Though her hand had pushed to keep him away for her own bashfulness, as Rhydd took it in hold she let her delicate, gloved fingers curl to hold his in return.  Once again she found herself swept off her feet as he pulled her in close, the both of them seeming uncertain with how to carry on.  Mallory herself could hardly hear anything other than the thud of her own heartbeat in her ears and fretted for a moment that he'd feel it as he held her in, and as her own free arm curled up across his back to share that embrace.

"I... suppose so, yes." she agreed even as she simply rested there a moment longer with her head on his shoulder.  Words said one thing while actions said another.  But the knowledge that the others were just downstairs and likely to be waiting on them soon tugged at the back of her thoughts.  Ultimately, reluctantly, she withdrew first.  "Go ahead and put those on now though; it'll take an hour or so for the enchantment to attune itself to your body, so best to do it now than out in the cold." she urged as took for the stairs, intent on going ahead first.

Though as she started down she paused just a beat - long enough to cast a glance back over her shoulder and indulge in that smile again.  Then off she went with a decided spring in her step and sway in her hips.

Rhydd took a seat on the top riser of the steps and began unlacing the boots that he wore, intent on replacing them with the new, magicked boots that Mallory had crafted for him.

But he found himself distracted as he returned her parting smile with one of his own, and he enjoyed the view as she sashayed her way down the stairwell . . .

~~Pay attention, lackwit,~~ he urged himself as he realized with a start that his fingers had ceased their work. ~~These boots won't unlace themselves, nor will the new ones lace themselves up.~~

The journey back to Caer-Konig was trying. Night had swept in, and with the blizzard blocking out Selûne the otherwise bright and glistening snowy landscape was blanketed in utter darkness. Rhydd had to guide, and he knew it was all too easy to slowly and imperceptibly err from a path charted straightforward in whiteout. And with the winds erasing every footprint made they could in the worst case end up heading the complete opposite direction without even realizing.

But by looking down and taking care to maintain the angle of the snow drift on the broad side of his snowshoe and praying to higher powers the direction of the wind didn't abruptly change, Rhydd could maintain what he hoped was a linear trajectory.¹ It helped to have others devoted to the same task to correct for any misjudgements, and, on instruction, the Bugbears, wearing what was essentially just long, straight planks for snowshoes, could help as well.

It was thusly, as the blizzard began to wear off and the whiteout lifted, that Caer-Konig came into view. The Bugbears wanted nothing to do with any city-state other than Kharkolok and so said their farewells continued on their lonesome.

Only dim candles burned in the windowsills here and there, but the lantern above the doorway of the Northern Light burned as true as ever. When her former guests unexpectedly arrived, Allie opened the door in her night clothes, brazing against the harsh winds. "Goodness me, get on in, quickly!" she ushered the group along and quickly closed the door, then put on her coat and shoes. "You head to your rooms, I'll see that Wifni is fed and stabled."

---

Rhydd's Survival to navigate to Caer-Konig during a whiteout [16]: Success.

¹ This was essentially the method Claus Helberg employed after operation Gunnerside. Once back in the mountains, he left his group of saboteurs to retrieve his civilian clothes from a cabin. When he then skied to join the others, a blizzard struck and he successfully navigated by this method to the meeting location.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:30, Wed 05 July 2023.

It was a long, bitter trek, and most certainly one Mallory was all too happy to put behind her.  The entire experience was one that would surely trouble her for years to come just by simmering low in the background of her thoughts anyway.  When the time came to part ways with the Bugbears, she wished them her fondest farewells and genuine sympathy over their loss, along with assurances she'd try to visit Karkolohk when next she could.  The prospect of helping establish a proper trade line there was worth considering, after all, if the rest of the citizens were as personable as the duo-once-trio had proven themselves to be.



"Don't bother - she's not with us anymore." Mallory didn't elaborate on what that meant exactly while she groaned and grunted over the effort of helping haul in their various new cargo.  Magically dismissing their sled was one thing, but they'd gathered so much - many of it bodily remains - that they couldn't just leave things tucked in the corner of the stable.

Rather than make her way immediately for their rooms and the deep allure of a bed, however, the young noble slumped herself into a chair in the dining area with a heavy sigh.  She barely spared a moment to catch her breath before she began to dig about in her belongings for a small, palm-sized brazier made of finely wrought brass.  "Something to drink, please... we've been walking for hours."

