I just had a thought.  If Zmija is up for it, Balthazar casts invisibility on him so that he can easily go into the city and look for the missing duo.

Her arms crossed, and with a wry grin on her face Dyanna says, "I'm truly here to study, Balthazar."

With that she steps forward to examine the items, adding her own find, the book with the Cube on the face, to the pile.

"As I said, an interesting discovery," she smirks.

A smirk on his face as well, he replies, "I've no doubt of that.  The only question is what you'll be studying."



Balthazar gives in, grudgingly, "Well, I guess we do have a lot on our plate then.  I can't wait to find out if my favorite spell of all time is in one of these magic tomes.  Ever since I was a little boy I've wanted to fly."

Dyanna offers a raised eyebrow at the confession and giggles.

"It would be an interesting sight.  I too am interested in the contents - perhaps there's hope that I'll find some dweomers of interest in my own search."

"And this," she continues, pointing to her discovery.  "A user's manual?  In Persian, I believe?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:27, Fri 07 May 2010.

Michael the Greek pops his head into the lab for a moment..."Is there anything I can get for you?"

Remember the book is in Persian...Dyanna can speak Arabic.

"That's very kind of you to ask, Michael.  If you could fetch us a bottle of wine from Dobrynya's stores and 2 glasses, that would be great.  I'm about to do a lot of reading out loud and my throat is going to get dry."



No worries, here's Balthazar's language list from his character sheet:
LANGUAGES: Greek (common), Latin, Arabic, Persian, Slavic, Turkic, Magyar,
Hebrew

Balthazar takes the book from Dyanna, curls up next to her, and starts reading aloud.  When Michael returns with the wine, he pours an equal amount for her as for himself, and bids Michael a good evening.

Taking the proffered wine Dyanna twirls the goblet and settles herself comfortably next to the learned mage.  She listens and sips and listens some more, all the while listening intently to the mage's words.  From time to time she gazes at the cube, her thought digesting the information from the book.

Of sudden their companionable nearness sinks in and she glances at Balthazar from the corner of dark eyes, and grins.  She follows the tenor of his voice and waits for an appropriate stop before asking, "What thoughts thus far, Sir Mage?"

Balthazar reads the book...PM:)

OOC: Balthazar: Dyanna's asking your thoughts on what's been read thus far...fyi.

"Well, it seems that we are just going to have to try pressing each face of the cube if we wish to know where it goes; there doesn't seem to be any other way.  I, for one, see no rush to do so.  At the very least, let's learn our new spells first.  Also, there still is one other find in my pocket."  With that, he reaches into his magic pocket and pulls out a bouquet of a dozen roses.  "For you, " he says blushing, and hands them to her.

Assuming she receives them graciously, he says with surprise while looking into his pocket, "What's this?  More?"  He pulls out a pair of chairs, a small table, a set of dishes and utensils for each of them, and at the very last, a delicious smelling bowl of bread pudding that he places on the table.  He serves some pudding to her, then some to him, and asks with a decadent smile if she'd be interested in feeding one another.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Sun 09 May 2010.

A frown flashes, but then she shakes her head ruefully and offers a wry grin.

"I should have known," she replies.

She accepts the flowers, sniffs them delicately, then sets them aside as she sits at the table.

"I am flattered by the attention, Balthazar," she says mildly.  "I am quite capable of feeding myself, however."

Her eyes sparkle in amusement as she says this.

"I love bread pudding," she murmurs appreciatively, noting the scent of cinnamon wafting from the dish.

After enjoying a small taste she says, "I hope you did not stain your robe!"

He pulls out a vase from his pocket, already filled with water, to set them in.



Unperturbed, he gushes, "I am smitten with you, Dyanna."



"Actually, I must confess this particular dish is not my cooking.  I had not the time to prepare it; I asked Dobrynya's chef to make it while we were away on our mission."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:21, Sun 09 May 2010.

"Ah, my courtesy to the chef, then," she nodded, continuing to eat.

She enjoys the treat in silence, then looks at the Mage with a half smile.

"I am flattered by the affection, Balthazar," she says after a moment.  "Truth be told it is all a bit much.  But you are certainly a man that I admire greatly.  Yet my life has not been so genteel that a man's advances are warmly received."

She pauses again briefly then adds, "I tell you this not to rebuke you, yet to tell you my mind is on other matters this eve.  Furthermore, I challenge you, if my heart is to be given, it must be earned...and not by attempts at pleasures fleeting such as you espouse."

Balthazar leans back into his seat thoughtfully and says, "I sometimes forget that people without Hedonite training aren't as easily able to shunt other thoughts away and focus on the here and now.  I hope you'll forgive me for appearing so callous, after all we did shed blood earlier this day.  I should also tell you that I am not so much trying to win your heart as to thoroughly enjoy your company for as long as we travel together.  I am married to a wonderful woman.  We met really young and were of similar minds - both being Hedonites - so we decided to separate for 7 years, see the world, sow our wild oats, so to speak, before settling down and starting a family.  We're 4 years into the tour.  We get together every Christmas and Easter, and she's having similar adventures.  So I've got 3 years left before I'm changing soiled underclothes and birping babes on my arm.  That's not much time to get to learn 9th Order spells, is it?"  He laughs.  "But enough about me, if you would like to talk about what is on your mind this eve or about what has made you hostile to a man's advances, I'd be glad to hear it."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:53, Mon 10 May 2010.

Dyanna's grin widens as he tells his tale.

"A pact worthy of a good man!" she exclaims when he is done.  "My respects to your wife - I should be so lucky to chance to meet her someday."

"As for what to talk about, I'm in agreement with your thoughts, that the books are of great interest to me now.  I should dearly like to see if any of them contain spells that I could, perchance, learn."

"And for the scribes, Balthazar, I am not so cold as to refuse an indulgance now and again!  The bread pudding was a treat.  You have my thanks!"

Leaning forward over the table Dyanna kisses the man lightly upon his cheek.

Balthazar gives out a contented sigh when she kisses his cheek.  Then he says, "Well, since I don't have read magic memorized right now, I can't look at any of the magical books until tomorrow.  If you have the ability to do so, then please do not let me prevent you from it.  I think I'll go turn in.  Goodnight."

Dyanna grins as the weary mage heads to bed, then opens the first tome and settles in for some time of intent study.

Dyanna finds that only one of the books that were taken form the library is illusionist oriented but it is a fairly thick book.

This is what she finds...for her eyes only:P:

Well, the next morning Balthazar memorizes read magic and has a gander at all the other books.  Just to be safe, he takes each book separately to a secluded spot so that if it blows up with explosive runes as he starts to read it, at least the other books won't be damaged.  And hopefully he survives the damage it causes.

Dyanna awakes and makes her way back to their impromptu study area.  She smiles upon finding Balthazar already at work, amused by his frown of concentration.

"Up already, I see," she notes.  "Some good finds, I think, though it may be some time before I'm capable of using them to good affect.  And your studies...have they been fruitful?"

Balthazar manages to make short work of the books he is studying without even blowing up once.

"Well, it seems I only found one 3rd level spell in all of that.  Oh well."

Balthazar adds that spell to his spellbook.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:03, Sat 29 May 2010.

"So what next, Sir Mage?  I don't suppose there's anything we can get into as we wait for the rest of the teams to return tonight," says Dyanna.

"Well, if the DM doesn't return, I hear the South of France is lovely..."

Sorry to leave you two hanging...I am forcing this chapter of the game closed this week with some wrap up posts.