You reach the top of the stairs breathless from the continuous spiral of stairs up the tower spire. Leonard opens the door for you and you see into the librarian's study. The shield is on the table and he stands from his seat behind the desk where the shield of Ioun lay upon it. He gestures to a few chairs. “Come, we must talk. We have much to discuss, have a seat. Would you like some tea and biscuits?”
“Yes,” Cheato says with vigor. They all watch as the librarian snaps his fingers and a translucent figure opens a door to the side leaving everyone questioning whether they saw that or not.
“Yes, yes; have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable,” the librarian smiles. “So, did you find what you were looking for?”
“Well, we were looking for a couple of things,” Cheato shrugs off the question. “More questions than answers but, you know.”
“Ah, that’s the beauty of knowledge, you could always learn more. I definitely would like to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to study this artifact!” The librarian smiles wider with a twinkle in his eye. “Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Archivist Duvall. It’s a pleasure to be sure. How long will you be in town?”
“Uh, I don’t know. A day or two, a week, a month. Does it matter?” Cheato questions.
“No,” Archivist Duvall chuckles. “I’m just making conversation while we wait for the tea and biscuits."
“Yes, lovely weather we’re having,” Malkey rolls his eyes.
“Yes, indeed. Did you enjoy your time at the Valley Archives of the Cobalt Soul?” Archivist Duvall continues to make small talk.
“It’s quite the archive and I hope to spend more time,” Cheato responds thinking of all the questions swimming around in his head.
“You’re welcome anytime. I haven’t seen something like this in years.” the librarian says gesturing to the shield on his desk. He leans forward and picks up a piece of copper he had laying on the desk and fiddles with it in his fingers. “Curious … How did it come into your possession?”
“Just on our travels. Guess you could say it chose me,” Sai shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “Why? What do you know of this?”
“Well, I believe it to be the shield of Caylorn Irresor. It’s very old. From the Age of Arcanum at least,” the librarian tells her.
“Yeah, that would make sense,” Sai nods. “Caylorn Irresor? I know we heard something about … what was he known for?”
“Well, you may notice the surname, his great-great-great-granddaughter is currently a wanted criminal apparently.” He looks at each of them in turn as he speaks, Malkey and Fawna avoiding his gaze, and Cheato meeting and returning it uncomfortably. Archivist Duvall continues, “He was a well-renowned wizard and devout worshipper of Ioun. One of the founders of the Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum! He was very proud of that school, and it’s said Ioun presented him with a shield as a gift for his endeavors in the pursuit of knowledge for all. Some speculate she gave it to him for other reasons, but that is lost to history.”
“Lost to history? Is it just not available at this library, or is it completely lost?” Sai asks.
“Very few know he was also an author. Yes. He was the author of the ONE book that has ever escaped the magic and watchful eyes of the Archives of the Cobalt Soul.”
“And that book would be …” Cheato asks expectedly.
“Oh, The Biography of Ioun,” he states.
“Like a life story?” Gia asks.
“Yes, and to those in the know, like myself, it is said to contain a prophecy.”
“Is there only one copy?” Sai raises an eyebrow as she thinks about the books taken from the temple. The ones that are now at the Song and Supper Inn, tucked away in her pack. Archivist Duvall nods.
“As the one in the know, what would you say about this prophecy?” Cheato leans in and uses air quotes.
“We don’t know, we only know that it was said to have had one,” he shrugs. “I will tell you though, you would think that after all these centuries it would be all but forgotten, however, one has come asking about that very book and seeking it recently. His name,” he pauses. “I’m not sure if I should share it. How about I give you more after you maybe … Here’s the thing. The way I’m feeling right now is there’s some unity in the girl being wanted, the writer, someone looking for the book, the shield. I feel like there’s something there. However, all of your thoughts are completely different.” He turns to Malkey, picking up on his thoughts of his skin issue and how he doesn’t think it’s eczema, “No it is not, you’re correct. You might want to talk to your friend,” he says pointing to Fawna. He then turns to Sai “Your father … I like your hat ma’am,” he gives Sai a knowing look as he picks up her thoughts about his connections with the Children of Malice..
Sai pulls her hat around her ears, “Do you know of him?” She squirms a bit wondering how he could know what she was thinking.
“No, but your thoughts are loud on the Children of Malice and your father and it’s easy to put the pieces together.” Archivist Duvall gives her a reassuring look. He then turns his attention to Gia and her thoughts about the poor people and how they’re being treated in this city, “You my dear, that is something that everyone in this city is looking to change. But as with everything there are blocks in the way.” He then looks at Fawna, “My there’s a lot on your mind. She is wonderful, but yes. Keep it quiet.” He gives her a wink and a nod and confirms her thoughts of Melora and makes her curious about why Malkey should talk to her, I mean yeah she thinks he’s a dragon but … could that be it!?!
He then turns to Cheato, “I must ask… Is this everyone?”
“What’s it to you?” Cheato starts defensively, giving him the stink eye.
“It’s what I’ve gathered from your thoughts. Hung?” Archivist Duvall asks.
“Thank you,” Cheato replies cheekily.
“You are a serious fellow and your help is probably very much needed. There is definitely a unity to be had, so is there another?” He presses.
“Listen, Archivist Duvall, I’m sorry. I’m going to be real here. I’m not sure. You’ve read all of our thoughts without our knowing, we’re not sure how much to share,” Cheato levels with him.
“Yeah, consent is important,” Malkey leans back in his chair and crosses his arms.
“We have given a lot of information apparently,” Sai shakes her head. At that moment the side door opens and a tea tray comes around floating as if carried by an invisible being.
“The information we gave was a trade. We let you look at the shield and then you probed our minds without our consent. So I think that it’s probably fiar that you explain a little bit more of your interest in this,” Cheato points out.
“Yeah, mind rape! You mind raped us!” Malkey yells incredulously.
“Well with something as sensitive as these subjects and being aware of what books you all looked into, coupled with Jenna being wanted, the only book written by her great great great great grandfather being sought, this shield showing up out of the blue; an artifact that nobody has ever seen and almost lost to history it’s just … something more is happening here,” he explains.
“How recognizable is that shield? Should I have this covered up while walking about?” Sai asks.
“I was going to get to that but I was hoping to make nice first. I know you guys should be wary and are wise to be so,” he starts. “I’m concerned for you and I think maybe unity can be built but I don’t want to give any further information without everyone present. So if not, we can make an appointment for another time. You can have hours, days, whatever to think about it, but I am here for you.”