While retrieving Zula from where she resided when not on the Material Plane had not been a long ordeal, it hadn't mattered much in the long run. The intense blasts of snow, and the deep drifts had made it so difficult to travel that Khulekani often had to dismount and lead the magnificent creature through the freezing terrain. Any advantage being mounted might give her was thus negated in the long run. As used to the warmer southern weather as she was, the Knight Errant's teeth were literally chattering by the time they managed to stumble through the doorway.

She didn't exactly regret coming this far North to right wrongs, but perhaps when this was all done, perhaps Anauroch could use some patrolling.

"Zula is smart enough to see herself to the stables, so please do not bother yourself..." Khulekani said through a wave of shivers.

She quickly stripped out of her boots, cloak, and all other gear that might have been covered in snow and placed them as near the fire as she could without actually setting them ablaze. With a series of curses and cold wriggling, the young paladin managed to doff her chainmail, which fell into a heavy pile on the ground. Peeling off her heavy woolen socks, she wrung them out into the fire with a steaming hiss, before placing them on the mantle like most peasants in wintry lands. Only her relatively dry tunic and breeches remained on her person, and Isiliva remained in it's swordbelt, slung over one shivering shoulder.

"Aye, something warm to drink, I beg you...Oh, and if you have any oil on hand, whale, lamp, vegetable, it matters not. I need a bucket of it. It's going to be a long night," she grunted, indicating the dripping wet chainmail.

Idrianthe had spent most of the journey back analyzing and refining her transcription of the chant from the spire, and mentally composing a letter to send the shieldmaiden's family, informing them of her brave end against a subterranean menace, saving her cohort from its hunt. But this loss was not hers, and she could sense the more real grief coming from Mallory, especially, at the loss of her dear friend.

The weather itself was fierce, almost divine in its wrath, but Idrianthe was no stranger to storms as impressive as this. They usually had less snow and more thunderbolts, though. Auril must have been having a delightful time when she spun it from the clouds.

When they hit the inn, Idrianthe set her pack down and tapped the brooch of her cloak, activating the shiftweave to transform into her more comfortable and breathable work garments. She sat at one of the tables near the fire, and gently tied off the empty sleeve over her right shoulder.

"Knight Kumalo, may I assist you? I am well practiced at caring for mail of this kind, and the work of two may spare you extra time for rest."

Allie wordlessly closed the door, having taken off her boots again, and went over to the fireplace to stir the smolder back to life. ". . . quite a journey, huh? And not of the thrilling kind, I take." She disappeared briefly into her own room before emerging in something warmer and more appropriate than a nightgown and lit the candles on the counter and table. "I'll set some tea for us — or some Kaeth for anyone who would prefer."

Before long she had poured nice, hot brew, brought a jug of wine, and handed the requested lamp oil to Khulekani.

There had been moments prior where Mallory had resisted the siren call of strong drink in lieu of focusing on duty.  She'd fallen to self-medicating her woes as she traveled north more frequently than she'd honestly like to admit, though felt she had enough control to fight the urge when it mattered.  But after all they'd been through?  Mallory didn't hesitate a moment to pour a full mug of the offered wine and drink deeply.  A full pour drained all in one before she even thought to give a word of thanks for it.

Of course, it wasn't as if table wine was a particularly potent potable, so it was frankly more of a placebo at that point.  One the young noble seemed intent on retrying until it worked, as she poured herself another mug quite promptly.

"Less 'thrilling' and more 'deeply traumatizing'." she heaved a sigh dredged up from somewhere deep and took another - albeit more reserved - swallow of wine.  "Our rescue mission was a failure.  The ones we hoped to save were already long dead or otherwise wholly unaccounted for beyond recourse.  We made a new friend out there... who was also killed.  And then we all nearly died two or three times over in the process."

Mention of both the Illithids and Auril alike was left out quite intentionally as Mallory glossed over things.  Word getting around of such things being a tangible threat so near to Ten-Towns would only cause a panic, after all, and it felt as though the atmosphere was especially bad enough as it was.  "Still, it counts for something that we were able to at least learn the truth of the matter out there.  It may not have turned out well, but thanks to my companions we can at least set the lost mercenaries to a proper rest rather than leave them forgotten in the wastes.  I never could have done it on my own."

