March Event Log B: Einjar Excursion

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	The Einjar Excursion's resolution is dependent on the choice of players who are participating in it. After you have read through this post, if your character is going to be part of the Einjar Excursion, please respond to This Comment as soon as possible with the choice that best matches the one your character would choose. The resolution is not dependent solely on players choosing one side over the other, but also on the actions they choose to take.
🜙 Preparation March 8th
	Einjar's population is small in modern times, but the people who remain in the vast cavern city to maintain and protect it are usually in constant contact with Preciposte via falcon. None of the falcons Preciposte has sent to Einjar have made it back in months. The round trip to Einjar and back will take at least 8 days in total and no one is certain what they will find there or if they will even be able to get through the massive, heavily warded doors that can only be opened from within. But if something has happened to the people of Einjar, the threat needs to be discovered before it progresses to Preciposte and Krimnos. It is sure to be a harrowing adventure for those willing to brave the treacherous cliffs to reach Einjar but the kobolds and dwarves residing there might be harboring even more secrets than anyone expected. The excursion organizers recruit a company of Knights from Krimnos, as well as a variety of volunteers to fulfill multiple roles on the journey. Supplies are gathered and divided out among the large company before the journey starts out on foot, and three densely wooled llamas are loaded up with the spare supplies. The excursion team consists of*: ⤛ 16 Knights of Krimnos, kitted out in their full armor and well-armed. Eight of the Knights travel at the back of the line while the other eight travel near the front. Twelve elves, three dwarves and a young snow leopard beastwoman. ⤛ 6 Preciposte residents (3 tieflings and 3 dwarves) who are acting as guides and trackers for the mountain paths and Einjar respectively. ⤛ Healer & Cook: Christine ⤛ Hunters & Trackers: Katsa, Lauralae, & Robin ⤛ Survivalists & Scouts: Katsa, Trevor, Jon, Lauralae, Majima, Strange, Allen, Nike, Daud, & Robin ⤛ Guards & Defenders: Alucard, Katsa, Trevor, Jon, Majima, Allen, Daud, & Robin ⤛ Stealth: Alucard, Majima, & Lauralae ⤛ Linguists: Daenerys, Nike, Robin, & Tony ⤛ Wards & Trap Removal: Christine & Strange ⤛ Animal Specialist: Daenerys & Lauralae *Other player characters can still be added to the team, multiple roles both listed and unlisted are filled by multiple characters.
🜙 A Journey's Beginning March 9th-12th
	The trek through treacherous mountain paths is a dangerous and difficult one. The high altitude and freezing temperatures require the company to make frequent stops to rest their lungs and the llamas. Camp is made each night in five shared tents. The Knights split up between two tents, the Preciposte citizens in a third, and the excursion team split among the fourth and fifth tents. Meals of hot stew and stuffed breads are shared around several small magical fires before everyone hits their bedrolls for a rest. Night watches are broken into four rotating shifts so no one is out in the night cold for longer than 2 hours. The night of the 11th the company makes camp atop the impressive ruins of the ancient temple of the mountain giants. The sheer scale of these ruins is humbling and daunting. Scorch marks from dragon fire still mar some of the marble and stone pillars. The descent down the mountain has brought the company to a lower altitude and the ruins themselves are devoid of snow or ice, almost warm under the midday sun. The height is still dizzying and the land is a little more open than is comfortable. The company will have to fend off and defend the camp from cliff hawks, a tribe of porcupine-like carnivorous cave spindles, and a colony of six-foot-tall venomous cave spiders that make the ruins their home, all to get past the ruins to the massive stone and metal doors that bar the entrance to Einjar.
🜙 Friends in High Places March 12th
	During their journey through the ruins, the company is ambushed multiple times. One elvish knight is lost to a cave spindle attack, one of the Preciposte tieflings and one of the llamas are carried off by cliff hawks, a Preciposte dwarf loses his footing on some unstable rocks and disappears off the edge of a cliff with the second llama, and another elf knight is severely injured during a cave spider ambush. With only one llama and two tents left and night quickly approaching things begin to look bad for the company and only get worse once the sun sets. A pack of dire wolves appears from within the ruins, distant howls making their numbers impossible to guess but making it quickly evident the company is surrounded by predators still out of sight. As the oversized pack of dire wolves closes in to attack, a family of kobolds armed with slings and small hammer axes appears from the cliffs above. Their ruckus of calls and the metal-banging noise of their hammer axes against their shields drive back the hunting pack. The kobold family scampers down from the caverns above the ruins and joins the excursion company, inviting them back to the warmth of their cavern home, breaking bread with them and sharing a friendly conversation. One member of the family is a strange sight among the short kobolds, towering above his siblings, but the entire family seems to be cheerfully good-natured and happy to share what is theirs with the excursion company. They don't know anything about the recent silence from Einjar, but they offer to lead the company along a safer path to Einjar's doors in the morning. The knights seem uneasy in the cavern, keeping to themselves and discussing maps with one of the regularly sized kobolds. When questioned by one of the elf knights on what exactly he is, the taller kobold gives the company a confused look. "Isn't it obvious?" He asks, head turning almost vertical with a wide, toothy smile and a confused expression. He clasps a hand on his four-foot-tall brother's shoulder, towering above the smaller creature by a full three feet and thinking nothing of it. "I'm a kobold of course." And were it not for the genuine pride on his tongue it would seem a bold-faced lie even to a half-blind dwarf.
