March 1-2: The Questing Feast on a Fine Sinday Eve

[jellyfish]

On hearing Zaent and Mathias strategizing, Morgan downs her wine in one gulp and moves slightly closer to Dena.

While looking at Dena, Morgan says, "I don't think that the sacrificial lamb approach will gain us much advantage. Those men don't look particularly adept and there's always plenty of treasure to go around. Besides, why make enemies when you can make friends?" Her voice is loud enough to be heard by all despite seemingly conversing with Dena. With the last sentence, her smile deepens warmly.

Morgan then looks around at her fellow Delvers and proclaims: "But, there's a job to do and I won't quibble over ethics..."

[Mister-Kent]

8:00 PM

Dena remains cautiously receptive to Morgan's advances. "Your dedication to your work is admirable. I can see why Gul-Marach has chosen to ally with you..."

At the other side of the table, Zaent gets a little chill, and feels as if he is being watched--he has had this sensation before. Though one might suspect Lord Grandulo or the maid Maria, if Zaent turns to observe them they are facing the opposite direction. Still, the sensation never leaves him.

(OOC: So everyone seems to generally support Zaent's plan? How early would you want to go? Will you try to reach Biblo's contacts beforehand?)

[Inferno]

I vote that we get there a few hours before the Regent's men, to case the place and find a good hiding spot.
I think we should definitely get whatever intel Biblo's contacts can provide.
If we need to split up to do both, we could, I suppose.
Thanks.

[Marullus]

Gul-Marach, Priest of Vorn

After a long consideration of their words, Gul Marach nods solemnly, speaking to the group in a low voice. "Your way has merit. I would say that Biblio finds what we can know. You can work your trade to observe what is unearthed and find an advantageous position for action." He looks to Morgan and Dena, then continues. "These remains are of the city of Vornheim. If it is important to the gods, it is in the dominion of Vorn. It is the Delvers who have the right to retrieve it. These outside interlopers and their blood-stained white robes have no say in this... it is Vorn's right to relieve them of it with his strength. We can let them relinquish it freely or remove it from them with Iron's strength - whether they live afterwards will depend on their means of submission." He pauses thoughtfully. "Do your sorcerer's ways have a means to communicate over distance? We can allow the stealthy to go forward and inform us, or Biblio to do the same. Elsewise, one of the forward observers returns to meet Biblio and I at a set time to retrieve us or enact the plan..."

[jellyfish]

Morgan/Human Thief (OOC: apologies for neglecting this in previous posts.)

"As you know Gul Marach, I am quite good with disguises and could go on ahead unrecognizable to these would-be interlopers. I would be willing to do any scouting and report back to you or Biblio." Giving a slight smile to Dena, Morgan continues, "After all, we wouldn't want to interfere with the will of Vorn..."

Morgan then turns to Zaent: "Perhaps this is something we could cooperate on?"

[Grognardsw]

Biblo Phyle, illusionist

Gul-Marach, Priest of Vorn...."Do your sorcerer's ways have a means to communicate over distance? We can allow the stealthy to go forward and inform us, or Biblio to do the same."

"Wise are the words of the Vicar of Vorn's Vengeance," Biblo nods to the priest. "While I have no dweomer for distance communication, my raven Poe could carry a written message back to me."

"As to going in as a scout, I must ponder that further." From his voluminous vermillion robe the apparitionist draws forth a piece of azure chalk, made of ground pumice and taint-stone. He writes out his name on the oak table in front of Gul-Marach. "While I have a distant cousin named Biblio, my name is spelled and pronounced without the second 'i' "

[Fulci]

Ballar Uh, fighter/assassin

Morgan/Human Thief
"As you know Gul Marach, I am quite good with disguises and could go on ahead unrecognizable to these would-be interlopers. I would be willing to do any scouting and report back to you or Biblio." Giving a slight smile to Dena, Morgan continues, "After all, we wouldn't want to interfere with the will of Vorn..."

Morgan then turns to Zaent: "Perhaps this is something we could cooperate on?"

Ballar Uh is slightly surprised: why is Morgan (as far as he remembers, this Delver is very much trained in the not-so-reputable trade Ballar Uh himself is partial to) suddenly so concerned about the will of Vorn? And if she is addressing Gul Marach, why is she smiling at Dena? And last but not least: why does this make Ballar Uh feel so angry?