“That’s the only requirement? Just one other person? Bring the other person with us and then you would give us any information we’re looking for with this?” Sai inquires.
“I think it would behoove you,” He nods. “I can only try my best with the knowledge that I have but there is a lot of sensitive information here. Don’t worry you are safe in this room, except for me, I’m sorry about that I should apologize. I needed to know if I could trust you all so I saw what was on the top of your mind.”
Malkey gets up and goes over and whispers to Cheato, “It’s one thing that he’s reading our minds, it’s quite another that he knows the answers.”
“So we’re going to set up an appointment with you to come back at a time to discuss sensitive information,” Cheato confirms.
“Well, is the other person in Zadash, or are they elsewhere and you’re meeting them somewhere I don’t know …” Archivist Duvall shrugs and looks at them expectedly.
“Ha! Shouldn’t you know that!” Malkey shouts and points at him.
“No, that’s not how that works,” he chuckles. “Divination magic has its limits.”
“So look, you’re normally here I would assume right?” Cheato asks and he nods in response. “I’m not comfortable just saying hey we’re going to be here at this specific time because as you said this is very sensitive information.”
“I could send for him now, or them. Is it a female hung?” He asks.
“I’m gonna be real, I don’t know,” Cheato says.
“No,” Malkey tells him thinking back on that day in the cave. It seems so long ago, “I know for a fact that he’s a he. Bounced off my forehead a couple of times, that’s all I’m saying. Look, there’s more information that could be had about that, but I don’t think we have the time for that story.”
“We’ll go get our … member, our Hung member,” Cheato starts.
“I don’t think you’re understanding the weight of what I need to tell you all. If you need to leave here. In good faith, I would like to provide you all with some disguise to keep you safe. There are a lot of watchful eyes and ones that are against who she likes, who I like in our religious spiritual practices. And also, no offense madam,” he looks at Gia and Fawna, “there are some that have a hard time forgetting old feuds.”
“I will take the disguise and go and get my party member and bring him here,” Cheato resigns.
“Oh, we’re going to do this now huh?” Malkey raises an eyebrow.
“I think we should, but I would like the rest of the party to stay here with you,” Cheato tells him.
“In that case, would you like me to … I’m not sure, are you well versed in magic?” He looks at Cheato.
“Am I well versed in magic, am I well-versed in magic!?! Of course I am!” Cheato shouts offended that it wasn’t obvious.
“I either can offer seeming or sending. I could send for him, or … well that was part of the problem, with everyone in my sight you all would get 8 hours of disguise.” He explains.
"Do you have a scroll of sending I could use?" Cheato asks hopefully.
“Quite possible, I’m not sure if this will work for you,” he pulls out a fat leather tome, his personal spellbook, held closed with a leather strap an,d slides it across the desk towards Cheato. “Should be towards the beginning.”
Cheato’s eyes widen and he takes his time finding the spell. He sees a lot of evocation, illusion, and divination spells. These must be the archivist’s specialties. Cheato finds the third-level spell and thinks about what he should say in his message to Hung. Malkey chuckles to himself, “All I know is, I would love for Hung to get a message in his head without any prior warning, this is going to be great!”
Cheato sits up and puts a finger to his ear and sends Hung a message, “Hung? Spear here, there’s a feat of strength to be found. Valley Archive of Cobalt Soul. Go now, a great reward awaits. No more words.”
“Did you really just say no more words at the end?” Malkey looks over at Cheato. Cheato nods vigorously as he smiles widely.
Hung sits in front of the fire at the Song and Supper getting acquainted with his new friend when he hears this message. He stands up abruptly and pulls the spear from his back forgetting the raven who squawks loudly and quickly hops out of the way. He holds his spear out and as he looks at it he finally feels like something truthful has been told to him. He notices that he has drawn every eye in the house as his eyes seek the barkeep with a look on his face as if the world has opened up. When he finds her he says, “Point Hung to Valley Archive.”
“Oh umm, where you went with your friend the other night you mean?” Hung nods. “Ah, the same way you went then,” she says as he turns on his heel and runs out the door spilling onto the busy morning streets of Zadash, spear out as he runs. Luckily he doesn’t stab anyone as his one-track mind leads him through the city. He ignores the stares and the gasps and the kids calling out and hiding behind their mothers behind him. He gets to a familiar intersection and stops to look where he has to go, he looks to the right and sees the Pentamarket and sees a line of people in bright red roads going through, he looks to the left and sees the Archives, so much brighter in the daylight.
Back in the study Cheato casts the spell and turns to Malkey, “Um, so Hung thinks his spear is talking to him. Can you go get him at the entrance if he thinks there’s going to be a fight or something? That’s the best way I could get him here and you’re the closest to him.”
Malkey starts belly laughing, “Yeah I definitely want to see this! You told him…Ha! Good one, that won’t be disappointing to him at all ” he holds his stomach and his cheeks turn red as he continues to laugh as he heads to the door.
“If I said we’re at a library and there was stuff to learn, he probably wouldn’t have come,” Cheato shrugs.
“I’ll go because he’s probably going to add to it,” Sai rolls her eyes and nods her head at Malkey, and stands up to follow.
Sai and Malkey rush down the stairs, Malkey is excited to see Hung's face when he arrives. He springs down the steps with his boots of Striding and Springing as Sai calls forth her shadow and projects her forward then switches places all the way down the tight spiral stairway. They burst into the main hall of the library, the door slamming open, and everyone turns to stare at them wide-eyed. Malkey switches to a fast walk trying to look as appropriate as possible. Sai catches up to him and grabs the back of his cloak, “Wait, wait, we should probably talk about this!”
“I’m not saying anything, I’m picturing in my mind right now that he’s charging here with his spear out like something needs to die,” Malkey giggles as he strains against Sai’s grasp.
“We should probably let him know that the spear cannot talk, that should probably should be a priority here,” Sai reminds him in a whisper through tight lips.
“I didn’t even think about that, that’s even better!” Malkey tries to stifle another laugh as he cries out and they burst through the large front doors to see Hung exactly as Malkey had pictured. Huffing and running towards them across the courtyard with the spear out at the ready.