🜙 The Doors to Einjar March 13th/14th
	The next morning the kobolds press on through the mountain path leading the company of strangers after them with cheerful conversation and horribly off-key dwarvish mining songs. Several of the knights fall behind exchanging hushed whispers between them. Conversation around the campfire that night is tense and muted by all but the cheerful family of kobolds passing around mushroom and egg drop soup and a savory mushroom grog with a powerful, fiery kick. Distant animal sounds are heard throughout the night, along with occasional roars of a larger beast, but nothing attacks the company. The taller Kobold's name is learned to be Monty, and he explains that their family hasn't lived in or even been to Einjar since shortly before the war due to a distaste for the rising demand for crafting armor and weapons and a disagreement with the dwarves that ruled over the city. They consider themselves artisans and jewelcrafters rather than smithies and call themselves 'people of the wild mountains'. At dawn, the company realizes the doors to Einjar are within sight, and less than an hour's distance away. However, It is discovered that sometime during the night the remaining dwarves from both Krimnos and Preciposte have disappeared.
🜙 Open Sesame March 14th
	The doors to Einjar are behemoths of metal and stone, built to keep dragons out of the massive mountain cavern city. A river runs at a high force out from beneath the stone doors in two channels, roaring over the cliff in a waterfall not far from there. Stone bridges cross the rushing rivers on either side of the path to the doors, eroded but sturdy. The doors can't be open by force and are covered in ancient dwarvish runes. The dwarves who built Einjar preferred working with their hands and tools over magic, and the Gates to Einjar were no exception. Usually opened from within, they remain silently shut to the excursion company. A large circular depression in the door matches up to a pieced together symbol on the ground before it. Heavy pieces of a solid iron shield broken into seven segments sit in a depression on the path before it. Each is the same size and shape and can be slotted into any of the seven slots on the door. The segments are labelled with the dwarvish runes for Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Birth, Sanctuary, and Death. To either side of the large door are two armored dwarf statues. The one on the left is a female dwarf standing on a carved rocky platform, wearing a winged helm and carrying a shield in her right hand. The statue on the right is a male dwarf holding a blacksmith's hammer and an axe in either hand, the platform beneath him is worn away by the rushing river. The runes around the depression in the doors reads down from top to bottom: Within Cycle Horizon Beneath Below the depression is the symbol for "Pair".
🜙 Einjar's Halls March 14th/15th
	Once the puzzle is solved the doors open to reveal the empty, silent city of Einjar. The great bellows and roaring furnaces are silent and cold and the halls are empty. No bodies, no sound, and no living souls. Food is left untouched and cold on tables, weapons half forged remain on anvils or partially melted into cold furnaces. Everything is left as if abandoned in the midst of a day of work. Deeper in the caverns beyond Einjar's main city buildings, kobold mining tools are scattered about and carts partially filled with raw minerals and gems are overturned, footsteps disappearing unexplainably mid path. An open cavern recently blasted open sits in the deepest point of the mine and within it is a bizarre scene. Dust and lime covered life-sized statues depict a battle between much smaller dragons and very short dwarves with many of the faces carved into expressions of deep rage. At the center is a deep, black pool of water, devoid of reflection or ripples. Around it are the bodies of the missing dwarves that had disappeared from the excursion company earlier in the trip. The depth of the pool can't be measured with sword or stick, and an uneasy sensation overcomes everyone within the excavated room. The beastwoman knight touches the liquid, attempting to examine it, and in that moment a low, ringing sound builds in the room. Chaos breaks out as the elves and the kobold family that unwillingly escorted the company into Einjar burst into a full-scale violent assault on one another, the origin of the sudden fight impossible to determine. The water stills from the rippling touch several minutes later and the fight is broken up, but with both parties convinced the other side started the fight. The elves claim the kobolds know more than they are saying, and the kobold family insists they have never set foot inside of Einjar. The arguments escalate until one of the knights accuses them of harboring a dragonborn, pointing to Monty. They say that Monty needs to be taken back to Krimnos for questioning, to which the kobolds bare their teeth and threaten that Monty will only be leaving with them over the entire family's dead bodies. Whatever decision is made, the overall agreement is that they need to leave Einjar and return to Krimnos with their findings before anything else happens.
🜙 Journey Back March 16th-19th/20th
	Following the discoveries within Einjar's halls and some free exploration by the excursion company, everything is divvied up between the survivors and the trek back to preciposte begins. The trip back is tense and uneasy with larger night watch groups and tighter rations. Hunting is necessary to feed the company, and new tents are made from fabrics taken from within Einjar.

