Emergence Game Thread

The King doesn't flinch at your mention of Rawena, but, to be fair, he doesn't flinch at much. He's made a life out of knowing when and how to put his emotions on display, so the fact that there's no visible reaction doesn't mean he isn't bothered. "I don't think this would be the best time to inquire of Rawena. There are some in our present company that might not... appreciate... her input." He gestures generically to the other guests at the table.

For the first time, each of you takes a closer look at the other four people seated for breakfast. Seated to the King Alexander's right is a halfling woman, and even though she's seated, you can see she's taller than most halflings you've seen. Her features are striking, and her fiery orange hair falls loosely around the collar and and shoulder pads of her dull gray breastplate. Hanging over the back of her chair is a simple leather scabbard from which emerges the hilt of sword like you've never seen before: a golden half-circle with eight spikes protruding from the circumference resembling a rising sun. The handle is wrapped in a purple cloth and two strands extend from the end, hanging down six or eight inches. From her shoulders falls a cloak of similar purple, and on the cloak you see similar runes to the ones on Biri's robes.

To her right is a human (or possibly half-elf) man with light peach skin and long dark brown hair pulled back into a single pony tail. His sandy brown leather cloak is marked with scratches, lines, and other signs of wear while boasting a high, pointed collar. He has removed along with his heavy leather gloves a black leather chest harness containing eight or ten indecipherable vials and placed it on the table, and still wears two belts with at least as many small pouches.

Seated to the King's left is a black-haired human woman with tanned chestnut skin and large white fangs as earrings. Grabbing your attention are the tattoos across her cheekbones, text written in a script that simultaneously seems both familiar and totally foreign. Her sleeveless teal blue vest is trimmed with gold fabric, and it would hang to the floor were she standing. As it is, the tail of the vest has been pulled to the side so as not to be sat upon and rests in her lap. She wears several teal and gold-colored beaded necklaces. In fact, you notice she has jewelry just about everywhere one might wear it, including arm bands around her well-defined and heavily tattooed upper arms made from a gold-colored wood.

Next to the tattooed woman sits a funny looking gnomish man with a tall hat made out of red felt that has been poorly stitched together. The had has several bands of fabric around it, a point that comes down between his bright blue eyes covering the bridge of his nose, and two long flaps that hang down past the seat of his chair. His unkempt white eyebrows are impossibly long, and with his equally long mustache make the center of his face resemble a furry white "X". Against the table within reach leans a short staff with an odd U-shaped symbol at the top. Sticking out from his robes, you can just see a small carving of a dragon's head, the white stone handle of a curved dagger.

The King continues, "Speaking of my guests, I suppose now is a good time to introduce them." The King stands. "This beautiful lady to my right is Samantha Brighthill. Beside her is Eoghan Forrester. To my left is the lovely Yiventi Pendu. Beyond her sits Popo Bligblop Tinkerwizz. All four of these have graciously accepted my request to make themselves available to join you on the next leg of your journey. They are all capable specialists, and because of their capabilities, I can only spare one of them, given the unknown duration of your mission."

Retaking his seat, Alexander places his napkin back into his lap before plating some cheese and smoked sausage slices. "You may speak to each of them about their skills and talents, but do so quickly. We still have much to cover before your rapidly approaching departure." The king then signals the guard captain who exits the room, apparently to retrieve something.

King Alexander addresses the table. "Before a fight erupts and destroys my dining room," he says, only mostly kidding, "I think we should move towards a decision. The four of you should take a moment to consider your choices. If you'd like to speak privately, we can give you all some space. If you'd like any of our input, myself included, we'll remain."

The king pulls a small watch out of his pocket, checking the time. He doesn't say anything, but you can sense that he feels the situation requires some urgency.

