Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (This is the Game Thread)

[JadedDM]

"Oh, my," Amon says. "What a shame to let such a collection fall under such disrepair," he laments. Stepping inside, he looks around. Dogmeat comes in, as well, sniffing around the room.

Amon approaches the pile of books in the corner and starts going through them, searching for anything that might be salvageable.

[Jenara]

There are 14 books in the pile untidily thrown into the corner and now covered with cobwebs, vermin droppings and harmless mould. All have been partially spoiled by damp, mould and mice but are still legible. Only three are of any interest, the other eleven being of a routine nature (histories, collections of romantic poems and so forth).

These three are clearly titled on the spine:
The Magical Properties of Gemstones by Mage Tenser
The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers by Mage Tenser
The Metaphysics of Mathematics by Mage Nystul

Brax places her head in the door, tutting quietly she stands to one side.

[JadedDM]

"Wow, Echo, come take a look. Two books by Tenser and another by Nystul, both members of the Circle of Eight!" Amon exclaims, referencing the famous group of archmages. Daos speaks of them often, usually with a bitterness in his voice as the half-elf has yet to be invited to join them yet.

Amon flips through the books, looking for anything of interest.

[Jenara]

The books by Tenser are full of rather obscure references to the magical properties of certain stones and plants, Amon can understand every 5th word or so, the third book is somewhat harder, it appears to be full of exersizes of the mind.

However as Amon flips through the pages a sheet of parchment obviously torn from a larger sheet falls to the floor, on which are a few lines of handwritten text in the common tongue. It has been spoiled by damp so that only two words are still legible:
"......beyond skeletons....."

(Occ: Can I have three intelligence checks please? Any mage that reads them needs to do so.)

[JadedDM]

"That's odd," he says, picking up the stray sheet of parchment. Someone must have stuck this inside the book. All it says is 'beyond skeletons.'"

=======================

Amon makes an INT check (1d20): 6, pass.
Amon makes an INT check (1d20): 12, pass.
Amon makes an INT check (1d20): 17, fail.

[The_Muffin_Man]

Searos follows along and rolls his eyes at Echo.

"Oh sure. Thoughtlessly blame the poor thief for unleashing the ancient evil upon the land. That stuff is worth good money! Why? I have no idea. The thief I get. He steals the item and lets loose the horrible beastie of ultimate evil or some such monstrosity. Everybody blame the thief. But did he steal it? Some moldy old book isn't worth more than kindling to him. But to a mage? Who wants to do crazy things? Like become a dead guy or whatever it is you call those things? Worth tons of gold! And why is it that mages are always trying to cheat death? I try to cheat death by simply not getting cleaved in twain... twain... thats a good word. You don't hear that often enough any more."

Searos ponders his vocabulary for a moment and then offhandedly remarks to Echo "Write that one down..." He now seems completely lost in thought and doesn't realize much of anything around him.

[HorizonsDream]

"You are a little slow on the uptake," Echo says as she follows along with the rest of the group. "Not all mages want to do something crazy, unless they are evil. Most mages just want to study the item for the sake of knowledge. Sometimes accidents happen," she explains. "And human mages wanting to cheat death, that makes sense since life is pretty short for humans. I'm half elven, so what do I care about having a long life? Providing I don't die in here, then I'll have a pretty long life," she says with a shrug.

Upon hearing her name being called, Echo steps inside the room and walks right over to the pile of books. Searos was distracted by...something anyway. She picks up the book about gemstones, and starts going through it quietly. "It is doubtful that there will be spells in these, but they could be useful either way," she says.

INT Check (2, pass)
INT Check (4, pass)
INT Check (19, fail)

[Breila]

Kim follows the other mages into the room. "When we're done with this, I'd like to know more about the authors of these books" Kim tells Amon.

He/she will leaf through the books, too, not really expecting to understand anything, being a beginner in magic.

INT checks: 1d20=2, 1d20=13, 1d20=4, three passes

[LittleLuna]

Vee steps into the library and looks out for anything other than books and bookshelves. than she steps nearer to the mages, interested what can be so wonderful that they are so exited.

"what is it that makes books interesting? they're only a couple of paper and undefinable lines. and someone who spend his lifetime to untangle this lines must be stupid too." she grumbles after catching a look at the books.

[Jenara]

All three mages realise that the first two books have enough information to aid in the collection of gemstones and plants for magical purposes, they would be worth a considerable amount to a private collector, possibly even Daos...

Kim flicks through the last book, the others find nothing more than numerous mathematical formula, she however notices a few words written in a margin: "Nystul’s Flash" She can't read anymore however.

-----

Brax steps out of the room, looking opposite (the Library is the room to the bottom on the left hand side, btw) smiling she pushes the door open slowly and peeks inside. She then pauses, and glances in both directions.

(ooc: Its been a week, will someone please kick Robbo's backside and get him posting please?)

Gunter stands in the open doorway, what the hell had he got himself into? Freaky Ghosts, and strange houses. Still Searos had a strange way of making things make sense. "What are you up to?" He asks, glancing at Brax, the Drow always seemed to be up to something.

[JadedDM]

"The lines are not indecipherable to those who know how to read," Amon says simply to Vee as he packs up the three books into his pack. "Nor does it take a lifetime to learn how," he adds with a smile.

That said, Amon leaves the library and checks out the room across that Brax seemed so interested in.

[Breila]

Kim looks at Vee with raised eyebrows, then says: "Books are a good way to learn what people knew who are long dead or live far away, if you get my point."

When Amon leaves the room, Kim follows and asks him. "Did you see »Nystul's flash« in the margin of the maths book?"

[Jenara]

Amon finds Brax inside the room opposite.

The room appears to be a former study, against the wall under the only window is a large desk of solid oak, the two sets of side drawers law littered on the floor, the contents mostly paper are all over the floor.

The central drawer however is still intact, the small lock looks as if it has been attacked with a blade or similar. Perhaps Searos could tell more.

"Perhaps this will give us some clues?" brax comments, "have you been mean to the little one again?" she grins waiting for Amon and Kim to answer.

[JadedDM]

"Huh," Amon says. "Looks like someone was searching for something in here."

Turning to Kim, he says, "Nystul's Flash? No, I guess I didn't notice it, but then I was only glancing through it. Hmm, sounds like a spell, although not one I've ever heard of."

To Brax, he says, "Me? I'm never mean."

Dogmeat comes in, sniffing around at the desk.

[Breila]

"No, just telling her reading is useful to learn from people long dead or far away." Kim answers Brax, kneeling down to examine the papers strewn across the floor.

INT check (if needed) 1d20=12, pass