17:11 <Vaxalon_2> The library has only a few books. An ancient book of holy scripture, two books clearly intended for the instruction of children, and a history book. All of them date from before the Shadow, and might easily have been salvaged from Mologn. None of them are terribly informative.
17:12 <Vaxalon_2> Also in the library, however, are a set of parchment rolls, each one listing the important events in Ashvale for a given year. They chronicle births, deaths, and marriages, as well as the occasional fire, plague, or bad harvest. Battles are unusual for their absence; either the chroniclers have been leaving them out, or else Ashvale is unusually peaceful.
17:13 <Zolo_2> Zolobachai looks around for any information about the Baroness or her family. Failing that, he will try to find Karl Ehrein.
17:14 <Vaxalon_2> The chronicle appears to begin only twenty-five years ago, written in a crude, angular hand. Six years ago, a new chronicler took the job, with much more practiced and scholarly handwriting. The first event chronicled by this second, unnamed chronicler is the marriage of the baron and baroness, an elaborate announcement florid with praise and goodwill. After that, the next event of interest comes three years
17:14 <Zolo_2> While brooding on these facts, he dispatches Tack the stableboy to take a bottle of wine to the innkeeper, and another to Apridi the Milkmaid, with his compliments for their forbearance.
17:15 <Vaxalon_2> ...with the death of the baron, followed in short order by the execution of the Chamberlain, found guilty of the murder of the baron. After that, the barony goes into something of a decline - the number of births and marriages recorded sharply declines.
17:16 <Zolo_2> "A provocative correlation between the royal bedchamber and the fallowness of the village," Zolobachai murmurs to himself. He'll continue to read, if there's stuff there.
17:16 <Vaxalon_2> Hrm.
17:16 <Vaxalon_2> 2[1d6]
17:16 <Vaxalon_2> #roll 2[1d6]
17:16 -RPG Serv:#indie_nar- <Roll for Vaxalon_2 [2[1d6]]: 6 5 >
17:17 <Vaxalon_2> Tack comes back to say that the innkeeper was pleased with the wine and gives his thanks.
17:17 <Vaxalon_2> There's not much else of interest.
17:18 <Zolo_2> "Tack, in my perusal of these tomes it appears that Ashvale is in decline: its women are barren and its marriages hollow. Has this plague of sterility affected the livestock as well?"
17:18 <Zolo_2> Zolobachai then rephrases the question in a way the kid can understand.
17:18 <Zolo_2> while soaking his feet in some mineral salts.
17:18 <Vaxalon_2> "No, sir, the livestock are doing well enough, sir."
17:19 <Vaxalon_2> "It's that... well..."
17:19 <Vaxalon_2> He clams up suddenly.
17:20 <Zolo_2> Zolobachai arches his eyebrow--then remembers he's wearing a cowl. "Yes? Go on, Tack. I am adherent to the mighty Path of the Sun. It is my goal in life to ameliorate pestilential magic."
17:21 <Vaxalon_2> He leans in close and whispers. "It's the exiles, sir. The other villages."
17:21 <Zolo_2> Zolobachai feigns a trance, like the one from before, and describes the forest village in a spooky voice. "This is one of the villages. Who are the exiles?"
17:23 <Vaxalon_2> "No, sir... not that one." As he speaks, Axiol comes in. Tack jumps back, looking like a cat who's swallowed the canary. Axiol says, "Sir, the servants will be going to bed soon..." He glances at Tack, "...and I wished to inform you that there won't be anyone around to fetch and carry for you until morning."
17:24 <Zolo_2> Zolobachai stands up, trying to look as impressive as a man can his feet in a wooden tub of mineral salts.
17:25 <Vaxalon_2> Axiol bows.
17:25 <Zolo_2> "Tack is the apprentice to the court wizard. His service to me is of incomparable value to Ashvale; e'en now he helps me protect her ladyship's reign."
17:26 <Zolo_2> "Axiol, you must render service to the Baroness in your way, as must I. And now, so must Tack."
17:27 <Vaxalon_2> Tack looks up at you, beaming. Axiol raises an eyebrow. "I see," he says. He swallows. "Well then... there won't be anyone /else/ to fetch and carry for you."
17:27 <Zolo_2> "Axiol... I detect feelings of guilt... Tell me of the exiles, Axiol."