Rhiv has been intently watching the faces of each of the counselors as they responded with each of their impressive talents. "Madams Brighthill and Pendu, Masters Forrester and Tinkerwizz, thank you for your patience and for such effective demonstrations of your talents." I pause to look at my companions, and then back. "In terms of our lack, we have the capability to sustain and deal damage in hefty doses. We have the power to heal, though it is none of our primary skills. We have moderately effective ranged abilities and are stolid in melee. Against normal foes I think we have proven our mettle. The one encounter so far that came closest to making an end to us all was against a animated metallic beast that was seemingly immune to non-magical blades. We were caught by surprise after killing a similar but smaller beast minutes before had drained much of our non-physical abilities. I have no idea how many more of these monstrosities Thalnoth may be able to bring to bear but I expect the worst. If we are to venture first to the dwarf wizard's lair then I think it will be a necessity to have the ability to do as much magical damage as possible which, I would suspect, would involve either Madam Pendu's elemental magick or Master Forrester imbuing all of our weapons with at least some basic power." I fade away as I mull over our needs... "And a side question that may also impact this one, does this permaport allow travel in both directions? Or travel from the receiving locations to another spot? With our limited time I fear spending what precious little we have left wandering across the realm...."

"I'm afraid the dwarven wizard's fortress cannot be your next stop, as both it and the road that leads to the mountain pass are in Blackwallian lands. I think it unwise for you to travel overland at all, even within the city of Redwall, until you are beyond our borders."

"The permaport is a permanent magical portal connected to a network of other permaports. Travel through them can only be conducted by inputting a code that initiates a send request to a specific destination port. The controllers of the destination port then must input an allowance code, upon which the portal is opened. There are a few safety measures in place to prevent invaders from sending us into another dark age. Nonetheless, as you can understand, travel using the portal is highly restricted, and is almost solely used for moving trade goods." He shifts in his seat slightly.

"Fortunately, I have enough influence that I can almost certainly get any of the destinations to accept the five of you. But, after that, you might find it quite difficult to get other controllers to allow you use the permaport network further. That, of course, is up to each of the groups that control their individual portals."

After discussing betwixt ourselves for a few moments we identify our major weaknesses as a group as our limited ability to deal magical damage--especially when we thought through our potentially physically immune enemies and our general lack of experience with arcana, history, or investigation. To'ot and I can heal to some small extent, but we also would be better suited to focus on destroying our opponents--and, in my case, being involved in the front-line of combat--than healing each other.

Summarizing our options, Popo can summon creatures that deal magic damage. All of Eoghan's vials are magic spells, and he can imbue weapons with magic. Ms. Pendu has elemental magic that could be very useful. Ms. Brighthill's offensive magic deals with her opponent's thoughts though she seems to be the least offensively-oriented of the bunch.

To'ot and Harper were generally quiet during the conversation. To'ot characteristically is supportive of any of the four potentials. Though Harper seems to be a new man after rejoining us in the upper ward, he seems to still be slowly recovering his energy and vitality and has been generally content with Therrien and I driving the decisions: though when it was time to put in our tallies he simply says: "The redhead." Therrien, as our resident grump, surprised us all with a comment that "Tinkerwizz would definitely liven up the party," but the halfling's comment about suffering loss because of ignorance seemed to have triggered him a bit and he preferred to bring her on board.

I personally think the cleric would be the most valuable. Therrien's reckless fighting style will be the primary beneficiary of having her healing powers but the rest of us have clearly been lacking in that area. I appreciate her thoughtfulness and her understanding that there is more to life than just combat. If she brings as much to the table as she implies then her ability to multiply knowledge will be vital. I have had mixed, though limited, experiences with the clerics of other faiths. Though my mind still occasionally returns to the High Priest's comments about the nature of the Adonai, I am still hesitant to think of any other gods as being anything more than misinterpretations or distractions from the truth. Many are undeniably powerful and some even clearly emulate aspects of the goodness that Adonai defines. In the end, as the Adonai has said: "Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master servants stand or fall."

After tallying votes we note to the guard to alert the King and he and his companions rejoin us in the room.

"We appreciate the ability to be able to have input in our adventuring companion. As incredible as all of your talents are, we believe that Ms. Brighthill will be most complementary to our party and we would be honored to have her join us."