He shakes his head and tries to concentrate on the task (even though he isn't sure yet, what exactly are their goals):
"I can disguise myself too, but it's not my best method. I can move in the shadows and provide back-up for this lass in her wig and make-up," he points at Morgan. "Help out from a distance, unseen: tsk!," he adds, imitating the firing of a crossbow with his hands.

[Mister-Kent]

Dena smiles. "It seems as if you'll have an exceptional scouting force, between Morgan, talented mistress of disguise, Mister Biblo's trained raven, and an excellent shadow like Ballar Uh," she says approvingly.

***

The rest of the evening passes as a typical Questing Feast--Delvers eat too much, drink way too much, and tell many stories of their escapades in Vornheim and abroad. The other Delvers won't let anyone go without sharing something about their adventures, though. Strange things, interesting sights, and terrifying notions brought to light--all is fair to share, no detail too small or story too meaningless.

"The Regent's men usually move at dawnbreak," Dena chimes in. "Acolyte Gachard at the Cathedral once spied the Inquisitors in front of the Palace, standing at attention for an hour before sun-up, not daring to march until their commander saw the first light of day." She shrugs. "But then again, every commander may be different."

Lord Grandulo, quite tired by the end of the night, tells the short sad tale of an old florist whose entire crop of flowers died, unable to take the brisk Northern Caligarian climate. Desperately depending on those plants for profit, the old man became desperate, and began growing hardier poisonous plants to sell to ne'er-do-wells.

Alver Holly, leader of the raucous band encountered previously, recounts a successful jaunt to the Under City. He even caught sight of the Beggar Throne, he claims, but not the twisted Urchin Queen, much to his fortune. His men had a good haul that day.

The young lady ogling Mathias, apparently named Frost, timidly mentions that she's come into possession of a key to the Immortal Zoo and is willing to take anyone with her for an expedition. Alver confronts her, and when she admits she doesn't have the key on her person, Frost's claim is generally dismissed by the room.

Grandulo's wife, Lady Grandia, a stout shieldmaiden born in Frostreave, saw an impromptu battle between rival gang-members as she was walking through the 10th Ward. She believes there were at least two dozen combatants at one point, but when the Regent's men arrived the criminals disappeared as fast as smoke.

The other Delvers want to know: what's the strangest thing you've seen in the three months since the last Questing Feast?

Mournday, March 2 1500
4:30 AM

The long night of revelry eventually leads to the cold early hours of Mournday. As hungover parties head home, the servant Drudges, led by stalwart Maria, who still casts Zaent dirty looks from time to time, clean the feast hall. It is still a few hours until sunrise. Anyone bound for scouting the Old Nineteenth or accessing the resources of the Librarians or Scribes may do so when ready...

[Marullus]

OOC sync: Can those scouting utilize an unstealthy cleric in their plan? If not, how about this - Gul-Marach will wait as relief at the surface in the Old Nineteenth, allowing him to potentially provide relief to the scouts should they emerge and also to receive Biblo's raven. Once he gets the raven, he can either descend to deliver news to the scouts based on a signal, or we can wait to a pre-determined meet point?

Scout team includes: Morgan, Zaent, Mathias, and Ballar Uh.
Library team includes: Biblo
Not useful at this point unless someone needs him: Gul-Marach

Right?

[Enoch]

Mathias, Illusionist/Assassin

Mathias dryly observes: "Most of us have some skill at misdirection." As if to illustrate, his features ripple slightly, becoming quite comely for a moment before returning to a pallid, egg-like face. "It's hardly scouting if most of the party has gone on ahead."

[Fulci]

Ballar Uh, fighter/assassin

Lord Grandulo, quite tired by the end of the night, tells the short sad tale of an old florist whose entire crop of flowers died, unable to take the brisk Northern Caligarian climate. Desperately depending on those plants for profit, the old man became desperate, and began growing hardier poisonous plants to sell to ne'er-do-wells.

Ballar Uh makes a mental note: right now he is low on gold, but in the near future, if the Delver-luck-goddess would smile on him, it'd be interesting to visit this man. Though no old florist can match the deathly creativity of the Lady Alea... But the Mistress is gone, and Ballar Uh's own poison stocks are running low.

Other than that, he takes little interest, and certainly no part in the bragging competition.

The point raised by Matthias (and underpinned by a small, yet effective change) is a different matter, a strategic one. Ballar Uh also feels a slight connection to the gnome: inhuman, weird creatures the both of them, forced by circumstances to live in the underground, to do everybody's dirty jobs - and eventually grow to take pleasure in it...

