CH. 3: Mages, Mages Everywhere

[HorizonsDream]

"The High Seekers are more concerned with their faith rather than learning about other faiths," Kendra explains to Gregeddin. "It is against the law the follow another faith, so that is the reason why I had to arrest Darewind," she says. "It was suppose to stop the growth of this cult, but considering how charming and persuasive Darewind is, his arrest seemed to have the opposite effect."

"I'm not sure talking to these people is going to affect that we desire. They are going to need money to fuel their cult," Kendra explains. "And it seems that Daxia is too valuable. We are going to have to have something to trade with them, and the only thing I can think of that would be of value for them would be Darewind himself," she points out. "If we use this option, that means we would have to break him out of jail, which wouldn't be easy."

"Forcing our way, especially in our condition, probably isn't the best option either. They follow an old mage, so I'm going to assume that the higher up people within the cult are mages as well," she says. "Running straight through a group of magic users will most likely just get us dead. "

[BishGada]

Tulbas nods at Kynastons' words. "I agree, one thing at a time. Just bare in mind that many of the cult people were deceived too. Exposing them to the Seekers would get them arrested and probably dead or rotten in jail until the die." he waits few seconds to emphasis the meaning of it, then turns his head to Kendra and says, "So it would be ill advised to forward the information I'm about to give to the Seekers. Even if that means getting your job back." Tulbas waits for Kendra's agreement and continues.
"Now back to rescuing Daxia. The cult counts over thousand members. There are warriors among them. The second in command name is Nora. She was with a group of highwaymen last year and met Darewind as they tried to rob him and his wagon. He healed himself, talked himself out and convinced her to follow him. A month ago he got into town and started recruiting more followers with his preaches and demonstrations. His arrest two days ago stirred things up. The cult warriors are edgy about anything concerned the Seekers. Their Headquarters is in a warehouse in Harbor District, but unfortunately I don't know enough about their defenses. Now, I don't think they have a lot of mages in their ranks, since otherwise they wouldn't need me to locate Daxia. Nora was very interested in my abilities. Daxia is a mage herself and could elude their searches until I tracked her by searching magical aura." Tulbas stops for a moment to catch his breath and order his thoughts, then continues.
"Nora seems a honest woman, even with her actions in the past. She seems logical and practical. I myself debated whether to tell her the truth. She might listen and save Daxia's life. I told her more than once that Daxia might had good reasons to run from her father. That's when I believed it was her father she ran from. Nora told me that she would be questioned before returned to her father, so she might have learned the truth by now."
Looking at everyone listen to him Tulbas concludes, "Anyway, new initiatives are expected to bring newcomers. If I bring some of you we can try to find how many warriors are in their ranks, the defenses, if Nora could be persuaded to help Daxia, and maybe see if Daxia is capable of helping herself once released. Then we can consider our next move, but we should be quick about it."

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin replies to Kendra, "Oh, right. Bunch of paranoid theocrats..."

"Numbers, more than a thousand?!" Gregeddin half shrieks in disbelief. "Even if one in ten of them are warriors we won't stand a chance." I leave town for one day and look what happens... he thinks to himself.

Collecting his voice he continues, "Right, so the Seekers are off the table then." He grabs an upturned chair to provide a more comfortable thinking position.

"If this Nora is in control, and everyone in the cult listens to her, then we just have to make her stop believing. By no means a small feat..."

[BishGada]

Tulbas says, "There are over a thousand believers, but I'm not sure how many of them are in Haven. Darewind is in the city only one month, while recruiting followers over a year. So I guess in the city itself it's much less than a thousand but I'm not sure about the exact number. Yesterday in the ceremony I've noticed only several dozens people around.
So I guess you should decide who comes with me tomorrow, we will sniff around and when we have an opportunity to help Daxia, we will act on it."

[JadedDM]

Kynaston nods. "Alright, then we'll need one, maybe two people to go with Tulbas tomorrow to pose as new recruits. Any volunteers?" he asks, looking around the room.

[mgbevan]

"Oh good, well it's not good, just better that not all of the followers are in Haven." Gregeddin says relieved.

When Trench asks for volunteers, Gregeddin meets his gaze and shakes his head to indicate he didn't want to be first in.

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra stares at Tulbus in disbelief before she finally looks up to his uncle. "Is he always like this?" she asks curiously before she turns her attention back to the smaller elf. "I realize you don't have a love for the Seekers. Many people don't, but I offered to help with saving Daxia," she explains. "That doesn't mean I'm going to use this information and turn it into the Seekers for the purpose of getting my job back. Being a Seeker guard probably has to be the worst job to have, especially in this city. As for volunteers, I can't. Tulbus is right in the fact that many within the cult would probably recognize me as the one to arrest Darewind."

[Haahque]

Unperturbed by the negative response of his peers, Haahqae thinks it over for a second and steps forward boldly.

"I agree, finding out more about Fistandantilus is the key to saving wazzername. I find it rather unlikely that a local library will have much information on him, so I should probably join. Err... pretend to join a group which knows him a bit more in depth then the public."

