"Do as you will, Xamyra," Talinian calls back. "I am not the pupil you recall? The School is not the School I recall. That School would never have reneged on an agreement made in good faith, never instructed a teacher to attack the people who made that agreement in good faith. Our agreement with the Magus was that the school got anything belonging to it we recovered and the right to examine anything of necromantic nature. All else was ours. No mention was made of the school getting to examine whatever we found and decide if we could keep it." He pauses then to get his breath.
"If that is what Magus Celenwe wanted, he should stated that. He did not. But I will keep to our agreement. Again, if we find anything in the box of necromancy, we shall turn it over to the school for examination. I wish you well, Xamyra."
Turning, he calls Baltor to him, and begins to write a letter to Magus Celenwe.
'Dear Magus. Soon Xamyra will arrive and tell you that we have fled with some of the items we recovered while stopping Falami. This is not precisely accurate. We have left with those items, first giving into Xamyra's care the items which either belonged to the School or which were necromantic. However, we also found a sword that I identified and is clearly not necromantic...Xamyra should vouch for this...and a sealed box containing unknown magics used on the battlefield where we found Falami. Our agreement clearly states that these items, as they neither belong to the school nor are necromantic, belong to us. As I told Xamyra before she threatened to attack us and send the Hunters of Mardale after us, if we find anything in the box that is necromantic we will turn it over to the School for study. However, I am greatly distressed that you gave instructions to Xamyra that contravened our agreement. Know that if you choose to send the Hunters after us, I shall ensure that the world knows the word of the School of Golin and Oriteath is worthless and not to be trusted.
I am grieved it has come to this, Magus, as I had thought you a man of your word. Please do not prove me wrong. My familiar will wait for reply. Simply tell him to wait and he will do so.
With all respect,
Talinian the Blue'
When he is finished with the letter, he reads it to Bones and Mia. "What do you both think?" he asks.
It is I who is saddened by your actions. You know not what is in the box therefor it must not belong to the school and must not be necromantic in nature. My word has not been broken, and while you have not broken your word you have also not exactly lived up to it either. I did not instruct Xamyra to contravened our agreement, or to attack. Her instructions were to make sure anything found was brought back, so that we could discus the items. However, I am happy that this is the course of actions that you took. For Hunters of Mardale are already here looking for your human friend and you, one of them specially was very interested with you. I talked Xamyra out of telling them where you were and adding to your two bounties. I would like to meet and talk about the box and items with-in, if not I WILL aid them, and add to the bounties. Your threats of disgracing this school will fall on either def ears or the ears that already hate us, so that means nothing, please meet with me, talk with me, and let us work this out.
The Hunters of Mardale is a bounty hunter group they are both relatively small and huge all at the same time. What makes them large and not well known is that they specialize in hunting people who uses magic, this is also why they are small, they do pick up normal people bounty hunting jobs, but there are others who work that angle better, but no one is better at hunting magic users.
ooc: Talinian hadn't actually sent the letter yet, but I'm going to hold you to the response :).
Talinian shakes his head as he reads the letter aloud to the others and then passes it around. "What do you guys think? Can either of you think of why the Hunters of Mardale would be after Mialee and me?" He takes a moment to explain that group to the others. "We definitely want to respond and I am pleased by his tone. He is correct about my so-called threat but I thought it worth the chance. I would be better pleased if he acknowledged the error he made in giving Xamyra those instructions without first making them part of the agreement. The exact words of his final offer were 'any magic item with necromatic powers, I reserve the right to examine. This is my LAST offer.' There was nothing in the final agreement of him being allowed to examine the items first. However, I think we can work with him on this."
Bones waves a hand, "Bah, don't bother entertaining this one with a reply. He's obviously made up his mind and stubborn enough not to see the error immediately. I've dealt with others like this in the past. You can't reason with them, more so when their mind is already made and judgement made." Bones jumps across to the cart from Mia's horse to get more comfortable, stretching out a moment before sitting down next to the mystical box. "Now. We just need to get this open so as to ease our travels, rather than carting it around everywhere with us." He places a hand tentatively on the box and closes his eyes a moment as he stops to think of ways in which they might open it.
OOC: LOL. No, he tied it behind his saddle before we left the battlefield. And, get in line. It’s Talinian’s first love so take a number. There’s a reason he tied it on his horse 😉
Bones you are still not able to determine a lot about the box, you can tell that there is a lot of magic that went into making and sealing the box. During your time investing you can tell that there are spells to seal it, to hide the nature of the sealing, more spells to protect from dispell, you try casting a spell and take a minor amount of damage, you try again but with a stronger spell and take more damage. (Behind the screen you don't take any in game damage but you know that trying to attack it will make it attack back.)
