door, as a young, soft looking elf in red and black noble clothing propped a ladder against the building's wall. The elf proceeded to climb the ladder and replace the wooden plaque with an identical one, except for being void of the scratch marks.
After having completed this one task, he then began walking back towards the main street where he and the guards came from. The guards opening the way once again and moving to follow.
12
While the third marking was no longer present on the plaque above the door, and it now only possessed the pipe and gem, Ura had been able to see it long enough to recognize it as a crudely carved formation of a symbol she'd seen before. It was the same symbol that adorned every crate in the wagon that some of the party had rode from Cathaan. It had been the symbol of the Archmeister.
Anearis watched the weird heavily guarded plaque-changing process with confusion. As the platoon of guard left, the elf felt a measure of relief when he recognize the emblem of the Archmeister.
"Master Solomon seems to have a presence in this city. We should head in."
Ura holds Anaeris back. "Let's wait for a minute until things calm down," she says casually, though she glances at the backs of the retreating guards. Only when they've disappeared from sight does she take another look around to make sure no-one is watching the shop to keep tabs on it:
Perception: 16
(If someone is watching the shop, she'd point them out)
"Now we can go in. I can't imagine it's a good sign that Solomon is apparently not liked by the local ordinance," she mutters, turning to enter the shop.
"Why remove the symbol though?" Austin asks as she looks to the plaque with a frown. "Unless this person you all know has lost that influence in town..." She will follow the others if they go inside, but keeps on her guard, as she is wary of this being a bad idea.
The formation of guardsmen didn't cause a crowd to form or anything of the sorts, but it was enough that pedestrians were at least forced to look so that they could avoid walking into them. However, the occurrence wasn't exactly a point of interest for any of them.
Ura could confidentiality say though that neither the shop, nor the party themselves were being observed by anyone in the immediate vicinity.
While the shop's exterior was the same decor-lacking white monoliths of the city around it, the interior was one of a more warm and welcoming atmosphere, and closely resembled that of what some members of the party could remember from the Archmeister's shop 'Incense and Sensibility' in Cathaan.
The interior was on the darker side, with bluish floating orbs overhead illuminating it just enough for those without dark vision to be able to navigate the shop. The floors, walls, and shelves were of a dark, solid wood. As were tables, a counter in the rear, and a staircase that ascended to a second floor balcony loft as a potential extension to the store's goods.
The shelves and tables towards the center of the room were stocked with vials and bottles, various bundles of herbs and ingredients, scrolls, and boxes of powders.
The left wall held the staircase and the top loft, from what the party could see had shelves with books and tomes, while the right wall had high shelves lined with labeled glass boxes holding what was likely the stocks of different tobaccos and other smokeable goods.
In the rear was a counter, behind which were smaller shelves containing gems, jewelry and rocks. The rear shelves were flanked by two door ways. One was beneath the staircase and was closed with a sign on the door itself that said "Employees Only", while the other seemed to not have an actual door and was just a frame. The open door frame had a sign above it that said "Lounge" and from the warm orange glow, there was likely a lit flame somewhere beyond it.
Aside from the party, there were three other people within the shop, though none of them necessarily seemed to be customers. In the loft, someone was shelving books, though with the railing and the angle, the party's line of sight was generally blocked, only seeing the top of a head and occasionally a hand as it put a volume on a higher shelf.
The second was a young elf girl in plain colored, though still somewhat fancy looking clothes. She had an armful of herbs and vegetation which she was swapping out on some of the tables. When the group entered, she turned and did a half curtsy to the group.
The third was an old goliath. When the party entered, his frame filled the doorway to the Lounge, as he walked over behind the counter. He was bald but had a thick bushy beard that was likely black at one time, but now grayish with peppered white hair. He wore a thin white long-sleeved shirt beneath a pair of wide red suspenders.
His voice was very low toned and possessed a roughness that one would come to expect from a heavy smoker. "Welcome to 'Up in Smoke', how can we help you?"
"Hello, hello!" Ura says cheerily. "I'm new to this city, and very interested in finding or purchasing a map so I won't get lost around these parts. Of course, I have to admit being drawn to this particular establishment more than the others because of the rather eye-catching presence of the guards who were outside some moments ago. Is that a normal thing for shops around here?"
"No map for sale." When he spoke his tone was short and direct, but not rude. However, he was more forthcoming in information regarding Ura's second point of interest. "The Emperor's guards are a standing army. Be more surprised if you didn't see them. What were they doing outside?" As he spoke, he leaned on his palm resting on the counter that separated him from the rest of the shop. When he finished speaking there was a slight wheezing to his breath.
"They were guarding an elf changing the plaque in front of the building. Eight of them.", answers Anearis. "It seemed like a rather disproportionate show of force compared to the task."
