The next day dawns, and bright and early the pair of you head to the People's Library to start the research process. Sebastian goes digging for historical records, while Bristle is examining folklore and magical theory for information on the Dimension of Dreams. Both of them have...productive mornings.

Sebastian is not a particularly cheerful man in general, and spending the morning digging through frustratingly vague records does little to improve his disposition. Any interactions with Bristle are short and brusque, and Sebastian then returns to his reading. He is however not so curt as to avoid passing on the key details.

"While you were looking up folklore and magic theory, did you find anything on something called the "Dreamplague?" It might be related. The records here are sparse to the point of an active attempt at suppression. Sometimes the best indication of something important is not evidence, but lack of evidence that should be there." He muses. He supposes he will need to eat lunch and the like, but afterwards, he returns to the library. He has several lines of inquiry to pursue further.

First, he will look at the Andoran annals of 2061 and 2063 AR. Perhaps something can be deduced from there. Even just basic numbers, like populations of different regions which might show an unexpected dip, sales of properties, amount of taxes collected. A significant enough calamity should be identifiable, and perhaps he could further localize the incident, or find other information.

The second line of inquiry was to quickly flip through the annals, looking for any other missing year. With two thousand years, that was not a quick task, but he didn't need to check every year thoroughly, just see if there was anything else missing. Had this problem recurred?

Third and finally was to try and identify when and how the records were purged. Did the library records indicate the missing year? If not, was there any record of that year having been checked out or otherwise accessed at some point in the past? This last task would likely involve interacting with the librarians, rather than simply looking through the books, so he saved it for last, lest he stir up trouble and get banned without completing his other investigations.

Let me know what, if anything, I need to roll for the above searches.

Roll knowledge history and knowledge nobility; you can roll these untrained since you have the library at hand.

13:34, Today: Sebastian Kosmin rolled 32,19 using 1d20+1d8+6,1d20+1d8+6.  knowledge history, nobility.
(free inspiration, because both skills are trained)

Sebastian continues to examine the annals of the region.

Bristle had gotten up before the sun to drop off her armor and shield at the Enchanter's Nexus. A quaint little shop she had found the previous day. By night time her trusty gear should be magically enhanced to provide her even more protection than before. In the meantime, her only added protection was the magic ring she had purchased. She felt half-naked as she perused the books in the archives without her armor on. But at the same time, it was quite comfortable and relaxing.

When Sebastian too a moment to ask her about a "Dreamplague," Bristle shook her head. "I didn't notice anything about that, but I did discover a potential ritual that could get us to the dimension of dreams. But it has some very specific requirements of timing and location, needing a flowing river, a cliffside, a forest, and a new moon. When is the next new moon?" Bristle shook her head clear to keep her mind from getting distracted by a tangent. "Anyway, the description of the requirements sounds suspiciously similar to some of the terrain around Falcon's Hollow. But the ritual also demands some expensive components, mostly incense and gemstones. And even with all that, it's noted that it might still not work properly."

Bristle shrugged. "Maybe Whisper botched the ritual and got stuck there? Dunno. Did your Dreamplague thing happen at the time of a new moon? I'll see if they have anything else by the same author, and if the author wrote any more about dreams. Who knows, maybe it was even written by Whisper..." That last bit she said with only half sincerity.

---

When was the previous new moon? (Specifically in relation to the events of Falcon's hollow.) And when is the next new moon?

Bristle will then attempt to find more material from the same author as the ritual, especially if it is about dreams and the dream dimension. She will also see if she can find out who else may have read about the ritual in the checkout logs.

14:26, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 24 using 1d20+7.  Knowledge: History with Guidance - record-diving.

14:28, Today: Bristle Chonk rolled 8 using 1d20+7.  Knowledge: Local with Guidance - record-diving.
Oof.

Sebastian hisses to himself at the response of the librarians. The whole thing reeks of mind controlling magic, and Sebastian has had enough experience with that to know that it is never good. If the librarians are unable or unwilling to note anything wrong, he still tries to get what he can, asking them for the missing librarians name, description and residence. "I am a healer, perhaps I could help her if she is still ill." He suggests.