“Hung, wait, wait, wait,” Sai cries out while holding Malkey by the scruff of the neck. Malkey reaches out and holds the door open to allow him to run right into the library if he wanted to before Sai positions herself and blocks the way still holding Malkey. The curious eyes of those inside the library crane their necks to see what’s going on. “Wait, wait, wait, back up a sec.” Hung comes to a screeching halt and Sai’s voice comes down to a whisper. “Someone might have played a prank on you. Your spear is not talking to you, you’re going to calm down and calmly come upstairs. There’s no fight. It’s boring things but it’s ok it did not talk to you.” She reaches up to touch his shoulder with her free hand and the raven on his shoulder that has been unnoticed until now caws loudly and surprises them and causes her to drop Malkey.
“Oh shit, it’s a bird!” Malkey screams.
“What is that? Hung you can’t just grab animals off the side of the road!” Sai scolds.
“Where did you get that thing?” Malkey asks.
“Who trick Hung?” Hung asks, ignoring his friends’ questions.
“Cheato, Cheato did it!” Malkey throws Cheato under the carriage.
“Let’s walk upstairs and talk to him, here; let’s go.” Sai calms the still huffy Hung but they make their way up to the librarian's study as Leonard tries to divert the attention away from the spectacle.
As they climb the stairs, Malkey tries to explain, “It wasn’t a prank, he was trying to get you here to let you know that you’re going to get information about your spear, so it’s not a prank.”
“But your spear does not talk, unfortunately,” Sai confirms. “That was Cheato’s addition.”
“That’s quite a presumption,” Malkey side-eyes Sai then turns to Hung. “Did you think your spear spoke?”
“I heard my spear speak to me,” Hung states.
“OK, that’s not much of a presumption then,” Malkey shrugs. Eventually, they make their way all the way up the stairs and enter back into the nice quiet study. Malkey walks past Cheato muttering, “Oh, he’s gonna kill you!”
“How’s it going, Hung?” Cheato addresses the large half-orc.
Hung ignores Cheato completely and looks at the archivist who addresses him, “Ah, you must be Hung.” Hung removes the greatsword from his back and hands it back to Sai before taking a seat with a slight scowl on his face.
“There are some snacks over here Hung,” Sai says hoping to cheer him up a bit.
A tray floats by Hung who takes a handful of biscuits and shoves them in his mouth then chews and sputters spitting out the dry biscuits. His bird happily hops down and cleans up the crumby mess.
“No, you're supposed to dip it in the ... never mind. We needed to get you here quickly and I had only a couple of words to say to you and I didn’t think you would be interested in hearing, 'library please come now',” Cheato tries to explain to Hung.
“Don’t try to justify your lies,” Malkey instigates.
“Why didn’t you just come and get me?” Hung asks Cheato.
“Because this was easier,” Cheato shrugs.
“Don’t mess with Hung’s spear,” Hung let’s him know.
“My apologies, that had nothing to do with me. As I said, my name is Archivist Duvall and your friends may want to fill you in a little bit,” he leans back in his chair, picking up the copper piece again and looking over at Hung. “This is all very curious.” He finds that Hung has a very one-track mind thinking only of wanting to spear someone at the moment. Archivist Duvall clears his throat uncomfortably, “Yes, please take the time, to fill him in.”
Cheato explains, “So Archivist Duvall has graciously offered us some help in disguises and the like, but the more important part is that he’s giving us more information about these great weapons that we have and information that is relevant to us so we can understand them more and better use them.”
“Do you know where I can find a Black Pearl?” Hung asks.
“Well, there’s always the Invulnerable Vagrant,” he replies. “Is it for spell work or do you …” he trails off as Hung stands, pulls his spear out, and sticks it into his wooden desk. “Oh, my …” he starts to stutter but gains his composure. “I’m so glad we’ve crossed paths.”
“Spear doesn’t just stick in table,” Hung says proudly as he removes it from the desk and returns it back to his back.
“I don’t know where to find that black pearl sir, no. I’m sorry I know nothing of that but you all seem to have not only this artifact,” he picks up the shield from his desk and hands it over to Sai, “there’s more than one artifact in this room. And that sword, just as curious.” He leans back in his chair again reading Sai’s thoughts. He finds that she’s not sure if it’s cursed or not. “Have you had these identified?” he asks Cheato directly.
“I looked at them, yes,” Cheato tells him.
“You don’t have to share any of your information,” he assures Cheato. “She’s curious if they’re cursed, are they? I know they once were.”
“I wouldn’t say that they’re cursed now, they’re definitely weakened from what they once were. But they still contain a fiend spirit most likely, or at least a portion of it,” Cheato explains.
“Oh my,” Archivist Duvall doesn’t even try to hide his shock.
“Do you know anything about a ritual to try and purify?” Sai asks hopefully.
“To get rid of a fiend? Well, there’s banishment,” he suggests.
“How would we even do that? I want to make sure that’s gone,” Sai says.
Cheato pipes up, “As far as we’re aware, there was a very powerful mage working on this and he wasn’t able to finish it before he passed away.”
“I thought you were a very powerful mage though,” Sai looks at Cheato.
“Well I am the Wandering Mage of the East, but this is new to my wheelhouse, I deal with burning and breaking things, banishing though it’s not …” Cheato trails off.
“Do you know what fiend my spear has?” Hung asks him.
“I do not know the fiend, I just know that they did once contain fiend spirits and when I looked at them they did still contain some sort of spirit,” Chdeato explains.
Hung sits back in his chair and thinks to himself about the fiend and his previous visions.
“Should I keep this shield hidden while walking about the city?” Sai asks.
“Well, that’s what I’m hoping, I see it’s dire that you guys need some coverage,” Archivist Duvall’s eyebrows become furrowed.
“Malkey, on my way here I saw a group of people in red cloaks, stood out from everybody else,” Hung offers. "Thought you should know."
“Like the same red material that we saw with that lady in the cave?” Malkey asks.
“Hung thinks yes,” Hung nods.
“Uh, that ain’t good, based on the deductions that we’ve been putting together that would be the Cerberus Assembly,” Malkey shakes his head.
“Where did you see them Hung?” Cheato asks. Hung points towards the Pentamarket.
“Has anyone seen you guys already?” Duvall questions.
“Yeah, we do carry a dragon egg around everywhere,” Cheato discloses. “And sometimes some of us have panic attacks in the middle of the night that brings out new information too,” he adds looking over at Gia.
“You’re experiencing visions?” The archivist asks.
