For seven years, the Huns have held this place, once the most important temple of Apollo in the region.  The Temple Library held a great many things; scrolls of prayers, invocations, legends and fragments of history.   And even more writings of the very mundane variety:  correspondence between the priests here and those elsewhere, schedules, membership lists, notices of births and deaths and marriages, and the ledgers of the temple accounts.

Huns have little interest in writing, except for their shamans and leaders, who are aware of the power they can gain from information.  And so, for all the time they occupied the place, the Huns left most of the writings here alone.  They had no interest in some ancient poet’s ode to Apollo’s love life, or how much the temple priests spent on wine.  They sifted through for whatever useful information they could bring back, destroyed some that was so sacred that it was painful to their corrupted eyes,  and ignored the rest.

There are boxes of yellowed, aging parchments and paper scrolls in niches all along the wall.  More scrolls are scattered on the floor.

It will take a long, long time just to organize them.

Melissa picks up on at random, from the floor.

“Announcement of the consecration of two new priests, March, of the year 376.”

Out in the main hallway of this building, one end of which is the “private temple” where the priests prayed, they find something else of interest.

This site was a sacred place long before the Romans arrived.  Things were simpler in earlier days, and some long gone people had carved the story of the place on a series of large black stones, each standing over six feet high.  Once, they were arranged in a ring around the sacred natural pool that was here.  So as not to offend, the Romans kept them.  But they moved them into the building and arranged them in a line.

The old writing looks like a form of Elvish… but then, so long ago, the Elves and those few Celts that could write used the same forms.

Oh my ... Mmm mmmm tut tut tut

The wizard wanders into the library, at first he begins to pick up al the scattered papers, carefully and each with special reverence for Scolo is first an archivist, a master of lore and trivia and the opportunity to order and arrange ancient lore actually helps him cut through his madness. He casts a spell on himself and Edgar. (Comprehend Languages) and they begin going through the library ... They will need assistants. And so Scolo calls on one of his imaginary friends with a spell. It is Etienne a Celestial lady who is expert on the Apolonian library protocols and all things regarding Sacred knowledge. Etienne makes Scolo laugh, speaking in celestial languages always does that. He might look mad, but Edgar translates all that is happening for Melissa's benefit.

Then Etienne has a suggestion.
You know she's right, says Edgar. You should do that and then ... oh yes.

Edgar then whispers to Melissa.

She says that we can sort the papers tomorrow, Scolo should start by looking for things only he can find. I suppose that must be magic. But who knows? She's in His mind - it could all be delusions of guandeur!

And so Scolo takes their advice and performs detect magic on himself and Edgar. They look around the library a few minutes for magic and then Scolo wanders out and inspects the pool, the statues and the writings. He is meticulous and slow. Examining for any sign of arcane power plane shifting or monkey bottoms. Yes monkey bottoms can be very dangerous especially with poo flinging monkeys attached to them. But Scolo leaves nothing to chance.

He will remain here, with the library and the pool for some time, he has no interest for meetings or royal strategy. His madness affords him times of autistic laser focus.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:28, Fri 08 Nov 2013.

 Scolo works through several centuries of documents, exploring, reading, learning about all intricacies of temple life that would bore an ordinary warrior silly.  But he plods on.  Melissa mostly watches, not having the trivia-minded tenacity that Scolo has.  And it's not just his spell- most wizards have a remarkable love of trivial information.  It's part of becoming a wizard.

He learns about deaths and births, disputes about translations of old texts and the meaning of certain visual metaphors in ancient artwork.  He learns who was who in the temple over its years of operation, and how they absorbed and “Romanized” the earlier priesthood that considered this a holy place long before the Romans arrived.

He learns that the Nymphs depicted dancing with Belenus/Apollo in various mosaic scenes in the temple are not harem, and nothing licentious is going on.  Those are Apollo's daughters, by way of the River Goddess Mosanna.  He learns some names:  Geula, Selza, Rura, Inda, Ikta.

And something peculiar finally catches his attention.  A single, newer page.  Very new.  The writing is Elven.

Hmmmmm .... This is fascinating.

Scolo speaks to Melissa.

My Dear, would you transmute over to the queen - I need to know where to find an elf a particular Elf this one. Diplomat of sorts "Therill Heayzan" he must have some fascinating Lore to tell.

The wizard tucks a paper into his bag and stands up stretching his spine magically cracking and snapping I to place.

Ahh... That Apollo is a busy fellow, hmm lets look closer at his lovely girls.

He examines the area some more.

Edgar goes through the letters assisting as they work

THE TREASURE OF SILOK...

Alerted to the presence of plundered Elven arms and armor, the Elves present have a look..  It is all laid out in one of the temple rooms.,  chamber that used to be a private conference room for priests, and more recently, the bedroom of Silok the Hunter, the giant slain here..

Some wonder, just what is it with creatures like Silok, and treasure?  Dragons, for example.  Why the hoards of coins?  It’s not like they have a cash based economy.  Neither Silok nor the average Dragon is likely to walk into a cabinet make’s shop with a pouch full of coins and order a new armoire.  And although Huns do pay their troops, it is a pittance.  Most Orcs merely love war and will join up at the slightest excuse.

