Easthaven

Out of breath and running as if her life depends on it Kay crashes into the town square as people start shuffling out from around the statue of Ug. Her eyes skim past the goliaths statue as she briefly wishes she could have met him and known him as her parents had, but the thought quickly leaves as she sees a group of adventures. "IM NOT LATE! I MADE IT" she yells as she starts twards the group. Star struck finally being in the city she had only hear epic tales about, Kay finally reaches the group. She recognizes some, and had heard of others in the group having made sure to have asked and gathered as much information as possible to try and impress each of them.

Wirrow at least has the decency to look abashed at the admonishment from the both of her friends. They were right; the three of them were all here to look after each other now, and she wouldn't enjoy worrying whether Stella was alright, so she'd try to remember to return the favor. Or whatever the appropriate phrase was.

"Oh... no viol; I didn't bring it with me." Wirrow sounds as disappointed as the news probably makes Aiwe. "It never felt like it was built with the outdoors or travel in mind, and I didn't want to accidentally damage it, so I left it at home. I was hoping maybe we'd pass by somewhere that I could get a tougher one sometime on the trip. Even if it might not sound as good."

"I also thought there was maybe a chance you ended up bringing one." Wirrow gives a sheepish, small smile, as closed-mouthed as always. "You do always seem to have a new instrument every time I see you."

Based on Stella's reactions, Wirrow would probably have to wait until later to hear about Aiwe's cult story. But that was okay, because there would be time later! Plenty of it.

Stella nods at Wirrow's explanation and smiles. Aiwë certainly had a variety of musical talents.

Then, seeing a girl charge into the square yelling, Stella shifts awkwardly in Aiwë's arm and opens her tome again.

"Aaaand, that must be Kay. I...think that's everyone!" She glances at her notes, then nervously towards the cloaked figure. "Wait...who's that?" She pulls out a fine, charcoal pencil and makes a temporary addition to her list of names and descriptions.

Creepy cloaked figure — Adult (?) of unknown heritage.

She then shuts her tome. If Keggruk trusted him, that would have to be enough for now.

With nearly everyone gathered around Ug’s statue, the last arrival makes his presence known.

"MEHOLD!!!"

There is a poof of smoke and a goblin appears on the statue’s base. This is not just any goblin, but Icewind Dale’s resident archmage. Eccentric as always, Dok wears tattered robes that look as though they were made to fit a mage of regular size, and he almost seems to be drowning in his oversized wizard’s hat. As odd as the goblin is, everyone familiar with him knows that he can indeed call upon powerful arcane magic - and sometimes he even knows what will happen when he does, which is surely more than anyone else can say.

"Ah yes, me-thanks you all for coming today! Me-thanks, me-thanks, me-thanks…" Dok points a small green claw at individuals in the crowd, then apparently loses track of who has already been ‘me-thunked’. "Me-thanks you all!" he declares again, throwing his skinny hands up high.

He clears his throat dramatically and reaches a hand under his hat, pulling out a large brown spider. He does a double-take and screams, "No! Not you, Mock!" flinging the spider up and away. It lands on Ug’s statue, where it shivers in the cold breeze and skitters beneath the loincloth for cover.

Dok sighs and tries again, reaching under his hat and pulling out a scroll stained with… not even the gods know what. He takes a deep breath. And then his large eyes twitch cross-eyed. A corner of his mouth pulls up, revealing needle-like yellow teeth. "Ah...Uh! Uhhhh… me-CHOO!!!" Twin bolts of fire fly free from his nostrils and incinerate the scroll in front of him.

The odd wizard appears much relieved by the sneeze - until he notices that instead of a well-prepared speech he holds only ashes in his fingers. "Erm..." Dok looks around helplessly at the crowd, at a loss for what’s supposed to happen next.

Stella giggles at Dok's dramatic appearance and begins lightly clapping, playing along with the performance.

She gasps as the goblin sneezes his scroll away in a burst of flame, then grimaces at his helpless expression, then glances around in a moment of awkward silence.

Oh dear...Dok...

She purses her lips and squeezes her eyes shut for a moment, bracing herself. Surely Aiwë would back her up with this, right?

"Woohoooo! Dok!"

She begins applauding and cheering enthusiastically, as though the wizard's flame-sneeze was a planned party trick.

Aiwë looks at the passing cloaked figure with amusement. "I don't know, but I think he thinks Keggruk is my dad? That should be fun."

The conversation cuts off at Dok's dramatic arrival, and even more dramatic show.
Aiwë is only the barest instant behind Stella's cheer with her own orc howl. She applauds with vigour---it really was a neat trick even if it wasn't intentional---and shoots a large grin at her friend, pleased that they are so in sync. This is going to be a great trip.