“Yes,” Gia nods.
“Not me,” Malkey quips smugly.
“Maybe...” Sai insinuates with a shrug while Hung remains silent.
“Whew, ok it’s time to hopefully get some questions answered and asked. So as I was saying that book, missing for centuries …” he starts. “Wait ... dragon egg?” he shakes his head with the weight of all they have brought to him.
“Yup,” Cheato nods, understanding exactly what's happening to the poor man.
Archivist Duvall looks around at all of them and settles on Fawna with a gasp, “Oh my! Dear, I thought you were with child.”
“No, we walked into town carrying it without that papoose by the way,” Cheato discloses.
“Well yeah, we needed to buy the papoose so we had to,” Sai explains.
“I think this is why there is no unity, you guys haven’t known each other very long have you?” he asks, getting a feel of the group at large.
“Oh fuck no!” Malkey laughs.
“Like 6 days,” Cheato says.
“A couple of weeks for us,” Sai adds pointing to herself, Hung and Malkey.
“So yes, it’s very curious that you say you saw red cloaks because the one who has been around asking for that book thinking that it was here, is the assistant to King Dwendal and he and the Cerberus Assembly are quite close." He leans back in his chair and folds his hands in his lap before continuing on, "Oliver Schreiber. He believed that it was here in the Valley Archives and said it was probably brought here by Aryn Feyra, who was Caylorn’s best student and in their later years his best friend so the stories say. I can assure you, we do not have it. But I can say for sure that the interest has been piqued after all these years. And then you show up with what we think is Caylorn’s shield, they’re searching for Jenna and now we have within our midst a dragon egg and two Arms of the Betrayers. I just don’t … Here’s what I can offer you for safe passage and to buy you some time and a couple of days. Where are you staying?” He says to the party at large.
“The Song and Supper Inn,” Sai tells him.
“OK, I know that part of the city. If you can find a way to get out of the Song and Supper in the mornings and go into the sewers I can meet you where they meet with this library and cast Seeming for you so you have 8 hours to do with what you will and go undetected. Even then this is still risky because Seeming isn’t foolproof, if someone knew to look deeper, they will see through the illusion” he offers.
“I don’t think we need to stay in the city much longer,” Cheato suggests.
“What are you talking about, we have room and board and horses and carriages,” Malkey looks at Cheato confused.
“Yeah, we can take those and leave,” Cheato tells Malkey.
“Through a sewer?” Malkey continues still confused.
“No! We don’t have to leave through the sewer! No, he said he could cast a spell on us in the sewer!” Cheato says frustrated.
“Why wouldn’t we just leave through the sewer if we’re already in it?” Malkey questions.
“No, it’s a disguise spell in the sewer in the mornings,” Cheato sighs as he facepalms.
“Right, so I’ll do one for you today, it lasts 8 hours and then secretly find your way here in the mornings so I can give you another 8 hours,” Archivist Duvall explains.
“Use the sewers to get back here,” Hung nods in understanding.
“If we’re going to be staying a while,” Cheato adds.
“Right,” the librarian nods. “Is there a lot of water in the sewers?” Sai asks uncomfortably.
“Well yes, it’s the sewers, I’ve never been myself, I will meet you where it connects with the library but I am sorry I will not go any further in,” he explains.
“I’m 3 foot tall, I do not want to wade through a sewer,” Malkey complains.
“Ok so you’re offering us protection, I understand that. We’ve given you a lot of information about wonderful items that we have and the things that are in play right now so let’s keep rolling,” Cheato gestures to move along to more important things than being stuck on sewer talk.
“What else can I offer you?” he asks
“How much danger are we in?” Hung asks.
“Well, it depends on if they’re looking for you or for someone else and even if they are looking for someone else they will still see you and that and that,” he gestures to the weapons and the shield as well as the dragon egg, “and i”m sorry madam, and you sir and you madam are still of the rarer types to be seen in the Dwendalian Empire.”
“I would imagine that you two at least are safe if they are looking for us because if you two pass with those weapons that you are bonded with, they teleport somewhere randomly," Cheato points out.
“Wait say that again are you talking about their passing?” Malkey tries to clarify. “If they die,” Cheato emphasizes.
“Just being clear,” Malkey shakes his head.
“I prefer not that option,” Sai raises her hand in objection.
“Well no, of course not, I’m talking about if we’re being hunted they’re not gonna care about us being alive, but if they want that spear they’re going to want you alive until they can un-bond you from it,” Cheato explains.
Hungs face becomes stern, “Nobody touches Hungs spear.”
“So then it’s possible we could use that as leverage in the future,” Gia suggests.
“The last time that book was seen with the prophecy, it’s speculated that Archmage Aryn Feyra had it last,” Duvall says. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“I believe we know where to start looking for this book,” Cheato nods thinking about the hidden temple his friends had told him about which is now a week's journey back the way they had come.
“Are you ready to become different now?” they all nod in agreement to his question. He raises a hand and circles his fingers around the room and says, “Change is good.” The party start to glow as they all seemingly become human in form. “Feel free while my magic is working to customize your appearances.”
Hung starts to freak out a bit and Cheato notices and says, “No Hung, it’s all still there, don’t worry!”
Hung reaches up and though he can’t see his spear, he does feel it and is reassured. Sai doesn’t even bat an eye, she’s reveling in the fact that she can show her ears as she chose to look exactly the same just slightly more human. Malkey also chooses to look exactly the same but is now taller. Cheato looks like an old respectable wizard with a long beard, not too unlike Malkey. Hung chooses to look like his father, a nice dad bod and a friendly face. Gia has bright red hair and caramel skin and marvels at the illusion. Fawna looks like herself but is no longer blue, no more hooves, tail, or horns. The dragon egg is also hidden by the illusion so she no longer looks pregnant.
“Please be careful as you go along your way, this is only an illusion so if you bump into anyone or anything they may start to question and some may even be able to see through it,” Archivist Duvall warns. “If you need me you know where I am, please find me.” He draws a quick map of the underground from the Song and Supper to the Library.
“I do have something, your order is clearly underground and not liked by society as a whole, how would I communicate that we’re working with you to other people of your order? Do you have a symbol, a saying, a handshake?”
“We usually just message, or use sending,” he looks at Cheato a bit confused.
“Do you have a sign of your office? Like on your letters?” Cheato asks.
“Oh, my seal, yes,” He confirms.
