Ale, Fortune and Math

[AlphaLuke]

"You know," Mat says, laughing into his Ale, "I found the book. Wasn't quite what I expected. But that's as it is. The Irrisian texts weren't much to talk about. Necromancy mostly. Nasty stuff. I imagine I'll finish them in short order. I'd be just as happy not sitting in a stuffy library all day, but the pay is fine and it'll get me in good with the Guild. To be honest, I've been itching for a good mug of ale, a bawdy lass, and a good duel. Need to get my blood pumping again after that day in the tomes." Downing his Ale in a large gulp, Mat motions for a serving lady to bring over two snifters of brandy, for him and Vox.

[Leomor]

A large chested bar matron, dressed as a priest, walks over and drops two snifters of an elvish brandy at your table. Giving a wink to Mathwin as she leaves, the two young men toast to magic, women, and for whatever force holding that matrons shirt up to fall, quickly!

Afterwards, Vox seems a little farther along than Mat, who’s constitution seems to not be quite as strong. Through talking, Vox finishes his Ale, and says, “You know, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but we’re friends, right?” He tries to compose himself, “I heard, that next week, the Arcanamirium will be holding a dueling contest, in celebration of all the new students. You should enter my friend!” He starts getting louder, “Because no one can best the mighty duo of Vox and Mathwin!” He cheers quite drunkenly, and looks at the barmaid who brought the drinks over. “Now if you’ll excuse me my friend, I think I have some homework to turn in!” You see him start sweet talking the barmaid, who seems quite taken at his forwardness. After a few minutes he walks upstairs, and gives you a sign to stay quite. After a few more minutes, the barmaid sneakily heads up behind him. Mat always feel good to help someone let loose and enjoy themselves. Some of these students can be extremely uptight, so watching them break loose always amuses Mathwin.

The night becomes much more boring without Vox. With the only cute barmaid currently missing from her shift, the bar starts to quite down. Charlie comes to collect your tab of 2 gold and wishes you a good night and she begins to clean up after the rousing students.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat lights his pipe anew and starts out into the night, wandering back to his bed in the Coins.

[Leomor]

The night chill begins to spread among the city as it falls asleep. Mathwin walks the narrows roads and alleys to his comforting bed. After making sure his closest items are secure and safe, he lays his head to rest.

Morning comes and quickly as sleep does. An early morning contract is not in the best interest for the night owls of the city. Mathwin has plenty of time to prepare his spells and get ready for his day, as the sun has only just begun to rise. As he gets ready, he hears small chatter downstairs. He knows the voices to be Elonard and Jess, the parents of Hilardo. He is usually not up early enough to greet them in the morning, as they must get to the docks early.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat grabs his gear and dons his hat. Intrigued, he attempts to listen in to the conversation while slowly moving down the hall and downstairs.

[Leomor]

Listening in, Mat hears Hilardo laughing and running around, while the parents talk with Mistress Oparra. You can tell that they are talking about Hilardo, and when you get to the very last stairs, you begin to hear the group singing!

You know this song well, it is the Birthday song of Absolom! Not being extremly close to the family, you must not have realized that today is Hilardo's birthday! As they finish the song, you hear Hilardo claps and cheer the chorus along. Mistress Oparra spots you as she brings some dishes out, "Oh Mathwin! You're up ealry! I hope we didn't wake you."

[AlphaLuke]

"No, not at all! I can't believe I didn't know it was the young lad's birthday! I feel bad. I'd love to meet his folks and talk to them after they're done with work. I'll be at the Arcanamirium for the day again, so you shan't see me before dark."

[Leomor]

Mistress Oparra leads you downstairs to a plate with a roll, carrot and slab of cooked meat. Having time to eat a quick meal, you sit down at the table with Elonard and Jess. Elonard is a tan shorter male, with short but messy black hair. Working the docks has kept him in good shape, and he is well versed in how to sail/man and crew a ship. You know he currently is working under the harbormaster, making sure each ship is accounted for and safely secured to the docks. Jess, quite a homely mother, is a very warm soul. Very soft spoken, she speaks in a very comforting tone. She spends her days embroidering in the petal district, and has grown to be in somewhat big demand for the city. They work almost every day from dawn to dusk, but it seems like they are going to take the day off to spend it with Hiladro. Having such a good home and family life gives Mathwin a good feeling, mostly because it means less surprises in the house he lives in.

Hilardo runs towards the table as boast about something in his hands. “Mathwin! Look what mum and pa got me! I can’t believe you got them! All the other kids are going to flip when they see this!” He shows you a hand of 5 cards, with the symbol “GG” on the top of each card. You recognize this to be the cards that the gnome was selling a few nights ago. He hands you one to examine. The card is weighted a little bit, and this card has an image of a Orc on the front, looking quite menacing. There is a short description of the bottom of the image, “Orc’s are aggressive, callous and domineering. Bullies by nature, they respect strength and power as the highest virtues.”