Sebastian finds himself intrigued by Bristle's description of the ritual.
"Interesting. Perhaps that gives us another lead. The purchase or theft of rare and expensive incense and gems may have been noted by the local merchants.
As for the dream plague, it apparently struck two thousand years ago, and records of it have been struck from the records. As such, I have little information about what it is, or whether it was done around the new moon. But I have learned a lot. Whatever it was, it killed almost a third of the population, and threatened ever worse calamity. Even afterwards, people feared to sleep."

I also have another thing to follow up on. The missing record was taken by a librarian who has not been seen in weeks, yet the locals seem unconcerned. Perhaps our next step would be to pay this person a visit if we can find them."

Actions: try and ask the librarians for information about where the missing librarian lives, description, etc. (Is a check needed?

It's currently a waxing half moon, meaning the next new moon is in about three weeks. The last was a week ago, well after what happened in Falcon's Hollow began.

Further research is conducted. Questions are asked. Answers are received.

"Well, if and when you go to meet the missing librarian, I would suggest bringing Firea and Voh'ren with you. Their noses could come in handy. I wouldn't mind going with too, after my armor is finished getting enchanted."

Bristle went back to diving through the archives and came back some time later with new information. She was... quite shocked by what she had uncovered. "Say, Sebastian. Listen to this thousand year old children's rhyme I found from old Cheliax.

One, two, 'til morning light's on you
Three, four, best you lock the door
Five, six, Charlie's sick
Seven, eight, feel her hate
Nine, ten, stay hidden

The cornerstone is broken
The door is hanging open
Nothing left to hide behind
She's going to come inside

"

She looked up to gauge Sebastian's reaction. "Now get this. The rhyme is titled 'Whisper.' Which, sure, it could all be one big coincidence. But here is the kicker. The book was credited to someone name Anders Truevale. And the book with that ritual I found? It was authored by someone under the name of Repala Truevale, but catalogued under the name of Anders Tierden. It's a combination of the two names! No way that can be a coincidence..."

"Sebastian, I think Whisper may be over a thousand years old. Or, at least, she has taken on the persona of someone who lived over a thousand years ago."

Sebastian feels a chill through his back at the rhyme. This was not good. Not good at all.
"There are no coincidences. I think it would be a good idea to get the others before investigating the librarian. I have a bad feeling about it. I would also like to spend some time trying to find the item I mentioned, to allow us to avoid sleep as needed.

I think I'm done here. Would like to go to the market and look for a page of spell knowledge (keep watch), or see if one can be commissioned or ordered. I can't actually afford it, but maybe the party can pool resources for it, since it's for everyone's benefit.
Then once that is done and Bristle has her armor finished, I'll try and track down the rest of the party to see who wants to come with me to investigate the missing librarian.

You can readily find the page of spell knowledge.

"Yeah, I think we are pretty much done here. We can sleep on it- or, not sleep, if we find your item -then decide if we want to come back and do more research later. But for now, let's go back and find the others and see what they learned today. And we can see if they have any cash they want to chip in for your magical spell. I probably have enough for it myself, but certainly wouldn't mind if others contributed too." Bristle began packing up all the books and putting them in their proper place. She didn't want to lose the librarians' favor by leaving a huge mess for them.

"We should probably go pick up my armor too. Should be done soon, I think. Oh, and if you ever want to learn one of the spells that Death grants to me each day, just let me know and provide the materials. I could probably manage to make one of those spell items myself if I happen to be able to cast the spell you need. Assuming I also have the spare time."

---

I tried providing an excuse to regroup and learn about Firea's spell. Ready to rejoin a thread with the others.

Sebastian nods in agreement, wasting no time with trivialities. "I agree. There may be more to find, but for now we have more urgent leads. Let us go get your armor and the others. And I thank you for your generous offer."

Sebastian wonders if Bristle would be so generous if she knew what Sebastian was already capable of. That dark thought took him to another one, wondering what it would be like to avoid sleep through magical means. From a practical point of view, it would mean resistance to Whisper's powers. But equally important, it would be a respite from the dreams. From the memories of the horrors he had committed. Without that constant reminder, would he backslide into the monster he had been before? Or even to the naive fool he had been before that? Shaking his head as if to physically throw off the ill thought, he finishes tidying up the books and goes to get the armor and rejoin the rest of the group.