30th of Summer’s End
The adventurers make it back to Remnas shortly before nightfall. With the sun at their backs, they walk back to the inn where Murc greets them.
“Oh, good. Everybody’s still alive. So what was this whole outing about, now?”
“Just a fetch quest of sorts,” Epona says. “How’s Mathus doing?”
“He’s out getting some fresh air,” Murc says. “He was a bit under the weather this mornin’, blaming it on falling into a river or something. Probably just needs some rest. Oh, Marlak’s out and about, too. Said he’ll be traveling to Karkin with ya’ll soon.”
“Yeah, well after that last fight, I’m ready for a warm meal and some sleep. Hopefully, Mathus will be feeling better tomorrow.”
Glod spends some time attempting to translate Coron’s Journal, but makes no progress.
1st of Land’s Blessing
The team spends the day resting off their injuries. Through the night, Glod finally translates some of the journal. He learns that the pages are not in the correct order, however.
2nd of Land’s Blessing
Glod relates his findings to the team that morning. They decide they can’t learn anything without more pages.
“Well, that’s interesting and everything, but not much to go for now,” Kerwyn says.
“It’s going to take some more translating before we have the whole story,” Glod says.
“Though I’m curious as to what a hollow is…” Gante says.
“Nothing pleasant, I’d imagine.”
They head out in to town to go to the diviner’s shop.
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Have patience!” The old man’s familiar voice springs from behind the curtain at the back of the store. A wrinkled face emerges from the curtain, not yet revealing anything below its neck. In quick succession, he eyes each of them. “Hmm, two elves, a gnome, and… wait. Ah! My customers have returned!”
He bursts from behind the curtain, drawing a chair to the table with a flourish. “So how was your journey to the temple, hmm?”
“Filled with danger, deadly traps, the usual,” Epona says.
Glod grumbles under his breath.
“Not deadly enough to stop you, I see. So you still have need of my services, yes?”
“That depends,” Epona says, brandishing the pearl, “on what kind of deal we can make.”
The old man’s eyes widen, trying to mimic the size of the pearl. His mouth is slightly agape as he blinks in surprise.
“It truly is as marvelous as I had heard… Of greater value even than I require for the spell.”
“We were hoping to make change,” Glod says.
“ Perhaps we could arrange something… What did you have in mind?”
The team discusses the idea of what they could get for the excess value.
“We do have that Soul Stone,” Gante says. “We know theres more than one. Maybe he could help us find the rest?”
“Or maybe he has some goods we could sell for some gold,” Kerwyn says. “Hey, old man, what kind of goods do you have here?”
“Divining’s a service industry, boy. Nothing here but my skills to know that which is not known. Unless you’re interested in this table…”
“But if we had a very special item we needed found, you could locate it?” Gante asks.
“Well, of c-” The man stops midsentence, thinking. He scratches his chin. “Are you talking something nearby to locate? Like a lost set of keys? Or something more unique?”
“More unique,” Glod says.
“Then perhaps so. Perhaps so. It would require some knowledge on the nature of the object, but it could be done.”
“What kind of stuff would you need to know about it, anything specific?” Kerwyn asks.
“How much training in the arcane arts do you have, boy?”
“He has very little, but myself, the gnome, and our friend have a fair amount,” Epona says.
“Then my answer will be meaningless to you, boy. As for the rest: The spells I could use for the locating spells would be different based on what sort of ‘uniqueness’ these objects have. Whereas family heirlooms could be found with one set of spells, enchanted swords could require something completely different.”
Epona turns to Gante. “Bring Marlak. He can explain everything we know about the stones.”
Gante returns minutes later with Marlak.
“Marlak, we believe this gentleman may be able to help us locate other artifacts if we have enough info about them,” Epona says.
“Fantastic,” Marlak says. “What do we need to know?”
“I need to know the divinable potential of these items. In detail.”
“I see. Are the rest of you okay with this?” The team nods. ”Very well. You’ll have no trouble. The objects in question are phylacteries.”
