Completed Mysteries in a Bird Skull

[Inoadar]

When Wrenmae asked him to put the item to some task in hopes of triggering its function, Inoadar felt confident it was the logical thing to do. He stepped down off his stool, where he'd been sitting quietly the last several chimes, trying not to get in any further trouble, and reached down to pick up the skull.

He paused, as Marcus made his understandable protest. He tried to recall if he had given the agent ALL the details of how he'd been gifted with the thing in the first place. Probably not. It was not for the some malicious intent to deceive him. But at the time, he'd been so anxious to have something to offer the man, that the details hadn't seemed important.

Just then, Mr. Sullins made his bid to offer a solution to Marcus' concerns. A solution that would isolate and probably concentrate any ill effects on Inoadar alone. He turned back to hide his scowl, his thoughts immediately grasping the downside of it. 'Yeah, that would be your idea, wouldn't it, "Clyde"? Make sure that I'm the only one at risk!' He tensed when the mage struggled to remember his name, turning an intense look at Wrenmae and mouthing the words 'Don't ask' to him, just before turning back and filling in the blank, "Morley."

But as much as he felt inclined to take everything Sullins said in the worst possible way, he could see the sense in his proposal. But he DID agree that some glyph barrier might defeat the purpose, by blocking any mystic signal the item was crafted to send. He felt it was better to simply go for broke with no "barriers".

He turned to Marcus and explained that, when he got the thing, the mage, Ervis, had had him dead to rights and was tauntingly asking him to offer up a reason why he should not kill him right then and there. Inoadar went on, somewhat shame-faced, to explain that he had offered how effective he would be as an ally. How he'd befuddled the Ebonstryfe and led them a merry chase, setting up his network of contacts right under their nose. And how useful he'd be as an agent/affiliate for their efforts.

The Rising Dawn mage had apparently believed him and offered him the skull. So that he could contact Inoadar when he wished. "If he simply wanted to kill me, knowing, at the time, that I was not among the ranks of Rhysol's faithful, why not just kill me then? He would have had no reason to think that this meeting would ever take place."

[Wrenmae]

Wrenmae only offered a raised eyebrow to Inoadar's mouthed request, turning to both Clyde and Marcus with a confident smile. "My appreciation, Clyde, for your offer but I don't think it necessary. Maladiction may not be fully predictable, but its basis is rooted in the same facts." He indicated the skull, kneeling down to point out the circle that had activated its properties.

"The carving suggests this to not be a weapon at all. Given the circumstances Morley has given to us in how he received it and with my own inspection, I can at least confidently say this item is not a weapon. Maladicted weapons are more fetishes really, and it would be more useful to carve it out of some predatory animal or much more devastating creature. The skull suggests a utility use and I'm quite sure it to be safe."

He nodded to Morley.

"If it makes both of you feel any safer, you may leave the shop, stand just outside, and observe through the window. As a sign of good faith and confidence, I'll remain here."

He smiled humorlessly, "I'd much rather explode with the item itself than disappoint when I was called on."

Patting Inoadar's shoulder, he took a spot just across from the skull and crossed his arms. "We won't find more than I've already told you, unfortunately Maladicted items are often tested before they're used. If this is an important matter, than we could take someone to consult the type of bird skull this is, its habits, migratory pattern, other details that might make divining its purpose easier...but I believe it will waste your time."

He eyed the thing, as if daring it to explode and disagree with him.

"I want to help and I've offered you my opinion. How we proceed is up to you gentlemen."

[Inoadar]

Inoadar stepped forward, "Okay look, The man said this thing 'would allow him to find me'. He said for me 'to keep it on me at all times if I wanted to meet him'. Now I have not gone that far, but I doubt that it is of great significance. He probably only means it in the sense of not letting others get hold of it. THAT much I HAVE done."

He started to pace, his right hand cupping his chin, his left arm beneath his right elbow. He made a general gesture towards the two djed crafters, "Stop me any time I say something you KNOW to be incorrect. It looks to have been intended to be a link between him and I. Frankly, it has the...sense...of being for sending messages. As long as no one is holding it...maybe even touching it, it probably has no effect or sends any messages. I think if I pick it up and speak..."into"...it, he will hear."

