Before midnight everyone finds themselves back within the walls of Silvervine Tower.  Kaele spends the entire night studying ancient tomes in her study.  Ishmael leads each of the adventurers to a small bedchamber, each previously prepared by Kaele herself.  Each room is small, but very luxurious compared to some of the private rooms one might purchase in any of the affordable inns nearby.
Porto, Roth, and Stan find a small gift on their beds, whereas Ilsa and Shirok already received theirs in their silk coin sacks.  Roth finds a set of goggles.  The lens are masterfully crafted and perfectly transparent.  He finds that when wearing them, anything he focuses on becomes slightly magnified; a useful tool for someone of his subtle talents.
Porto finds a coiled length of silk rope.  As he touches the woven fibers, he has no problem sensing subtle magic enchanting the rope.  He isn’t sure what it is, but he’s certain this will prove useful in his future travels.
Stan finds a beautifully bound, yet simple looking book.  He opens the book and finds several simple cantrips and novice incantations penned within.  As he flips through the cream-colored pages, he finds that many have been left blank.  He also finds that no matter how many pages he turns, he can never reach the end.  He had heard of such treasured tomes — unlimited spellbooks — during his time at Arcanus-Tirith.
The night passes by uneventfully, yet very peacefully.  By morning all of you feel more rested than any of you have in a long, long time.  Ishmael meets all of you as you begin to filter into the grand dinning room.
“A pleasant morning to all of you friends,” he greets each of you.  “Once you have all gathered here, Kaele will speak with you all collectively.  In the meantime, you are all invited to a morning meal.”
Upon the table are bowls of fresh and exotic fruits, a platter of poached eggs, raw vegetables, and pitchers of milk and a variety of juices.

OOC Once each of you post at least once, Kaele will enter and we may continue.

Stan's appetite this morning was voracious. His first day of adventure, with all its trying emotional scenes, had taken its toll. Vegetable and meat alike fell to the wizard's nigh-insatiable hunger. At last, he washed down the hapless breakfast with a large glass of milk.

"This! This is the best milk I've ever tasted. How do they do it, Ishmael?"

Shirok and Neya came down together, although Neya's movements seem a bit more careful then usual, as though she were less sure of herself. It is most likely due to the sudden growth she seemed to have gone through; one could almost swear that she had grown at least a foot overnight. The shewolf lay beneath the table patiently until Shirok passed down a plate of bacon and sausage, before filling his own with a selection of the fruits and vegetables across the table along with a glass of juice.

Ilsa came to breadfast without her sword and armor. She sat down next to Shirok and stabbed a large fruit, which she ate off the blade. She raised an eyebrow at Stan, seeing him drinking milk like an unweaned child but decided to not say anything. She wondered if Shirok noticed her being nice. And there was no proper meat on the table--was this how elves ate, she asked herself, but decided again not to taunt their host or Roth should he overhear--so she grabbed an egg and put the whole of it in her mouth. At least by eating she could avoid saying anything that would cause problems.

Roth came down the stairs slowly with his nose buried in a scroll.  He was dressed plainly without his armor or even his green cape, but still carried a dagger on his hip.  Atop his brow were strapped his new goggles wish pushed his black locks of hair back and to the side.  The young elf put the scroll down long enough to collect some eggs and fruit and acknowledge the others, but continued to read through it as he ate.

Kaele descends the short staircase leading to the dinning chamber.  Although she has not had any rest last night, she appears as vibrant and elegant as ever.  Once she reaches the landing she offers each of you a friendly nod, as if to say, “Good morning!”  She finishes the last few steps and abruptly begins as the rest of you eat your morning meal.
“Azazel Shiningstar was once an angel of the celestial realm.  He was a master swordsman and expert evoker, a grand champion of justice, and bearer of Light.  It was in the year 893 of the second age, during the Sin War that Azazel was finally bested in combat — or so the text goes.
“According to my research, Azazel was not destoryed in the Sin War, but seduced and corrupted by an agent of the Infinite Abyss.  Azazel’s story seems to fade away into obscurity until well into the third age and more importantly during a terrible time our collective history, The War of Tears.  It appears that during this time Azazel was walking among mortals here on the material plane.  He was stripped of his ability to fly and his wings were cut as punishment for his consorting with evil powers.  It was here on the material plane that he began once again to amass power and devotees, or maddened disciples if you will.
“As it were, his cult, the Sons of Azazel, launched themselves into a terrible bloody campaign against The Crimson Brotherhood; and more exclusively against the Dark Lord Tórus.  The Brotherhood ultimately destroyed Azazel’s cult and Tórus petrified Azazel in white marble.  About eighty years ago, the Azazel-statue was discovered and the Sons of Azazel cult was revived.”
As she speaks she produces the stone fragment Shirok recovered from the Glass Tower.  She holds it out in the palm of her hand for all to see.  “I believe this is a piece of that dreadful statue, and that boy you encountered was one of his agents.”
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Mon 25 Jan 2010.

