The attitude and the terms outlined by the attendant were to be expected Dumon thought as he turned to leave. The rest of the morning had been quite pleasant up until the crabman lost its head.

When the man asked for a moment of his time Dumon approached to see what the man required while trying not to tread in the puddles of blood.


-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 146):

When you finally approach the man, he raises his sword and wipes the blood on your robes before sheathing the blade and faintly smiling without saying a word.

You can only hear a few cicadas chirping on the tops of the nearby trees as a warm breeze blows by.

He then continues onwards in the opposite direction of you wordlessly.

As the man walks away Dumon looks behind himself to see if he was talking to someone else. He stays still for a moment and then continues on with his tasks looking to try Swaminth's Arcaneum next, though he might hire transport to get him there at the edge of the Yeong Prosperity District. He waits until he is out of the Yeong District a the walk through it is rather enjoyable.


-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 148):

Looking behind him, you see no one other than the fancily dressed man's back.
It seems that he just wanted to wipe off the blood of the crabman on your robes. It smells rather fishy indeed - both figuratively and literally.

Eventually you notice around you the scents of fine flowers and incenses from the expensive in the Prosperity District fall in number - gradually being superseded by the aroma of ink and paper. You soon arrive at the Mahir Scribe's Street. As it is now midday, you see that quite a number of people are out in the streets - mostly bookish looking scholarly peoples trying to find a book being sold off for cheap at the many stalls set up outside the stores proper.

After asking for directions from the friendly bookish people who are more than happy to have the company of a listening ear for them to ramble their theories while leading you, you eventually come to Swaminth's Arcaneum - which seems to give off a very distinct scent of rather minty smelling incense. From within, you see numerous peoples lining up in a row, in front of a counter behind which are rows upon rows of scribes all rapidly scribbling stuff. Quite literally, the air is filled with the sounds of quills scratching upon parchment.

But on another side of the store appears to be another member of the staff beside of whom you see a sign that lists the prices for other services that include:

- Lesser Identification - 20 GP
- Uncursing - 100-1000 GP
- Sell your used books (negotiable price)

When you come up to the counter, the staff member manning it parts her long gray hair covering her eyes and speaks.

"Let me guess... you got polymorphed into a Turtle due to a curse? That'll be 1000 Gold Pieces for an uncursing ritual."

She holds out a hand which seems to be covered in tattoos of a stylized platypus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:44, Tue 27 July 2021.

Dumon is as courteous as those around him and listens as he is lead to his destination. He read the sign with the prices and then chuckled to himself as she jumped to the conclusion that he had been cursed.

"No, no this is my natural form. I have one item I am looking to get identified and another for sale." He hands over the sack with the globe and the spell book.


-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 150):

"Ah that's a pity... I thought I could finally give my wand of dispelling a shot..." the woman makes a disappointed expression as she examines the book and the sack with the globe.

After flipping through the book for a few moments and examining the cover she eventually speaks.

"Hmmm... this book only has a few spells. But considering its quality, I suppose it could go for 100 gold pieces. As for this other thing... We'll probably need around 2 hours to examine it and prepare an identification spell. Why don't you come back later?"

The woman takes a slip of parchment and writes a few things on it, making a few stamps.

"Make sure to bring this with you when you return. Otherwise, we'll be keeping it," the woman snorts as she hands you the paper slip.

Dumon gave a small bow as he took the paper. It was time for lunch, nothing to fancy somewhere close even though he was keen to have a look around this district.

He found somewhere for his meal of dumplings and egg noodles as well as his clove tea. Afterwards a short walk before returning to the magicians shop.


-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 152):

When you return to the shop, you see the woman with two sacks at the counter.

Upon reaching the counter she speaks.

"The identity of the item is written in this slip. I've taken the liberty of removing 20 GP from the 100 you will gain from selling that spellbook. If there is nothing else, we thank you for your business."

As you expected, one of the smaller sacks contain 80 GP, while the 2nd larger sack contains the orb which seems to longer be producing any worms.

As you read the slip, you discover the following information:



After use, it must be buried in the fertile soil for at least a week before regaining its ability to produce worms.

After finishing reading the slip, you suddenly hear a yell from the southeast.

"Crabs! The Blue Crabs are rebelling!!"

Though one might expect a stampede of fleeing people, you instead see a large number of more strong looking men and adventurers looking at each other with wide eyes and then charging towards the sound of the yells.

Dumon thanks the woman and put away both the orb and the money before he leaves the shop. He was just thinking of taking in some more of the district when the alarm was raised. He joined the rest of the armed men and ran towards the trouble.


-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 154):

The sounds of many boots stepping upon the stone pavement fills the air as you follow the crowd of veterans and adventurers heading to where is likely the source of the voice and the scene of the advancing blue crabs.