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[cryptsleeper]

On the Road (General, March 9-12th)
[Being on the road is good. Being on the road means work, just as it used to. The whole texture of the trip is blessedly familiar to Alucard, and it makes him feel far more pleasant and relaxed in his own skin than he has felt for the past several weeks. That alone is a great boon, even if the mountain terrain is one he doesn't remember crossing more than once in his life. When he traveled, it was mostly south, because that was where those who hired his services were, or else where the things his father needed were.

During the daylight when the whole group is moving, Alucard is towards the rear, aware he's most useful in that capacity. The mountain paths, at their worst, would prompt the dhampir to float if it wouldn't set so many people on edge. Such as it is, he is deft of feet.

Come evening, once camp is made, he sits towards the edge of thing, his wolfy animus curled beside him and her head resting on his lap. (Or else she's being spoiled by Trevor.) The night doesn't make him nervous. If anything, he seems the most content there.

Watch is a different story. Alucard is as tense as a string on a violin, eyes starring out into the dark, sword already drawn. There's little point in not having it out, not when there's no doubt that the only things out and about in such a remote place are threats.

There's the sound of crunching snow. He hisses, voice carried on the wind:]

To your left, up ahead.

Mountain Giant Ruins (March 11)
[The ruins merit investigation, that much Alucard is so very sure of. It's why once camp is settled, the dhampir is immediately drawn to exploration.

Alucard does not dwell on the obvious and clear damage done by dragons and their ilk. What has his attention are the things carved and hidden by vines, their patinas thin and hardly weathered by time. They are so very recent, and each one prompts more tension in the dhampir's shoulders.

What gives him real pause though is when he sees broken rusted metal on the rocks below, coupled with bones. Alucard tugs the coat he has on tighter around himself, frowning at everything he can see.]

I hope that this is not where we camp upon our return as well. I dislike the thought of something catching our scent and having time to prepare for our return.

Exploring Einjar: Food Edition
As remarkable as the preservation is, none of this helps establish a time frame of what's happened.