Popo and Eoghan both reach for the card, with the alchemist able to get to it first using his longer arms. He brings the card close to his face, then to his nose and smells deeply. Closing his eyes, he holds it up to his ear and listens for a few seconds. Then he hands the card over to Popo, "I believe this is more your territory, Po."

The gnome receives the card, pulls out a small loupe and placing it in he eye. After a careful examination of the front and back of the card, he removes the loupe. "This is fascinating. Remarkable. Gubernatorial, even!" The two ladies look sideways at Popo. Samantha rolls her eyes, but cracks a small smile. "Eoghan is correct; I believe this card can be used to summon the creature portrayed on the front, though it's unclear exactly how it works or how the creature will behave when summoned. Tell me, where did you find this? Do you happen to have any more that I could use for comparison?"

After a brief hesitation, Harper places his card on the table as well. Popo's eyes light up. He picks up the second card and again utilizes his hand lens. "Astounding! Yes, I'm quite certain that these cards somehow contain the 'souls' or 'essences' of the creatures depicted on them. I believe the practice is simply to place the card where you wish the summoned to appear and speak the name of the creature. The creature will likely act of its own will, but in a way that treats you, the summoner, as friendly." He stops and frowns, causing the X formed by his eyebrows and mustache to contract and change shape. "The only thing that cannot be determined is the duration of the summons, and whether it can be repeated or is good for a single use."

He smiles widely, his eyes disappearing behind cheeks and facial hair. "That knowledge, dear friends, can only be gained through trial. Thus, the adventure of the art of summoning magic."

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Samantha smiles. "I am excited to continue my quest for knowledge with your party."

Suddenly there's a commotion at one of the doors. The guard captain enters the dining room followed by a dwarf with a white beard that drags on the floor, hands bound behind his back, shouting about needing to speak with the King and telling the captain that there are lives at stake. Trailing the dwarf are 6 more guards, the middle two carrying a large wooden chest.

When the dwarf sees King Alexander, he starts to run—as much as an elderly dwarf can—towards him, yelling "Your Justice, your Justice! I found someth'n' about–"[b] interrupted by the force of the rope securing his hands yanking him backwards of his feet. The other end of the rope is in the hands of one of the guards.

The guard captain steps forward and addresses Alexander. [b]"We found this, eh, gentleman in the archive room trying to steal some ancient tomes. I was going to take him straight to the dungeon until he mentioned something about an artifact..." The captain takes on a hushed tone, "and the name 'Dorothir'."

"There were TWO Dorothir's!" the old dwarf yells from his new position on the beautiful marble floor, seated with his legs awkwardly sticking straight out in front of him.

The King's eyes widen at the captain's remark, then narrow at the dwarf's. He stands, fastens his robe, and says curtly, "Friend, I'd ask for your name so we could do introductions, but we're a bit short on time. You have 60 seconds to say what you must." Alexander motions with two fingers for the guards to untie their captive.

Rubbing his wrist, the dwarf looks horrified as he begins speaking, his voice deep as a dwarven mine and raspy as the sandstone they shape, but his dwarven accent has faded. "O-oh, yes. Well, s-s-see, I am Y-Ye-Yerick Glads-s-s-stone, bardic sch-ch-ch—" Frustrated, Yerick stops. His face has started to grow flush with embarrassment and disappointment.

Everyone in the room adopts similar looks and postures of confusion at Yerick's seemingly new stutter. It is the King who first deciphered situation. He begins badgering the dwarf. "Come now, old man, what's the matter? You've done all this work, risked everything to bring me some all-important information, and now you're going to blow your chance? Spit it out!"

Yerick's expression slowly shifts from shame to anger, but when he tries to speak again, the stutter continues. "S-s-s-sir, I d-d-di-"

Alexander interrupts him, pulling out his pocket watch, "Tick tick, Y-Y-Yerick." The scholarly dwarf starts to turn red as he begins to scowl. King Alexander tucks the watch back into his chest pocket. "As I suspected. A dwarf who spends his time reading old stories and playing with his copper whistle. Hmph," Alexander scoffs condescendingly. "I ought to have the elf over there show you what real fortitude looks like. Or maybe my gnome friend could teach you the proper ways to use that dim dwarven brain rattling around inside your bulbous head. Enough of this. Guards." The king waves his hand dismissively.