Stan's eating habits were more restrained following the arrival of a lady. (Ilsa hardly seemed to count herself as such.)

As Kaele's description of Azazel's life waxed expository, Stan felt his appetite draining away.

"That statue; It's a literal piece of an extraplanar being?"

He deftly unforked the Tarnathian Blue Olive that he had been about to sample. The wizard's hunger for knowledge easily overshadowed his appetite for food. Stan forgot his manners and leaned across the table towards Kaele, eager to give the marbleized outsider-flesh an experimental poke.

"Then why do we not destroy that piece so the statue cannot be rebuilt and be done with it?" Shirok asked. Probably there was some bizarre, arcane reason it couldn't be done, but it was also possible that such a simple solution had simply never occurred to them. A wizard of Kaele's standing could probably conjure enough fire to reduce the fragment to nothing.

Beyond that question, both Shirok and Neya simply continued to eat, apparently completely unconcerned with the actions of some madness-crazed cult or a corrupted celestial being.

Ilsa grunted her agreement with Shirok and added, "Exactly. Smash it. Grind it do dust. Feed it pigs. Then throw the pigs into a flaming pit. Then scatter the ashes in the sea." She finished chewing and put out her hand, "I can do it if you want." There were few problems that a strong application of violence and destruction didn't solve, not in her mind.

And waste a perfectly good plate of bacon! I think not. Do what you will to the statue but leave a the pigs out of it. Porto says jokingly exaggerated. Surprising what a good nights sleep and an egg will do...and an apple, a couple glasses of milk a full plate of grapes, and whatever else was put in front of him.

"Or three of his agents." Roth replies to Kaele's conjecture of the nature of the boy.  "I was thinking of heading to the library today, or the keeper of records.  I'm sure if the person who claimed his temple was recognized by the first citizen, Julius, was telling the truth, there would be some record of it or him.  And maybe the lady scholar researching the fallen tower had some findings I could dig up."  After a pause considering Kaele's story, Roth adds, "And who were the Crimson Brotherhood and 'Dark Lord Torus?'  The Sons of Azazel don't sound so bad."

Kaele somberly nods at Stan, reaffirming what she’d said regarding the statue fragment’s origin.  She then listens to Shirok and Ilsa’s suggestions regarding the fragment’s destruction.
“Ilsa,” she says to the half-orc.  “Crush the fragment into as many pieces as you can, and place them on the table.”
With toothy smile, she quickly does as instructed, and the white marble crumbles easily at her considerable strength.  Four pieces are made from the tiny fragment, and Ilsa completes the task by setting them on the table before the party.
“Now Shirok, if you please, would you place the broken fragments back together?  Simply touch the pieces together.”
As Shirok does, he finds—as do everyone sitting at the table—that the fragments meld together and become one complete fragment once more!
“Azazel’s will to live is considerable indeed,” Kaele says softly following the eldritch display.  “To compound the issue, each piece calls out for the others.  It is a call only some can hear — but to those that can, such a call is maddening.  And I believe his will and each of your paths are deeply intertwined.  I believe if we can somehow figure out this mystery, I may be able to return you to your proper time.
"If you go in search of knowledge young Roth, I would like to accompany you.  Perhaps my presence may grant you access to knowledge you wouldn’t otherwise be privileged to.  Mayhaps Stan could join us?”

"Ooo!" What had been a slight annoyance had suddenly become a game. Sure, four pieces would come back together, but Ilsa knew she could do much better. Snatching the fragment of statue again, she threw it to the ground and stomped on it until no fragment was larger than her thumb. She then put all her weight on one small piece and twisted and scraped it on the floor until it had the consistency of dry dirt. She scooped the dirt into her hand and delighted in how it reformed into the fragment.

She then grabbed two small bowls from the table, trapped one of the small chunks under each, and tested how closely she could push the bowls near each other until they moved on their own, pulled by the fragments. She had forgotten about everyone else and since her name wasn't mentioned to go find information, she remained content to play. "I wonder if Azazel feels this. I hope I'm annoying him," she laughed.

Roth nods with interest at the stone's behavior and comments, "Now THAT is some marketable magic.  I can't think of a single noble who wouldn't spoil someone who could give them a self-reconstructing wall with riches."



"And likewise." Roth grins at Kaele with an air of confidence before returning to his scroll and breakfast--the young elf consuming much more than one would expect for his size.

"What makes you think we are intertwined?" Shirok asked, concern obvious on his face. "The time shift could have just been caused by some magics that defended the statue and its followers, our presence in the tower at all a mere coincidence. Why would such beings take an interest in us at all?"

Neya rose curiously as Ilsa starting stomping on the stone fragment, and she poked out her nose once Ilsa had finished to sniff curiously at the dust. Watching when Ilsa picked up the dust, her ears perked up in surprise when the rock began to reform itself. The shewolf sat up and watched Ilsa play with the rock, apparently in rapt fascination.