[Alucard says the words as he is starring into a bread box, his face calm and impassive at a perfectly fine looking loaf of bread that hasn't begun to grow mold. He understands the concept of preservation like this, it has helped a great number of rare and wondrous things endure, but it isn't helpful at all.]

I'd had hoped that it might be otherwise.

Exploring Einjar: Treasure Edition
[Alucard sits on the floor of the treasury, and in his lap is a notebook. He sits there, carefully sketching a large golden chalice that perhaps one could dunk their entire face in if they were of dwarf size. The inlaid gems are remarkable in and of themselves, and Alucard's eyes are fixed on the tiny filigree work that makes it a truly remarkable piece.]

I knew men who'd murder for a piece like this.

[And it is a true statement. In curating, collecting, and appraising, the dhampir had run into many who would look at an object like this and want it to be one of so many already owned.

He breathes out, surrounded by so much wealth, and keeps sketching.]

Perhaps I'll move onto some of the weapons next, if any are exemplary works.

Exploring Einjar: Mine Map Edition
...That's interesting.

[Alucard has spent much of his own time exploring the empty city, careful of where he steps,hardly interested in the matter of the kobolds (and their dragonborn who's Definitely Not a Kobold). As a younger man he might have had a greater desire to take the choicest items not only from the treasury, but from the homes of ordinary people because their things could be given to the right collector.

All he's done is take careful notes of the city around him. Sit and sketch. Understand what's left behind without disturbing the scene. It's easy to do, until he sees the mine map and the fact that where the mine was meant to expand was never well and truly explored.]

There must have been a reason that this area of the mine was never opened up.

[ He taps his finger on the circled part of the map.]

Hollow, but left alone...

einjar: food edition

[kingsroads]

First the shrine in the dragon, now this. One of these days, we'll explore something and the food will be properly rotting.

[ Strange is talking as he rummages through the cupboards near Alucard. It's a downright comical sight as the tall elf has to hunch down to comfortably move through the house and examine the kitchen. If someone was packing up to leave, one would think that they'd at least hide the silverware. These people didn't. ]

I don't know why you're so focused on the food to begin with, [ Strange lightly complains. ] There's much more interesting things to study.

[ Considering that he's spent a large amount of time staring at Monty the ""kobold"" like an absolute creep, it's very apparent what Strange views as an interesting study. ]

[cryptsleeper]

The fish has gone off, if you go into one of the houses a few doors down from here. It's a testament to how the climate works in here, if nothing else.

[Alucard has accepted that he is an absolute point of comedy in going into these homes and carefully poking at the things belonging to the dead. He can't find himself minding that much though - simply putting himself in the frame of mind of those travelers who did the same to his father's house.]

I had hoped that some of the food's rot could begin to help with establishing when this place was well and truly abandoned. Yet the natural aspects of this place has ensured everything remains as it was, yielding nothing helpful and yet still being absolutely fascinating.

[Alucard hasn't quite noted Strange's really intense staring with the Not a Kobold, but he hasn't been focused on the conflict beyond thinking ah, fuck, more dragon related things. The opportunity to explore an abandoned city called to him far more once the doors of Einjar were opened.]

It stands to reason that if there are remains here, they'll be in a similar state.

treasures!!!

[dorzalta]

Now, or before? [ she asks by way of greeting. Having had her fill of exploring other areas, she'd found herself in the treasury... and Alucard as well. It would be a foolish thing to hug the back secure against her back closer to herself, so she instead circles the outer perimeter of the room.

Her dragon egg sits amidst clothing and supplies, secured and snug. That should be reassuring enough, but after the way Lauralae looked upon mention of him when he discovered her egg... Dany will take no chances. ]

My brother would have taken half the items in this room if he could get away with it.

[cryptsleeper]

Before. I'm afraid my network of clients has long since dried up.

[His hand pauses on the page, and Alucard's eyes move from the work up and over to Dany. He is blissfully ignorant of the egg in her possession, but he does recall how tense their last conversation was.