Talinian listens to Bone’s information then pulls the box around in front of him to do his own examination. He runs his hands around it, tracing the glowing runes. He tries to think of ways they can defeat the protection without attacking it directly.
OOC I’ll respond about the letter after Mia responds
Mia was of course silent, but she had fallen thoughtful once she realized there was a pause for her input. "Besides 'fleeing'?" She'd ask more rhetorically to get that out so her thought process could move on to something else. "Perhaps they knew what we'd find and expected us to turn it all over? Is there more significance to these items than we originally thought?" Mialee's hand would rest on the hilt of the legendary sword she accepted. "Maybe the Hunters are more involved in some way?" She'd shrug, truly just spit balling thoughts at this point.
It is I who is saddened by your actions. You know not what is in the box therefor it must not belong to the school and must not be necromantic in nature. My word has not been broken, and while you have not broken your word you have also not exactly lived up to it either. I did not instruct Xamyra to contravened our agreement, or to attack. Her instructions were to make sure anything found was brought back, so that we could discus the items. However, I am happy that this is the course of actions that you took. For Hunters of Mardale are already here looking for your human friend and you, one of them specially was very interested with you. I talked Xamyra out of telling them where you were and adding to your two bounties. I would like to meet and talk about the box and items with-in, if not I WILL aid them, and add to the bounties. Your threats of disgracing this school will fall on either def ears or the ears that already hate us, so that means nothing, please meet with me, talk with me, and let us work this out.
Talinian nods. "Maybe, but I think it unlikely. If Magus Celenwe had any inkling the box, or your sword, were at that field, he would long since have claimed them." He turns to Bones, "And ignoring the Magus is not truly an option...and, my friend, your own...credibility on certain similar matters is, shall we say, suspect," he says with a smile.
After a moments thought, he composes this response:
'Magus, so we are both saddened by the other. That is unfortunate, though I do respect your opinion, and I see you are as sharp as ever, seeing through my empty threat. We have no idea as to why the Hunters are interested in us for I assure you we have done nothing. Though, of course, whoever hired them obviously feels differently. I am glad to know you did not instruct Xamyra to attack though instructing her to bring any found items back was not part of our agreement, or even examining them, and I hope you are willing to admit that. I can understand your position, but wish you had thought to tell me you wished to conduct such an examination. I truly believed you were prepared to trust my judgment in this matter and so thought nothing of such an examination. We are returning to your home. You may contact us there to arrange a meeting.
Baltor will await a reply should you wish to compose one.
With respect, Talinian the Blue'
Looking at the others, he asks for their input before sending the letter.
ooc: Does Talinian have any ideas on removing the protections without directly attacking them? See my post a little above.
Bones ignores the comment on his credibility, more focused on the box itself. "Damage begets damage..." he mutters to himself, "I wonder..." He places a hand on the box and attempts to cast Cure Wounds on the box to see if an alternate magic has any further effect.
Talinian writes his letter and attaches it to Baltor, then sends the familiar back to Magus Celenwe.
'Magus, so we are both saddened by the other. That is unfortunate, though I do respect your opinion, and I see you are as sharp as ever, seeing through my empty threat. We have no idea as to why the Hunters are interested in us for I assure you we have done nothing. Though, of course, whoever hired them obviously feels differently. I am glad to know you did not instruct Xamyra to attack though instructing her to bring any found items back was not part of our agreement, or even examining them, and I hope you are willing to admit that. I can understand your position, but wish you had thought to tell me you wished to conduct such an examination. I truly believed you were prepared to trust my judgment in this matter and so thought nothing of such an examination. We are returning to your home. You may contact us there to arrange a meeting.
Baltor will await a reply should you wish to compose one.
With respect always and sorrow at our situation, Talinian the Blue'
Talinian watches the owl fly away for a moment, before turning his attention back to the box. He runs his hands over it a few more times before addressing the others. "These arcane marks are very old and not in use anymore. I can tell no more than that without a library to reference for deeper study. Further, casting spells at it will be of little use in the short term, perhaps even in the long term. The magic on the box is designed to counter any spells cast at it. The number of times it can do that is finite but undoubtedly large. Also, the box will reflect any magic cast at it, causing the caster to be affected, either instead or in addition to the box, meaning it is possible the counterspells are not even activated if the reflection charm activates. Lastly, the box itself, at least the outer box, has no seams, having been cast as a single container. It cannot be 'opened' but will have to be cut into or otherwise bypassed. I will think on my insights and see if I can determine anything further. After we have traveled for a time, I propose a simple test--I will cast Acid Splash on the box and we will see what happens. I am prepared to accept a minor injury to see what we can learn. What are your thoughts on this, Mia, Bones?"
