CH. 3: Mages, Mages Everywhere

[djhyland]

Darga shoulders his pack and picks up his walking stick, ready to leave the park. "Yeah, it was nice a' them ta let me sleep. I should give 'em my thanks. Do ya know which way they went? Mebbe where I might find them again?"

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra stopped what she was doing, which was playing with her brother and sister to look over her shoulder to her mother with wide eyes. "The...day after tomorrow?" she asked in surprise. "I...well, being the bride, don't I have some kind of say in this?" she asked.

[Haahque]

What kind of dark cult doesn't have a ton of secrets that they share with their members. Hmm, maybe they only share the secrets with people that they trust. Well I'm a trustworthy gnome, and I lie perfectly, it's awesome. Who'd of thought lying was so easy? Anyways, until I know a little more of what's going on maybe I shouldn't say absolutely everything that comes to mind.

"Thank you sir." Haahqae replies to the guard, entering the warehouse, then addresses Tulbas, "Remind me who Nora is again, and does the initiation bring us closer to the master's salvation?"

[BishGada]

Tulbas looks at Haaque and answers loud enough for the guards to hear, "Nora is our leader now that Darewind has been arrested, and yes, initiation brings you closer to the Master, as only after that you can learn his true name and realize his true powers." He looks and the guards and gives them a knowing look, then leads Haaque and Kynaston to the main hall.

[JadedDM]

Gregeddin (Erogundali Mageware Shop, 253 Herbalist Street)
"I am certain those monks are not part of the Master's cult, at any rate," Raetmal says. "They don't seem at all interested in proselytizing, merely in finding a blue crystal staff and a man with a green gemstone in his chest. A very strange lot, indeed."

He shakes his head. "As for Fistandantilus, well, he was a wizard, like myself. And therefore his power came from the three moons. My own power comes from the red moon, Lunitari, specifically. Fistandantilus drew his own power from there, at one time, but when he switched allegiance to the Black Robes, he began to draw his power from the black moon, Nuitari, instead. Although there are those that claim he drew additional power from other sources, but there's never been any clear evidence of that. Sadly, most records of Fistandantilus were destroyed in the Cataclysm, so what we do know is sketchy. I can loan you the book I let my nephew read, which has some limited information on the man himself."

Raetmal continues, "As for magical healing, there has been no confirmed sighting of it in over three hundred and fifty years, not since the Cataclysm when all the true clerics vanished without a trace. There have been, of course, numerous examples since then of charlatans and con-men pretending otherwise; snake-oil salesmen, plying their fake potions and elixirs, false prophets claiming to hear the words of the old gods or of new ones in an attempt to gain political power, and now and again, a wizard will attempt to fool the simple populace by trying to pass their sorcery off as divine power. The Belzor incident, for example, several years back."

Darga (Clover Park)
"It looked like they headed south, toward the harbor district," the kender says. "A lot of the refugees are found around there. I heard there's an abandoned warehouse they like to hole up in, especially during bad weather. The Holy Guard don't go down there much, so they mostly get left alone."

Kendra Synclair (Synclair Residence, 2723 Crooked Road)
Garnet looks at Kendra with mild confusion. "Well, certainly dear...but what else is there to say? Unless you want us to try and have it even sooner? Well, we could try...I can't make any promises, though."

Tulbas, Haahqae, and Kynaston (Abandoned Warehouse, Cult Lair)
The three step into the main area to find it quite crowded. The place is nearly filled to capacity with people of various ages, sizes, and races--most wearing grey robes. Only the initiates stand out.

"How many people are in on this?" Kynaston asks loudly, clearly taken back by the large number of people present.

Over on the other side of the room, Tulbas spots Nora--flanked by two guards--greeting the initiates and handing them their grey robes for their initiation later on.

[HorizonsDream]

"No! I don't want it sooner," Kendra says with a shake of her head. "But doesn't that seem a little too soon?" she asks. "I mean, a couple of days? I've just now agreed to this. I haven't even really had time to process it all."