Something Mallory was up to on her own, however, involved that tiny brazier and a satchel of various packaged herbs and compressed charcoal she retrieved from her belongings.  It may have been a bit uncouth to graffiti someone else's property, but that didn't stop her from drawing a remarkably even circle directly onto the tabletop with a stroke of charcoal.  It would wipe away later, in any case.  Her drink was set aside so she could focus on her present task as she picked small pinches of various dried, aromatic herbs from an assortment of folded paper sachets to carefully pile into the brazier bowl.  Small sniffs were taken here and there as she adjusted different volumes of the strange incense she compiled together one bit at a time, careful to gauge by scent and adjust accordingly.

Rhydd had shrugged both his pack and his heavy winter coat from his shoulders as soon as he had entered The Northern Lights, hanging both from pegs on the wall. "Good to see you again, Allie," he said with a nod to the younger of the Shorard sisters who greeted the party.

The outdoorsman made his way over to the fire, and added some wood to the low-burning coals. Before too long a crackling blaze added both warmth and light to the room. In spite of Allie's offer for her guests to make their way to their room, the party made itself comfortable in the common room.

Rhydd himself stood by the fire for a bit, warming his hands and fingers. His feet and toes were amazingly comfortable, undoubtedly due to the magicked boots that Mallory had crafted for him.

After a bit, Rhydd claimed one of the chairs for himself. Once he was seated, he raised his left leg and held it straight out in front of him. "These boots are amazing, Mallory," he remarked, wiggling his boot-clad foot back and forth.

"I'm not sure that I have gotten us here in the middle of the blizzard -- in the dark, no less -- without them. They kept me comfortable in spite of the storm, and allowed me to turn my complete attention to studying the landscape and keeping track of the direction of the wind."

"If I had not been able to do that, 'twould have been distressingly easy to have gotten turned around in the wrong direction. Which is quite dangerous, of course . . ." he shrugged as his voice trailed off.

After a moment, he spoke up again. "Obviously, I have no inkling  as to what is involved in the magicks needed to create such marvelous footwear, but my recommendation would be to fashion some for Idri and Khulekani as soon as ever you can."

Rhydd's remarks drew a smile out of Mallory despite her weariness and the overall stress of the day behind them.  Were it anyone else, she might've considered it mere flattery.  But he wasn't the sort to give idle praise as far as she'd experienced, thus she was comfortable taking his word at face value.  Genuine gratitude was so often hard to come by.

"A man so reliable and stalwart as you is a rare thing these days.  We'd not have made it back without your guidance.  Nor your--" she raised a gesture to the others where they'd settled in their tasks about the room "--strength in protecting us all, from start to finish.  I wish we could have saved more lives, but saving each others' and returning in one piece is no small feat."



That got a nod of consideration in return as Mallory returned her focus to her arcane scribing, working small etchings of coal across the surface of the table in between portioning out careful applications of herbs and incense.  "If you're curious, I could always teach you a bit?  Arcane work seems opaque but there's a certain sense about it once you begin to learn its framing, and there's great utility to be gained by even the most primary of spells.  I daresay your field of work would benefit greatly from having an animal companion, like Astre, at your side." she offered with a smile.  "With all we gathered at the Spire, I've many options ahead for further works.  Idri and I have already discussed it a bit while she helped me with getting my own boots finished, though there's a bit of a problem in her case.  The enchantments in her own armor aren't readily compatible with those I use, so making items she can employ is difficult.  We're working on a way around that; a different medium other than boots, perhaps." she explained with a shrug.  The workings of magic were varied and strange; from an outside observer's view, one might assume all magic was uniformly the same and thus interchangeable.  Hardly the case though.  There was much tweaking and careful modification to be managed.  If nothing else, that could be gleaned from whatever arcana she was in the midst of working right then and there on the tabletop itself.

"Our good Squire, however, holds no such obstacle.  With Idri's kind assistance, I should be able to have a set for her by the end of the day and still have some Ice Troll materials left over for other uses.  Which would you prefer, Squire Kumalo?  I could enchant the boots you have now or a different set if you've a spare."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Sun 16 July 2023.

It pleased Rhydd to hear Mallory speak of him as reliable and stalwart -- assuming that "stalwart" meant what he suspected that it did. Although he nodded his head in acknowledgment, he kept his expression neutral -- he was not much given to boasting.

"Just doing my part," he said after a moment, shrugging his shoulders. "We all contribute as best we can."

The archer had no illisions about Mallory's offer to teach him magicks. He reckoned that the chances of his being able to learn such things were slim and none. It was clear, however, that the wizardess had his full attention when she spoke of the possibility of his gaining an animal companion -- "like Astre", she had said.

