A'kos finds a table, sits, and looks at the cover of the book.  He stares for quite a long while before opening the cover, then stares some more.  Reaching down he flips the book upside down, or right side up as the case may be, before leaning forward to study the first page.

"Ooh, pictures," he grins enthusiastically, nodding up at Jaleh who stands nearby.  "I thought my task to read through the entire thing, but apparently their are diagrams to assist my understanding."

He winks at the woman and kicks out a stool for her use.

"Join me?" he asks.

Balthazar hands the Clay Golem manual to Cuivi, "Clay golems are for clerics to create; I can't use this book but you can."  He breathes a big sigh of relief that he does not have to fight over the Silver Libram with Dyanna.

With joy, he examines the Book of Infinite Spells.

22:25, Today: Balthazar the Hedonite rolled 24 using 1d8+22. pages in Book of Infinite Spells.

So the "infinite" book has 24 pages.  Trembling with awe, Balthazar opens the book to page one:

22:26, Today: Balthazar the Hedonite rolled 28 using 1d100. contents of page one.

Blank page, crap!  Probably has the copyright information.  Balthazar flips to page two:

22:28, Today: Balthazar the Hedonite rolled 85 using 1d100. contents of page two.

85 is a magic-user spell, now let's find out what level using a d12:

22:29, Today: Balthazar the Hedonite rolled 11 using 1d12. spell level.

11 means roll a d8 instead:

22:29, Today: Balthazar the Hedonite rolled 1 using 1d8. spell level, again.

Drat, a 1st level spell.  At least he can cast it 4/day because that's a class & spell level he normally has access to.

There are 40 1st level spells; the lucky spell is:

22:31, Today: Balthazar the Hedonite rolled 20 using 1d40. 1st level spell.

20 is ... magic missile.  Well getting a 5d4+5 magic missile 4/day from the book isn't so bad!  Note that each time he uses a magic missile from the book, there is a 10% chance the page turns.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:34, Fri 02 Dec 2011.

Balthazar next heads over there.

In reply to A'kos, the Falcon (msg #174):

"Absolutely!" Jaleh answered enthusiastically as she hopped down onto the stool then began reading. "Did you mean read your book with you? If we could share, why were we choosing?"

Barmak turns to Apollonius. Here's how a new numbering system works...you know how an abacus works...good! You know that a column of it can have no beads moved. We can use a symbol for "no beads" like this   0   ; let's call it zero. Than ewe cna use a symbol for the number one - nine thusly....

Now that we have them, let's do some adding...since the total in this column is more than nine, we have so many tens of units in this column. That "so many" we can put above the next left column and add again....

And so it goes.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:41, Fri 02 Dec 2011.

"I dunno the mechanism of this magic," shrugs A'kos, "though I see you've your own tomes to attend to.  If any writing's left, I'll pass what I've got onto you when I'm done."

Then he smiles again and adds, "Just wanted you to sit near me while we read, sweetling."

Over dinner, Balthazar addresses the party, "When we are done with our studies here, the time will come to undertake our next adventure.  There are two things I would like to do.  First, I would like to avenge myself upon the treachery of Nicephorus and, if involved as we suspect, the Emperor himself.  Second, I would like to search for the Holy Grail.  What about the rest of you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:01, Sun 04 Dec 2011.

Jaleh smiled and leaned into A'kos and opened her own book to read. "Is this near enough, lover?" She asked.

After Balthazar spoke, Jaleh looked at A'kos first then Balthazar again. "The Holy Grail? You think you can find it?"

"Will we enlist the aid of Indiana Jones or Monty Python?" asked A'kos, deadpan.

Heinrich looks up at Balthazar, and says, "Pardon my insolence here, but do you have any information that would guide us better than the hordes of other fools after the Grail?"

Since they had gathered together for supper after their studies Loukas had been talkative and jocular. He even brings out the helmet-shaped stringed musical from his gear that they found in Baskaran's castle. He's been seen tinkering with it from time to time since their return and it seems he has a natural knack for it. He calls it a Shlemovidnye gusli and says that this particular instrument has a name, Volsu Blüskú, Veles's Splendor. He plays a song  and sings the tale describing their recent rescue of Sir Jean from Lord Basrakan in a fine tenor voice while everyone is eating.

Afterwards as he is eating Balthazar asks his question. Suddenly he is quite quiet. When Jaleh speaks he looks curiously at the Hedonite. He ignores A'kos, because he does not know who the two men he asks about are, but when Heinrich asks his question he nods, "Our German friend makes a good point, Balthazar. How serious are you? Does this mean you have some information at least as good as that which brought us here to Apollonius's Library to begin such a quest?