So with the travel time of Baltor and what not I would say that it is sun set when he returns s to you with a letter from Celenwe.
"DO NOT return to town. There are 5 of them here, and they seem to always have one on guard, and I'm sure that one is watching the school. They refuse to reveal why they are looking for either one of you, the leader a man who they simply call Pureblood, seems to be more interested in you. I would like to meet and talk about what all happened, if you recall there is the old campus to the west of town, could you please meet me there, I am heading there now and will spend the day their. I will take measures to insure that I am not flowed, but please approach slow, and quite incase my attempts fail."
Do you Acid Splash while waiting on the return letter?
Quiet as always, Mia thinks over what Talinian says. After going over the information a few times in her head, she'd finally look up. "At this point, I feel as though any of us would be willing to try this experiment for the sake of gathering more information. So I'm comfortable with you attempting the test." She'd say before adding. "But there is something you said that sticks with me, and is the reason for why I would be willing to give an attempt at the box." Mialee would look to her hand that rest on the pommel of the sword. "It cannot be 'opened' but will have to be cut into or otherwise bypassed." She'd repeat. "Should the acid not work, or be a threat to damaging what's inside, more than a cut, I'd be willing to attempt with the sword." With a delicate hand, perhaps it could be similar to opening a letter with a letter opener, that happens to have a random element generator.
Talinian smiles, "An excellent thought. Let us proceed with the test and then proceed to the meeting with Magus Celenwe. I am displeased with his...decisions, but I do not want, and we do not want, the School after us if we can avoid it. We will keep the box safe."
He instructs Baltor how to find the old campus and to keep it under observation. Then they find a place to make the test.
OOC: So what are the 'Hunters of Mardale?'
"Do as you will, Xamyra," Talinian calls back. "I am not the pupil you recall? The School is not the School I recall. That School would never have reneged on an agreement made in good faith, never instructed a teacher to attack the people who made that agreement in good faith. Our agreement with the Magus was that the school got anything belonging to it we recovered and the right to examine anything of necromantic nature. All else was ours. No mention was made of the school getting to examine whatever we found and decide if we could keep it." He pauses then to get his breath.
"If that is what Magus Celenwe wanted, he should stated that. He did not. But I will keep to our agreement. Again, if we find anything in the box of necromancy, we shall turn it over to the school for examination. I wish you well, Xamyra."
Turning, he calls Baltor to him, and begins to write a letter to Magus Celenwe.
'Dear Magus. Soon Xamyra will arrive and tell you that we have fled with some of the items we recovered while stopping Falami. This is not precisely accurate. We have left with those items, first giving into Xamyra's care the items which either belonged to the School or which were necromantic. However, we also found a sword that I identified and is clearly not necromantic...Xamyra should vouch for this...and a sealed box containing unknown magics used on the battlefield where we found Falami. Our agreement clearly states that these items, as they neither belong to the school nor are necromantic, belong to us. As I told Xamyra before she threatened to attack us and send the Hunters of Mardale after us, if we find anything in the box that is necromantic we will turn it over to the School for study. However, I am greatly distressed that you gave instructions to Xamyra that contravened our agreement. Know that if you choose to send the Hunters after us, I shall ensure that the world knows the word of the School of Golin and Oriteath is worthless and not to be trusted.
I am grieved it has come to this, Magus, as I had thought you a man of your word. Please do not prove me wrong. My familiar will wait for reply. Simply tell him to wait and he will do so.
With all respect,
Talinian the Blue'
When he is finished with the letter, he reads it to Bones and Mia. "What do you both think?" he asks.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
A letter is returned
Dear Talinian
It is I who is saddened by your actions. You know not what is in the box therefor it must not belong to the school and must not be necromantic in nature. My word has not been broken, and while you have not broken your word you have also not exactly lived up to it either. I did not instruct Xamyra to contravened our agreement, or to attack. Her instructions were to make sure anything found was brought back, so that we could discus the items. However, I am happy that this is the course of actions that you took. For Hunters of Mardale are already here looking for your human friend and you, one of them specially was very interested with you. I talked Xamyra out of telling them where you were and adding to your two bounties. I would like to meet and talk about the box and items with-in, if not I WILL aid them, and add to the bounties. Your threats of disgracing this school will fall on either def ears or the ears that already hate us, so that means nothing, please meet with me, talk with me, and let us work this out.