[BishGada]

"Too many..." Tulbas answers Kynastons grievously as he pushes on through the crowd towards Nora.
As they reach her, Tulbas waits near his companions for Nora to finish her current conversation. As she faces them he says, "Good morning Nora, here are Haaque and Kynaston. They heard me yesterday in the park explaining about the Master and are intrigued to learn more about him. They would like to join us and become his followers."

[JadedDM]

Kendra Synclair (Synclair Residence, 2723 Crooked Road)
"Process?" asks Garnet. "Honey, I don't understand. You two have been together for over a year. You're making it sound like this was all just sprung on you by surprise. This was the whole reason I introduced you to Norris in the first place, after all. You knew that. Personally, I'm surprised it's taken this long."

She giggles and adds, "Besides, it's not like it's some big change in your lifestyle. You practically live over there now, and you spend the night all of the time." Quietly, she adds, "Confidentially, I've been a little worried you might become with child before you got married."

Tulbas, Haahqae, and Kynaston (Abandoned Warehouse, Cult Lair)
"Excellent," says Nora. "All of the new recruits have done great, and after tonight's initiation, our numbers should be almost two thousand. At this rate, we'll hold more power and influence than the Seekers by next week."

She examines the 'new recruits.' "You a warrior?" she asks Kynaston. "You're certainly built like one."

"I, uh, was a sellsword, back before I came to Haven," he says.

"Good, good. We always need warriors to protect the flock," Nora responds. Then she looks down at Haahqae. "And you...uh...a dwarf, I think?" she asks. Gnomes are practically non-existent in this part of the world; many people in Abanansinia have never even heard of them, so sadly, Haahqae is mistaken for a dwarf quite often.

[Haahque]

"No, I get that a lot, not a dwarf. I'm actually a Juggler. Heck, last time I checked dwarf isn't even a respectable profession. But I can juggle respectably! However I've never tried to juggle dwarfs, most of them are too flippin' heavy to flip, which makes it absolutely judical to juggle them. I however can juggle jollily to bring joyous enjoyment to taverns bars and inns if necessary. Or use quick wit to liven up studious studies and sober sanctuaries on demand."
Haahqae bows after delivering his verse.
"Of course if I knew a bit more about the marvels of the magnificant master I could be persuaded to write a versatile verse or superb song about his many amazing exploits."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra lets out a sigh and shakes her head. "Children will not enter the picture for a long time," she says. It was bad enough she had to marry this man, but she wasn't going to add children into the whole mix when she knew she would probably end up resenting them too. She didn't want that.

[djhyland]

Darga considers for a moment, then shakes his head. "They'll have ta wait, I think. I got a meeting ta get to." He sticks out his hand to the kender. "Thanks fer yer help. It's a rare thing these days ta find someone kind enough ta do so. Th' name's Darga."

After offering a few more words of thanks, Darga sets off towards Kynaston's house. Given the time it's taken him to recover from his robbery, he's pretty sure that he's very late, but maybe they'll still be around. If not, well, there's always the meeting place of the Master's cult...

[BishGada]

"Two thousands? Wow, impressive!" Tulbas says, but his mind is obviously elsewhere. "Err, Nora, is Daxia is still where we put her yesterday? I need to return her her stuff as I promised, and in the meanwhile I can show my friends around here. It would probably be nice if they meet Biggs and Wedge too." he adds with a smile.

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OOC: What time in the morning are we there? Tulbas would like to talk to Nora in private ASAP and try to convince her Daxia is in danger and see how it goes, but not before speaking of his intentions with Haaque and Kynaston. So I'd like to know if we have time after the current conversation to catch Nora unoccupied again.

[mgbevan]

"Ah blue crystals and green gems do sound odd." Gregeddin muses

"A third black moon? Are you sure? I'll have to keep a look out for that, can't say I've ever noticed it, though the colours of the robes does make sense now. Thank you for the offer of the book, Tulbas briefly mentioned skullcap and his supposed death along with a magic tower and grandiloquent name, but I should really be finding novel sources of information and I doubt Tulbas would miss anything in the pages. He strikes me as an erudite person."

