Czlaplon Quest

[arcomniflash]

I'll take the parchment from the old man and open it - maybe his writing makes more sense than his speech.

- Isaac

[TarlimanJoppos]

Nope. The parchment is covered with an annotated diagram, something really complicated with overlapping circles and callouts and what might be magical runes or something. Looks like the stuff Vannin and Tarron used to draw on the wall when they were talking about magic theory. Shaliko leans over and takes a quick look at it, and shrugs.

"Wizard stuff maybe?" he says.

"The internal structure of cultural reproduction generates the linguistic construction of exchange value," says the professor.

[arcomniflash]

"Eh, possibly." I'll say regarding it for a moment. "I'm really not the best person to talk about this to - I'm not even a spellcaster, and we don't have any wizards travelling with us...though...maybe Gudrun could make some sense of it." I'll fold up the small piece of paper and hold it out to the old t'skrang. "Alright, professor...come with us then and we can talk about this with a Nethermancer." Aside, I'll say to Shaliko. "Although, this is perhaps against my better judgement, I don't really want to get sidetracked, but he does look like he has a problem that we might be able to help with."

- Isaac

[TarlimanJoppos]

And so Isaac and Shaliko make their way back toward the inn, escorting the professor. It's a bit of a difficult journey, as none of the boatmen are willing to carry you, or, more specifically, the professor. He does smell a bit much of the canal. Every scrap of parchment, every bit of stray writing, seizes the old man's attention, sends him haring off after it, babbling away. "The fragmentation of the eclectic parallels the disintegration of the master-slave dialectic! Murgenthaler's stunning disquisition on the relationship between the historicization of the prison, the hospital, and the school and the fantasy of the preprofessional ultimately does not hold water!" Twice you have to haul him away bodily from a wall he was intent on scribbling on, once with an old woman pursuing you with a broom, and once having to pay four silvers (split between Isaac and Shaliko) for the whitewashing the owner is going to have to do all over again to be rid of the professor's graffiti.

Meanwhile, at the inn, Alston Yahi has just arrived, having been told by his Lightbearer contact that there's a Lightbearer team assembling there for a Horror hunt. You've been told that Gudrun, Shaliko, and Isaac are more or less running the party, and that they have a few non-Lightbearer associates who've come along as support. The inn, the Breaching Sunfish, is of average quality, judging from the outside, just a small island or two and a bridge from the south-side docks, wedged in between a chandlery and a tinsmith's. Getting the door open takes a bit more effort than you expected - you have to fly up to the handle, brace yourself against the outside wall, and give a serious heave to get it into motion. It proves to be thicker and heavier than you expected, which might be a good sign. Inside, there's a few tables in the small common room, a pot-bellied iron coal stove more to dispel the damp than for heat, a combination bar and counter upon which a slightly rotund t'skrang is doing the accounting, a narrow set of stairs leading up, and a door next to the stairs that could be a broom closet or a garderobe or a private dining room, you don't know. The kitchen doorway is next to the bar and has only a few strands of beads hanging in it. You do not see anyone who looks like an adept, just a couple of t'skrang dockworkers having an early supper.

[arcomniflash]

As I near the inn, I begin to question more and more whether bringing the elderly T'skrang along was worth it. He doesn't seem likely to contribute anything to our quest and it seems more and more like he's simply mad. I contemplate dumping him in the canal on more than one occasion, but don't for the sake of politeness. "Shaliko..." I murmur quietly, after having paid the silver for the removal of the graffiti. "...I'm beginning to regret this decision more and more. Let's pick up the pace, I want to present him to Gudrun and be done with it. If he can be helped, more the better, if not, at least we tried."

- Isaac

[Kasbak]

Well, by this point I should be used to the fact that few but Windlings build things with Windlings in mind. First, let me start with foolish assumptions. One, I'm assuming that I have some sort of letter of introduction from the Lightbearers, and two, I'm assuming I'll have some amount of starting coin. Don't remember seeing a note on the latter in the emails with equipment, just to keep the items within reason.