There is no hint of it now. A relief, and it has been a very long journey to just get here.]

Hm. He'd have to have strength beyond measure to manage half. Or even a tenth, with all due respect given.

[dorzalta]

There's no rule saying you couldn't create a new network.

[ She keeps Alucard in her periphery at all times. Tired though she may be, she remains sharp. This place... there's something wrong with it. What, she doesn't know.

But it bothers her in the same way it does to recall the dragon in the pit. ]

Mn, I imagine he'd yell and scream until others agreed to proffer aid. [ Flippant. She trails her fingers along a shelf filled with books. ] Or, if my Dothraki were still alive, perhaps he'd have convinced my husband to take all that's in here.

[cryptsleeper]

I think I'm well retired from the work at this point. [They're words said with a faint laugh threaded in them, directed at himself and the choices of youth rather than at his conversation partner.

His hand puts down the pencil it is holding onto, and he picks the object up instead, bringing it close to his eyes to examine a small detail in the pattern around the rim.]

Did your sibling actually have such a silver tongue, or would he have tried, gotten everything out, and then been abandoned and denied his share of the things we are surrounded by?

[kingsroads]

journey's beginnings, march 9-11
Strange's wanderlust and excitement is still going strong. After spending lord knows how long back in the cities, here he was, out in the wilderness again! He should be enjoying this! And, for the most part, he is. But there's one thing he forgot about an expedition: it's organized. And during the daytime, there's little chance for Strange to slip away and do some exploring on his own.

Night, however, is a completely different story. While people are settling down and pitching their tents, Strange walks up to one of the other awakened. "You know, I spotted some interesting caves a few miles back. Care to explore them with me?"

open sesame, march 14
This is a puzzle. Strange wants to solve the puzzle. Granted, part of it is because he knows they need to solve the puzzle in order to enter. But another part of him wants to solve the puzzle because he can and so he can gloat a little about solving the puzzle. Unfortunately, he's the sort of person who says his thought process out loud. Sorry whoever's near him, you're getting a monologue.

"It says pair, but there's an odd number of runes...and there's not enough runes to try and find a pair for the other runes. Within, cycle, horizon, beneath...perhaps I need to find a pair that fits all those phrases?"

Bell, his hare, sits at Strange's feet. She honestly looks a little tired about this whole
thing but is waiting patiently for...something to happen. Any approaching people get a little sniff as she hops over to try and get some attention she isn't getting from Strange.

einjar proper, march 14-15
This place is interesting, Strange will admit that. A silent city, abandoned so quickly that food was left behind mid-meal and weapons left behind mid-smithing. Sure, that's interesting. But there's a few things that are more interesting to Strange than the city as a whole.

One of them is Monty. It's been pretty obvious that he's been watching the "kobold". Ever since they ran into the group, Strange has been keeping an eye on Monty, watching him from afar, and making notes about the being which he also believes is a dragonborn. But there's also something else that interests him.

So, he idly walks up to one of his fellow awakened, as if to make idle chit-chat, before bluntly saying, "I want to go explore that cavern again. I've got some hypotheses about that pool of water that I want to test."

[kingsroads]

[ Strange wrinkles his nose as Alucard mentions the fish. ] I'll pass.

[ Alucard wouldn't lie about stinky fish. As the dhampir speaks, Strange stops rummaging through one of the cupboards and gingerly closes the door. It's obvious that the two have radically different ideas on what exactly is fascinating. But, he likes talking shop with Alucard (even if the man is a pompous ass), so he'll grant him this much. ]

The truly fascinating things that have happened recently happened in the cities. Have I told you about the odd cat I ran into?

[ the cat gave him a gun! Which...Strange currently has wrapped up and hidden in the bottom of his rucksack. He has no damn clue what a pistol is but even he realizes that's not something you just lay hidden around. ]

[cryptsleeper]

As you like. It's still quite delayed.

