(Arc 6-4) Interlude and passage: Forte, Mezzio, bad Italian.

[Anastasia]

> After a day of work Shamal returns home. This is of little note for most, though a small contingent of wolves(Yet lead by a dog!) awaiting their master. They all seem to just now exactly what needs to be done, almost as if they're smarter than the average canine. But on going inside, you find Quapeth sitting on a chair, reclined back and eyes closed.
<Shamal> "I'm home!" Shamal grins, taking a few moments to pet and play with her canine friends as a nice way to slough off the accumulated stresses of the day. Heading into the sitting room, she greets her other houseguest, "Good evening, Quapeth. How was your day?"
> As you enter, you note Quapeth is pale like a sheet, a sheen of sweat over his body. He limply raises his head up, eyes glazed over.
* Shamal blinks in surprise. "Oh, my!" she hurries over to the sickly looking elf, doing her best to diagnose what ails him. "You look terrible! What's wrong?"
> OOC - Healing check. IC - "Green like the sea..." Quapeth mutters under his breath, "Smooth like forest emeralds?"
<Shamal> roll 1d20+8
* Hatbot --> "Shamal rolls 1d20+8 and gets 23." [1d20=15]
<Shamal> "You... have you been speaking to strange women?" Shamal asks accusingly, already going to get her healing supplies so she mix up a remedy. She'll have prepare some magic tomorrow to help recovery, but this should help a bit.
> "It came above the line..." Quapeth murmurs, voice distant and muddled. "Watching, watching, the smooth green eye."
* Shamal sighs softly. She's not going to get much out of him tonight. Hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow... "Come on, let's get you to bed, we can talk about it in the morning," she suggests, helping the befuddled elf to his feet.
> Helping him up, Quapeth heads to the bed in a daze...OOC - What's your plan of treatment, Shamal?
<Shamal> OOC: generic healing tonight, I'll memorise lesser restoration tomorrow to help him recover any ability damage that rest doesn't clear up, then I'll ask what strange women he's been cavorting with.
> What's your healing mod for the check?
<Shamal> OOC: +8, so I can just take 10 on it
> OOC - Okay.
> Shamal does her thing and casts healing magicks. Quapeth slowly recovers under Shamal's ministrations, but his brow only slowly dries, his eyes needing time to clear. When at last the fever fades, he looks up at Shamal in a half daze. "...Shamal?"
<Shamal> "Are you feeling better?" the blonde asks soothingly, setting aside the damp cloth she'd been using to cool his fevered brow. "You were delirious when I got home last night - I'm surprised you made it here at all given the state you were in."
> "Barely...my leg still hurts," Quapeth looks on at you, strangely shaken. "The ocean...it's so beautiful, but what inside is horrible..."
* Shamal casts another spell to hopefully alleviate any physical injuries beyond the actual disease. "I can't believe you somehow managed to run afoul of a Hag, here in Balmuria," she mutters incredulously, shaking her head slowly even as the healing magic begins to slowly mend Quapeth.
<Shamal> OOC: Casting lesser vigour, 13hp healing over 13 rounds
> "Funny..." Quapeth smiles a tiny bit as the energy flows into him, "I remember her words: 'It's preposturous that I've found an elf in this human city!"
<Shamal> "Start at the beginning?" Shamal asks patiently, smoothing her skirt as she sits on her rocking chair next to the bed.
> "I...you remember when I stayed at the docks?" Quapeth begins.
* Shamal nods, pursing her lips slightly. "Yes, you were acting strange even then..."
> "It was hiding, just out of sight. She looked like a beautiful woman, like a Sea Goddess. I...I don't remember when I sunk into the water, but her touch let me breathe. We were under the waves when...she was..just...repulsive!" Quapeth shakes all over, "IN a grandmother's twisted voice she told me that an elf's vitality will do her over for a longer time than a human's."
<Shamal> "How did you escape?" Shamal asks, pondering what to do. How long has this hag been lurking around the harbour, anyway?
> "She let me go," Quapeth shrugs, "That evening. I washed up outside of town, headed here."
<Shamal> "How uncommonly generous of her," Shamal mutters. "Mmm... anyway, you're not out of the woods yet - you only feel fine because I used magic to take away the symptoms, but the disease hasn't quite left your system. I'll get some of the guard together to investigate this - you met her at the same place I left you at before, yes?"
> "Around there, yes," Quapeth nods, calmly. "..thank you, Shamal. I seem to owe you again."
* Shamal gently pats the elf's arm. "Think nothing of it," she reassures with a smile. "Now, did she say anything else when you met her? Any clue could be important."
> roll 1d20+
<Reiko-chan> Kobreakfast rolled : 1d20+ --> error: malformed expression
> roll 1d20
<Reiko-chan> Kobreakfast rolled : 1d20 --> [ 1d20=4 ]{4}
> "I'm sorry," Quapeth frowns after a moment, "All I remember is how much she repulsed me."
<Shamal> "That's alright," Shamal lets it slide. "I suppose you were enspelled, after all. There's food in the kitchen if you get hungry - the dogs have been fed so don't worry about them. I need to go rouse up the guard, myself," she explains, getting to her feet.