“Ah, very good, very good. This is fortunate, indeed. All I will need to find them is some components, which you have already supplied, and an object of importance to the soul’s original host.”
“Hmm, any ideas, Marlak?”
“Well, the objects required in such an instance are generally unique, themselves. An object of extreme importance to the person.”
“Do we even know the original host?” Gante asks.
“Hold up,” Glod says. “I think I still have that library book.” Glod reaches into his back and pulls out a worn tome labelled “Greater Artifacts.”
Precious little information has been collected on these artifacts. There is no exact findings as to how many there are in all, though at least six have been found and verified. Experts estimate there may be more, with some studies concluding hundreds may exist. The history of these artifacts is uncertain. It is known that they were made in the same time period, though evidence only proves they were made no more than one year apart. Each bears an icon across the front. The stones seem to have a certain amount of self-awareness; the reason behind this is still unknown. Known owners of soul stones are hesitant to part with them, making further exploration of their magical properties difficult.
“What kind of research are we taking, Marlak?” Gante asks.
“Figuring out whose soul we’re trying to locate, and what we can use that was important to them.”
“And how would we find that?”
“Research, Gante. Lots of research.”
“Would our trip to visit Sir Hanan help?”
“It certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
“Well, I guess that’s our best plan,” Kerwyn says. “Go find the dead guy and let Marlak research.”
“Alright, sir,” Epona says. “After we get the ring identified, we’ll come back a few days to see the rest of our deal through.”
“Very good. I will begin the spell,” he says, taking the pearl. “It will be ready in one hour.”
“Oh,” Epona says, “before I forget, what is your name?”
“Well, you passed it on the way in. It’s written on the sign, right next to ‘master diviner.’”
“Ah, thank you.” On the way out, they pass the sign: BELORIN MILLSTONE: MASTER DIVINER. “I wanted to make sure I can find him if he tries to pull a fast one on us.”
***
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Have patience!” A wrinkled face emerges from the curtain, not yet revealing anything below its neck. In quick succession, he eyes each of them. He steps forward through the curtain. Epona hands him the ring. “Very good. Let’s see what secrets lurk beyond this ring, what hidden knowledge awaits us…” Dramatically, he holds the ring up, and his empty hand to his head. He closes his eyes and begins chanting, most likely not required for the spell. “Let ignorance fade and knowledge rise, blindness give way to opened eyes… Yes, it is so clear, it… hm.” He opens his eyes, a bit surprised. “Well. I’m not sure you’ll care for this news…”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“The good news is it isn’t cursed in the traditional way of thinking of cursed items. It’s a curse known as intermittent functioning. Specifically, the requirement variety of unreliability. You see… THIS (holding the ring up dramatically again) is a ring of invisibility! However, it will only function when no one else is looking at you.”
“What.”
“I’m quite certain. Go ahead, everyone turn around, let her see for herself.” Millstone hands Epona the ring. The team obliges, turning their eyes. Epona looks at her hand.
“It works!”
“Really?” Gante turns around.
“…You idiot.”
Glod turns around. “You know, we could use this to tell when someone’s watching us…”
“That’s… that’s actually really clever.”
“Though passing wildlife could throw it off. We may even be able to get it fixed up. But more importantly, who would even bother making such a ring?!”
“Thanks, master diviner, we will hopefully be back by in the next few weeks or so.”
They head back into town. Gante goes to help with rebuilding, offering aid where he can. Epona gives her help as well. Kerwyn wanders the city streets, and Glod continues attempting to translate the journal. Throughout the day, he deciphers a few more pages:
.
. That is, a 50% chance of 1 point plus a 50% chance of 2 points.
, is equal to the average value times the number of elements. The number of elements remains a constant 5, but the average value is increased by 6 for each subsequent sum, beginning with a value of 3. The formula can now be rewritten like so:
. That is, the ratio of the number of sides on the die to the number of sides that do not “explode.”
.
, which approaches positive infinity from positive values.