"As far as vengeance against Emperor John and his pet... I do not think that anyone here has more reason than I to desire vengeance, but undertaking such a project requires something like insight into what schemes they have afoot to foil. Do you have such information?"

"What would be the point to a life devoted to experiencing all life has to offer if you could never find the things you are supposed to experience?  Friends, my Hedonism training allows me to find the path to any destination, albeit only once a week.  This would mean I would get a direction to our goal, for which we travel along for a week, then I would check in with my 'inner compass' and see if we need to change our direction, or even if we overshot our goal.  I imagine the trip would be several months in the undertaking."



"I'm not talking about foiling current schemes, I'm talking about vengeance for past ones.  Granted, I'll know more about what we can and can't do after I've examined these 7 spell books available here."

Jaleh turns her head to give A'kos a kiss then whispered in his ear.  After whispering she turned back to her own book.

Miroslav shrugs his broad shoulders at the thoughts of revenge and finding the grail. He has of course heard the legends but this item itself means little to him.

"After we are finished here we can head home and make our decisions about the future. I am all for some adventure but I fear my wife may come looking for me if we do not go home first." he says with a smile.

The looking but rather pleasant host listens to the conversation then says..."I may be of some help to you. I cannot help with your plot of vengeance but I have read of the grail in more books than you can imagine. Let me ponder on this and see if I can give you any leads to follow."

Dyanna gathers up her dusty tome and finds a nice quiet corner to dig into the book. She has been uncharacteristically quiet for a while due to being overwhelmed by the library and Apollonius himself. Sure she had seen and done battle with djinni and demi-gods but there was something different about this one. Even though she is dumbstruck she feels a connection to this lich-like philosopher.

Loukas does not have a wife and family to return to, but he does have a monastery and temple he is concerned about. Accordingly he agreed with Miroslav's thinking about returning home before making decisions about their next move. At the same time, Apollonius's offer is not only generous, it may actually be their best chance to actually achieve the Holy Grail. He knows little of the Grail, but what little he does know of it he is not certain that obtaining it is simply a matter of determining it's geographical location. From what he has heard of the Grail it is something that eludes whomever seeks it until they are prepared to receive it. His skepticism of their 'readiness' to be permitted by the Gods to obtain this holy artifact is deep, but he reminds himself that he does not know enough about it to know whether or not he's right. Maybe I'll sing another song!

As the group begins to break up to study Apollonius's rich library he remains at the table playing Volsu Blüskú and adding to the Story of the Fellowship of the Heart of Oak. Indeed, however much longer the party stays with Apollonius this is where Loukas will be found plucking at his gusli and sometimes singing, others muttering, and often writing lines about the various adventures they've had together. In between he sleeps and stretches, but otherwise does little more than work on the epic tale he promised their host.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:35, Mon 12 Dec 2011.

Heinrich sits quietly at the table, listening to the talk of the grail.  He watches Apollonius, looking for any clues from his behavior. While thinking over the wisdom of chasing the grail, he tries to think on what he should look for in the other texts of the library.

As the others are deep in study, Apollonius takes Balthazar and shows his the section of spell books.

Afterward he himself sits down to meditate on the Grail and it's possible whereabouts.

Food and drink are continually made available to the party as they study even though Apollonius is indisposed. The library, though old is still fairly comfortably r. it seems that while Apollonius could not maintain his physical form,he has been able to maintain the furnishings here.

Barmak, his math tutoring at a standstill, leave the tomes and wanders around the library.

Loukas continues to practice with Volsu Blüskú and working his their adventures into a song. In between, however, from time to time he wanders into the stacks looking for one piece of information or another. He's not anti-social during this time, but he is focused. When meals are served he joins in enthusiastically, but otherwise he seems to be on to something or other.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:29, Thu 29 Dec 2011.

Miroslav the Rus sits reading through the book he has chosen for himself almost all day, everyday he is there. he seems consumed by the act of reading. Often he can be seen nodding his head and smiling to himself.

He seems to not mind hearing Loukas pluck and strum on the gusli, in fact it seems to make him happy as he reads the manual, often tapping his foot or nodding his hea din time to the compositions of the Monk of Veles.

Much like Miroslav, Dyanna keeps her head buried in her books but unlike him, she does not seem to be light-hearted. He study is in earnest and she seem annoyed by the musics and finds a quiet corner where she stays day after day reading and taking notes.

Often she is seen talking to Apollonius, perhaps seeking his advice and insight. When the group first met the ancient philosopher she was intimidated and even a little frightened of him but now that has changed.

Heinrich studies his book, but also peruses the library, searching for books that interest him. He consults Appolonius for guidance as to the contents of his library.

Apollonius seems to enjoy taking people on tours of his library. He escorts the German through the various racks and shelves making suggestions for reading and even translating and reading to him if the books are in a different language than he understands.