The Hunters of Mardale is a bounty hunter group they are both relatively small and huge all at the same time. What makes them large and not well known is that they specialize in hunting people who uses magic, this is also why they are small, they do pick up normal people bounty hunting jobs, but there are others who work that angle better, but no one is better at hunting magic users.
Thom Everyman- Midgard One Shots
DMing- The Voyage of the Fallen Star
ooc: Talinian hadn't actually sent the letter yet, but I'm going to hold you to the response :).
Talinian shakes his head as he reads the letter aloud to the others and then passes it around. "What do you guys think? Can either of you think of why the Hunters of Mardale would be after Mialee and me?" He takes a moment to explain that group to the others. "We definitely want to respond and I am pleased by his tone. He is correct about my so-called threat but I thought it worth the chance. I would be better pleased if he acknowledged the error he made in giving Xamyra those instructions without first making them part of the agreement. The exact words of his final offer were 'any magic item with necromatic powers, I reserve the right to examine. This is my LAST offer.' There was nothing in the final agreement of him being allowed to examine the items first. However, I think we can work with him on this."
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Bones waves a hand, "Bah, don't bother entertaining this one with a reply. He's obviously made up his mind and stubborn enough not to see the error immediately. I've dealt with others like this in the past. You can't reason with them, more so when their mind is already made and judgement made." Bones jumps across to the cart from Mia's horse to get more comfortable, stretching out a moment before sitting down next to the mystical box. "Now. We just need to get this open so as to ease our travels, rather than carting it around everywhere with us." He places a hand tentatively on the box and closes his eyes a moment as he stops to think of ways in which they might open it.
OOC: um, before Bones has a love affair with the box, remember it’s tied behind Talinian on the horse lol. Talinian will reply after Mia responds.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Bones Make an Arcana check for me.
Thom Everyman- Midgard One Shots
DMing- The Voyage of the Fallen Star
(OOC - I thought we'd put it in a cart? We had a cart earlier... & also, you don't even know how true the love is we have haha)
Bones' Arcana check: 20
OOC: LOL. No, he tied it behind his saddle before we left the battlefield. And, get in line. It’s Talinian’s first love so take a number. There’s a reason he tied it on his horse 😉
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Bones you are still not able to determine a lot about the box, you can tell that there is a lot of magic that went into making and sealing the box. During your time investing you can tell that there are spells to seal it, to hide the nature of the sealing, more spells to protect from dispell, you try casting a spell and take a minor amount of damage, you try again but with a stronger spell and take more damage. (Behind the screen you don't take any in game damage but you know that trying to attack it will make it attack back.)
Thom Everyman- Midgard One Shots
DMing- The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Talinian listens to Bone’s information then pulls the box around in front of him to do his own examination. He runs his hands around it, tracing the glowing runes. He tries to think of ways they can defeat the protection without attacking it directly.
OOC I’ll respond about the letter after Mia responds
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Mia was of course silent, but she had fallen thoughtful once she realized there was a pause for her input. "Besides 'fleeing'?" She'd ask more rhetorically to get that out so her thought process could move on to something else. "Perhaps they knew what we'd find and expected us to turn it all over? Is there more significance to these items than we originally thought?" Mialee's hand would rest on the hilt of the legendary sword she accepted. "Maybe the Hunters are more involved in some way?" She'd shrug, truly just spit balling thoughts at this point.
just an unstable unicorn.
Talinian nods. "Maybe, but I think it unlikely. If Magus Celenwe had any inkling the box, or your sword, were at that field, he would long since have claimed them." He turns to Bones, "And ignoring the Magus is not truly an option...and, my friend, your own...credibility on certain similar matters is, shall we say, suspect," he says with a smile.
After a moments thought, he composes this response:
'Magus, so we are both saddened by the other. That is unfortunate, though I do respect your opinion, and I see you are as sharp as ever, seeing through my empty threat. We have no idea as to why the Hunters are interested in us for I assure you we have done nothing. Though, of course, whoever hired them obviously feels differently. I am glad to know you did not instruct Xamyra to attack though instructing her to bring any found items back was not part of our agreement, or even examining them, and I hope you are willing to admit that. I can understand your position, but wish you had thought to tell me you wished to conduct such an examination. I truly believed you were prepared to trust my judgment in this matter and so thought nothing of such an examination. We are returning to your home. You may contact us there to arrange a meeting.