[Alucard has no reason to lie about stinky fish, or the fact that he's finding this type of preservation to be incredibly interesting as well as quite eerie. He's beyond the breadbox now, moving into the home's living room and ensuring that he disturbs nothing.]

You have not. Given that felines are odd by definition, you'll need to elaborate.

[If and when he finds out about the firearm, there is going to be a very long pause as the dhampir decides exactly how shitty of an idea giving Strange a firearm is. For now, Alucard is content to keep examining the living room, crouching down to examine the titles on the bookshelf.]

[dorzalta]

Really? You don't miss it?

[ Building from the very beginning sounds exhausting, truth be told. In her case, it likely would be. That would mean re-establishing a connection with the underworld again, bribing the black market's merchants for information. She would need funds for that, and it's something she lacks.

Dany catches motion, turns to look at him. He's studying his prize with the attentiveness of a man enamored. ]

Viserys was an entitled brat. [ No anger to be found. Her tone's akin to one speaking of the weather. ] Likely I would be the one convincing my husband, if the gold didn't catch their eye first.

[cryptsleeper]

I've had a change in perspective, I suppose, when it comes to collecting and curating. [There's only a moment more looking at the detail, and then the cup is returned to the floor. Alucard returns to drawing, this time a new page featuring the thing he was starring at.] Going home does that. This part though, the exploring and recording information, that I still enjoy.

[His father, mage and inventor, whose home was full of the strange and wonderful. His father, whose work and technology was the thing of the current age. His father's home, mostly ruins and stripped of all things that made it his father's]

What would become of this place's contents, if each were allowed to do as they pleased?

[dorzalta]

A recent change, then?

[ She imagines that's what he means. Going home when home was likely... gone. Rotting away like their corpses had. ]

I imagine it depends on the person. My brother would have sold everything he could find if it meant buying an army and raining fire and blood down upon our House's enemies. [ She lifts a book, noting it's not written in the Common Tongue, and flips through its pages. ] But this place isn't ours to do with as we please.

[ They were here to check on those who did claim this place as theirs. ]

[cryptsleeper]

Very. [He had a home to go back to though, ruined as it may be. It is a luxury that not all of those dragged back to life have had, and Alucard is keenly aware of it.] Looting brings about reflection.

[Specifically when your home is the place being looted. Too young to be an archaeological site, too long abandoned to be anything but disturbed.]

He'd nearly have an unlimited war chest within these walls. [His concentration is on the paper, otherwise the book would absolutely have the dhampir's attention, since he's a nerd.] And your husband?

[Alucard has no idea if that is a raw wound he is poking at. He never quite settled down himself, although there was a near-thing once or twice. There is a far greater familiarity with what grief for a spouse is like.]

It is not. I'd say if fortune favors us, the residents may well return, but that invites contradiction.

alucard wrt the gun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6gBu2Zd7Bc

[kingsroads]

[ As Alucard examines the bookshelf, Strange moves to set his rucksack down. He rifles through it as he talks, pulling out something wrapped up in linen. ]

The cat seemed to be following me. I called her over, shared a little bit of food, and she left behind a few presents. One of them is a weapon of some sort, I've yet to figure it out. [ The amount of times Strange has used a gun in his life: zero ] But the more interesting thing is this shard of mirror.

[ Which is the thing Strange has finished unwrapping the linen off of. Strange offers the mirror shard to Alucard as he continues to explain. ]

I want you to look at your reflection. Keep staring until you feel like you have to blink.

[ Strange doesn't know what Alucard is going to see. But he hopes that it's just as much an interesting sight as what he saw when he looked at the mirror. ]

HOW DARE YOU CALL HIM OUT LIKE THIS?

[cryptsleeper]

[The titles are mostly popular ones, something Alucard determines by taking one book out, looking at the publication information, and then placing it back on the shelf. There's a series of mysteries starring the same dwarf character as the detective, and a cookbook that claims to be nothing but stew recipes. It's varied reading, but reading that he can't think more on.]

That's incredibly strange. Mostly cats just bring their owners back little dead things not...not whatever it is that it gave you instead. It makes me wonder if it's really a cat at all.