Before Anearis had even finished, the goliath let out a deep sigh at the mention of the plaques. The sigh turned into a cough, but once settled, he called to the female high elf stocking the shelves. Her hair was carefully braided and was held in place by polished metal rings, though she wore no other jewelry of any kind. "Ljosalfia, take Dokkalfol and rotate the plaques." She nodded to the goliath and hurried up the stairs, returning with the figure that had been shelving books. It was another elf, though this one with gray, ashy colored skin and red eyes. He wore several gold earrings along one ear and had spiked black hair. The pair went through the 'Employees Only' marked door and re-emerged with a ladder, and yet another identical wooden plaque. This one, like the original, possessed a smoking pipe, a gem, and below the two, a carved Archmeister insignia. The two elves took the later and plaque, and exited the shop.
"Guards got nothing better to do. Part of the Emperor's damn city 'beautification' standard. No individual or organization banners, signs, or adverts. No store names even. Just the same wooden plaque. Only applies to those who won't pay him an equity tax though. Makes navigating a lot of the city difficult, so I understand the need for a map."
The two elves re-entered the shop, returning the ladder behind the door, and delivering fresh plaque to the goliath. He placed it down and pulled out a knife, as the two elves returned to their work. With the plaque that the party saw hung, now in front of him, the goliath began carving another Archmeister insignia.
"Anything else I can help you with? If you need something specific, I can likely direct you atleast to a street number."
"Well, there's the obvious case of still needing to buy a street map, and where I can get that done," Ura begins as she watches the carving. "I bet we're all much more interested in knowing how this store is related to Archmeister Solomon of Cathaan, though. He happens to be a friend and benefactor to several of our party."
Anearis nodded in agreement. "My friend speaks the truth. Master Solomon even took me on as his valet, even though he firmly believes he does not need one."
13
The goliath stopped carving into the plaque for a moment and looked up towards the party. "Many who say their connected to the Archmeister are just travelers who see the shop's sign, looking for a discount." He finished the crude symbol and blew splinters and dust from the wood. "So you've been to Cathaan then. If I believe you're his personal valet, I'd be believing you're walking into one of his shops without any sort of official business, and not even know where you were. Seems a little farfetched to me."
Austin stands back, watching the street as the others speak to the man doing the carving.
"Well, we didn‘t come in here asking for a discount, just directions to a mapmaker‘s or tourism office,” Ura replies readily, not terribly surprised or insulted by the shopkeeper’s reception to her words. “Though given that you do seem to deal in more than just tobbacos and incense here, maybe you could shed some light on these?" She pulls out the cultist runestones she collected and displays them on the table. “We pulled them off of some suspect individuals back east, but no one there could figure out what the purpose of these things were for… Magic? Trinkets? A children‘s game? I‘m just wondering if you‘ve seen anything similar here in Midgar, or if you have more advise on where to go if you can‘t help us on this one.“ She pauses, then grins. "And what do you sell in this shop besides tobbaccos and incenses, anyway? We would hardly mind browsing as thanks for your consideration. Personally, I‘m a big fan of scented candles.“
"We have candles, not scented. Our wares are for practical uses. We have tobacco, herbs, spices, minerals, ingredients, gems, and tomes. Mostly everything for the use of healing, making potions, or casting spells." The goliath took the runes from Ura, and held one up at eye level, inches from his face.
"Dokkalfol!" Upon shouting the name, the drow elf came down the stairs case once more, this time walking over the the counter. The goliath tossed him the single runestone he had been eyeing, and placed the remaining ones on the counter surface. The drow, Dokkalfol, spread the runes out. Asking in elvish, he addressed the party,
"What of their origin? Are they a single set or parsed separately?"
Anearis responds in Elvish.
‘’We do not know. As my friend mentioned, they were carried by several people with ill intentions. Please, any information you can give us would be great help. Also, can you perhaps speak Common? I would like my friends to be able to understand.
As the two talk in their language Uthal looks to the other goliath and begins speaking in the slow rumblings of giant.
"It may be hard to believe by looking at him but the elf is telling the truth. After he cane to Cathaan he worked for the Archmeister. Unfortunately for him, and the whole world really, we've managed to stumble our way into some dark things, and Cathaan didn't like our stumbling. It doesn't do for the Archmeister's employee to be on the wrong side of the narative, so he is no longer 'employed'."
Uthal places extra emphasis on the last word to show that Anearis still does have some connection to the Archmeister.
Gronk in Bastion, Kingdom of Medrin Elixisys in Talaveroth (Team 2) Uthal in Lost Continent of Theviranne
The drow turned over the runestones in his hands and muttered some sort of incantation. He appeared to be using magic of some sort to gleam insight from the items.
While this occurred, the goliath spoke with Uthal, responding in kind with the same tongue of giants.
"Even if he's no longer employed, an envoy of the Archmeister of any kind would keep something of proof. A record of employment, a letter, a seal, something of the sort. He'd have done a disservice to himself not to."
11
After several more minutes, the drow released himself from whatever state he was in with the runestones. And responded back to Anearis and Ura, in Elvish.
"They are magic for certain. Blood magic. I could not recreate, but they are used to counter something..."
He stopped for a second and continued in common, as had been previously requested by Anearis. The speech was broken though. To those who spoke both, it was obvious the drow had a much better grasp of one language over the other. He looked Austin and Uthal. "The stones...protect- no! The stones...control! Spell cast, stones control."