"Wait," he blurted out, a little more sharply than he had intended.

"How is such a thing even possible, for a non-magicker such as myself?"

Idri was busying herself with the challenge of warming up, and assisting with armor maintenance if Khule had accepted her offer. "Yes, my armor is a very particular sort, none too easy to integrate other magic into. There are ways, but I never really had the knack for it even in my heyday. I shall, of course, be more than happy to continue assisting in outfitting the squire with the best available." She took a glance at Khulekani's boots, still sodden. Those probably won't give her gout once they're stuffed full of abjurations, Idri convinced herself silently.

"Everything Mallory and I are capable of can be learnt, Mr. Maldhon, even something as dear and special as that. Given enough multitasking or multiple lifetimes, in the case of elves, you can even learn quite a few different ways to do it. With a good teacher and commitment, you don't even really have to learn the rest of it to start figuring your way around rituals."

Idri's offered explanation of things was paired with a nod in agreement out of Mallory.  "While my ability to divine the future is innate - born on Tymora's most auspicious day as I was - everything else you've seen me do with spellcraft was all learned.  Taught to me by skilled tutors, gleaned from my peers, or even just developed by my own hand and effort." she elaborated further.  The strong reaction Rhydd had to the idea caught her a bit off balance in its forcefulness, though something about it struck her as charming all the same.

"There's no such thing as a non-magicker, Rhydd.  Magic exists in all things; some may show a greater natural aptitude for it, but all creatures have the capacity.  The extent of which is limited only by how far they can push themselves.  Spellcraft is no different, in essence, to any other skill or trade." Gloved hands gestured across the arcana display she had laid before her.  A ring drawn in charcoal that, with every passing stroke of the coal pencil, gradually drew more and more into an involved glyph.  A humble brass hand bowl set at its center, an assortment of powders and herbs and incense being pinched out in particular measurements.  To an uninformed viewer it certainly looked like inexplicable occultism but, to Mallory herself, it was literal child's play in its simplicity.

"Do you remember a few days ago when I told you of the first spell I ever cast?  That slew a boar in an instant?  A terrible thing, that.  But... not quite accurate, I confess.  I cast that spell by way of a scroll; it was far too powerful for someone of my inexperience at the time to achieve on my own.  But this - what I have before me - is the first spell I ever cast entirely of my own effort, as a girl of only seven summers.  A ritual to summon a dear companion.  Just what my heart needed after such an awful, but vital, first lesson from my teacher." she gently drummed the edge of the little brass brazier to make it ring like a dull bell.  "I have every confidence you could learn this spell yourself as well, with proper time and tutelage." a coy smile tugged up the edge of her painted lips as she leaned a playful tilt Rhydd's way.  "Though... if you were feeling a mite impatient for a fluffy or feathery cohort of your own, I could fashion an enchanted device for you that would do the heavy lifting in your stead.  I actually developed it a number of years ago during my schooling - they became quite popular among my fellows for a time."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:43, Mon 17 July 2023.

"Rudimentary spellcasting is surprisingly simple to learn," Vellynne said in part yawn as she slowly came down the stairs, making sure she had a good grip on the railing. "But I'm always equally surprised at how many are incapable of even the rudimentary — magic or otherwise. Ow," she groaned as she made the last step with a hand on her hip. "Sickness claimed my eye and now time has come to claim everything else. To be an Elf and be afforded several lifetimes . . . you cannot comprehend the depth of my envy."

Her Owl familiar Mercuri flew ahead of her and perched himself on the back of an available chair, cleaning his wing until the arrival of his Mistress. "Forgive me if you'd rather speak on the morrow, I was simply too curious of your findings."

Rhydd was quite taken by surprise s both Idri and Mallory assured him that, given enough time and effort, magicks could be learned by anyone. He supposed that it was rather like using a longbow. Some took to it much more easily and quickly than others, but he supposed that short of a physical handicap like missing fingers or an arm, pretty much anyone could eventually learn to use a bow, given plenty of time and practice.

Still, the thought of being able to use magicks was so foreign to him that he was unsure how to respond. Did he wish to learn such companion-magicks for himself, or did he prefer some sort of magicked item, like unto that which Mallory had mentioned? He had no idea.

The archer was mulling all of these unexpected possibilities over in his head when Vellynne tottered down the stairs and announced herself to be "too curious" as to the group's findings.

