On the Path to a Brighter Place IC

[MightBeABook]

It is in the midst of a rather ordinary day when you notice that the smooth, ageless face of Yanvic Baer has appeared on your Aspect Mirror. He begins speaking without delay, in the clipped tone he reserves for orders. "Selena, I have recently received an invitation from the necromancers of Skull City to attend a demonstration of some great magical breakthrough, though their correspondence was sparse on details. You are possessed of notable initiative and intelligence, and I am allowed a guest with me – as bodyguard, presumably, though I do not imagine it will be necessary. I would like you to accompany me to this event, hopefully to gain connections among the other players on this stage – I am sure there will be many interesting individuals to meet. Come to the third safehouse in the capital by the twelfth of this month, and I shall bring us to the city."

He does not wait for a response, but immediately cuts the connection, leaving you to the rest of your day.

[Magikeeper]

The disconnect was.. well, that was Yanvic for you. Selena sighed with a faint smile.

"A message?" Selena turned her head towards the source of the question, an unusually hatted and perhaps less unusually (in the Protectorate) undead cat. The tibbit had been silently reading a tome on her couch, having relocated from the ship's library to avoid what he could only imagine was a youthful attempt to study necromancy. The noise would certainly have woken him from the grave.

"Skull City is demonstrating a magical breakthrough, Yanvic needs a bodyguard."

The archivist raised an eyebrow at the mention of Skull City. The motion couldn't be seen beneath his 'goggles', of course, but Selena knew him well enough to tell. "Skull City? Interesting. Do we know who else they invited? Any major players? Larger than us, I mean, such as one of the-"

"-people they surely wouldn't try anything with?" completed Selena with a smirk. She shook her head. "I don't know, Yanvic cut the message right after explaining the situation. He said he felt protection would be unnecessary, however. We should stick with what they asked for."

"Very well. I'll stay with the ship's mirror, leave an evacuation rune in your stomach. When is the meeting?"

"Twelfth of this month, he'll meet me in the third safehouse of the capital and set off from there. He didn't say how long the meeting will be."

"Several evacuation rune disks then.."

Selena finally took a seat herself, leaning back as she pondered how to best conduct the remaining time before the meet. Should she have the ship stay near the capital? Hrm, probably. They hadn't seen anything of interest while flying along the coast for nearly two weeks now. The crew, at least those that ever left the airship, would surely appreciate it. Perhaps they could transport some cargo while they were at it... she made a mental note to have Cervika look into that. For now, however, there was a far more exciting matter at hand!

The evoker hopped from the couch with a small push and started heading to the ship's library, pausing for a second to let Yareo decide if he wanted to brave certain annoyance. He apparently did, so the two headed off to consult some maps of the region. It'd be a good idea to re-familiarize themselves with Skull City. What little was known about it, at least.

[MightBeABook]

Your maps and charts prove to be only marginally useful. The Skull City lies in the Dead Swamp, within the province of Jin, realm of Duke Crimson. The City lies roughly at the heart of the swamp, and relies on magic to supply its needs, rarely interacting with the mundane world for any purpose. The necromancers govern themselves, generally following a secretive group known as the Circle of Bone. Skull City is ultimately a place of learning, albeit one focused on the darker aspects of magic, most especially those dealing with death. Skull City is informally recognized as a power equal to any of the factions vying for place in the Protectorate, for all that it technically is ruled by Duke Crimson. Those who have traveled there have universally noted that the city itself and the area immediately outside it is cloaked in powerful magics, but they only seem to respond to those with status among the necromancers.