Chapter I: And So It Begins

Eldoran highly doubts the provenance of both of the items Milo offers them, and grimaces in particular at the desiccated tongue. He's prepared to wait, but then Milo makes his suggestion and he glances in Zazi's direction with a faint blush. "Oh...thanks. Maybe we'll just look around while you think, then," he says.

Now he's starting to wonder if a different person would be a better option. This guy seems pretty eccentric. And a bit of a fraud.

Zazi

At Milo's suggestion, Zazi opens her mouth, but can't decide on what to say, so nothing comes out. At Milo's reaction, she quickly closes her mouth again and attempts to stifle a grin. She's not entirely sure what to make of the curiousity shopkeeper, but if they don't like the job he offers them, then they can just turn it down and look for another. At the very least, the trip in the meantime will be... entertaining.

She turns away to start poking around among the random items on the shelves, scanning for anything that might especially stand out. [perception: 5, whoo-hoo]

Zazi wanders around a bit before her eyes settle on a small book, bound in black leather with silver lettering that reads "Keep Your Tip Up: A Booke of Joakes and Punns of a Sexual Nature for Entertanement and Witty Riposte!"

Zazi

She raises an eyebrow. She considers picking it up, just to have something to leaf through, but the subject matter strays a little too close to memories of her mother for her liking. She decides against it and keeps browsing. [perception: 8]

Zazi comes across a pair of pristine white cloth gloves that appear to have been freshly starched. They appear to be the kind of gloves used by stage magicians and street jugglers across the city.

What the heck, Eldoran begins to browse as well, looking at the books for anything that might be worth buying. [Perception = 8]

Eldoran wanders past one of the seemingly thousands of shelves in the Curiosity Shop when a glint of silvery light catches his eye. Upon further inspection, it is a silver necklace covered in angular geometric shapes that cause it to sparkle and glint in random flashes. It is fairly weighty, but hangs on a finely wrought thin silver chain.

Oh, huh, that's pretty. He picks up the necklace and gives it a closer inspection to see if he can figure out if it's got any significance or if it's just a pretty piece of jewellery. [appraise = 27, knowledge: arcana = 19]

Tarathel

Tarathel offers the appropriate bow, adding a smile to it.

"My name is Tarathel Lassara, a servant of Corellon." He touches his holy symbol for emphasis. "I am newly arrived, and wish to report my presence in this city to the Temple. Would you kindly direct me to the proper person?"

~Curiosity Shop

Eldoran is able to determine that the necklace is pretty valuable, given that it appears to be constructed of solid, polished silver. As for magical properties, it would be difficult to determine without the appropriate spells, but it likely has magical properties since it hangs from such a thin chain that shows no sign of breaking. That, and it looks kinda talisman-y.

~Temple of the Seldarine

The novitiate smiles and bows in return. "Of course, brother. You will want to speak with Seneschal Maeglin. He can be found in the temple proper and would be happy to speak with you, I'm certain. If you will accompany me, I will take you to him."

Tarathel

"Thank you."

And Tarathel accompanies him.

Hmm, he probably can't actually afford such a nice piece, but maybe he can use it as a bit of a test, since he's pretty confident of his appraisal. He walks over to Milo. "Excuse me, sir. Can I ask you about this piece? It's very pretty."

~Temple of the Seldarine

Tarathel is led into the main worship chamber of the temple. The chamber is vast and tall, with elegant frescoes and delicately painted murals as well as masterful stained glass, all depicting the elven pantheon, including a simple geometric pattern and blank altar traditionally set aside for Lolth, with the hope that she will eventually reconcile and return to the fold. He is brought to a middle-aged elf in simple, but obviously high-quality brown robes.

The novitiate bows to the older elf. "Seneschal Maeglin, we have a guest: a cleric of the faith new to the city. He wishes to speak with you."

Maeglin turns, briefly looking over Tarathel. "Oh? Well then, welcome brother." He smiles and motions to a nearby door. "Please, come with me so we can talk in private. Aerilli, please bring us some tea, then you may return to your duties."

Tarathel is then led to a small study and meditation room with a round table in the center. He sits, and motions Tarathel to do the same. Shortly, the tea arrives and Maeglin pours two small cups.

"So, what brings you to me, brother?"

~Curiosity Shop

Milo looks up from his book for a moment, glancing over the necklace. He flips a few switches and adjusts a nob or two while he looks it over. "Ah, yes. It is pretty, isn't it? Hmmm... Ah,yes. Belonged to a lovely young thing who used to sing over at the White Maiden. She ended up losing her ass at the gambling hall and paid her debts with this necklace. Too bad, it really glittered under the stage lights. It's properly called a Mind Sentinel Medallion. I guess the girl was a bit paranoid one of the mages from the college might get too clever with a charm spell.

A mind sentinel necklace? Could be useful to avoid being charmed. He slips the necklace into his palm, toying with the chain. "How much for it?" he asks, glancing at Zazi to see her reaction. He isn't sure if it's worth spending his last copper piece on it, but even if he can't afford it now, maybe he'll get it later.

Zazi

Zazi meets Eldoran's eyes and raises her eyebrows. Sounds useful, she thinks. Also sounds expensive. She won't be surprised at all if neither of them could afford it if they pooled their money together, and as handy as the talisman would be, she isn't sure if it'd be a good idea to do such a thing. Having extra back-up gold is always smart to have, after all.