"The gnome is right," he says, "our scouting party has now grown to an almost full squad-size. And that is a risk. So I say let the little people(Morgan, Zaent, Matthias) go ahead and explore the premises. Scout out the Inquisitors. Gul-Marach and me, Ballar Uh, stay behind and watch the entrance. In case the Inquisitors decide on a plan similar to ours and split up into scouts and main force."

[Grognardsw]

Biblo Phyle, spellbinder

The next morning Biblo instructs Poe the raven to carry what messages may be requested of him. "Be careful little friend."

Biblo visits the tower of the Jabbering Sodality of Dirge Scribes. Observing their morning period of silence, he greets colleagues in scribe-sign and explains the secret knowledge he seeks. He promises an immediate reward for the provider of said truthful secrets, and more to come.

Taking his leave, Biblo then visits The Learned Coven of Librarians in their labyrinthine library. Among the stacks he confers with an old friend who may be able to procure that which the spellbinder seeks.

[Mister-Kent]

4:30 AM

Poe caws, a flicker of otherworldly intelligence behind his beady black eyes. He's a loyal familiar, but Biblo often gets the sensation that the bird has some secrets of his own. He takes a place on the phantasorceror's shoulder before flying off.

5:15 AM

It takes Biblo about forty-five minutes to cross the wards and reach the Prentice Towers, a trio of tall spindly buildings of blue-gray stone. The first building ("Prentice Tower One") is home to the Jabbering Sodality of Dirge Scribes, while the second is headquarters of the Esteemed Aggregation of Journal-Keepers, a guild of reporters. The third building is disputed territory between the two guilds.

Biblo finds the Scribes in their morning silence, and when they finally acknowledge his presence their reception is aloof at best. But of course, this is a common pretense--as soon as Biblo requests information, all pretense of reservation is gone, and the Jabbering Sodality proves quite eager to assist.

"Ooh, I haven't dug into the history tomes in sooo long!" squeals Marna, the youngest scribe present, as a team of other scribes scurries around her, poring through text. Marna climbs a tall precarious ladder to reach the Histories, and knocks a few books off the shelf. They clatter down around Biblo. When Marna finally descends, she hands Biblo an armful of thin albums of transcribed reports, then takes one for herself to look through.

"The Old Nineteenth, was it? Hm. Okay, so that's been closed up for some time…oh, since my parents were young," Marna reads as she thumbs through the volumes. "Ah, yes. Fifty-two years, exactly."

Her brow furrows. "A-hm. The Chapel of Jovah. Is that what you think you're looking for?" She trades Biblo for whatever book he currently has in-hand. "That's the dead-center of the ward!" she says, overlooking a very simple map.

"See, years before the closing, there was a church to some foreign god named Jovah--I'm not familiar with him. Anyway, over the years the church's membership dwindled--look at this," Marna continues, flashing Biblo a faith census for the last decade. "Shocking, really. Why, at the end there were only a handful of members!"

"And fifty-two years ago, a large crater formed around the church and swallowed up much of the ward. A-hm. I'm sorry, it doesn't say more than that…"

"I'm not sure I can be of much further help. What do you say--anything else you can think of?" she asks, watching Biblo eagerly. She seems to not have paid any mind to a promise of reward.

(OOC: I'll wait to see if Biblo has any more to do at the Scribes before moving him to the Librarians.

For everyone else, let's say you arrive some time before the Regent's Men gather at the gates of the Old Nineteenth. It's a little over two hours of walking between Delver's Hall and the Old Nineteenth. You could summon a carriage to get you there quicker, but their fares are notably 10 gold per passenger. If you leave walking when Biblo leaves for the Scribes around 4:30, you'll get there shortly before the guards arrive.

In any case, the Regent's Men arrive at the gates around 7:00 AM, while the sky is beginning to turn violet but the dawn has not broken. You may take up any position before then, but the actual gates remain closed until the men move them.)

[Grognardsw]

Biblo Phyle, arcanist

"Well found, Marna!" whispers Biblo to the young scribe. "Sharp eyes and quick mind will bring you far as a scribe. Yes history appeals to the minds of our profession. Though the now is always more interesting. History begins in novel and ends in essay."

The arcanist quickly traces the simple map to bring with him. "Church swallowed by a crater... Hmm, this Jovah must not be liked among gods, or a ritual went terribly wrong. Do we have any more information on this cult of Jovah?"

[Mister-Kent]

6:00 AM

Marna rifles through scrolls and consults a few other Scribes. It takes a while.