“Can you write us a letter of passage for your order?” Cheato suggests.
“Indeed, I will have it for you by tomorrow morning when we meet underground,” he assures Cheato. “If you go back to the inn, she will not recognize you, just a fair warning. It will wear off around 6 this evening.”
“Do you think she would still recognize me?” Sai asks
“Quite possibly, yes,” he nods. “Anything else? If that is all, I have much to contemplate and worry about; best of luck. If I can do anything let me know.”
“There’s always something you could do, do you have any spare coinage for our travels?” Cheato raises a hopeful eyebrow as they all rise from their seats.
“Thank you very much,” Gia says as she starts to shoo Cheato towards the door.
“Thank you,” he then turns to Cheato, “Unfortunately, investment isn’t my strong suit.”
Cheato mumbles under his breath, “Investment doesn’t have to be your strong suit …”
“Alright alright,” Malkey pushes him along out the door.
The door closes behind them and they start down the long spiral staircase, “By the way, if anyone asks my name is now Tony Pizza.” They file through the main floor, out the doors to the main courtyard under the partly cloudy sky.
They notice pretty much everywhere they look they see red-cloaked figures stopping passersby and inquiring as they show them the familiar poster of Jenna. Gia also spots a job board and they start towards it.
“I’ve got a plan,” Cheato says. “I gotta know what they’re asking. Someone’s gotta play along. I’m gonna be the old man that’s kind of lost ok? Come up to me in a couple of minutes when I’m talking to them and corral me and say like, ‘oh, my grandfather’s a bit lost, let’s get you back to the home grandpa come on.’ I don’t care who but I’m gonna go do this if that’s cool.”
Sai seems a bit distracted and starts asking the others for their room keys so she can go grab their stuff as Cheato starts walking haphazardly in the direction of one of the cloaked figures. Gia nonchalantly reads the job board so she doesn’t look like she’s with him at the moment. She sees advertisements for:
Delivery person - 1sp per delivery; possibility of 10 deliveries a day or more, inquire at the post office.
Handyman - Desks and shelving need to be rebuilt after fire 10 gp an hour, inquire at the Apple Tree Tutor Village.
Missing cat - 50 gp; Mrs. Claybourne 23 Arnto St. West Outersteads.
Innocently Imprisoned: A desperate plea of a wife begging for someone to help free her husband who was wrongfully accused of stealing a coveted Golden Emerald Necklace from Duchess McRae at the Pillow Trove Garden Party last weekend - REWARD! - See Baronness Weatherford 8 Tungsten Ave, Gilded Willows.
Help wanted for issue in the East Outersteads - handsome reward. Bring this advertisement for entry into the Tri-Spires. - Starosta Wyatt Fedar - 18 Julous Way Silken Terrace.
Gravediggers Union Looking for investigator - Across from the Raven’s Den Aviary
She reads the last three out loud to the rest of the crew as Cheato shuffles down the block.
Cheato eventually wanders aimlessly over to one of the men in red robes who is actively asking someone that they stopped if they’ve seen the woman on the poster. He taps the man on the shoulder, “Do you know where fix is?”
“Oh, hello sir. No, but have you seen this wizard?” He shows Cheato aka Tony Pizza the wanted poster with Jenna on it.
“What?” the man repeats himself, “I’m sorry you need to speak up,” Cheato tells him feigning hearing loss. The man repeats himself so loudly that the rest of the crew can hear him all the way down by the job board. Malkey takes this as his cue and heads towards them.
“Dad, what kind of trouble are you getting up to?” Malkey aka Turd Ferguson asks Cheato.
“Apparently there’s a wizard around,” Cheato responds.
“A what?” Malkey asks also feigning hearing loss.
“Wizard,” Cheato yells.
“Wizard? What’s a wizard,” Malkey shouts.
The red-robed man interrupts them, “This one have you seen her?”
“What’s so special about her?” Cheato asks loudly.
“Well, if you read it…” the man starts as he hands the poster to Cheato aka Tony Pizza
“I didn’t bring my glasses,” Cheato responds holding the paper out in front of him at arms length.
The man takes the poster back and hands it then to Malkey, “I didn’t bring my glasses.”
“OK then,” the man reads it aloud to them practically shouting. “Have you seen this wizard? Approach with extreme caution. Last seen in Rexxentrum bank vault. Do not attempt to use magic. Any information leading to the arrest of this woman shall be duly rewarded. Notify immediately by owl - the Cerberus Assembly.”
“How did she get in the vault, isn’t it meant to be safe?” Cheato questions.
“Well that’s what a vault is, it’s a safe,” Malkey points out.
“But she got in there, isn’t that gonna cause like a run on the bank,” Cheato says loudly.
“Oh shit should I pull my money out?” Malkey shouts his question at the man.
The man tries to reassure them, “No no there’s no need for that, the king needs his taxes, your accounts will be fine.”
Ignoring the man completely Malkey screams addressing anyone on the street within hearing distance, “Everyone should get their money out of the bank, everybody!” The rest of the crew down the block are truly focusing on making sure they have no affiliation with the old loons making a scene down the street.
“Wait, wait, no!” The man frantically waves his hands at them trying to calm them down. “It was her own account! It was her own vault.”
Cheato and Malkey stop when they hear this “Wait, she robbed herself?” Cheato questions the man. “You’re telling me, this woman broke into this secure bank to rob herself?” He laughs uncontrollably.
“They don’t give us all of the details. Have you seen her?” the man asks again.
“Why the fuck would she rob herself, you just said she robbed her own vault, why would she rob herself?” It’s so ridiculous Cheato really wants to know what that’s all about. “What was in her vault?”
“We don’t …” he looks around very uncomfortably and stammers as if he’s said too much already. “I … uh … we don’t know any details.”
“Buddy buddy buddy, I can be a little quieter,” Cheato tries to calm the man down now. My how the tables have turned. “Old Tony Pizza here knows a thing or two. I know a lot of people, I’ve been around a while.”
“I just need to know, have you seen her?” He pleads for an answer to his question.
“Baby, baby, talk to me a little bit more, I’m interested now. It sounds like a great story!” Cheato tries to soften him up and puts a comforting and trusting arm around his shoulders. “Listen, you’re probably in hot water with your boss right? You gotta find this lady? Listen, I wanna help you, Tony Pizza can help you.”