Anyway, I'll flutter over to the bar and try to find a good place to sit, somewhere at an angle away from the door so that I wouldn't be in the direct line of fire, but where I can still have vision of it to watch anyone coming in, up higher if possible. Pending foolish assumption number two, I'll order myself a drink, nothing too strong, but with some spice and heavy flavoring to take away the taste of travel (and any remaining unpleasantness if I was Astral Shifted). Once I get through a bit of it and I've had a chance to scan the room, I'll motion to the barkeep when he looks like he has a moment. "'Scuse me, but I'm looking to meet up with an adept group I was told would be passing through here. I've got the names of three of them: Gudrun, Shaliko, and Isaac. Ring any bells?"

[TarlimanJoppos]

Isaac: "I would have dumped him in the canal back at Printer's Island," Shaliko replies, likewise quietly, "but you seemed to think he might be useful, and you don't discard something that might be useful." The two of you get the professor to the Breaching Sunfish without further incident, although it takes a few less than gentle nudges to keep him from being distracted again.

Alston: You've got 80 silver in your coinpurse. You don't have a letter of introduction. The Lightbearers don't use them, partially because they can be forged, partially because they can be stolen, a holdover from the days when the order was still a secret. However, you do have the Name of your contact, and that of a few other Name-givers you can light sprite for verification. You arrived by riverboat. No astral shift for you, next. When you drop the Names, the innkeeper looks up from his account book with a sour and slightly frightened expression. "Oh yeah. Morning noon and night. The troll woman is in there." He points to the door beside the stairs with his quill. "The other two went out but they're always back for dinner."

As if on cue, the door to the street opens, and three people come in. One is probably isaac, given the steel hand and the trademark hat. The second could be Shaliko - he's human and looks kind of like a Vorst, short hair and light armor and a couple of nasty looking weapons ready to hand. The third is an old t'skrang man who stinks of the canal. The innkeeper jumps off his stool. "No!" he says. "Now look, I've put up with you frightening my regular customers away and scaring my staff and taking over the place like you own it, but this is just too much! You are not bringing some unwashed alley-rat into my establishment!"

[arcomniflash]

I stop and hold up my metal hand to the man. "Curious. I wonder why everyone in the city seems to know and dislike this one here...perhaps it's because of how he looks and how he smells, a poor thing to judge someone based on, don't you think? Don't worry innkeeper, I doubt he, or even we, will be staying for that much longer. I merely came to ask my friend about him." I'll nod to the innkeeper and tip my hat to him, maintaining composure. My eyes shift to the windling for a moment, but since I have no idea who he is I think nothing more of it. After a quick nod to him, I begin to drag the elderly T'skrang toward where Gudrun is staying.

- Isaac

[Kasbak]

I'll nod to the Innkeeper's response. "Good, I'm in the right place then. Thank you." I'll start to slug down the rest of my drink, intent on heading to the 'troll woman' until the trio come in.

I should probably give a description of Alston at this point. He is just a bit larger than average for a windling, lean and obviously used to living closer to nature than in a town, a point furthered by his earthy coloring. The bow strung over his shoulder and between his wings should be a dead give away for his Discipline. For anyone that might recognize it, it's done with much more of an elven style, only changed where needed to compensate for his size. He has a hip quiver which has arrows also showing more of an elven influence, at least as far as can be seen by the fletchings. He has only one side arm; a leaf shaped throwing dagger holstered to his hip behind the quiver.

With the new comers to the room, my head will snap around and quickly take stock of them. As soon as the metal hand is spotted, my eyes will linger on it for a bit. So it really does exist; there is hope. I won't stay on it too long, but enough that it won't be hard to notice, along with the accompanying marveled expression.

By the descriptions given and the Innkeeper's account and reaction, these are definitely the adepts I'm looking for. However, I'll wait for the exchange with the vagrant to be handled before moving on with introductions. Don't shoot the target as soon as it's in sight; make sure you've got a solid bead on it and the timing is right first.

[TarlimanJoppos]

"Are you jesting?" the innkeeper replies to Isaac. "I could lose my guild mark for having someone that filthy in my establishment. You adepts might be used to dealing with stinking vagrants, but I run a kitchen here! Nobody wants to eat their noon meal with someone like that in the room! You want to have your troll friend check him for Horror marks, do it outside!" He turns his attention to Alston. "And you can go talk with them there."