As a man who preferred fewer words than most, Rhydd stayed silent, glancing between Mallory, Idri, and Squire Khulekani. He expected one of the others to take the lead in responding . . .

It was a fair surprise that Vellynne joined their company all a sudden.  Though, as she thought on the matter, Mallory actually wasn't certain what time it even was.  She'd known many an elder - research-driven scholars especially - to wake very early in the morning before even laborers would simply by habit.  Had they arrived in the dead of night or just before what should have been dawn?  The perpetual state of twilight and snow storm was going to drive her sense of time to ruin.

As Vellynne settled to her chair, Mallory drew over a spare mug and served a steaming cup of kaeth for her.  "I daresay my report on the whole affair would be far more coherent after a few hours of sleep, to be honest." she remarked dryly as she returned to her ritual work.  "We discovered quite a bit within the Spire, though we brought back far more questions than answers.  Certainly a number of things that can use an experienced arcanist's eye.  As for your Ythryn... nothing specific, I fear.  I did find what may be a clue though.  I don't wish to raise your hopes too high but, should my hunch be correct, it could very well be a guide to wherever that lost Enclave has fallen to."

Mallory didn't wish to keep their patron in suspense but she didn't want to string her along with potentially hollow hope either.  In-between motions of her ritual, she shuffled into her satchel and retrieved a spare bit of chipped stonework she'd taken from the Spire, which bore the bizarre fractal patterns as all else had.  A tiny bit to examine, though she had many other elements that bore the strange corruption to cover later.  "That said, the Spire itself and its many contents were tainted by some kind of Aberrant influence.  It was everywhere.  We also discovered what may well be its source, but I'm reluctant to partake too thoroughly of our acquisitions before we fully understand the scope this Aberrant influence might have on them."

Vellynne examined the extended stone but didn't reach to touch it, instead settling her hands snug into a blanket she had brought from upstairs. "Yes, I am aware of this blight on the exterior. Aberrant is good guess. You say it extended to the interior too? Curious. I have yet to come up with a concrete theory on what it is or why it's there, but if you say it stems from a source within that you took with you, that is worrisome. I trust you have taken precautions bringing it here." She drew her gaze from the stone to shoot Mallory an anxious glance while Mercuri extended his neck and tilted his head for closer examination. "Have you heard of Faerzress? It is an arcane radiation that permeates parts of the Underdark. Residual High Magic. Some plants and fungi feed on it. It also prevents scrying, which certain Drow have incorporated into their city plans. My worry is we're dealing with something similar here and that those fractal patterns are merely manifestations of an invisible effect lingering in the air itself."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:30, Mon 17 July 2023.

"As much as we had available to us.  Given the... situations... we encountered while there, leaving it behind was not an option.  Regardless, the source itself is most certainly not from around here." the young noble was uncertain of how much she should speak of with Allie so nearby.  She didn't want to go troubling others or causing a spread of rumors with unsettling news, and the mere mention of Illithids was often enough to cause a panic in already strained communities.  "Rhydd and I came into direct contact with it and there was indeed some sort of emanation.  So it'll be us two you'll want to keep an eye on for potential side-effects from exposure."

---

Arcana check on Faerzress - Player knows, but let's see what Mallory knows.

Mallory Bonheur rolled 27 using 1d20+7
Nat 20.  Apparently she's familiar.

---

Mallory's Arcana on Faerzress [27!]: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Faerzress. Vellynne is correct in her information.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:08, Mon 17 July 2023.

In reply to Idrianthe Mar (msg # 109):

"I would be in your debt. I know among warriors, there is much debate on the merits and flaws of different armor, and while some swear by the mobility granted by rings, there are so many nooks and crannies to clean. Literally thousands of them. Sand and oil were how I was taught to clean them, but if you have a swifter, more efficient technique, I would love to see it, Mistress Mar," she replied with a chattering bow.

At Mallory's question, she turned and considered her answer for a long moment.

"I would say the boots I have now. If we are to face more such dangers in the near future, I would have comfortable footwear. Not time for blisters and breaking in new leather when fighting for our lives, or running like the Nine Hells are at our backs," the young woman said with an amused smile.

"I'm too cold to go into the particulars just now, Master Maldhon. But opening up your heart to the will of the gods can also be a path to wondrous and magnificent abilities, for those of a faithful heart. Just something to consider..." Khulekani muttered, hugging herself tight against the cold that was infused into her bones.