“I can’t tell you anymore,” he says as he wiggles and shuffles away from the crazy old men. Instead of stopping any more people as he was doing before, he dodges down a side street.
“I’d be careful what you say to people,” Malkey calls after him then elbows Cheato really hard, “Hey, are you doing an impression of me? What the fuck?”
“Is your name Tony Pizza?” Cheato asks him.
“No but the tone of your voice …” Malkey starts.
“You think that’s an impression of you?” Cheato continues with his Tony Pizza voice.
“Kinda,” Malkey shrugs.
“That might be your own insecurities,” Cheato points out. “Do you think you’re old?”
“What the fuck dude,” Malkey shakes his head.
Right at that moment, they see Hung fly by, well, Hung in dad-bod form the raven bouncing along on his shoulder. His big illusory belly jiggling with every step. He passes them and turns the corner, clearly trying to follow the man in the red robe.
“You know who that is right?” Malkey asks Cheato.
“Oh yeah, that's Hung. I think we should just let Hung do his detective work. This might be interesting.” Cheato nods, looking on with interest. They then see Sai pass.
“What are they doing?” Malkey wonders aloud as they see Fawna in disguise shuffles toward Cheato and Malkey as they chuckle at their party members. Then the red-haired human that is Gia in disguise runs after Sai.
Hung sees the man walking ahead of him and easily catches up, gets in front of him huffing and puffing. The man steps back and looks confused.”Sir? Can I help you?”
“You have to go back, my friends,” Hung tells him.
The man turns around and sees two human females running towards him as well, but through them, he sees that Hung is actually pointing to the two old men. “Oh, you’re with the elderly gentlemen poking each other and laughing. I don’t want to be rude, but are they your grandparents? I think you should be with them, they clearly could use some supervision.”
“You left something with them,” Hung suggests trying to intimidate or persuade him to go back.
“No, sorry. I don't think I left anything at all,” the man responds still confused. “If you excuse me, I”m actually working right now.” He tries to sidestep Hung, but Hung matches his movement, blocking the way again.
Sai catches up, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry my brother got hit on the head too many times as a kid.”
A thought dawns on the man and he rolls his eyes, “Oh, it runs in the family, I see.”
“I’m so sorry, it’s been a bit of a hectic day, come on bro, let’s go. Sis can you help me out here?” Sai says looking back at Gia for some help.
“You all enjoy your day,” he makes a face and moves around Hung as Gia comes up to help collect Hung.
“I had more to say, we can’t have people getting away like that,” Hung says frustrated that they were pulling him away and telling stories.
“Yeah, but it seems like he was going to call for somebody. We made a scene!” Sai tells him in a strained whisper.
“No, you heard him talking to Cheato,” Hung explains. “I mean, Pizza Joe.”
“I don’t know, do we really wanna make the wrong name for ourselves while we’re still trying to leave while we’re in disguise?” Sai levels with him. “We don’t have too long with these,” she says gesturing to their illusory bodies.
Hung sighs as his chubby face turns into a frown. He thought he was doing the right thing, that guy knew something, “Hung really wanted to talk to the guy.”
Sai pats his arm as they reach the rest of their friends, “I know and you know you did get to talk to him.”
“We did find out some great information,” Cheato reassures him.
“Guys I think we’re making too much of a scene, it’s not even lunchtime!” Sai points out.
“We should go back to our rooms,” Hung suggests.
We can’t because we would look like we’re stealing from … ourselves?” Malkey says emphatically.
“I can, ok. That’s why I thought about my appearance,” Sai taunts him.
“I thought about my appearance,” Cheato adds proudly.
“I thought about my appearance too!” Malkey looks at them both incredulously, “I mean I didn’t think properly, but I thought about it.”
“You could just tell them we’re with you,” Hung suggests.
“I could just say I got taller,” Malkey advocates.
“I don’t know why we need to go back to our rooms,” Cheato gives her a face and shrugs.
“Well, we do have to go and get a particular book that I didn’t want to mention in the library,” She alludes.
“What?” Cheato looks at her even more baffled than before.
“Yeah, now we know what it is, we need that,” Hung nods in approval.
“What?” Cheato’s head whips around to look at Hung. What the heck are they talking about? He thinks to himself.
“Um, let’s hurry back,” Sai says as she starts briskly walking back to the Inn.
Gia is also confused as everyone starts walking without explanation she follows and tries to find out what’s going on too, “So uhhhh… are we going to meet somewhere? Should we like, or are we ….”
“We should stick together,” Hung tells her.
Cheato nods at Hung and looks at Sai, “Yes, of course, we should stick together but you go inside and get the shit, we stay outside.”
“Or I could be like, ‘This is the rest of my party, magic stuff, don’t question it,’ and then just keep on walking," Sai offers.
Cheato and Gia stop in their tracks and look at each other, then back at her. Sai takes a couple of steps then stops and looks back at them. Cheato and Gia try to explain, “No, no, no, that ruins the disguise … then they’ll know…”
“Oh, Ok yeah that makes sense,” Sai nods, “Good thing I ran that by you guys first then, thank you.”
They arrive at the inn and the party waits outside nonchalantly leaning against the walls and whistling.
“Hung, hungry,” he says as he pulls out a ration from his pack.
“That’s right, no one serves lunch here! That was a whole thing, wasn’t that a conspiracy?” Cheato wonders out loud.
“Only breakfast and dinner, that’s right,” Gia confirms with a sigh as her stomach growls.
“Yeah what’s up with that? We really need to investigate that!” Malkey adds.
Sai goes in undetected and grabs everything that she can and clears out all the rooms. Checking her friends’ rooms as well just in case. It doesn’t take long before she’s back outside on the city streets. She hands out what she gathered to everyone and then digs in her pack and pulls out ‘The Biography of Ioun’ and leans over to Cheato and slowly hands him the book.
Cheato looks down in disbelief at the thick leatherbound tome with an ornate single eye within a triangle burned into the cover, “You’ve had this, the whole time!?!” He is stunned for a moment before he speaks again, “Like, we were talking to the man that could tell us more about this and give us relevant information, and you just… had it.”
“You wanted me to just drop that without going with you first?” Sai questions.
“I’m gonna be real, that’s what we do everywhere anyway,” Cheato retorts.
“I figured you would like me to run this information by you first,” Sai grumbles.
“Well yeah, but we just walked in with like two massive weapons that are artifacts from evil gods that he knows about and gave him a relic of Ioun.” Cheato points out blankly.