Eventually, you arrive at a plaza near a coast where you see a scene of carnage unfold amidst sights of destroyed stalls. Some of the folk not adept at fighting seem to be rapidly fleeing from what appears to be around 30 large blue crabmen who are engaging with the many fighters and adventurers scattered about trying to subdue them.

Fortunately, it appears that the blue crabmen nearby do not notice you and instead begin to attack a pale man in leather armour carrying an axe and shield nearby.

As the man blocks the attack with his shield he yells towards you.

"Hey you! Don't just stand there, give me a hand over here!"

As he is done speaking what appears to be a torn head smashed into a bloody pulp flies past you and lands to the ground as you see another blue crab man stepping across from a dismembered human's body approaching, intending to assist his companion engaging the axeman.

"I... I'll split the money from these crab heads with you!! Help me out for now!" the axeman yells as he realises his predicament.

Dumon moves forward to cover the man's back as he engages the crab-men in close brutal combat. Raising his shield he swings out with his flail aiming for the closest crab man, be that the new arrival or the one already fighting the man calling for help.


Dumon rolled 15 using 1d20+1.  Attack.
Dumon rolled 2 using 1d8.  Damage.

In reply to Dumon (msg # 156):

Your flail strikes at the Blue Crabman's heavily scarred but hard looking shell-like skin, and makes a loud cracking sound as you see some bits of its shelly exterior break off! It reels from the strike for a moment before wildly swinging at you with hits large crab claw which just barely whistles past your head!

The wind you feel blow past you from your strikes makes you certain that it was likely that the owner of the head that fell nearby was most likely struck by this deadly swing of the claw!

But based on what you see - the crabman seems to have been heavily injured up until now - and is just barely staying on its crabby feet!

Meanwhile the axeman who enlisted your aid retaliates at the crabman engaged with him with a heavy swing of his axe - producing another crunching, cracking sound as steel lands on shell! The crabman tries to fight back, but the axeman deftly steps out of the way!

As the both of you fight you hear sounds of crushed bone and shell fill the air of carnage in this area that steadily begins to reek of blood!

With a flick of his wrist Dumon brings the flail back on his last attack. The impact was far less solid then his previous attack and he was unsure if he had even connected with the Crabman.


Dumon rolled 11 using 1d20+1.  Attack.
Dumon rolled 1 using 1d8.  Damage.



-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 158):

Your flail this time is deflected off the crabman's shell, but the crabman too fails to land a strike on you as you notice it trying hard to keep its balance as it swings its heavy looking blue claws.

The other man meanwhile manages to batter the crabman he's fighting with his axe once again, pushing it back with his shield in one movement, preventing the crabman from being able to retaliate effectively!

Behind you, you hear a fleshy "thunk!" sound as you see a crabman head fly past you again leaving a smelly trail blue blood in its wake.

Another downward strike at the crustacean and Dumon tried not to get distracted by what was going on around him. He also tried not to glance as to what was happening with the axeman to his side.

Dumon rolled 10 using 1d20+1.  Attack.

-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 160):

As you struggle to hit the crabman, who seems to be slowly regaining his balance, you hear a terrible loud crack followed by a yell of terror and a thud as you sense the axeman being thrown backwards by a sudden forceful crab claw to the ribs.

You hear a suffocating gasp come from behind you followed by a barely audible "Help!!" and a fierce sounding gurgle of crustacean origin.

Fortunately for you, the crab you have been engaging in this tricky skirmish seems to have similar bad luck and fails to hit you yet again..!

Unable to disengage from the crab man in front of him Dumon arc his flail around his head and brings it down to, miss by a wide margin.


Dumon rolled 8 using 1d20+1.  Attack.



-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 162):

The melody of melee continues its savage chorus as you hear a loud crunching sound followed by a squelching sound.

"Damn Crab! Nearly took my life! Least I have one head now..." you hear the Axeman exclaim.

"Many thanks for holding that mad Crab back - I will lend my assistance...!"

You notice the crabman you are engaging seems thoroughly exhausted by the mad flailing, and you see some nearby warriors eyeing it waiting for a nice opportunity to strike.

With all the excitement and noise it would seem that Dumon has lost his focus and it back at the hatchery picking up his flail for the first time. As much as he tries he cannot connect so he makes room for anyone else to take a shot.


Dumon rolled 3 using 1d20+1.  Attack.



-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 164):

You notice all the men nearby pounce at the opportunity and they attack the crab one after another before a rather brawny looking man in half plate armor cleave it into two with his greataxe.

Greedily, the man beheads the crab and ties it to his waist where you see around 7 crab heads swing about leaving a fishy trail of dark blue blood splashing about the gore covered floor.

"Ah, tough luck eh? Well, there'll be more to look forward to the future," the earlier axeman who enlisted your help pats you on your shoulder as the savage melee eventually enters a decrescendo and the fighting eventually ceases with the overwhelming loss of the crabmen.