Gregeddin pauses to gather his thoughts, the proceeds, "I think it would be rather good to pick the brains of someone who has first hand experience of Fisdantantilus or healing illusions. The Cataclysm is quite some years past now, but do you know of anyone who might be an expert in either field? Belzor was only a short time before me, unless they were killed would there be any surviving wizards?"

"The second part to my visit was to ask: Is it possible to acquire arcane power through study?. I'm curious after seeing genuine acts of divine intervention in the mines, but with no god to pledge myself too..."

[JadedDM]

Tulbas, Haahqae, and Kynaston (Abandoned Warehouse, Cult Lair)
Nora, a woman perhaps in her late twenties or early thirties, has short black hair and hazel eyes.


She looks at Haahqae with a blank expression as he explains juggling and offers to write a song. "Well, uh...that sounds great," she says. "Perhaps when he's released, Darewind will commission some hymns about the Master."

When Tulbas inquires about Daxia, Nora clears her throat, looks to Haahqae and Kynaston, then back to Tulbas. "Yes, she is still here. If you give me the things you have of hers, I'll see that they are returned to her."

Kendra Synclair (Synclair Residence, 2723 Crooked Road)
Garnet chuckles. "Well, the gods have a way of spiting women who say that, so be careful. I said the same thing, right before you were born. If it happens, it happens. I've heard rumors of magic that can stop a woman from getting pregnant, but I wouldn't trust magic with my life. They're just as likely to turn you into a frog or something."

Darga (Clover Park)
The kender shakes Darga's hand and introduces himself as Pen, then wishes him luck.

Darga then heads straight for Kynaston's house, but finds it locked up. Nobody answers the door, should he knock. Should he try and peek through the windows, he won't see any sign of anyone inside.

Gregeddin (Erogundali Mageware Shop, 253 Herbalist Street)

"A third black moon? Are you sure? I'll have to keep a look out for that, can't say I've ever noticed it, though the colours of the robes does make sense now."

Raetmal nods. "Indeed, the black moon is invisible unless you are an actual follower of the Black Order. But there are times when it becomes visible to others, like when it passes over stars or the other moons. One such incident is the rare 'Night of the Eye' when all three moons eclipse, resembling a large eye. Magic is boosted considerably. The locals fear that night, of course, as they fear all things relating to magic."

"I think it would be rather good to pick the brains of someone who has first hand experience of Fisdantantilus or healing illusions. The Cataclysm is quite some years past now, but do you know of anyone who might be an expert in either field? Belzor was only a short time before me, unless they were killed would there be any surviving wizards?"

"Supposedly, Fistandantilus died in an explosion at Skullcap Mountain back during the Dwarfgate War, so over 300 years ago," Raetmal says. "Thus it's unlikely you'll find any first-hand witnesses, even among my own people. Scholars have pieced things together, but if there is any better sources of information on him, I would guess the Order of Nuitari would have it. He was once a member of their black order, after all. However, my brothers and sisters in black rarely share information--or anything else, for that matter--for free."

"The wizard who led the Belzor cult is dead; mob justice, or so they say." Raetmal scoffs. "It's fools like that who give all wizards a bad name among the general populace." He shakes his head. "In any case, there are a number of illusion specialists in my order, the Order of Lunitari. I am not one of them, however; I've taken a more generalist approach to magic."

"The second part to my visit was to ask: Is it possible to acquire arcane power through study?. I'm curious after seeing genuine acts of divine intervention in the mines, but with no god to pledge myself too..."

Raetmal raises his brow skeptically. "There are no verified sightings of true divine power, not since the Cataclysm," he notes. "But if you are interested in the arcane, I might be able to help you. I see some potential in you. Learning the Art is no simple task, and it will require lots of hard work. But it can be learned, if you have the talent. And I suspect that you do."

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(OOC: It's half past Fourth Watch, or in other words, around 10:30 AM. As the initiation is scheduled for 'the afternoon' there should be plenty of time.)

[HorizonsDream]

"What about the wedding dress?" Kendra asks. "Do I get a choice in that, at least?" she asks.