[His mind is on shifters, but the mirror shard is what Strange is focused on, so the dhampir must follow suit. When the shard passes into Alucard's hand, his first instinct is to hold it up and examine it from all angles, eyes keen and searching for any imperfections.]

How did the cat even carry this?

[He's asking the real questions, clearly. But Alucard does follow the instructions Strange has imparted, his reflection growing grimmer and grimmer as he stares and...

oh fuck no.

Alucard isn't so taken aback as to drop the mirror shard, but he does immediately thrust it back towards Strange.]

TRUTH HURTS

[kingsroads]

[ oh fuck yes

Alucard's reaction tells Strange all he needs to know: the other man saw the scales as well. He takes the mirror back, not even trying to hide the smug look on his face. ]

My theory about the dragons bringing us back only grows stronger and stronger. I was able to view the enchantment on the mirror—it's faint, but still there. The enchantment seems similar to mirrors used to view the true, unenchanted form of things.

[ Which Strange is pleased as punch about. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[THANKS HE HATES IT.

Alucard's face is twisted into something distinctly uncomfortable. He was having a great time up until now, indulging in his old life and familiar patterns, except now all the nonsense about dragons that got him right and killed last month is back and somehow worse. There's a sudden need for air, but Alucard repressed that. As he does so, his face returns to something calmer, but sitll very annoyed.

The fact Strange is pleased about this is all the dhampir needs to settle comfortably into another familiar pattern: really, really disliking the man across from him.]

I'm aware of how such enchantments work. My father had a mirror like that in our home, and it was often used in the study of artifacts that entered the castle.

[There. He can focus on that. On objects. On artifacts.]

I do not doubt those things are involved with this...nonsense, but it's more likely that there are other agents involved in this work rather than those creatures themselves.

[His eyes are focused out one of the windows.]

What state was that mirror in when it was given to you? Polished and perfect, or dirty and worn?

open sesame

[forswore]

While Strange is puzzling over the door, Daud's keeping an eye on the shadows, sword close to hand. Mercy, despite her partner's evident disinterest in the proceedings around the door puzzle, is perched delicately on the statue of the dwarf woman, peering over it critically.

The fact of the matter is, though, they can't stay out her forever. The journey's already taken its toll on their company, and getting back into the swing of things will be better than not.

He gives the hare a little nod when it scoots up, then turns his attention back to Strange.

"Any luck?"

[kingsroads]

"Oh, I've plenty of ideas," Strange muses, as he keeps his attention on the door. He recognizes Daud's voice and gives a vague nod in the tiefling's general direction, but Strange continues to focus on the puzzle instead of actually doing something like paying attention to Daud or outright looking at him.

"I'm leaning towards the answer being a birth-death pair, though I'm not entirely sure about that."

Bell lightly nudges Daud with her nose. Pay attention to her!

[kingsroads]

[ Strange continues to look annoyingly smug and annoyingly pleased about the whole thing. Part of it is because Alucard's annoyed and generally speaking, Strange has found that whatever annoys the dhampir, he'll likely enjoy. But most of it is his obsession and focus on the dragons. Because Alucard can justify this however he wants, this is just more proof in Strange's mind that he's right.

He will answer the question, though. There's no reason not to. ]

I don't honestly remember. Polished, I think? There was something else that the cat gave me which drew my attention at the start—though it certainly wasn't as interesting as the mirror turned out to be.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard's fingers drum on the bookshelf, for lack of anything else that he feels he can do at the moment beyond continue to hiss and spit in the back of his mind.]

Polished means either new or in the hands of someone who genuinely cares and has an investment in this. [He scowls at the thought.] Not comforting, but it's an important detail. If I recall correctly, these kinds of things were rare in my lifetime, so that speaks to someone of wealth or of clever means. Neither is new or exciting, but it is useful.

[He tugs his coat closer to himself, arms folded over his chest.]

It's all coming back to dragons though, that much cannot be denied. The question is is it at their behest, or at the wills of mortal things that have other ulterior motives?