In almost too fast of a language for Mathwin to understand, Hiladro spouts off, “I also got Amiri, Calistria Gorum and Dwarf! The other kid said he wanted a dwarf, maybe I can trade him for his Kyra card! I can’t wait!!”

Hilardo runs around the room quite happy, while his parents enjoy his energy. Jees nods at you, and softly says “It’s is always good to see you Mathwin. I trust you are doing well?”

[AlphaLuke]

Mat sheds his hat while he sits and inclines his head slightly to Elonald and Jess. "I'm quite well, mum. Thank you. I just wanted to wish you all the very happiest of days on this, Hilardo's birthday, and ask you something about the boy. I was wondering if you all had ever thought of his schooling? I thought of presenting him with a toy or something of that nature, but I think he might be better suited for a tutor. It'd be easy enough to find a student at the Arcanamirium who could teach him. Obviously, I don't want to deprive Mistress Oparra of her apprentice, but perhaps once or twice a week for a few hours he could get schooled in reading, writing, and figures. I could even throw in some perfunctory History or Magic lessons if you'd like. I want to do this as a gift. Would you let me?"

[Leomor]

Jess, humbled by your offer, graciously accepts. “Schooling is so expensive, I don’t know what to say! Thank you so much!” Hilardo seems excited at the prospect of working with you. As the family leaves for a day together, he waves goodbye at you, very excitedly. Mistress Oparra sheds a tear, “You are so sweet my dear boy! I just can’t stand it!” She gives you a big kiss on the cheek and continues cleaning the room up.

As you finish your meal, you see the sun starting to show a little more. You’ll be required to be at the Arcanamirium soon.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat tussles Hilardo's hair and finishes his meal quickly. He then dons his pointy hat and makes haste towards the Arcanamirium.

[Leomor]

As Mathwin approaches the Arcanamirium, much earlier than he would like, he walks back into the Library and is greeted by the library assistant. His chamber is unlocked and his work seems to be exactly where he left it, with the Tome laying on top of some parchment.

Spoiler: checks

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When ready, roll Linguistics, knowledge Geography and knowledge history. You may also state any other means to try and complete this task, which will help determine you effectiveness in completing your tasks

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[AlphaLuke]

Just as he did yesterday, Mat doffs his hat, sits, and pulls out his special glasses. Dipping his quill in a fresh pot of ink, he weaves amber flows of energy to cast Read Magic and Detect Magic. Additionally, Mat casts Summarize in order to capture the nuance of the text even though the literal translation may be different. Before the assistant leaves, Mat requests a pot of tea for him to sip whilst transcribing.

Looking at Gregor's Tome, Mat ponders and remembers the cryptic letter from several nights past.

Obtain ’Gregor’s Tome of Obedience’ at the Arcanamirium. Do not read it. Wrap the string around it, do not break it afterwards. Return it to Innkeeper at Alehouse #2. Consider this your application.

He fingers the bit of string in his pocket. Best finish with this lot first. Perhaps I'll be able to secret the book out tonight after I'm done. He returns his attention to the scrolls.

Spoiler

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Linguistics:(1d20+8)[13]
Knw Geo:(1d20+8)[26]
Knw Hist:(1d20+10)[20]

[Leomor]

Mathwin works diligently. The pot of tea arrives and helps Mat focus into his work. The scrolls he works on today have a much more dark tone to its history.

Apparently, the Irrisian necromancers continued to toy and experiment with bringing more powerful undead to life. Many of the magicians began killing local children, elderly, women, warriors and as many other different categories of races and lifestyle to see if the living’s life had anything to do with their strengths in the afterlife. Many religious groups began to shun the necromancers, and began to fight back. Archazial, the Grand Necromancer, gathered all his forces and wizards in a epic battle. Unbeknownst to his comrades, Archazial attempted to unleash a new spell he had not perfected.

Entranced in the magnificent storytelling of these scrolls, copying furiously away, Mathwin is slightly frightened when the assistant come in to his chambers and informs him that the Library will be closing soon. The whole day has passed him by quite quickly! The assistant closes the door behind him, and Mat looks at how much work he accomplishes. He only has 2 more scrolls to decipher, which shouldn’t take him the entirety of the next day, but certainly more time that he has now. Mathwin clears up his area to be ready for the next day as he hears the assistant making his final rounds, escorting people out of the library.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat does his best to discreetly wrap Gregor's Tome in the string and secret it amongst his bags and gear. Walking, he attempt to leave the library nonchalantly.

[Leomor]

Mathwin takes the string he received and wraps it around the tome. As he ties a knot around the book, the book vanishes from sight! Confuses, Mat attempts to find the book, and is surprised when he is able to feel the book and string, even though it is not able to be seen.