“Yeah, but we talked about it first,” regarding the deal of the shield for knowledge.
“Not really,” Cheato shakes his head. He opens the book and sees the title page, ‘The Biography of Ioun, by Caylorn Irresor’ He flips through the pages and stops on a chapter in the book, ‘The Prophecy’. Cheato looks up, staring daggers at Sai and Hung as a minstrel passes by singing in the streets between the stables and the Song and Supper. Cheato’s face and his knuckles are red, and his brow is furrowed as he looks over his glasses at them, “I don’t care what any of you do today, I’m taking this to the library and I’m going to read this. Do not bother me!"
“You seem very serious,” Malkey says a bit concerned.
“Yes,” Cheato says through gritted teeth.
“What’s going on?” Malkey asks.
“That fancy book that the people about knowledge were talking about, the one the librarian said they didn’t have and that the guy was looking for; we just had, chilling, in a room, by itself! We’ve had it! The prophecy that we care about, the words are here!” Cheato can’t help but shout as he holds up the book and points. A few people turn and look but are unphased and pass by on their way about their business without a second glance. A crazy old man yelling about a book isn’t as unusual as it seems to the folks around here.
“We’ve never read it,” Sai admits.
Cheato shuts the book and heads back to the library with a stiff brisk walk. Fawna quickly looks around at everyone then goes after him trying not to hold her egg because it would ruin the illusion. She sidles up beside him and quietly asks, “What’s going on?”
The rest of the party look at each other for a moment then one after the other Malkey, then Hung, then Sai, then Gia all hurry to catch up. Cheato stops at the door of the library and with his hand ready to open it, he hears the pattering of his party’s footsteps. Without turning to look at them he says, “If I open this door and turn around, the only person I want to see is Fawna. I need some privacy to read this book, this is the safest place we have, Archivist Duvall was willing to help if we needed. Well, I need it; at least a quiet private place anyway.”
“You go, we go,” Hung states matter-of-factly.
“We’re not separating right now,” Malkey says concerned.
Cheato holds up the huge book, “Do you all want to sit around and stare at me while I read this? Or, we could split up a little bit and go and find information. Better yet, we need gold.”
“True, But we gotta meet back at the Inn before six so we can walk back in properly as ourselves for the night,” Malkey resigns. “Is there a task we can do that can be done in like 4 hours?”
“We could do deliveries,” Gia offers pointing at the job board. “That’s at the post office.”
“Oh, let’s go to the post office!” Malkey exclaims.
“That’s right, you like post offices,” Hung affirms.
“No, it’s the next day, I’m hoping to have a replied letter!” Malkey reminds him then looks at Cheato and Fawna. “You two sit in the library, we’ll do what we gotta do about gold. Can you still send messages?”
“If he lets me, and I think he’ll let me do anything,” Cheato offers holding up the book.
“I don't think you should necessarily show him that you physically have the one and only copy of something sooo amazing,” Malkey proposes.
“I understand what you’re saying. I’ll just ask to use his study for my own studies,” Cheato agrees.
“I mean, can we trust this guy I don’t know. My fear is whether they’ll use this information for what we need it for or are they going to use if for what they want it for,” he explains further. “Eh, what other choice do we have, you go, andpossible we’ll make some money and run some errands.” Cheato and Fawna go into the library as the rest of the crew head to the job board to discuss the possibile job opportunities.
They enter the library and see Archivist Duvall at his post. Cheato approaches, “I would require your greatest study to teach my niece.”
“Let me see what we have available,” Archivist Duvall looks at him quizzically.
Cheato continues, “Your safest study that is quiet and protected from outsiders if you underst …”
“Shh! Sir this is a library! Please keep it down,” he responds.
“Sorry I lost my ears in the war,” Cheato explains
“Come right with me,” the librarian says as he leads them back up into his personal tower study.
As soon as the door to the stairwell is shut Archivist turns to them quickly, “Is everything alright?”
“Oh yeah,” Cheato responds nonchalantly. “I just need to study a little bit, we found some more research.”
“That was quick,” he says with a smile as they reach the top of the stairs and enter the office.
“I'm a man of many talents,” Cheato says proudly.
“Please do not touch anything. Actually, Frederick,” he says to nothing so it seems to Fawna. “Please if you will,” he gestures to the whole of his office.
After he leaves Cheato leans over to Fawna, “He’s using a spell called Unseen Servant, He thinks he’s really cool.” He then gets an idea and turns to where he thinks the servant is, “Frederick, can you get books for us? Move the chair to the left a little bit if you can.” It doesn’t respond so Cheato opens the door and yells down the spiral staircase, “Hey, Archivist, real quick, I need you to give Frederick a command.” “Oh? What’s that?” he stops and looks up at Cheato leaning over the railing.
“That he will listen to me,” Cheato says and then quickly adds clarification, “I need it to fetch books for me.”
The archivist chuckles a bit then rubs his chin as he thinks, “Indeed you do.” He sighs before finally calling up, “Frederick, get him what he needs, within reason; within my reason.” He then winks at Cheato and continues back down to his post.
Cheato returns to the office and sets up at the desk, “OK Frederick, can you please bring us the books we had before and some more tea and biscuits? Actually different biscuits, those ones suck.” The side door opens and closes with an invisible hand.
Back at the job board, Gia, Sai, Hung, and Malkey consider their options. They decide to steer clear of the jobs posted for anywhere near the Tri-Spires and the ritzy parts of town for now. Gia suggests the deliveries because then they could divide and conquer and get to know the city all at once but Malkey is concerned with splitting everyone up. “If the Cerberus Assembly finds us and we get busted … who knows, that could be bigger issues than we’d need. We should stick together.” Malkey sends Nutbag up to fly around and look for a cat, but he sees many cats which doesn’t help at all really.
They finally decide on an order of operations, first the post office, then to inquire at the cemetery about the grave digger job. They enter the post office and see it’s a different man on duty this time, “Sending or receiving,” the man asks in a bored tone.
“Hoping to receive,” Malkey says.
The man looks down at Malkey, “Alright, what’s the name?”
“Turd Ferguson,” Malkey reveals confidently.
“Wasn’t it Bob something?” Sai reminds him.
“Oh shoot we used too many names,” Malkey tries to think. “Yeah, it’s Bob.”
The man looks confused but then looks over the clipboard in his hand, “Uh, we have a couple of Bob’s on here. I would need more information.”