Idrianthe offered the brave squire a warm smile. "You were taught well! There are shortcuts, though, that the wizened and wrinkled can tell you," Idri tapped her decidedly not wrinkled nose; elves had it good, as Vellyne observed aloud a moment later.

"Ah, but for every lifetime a death, Mistress Harpell," the worldworn elf replied, and then gestured to her tied-off right sleeve. "And plenty of years between the deaths for maimings."

Overhearing Mallory begin to deliver their findings, Idrianthe perked up one her slender ears at the mention of something she wasn't all too familiar with, this Faerzress.

But her attention had been engaged by Khulekani, and the excitable craftsperson in Idri was too awakened to ignore. "So, in principle, your method is the best. But the process can be much hastened by mixing sand with vinegar in a barrel and dunking the mail inside, really slosh it about. Take it out, wipe it down, then a second bath in a mild solvent to get all the gunk out from the crannies. Strong spirits are ideal, but sufficiently dilute acid can do the trick very nicely once you have the quantities down. Absent a good amount of sand, a simple, aggressive water bath and then sun drying will also do the trick." Idri quirked her lips at the obvious absence of sand and sun, mumbled indistinctly to herself, then stood up from the table. "But, for practical purposes, we'll cut corners. Squire, could you please strip the gambeson from your armor and hang it from the wall sconce, here?"
This message was last edited by the player at 01:51, Tue 18 July 2023.

Mallory half-listened to the topic of cleaning methods on armor and gave a gentle sigh.  Given all they'd been through, she much preferred such mundane conversation over mentally re-living the Spire's events.  "I'd offer my cleansing cantrip, perhaps.  As a child, I used it to hasten my chores in laundry and washing dishes from hours to mere seconds.  Though if your armor requires any sort of special conditioning - oils and the like - it might not be wise."  A promising notion indeed.  Mallory had frequently used just that trick to whisk away filth from herself as they traveled, leaving her always looking freshly laundered at any given moment.  Though she did offer Vellynne a sidelong smile and shrug. "I fear that spell doesn't differentiate between the good and the bad when it comes to cleansing.  My grandmother nearly flogged me after I unwittingly purged a generations-old patina from her favorite iron fry pan.  Magic is wondrous in its many ways but, as our good Madame Harpell observed, over-reliance on it leads to failure."

A total over-reliance on magic resulting in disaster... indeed, that about summarized the state of the Neth, Mallory mused, as she returned her thoughts back to the more pressing topic at hand.  And speaking of a crutch-inducing magic: "I'm quite familiar with the Faerzress; given its effects on divination, I took considerable effort to learn all I could of it over the years.  I don't believe that to be the culprit at the Spire though.  Faerzress disrupts magical expression quite a bit and our spells all worked just fine.  It especially muddles teleportation, but that was no issue either even within the Spire itself." Mallory pinched up a bit of incense between her fingertips to work it into a finer powder before it was smeared about the charcoal circle.  "Still, we aren't far from several major Drow cities a few miles below the surface, so it's certainly not beyond the realm of possibility for Faerzress to be involved.  We'll just need more testing, is all."

With all her many powders and herbs sorted into their sundry piles, Mallory redoubled her attention on the charcoal glyph once more and set into the more involved aspects of its construction.  Soft taps and scrapes sounded as she continued to draw with well-practiced motions that seemed more reflex than anything by that point.  "Regardless.  I'm not going anywhere for the next hour, so we might as well get to it.  Which would you prefer, being our generous patron as you are?  A full run-down of events and what we found one step at a time?  Or shall I just skip to the potential clue to Ythryn?"

"I want a full rundown of events, and I'll pay you for this information, as is proper," Vellynne said, producing her sheet of small diamonds and moving one to the center of the table. "My offer to buy any books or artifacts stands, but I'd rather first inspect the one you say you have brought with you before an eventual purchase. Should it be dangerous you can keep it yourselves. The debris with the blight on I am not interested in."

She then folded the diamonds back up and stowed them in pocket, before leaning back and taking a sip of the kaeth. "I doubt I will be able to fall asleep should I try, so I have risen for the morning. Cover what you feel like you have the time and energy for and we can resume tomorrow."

---

To reiterate, one diamond is worth 200 gp per carat. The one she offers can be eyeballed to 2 carat.