Yerick snaps around at the guards, "WAIT!"

Alexander holds up his hand and the guards stop in their places.

Turning back the the king, his face red as a beet, sweat beading on his forehead and cheeks, steam practically coming out of his ears, the old dwarf points a short, bony finger at the King. When he speaks, his dwarvish accent is thick. "Now ye list'n 'ere, y' soft-skinned pip. I came up 'ere t' tell ye an' yer friends that I just finish'd translatin' an ol' epic poem what shed new light on th' legendary Dorothir. I found a bit o' punctuation what 'ad been left out o' early copies, changin' th' meanin'. 'Dorothir the dragon slayer' shoulda been 'Dorothir, dragon, the slayer.'

He slams his fist into his palm. [b]"I cross'd it with two other epics what'd been dismissed on account of swaths not makin' any sense with th' bulk o' material on Dorothir. But, read in this new light, they tell of Ahnnahl-Phizuur, a dragon swearin' t' avenge th' murder of his father, Dorothir the dragon by recoverin' his horn an' usin' it to raise him back t' life.

Our legendary Dorothir kills Ahnnahl-Phizuur an' tells him that as punishment he'll take Dorothir's name as a means o' blottin' him out o' hist'ry altogether. Before Dorothir—our Dorothir—killed the dragon, Ahnnahl'd collected a piece o' his pap's horn an' taken it t' his lair in th' Spires, th' ruins off th' coast from Noonick, in th' buildin' from which he could survey th' whole o' his empire."

The old dwarf straightens his back and crosses his arms across his chest over his long beard. "'Course, if none o' that infermation is useful t' ye, fine. Arrest me. If it is, I'll be on m' way just as soon as ye give me th' apology I'm owed."

King Alexander bows deeply. My sincere and humblest apologies, Yerick Gladstone. You clearly are a dedicated and fastidious scholar, worthy of adulation. And, I hope that you can forgive my rudeness. I can assure you it was not heartfelt, but only intended to rile you up enough to help you get your message across more quickly, as we are indeed in something of a hurry." The elderly dwarf's demeanor softens slightly, but he says nothing.

Alexander moves to a table along a wall adorned with parchment and ink and hastily scribbles a not, then slowly approaches Yerick. "Thank you for bringing this information at great personal risk. I will see that you are rewarded." The king hands the paper to Yerick. "And, after you take this to the head archivist over in the library, you should never receive any harassment gaining access to any archive in my domain, including my personal library."

"Th-th-th-thank you, your J-Justice." Yerick's disposition has completely changed, as he stares at the note in shock, then back up at the king. Alexander gently leads him toward the door, as two guards begin to escort him out. King Alexander calls out, just as Yerick is leaving the room, "Let's share a meal soon!" Yerick looks back over his shoulder, beaming, then disappears through the doorway.

Alexander turns back to the table. "Well, it seems the gods—Adonai, Ka'alanos, or someone else entirely—have smiled on us this day. What do the lot of you think about this new information? Is there any reason any of you know that we shouldn't follow this lead, post haste?"

Well I'll be.... What oddly fortuitous timing. It's hard to argue with a second point that leads to one of our two remaining options. If we cannot directly go after the Dwarf wizard we would literally have been tossing a pence to decide between Noonik or traipsing west to Welkinburg-Lowerton. "No, m'lord. I see know reason not to head there directly. Noonik is built upon ancient ruins so it makes sense to search there first. I would like to find out more from Yerick about these 'Spires'. I would assume that the "buildin' from which he could survey th' whole o' his empire." was actually some notable mountain... or else he may have had a pretty paltry empire. Though I know that time is of the essence, as none of us have ever been to Yuhroon the more we can figure out before we head out the better. In the spirit of sharing, we also have this." Though I may be wrong, a peace has settled over my heart about being open with the King and his party. Though he definitely made his mistake we are in the same boat at the moment. And the Adonai will lead us regardless... I pull open my pack and dump out the dwarven papers and powders on the table. "Maybe Yerick or one of you would be able to find a use for these. None of us can read them but we did spot the name of our joint enemy within them. Immediately after that discovery we were attacked by the Dwarf and had to escape. The powders are used in his teleportion magic. When one was thrown in the midst of some runic circle they transported us here into Redwall. We have no idea where the others are used to reach or how they work. Is there anything in there that would be useful? Secondly, you mentioned not letting us go empty handed. Though the support of one of your chief advisers is immeasurable, any other support--even in terms of contacts or food--would of course be highly desired."