"What's next, Dok? Show us!"

With Stella and Aiwe fortunately leading the way, Aiwe’s musician friends join in with some raucous cheering. More people join in, including some Easthaven fishermen passing by the spectacle.

Dok stares, wide-eyed, and then grins and bows, briefly losing his hat. "See, Mock? They like it! You be wrong! Mock?" The goblin looks around for his spider familiar, and then, spying its legs sticking out from under the Ug statue’s loincloth, reaches up and rips the garment away.

The applause stops in shock and disgust, and Dok is left holding the infamous loincloth in silence. "Hrm… Me-thinks he should have had that looked at. Bad juju mcgumbo!"

It is then that Dok’s eyes fall on a most familiar face. "Sheemish! Little pooweenog mine! I has a gift for when you leave with friends! I…" The goblin looks around, and seems to suddenly remember why he’s here. "Hehe, friends leaving, yes." He looks at the loincloth in his hand and moves to drop it. But of course such a relic of past heroism shouldn’t be allowed to touch the ground! The short wizard shrugs, then tosses the garment to Sheemish. "Happy Leaving Day! Ug was me friend and student, just like Sheemish! It help you learn biiiig magics."

Keggruk, patience spent, steps forward. "Archmage Dok, weren’t you going to provide us with magic to speed us on our way? To Candlekeep…" The orog coughs into his fist.

Dok nods slowly. "Yep! Yep, yep. Magic circle to get you to Where They Keep the Candles. Me not go with you. Last time me go, They say me Dok not come back! Candles is not for library! But then which Where is for Keeping the Candles? Me-thinks They not know so much as They-thinks…"

Still muttering to himself ("...is more like Can’tlekeep…"), the goblin wizard pulls some ingredients from his voluminous pockets and makes a sort of chalky, inky paste that he happily dips his fingers into, then smears on the ground nearby. After a minute of work, it does sort of look like something that might be considered in some areas to be roughly circle-shaped.

"Okay! Friends gots to move through magic circle with quick feets! Is short time only, so don't miss it. Ready… Set… Yes, Mock, me sure me do the sigils right. Me sure me… oh." He adds a small detail to the smeared drawing.

"GO!"

The portal flares to life!

Aiwë quickly checks all her gear. Finding it in place, she grabs Stella and Wirrow's hand in each of hers. She looks around at the others gathered near.

"Ready?!" she asks, grin wide. She waits for Stella and Wirrow to be ready. Just. "Let's go!" She leaps forward into the portal.

Stella had been ecstatic when she found out they would be going to Candlekeep, a library fortress, the City of Scholars!

The young scholar wished they could also travel through Neverwinter or Waterdeep...but she didn't mind skipping a thousand miles of freezing, muddy travel to go straight to the Great Bastion of Knowledge itself.

Whether they'd stay in the city long enough for sufficient sightseeing and study...well, she would certainly try!
Her eyes widen and she glances nervously to Aiwë and Wirrow.
Without any further thought, the daughter of Zenithral Liadon and Halla of Kuldahar tucks her tome beneath her arm, then rushes into the portal—and finally out of the Icewind Dale.

Wirrow's eyes widen at the display of magic, and at Aiwe's likely-rhetorical question. Ready? Well, she'd made sure she had all her things twice now... and it looked that that would have to be enough. The other girl winding up to practically pounce forward, Wirrow does the only thing that comes to mind.

She latches onto Aiwe's wrist with her other hand that isn't already taken, returns Stella's nervous glance as best she can, and springs into the portal alongside the rest of the trio.

Watching the Goblin mumble she cant help but giggle at how
accurate her fathers stories were about the small figure before her. Getting lost in thought fantasizing about the adventures she may have, its not until the fire portal ring opens that Kay releases that 1st her compatriots have all hopped through and that second she needs to going through that portal.

Closing her eyes and stepping forward she trips on something and stumbles in.

Bert walks up to the portal and pauses before entering. Bowing at the waist, Ossein says "Our most extreme appreciation to you, powerful Arch Magus Dok. Your mastery of the arcane arts is certainly evident, and the fact that a goblin is so well respected in this town is progress for all...WOAAAGHH"

A feminine arm reaches out of the portal, grabs Bert by the cloak and pulls them both in before it shuts.

Dok waves each of the travelers through the portal. "Yes yes, quick feets! Take luck!"

When Sheemish proves too slow, Dok conjures a giant magical hand to shove the blacksmith through. "Pooweenog will have lots of funs! No Mock, you can'ts go..."