17:28 <Zolo_2> "No secrets can be kept from the All-Seeing Eye of the Sun King Absolon. In time all such dark knowledge must yield to the light."
17:29 <Vaxalon_2> "Exiles? Oh, you mean the West Village. There's a second village in Ashvale, a few miles west of here. The Baroness relocates anyone there that displeases her."
17:29 <Zolo_2> Zolobachai makes a mental note not to play up the secrecy part on this particular subject.
17:30 <Vaxalon_2> "Her forbearance is to be commended. In other places, those who displease their lord do not fare so well."
17:30 <Zolo_2> "I am new to the Baroness's service. In what manner have these exiles displeased my mistress."
17:31 <Zolo_2> "The baroness's incontestable wisdom is matched only by her graceful carriage, mellifluous voice, and enlightened thoughts. My presence as her Vizier is assuredly supererogatory."
17:31 <Vaxalon_2> Axiol hurms, and considers.
17:32 <Vaxalon_2> "Any petty crime really... nothing you really need to worry about."
17:33 <Zolo_2> "How well did you know the chamberlain, Axiol?"
17:34 <Vaxalon_2> "Not at all... I only arrived here two years ago."
17:34 <Vaxalon_2> "Do you mind if I go to bed, now, sir? It's getting quite late."
17:35 <Zolo_2> "Not at all, Axiol. Indeed, I hear the clatter of hooves in the courtyard; perhaps it is Karl Ehrein returning. I would speak with him, but you may retire."
17:35 <Vaxalon_2> He bows. "Good night, sir."
17:35 <Vaxalon_2> .
17:35 <Vaxalon_2> .
17:35 <Vaxalon_2> .
17:35 <Vaxalon_2> .
17:36 <Vaxalon_2> Kapoor and Ajilon peer into the dark vault...
17:36 <Vaxalon_2> You see a downward-sloping, cylindrical cell, about eight feet in diameter, and twenty feet long.
17:37 <Vaxalon_2> At the far end, a gleaming silver blade hangs from a corroded brass stand, with shining runes of ruby inlaid into the metal.
17:37 * Kapoor_2 twitches his whiskers at the sight of the precious metal and gems
17:39 <Vaxalon_2> Ajilon warily steps inside, and starts to move towards the item. When he gets about halfway, the whole room shifts, rotating end-over-end, causing the opening to close up.
17:40 <Vaxalon_2> With a grinding sound, the stone comes to a halt.
17:40 * Kapoor_2 jumps in sudden shock, "Sire! Sire are you all right!"
17:41 <Vaxalon_2> There is no sound. The stone is too dense.
17:43 <Vaxalon_2> You see the exterior of the stone room, surrounded by a complex metal apparatus of gears and springs and cables.
17:44 <Vaxalon_2> Some of the cables lead down and away, vaguely in the direction of Riku's laboratories and workshops.
17:44 * Kapoor_2 peers at the mechanism in frustration, his mind able to grasp the interplay of counterweight and gear only so much
17:45 <Vaxalon_2> Make a Complex Crafts roll
17:46 <Vaxalon_2> Yep. No idea.
17:47 -!- Zolo_2 is now known as Zolo-1
17:48 <Vaxalon_2> While the machinery is far out of his mind's grasp, Kapoor DOES know that the trap that Ajilon triggered probably dumped him into a system of chutes and dropshafts that lead down into an ancient prison complex.
17:49 <Vaxalon_2> That he has, of course, explored.
17:49 <Vaxalon_2> Somewhat.
17:50 * Kapoor_2 remembers the prison complex, and shudders at the thought of the moss-slick stones.