Baltor will await a reply should you wish to compose one.
With respect, Talinian the Blue'
Looking at the others, he asks for their input before sending the letter.
ooc: Does Talinian have any ideas on removing the protections without directly attacking them? See my post a little above.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
Bones ignores the comment on his credibility, more focused on the box itself. "Damage begets damage..." he mutters to himself, "I wonder..." He places a hand on the box and attempts to cast Cure Wounds on the box to see if an alternate magic has any further effect.
Sorry about not responding to your questioning about the box, I would need an archna check.
Thom Everyman- Midgard One Shots
DMing- The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Talinian Arcana: 21 + 3
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
(Bones sorry I missed your post, cure wounds does nothing to it.
Thom Everyman- Midgard One Shots
DMing- The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Talinian writes his letter and attaches it to Baltor, then sends the familiar back to Magus Celenwe.
'Magus, so we are both saddened by the other. That is unfortunate, though I do respect your opinion, and I see you are as sharp as ever, seeing through my empty threat. We have no idea as to why the Hunters are interested in us for I assure you we have done nothing. Though, of course, whoever hired them obviously feels differently. I am glad to know you did not instruct Xamyra to attack though instructing her to bring any found items back was not part of our agreement, or even examining them, and I hope you are willing to admit that. I can understand your position, but wish you had thought to tell me you wished to conduct such an examination. I truly believed you were prepared to trust my judgment in this matter and so thought nothing of such an examination. We are returning to your home. You may contact us there to arrange a meeting.
Baltor will await a reply should you wish to compose one.
With respect always and sorrow at our situation, Talinian the Blue'
Talinian watches the owl fly away for a moment, before turning his attention back to the box. He runs his hands over it a few more times before addressing the others. "These arcane marks are very old and not in use anymore. I can tell no more than that without a library to reference for deeper study. Further, casting spells at it will be of little use in the short term, perhaps even in the long term. The magic on the box is designed to counter any spells cast at it. The number of times it can do that is finite but undoubtedly large. Also, the box will reflect any magic cast at it, causing the caster to be affected, either instead or in addition to the box, meaning it is possible the counterspells are not even activated if the reflection charm activates. Lastly, the box itself, at least the outer box, has no seams, having been cast as a single container. It cannot be 'opened' but will have to be cut into or otherwise bypassed. I will think on my insights and see if I can determine anything further. After we have traveled for a time, I propose a simple test--I will cast Acid Splash on the box and we will see what happens. I am prepared to accept a minor injury to see what we can learn. What are your thoughts on this, Mia, Bones?"
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric
So with the travel time of Baltor and what not I would say that it is sun set when he returns s to you with a letter from Celenwe.
"DO NOT return to town. There are 5 of them here, and they seem to always have one on guard, and I'm sure that one is watching the school. They refuse to reveal why they are looking for either one of you, the leader a man who they simply call Pureblood, seems to be more interested in you. I would like to meet and talk about what all happened, if you recall there is the old campus to the west of town, could you please meet me there, I am heading there now and will spend the day their. I will take measures to insure that I am not flowed, but please approach slow, and quite incase my attempts fail."
Do you Acid Splash while waiting on the return letter?
Thom Everyman- Midgard One Shots
DMing- The Voyage of the Fallen Star
Quiet as always, Mia thinks over what Talinian says. After going over the information a few times in her head, she'd finally look up. "At this point, I feel as though any of us would be willing to try this experiment for the sake of gathering more information. So I'm comfortable with you attempting the test." She'd say before adding. "But there is something you said that sticks with me, and is the reason for why I would be willing to give an attempt at the box." Mialee would look to her hand that rest on the pommel of the sword. "It cannot be 'opened' but will have to be cut into or otherwise bypassed." She'd repeat. "Should the acid not work, or be a threat to damaging what's inside, more than a cut, I'd be willing to attempt with the sword." With a delicate hand, perhaps it could be similar to opening a letter with a letter opener, that happens to have a random element generator.
just an unstable unicorn.
Talinian smiles, "An excellent thought. Let us proceed with the test and then proceed to the meeting with Magus Celenwe. I am displeased with his...decisions, but I do not want, and we do not want, the School after us if we can avoid it. We will keep the box safe."
He instructs Baltor how to find the old campus and to keep it under observation. Then they find a place to make the test.
Tandor the White, Human Life Cleric