Mat put the book in a pocket in his coat, and leaves his room. The assistant smiles at him as he leaves the Library. Checking behind him, he see’s the assistant lock his study chambers behind him, and Mat quickly exits.

Walking outside of the Arcanamirium, Mat can still see, even though the sun is just about to set. Many students are walking home for the night and the orange skies blow a slight breeze against Mathwin’s face.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat walks in the afternoon breeze, enjoying the feel. The setting sun casts a wonderful light on the city, and the tinge of gold in his eyes seem less striking.

Grabbing a bite to eat on the way, he makes his way into the Puddles, toward Alehouse #2.

[Leomor]

Walking through the Ivy District and Westgate, Mat tries to enjoy the glow of dusk. He walks into the homeroom and grabs a quick bite of roast pig, and washes it down with a nice ale for 2 silver. Night approaches, and Mathwin feels the darkness spreading on the city. Through Westgage and the Puddles, many taverns are full and more lively than normal. Walking past a few bars fights, Mat does the best he can to not make eye contact with anyone and go unnoticed.

Approaching Alehouse #2, Mat remembers his meeting here before. Looking around for any random homeless people, Mat is cautious of everything. He approaches the broken down tavern. The broken down house seems the same as a few days ago and the block seems empty. To his surprise, a candle lights in the main room of the tavern. He cannot see anyone but there is the image of a shadow moving inside the house. The block is quiet, a full moon lights the houses and the cool breeze of Mathwin’s coat is the only sound on this block.

[AlphaLuke]

Checking the wand up his sleeve, Mat climbs the stairs and knocks on the door of Alehouse #2.

[Leomor]

Cautiously approaches the house, he avoids stepping on the broken steps like before. He attempts to soften the squeaks of the old wood by stepping softly. He approaches the house, and the door seems as normal. Approaching, he knocks on the door. The door opens sightly as he knocks.

[AlphaLuke]

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! Last time I bloody tried to get into this bloody place it was shut tighter than a nun's legs?! BAH! Stifling his inner outrage, Mat cautiously opens the door further and steps inside the building.

[Leomor]

Mathwin gently pushes the door open. The hinges must have rusted being so close to the sea salted air, because as Mat pushes, a creak cut through the silent street. Mathwin is on edge, and he slowly enters to broken down tavern.

The tavern seems to be laid out much more like an Inn. As he enters, he sees a front desk, manned by a plethora of spider webs. To his right, there is a set of stairs leading up, but it seems the stairs have collapsed.

Walking further in, he sees cabinets of broken bottles and jars, no doubt manned by more spiders. As the outside breeze sails through the house, the old wood creaks. In front of him lies a hallway, veering towards the right, where he can see the light from a small candle. No doubt this leads into the main hall, we most of the customers would sit and drink.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat draws his Rowan wand of Magic Missile and levels it moving forward. Reaching into his vest, he also draws the Ivy wand he took from a particularly nasty Illusionist and holds it ready. Slowly moving forward, he walks towards the light.

[Leomor]

Mathwin, wand in hand turns the corner and see’s a mostly empty room with tables and chairs, and the candle lit on the bar counter. Stnading right behind the candle and counter is a large man, seemingly with an eye patch. He stares you down without moving a muscle.

[AlphaLuke]

I'm looking for "Innkeeper", Mat says levely, scanning the room without taking his wands off the man. Are you, him?

[Leomor]

The man, not moving an inch, responds, “Aye. I’m the innkeeper. Who’s askin?”

[AlphaLuke]

With a flick of his wrist, Mat's Rowan wand of Magic Missile retracts on its springs and slides back into his sleeve. Keeping the Ivy wand of Color Spray pointed at the man, he reaches into his coat pocket. "Mathwin. My name is Mathwin." Pulling the invisible book from his pocket, Mat taps it with his finger while holding it up, to show that he's holding an invisible object. "I've got the book you all asked for. Now, what's next?"

[Leomor]

The man lets out a mighty roar of laughter that completely takes Mathwin by surprise. “So sorry there boy, didn’t mean to put up such a front. In our line of work, a strong face says more than a pleasant looking one. I didn’t know you were the new potential! Come on in, can I offer you a dwarvish whiskey? Mat, right?” The man pulls up a bottle and two shot glasses, pours two drinks and proceed to drinks both. He then pours a new glass and offers it to you.

[AlphaLuke]

Mat smiles, but doesn't lower his wand. "Potential? I didn't know I was a new anything. I'd love a glass, but I'd feel a might better sitting to drink with you if I knew a bit more. You understand, of course, me being a touch guarded. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese, you know."

[Leomor]

The Innkeeper raises his glass to you. “And they brought me a smart one. Isn’t it my lucky day!” He swiftly drinks the shot and begins to walk out from behind the counter. He points at your wand and says, “ And you’ll want to put that away, it won’t do you any good here. You’re not in any danger here. Come, sit.” He sits behind a table and offers you a chair.