17:51 * Kapoor_2 turns on one paw and bounds through the stacks, climbing through an old dry sluice to the cubby that he has made his lair
17:52 * Kapoor_2 smears a hand through piles of books and papers, finally catching on a web of leather thongs and bits of steel
17:53 * Kapoor_2 quickly fumbles the contraption onto his forearms and over his shoulders and upper torso, testing the cinch to make sure that it could hold his weight should he fall
17:54 * Kapoor_2 straightens, satisfied that he is prepared, and scurries out a back channel into the bowels of the dam
17:55 * Kapoor_2 follows the zig-zag of strainers and slow-pipes, spiral troughs made to slow the water's descent when needed
17:55 * Kapoor_2 reaches a wide feedpipe, archway becoming cylinder where several sources of water once met
17:56 * Kapoor_2 can smell the dank stone as he cautiously works his way down the feed, testing his footing before putting weight down
17:57 * Kapoor_2 finally reaches what he had expected: a sheer drop into a holding reservoir, a slim trickle of groundwater echoing off the meagre handholds
17:58 * Kapoor_2 cautiously climbs a path he had marked out once before, scratches and runes from various arcane scripts meant to remind him of footholds beneath
17:58 * Kapoor_2 studies the shallow pool beneath him, his ratkin eyes clearing the mists of darkness as much as possible
17:59 * Kapoor_2 waits until he is satisfied that no immediate dangers await him at the reservoir floor, and wades off toward another exit pipe
18:00 * Kapoor_2 climbs into the pipe and travels for a long time before coming to a vertical shaft
18:00 * Kapoor_2 calms himself and begins to wedge his body against opposite walls of the shaft
18:01 * Kapoor_2 worms his body down step by step, and after much effort drops from a modest height onto the floor below
18:04 <Vaxalon_2> Kapoor now stands on the edge of a large natural cavern. A small amount of light comes from luminescent fungus here and there. Niches, about five feet in each dimension, have been cut into the walls, and closed off with iron bars.
18:06 * Kapoor_2 pulls his cloak up about himself and begins stalking through the cellhouse, wondering what creatures may have made these cells their home
18:06 * Kapoor_2 searches for dangers and of course for his friend and protector
18:07 <Vaxalon_2> After a few minutes, Kapoor comes across a prone Elven figure, lying in a crumpled heap in one of the larger cells.
18:09 * Kapoor_2 calls out, "Sire! Sire it is I! Kapoor! Oh sire, do wake up!"
18:09 * Kapoor_2 grabs the bars and shakes
18:10 <Vaxalon_2> He doesn't stir. A voice calls out from above, however. "I don't think he can hear you, little ratkin... he took quite a fall. He'll recover eventually, though... our kind are hard to hurt."
18:10 <Vaxalon_2> Her voice is like nothing you've heard before... melodious and resonant and clear
18:11 * Kapoor_2 chokes back a squeak, scanning the ceiling for this woman.
18:12 <Vaxalon_2> A wispy figure, draped in diaphanous white, floats gently towards the ground. Her body is transparent, and slightly luminous.
18:13 * Kapoor_2 opens his pink eyes wide, "I never thought... I mean, his glow was never...."
18:13 <Vaxalon_2> She steps through the bars, and then becomes solid. She bends down, and touches his cheek. You can't see her expression.
18:13 <Vaxalon_2> "He yet lives."
18:14 <Vaxalon_2> She turns back to you. "Are you his servant, then?"
18:15 * Kapoor_2 taps his claws nervously against the bars. "That I am, my lady. He fished my life from the cataracts today, and I owe it to him until he cannot hold it any longer."
18:16 <Vaxalon_2> A look of disdain flashes across her face. "Hm." Then she's back to her saintly, understanding smile. "Well, perhaps when you rescue him from this, he'll give you your freedom again." She takes a small silver ball from under her drapery, and drops it on the ground next to him. It cracks open...
18:16 <Vaxalon_2> She laughs, turns transparent again, and fades into the wall.
18:16 * Kapoor_2 scrambles against the bars, shaking for all his strength
18:17 <Vaxalon_2> A thin, silvery vapor starts pouring from the broken silver ball.
18:17 <Vaxalon_2> Make a bashing roll, Kapoor
18:17 <Kapoor_2> "Sire! Oh sire, what have I done? Wake up!"
18:18 <Vaxalon_2> The rusty metal comes loose in your hands, and one of the bars comes away easily. It leaves enough room for you to scramble through.
18:19 * Kapoor_2 pushes through and uses one of the bars to poke Agilon, hoping to shake him from his slumber
18:20 * Kapoor_2 watches the silver bauble carefully
18:20 <Vaxalon_2> The misty vapor starts to fill up the little cell, whose floor is a few inches lower than the cavern floor. He doesn't wake up.
18:20 <Kapoor_2> "Oh sire, wake UP!"
18:20 <Vaxalon_2> (Ajilon, btw)
18:21 <Vaxalon_2> .
18:21 <Vaxalon_2> .
18:21 <Vaxalon_2> .
18:21 <Vaxalon_2> .