He gained momentum. "Now, I don't think I have touched it while any of you were here. I had it wrapped in the cloth, so IF I'm right, he won't know you guys are here. Now, he probably won't show up just because I call for him, he may track me down later, but who knows." He paused a second, then turned and walked to his desk and wrote down his room number, 'Tarsin's' and the name under which he stayed there. He handed this note to Marcus. "You may want to have this room watched after this." He gave Marcus an intent look, hoping to convey how much trust this gesture represented. He didn't think Marcus knew where he stayed before now.

"Now everyone be quiet, I'm going to give this a try." A thought occurred to him. "Wait a chime, maybe you should put some sort of circles down to hide YOUR presence. If he CAN hear me, he may, by some djed crafter's means, be able to sense your presence."

[Marcus Ahysen]

Things were certainly about to get interesting.. or really boring. Inoadar was prepared to test out the item, so see if he could get it to work. Apparently this meant talking to the bird skull. Hopefully that would not somehow reveal everyone in the room, but judging from everything that had been said up to that point, Marcus was beginning to think that it would not. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. "I agree. Place down your circles to prevent us from being detected, if you can, but still allow the magic item to work. If it really is a device for communication, I want to be here to hear whatever this mage has to say." There was little else for Marcus to do but wait. Inoadar's full explanation of the story did not shock him too much, but he was surprised to be given Inoadar's address. The agent nodded and placed the parchment safely into a pocket in his robes before stepping back, allowing Clyde to have as much space as he needed. Marcus was not overly familiar with Glyphing, or any magic other than those he used himself.. half of which were of the divine sort, so he had no idea how large of a glyph Clyde would need to draw. Moving to the edge of the room, Marcus waited patiently, taking care not to lean against anything poisonous as he rested against a wall.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde nodded once more as Wrenmae spoke, his words making a logical sense to him. His eyes felt a bit droopy, a bit sleepy, after all of the events of today. He had delved far into an aura, and expended a decent bit of djed in doing so. Not as much as he did while casting Reimancy, but enough to make him feel tired, in more ways than just sleepy. But he did his best to keep his thoughts flowing and active, and to not let himself fall behind. Yes, as he had said to begin with, blockading Morley inside of a barrier might cause the item to not function, he had said as much when he previously put up the offer. But if Wrenmae legitimately did not think it was a weapon... And that its function was not to do anything malicious... Well, he supposed he would need to just trust the mage for know, who professed such great knowledge of Malediction. he would need to trust someone at some point. And it made a logical sense to do so now, so why not? When Wrenmae offered him a chance to leave the shop, Clyde shook his head. In fact, a very different idea had popped up into his head. If the threat was in them being found, it would make more sense to Glyph all of them with barriers, to keep the item from noticing them. It would serve the same purpose of defending them all, while also keeping the item from noticing them if it was able to do so. Two birds with one stone and all that... Which was ironic seeing as it was a bird skull causing all the fuss... He was just about to tell this idea, of ensconcing each of them in a protective and concealing barrier of Glyphs, when Morley interrupted, just before he could do so. He ended up going on a short rant, explaining more about the item, which honestly did not really affect him. So he let him go on in peace. But it was just as he was going to end AGAIN, that he spoke, and said Clyde's exact idea! Giving them all a personal barrier! He was just about to say it, and he had beat him to it! And if he said so now, or complained, it would make him sound petty, and like he was trying to steal another's idea... But he had petching been about to say it, but had been interrupted by Morley, who had beaten him to it... He had thought of it first! He took in a deep calming breath, trying not to show he was a bit aggravated, though a small frown did cross his face. But it would do little good to say anything, so logic dictated he do nothing, and just Glyph. Let him think as he would, he knew he had thought of it first. Without speaking Clyde got back out his inscribing paint, and set to work making three large circular barriers for each of them to stand inside of. Not huge, but at least a decent amount of feet in diameter, large enough for them to each comfortably stand inside of one, while they let Morley do whatever he did. His barrier by nature need not be extensive or complex, his ability as a Glypher would be enough to do whatever he needed in this case even in simple terms. And it only needed to hold for a few chimes. Even a base barrier would be enough. And whatever he did, he knew how to imbibe it was strong intent, and make it serve more purpose than a far more extensive Glyphing drawn by a less experiences Glypher. Using the paint, he began to draw it out, the first circle. He made a single dot, and then swept a line curving outward from it to the right. He then descended off of this with a S like Glyph, turned on its side. Off of that he did a circle with a line bisecting through it like a spear, and slowly curving around more and more symbols. This was a bit odd for him, not as he did his Glyphs traditionally, but he just let them flow out, doing what he felt, making a curving line to make the barrier, which went all the way around to encircle were the dot with the curving out line began. Completely ensconcing the line, with the dot at the very center. That dot would be the point were the person would stand. He added in other Glyphs, to make the long curved line, a single line with many additional lines splitting off and branching, sort of like a tree... A cone with a wavy line at the front with the tip, depicting a beak with a worm in it. He kept on drawing, adding more and more different ones, adding in symbols that related to the malediction, in hopes of infusing his intent into the Glyphs to ward off that same malediction. Hoping that in doing so, it would not read the inhabitants. Even though it was but a simple barrier, he still infused it with the full capability and skill of his craft, giving it the same care as he did to any of his works. He finished it off with a feather like symbol, which looked similar to the tree, except that it had a sharp line contouring its outside to mark the edge of the feather. Once he was done, he was left with a circle made of different symbols, with at one point a part of the solid circle curving inward to end at a dot, which was a heavy dab of his finger. He moved over, and began a second one, and on to the third, making them more or less identical, however changing around the order of the Glyphs slightly, as his intuition said to. For some reason the Glyphing felt... Right... Even if it was very different from what he normally did. But it also felt strong, like it could ward off a djed storm in its full fury if he needed it to. Of course, this was just a feeling, which perhaps was helped by his tiredness. Once he was done, he had three of these barrier Glyphings, each large enough for the three men to stand in, Clyde, Wrenmae, and Marcus, more or less each of the same diameter and identical but for the order of the symbols. "There. Just pick one, and stand in it, on the dot. And make sure to keep yourself inside of the outer circle of symbols at all times, once he begins." With that, Clyde put away his paint, wiped off his hands on his robes, picked up his staff, and moved to stand in one of the circles, holding his staff close to his chest.