The truth is, at least for Silok’s part and likely most of the leaders of the Huns, is that everything taken by raid and plunder is a token of prestige and power.  It is their way of saying “It was theirs, I took it, now it is mine.”  This was quite important for Silok, and that is why he kept things on display, not hidden away in some secret treasure vault.

You don’t impress anyone with a secret treasure vault.

Apparently, over the last few years, Silok and the Orcs here had killed or captured a dozen Elves, and put their equipment on display.  And apparently, three of the bodies- although the party had the good manners to give them proper burials after defeating the Giant.

Heolstor, Petra, Brennus, and Leandra had hoped that somehow, these things here would go back to their original owners.  But without taking them back to the Elven Kingdom, that won’t be easy.  From here, identifying the owners is nearly impossible.  The best chance is Ayren, the Healer, because she is actually one of the Ardennes Elves, and from a family that has long provided guards for the kingdom’s western flank.  But even she cannot look at a suit of armor and know at once who it belonged to.

”The most I can do,” she says, “is tell you the few family symbols I recognize.  I don’t see many.  The Elves here are from the Royal Domain, and I was not there often.”

There are eight suits of armor here, four made of finely made Elven chain, two of leather, and two of scale.  There are robes and cloaks and outfits such as Elven warriors and scouts might wear, and their weapons, tools, and other gear.  In short, the equipment needed to fully outfit 12 Elves.

Walking in Aelasuria's movements are graceful as well as silent as she makes her way over to the elves. Smiling she softly greets them in elvish fashion speaking a few words of traditional elvish greeting. "Hello Ayren. I will do what I can to help."

Carefully she looks over the items using her various crafts as well as detect magic to identify things. She goes over every suit of armor, every weapon, every article of clothing and gear one by one. It would take a while however that was fine she was rather patient being a elf. She realizes the intent is to return all of it to the families in due time. Therefor it wouldn't be available to use by the current army unless they made exception to allow it.

Aelasuria seeks magic in the Elven gear.  She finds it, much as she expected.  Elves use a lot of magic, and their best scouts and warriors are always equipped.

Three of the armored suits are magical, and three of the cloaks are easily recognizable as the well known Elven cloaks, that can help the wearers blend into the forest.  One belt is magical, and two swords.

One of the magical swords is the one that was revealed during the battle with Silok.  It has a special Giant Slaying enchantment cast on it.

There is a lot of magic here, and not much time in which to identify it all.  Theoderic wants to move quickly, and Heolstor and Petra are already out scouting.

Ayren suggests that even though returning the equipment is the right thing to do, using it now, against the Huns, would certainly be keeping with the wishes of the owners- who brought it here in battle with the Huns.

Edgar is buzzing about the temple making the most of his detecting of magic and he returns to scolo in the library.

Master, I believe the Queen has come here ... this way, I saw some magical energy and heard voices.

Voices? says the Wizard as if to say "You too?"

Oh just come along,

And so he does, and Scolo makes his way to the treasure of SILOK.

hmmmmmm how starfing... ooooh Hello?

he mutters.

"Therill Heayzan" its an Elf.
he announces

Do any of you know?

as he walks in he glances over the magical energy of any of the objects but focuses on any writing engraving or markings

Looking up Aelasuria brushes some silky red hair out of her green eyes. Smiling warmly at Scolo she greets him with equal warmth and welcome in her voice. "Oh Hi Scolo! This is Ayren a healer in our group. I think you have met her already. It looks like a lot of the elvish peoples magic fell into the Huns hands at least for a little while."

Looking to Ayren she nods slightly. "Yes your right Ayren we can honor their wishes this way as well. We need to gather all of this up and see to it that it is placed in the care of those who can fight the Huns. Scolo we don't have much time, however if you wish it could you help me identify some of the magic here? We probably will have to do most of the work while on the move. I will try to identify the belt and the swords, these three suits of armor here radiate magic can you identify them for me please? Three of the cloaks are traditional elfin magic. They will prove extraordinarily useful to anyone that has to scout for the armies. I am tempted to ask to have one given to Cirrus I certainly want her to be safe."

OOC: Identify with what little time we have please identify what we can and the rest will happen later. Packing time.  Priority for Aelasuria is belt, sword A, then sword B. Stopping whenever it's time to go. Scolo if he agree's has the three set's of armor to play with. ^_^

When it's time to go Aelasuria carefully places the items one after another into her bag of holding. She is very careful not to overload it assessing if another item can go before putting in another. Whatever is left will have to be carried the old fashioned way. "I can summon a tensers floating disk if I have to Scolo. Let's bring this to Theo he can help us get it to the right people. Also Scolo thank you very much I do appreciate whatever help you can give. Your welcome to come with me if you like. It might be a while before we finish identifying everything."

When it's time she slowly starts to make her way back to Theo and the rest. Scolo of course is welcome to come with her though she won't insist if he has something he needs to do.

Uhm - er ... Yes well ...
"Therill Heayzan" its an Elf.

Maybe From Geneva

He looks at the healer and the wizardess awkwardly.