[Anastasia]

GM note: Around this time, Berlioz did some intelligent investigation that becomes relevant. It gets posted here.

<Berlioz> Geography and History. Lemme check the exact numbers (I think I raised at least one above 6).
<Berlioz> Does Bardic Knowledge lore apply into this as well?
> History will help. So will Bardic lore. Lemme cehck Bardic lore and decide which check you should use.
<Berlioz> Okay. History is at 8, and has synergy with Bardic Knowledge.
> Okay, make a knowledge history check with a +2 syngery bonus from bardic lore here.
* Kobreakfast nods.
<Berlioz> roll 1d20+13 for history!
<Reiko-chan> 1,0Berlioz rolled :1,0 1d20+13 1,0for history! --> 1,0[ 1d20=18 ]12,0{31}
> It takes Berli a lot of time and research, but he uncovers several tidbits of useful information:
> Gnomes vanished a long time ago. While the memories of them in tales paint them as mere mischief makers, occasional things mention them as far darker. Berlioz's knowledge and first hand experience supports that. (More)
> The name 'God-King Daa-vid' comes up one time in an old text, left over from the Malmuthian times of rule over the city and area. It mentions a power beyond 'the fairest star'. (More)
> A cryptic bit from an old poem mentions 'The Resort of the First, power inflicting the worst'. (More)
> An old tome talking about magic in reference mentions that golemwork 'originated with gnomes.'. (More)
> After nearly a week of bashing the books and digging, Berlioz finds one last bit of information. It's a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a book, yet still so old as to nearly crumble when Berlioz finds it, tucked away in a long forgotten library, barely used since Malmuth sued for peace with the United Baronies. In handwritten words:
> 'The bow, the sword, the dagger, the ring, the shield and the last. Do you ever dream about them again? Dream about the day when you'll go there; where the Eternes awaits? It's so bad that...your dream became your nightmare, gnome. - Talinn, seeker.'
* Berlioz ponders repeatedly over the information gotten. In-between note-scribing, parchments containing interpretations of the notes, conjectures and hypotheses, a good few weeks pass by. What was found doesn't truly add all that much to the very little that is known - albeit it does clarify many points, steering towards the more obscure and interesting aspects of the gnomic lore - and its actual relevance to the world. "Hmmm..."
> OOC - Okay, anything else you want to do with this information, Berli?
> OOCF - You guys have that standing invitation, too.
<Berlioz> OOC - I will compile this information into more comprehensible reports, first, and I'll share with the relevant parties (the girls, Oberuth) for some further elucidation. I'll also want to pay a visit to that eerie old man, nothing to lose from that.
> Okay. Lemme see where #dunes goes first.
* Berlioz nods.