[Inoadar]

Inoadar waited until the other three men had stepped into their respective circles. They all looked down to center their feet over the dots, and he made eye contact with each as they looked up. For a moment, he suppressed a grin at the thought of how similar the name 'Sullins' was with the word 'sullen', because the man's face still hinted at annoyance.

Inoadar assumed that the man felt this was a waste of time and didn't appreciate having to go through the trouble of scribing the three glyphs on the floor for nothing. 'Well too damn bad, Clyde!' he sneered inwardly.

Each man nodded in turn, and Inoadar picked up the skull. The mage, Ervis, had not said anything about having to hold it any certain way, or in which hand, so he went on the idea that it must not matter. He held it in his right hand, secure in his fingertips and turned it's "face" towards him.

He was about to call the wizard's name, when it occurred to him that he was not sure if he should know that name. He wracked his brain, trying to remember if the old mage had said it, or if the woman had, during the argument he had overheard while the riot was raging at the temple last fall. HE had said HER name, Siriana, but no one had said his, he didn't think.

It seemed that he knew it before Marcus had said it, but he figured he'd better play it safe and not say it out loud. After all, he was playing the part of a rebel sympathizer, and supposedly a smart one. Ervis shouldn't be suspicious if he displayed the common sense to keep names out of it.

"Sir?" he asked the skull, "Are you there? I need to see you right away." He turned the skull to the side and repeated himself into the "ear" location. He decided it was prudent, and consistent with his logic regarding names, that he not say what he needed to see him about. Again, Ervis should not be suspicious of such caution...he hoped...

[Marcus Ahysen]

OOCWell.. since I'm the only one who actually knows what will happen, I guess a tiny bit of guest modyness is in order They all waited patiently. Marcus stood as motionless as possible above his dot within the glyphing circle, hoping that Clyde was as skilled as he appeared to be, and was actually capable of keeping them all hidden from sight, or whatever form of detection the skull might employ. He knew only about his own magic, and even that was very little, but it was nothing like what he was experiencing now. The mechanics of it were all foreign to him, and as far as Marcus was concerned, anything could happen. But.. nothing happened. No magical voice spoke back. As as far as those watching were concerned, it appeared that the experiment had been a failure. Well, perhaps not entirely. They knew that the object wasn't a communication device. But it was all rather anticlimactic. Marcus sighed, wondering if it was safe to step off the dot. Inoadar, however, would experience something. No, there would be no voice responding to him, neither verbal nor mental. But as he thought about the mage, as he attempted to speak to him, as he chose not to say the name out loud, and as he remembered anything else about the old man that might come to mind, something did happen. Inoadar felt a pull. Not a physical pull.. but an internal pull, and in a specific direction. It was a gentle tug, nothing that would force him to act, but he could certainly feel that he was drawn in a specific direction. East.. north east, to be more specific. But besides that, nothing else would happen. "Well... I guess nothing is going to happen. Do you think it's safe to step out of these circles yet?"