Your majesty,
Says Edgar showing appropriate decorum.
 Scolo is rather focussed on following up on information he's gathering in the library. It's probably nothing but an Elvish delegation may have been sent to the Huns here. Why would they do that milady? If you wish to gather all this together we can surely evaluate the details as we travel. 

Stopping at what Scolo has to share Aelasuria suddenly shifts her thinking. "Thank you Scolo. Honestly I don't think elves would send a delegation. We are all to aware that Orcs hate us with a intense passion that defies reason. His entire campain has been oriented towards destroying our people completely. The Hun emperor even went so far as to make it illegal to be a elf in the lands the Huns control. They also have displayed no hesitation in treachery and using a variety of evil tactics to achieve their ends."

"Any treaty they negotiated would likely be violated the moment the Hun Emperor was in a position to do so.  I certainly would like a answer on that matter. I will mention Therill Heayzan to Theo and get word back to Geneva to see what we can find out. Please feel free to continue your research. Your right the magical items can be handled as we travel. Thank you Edgar your help is most appreciated as is Scolos."

OOC: Ben let me know if you need any rolls from me to determin if I know anything about this elf.

Scolo shows her the paper. He says nothing looking around as she reads. He checks all the equiment quickly for initials or signs of ownership.

Search enhanced all day from that spell also has comprehend languages and detect magic to find unusual or hidden marks.

Ayren looks at Scolo's familiar with a sad face.  "It must be in pain," she says.  "When there is time, I will see what I can do for it."

Aelasuria does not know about the Elf mentioned in the letter, but Ayren does.

The Elves tend to have larger family clans than Humans do.  They have fewer children, but because of their very long lives, it is not uncommon for seven generations of a family to be alive at the same time.  The older Elves are the cores of the families, and in the Ardennes, each family tends to become known for several areas of life.  For Ayren's Stargem clan, it is service as Warders and Hunters.  Not everyone is, obviously, Ayren is a healer, but it is the tradition of the Stargem clan.

The Heayzan clan are numerous in the "Royal Domain" of the Ardennes- the center, north area of the Kingdom directly controlled by the King and Queen of the Ardennes.  They are traditionally artisans, making clothing, and engaged in glassblowing and some other crafts as well.  They are known for the making of enchanted leather goods, such as boots and packs.  (Unlike a Human craftsman who will tend to specialize in one thing his whole life, Elves will usually learn several crafts.  They have the time to do it.)

This puzzles Ayren, because the message introduces Therill Heayzan as an emissary. This is not normally what they do.  They are not known to be an adventurous clan, and if the King and Queen wanted to send an emissary, there would be other clans that would more quickly demand the position, as a matter of honor.

And that is assuming the King and Queen would even do such a thing.  As far as Ayren has seen- and Aelasuria can confirm- Orcs do not negotiate with Elves.  When the two clash, it is always a matter of the Orcs trying to cause as much pain and suffering as possible.  What is there to talk about?

Meanwhile, Aelasuria has had time to identify a few of the things in the "trophy collection", starting with the belt, and the two swords.

The magic belt is a peculiar thing called To Reunite.  At least, that is what the inscription behind the intricate buckle says.  The buckle is actually a tiny compartment.  The belt has the power to transport the wearer, instantly, to one person, as long as some meaningful token (lock of hair, etc) is stored in the compartment.  Or... maybe it transports the other person to the wearer of the belt.  Maybe it can do both.  Aelasuria is not sure.  It needs to be tested.

The sword is a recently made thing, obviously produced in a failed effort to destroy Silok, because the blade had a powerful enchantment laid upon it, to seek out and slay that one giant.  With Silok dead, the geas has been fulfilled and some of the magic faded, but an innate hatred of Giants remains.
(It is a +2 longsword with a "Giant Bane" power)

The second sword is an Elven holy weapon, a rapier that has a blade composed of steel inlaid melded with platinum, with a hilt wrapped in platinum wire. From the symbols evident in the platinum inlay, it is probably dedicated to Arduinna, the forest goddess.  The bearer of this blade may invoke her power to clear a path through any thicket or natural obstacle, even an Entangle spell.

Scolo returns to his work and eventually he will sleep in the temple undoubtedly drooling on a fascinting carving or historical paper. If there is anything else his magical eyes and invisible friend can guide him to, so be it.

But if this is just another all nighter In a library, well he will be glad to have a little fatigue when they drag him by the waffles to go once again to war.

Listening to what Ayren has to say on the matter Aelasuria nods looking slightly worried. "All the more reason to get word back to the king and the queen. If they didn't arrange for this they certainly need to look into the matter very carefully. The blackguards could have been involved somehow. I have seen more then a few demons so we couldn't rule their influence out either. It might actually just be a very unusual interaction of our own people still it needs to be investigated."

She perks up at the unique and very useful ability under the right circumstances of the belt. She tucks the belt away on her person intent on testing it very soon. With the swords she was impressed at the power the longsword still had. Granted there were more powerful swords out there. Still it was rather nice especially if you had to fight a giant for some reason. The other sword she held with reverence as it was holy and that alone was enough for her. "Let's go share what we have found out!"

OOC: Next stop Theo!