"Well, there is some blighted materials you may be interested in.  Among the various elements we encountered and recovered while there, we have the remains - or at least the skulls - of those who died in the Spire.  Including that of a Neth who presumably lived within it, given the personal bedchambers we also found there." Mallory barely even glanced across the diamonds when they were presented.  Her whole cause for being so far north was to collect funds, of course, but she was accustomed to large scale business deals from her lifestyle prior.  "Given the passage of time, I'd say we're likely far beyond the point of easy resurrection, but spells to commune with the dead should still work just fine.  Assuming the aberrant corruption doesn't somehow interfere."

Thus, over the course of the next hour, Mallory set to explaining the events in summary.  While she didn't conceal anything from Vellynne, it was obvious from her bearing and particularly selective phrasing that she was dodging some more troubling details here and there.  Any time Allie drew too close within range of the conversation, Mallory's retelling became more vague or she greatly abbreviated them with a remark of 'But there's too much to say there, so we'll discuss it more later after I've rested...'.  Vellynne would have to return to those topics later when there wasn't the risk of troubling the locals with what might be revealed.  But, even with her dancing about the more difficult aspects of their experience, the adventure was retold.  From the strange fractal contamination that coated the Spire outside and in, to meeting the Bugbears, to delving each curious, upside-down chamber and the dangers they held.

Along with each element discussed came different items associated with the encounters.  The one vial of ancient Potion Mallory herself still held from the mounted chest she'd picked.  A stout stack of various books written in tidy old Netherese.  The strange mystery potion that had been produced seemingly from nothing by the mysterious Mystra-carving room, along with details of its odd manifestation.  Normally she would have littered her retellings with illusions to visualize what she saw herself rather than simply rely on verbal conveyance alone but, in the process of a ritual casting as she already was, the young noble couldn't interrupt it with the activation of other spells.  Even as she retold their adventures and drew out various items to present to Vellynne for inspection, she was clearly only half-focused on that while still maintaining her arcane work on the table itself throughout

---

I beg forgiveness if I'm assuming too much, but it seems like everyone else is set to their own matters for the hour, so I'm just going to roll with the idea that Mallory is in charge of the business dealings for the group here.

In regards for what she reveals, she'll tell Vellynne everything they came across, but will specifically eschew mention of the Illithids and Auril.  She'll let Vellynne know various dangerous foes came upon the Spire directly - seemingly alerted to the Party's presence within - who forced them into combat and hiding to escape from.  But she'll not discuss the details until they're somewhere more private.

---

"Quite a lot to take in, and that's really only the half of it.  If I had my way, I'd have taken the better part of a week to write a proper dissertation in report for you rather than try to abbreviate it right after the fact like this." Mallory sighed out.  The table beyond her glyph work was absolutely laden with all sorts of debris by that point.  Books, skulls, tidy stacks of scribbled notes analyzing the Super Heavy Magic structure and enchantments they'd found at the Spire's lowest - or rather highest - end, samples of Black Ooze in bottles, and the still-locked silver chest taken from the hidden bedchambers.  The only items she didn't immediately produce were the Shield Guardian Amulet, the Mirror, the Pearl of Hadar, and the Illithid device they'd recovered.

"I'm personally very interested in this chest we found.  We've given it some inspection and I feel I've enough skill to pick the lock, but it was too pressing a chance at the moment we found it to risk.  Now that we have more time to do it at our leisure, it should be no trouble at all." a gloved hand gestured over the sealed silver chest in passing.  "It may contain useful documents and information, though we've no way of knowing just yet.  The other clue we found was a control amulet for a Shield Guardian, partially thrown outside the Spire itself at a point where the structure had fully sundered amid the ice.  Though there was absolutely no trace of the construct itself.  I haven't had time to inspect it properly but, if it still functions, it's possible the Shield Guardian it's connected to may still be within Ythryn and thus serve as a beacon to locate the Enclave itself by.  Assuming, of course, it didn't also get hurled out into the wild blue yonder to land who-knows-where when Ythryn first fell."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Fri 21 July 2023.

In reply to Idrianthe Mar (msg # 124):

With obvious reluctance, Khulekani removed herself from her place near the fire, and went over to her dripping clothes that hung to separate the gambeson from the mail. She wrung out the layered cloth as much as she could, before hanging it back up where her Elven companion indicated.

"In what way are you planning on 'cutting corners' my friend? For I was planning on digging through the snow and unfreezing some earth near the fire in order to retrieve the appropriate sand. And idea that would make that unnecessary would be  true godsend," she asked with a weak smile.