"After all, brushing up on my chanting and dancing in circles can help my comic routines before my shows every now and then. Or was that what savages do? Sometimes I get them mixed up with cults."

[BishGada]

Tulbas starts to like the little Gnome, but he is somewhat concerned with him being so talktive. "The volunteers should be able to answer for the reason they would like to join the cult. And also they might inquire them if they have special abilities. Don't play games with them as we want to avoid troubles if possible. Another thing, try not to show too much interest, or any of it, with Daxia as is would be suspicious. Last thing, they might ask how do we know each other, so we need to agree on that." He looks at Kendra, "I apologize for my mistrust. I am somewhat prejudiced about anyone connected to the Seekers. I should give you more credit."
"So, we have the Gnome in." 'Lets hope he will have enough sense to keep his thought to himself among the cult followers.' "Whom else?" and his gaze rests on Kynaston.

[JadedDM]

Kynaston looks to Kendra and Gregeddin, who have both turned down the offer, then he looks to Darga, who has remained silent. He looks back to Tulbas and nods. "Subterfuge isn't really my specialty, but it looks like it's just me then. Alright, I'm in, too."

He stands up. "So Haahqae and I will meet you...somewhere, tomorrow? Here, I guess. In the meantime, we might as well get some rest and deal with the loot. We should appraise it, check it for magic, then find someone to sell it to."

Raetmal says, "It is settled then. I should be returning to my shop."

[mgbevan]

"Aye, a plan it is then, and yes we should deal with the loot. The rest of us can be ready to pose as new recruits for subsequent visits."

[HorizonsDream]

"Not all the people that follow the Seeker faith are bad people," Kendra points out to Tulbus. "It might do you some good to remember that."

Kendra stretches a bit, then looks over to Kynaston. "Considering I'm seeing the jeweler, I'm sure I can get him to look over some of this stuff for us."

[djhyland]

Darga hangs back in silence, turning each of the others' words over in his mind. As they hatch their plan to infiltrate the cult and Haahqae and Kynaston volunteer to pose as recruits, Darga considers a plan of his own. Finally, once all is decided, he speaks. "Mebbe if Kynaston an' Haahqae an' th'elf kin find out when this cult is plannin' on takin' Daxia to ransom her off, we kin be ready. Mebbe they have twos and twos of warriors on hand in town, but they won't be takin' all o' them with when they take Daxia...mebbe little enough that we kin take her from 'em then. It's got ta be easier than breakin' her outta their place, right?"

(OOC: Man, I have a busy weekend and a busy day at work today, and I miss all that! I apologize that it's taken me until now to post.)

[BishGada]

"Loot? Magical items? Raetmal and I might be able help you identifing the items." Then to the dwarf he says, "I thought about it too, but if the Ergothians come with strong force we will lose our last chance to rescue her. After that it will be too late. Anyway, if all other means will fail, we should try that too."

"OK, I'll meet you here tomorrow morning. We should check our stories of how we know each other and why do you want to join the followers of 'The Master'."

As Raetmal and Tulbas reach their home Tulbas asks his uncle, "Do you feel these people can be trusted? The Gnome talks a lot... If he mentions the name 'Fistandantilus' or 'Daxia' too early, we would be exposed."

After their conversation is done Tulbas says, "Well, I better check Daxia's spellbook now if I am to return it to her tomorrow."

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(OOC: Tulbas goes to the study and reads Daxia spellbook)

[JadedDM]

"Considering I'm seeing the jeweler, I'm sure I can get him to look over some of this stuff for us."

"Seeing? You mean you two are..." Kynaston shakes his head, dropping the line of questioning. "You can get us a good price then, right? Once we know how much this stuff is worth, we can then hopefully sell it without being ripped off."

"Loot? Magical items? Raetmal and I might be able help you identifying the items."

"For a price," Raetmal adds. "Bring them by my shop, and we can negotiate a deal."

The two Silvanesti leave then, heading back home. This leaves Kynaston, Kendra, Gregeddin, Darga and Haahqae on their own.

"Well, I guess I can take this chest over to Raetmal's shop to see if any of it is magical first, then take it to be appraised and sold to the jeweler Kendra knows. Except...I'm kind of broke at the moment." He opens up the chest and scoops up some copper coins, letting them fall back into the chest. "I doubt this will cover it. Well, ironic. We need money to detect magic on these things and appraise them, but first we have to sell the things we have or we'll have no money. But we can't sell them until we check them for magic and appraise them first, or we might get ripped off. Damn."

Raetmal's Shop
Once the two Silvanesti return, Tulbas asks Raetmal if he thinks the party is trustworthy.

"I cannot say for certain," Raetmal admits. "But if we are going to accomplish anything, we must learn to work with others, I suppose. Keeping to ourselves is what got our people into the mess we are in now. Still, you may want to keep a close eye on them, just in case. Humans can be treacherous, especially if they stand to gain from it."

Raetmal opens up Daxia's spellbook and finds it contains the following spells: Armor, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Identify, Grease, Mount, Unseen Servant, Glitterdust, Summon Swarm, Flame Arrow, and Monster Summoning I.