Malkey thinks and thinks and thinks, ‘what was it that he sent it under?’
At the same time Hung and Malkey look at each other and say in unison, “Neal and Bob!”
“Oh yeah, we do have that,” the postmaster hands them the letter waiting for Neal and Bob.
Malkey jumps up and takes the letter and they head back out into the streets of Zadash. He breaks the seal and unrolls the scroll to read:
“Fucking Brad,” Malkey complains as he rolls up the scroll and hands it over to Sai who reads over it again as they walk towards the Raven’s Den.
They approach the Raven’s Den Aviary and Nalthak, Hung’s Raven, grows concerned and hops to Hungs' other shoulder, “Don’t worry, you don’t have to go back there,” Hung assures it.
They take in the large cemetery that spans for blocks. They enter the main gate and as they enter they see the large mausoleum and a grand church-type structure on their left, and to their right start the smaller gravestones and plaques. Some have fresh flowers, some have none and some are dead or dying. Hung and Gia see someone digging a fresh grave about 100 yards away in the smaller section and start heading toward them. Sai and Malkey are looking at a large angelic sculpture when Malkey notices Hung and Gia aren’t with them. “Oh shoot, Sai,” he says as he also heads that way. Sai follows.
Gia approaches the man, “Excuse me sir?”
He coughs and wipes his brow leaving a trail of dirt on his face, “How can I help you?”
“We were inquiring about the help needed in these parts?” Gia explains. “A gravedigger?”
“Gravediggers,” he looks at her suspiciously, “you want to put me out of a job? Listen, lady, I have six kids, this is the only thing I know how to do.”
“No, no,” she reassures him.
Hung chimes in, “We’re here about the job posting.”
“Oh, I completely forgot about that it’s been so long,” he replies then leans in real close and quietly lets them know the deal. “We used to be able to work in shifts, there were three of us gravediggers, but we had to let some people go in the worst way possible.” He sighs before continuing, “At night we started to hear chanting. So the night digger went to check it out and never came back. So then it was just two of us after that, and then the same thing happened. Now it’s only me and I won’t do any digging at night anymore, the hours are long and hard as it is for just one guy. So yeah, I went to the Union about it and they said they’d be willing to pay someone but they couldn’t lose any more workers so I did the job posting but they never told me how much pay they would approve so nobody’s come … except now for you. So I don’t know exactly how much we can give you. The chanting comes from that big building over there. Apparently, there are some pretty affluent people in there. So whatever the union doesn’t give you … I didn’t see nothing if you take care of the problem, know what I’m saying?”
“Oh shit, so we can be grave robbers?” Malkey sarcastically says excitedly.
“What happens during the day?” Sai asks.
“Nothin’,” he shrugs.
“So you just dig graves all day then go home at night?” Hung asks, he nods.
“I’m not sure if we can help but perhaps we can come back with some other people later tonight.”
“Ok …” he says a bit confused.
Hung digs out five gold pieces from his pouch and hands them to the man, “Go home for the day,”
“Oh, wow thanks! That’s amazing!” He drops his shovel with a clang, jumps out of the hole drops his keys, and immediately runs out of the cemetery with an extra skip in his step.
Malkey calls after him, “But I don’t think we can do a night shift!” but he either ignored Malkey or the words went unheard entirely because they watch the man turn a corner and disappear.
“One less person hurt,” Hung says proudly.
“Hurt? He works a day shift nothing happens during the day!” Malkey points out.
Feeling Malkey’s frustration, Gia pipes up, “It’s ok, so how are we going to handle this, he’s gone now.”
“Poorly apparently because we can’t do a night shift!” Malkey shouts again.
“Why not?” Hung asks.
“Because our image changes back at 6pm,” Malkey reminds them. “The whole point of doing this was to keep from being seen,” he says gesturing to the illusion disguise.
“We can still try to figure out why they’re disappearing at night,” Gia suggests.
“Could we wear cloaks or something tonight?” Sai offers as a night disguise.
“How many people actually come to the graveyard at night?” Hung points out.
“You’ve got a point there,” Malkey considers.
“And the cloak thing, red cloaks are looking for us. What if we just wore red cloaks?” Hung proposes.
“They would think we’re one of them!” Sai agrees, picking up what Hung’s putting down.
Gia and Malkey respond in wary unison, “That’s interesting.”
“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Sai says as Hung picks up the keys.
“We have to meet with Cheato and Fawna at the inn at six when we turn into pumpkins … the robe idea is interesting but …”
“How are we going to find those robes?” Sai finishes the thought.
“He just said some very affluent people are in that building, maybe we’ll find them in there.” Hung points.
“Oh shit, so we’re just going to steal dead people's robes?” Malkey can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You wanted to be the grave robber,” Hung says pointedly.
“I wasn’t suggesting that as our next job opportunity!” Malkey exclaims.
Hung looks at Malkey confused because he saw Malkey’s eyes light up at the earlier suggestion.
“We have a shovel, the keys, and the rest of the day … so there is time …” Sai puts forth.
“It’s fine, we’ll rob the graves, pad out our resumes; that'll be good stuff,” Malkey quips sarcastically.
“We’re not grave robbing, we’re grave borrowing, no moral conundrums here!” Sai states as they start walking towards the building.
“Cheato said we need gold, let’s get him some gold,” Hung also heads towards the large building. “We’re here, let’s do the job. We’ll go in there clean the place out and be back in time for dinner.”
Malkey trots after them, “Your logic isn’t flawed per se…”
“It might be a bit disrespectful to rob from the dead, that may give us some bad voodoo?” Sai shrugs stopping to think.
“We go in there, we do the job, we get paid,” Hung says.
“I feel like stealing from the dead when we haven’t even performed the job is morally questionable, to say the least,” Malkey says feeling very unsure. “Can’t we just buy cloaks? I’m not poor!”
“The guy is out of here and safe, we have the keys, let’s just go in and if we find the problem, and if not we wait until night. If they are rich, they may have the cloaks we need. We go in now and find cloaks,” Hung explains.
“Alright, I’m leaving you guys in charge,” as he follows Hung with the keys towards the large building.
Gia and Sai shrug and follow, “We should definitely give them back if we do find any cloaks,” Sai says as they walk up the large stone steps to the ornately carved heavy stone doors.
***If you'd like to listen to the audio of this session, click here!***
Comments