Alexander begins picking through the pile Rhiv poured onto the table, stroking his beard in thought. "Yes... interesting. Thank you for these, Master Daardendrian. We will explore them more thoroughly at another time. I'll pass along whatever information we discover." He beckons the guard captain over to collect the pile.

"The Spires," he looks to the group, moving on from the contents of Rhiv's bag, "are a collection of ancient and unexplored ruins in the sea some distance off the shore near Noonk. They stretch toward the sky like bony fingers reaching out to grasp the heavens. Most scholars believe that the earth has changed its shape over some time, and that the Spires were previously on dry land, but no one understands how, beyond magic, a structure of that shape could even support its own weight.
And, one would think the Spires would be even more unstable given that some unknown portion of them are beneath the water's surface with all the movement and force that comes along.

Yet there they stand, defiantly unexplored. Every attempt to scale the heights and delve the depths of the ruins have ended in disaster. There's only so much one can glean by looking at a thing from distance..." The king trails off. He clearly has some personal curiosity about the ruins, but also recognizes that putting forth the effort of discovery is not within the set of tasks before him, nor will it be. Alexander snaps back to the present and clears his throat, "Ahem. One would assume the building in question is the tallest of the ruins. It currently rises nearly a thousand feet above the water. Accounting for probably changes in landscape, there's no telling how tall it might have been at the time of its use."

"But, I'm sure you'll be able to find someone in Noonik better suited to tell you more about the Spires. As you'd expect, any scholar interested in studying them has migrated there. Now, before we get to some parting gifts, the lot of you have a decision to make: teleportation or dwarves." King Alexander moves over to a tall wardrobe-like piece of furniture in the far corner of the room. When he opens the door, you can see hundreds of scrolls stacked and arranged just so. He retrieves on and brings it back to you, unfurls it on an open part of the table, and begins marking on it.



"Obviously, we're here," he points to Redwall. "In order to get to Noonik, here, one would normally travel by road to Riverlake, then, by boat to the southeastern shore of Barrow Lake, then along the road to Noonik over the course of about a month. Longer if you can't afford to hire a boat.

However," he circles Hanover, "There's a permaport in Hanover. You can jump there, and follow the river the whole way. You could be in Noonik in 7-10 days. Alternatively," he draws a line north from Redwall, then east to Noonik, "If you want to try your luck with the dwarves, you could reach the river here in just about a day, and the upper part of the river flows faster, so you could make Noonik in 5 days. Of course, that route depends on gaining access to the dwarven system of travel,
whatever that may be."

King Alexander leans over the map, hands on the table. "Once you tell me how you'll go, we'll begin our preparations, starting with a few trinkets that I hope will help you along your journey."

"M'Lord, thank you for the clear explanation of our options. Do we, as of now, have any reason to believe that we have a specific timeline to recover this artifact other than 'sooner rather than later?' As much as I would like to shave off some precious time, I think that the Dwarven route has too many potential complications. It would require being smuggled in, and then discovering whatever transportation routes they use and either smuggling ourselves through them somehow convincing them to let us use them. None of us know these particular dwarves or have any extensive understanding of dwarven culture, and the relations with Blackwall are far from the best at the moment. All in all, we are starting off with some distinct disadvantages in getting through or even getting back if we fail. I am often accused of being too brash but when it comes to logistics I lean toward a high probability approach."