Milo pauses for a moment, staring at the amulet, the spools and gears of his goggles ticking quietly around. "Well... I suppose I could let it go for 2,660 gold pieces." His attempt at a sly wink was exaggerated horribly by the lenses over his eyes. "Give you a bit of a break on it for the lady's sake, a fraction of its market price."

Tarathel

As calm and at-peace as he would like to be... the honest truth was that Tarathel had no idea if customs or conventions here were different from back home. Very conscious of making a good impression, he followed formalities to a T, with proper bows of greeting and address.

"Seneschal -- for the first, I wished to present myself. It seems I will be..." How to phrase this accurately. "Present in this city? The second is that I will be doing a certain amount of adventuring, so how much I'll actually be physically present in the city is another matter, but nevertheless, I place myself at your service if at any point that service is needed by the Protector or his servants here.

"And, well, I have already mentioned the second, that I seek to adventure and take an active role in the world. I have found an -- interesting group, already, and I thought it wisest to seek your opinion on this town and the people therein."

Tarathel briefly outlined their decision to test their cohesiveness on a straightforward mission, and the path of reasoning that led them to consider the three merchants in question.

~Temple of the Seldarine

Maeglin slowly sips his tea as he listens to Tarathel explain his situation, then gently sets the cup down, chuckling softly.

"Brother Tarathel, I appreciate your coming here to announce your presence to the Temple, and I believe your time here will be especially useful. There is much for you to learn about the world outside the forests, that much is certain, but for now let us focus on the matter at hand."

Maeglin takes another sip of tea before continuing. "Firstly, the non-elves of Avalon are not as quick to judge us as you seem to believe. Not a surprising expectation on your part, as many of our kind perpetuate the idea that the other races harbor a hatred or jealousy of our people. While this is certainly the case among some, especially the orcs of the borderlands, it is far less true in the civilized areas of the kingdom, like our Westgate."

"As to your merchants, I do not believe that any of them harbor any particular resentment towards the elves. In fact, Master Tung is an elf, though he has adopted a human name. In my experience, he is a very severe man, but fair. I have heard he has a keen interest in ancient civilizations and their trappings."

"This 'Milo the Merchant' fellow is known as a bit of an eccentric, but I have heard good things about his ability to accommodate some of our more... esoteric orders. His prices vary wildly, so I would be hesitant to call them fair, nor unfair, but I would doubt he would renege once a deal was struck."

"And for Flanigan Lorsk... I have heard mixed opinions on his business practices. Rumors of unsavory deals and such, but that is to be expected when discussing one of the more powerful shipping magnates in the city. He does have a penchant for... female companionship, that much I know for certain. I can tell you that Lorsk has many friends in high places, and is a nobleman in all but birthright."

Maeglin finishes off his tea and pours another cup."Is there anything else I can assist you with, brother?"

His mouth works for a moment, then he quietly returns to the place where he picked up the necklace and set it back down. "Ah... Maybe some other time, then."

He turns back to Milo. "Not to hurry you, but... any progress on a job for us?"

~Curiosity Shop

Milo stares blankly at Eldoran for a moment. "....Eh? Oh! Yes, yes." He motions Eldoran and Zazi over to the massive tome he had laid out on the counter.

He jabbed a slightly grubby finger at a picture on the page. "I want that."


"It's called the Golden Auroch, the idol of a long-lost deity of some desert civilization out in Mala Na'Un. If you manage to haul that thing back here in one piece, I'd pay ya good gold for it."

[Knowledge: History = 14]

Eldoran looks at the picture. He doesn't know much about religion, but he tries to put it in some kind of historical context. "Maybe Tarathel will know more. Mr. Milo, do you have any idea where the idol can be found?"

Eldoran's limited knowledge of early Unian idolatry gleans little besides confirming that the idol is, in fact, Unian, and it is old enough to be a symbol of "some long-lost deity of some desert civilization in Mala Na'Un. He can also recall the names of a couple of sages that might be able to provide more information if Tarathel comes up empty.

Milo looks up from the book. "Eh? Oh, yeah. I think I have a map around here somewhere."

(For some reason you hear an strange noise that sounds inexplicably like the pop of something breaking the sound barrier before slunking disappointedly away at speed.)

After a moment he retrieves a crumbling scroll with a rough map of what you can identify as Mala Na'Un. Towards the outer edge of the area marked as the "Deep Desert" is an X labeled as Maraketh.

"Should be located in the ruins of the city of Maraketh."

Zazi

Mala Na'Un... Hmm. Zazi doesn't know a whole lot about geography, but if she's guessing right, then it would take them at least a couple of weeks to reach by ship. She personally wouldn't mind that much, but it's something to keep in mind to mention to the rest of the group. And to Milo.

"Mr. Milo, how much would you be paying us for this idol? There are..." Zazi does a quick mental count. "Six of us in our group."

Milo stares into space for a moment. "Well... I'd be paying your charter fees, which won't be small, so I suppose that after everything is considered I could pay you... fifteen hundred gold pieces for each contracted party member. On retrieval of the artifact, of course."