[kingsroads]

You know my theory on the matter. Mortals in this time have all but forgotten about the dragons—there's barely any books on them available for study! [ As Strange annoyingly found out when he tried to research the dragons. He's obviously miffed about that whole 'lack of books' thing. ]

The people of this time wouldn't act on behalf of our dragons, of Logistykon and the rest. That's why I think it's the dragons themselves acting.

[ As he talks, the air around Strange shifts. There's the smell of electricity as the air around him starts to crackle slightly, thanks to the static he's starting to generate. ]

Daud | OTA

[forswore]

Journey's Beginning

The purple tiefling who makes up one the caravan's guard is quieter than most, not inclined to share his thoughts, though he'll provide his name during whatever round of introductions may take place. That doesn't, however, mean he isn't focused on his job.

Mostly, this means staying alert during their mealtimes and shared watches with his fellow guards, staring out into the dark around them even as he works on mechanically getting food into himself. The osprey that spends most of their marching hours flying overhead and sounding the alarm for any incoming attacks is perched on a rock nearby, warming herself by the fire. Initiating any conversation, unfortunately, will have to come from someone else.

It's once things start getting hairier that he'll be a bit more proactive. Should a member of the party begin to lag behind or be in danger, they'll find Daud teleporting swiftly beside them, either to grab their shoulder and attempt to pull them back to the group on the strength of his magic, or to raise his sword to cut at whatever's in his path right now. Once the immediate threat is dealt with, they can turn their attention to helping the others.

The Doors to Einjar

Daud's never been a happy camper, but circumstances have guaranteed him to be less so. He makes the grim pronouncement in the morning to whoever's up then:

"We've lost the rest of our guides."

He crosses his arms, tail curling slowly. He's not going to say 'this expedition is cursed' out loud, but he may very well be thinking it.

Einjar's Halls

The fight between the Knights and the kobolds, sudden as it is, has Daud reaching impulsively for his blade, though he never draws it. The tiefling's jaw is tense, waiting it out, and when it seems that things de-escalate, he'll relax, if only fractionally. Monty being accused of a Dragonborn is not much of a surprise, but he's seen enough of the 'kobold' to suspect either he's a very good actor, or he has no idea what he is himself.

Now, however, there's an unappetizing decision to be made -- one he'd really prefer to have no part of, but with the Knights and kobolds muttering among themselves, it seems fairly clear an outcome needs to be decided. For better or worse, they're very clearly the ones outnumbering anyone else. And that makes them ... he doesn't know. Arbiters of fate? The idea seems laughable. Nonetheless, he cuts in:

"Something terrible happened here." He glances at the kobolds, and then the Knights, silver eyes glinting in the low light. "Whatever caused Einjar to flee -- or consumed them -- I doubt they had much to do with it. And we owe them our lives."

Though that's not really meant as an inspiring speech. There's an edge of warning in his voice at the last, looking around the group. Getting to a destination is only half the journey -- getting back is another problem, one that Daud hasn't forgotten. It's well and good to the knights to talk of bringing Monty back with them, but just getting here was already fraught, much less with an unwilling dragonborn in tow. He'd prefer not to lose the kobold's goodwill now.

Wildcard
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[cryptsleeper]

Forgotten is not the operative word. [The correction is automatic, and devoid of any particular fire for once.] The aftermath of the war is within living memory, for those long lived enough to experience it. They've chosen to deny those things the worship and reverence they recieved prior to everything breaking apart into a thousand pieces. It isn't surprising.

[If anything, it is as is right from Alucard's perspective.]

There's no evidence of dragons having the ability to act from the realm of the dead. If they could, why would it not have been done before, with other dragons? I suppose if you think about the types that use blood magic, vampir and the like, there's a thin connection, but that's all it is. Thin.

[Genuine question, not Alucard being salty and furious. His eyes go over to Strange, smelling the shift in the air. There's a softer noise, one steeped in memory]

Why do you smell like the house after an experiment?