"Ah...hm. This is unbelievable!" Marna pouts with a stamp of her foot. "All we have are second-hand accounts. The Church of Jovah…and it almost sickens me to say this…has no scripture!"

She shows Biblo the account and shudders. "Theirs is an oral tradition. Can you imagine? No written holy texts? No liturgical documents of any sort?" Marna shakes her head, expecting Biblo to share in her disgust.

"No, the followers believe in something called the Concordance, apparently a system of direct communication with their god. A-hm! Or should I say believed, past-tense, as it would seem there is no Church of Jovah after the closing of the Old Nineteenth..."

With no further writings, the Scribes' investigation reaches a dead-end.

[Grognardsw]

Biblo Phyle, visionist

Biblo arches his eyebrows when he hears of the cult's oral traditions. "I can think of no better way to consign one's god to the nothingness of the forgotten. Well thank you Marna. May the Gaunt Gent keep your hand steady and eyes sharp."

The arcanist takes his leave and makes his way to the Learned Coven of Librarians.

[Mister-Kent]

Biblo @ the Library of Zorlac
6:40 AM

It takes Biblo a little over thirty minutes to reach the Library of Zorlac, a multi-tiered cluster of spires. It then takes a few minutes to track down his "friend" within the Learned Coven, an aged sage named Photus Fairbanks. Photus is a well-kept older man with a constant look of ennui. He's generally trustworthy, enough to be counted as an ally at any rate, though he always expects something in return for his help. Sometimes the favors he asks in return are considerably greater than those asked of him, but he always holds to his promises.

"Bi-i-i-blo-o-o-o," he greets. His words are long and slow, speaking in a seductive yawn. "It's been too long, Biblo. Too long. To what do I owe this pl-e-e-a-a-surrrre?" He stands, drawing up his bulky cape around himself, and skirts the edge of room, drawing the curtains back to reveal the tiniest hint of early morning light.

(OOC: I imagine Photus as Sir Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters, with a little extra fatigue and sass
Also, Marna was sort of Sarah Silverman doing a nerdy version of Vanellope VonSchweetz)

The rest of the Delvers @ the gates to the Old Nineteenth
Sometime before sunrise

The gates to the former 19th Ward are thirty-feet tall and ox-blood red. There are great cranks on each side to draw the gate open. Sometime before sunrise, four of Christiana the Scarlet's agents arrive. They are lesser than Inquisitors, which is a special rank identified by special armor, but their exact rank is unknown.

[Marullus]

Gul-Marach, Priest of Vorn

Shrouded against the morning chill and concealing any conspicuous garments in his large cloak, Gul-Marach watches the gate. He is about a half-block away, following any advice of Ballar-Uh, re-stacking delivery crates behind the Inn to blend with the pre-dawn activities and deliveries. Once the Guards and our Scouts have navigated the gates, the plan is afoot... With them gone, he will engage in morning prayers as a penitent at the edge of the market, one of likely several shrouded forms ignored by those about their business, and wait for Poe the Raven's message. Then he can act, or wait in the Inn until the appointed hour for a scout's return.

[Grognardsw]

Biblo Phyle, illusionist

"Good Photus my friend, yes it has been too long," says Biblo. "Sages kept me traveling for rare scripts and spell components, then I admit I got carried away in my own acquisitions and studies." He drinks in the many books.



"It is so peaceful here..." Biblo sits and lights a pipe. "Well I'm involved in some delver business and seek information on the Old Nineteenth, possible legends about it, lore on the Cult of Jovah, rumors about the great crater that swallowed much of it. Forgotten knowledge that today may be called secrets." He puffs and says more quietly. "And places of wealth that may still harbor coin buried in the ruins. I can provide a finders fee for such knowledge."

[Mister-Kent]

Photus slides back into his armchair adjacent from Biblo, hitting the cushion with a comfortable sigh. "Jo-o-o-ova-ah?" he croaks. "I might know something of this. I know of a work in the private collection--'Treatise on the Comparative Study of Faiths'. It's an early Mohinder Parash piece. Simply fascin-a-a-ating. And quite comprehensive. I'm sure it mentions Jovah."

"But...finder's fee? Oh, dear friend," Photus says, seemingly hurt. "I couldn't ask that of you. After all these years we've kno-o-o-own each other!" He clicks his tongue. "No no, there is only one thing I should want from you..."

"You may have the volume, and do what you wish with it. All I ask for in return...is one evening alone--"

He quirks his eyebrow. "--with your spellbook."