[Inoadar]

OOCGiven Ino's action, he should act right away

Inoadar whirled to face Marcus, shaking his head silently and holding his hands up, one facing his spread palm toward Marcus and the other with his finger over his pursed lips. Then he pointed at the skull and then at his ear. He immediately spun to give the same gesture to the other two men. He looked around, clearly uncertain and seeking an idea.

He did a sudden double-take and took a few quick steps to his desk. He grabbed one of his charcoal sticks and scribbled on a page in his notebook:

He listens - I get urged to go - stay quiet - wait til gone - follow - N.E.

He held the book up with the page open, showing it to each of the others in turn. He saw no immediate objection, and he did not intend to hurry. The others should have ample time to formulate some quick plan and catch up easily enough. In the meantime, he would be thinking up some ruse to explain his message to Ervis, just in case the others did NOT follow...or could not.

He put down the paper and went to the other room, donning his mail shirt, his Nettle Cloak, and picking up his cane. Weapon though it was, with his mauled leg, it was useful as an actual cane as well. He grabbed his leather bracer, the one with the selection of "darts for all occasions", as he put it. He strapped it on and, as a last resort, slipped his knuckleduster into his pocket. This was not a good situation for his Tamo dagger set, but he had his regular one on his belt.

He went to the front door and looked back to see if any one of the others made any gesture for him to wait before stepping out into the street.

[Marcus Ahysen]

Marcus was about to step out of his circle when Inoadar began to flail in alarm, causing the agent to freeze mid-step. Slowly he placed his foot back down inside his protective ring, waiting to see what Inoadar would do. The man scribbled something in a book and then held it up for all of them to see. Marcus glanced to the others, and then nodded in confirmation. After Inoadar left the room, Marcus let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Do you think it's safe to step out now?" Assuming nobody objected, Marcus quickly headed over to the front door and peeked out, spotting Inoadar heading off towards the North East, clutching the bird skull. Marcus quickly waved for the attention of one of the Ebonstryfe that were stationed outside. A man hopped down from the roof of the building, dressed in the black armor of the Ebonstryfe and wearing a hooded cloak that concealed his face. "Follow him. He may lead us to the Rising Dawn." The soldier nodded before disappearing off into the city, presumably joined by the others that were watching the building. Marcus went back inside with the two mages. "I've got a unit following him. He said he was heading North East, so I guess we should go that way too." As for Inoadar, the skull would continue to urge him in that direction so long as he continued to focus on it and Ervis. Distractions would break the connection, and he would have to focus on the skull again, but each time it would continue to pull him in the same direction. This would continue, uneventfully, until he reached the North East edge of the city, but he could still feel the pull, urging him to go on, out onto the lake, and to the shore beyond.

[Clyde Sullins]

There was not really much to do, at least for Clyde. His part in it, the Glyphing, was over. All they were left with was to act, and either his Glyphs would work or not... But, he did not doubt his work, he did not know of another Glypher as skilled as he was, which was a fact. It was always nice though, to get to use it in new and interesting ways. The poisoner said something to the skull, which he was generally aware of, but not that interested. The words were not the important thing after all, but the answer or response to them was. Even though Clyde heard Marcus speaking, he did not bother to move, just standing in his spot. He after all, did not want to make the mistake of moving to soon. No, he would stand ensconced in his Glyph work. Ensconced... That was a nice word, which he only just realized he had been using quite often of late... He pondered for a moment, why that might be... Did the word have any special meaning or significance to himself? Clyde watched as Morley proffered a note, saying were he was going, and donned quite a few items. Armor, chainmail, along with a odd cloak, and a cane... Then he slipped in a few smaller items, a metal finger covering, a leather bracer which seemed at odds with the earlier chainmail... And was off. He waited until Marcus had left his circle, and reached the door, before leaving his own. Not in any particular hurry, just going. Now it was time for them to follow, so Clyde would. As before he still had his pack with his Glyphing supplies, along wit his staff in hand, and the one hammer still tucked into his belt. He was not the greatest at using it, but it was still nice to have.