As you survey the scene of battle, you notice around 11 other headless human bodies on the ground alongside the corpses of the crabmen. As the crowd of fighters dispers, you begin to see around 6 destitute ragged men hurry to the area to begin looting the bodies.

Dumon watched the men loot the corpses, though he was not that low to do anything similar. He had nodded when the axeman had commiserated him, but did not add anything further. Today was just not his lucky day, or the crabmen's it would seem.

He went to check one of the crabmen bodies to see if there was anything on it that might indicate why they suddenly decided to rise up.


-
This message was last edited by the player at 03:08, Mon 09 Aug 2021.

In reply to Dumon (msg # 166):

As you examine the beheaded bodies of the crabmen, you notice strange threadlike worms of blue with strange spikes around their length crawling about in the blue blood that seems to gout from their exposed internal necks.

As you see some of these strange worms essentially get flushed out of the crabmens' flesh by virtue of the profuse bleeding, you notice they seem to be very much alive and seem to be wading about gently in the blood that starts to approach your feet.

Dumon stayed clear of the worms and he had nothing on his person to carry such a thing. So he went about his day and started to make his way back to the auction house where he will deposit the orb for sale.

Then he will return to the The Molten Eye to seek an audience with Ba Le'mei or if she is not available he will leave a note explaining what he had seen in the crabmen. Also he wanted to do some research on the Library mentioned on the map he recovered.



-

In reply to Dumon (msg # 168):

You manage to make your way back to the auction house named Crystal Silver Pavilion.

This time with clear information about the identity of the orb, you find yourself being able to convince the staff who will happily accept the item and the 10% depositing fee. If you for instance want to set the starting price as 1000 GP, you will have to deposit 100 GP.

After making the payment should you decide to do so, the staff will hand you a metal tablet certifying your deposit.

"The auction will happen on 3 days from now, where your item will be auctioned for. We recommend you come take a look so you can collect you money - or your item if nobody bids for it - immediately after your item is auctioned."


...


The way towards the Molten Eye is uneventful apart from whisperings of the recent Crabman attack that you participated in previously.

When you finally arrive, you find out that Ba Le'mei is indeed not in the Molten Eye's headquarters at the moment, and after leaving a note head to the building's library to do your research.

After a few minutes of searching you find two tomes that seem to carry some information relating to the map you discovered.

The first tome is named "The Council of Crickets", while the second is called "Cult of the Python"

From "The Council of Crickets", you learn about a secretive society of magi that used to live in the Old Town aeons ago during the heydays of the flourishing Yellow City. It is rumored that these magi conducted all manner of nefarious experiments in their mad pursuit to discover the origin of magic. All their efforts were said to boil down to an artifact named the "Prism of Wisdom" rumored to contain the combined forbidden knowledge of the magi which is said to have been responsible for a terrible earthquake that resulted in the collapse of numerous parts of the Old Town.

What is interesting about this tome is that you notice that numerous parts of the text are underlined with numerous notes and comments written on the margins, likely by the ones who used this book before. Interestingly there is a note near the underlined words "Prism of Wisdom" which says "See the Tale of Malubar the Fool"

Should you try to find such book underlined, you will sadly fail to do so as there seems to be no such book in the library.

From "Cult of the Python", you discover a rather practical documentation of this religion that worships a Snake God called "Ecthet the Eternal". It is said that despite the God supposedly being Eternal, the Ecthet is already dead and the followers of the religion use the supposed moulted skin of a colossal snake as an idol for worship. It is said that the cult despises all those who hurt snakes, and will fanatically kill all those who try to hurt such creatures. And it is due to this fanatcism that eventually led to the cult to be effectively driven out of the city as numerous murders were linked to it religious fanaticism. But it was on the day of its expulsion that a terrible earthquake occured, and conversely made the part of the Old Town where the cult was at become fanatic believers of their God. According to the text, the full moulted skin is no longer present in the Old City, and only a small fragment is left over in a shrine that remained intact even after the earthquake. The whereabouts of the cult proper is unknown.

After you are done reading, you notice someone enter the library - and it is none other than Ba Le'mei herself.

"Ah, Dumon! You were looking for me? My...! Did you enjoy reading the collection here?"

"Ba Le'mei" Dumon stands and gives a short bow before indicating the seat across from him. "Thank you for seeking me out. I have some information on the crabman insurrection...." Dumon goes into great detail as to the worms etc.... and what else he found out during the previous battle. "I think there is more to this then so disgruntled crustaceans."

"As for the library it is truly impressive, though I seem to be unable to find a copy of the Tale of Malubar the Fool ?"

OOC: and yes he will start at 1000GP so will deposit 100GP.

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This message was last edited by the player at 02:33, Mon 30 Aug 2021.